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

Space -> Torture Facility Wreckage

Tsuguka dodged the same piece of wreckage that Mio had avoided simply by shoving herself sideways with her gravity organ, and then adding a little angled thrust, putting her into a barrel roll without actually having to move a single appendage. "Santo Hei Akiashiro is the team's demolitions expert. As for Hisoka-Hei, well... She's my room mate." The tone was neither approving nor disapproving. She was too busy keeping her rifle leveled on their target to emote, really. "That's not exactly something I was prepared for in training."

Sheila's unconcise speech filled her ears about this time. Tsuguka listened patiently, but was still rather preoccupied with the task at hand. "Thank you for the input, Santo-Hei Vonderbrink, but I have the long term health of the team as a whole to think of." A small grunt, as she surged to avoid another piece of stray rubble. "There is no guarantee that I will ever be put into a command position again, so it is important that I retain a level of approachability... Please report back when you have docked with the Eucharis."

Tsuguka went silent for a second, since she had to realign her laser emitter to get a range on the target. There was no power signal, after all, which made the irregularly shaped object difficult to get a precise handle on. The detached facility was just a gnarled little shape in the distance, even with her magnified vision, as yet, but it was still enough to look imposing.

"One hundred and eight seconds till we reach the destination at this speed... Keep your guard up, Nunagawa-Hei. If there is any sign of trap activation, eject your weapons immediately... I'll teleport us both out."

The danger of partial teleportation didn't exactly sound like a risk to take lightly, but Mio would be putting her life in Toyoe's hands too.

Space - Torture Facility Wreckage

"I've got my own teleporter, Tsuguka-Hei," Mio informed her team leader. "So while the gesture is appreciated, it's not needed." She continued, her two shoulder-mounted weapons aimed at the oddly shaped piece of wreckage, as she reached back to the weapon mount to draw her plasma rifle, which she quickly trained on the wreckage. They were coming into what was considered extreme weapons range during training. With nothing else to go on, training was exactly what Mio relied on.

What unnerved the white Neko the most however, wasn't the fact that they were heading into a piece of unexplored wreckage of an enemy facility, where danger might lurk. No, she'd been trained to handle that. She was a soldier. Death and injury was something she'd been trained to accept and tolerate. What unnerved her... no, what scared her was the fact that this was where people, most likely other Nekovalkyrja, had been tortured. Not the clean death of combat, but an indeterminable time of being at the mercy of the Mishhuvurthyar, subjected to whatever their depraved alien minds could concoct.

Mio'd pick death in combat over such a fate any day...

Subprocess

He grinned a little in response to Mitsuko's last remark. She sounded down, so he decided to joke with her. "I'm sure you could move a few things around. Stack them, perhaps?"

Bridge

Tankyusha focused his attention back to the derelict facility. No sign of large-mass hostiles in area. He wondered if he was being paranoid - it was his first mission. Still, responsibility for the crew's safety rested partly in his hands in a situation like this.

"Away team, I am starting an active scan of the facility. You may experience a momentary radio disruption." The scan would also alert the facility to their presence, but he trusted the Captain's judgement. She hadn't warned the team to hide their presence when they started up the shuttle, so he'd follow her lead.

A high-powered scan swept over the facility, digging deep. There was indeed a moment of radio fuzz as the scan bumped up the local EM levels. "Scan complete. I'm feeding the data to your suits now. You'll have the floor plan momentarily, with further information as the analysis completes. If I may, there seems to be an access hatch twenty meters spin-ward from your current trajectory. It appears to lead down an intact corridor."

Tankyusha turned in his chair to address Hanako. "With your permission, Captain, I'll add the facility's floor plan to the main screen for your use. I can provide crew locations and other data on your request."

Space :: Debri Field

Aikiko collected the last of the uniforms and even other clothing articles. She tied it to the long string of clothing behind her. She was alone in space as the conversation flickered on and off over her Mindy. She began rolling up the string of clothes she had tied together into a ball. She sympathized the logistic specialist aboard the Eucharis at having lost those she was comfortable with.

She looked around her at all the floating debri, from the smallest to the large in chaos; drifting at the whims of fate. She checked her scanners to see the bigger picture of what surrounded her, taking note of the update someone had sent her.

Bridge

sitting at the weapons station, Antonia idly marked different objects for targeting. She figured that if they were mark and something went hostile then all she would have to do is select the right marked object and fire. With each marker she put in a weapons order, which weapon would be assigned to the target. When she got around to tagging the torture facility, she keyed in the Aether shock cannon as the weapon of choice.

With the new science officer taking over the job of sensor use, Tony was freed up to continue studying on a small screen. She wanted to make sure she could fly the ship as well as she could fight it.

Bridge

"Very well," Hanako approved, nodding to Tankyusha. She looked over the object. "This is too big to take with us, but we should inspect it before we leave it. Perhaps we can push it so that it will fall into the gas giant. We can do that with the rest of the junk items, too. Anything else that needs retrieval before the team moves on to exploring the scout ship?"

Torture Facility Remains

The torture facility was part of some big Mishhuvurthyar ship and consisted of a two-deck-tall room with one wall still intact that was covered in a honeycomb of coffin-sized stasis cells for storing prisoners. Next to them on the "floor" were a number of tables. Some of them still had vacuum-frozen, mutilated corpses strapped to them. The floor was also covered in the corpses of strange insectoids the size of hamburgers and frozen globs of slime.

Torture Facility Wreckage

Tsuguka's velocity depleted slowly, then stopped with a sudden jolt as she came within a few meters of the desolate platforms. Descending into the flagged corridor feet first had the weird sensation of being in an elevator shaft. It wasn't long before the two of them reached one of the main rooms after that. Taking a deep breath, she glanced around at the frozen corpses, and then waited for the sudden onset of sickness and terror that would surely come...

Except it didn't.

The human-shaped things were horrible, shriveled wrecks pulled to pieces in some of the most disgusting ways imaginable, but... Well, it just didn't feel real. The skin was a uniformly solid white, frozen and cracked like marble. Here and there, dark red ice crystals glued body parts seamlessly onto the bent steel casings of the superstructure. It just looked completely fake to her eyes. Like some twisted art piece. Even the faces of the victims seemed less emotive than the over-the-top excruciation that VR training had conditioned her too. Without all of the flare and stylization of an intentionally created presentation, it was just... Cold. Cold and sad.

"Are you okay, Nunagawa-Hei?" She broke the silence, seemingly surprised at her own lack of apprehensiveness. "I'm going to start searching for Star Army bodies. If you want to leave, just let me know first."

"Santo-Hei Akiashiro, you reading me?" Still waiting for that sudden shock, Toyoe decided to keep her mind firmly on the mission rather than dwell on her strange lack of feelings. Drifting forward, she began to look for any Yamataian, nekovalkyrja, or nepelsian bodies she could identify, and kept her mouth busy by talking to others. "How is the debris collection going?"

Powering down the shuttle Sheila lightly propelled itself out of the vessel with a simple kick, drifting past its open doors only to watch as they slowly closed with its exit. Activating the Mindy's propulsion system the android began to inspect its docking to ensure everything had gone alright before contacting Captain Hanako. “The shuttle has been successfully attached to the Eucharis as ordered Captain.” Sheila said so that bridge could keep in mind the additional space below them if they were to try and glide over debris before contacting Toyoe. “The shuttle has been attached to the Eucharis and am currently awaiting new orders beneath the ship until further notice.”

Space - Scout

Aikiko stood on the scout ship hull as she secured the gathered uniform/assorted clothing ball to the bottom of her Mindy Buttpack. Once that was done, she was gathering small bits of components that would be very useful to a Plumaria Gunship and condencing them into tightly gathered odd shaped spheres with the cargo straps she had brought with her.

She had missed Tsuguka's transmission due to the debri between her and the distance. She glanced at her activated threat scanner occasionally even though it was set on audio to warn her if anything was coming her way, regardless of it being friendly, threat, and or debri.

Bridge

A list of objects still in orbit appeared before him. He nodded at it, then sent a message to the ship's Logistics Officer with the contents. "Mitsuko-Hei, I'm sending you a list of available salvage items. At this time, I'm not sure what the scout vessel will require in terms of materials; however, there are a number of pieces of intact armor and other ship components that might serve our needs. Please advise."

On a whim, he sent the parts list to Sheila as well. She might find it find it useful once they began repairs.

The list did have a few items that piqued his own interest. "There are two Mishhu computer pieces available; they may be useful in determining what happened here. Additionally, the right hand and cannon from a Mindy armor are also available and potentially useful." Tank switched his comms over to the salvage group. "Away team, I've tagged four priority salvage items for you. If you can retrieve them safely, I believe I can put them to good use. Further requests may be coming."

Tankyusha noticed a brief spike in vitals of the crew inspecting the torture facility. He frowned. I can only imagine what they might find in there. I wonder if I would have the same response? He had more in common with the things that they were salvaging than the once living occupants of the facility.

Cargo Bay

Mitsuko continued examining the current item, responding dryly. "Yes, moving and stacking things is all I do, after all." That was what plenty of people thought, at least. There was so much more to it, or at least she'd always thought there was. The monotony was finally starting to become apparent, after the shakeup had left her reevaluating everything. She was only left to her boring work for a few moments, however, before she was contacted again. If he was this talkative, he must be getting along famously with Natsumi, on the Bridge.

"...thank you, Tankyusha-Hei." She looked away from the items at hand for a moment, as she concentrated on the list. "Those sound fine to bring aboard, as long as they're handled properly. I would prefer not to bring any more debris inside, though." Mitsuko made a displeased little noise as she recognized one item. "That SEPTC needs to be inspected outside the ship and either brought in or destroyed. It seems too dangerous to leave floating about for anyone else to find."

Subprocess

"I.." he paused, frowning. He wasn't sure how to handle the situation. He could feel the annoyance in her voice. Off to a good start, Tankyusha. Jokes are clearly not your forte. Of course she wouldn't assume you meant to stack the shuttles. "I apologize; I did not intend to belittle you. What little of your work I've seen so far has given me nothing but respect for you." He mentally drummed his fingers in thought.

The rest of his communication was considerably more professional in tone. "I'll see to it that the SEPTC is handled. Tankyusha, out."

Bridge

He terminated the sub-process. He was still available, of course, but he knew when he'd overstayed his welcome. If the interaction had left him conflicted, it didn't make it back to his physical presence on the bridge.

Torture Facility Wreckage

Mio couldn't say she had a blast.

Half floating, half walking, through the wreckage of the torture facility, she saw faces frozen in horror and agony. She saw bodies mutilated and torn apart, all to please the perverse appetites of the tentacled monsters whom had once commanded the ship that the wreckage had once been part of. She followed Tsuguka silently, her weapons panning left and right as she searched constantly for potential targets, and doing her best to ignore the fact that but for fate, random luck, or whatever metaphysical belief or deity you chose to follow, any of these beings could have been her. Mutilated, tortured, and quite likely raped, by giant bugs. It sent shivers of revulsion and disgust up her spinal cord.

When the red Neko spoke, it seemed unreal at first. The calm, unphased voice, was so utterly at odds with the horrific scene before her, and the emotions surging within her that it took a concerted effort for her brain to register and process it. "Ah, hai, Tsuguka-Hei. I'm fine," she lied. Tankyusha aboard the Eucharis would likely see how Mio's heart rate had increased, how her adrenaline was higher than it should be. She might not be comfortable with this mission, but she'd be damned if she wouldn't do her duty.

She handed half the body bags to Tsuguka with a nod of her helmet, and outwardly one would be hard pressed to tell that the young Neko was uneasy, for her hands did not shake, and her face was concealed by the Mindy's helmet. "Want me to bag them too, or would you rather I explore and check for hostiles or traps, Tsuguka-Hei?"

Bridge

"Vonderbrink-Hei, thank you for returning the shuttle," Hanako replied. "Please return to Tsuguka-Hei's team. Help bag the bodies, and then get ready to recover the scout ship."

She looked to the new science specialist. "Tankyusha, besides the debris, is there anything of interest in the rest of the system?"

Hanako also called down to the medical lab. "Prepare to receive corpses."

Torture Facility Wreckage

"I'm sorry, Nunagawa-Hei, but we should get this finished quickly. Just hold the bags open."

Tsuguka's readied weapon was still holding most of her attention, but every few seconds her gaze fixed on Nunagawa for moment, as if scrutinizing exactly how a person should be behaving in this situation, and the exact method of dealing with it. All that came to mind was how bizarre it was that she had now talked to that opaque mindy faceplate twice as much as she had spoken to that other snow-white nekovalkyrja, which just happened to share her voice. Maybe it was the rigid suit, the confined viewpoint, and the constant chatter in her ear, but it all still felt utterly immaterial. It was a bad dream, and nothing more.

Her rifle was slowly lowered and attached to her side, uneasily. They started with the cells. It was easier, since the components were still mostly intact. Just grim statues of ice, and nothing more, Tsuguka's mind told her.

Still, something else was bugging her, at the back of her mind. What was she forgetting?...

Where was that status report from Akiashiro? They were far enough away, and the facility was filled with enough holes that even the laser signal should have been getting through.

"Eucharis actual, Tsuguka here. I'm having trouble contacting Santo Hei Akiashiro. Was that radio disruption you were talking about still in effect?" She swapped back out to direct radio transmission, to ensure it got through. From the frigid heartbeat, it wouldn't have been easy to tell her hands were hoisting body parts around. "Can you forward me her last known trajectory from your scan data?"

Torture Facility Wreckage

"Hai, Tsuguka-Hei," came Mio's standard reply as she returned her plasma rifle to the shoulder mount. There was no way she could heft a rifle around and keep a bag open for Toyoe while she wrestled a frozen corpse into said bag, without sending both flying about the wreckage, which was both ineffective, time consuming, and highly undignified for both corpse and the two Star Army soldiers. As Tsuguka began lifting and moving the icicles made of flesh and blood into the body bags, Mio did her best not to look at the expressions frozen in place on their faces.

Thankfully, the shadows within the torture facility didn't constantly shift and weave around like out in the debris field, due to the fact that it had mostly intact walls, which made the shadows more permanent and solid. It made her slightly less jumpy. Slightly less worried that a Mishu was going to jump out of the shadows and torture her like the mangled corpses they'd passed so far. And that thought, whenever it wormed its way up from her subconsciousness, made her stomach churn.

No, no, no. Don't you dare, Nunagawa! She mentally chided herself each time she felt her stomach grow unsettled. If you puke in your helmet, you'll be the laughing stock of the ship, if you don't drown. You can't just open the visor and dump it either. You're in space, dumbass. You're a soldier in the Star Army of Yamatai! Suck it up, Santo Hei!

"I can't be done with this mission fast enough," she muttered, her voice surprisingly calm and collected, despite the mental and physical turmoil that was going on inside her.

“Understood Captain, I assume it is not necessary to inspect the orifices of the corpses for the eggs of a Shlarvasseroth correct? Or shall I send drones into them for a quick inspection to ensure that the medical personal do not have to worry about an alien hatching inside of the body-bags.” Sheila responded as the android launched itself away from the Eucharis and towards the torture facility at a heightened speed; comfortable in the knowledge that the area had already been scanned enough without it having to worry about running headfirst into debris. During its travel Sheila would send out a laser transmission to Toyoe. “The shuttle has been dropped off and as per the Captain's orders I am heading to your location to assist with the bagging process. I shall be there shortly, would you like for my drones to assist in scouting the area if you have not already?.”

Bridge

"Yes, Captain. Bringing those onto the main screen now," he replied. A list of interests appeared on the right-hand side of the main screen; out of the way but large enough to be useful.

This system has a somewhat storied past... His file suggested the Captain might know more about that. He didn't press her. "There have been two significant naval actions in this system. One of these is the likely source of the debris; I will need to confirm that once we have the rest of the salvage." He highlighted two items on the screen and enlarged them. "Outside of the wreckage before us, I'm picking up additional items of interest: a crashed starship on the planet Splorfin III and something on the surface of one of the gas giant's moons, designated Splorfin 14. My scan results are inconclusive for both. We may have to get a closer look."

He skimmed the data for the nearest object, the one on the moon. Something about its composition seemed... off. "If I were to make a guess, I would say that the object nearest us is alien in origin. It doesn't seem to match anything in the database."

Tankyusha switched his attention to Tsuguka. "Negative, Tsuguka-Hei. Any radio interference you might be experiencing should be natural." Akiashiro's position and trajectory appeared as a small green triangle with a faint dotted line outlining her course on Tsuguka's HUD. "Her status is green. You may want to broadcast on both laser and radio for a bit until you've restored line of sight. I've diminished the effects of the planet on your comms as much as possible."

Torture Facility Wreckage

Tsuguka appreciated Mio's calm demeanor. At least with that, she could pretend it was some all some kind of twisted clinical procedure. It could all be cleanly swept away in due time, and she could carry on handling the radio chatter buzzing around her helmet. It would all be okay in the end.

"I read you, Vonderbink-Hei." The same calm, aloof, and professional voice as always. "We have just been scanning as we go, so the drone assistance would be appreciated."

"Thanks for the assist, Tankyusha, I'll keep you informed." It took a second for her to absorb the information on the diagram, but when she did, it caused her to outwardly flinch. What was Akiashiro doing so close to the scout ship's orbit? No, the coordinates... She was either on it, or inside of it, already. Something was wrong.

Her hands surged back into life. A little too much strength was put into moving the body she was holding, and an arm fractured away, carrying a large jagged shell of frozen ribcage along with it. Several small, dull and hard objects clattered against her visor audibly, smearing it with flecks of black and red. No, not organs. Organs didn't have their own legs.

Tsuguka just paused, herself frozen, suit sending back the Eucharis data of her heart practically exploding inside of her chest. She desperately wanted to wipe her visor clean, but her gloves were in a grim state themselves.

Deep breaths. Condensation built up rapidly in the helm, then was swallowed by the internal lining during each lull. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Time seemed to lag for a moment, giving her time to gather unreal and disconnected thoughts at the back of her head. Maybe if the cooling on her mindy was better, she wouldn't have to deal with this cold sweat in future?

She opened her mouth, some noises came out, and she closed it again.

"...N-... Nunagawa... I'm having trouble getting into contact with Akiashiro-Hei." The sentence began with uncharacteristic frailty, but it ebbed away slowly with each passing word. Talking felt good. "Please try and hail her for me. My equipment may be damaged somehow. It looks like she's on the scout ship for some reason."

The unsympathetic scowl of the mindy's durandium faceplate just stared at Mio for a few seconds before continuing again.

"It's all okay." A return to the calm, cool, logical tone. "We can just sweep this under the rug. It will be okay in the end, Nunagawa-Hei."

Bridge

Natsumi had little to do at the moment. She was plugged into SPINE now, directly linked with the ship's computer mainframe and used the direct communication with systems to keep Eucharis exactly in position.

Her duties monitoring sensors had abeen all but releaved with the arrival of the science specialist. She sighed internally, maybe her time on the ship was almost up too. All of her work, her reason for being here was being rapidly stripped away. If a dedicated pilot showed up next she really would have nothing left to do.

Natsumi frowned and again made a slight adjustment with the reaction thrusters, countering a slight hint of drift. That done, the snowy haired neko again pinhed the computer for information on the wrecked Yui class scout.

Any ID markings on the hull visible yet, or any sign of the IFF transponder or emergency beacon? She inquired from the system.