RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 27, Part 3] Expanding Horizons II (YE 39)

Metal Dungeon

"Belay that," Saiga said calmly, approaching the airlock's controls in preparation to open it. "Carry on with previous, Yuuki-hei. Yamashiro-taii is in no condition to make cognizant decisions. We're not trusting her safety to an alien."

Metal Dungeon

"That is unacceptable," Candon said after Natsumi had decided upon what sounded like her final resting place. He placed a hand on Natsumi's shoulder and the other scooped up behind her back until both hands were touching and he brought her close to his chest. He then maneuvered her so that she was cradled in his arms and he began sprinting away from the flashing device. Masumi jogged behind him, then caught up and spoke as she looked over the wounds.

"She doesn't have much time," Masumi told Candon Suites-heisho.

"Let's get out of here!" Candon said and utilized his LSP to provide jump coordinates to everyone but Masumi and himself. They kept up the sprint and Candon hoped everyone knew to teleport out. This was almost like the last mission's end. But it wouldn't include a mangled computer core, just a slightly worse for wear XO.

"Aye Chusa."

Bronzi said as he handed Natsumi off to Candon.

"Looks like this is yer stahp muh friend." Wazu would see the hatch open and the Heirophant grabbed him by his helmet. Gingerly pulled him out and handed him to Freyja. "Sorry ordered to do so."

"Aye Chusa-Sama."

With that the Heirophant turned and Bronzi would follow Saiga's command. Last one out. With a bomb beeping. Those Mindy were faster.

Bronzi then held his position. Allowing the team to leave.

Dungeon

The sound of Natsumi's scream stopped Freyja's fire. She ceased fire and disengaged her saber, searching for her in the chaos. When her eyes finally found her, she wanted to rush to the Taii's aid. Her legs never got the memo. She stared as the Hierophant grabbed the wounded woman and started to leave.

If not for Junko's armored grip bringing her back to reality she might have stayed there. Her mind said the next voice was familiar but she couldn't place it until the blinking device rolled towards her. She turned to head back towards the airlock, halting at Saiga's instructions. The Taii gave her other orders, and then Saiga countered them immediately. She tried to figure out who to listen to, and thankfully she was saved from the dilemma by Masumi's quick thinking.

Freyja's hands were suddenly full of Wazu. She nodded at Bronzi and floated an inch off the floor. As she flew off towards the airlock she said, "Get the hell out of there, Mr. Bronzi! We're on the move!"

Dungeon, Way Out?

Junko cursed when she realized that the bug had left them a grenade as a parting gift. Didn't recognize the type, assumed it had a large yield. Better to oversell it and not get vaporized. Looking fearful was much more preferable than looking dead.

Used her TAPs to get distance, keeping pace with the squad. Kept her eyes peeled for hostiles, robots specifically. It would be just like today to have a robot take one last parting shot on the way back home. Everyone was getting back to the Eucharis even if she had to give an arm for it.

"You sunvabitch..."

Wazu was not happy about being ejected from the armored tank and being carried about. But this did give him another option.

While the hatch was open he keyed in a pair of movement commands to the flashlights he had loaded up earlier.

There was not enough time, probably, to get them to move perfectly in formation but a half working attempt was better than nothing. His pad connected back to the pad in the heirophant, which in turn was running telepathy emulation software. From there his command was transferred to the flashlights that were loaded in earlier. Following the assigned waypoints the flash lights hovered up out of the heirophant, shot over towards the flashy thing, dropped to the ground, and then charged off at full speed down the hallway.

Some would collide with the flashy-thing and knock it further away from the team, a swarm of hovering flash lights working to haphazardly kick the can further down the corridor.

Space, near the Eucharis

Tan Ann Pan faltered in her flight, when she saw the others flying back toward her. It didn't take a SAINT agent to see this wasn't a tactical retreat, but a full-blown evacuation... which made it much easier to strictly interpret her orders from Hanako, rather than try to understand its deeper nuances. As quickly as she'd flown out, she turned about and landed again in the armour bay, returning her suit to the racks.

She did have one request to make while she was removing her armour, however, and sent it on an open channel to the ship. "Would whoever is closest please bring my crash kit to the armour bay? Thank you."

Bronzi followed his orders. When the last Eucharis team member left he was off. He activated the thrusters and boasted out the way he had come.

Goodbye Dungeons

"Alright, everybody through!" Saiga said, having opened the interior airlock so they could disembark. He had half a mind to simply blow it out and let the decompression propel them off into space, but didn't want to risk more damage to the wounded. "Keep the rally coordinates provided by Suites-heisho locked in just in case we need to reposition. Unless that happens, we're going out as a team. Double formation spacing once we've cleared the exterior airlock, understood?"

Saiga was glad for Candon's quick thinking, and placed an armored hand on the other SAINT's shoulder as he passed. Candon truly was a consummate professional who knew his job well. Though Saiga had read Candon's record before the mission, seeing his determination first hand was still impressive. The Chusa could see why he was the intelligence agent permanently assigned to Hanako's ship, and understood Director Shida's confidence in the man.

"Leave it to SAINT to get things right, eh Heisho?" he said via a restricted laser comms channel. "Nice work."

Dungeons

By now, dozens of robots like the one that had totalled their shuttle were now crawling out of the metallic proverbial woodwork, each roughly the size of a minivan with four wide crablike legs, plasma cannons for arms, and a heavily-armored carapace. An outpouring of sunset-orange plasma beams came slamming into the area of the airlock making it deadly to hang around inside the metal dungeon. Amidst the chaos one of them stopped to examine the transmitter Frixxaqz had left behind with its small utility arms.

Dungeons

Suddenly, Junko's retreat became a siege. This wasn't just one robot lingering in the area now. Now it was like a small army was suddenly pouring into this section of the tunnels. Where did these guys come from, and why?

She had to twist and juke to stay just ahead of the line of fire. Even between the speed her Mindy offered and razor sharp reflexes, it wasn't enough. Shots hit along her armor, and her hud lit up as the integrity report went from healthy green to yellow alarmingly fast. One shot burned into her arm, through the flexible material of the sleeve, sending a hot lance of pain up to her shoulder.

Instinct took over and she brought her head low, rifle up and fired.

They couldn't stay and fight all this, not with the Taii down and Wazu vulnerable. Junko used what little architecture and mobility to keep intact. Put down ASBR fire non-stop, sending out sheets of blue-white. Shoulder gauss tracked and hammered secondary targets.

A near-miss sheared off one of her helmets ear-fins, her eyes watering from the flash of superheated gas.

She growled, cursed and did not stop moving, didn't stop fighting.

Dungeon Door

Bright, hot plasma was slamming down around the Eucharis' away team by the time everyone was beyond the interior blast shutter and inside the airlock. Saiga caught a beam of orange death along his right calf when the sudden attack came, obliterating the countermeasure augmentation pod installed there and sending him staggering forward. It hurt, but he'd endured greater pain before so kept his attention on more immediate pursuits. Avoiding death was the paramount concern, made that much more difficult by the wounded and inherently cripple—why had Wazu left the Gartagen mech, anyway?—but far from impossible.

He took cover near the edge of the door and loosed a volley of heavy scalar toward the oncoming bots, supplementing Junko's fire with a series of grenade-like concussions from his SMG. Now wasn't the time for a full-on firefight, though, so Saiga reached down to the interface panel and locked the interior airlock door shut. Hopefully, it'd hold for a few seconds to protect the vulnerable team as they zoomed off and back to their ship. Not a moment later, the airlock's atmosphere voided and its spaceward hatch opened to reveal the twinkling blackness they'd have to traverse to get home.

"Watch yourselves out there!" Saiga shot off, remembering the station's surface and the seemingly dead army that inhabited it. "There's no telling how powerful a signal that Rixx gadget emits, so watch for more hostiles before engaging your teleporters. Go!"

Dungeon Door

Candon slipped past Saiga wordlessly and within a few steps, was jumping into the air as thrusters engaged and had a straight trajectory towards the Eucharis laid out and planned.

Masumi, meanwhile, was laying down suppressive power and fending off any that tried to assault Suites-heisho and Natsumi-taii. Within a few moments of being out of the metal dungeon, Masumi was hit by multiple rounds of enemy fire. She fought to move out of the way, but was struck again. Her HUD showed her wing pack was clipped and she began tumbling downwards as she readied to teleport up towards the Eucharis. In a moment of despair, she realized Candon needed her to cover him and stayed where she was, firing on the enemy as she fell haphazardly.

"Oh, no you don't," Candon half-said and half-grunted as he saw Masumi's location and status on his own HUD. He gripped Natsumi tighter to his body with one arm and lurched through the air before sending Masumi his intent via their telepathic connection. Her helmet looked up to make visual contact with his and she nodded to him while he swiftly grappled with her body while still moving through the air. He took her body in his arm and was out of there as fast as he had come in.

"Ooof~" Masumi groaned as the impact of his accelerating body made contact with hers, but she was no worse for wear. Carrying the both of them, Candon had himself high in the air in a matter of seconds, just barely about to enter the power armor bay.

"Taii?" Masumi asked once secure. "Are you still with us?"

Bronzi had the channel open and was listening to the chaos of the retreat. A retreat was a retreat, there wasnt much of a way to get it wrong. The troops of the retreating side were ordered to run away, and they usually did. The enemy would then attempt to preform what is known as the "where the good lord split ya" Maneuver -- in that they tried to kill as many of the retreating forces as possible to ensure they would not have to fight aforementioned forces in the future. Masumi would hear a grumble over the radio -- a half snarl. "Ya. She's been talkin since y'all shot her." Truth was Bronzi was thoroughly disgusted by what had happened. Friendly fire is a thing....but this happened under a command of "No threatening moves" which usually denotes don't shoot your weapons.

But just then, as he was trying to leave. The Heirophant took a hit. It was also slower than a Mindy, and the order to be the last one out did not help. Bronzi soon found his retreat was being cut off but the advancing plasma bolt firing crab bots. Normally the Heirophant would have taken a nice hit and the armor plate that soaked the hit would need to be replaced. But that Zesu enamel Wazu stressed it needed came through. The Heirophant held. It's feet touched down onto the metal deck and it began running. Bronzi activated his mech's shield. But he had to fight his way out. Last one out today.

Like a freight train the massive suit bounced and bounced evasively towards the closest crab bot. Using the monentum gained from flight the Heirophant rushed up and delivered a powerful fist to the face of one of the bots. Then another. Each fist pushing the bot further down the escape route. Bronzi then with both hands tore each of its guns off and proceeded to another bot. He began beating that one with the arms of its buddy. This evening plasma bolts were firing, and were connecting. But the new shield was holding, and so was the added armor of those duct taped bots. But he knew he couldn't sit still. He had to keep moving of eventually he damage would mount and he'd die a rather stupid death at the hands of a rather delusional leader.

Dungeon -> Space

Most of the incoming fire missed Freyja. A few bolts of plasma came close enough to leave burn marks on her armor. Just before the door slid closed she took a hit in the back, letting out a shocked gasp of pain. The outer airlock door opened. Hemosynth leaked out of the hole, turning into floating spherical marbles.

Freyja gritted her teeth and kept moving. She launched herself out of the airlock. Just get back to the Eucharis. You screwed up, don't be a burden too, she thought. The image of Natsumi throwing herself in front of bullets meant for Rixxikor vermin kept popping into her head. Junko returning was the only good thing to happen today and I fucked that up too.

"Wazu-san... I'm sorry I haven't... spoken to you. We'll talk... in the Wardroom later." She said, focusing her gaze on the Eucharis. It wasn't too far. They were going to make it, no thanks to her. She tried to think of what she would say to Hanako-Shosho when the inevitable questions came up. I can see it now. Everyone lined up, giving me disgusted looks. Natsumi-taii afraid to be alone with me. Even Junko-chan treating me like scum. The last image hurt her the most.

She didn't want to remember this day. The thought struck her suddenly. I don't have to remember. She could give Wazu to someone else and go back. Try to make things right by holding them off. Except disobeying orders was what caused this whole mess. Disobeying them again wasn't going to fix anything. Not to mention Junko-chan might try to save me, she thought, a grin forming on her lips.

Backseat

The well armored back seat area of the Hierophant was mostly empty.

A duffel bag full of datapads, tape, and other assorted parts was still on the floor, and some of the other electronics had been caster-taped' into place.

It would have been a great place to be for someone who wasn't wearing a Mindy.

Luckily, the weapon turret ontop of the Hierophant was running on automatic. Each new robot that popped up and took aim at Bronzi would receive a series of high-explosive rounds and a burst from the EMP weapon. The turret automatically swinging around to prioritize aiming at anything actively shooting at it. Wazu wasn't there to realize the mistake he had made in programming... as the EMP device was shorting out the fuses on the explosive rounds when both weapons were firing at the same time, causing a delayed blast when the round splattered against the hull.

He also wasn't there to see the EMP working as intended against the plasma-cannons. Plasma responded to electrical fields quite strongly, and when the directed EMP passed over a plasma beam, the containing field ended up rapidly dissipating. The robot's own beams often blowing up in their faces as they lanced out towards Bronzi... followed closely by the physical rounds from the cannon.

Freyja Airlines

Wazu's space suit was rated for space... less so for combat. There was not much he could do at the moment besides hold on, the heat from the plasma blast against Freyja's back already starting to bleed into his suit. The cooling systems working overtime to try and compensate.

"Not now."

Wazu was quite firm in his words. This was not the time or place for her to decide to start talking to him.

"Let us get back to the Eucharis first."

Fabrication

Jax's somewhat cheerful mood suddenly turned into heavy nausea as he listened to the comm chatter.

Wasn't the Eucharis crew supposed to be the elite...?

Yet, they'd handled this mission like a group of Nepleslian thugs. And Natsumi was severely wounded by friendly. fucking. fire.

"Please don't touch anything." He told Sura as he turned and jetted out of the room.

Armor Bay

Gut still burning from utter sickness, Jackson arrived in the armor bay with Tann's crash kit.

His ears drooped, and he seemed to be in an entirely different place. Deftly, he handed her the kit, and began prepping dollies to haul what would be several damaged armors down to Fabrication. Once repairs began, he would have a lot of time to think. And as of right now, he wasn't thinking good thoughts. Most of them revolved around the possibility of transfer.

He had a new, booming business, a new space station, and no desire to die before he could enjoy any of it.

But... he didn't really want to leave, he told himself. He still loved his crew, even if this display wasn't giving him any confidence.

Ugh, he was getting a migraine. He plopped down on an ammo crate and rested his hands in his palms.

Running Hell / Space Dungeon

Tsuguka was slow to react. Not because of dull senses, but because of the prickly nature of what exactly could have been done to avoid the fight escalating. Her immediate assumption was that some kind of Kuvexian tech might have been used to hack Freyja's suit, but after the first shot was fired, it really made no difference.

It was exactly the same as it always was. Once the Rix got into mob mentality mode, there was just no stopping them from swarming. Natsumi's attempt to barter peace was admirable in some ways, but this was literally a team that had been training to fight tooth and nail against an enemy in a space far beyond their home, too. Not like she could have achieved the mission of protecting her CO against that kind of threat, either.

So, Tsuguka just stood there, watching the dominos fall down. Absorbing attention so that the others could escape.

Sword out, shield ready, skidding backwards... Reactionary...

Gunshots. Her mindy blurred, looking like it was moving in both directions at once, same old volumetric tactic. Another bug tried to charge her with a bomb on a stick, and she just flattened against the ceiling, raining sparks down upon it whilst her blade ate into the metal above her, at her back.

Airlock was already empty when she got there. Sliced through it, turned around to see the larger drones now lumbering in. Immediately opened up with three barrels as well as their chaff, blasting out a sudden cacophony of raging sound...

But inside, she just felt inert. Yet another battle without an honorable foe in sight.

The pop of decompression. And then, space.

Dungeon > Space

"Can you move?" Junko asked as she knelt next to Freyja. That didn't look like it was a spinal hit, but the Mark One Eyeball wasn't always perfect. If her SPINE was alright, she could pilot the suit to the Eucharis fine. Worst case, Junko would have to haul both her and Wazu home.

For no other reason than little Fumiko, who shouldn't have to be told either of her parents died.

Either way they came out of the airlock, she'd have to keep her Gauss cannons tracking. She fully expected an equally warm welcome on the surface of the planet. Even with them teleporting most of the way. Worst case, she'd be pleasantly surprised when they got home safe and sound.

Zipping to the Ship

The distinct blue-white glow of Tsuguka's Yamataian-made plasma blade slicing through the airlock let Saiga know it was time to depart before she blew out the hatch. According to his count, everyone else on the team was accounted for and had begun their own efforts to get back to the Eucharis, so the SAINT soldier was comfortable in knowing that he could do nothing more to make sure his Star Army comrades escaped. It was now up to each of them to cross from the surface to the ship.

Saiga pushed off of the airlock's wall and out into space, maneuvering with his armor so that he landed on the station's surface with a roll. He was kneeling when his momentum came to a stop, shield forward and SMG trained on an approaching bot. The spider-like mechanical weapon had him in its sights, too, and struck a sunburst volley of plasma beams against his shield as Saiga's own shoulder-mounted aetheric pulse cannon sparkled to life in return. Pink aetheric pulses were joined by the purple-white heavy scalar waves from the SAINT's handheld weapon and slammed into his assailant to ruined one of its legs.

But Saiga's attack only served to slow the thing, and it lurched forward as more of its automaton kin turned their attention to him. So, with little else left to accomplish, Saiga emptied the still-intact countermeasure missiles from their pod on his left leg, hoping they'd screen his retreat, and activated his Mindy's teleportation module. He transported just outside the Eucharis' waiting armor bay, the coordinates having been locked in since Candon had distributed them to everyone, and moved aboard.