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

Space Dungeon Interior

"Do you know anything about robotics, Nito Hei Hasegawa?... The dead ones on the surface... They hadn't been fully exploded, either." Tsuguka remarked to Junko, trying to correlate her observations as quickly as possible. Her actual eyes and weapon were trained on the corridor, now, though, waiting for the exact moment when those bugs chose to leap out of cover themselves... "Use your blade. Cut it open. Maybe we can get some of those data samples whilst we are here..."

Footsteps... Oshiro was out of cover again?...

"Masumi-Hei! The rockets didn't come from the robot! They were Rixxikor! Get your ass down!" The bark was interrupted by the oni suddenly opening fire herself, pelting an incendiary grenade into the middle of the corridor ahead of them. Bugs weren't just going to run into it, but at least this way, there was a big ball of heat blocking their path... "If you must do that, do it on your belly!"

"Yamashiro-Taii. This is Tsuguka-Hei. We are alive. Using the downed robot as cover. Quantity of enemies unknown." A rushed report, methodically moving through everything on her to-do list. "Currently standing our ground, waiting for teleporter recharge... What are your orders, maam? Should we hold position, or advance, over?"

Gritting her teeth. Lobbing some explosives was the best thing she could think of at the time, but Tsuguka just knew it was going to make another one of these damn robots come running...

Surface (Before the Rixicore attack in Polygon's latest Post)

Natsumi could not believe the response she got from Masumi. She had admitted that she refused the order, over the open comm channel, stating a violation of Star Army command protocols and a direct undermining of Natasumi's authority as executive officer of the Eucharis.

"Nitô Hei Oshiro Masumi" She began, emphasizing the junior Nitô Hei rate, "I issued orders for everyone to fall back from the airlock. Everyone, Junko and Tsuguka were fully capable of extracting themselves from the airlock without assistance, you rushing in has placed yourself needlessly in jeopardy. You cannot pick and choose which orders you want to follow or not. You were given a direct order by the executive officer of the YSS Eucharis and you chose to disregard that order and act on your own in violation of the Star Army of Yamatai's protocols of command authority and the oath you swore to uphold when you first joined this military organization, 'I am loyal to the Empress. I will follow her orders and the orders of those appointed over me.'" she quoted directly from the Star Army Creed, to which every single member of swore too. "Nitô Hei Oshiro Masumi I am formally charging you with disobeying the orders of your superior officer and endangering yourself and others by your actions. This matter will be brought up before the Shosho Hanako upon completion of this mission. From this point on, you will follow the orders of your officers without question. Do you understand me, Nitô Hei Oshiro Masumi?" Throughout all of it, Natsumi's voice remained level, if not strained, but she felt ill deep inside, having to publicly rebuke one of her shipmates, even if it was the correct response. She could not let any member of the crew disregard the authority of any command level officers.

As she awaited Masumi's response, she turned to Candon, "And why, Ittô Heisho Candon Suites, did you bring an unauthorized and dangerious explosive divice with you on this away mission. 10 pounds of antimatter is enough to vaporize this entire area and all of us " she said, then paused as Tsuguka's voice came into her ear.

"Keep under cover and return fire, Tsuguka Heisho, for the moment. Do you have an estimate of the enemy forces attacking you?" she asked, speaking quick. "We are attempting to get to you as quick as possible. Are you three able to teleport out yet?"

Space, Airlock Door

"………"
Candon, already annoyed with the officer's mellow yet condescending attitude, would reflect Natsumi's calm demeanor right back with a simple answer that would make perfect sense to anyone who actually participated in field operations from the field on a regular basis.
"… So I can blow up the entire area and vaporize everything in it…" hey why not make it worse, "and it's a .2 gram shell, I didn't want to skimp... 3 times."

Surface

"Just like when ya opened the hatch and got thea shuttle shot to shit, and puttin us all in dangeh?" Bronzi said as the Heirophant walked up behind Natsumi and looked over them both.

"Ya ignored meh when I said don't do it. So I got news fer ya, we are currently occupying the general area. Using dat much anti matter would fuckin kill all of us. " Bronzi said pointing a mech hand indicating the area they were standing on. Totally not matching Natsumi's tone as he spoke.

The medical bot was still moving all over Natsumi. "Oh yer little initiative grab also got yer CO banged up. So."

Back Seat

The lowest two hatches on the Hierophant's shoulders opened up,

*POP-POP*

Out shot two small sprinkle drones, one slowly floating upward while the other scoot'd off in the direction of the shuttle, each providing a wide view of the surrounding area.

"Bronzi, remember you are a guest here and not part of their command. If you have a disagreement with their lead officer about how they run things then bring it up quietly to them afterwards..."

Wazu said, or at least tried to, when he overheard what Candon had to say,

"But yeah..." He sighed, "We do not need 20 pounds of anti-matter right now."

Time for the all-hands channel. Wazu would turn on his radio so he could speak to more than just Bronzi.

"We could pick the lock on the door. Someone with an aether-blade could cut in 2cm, and make a square cut right in the center of the door. It should let us get ahold of the locking mechanism and retract the locking bolts... then we just have to push the door in."

Wazu would then flick off his radio,

"... We should try and recover what we can from that robot... or we could just push out in front of the group if you are wanting to avoid scattering the infantry that are with us..."

Bronzi switched the comma off.

"When it comes to dat much ordinance....yea I have quiet an polite. Plus da kid already done goofed and got half this op beat to, at dis point I'm tryin not to let em get us dead."

Bronzi grunted. "But ya. Yer right"

"What's the scan as sayin bout that door? Also....that suit yer wearin shows yer junk off. Who you tryna impress?" Bronzi said looking up past wazu's weiner.

Back Seat

"It is a door..." Wazu replied, not quite sure what he was asking. "I saw what looked like deadbolts all around the door which means it probably has one of those circular mechanisms in the center to retract all of them at once. If the door is fully electronic then we just blast it with EMP until we get the results we want...

... and I know what you are thinking, but if we blow it off then we will not be able to seal it behind us once we get inside."

Bronzi grunted. "Ight. I guess lets do it."

Outside

"Save it, Garta-san, and do not address this team unless there's a threat that only you somehow notice," Saiga ordered when the squad's tag-along decided to air his opinion about Candon. The Geshrin Chusa was tired of what was happening, and Bronzi's decision to admonish a Yamataian NCO—someone far more capable than he'd ever be—was too much. "The presence of your mech is the root cause of our current troubles, so keep your head down and stay out of our way where you belong. Star Army Intelligence operatives don't need criticism from your kind in the middle of battle."

Though Natsumi had asked him to join her, Saiga-chusa was already next to the airlock when she floated over to the blast door and checked for a control panel. With his back to the station, Saiga could feel the dull, distant vibrations of whatever combat was happening inside just before Tsuguka's report over comms.

"With any luck, further scolding can come later, Yamashiro-taii," the SAINT commando said in friendly, collegial way. What he'd told Bronzi about chastising people while a fight was going on went for the First Officer, too, but he was obligated to be nice about it in her case. And wanted to be nice about it—Natsu-taii was super cute, after all, and Saiga didn't plan on dying today. In any case, he knew rebuking soldiers during combat wasn't good for morale and hoped it wouldn't happen again.

"Aether sabers could work—you're right—now that our tech support is otherwise occupied," he admitted. "If Toyoe-san cannot get things under control in there so that Oshiro-hei can resume her attempts at overriding the airlock and our sabers fail, though, Suites-heisho's bomb could make a good starting point. It's probably powerful enough to weaken the station's skin sufficiently so our swords could do the rest of the work. And if we made our entrance just adjacent to the airlock, perhaps it'd allow us to swing around and flank the second team's assailants and doubly spare our friends from whatever blast the breaching efforts create."

Planetoid Interior/Totally Not a Dungeon

Junko grunted affirmatively, lit her bayonet and jammed it in the robot's chest. Tsuguka and Masumi would definitely notice she took to cutting into it with far more enthusiasm than was strictly healthy. First to go would be the chest armor layer, then she'd look under the hood. Made sure her AIES was recording and analyzing everything before she pulled anything out for retrieval.

She kept behind the robots corpse(?) as Tsuguka kneejerked and tried to pre-empt an attack.

First thing she did was check the robot for missile launchers. Then point them out to Tsuguka quietly if she found them.

Second was to send out her bits. They could be used to peek corners, so she used them to get a better view of their current location. Geography, incoming enemies, etcetera.

Surface

Freyja backed away from the blast door. "Hai Natsu-taii." She answered, trying to suppress the concern in her voice. It was silly, she knew. Even if Junko died she would still be fine. The thought of her suffering, even if the next body wouldn't remember it, was unbearable.

The Infantry soldier turned away from the door. She located Tan Ann Pan and saw that Victory had already been recovered. Tan looked like she could use some help though. Freyja flew towards the medic and her cargo. As she got closer she reduced her momentum, disabled her CFS and glided into position beside Tan. Her landing was flawless.

"Pan-hei, are you injured?" She asked. There were no obvious major wounds or holes in her armor. Victory didn't look so great. They needed to get her back into atmosphere soon. "If you're good, let's get her to the other shuttle," Freyja said. She slipped an arm around Victory. "Ready?"

Surface

"I'm... the jury is out. No?" Tan's brain was probably more bruised than anything else, which was interfering with her assessment, somewhat. She pulled back and climbed to her feet as Freyja picked up Victory, which revealed her left arm was a bit stiff and she'd be limping for a few moments, unless she needed to shrug it off with a burst of adrenaline.

Metal Planet Surface

The surface was a vast, uneven wasteland of gray, unpainted metal armor, broken up by occasional dark valleys full of glowing lights in aetheric teal colors. There were hulks of long-dead robots here, all damaged from weapons fire. Thousands of them. This was once a battleground.

Tan found that blowing open the side of the shuttle had killed Victory, as the force needed to get through the shuttle hull was pretty significant. Originally Victory had only had a severe back injury from the crash, but no one had taken the time to ask her about it.

Metal Dungeons

Junko's drones revealed a vast network of tunnels. There was a habitable atmosphere in the subsurface areas, that was a little thin and a little dry but suitable for humans. A number of pieces of foreign equipment were found nearby, including a Kuvexian-made portable environmental system and various trashy-looking contraptions that the dead Rixxikor had carried. Additionally the Rixxikor had some basic science equipment, some weaponry, and a large quantity of cutting torches for scavenging the planet's resources. The insectoid bodies were scattered throughout the vicinity of the airlock, and appeared to have died violently from an encounter with some of the planet's robot guardians.

Rixxikor poop revealed a trail where some Rixxikor had survived and gone into a nearby neighboring compartment 2 km away.

Apparently Really A Dungeon Now

Junko made certain Tsuguka was getting her drones feed. Then she made sure Natsumi, Saiga and Candon were all getting the same. Started working on a rough map of the interior sections, with markers for reference. Which she'd transmit to all three of the interior team.

"Confirm no contact." She said, voice flat.

"Looks like the Kuvies set up some kind of expedition here. Just Rixx so far, though. Heisho, recommend we scout ahead and hit their camp. They might have valuable intelligence to scavenge." Junko continued.

At the least, she could scout ahead herself. Go quiet and invisible, see what it looked like before they committed to an attack. Make the SOFT spook happy, at least.

End of the day, cut off or not, the mission hadn't changed: Get on the planetoid, and investigate thoroughly.

Space Dungeon

Tsuguka sent Junko the mental equivalent of a thumbs up, before returning her own sensor feed, and sending a link that Masumi would hopefully accept as well. It was time to get a better grasp on this situation. With Natsumi stuck outside, it wasn't really opportune to rely on their orders.

"Looks like the enemy has broken off, Yamashio Taii." Standing up, the oni broke cover, before looking back to make sure the technical specialist was okay. "I'm going to advance inwards with the team... I'm not sure about this technology, ma'am. There is a chance that if we teleport out, there may be interference, or we may not be able to get back in again. I suggest you select another armed team member, such as Freyja-Hei, to attempt beaming inside. That would adequately test the viability."

"Junko-Hei. I have your back, but please be careful of traps. This movement is suspicious." Even whilst speaking, her silhouette was melting down into a blurry chrome shadow. "Masumi-Hei. Please turn on your optical camouflage... Any luck with finding an interface? If not, we will need your assistance."

Bronzi paused at what Saiga said to him. The racism was off putting, yet it wasn't something Bronzi was willing address here. Bronzi grounded his teeth and was about to start a yelling match with Saiga.

The medical bot was notifying Bronzi and Wazu of the injuries she sustained and was asking for confirmation to go aid her. Bronzi narrowed his eyes "Ya have a casualty Chusa-San. Putting that casualty on me dont cut it when I cautioned against openin tha breech in tha first place."

"Taii-Sama, permission to scan the surface for a secondary point of entry?" Bronzi said turning the mech away to start looking at the robot corpse strewn battle field.

Surface

Having assessed the condition the pilot was in, Tan shook her head at Freyja's offer. "No, we can't help her now. The cockpit 'glass' on these shuttles isn't designed for an easy exit, it looks like she was killed by the backscatter before I could break through. ...Slap me for a civilian."

Breaking away from the introspection before she could waste another second. "Just give her here, I need to get her to the tank, stat." She prepared to teleport back to the Eucharis, or the closest approach she could manage, from near the crash site, on the surface.

Outside

As Saiga-chusa waited for Natsumi's decision as to their course of action, he wondered why Bronzi was still talking and did his best to ignore the civilian's ongoing intrusion. He figured the alien's continued mumbling in the face of more important matters was an insurmountable cultural trait and moved his attention past the Gartagen's witless retort.

That's when the feed from Junko's drones came through to supplement the team's tactical readouts. The SAINT officer took a few quick moments to integrate the new information into his analysis, particularly taking note of the interior airlock controls and the trail of Rixxikor dung—it was apparently always poop with these guys—that revealed at least one area to avoid or investigate during their time here.

"Before we start cutting into or blowing anything else up, Yamashiro-taii, perhaps Masumi-hei should try this interface panel now that the action has subsided for a moment," he suggested, using his AIES' networking capabilities to send Natsumi highlighted topographic information revealed by Tsuguka, Junko, and Masumi's efforts inside. "It's as good a bet as any, and will be the simplest way in if our scientist can figure out how everything works.

"No need to complicate the situation with more explosive decompression than we've already experienced today, right?"

Surface

"Thank you, Tsuguka. I would not be surprised if they attack again very soon" Natsumi replied.

She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment as she learned the fate of Victory. "Tan Ann pan Hei, please get Victory back to the ship, thank you" she said, then pulled up the feed from Junko's drones. The Rixxicore bug aliens were some of the most disgusting creatures she had encountered in her life, almost as repulsive as the Misshu.

"Masumi-Hei, if you can get the airlock controls working, please do so. We will cut through if that does not work" she said, then looked around at the others. "Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled for more of those robots or Rixxicore"

"I don't want anyone straying too far, Mr. Bronzi" Natsumi replied, if we get attacked again I'd rather not have us split up more than we already are"

Metal Dungeon

With her optical camouflage engaged, Oshiro Masumi began working on the panel she had found a millisecond after receiving orders to do so. She relayed all of the key information from Candon's LSP specially equipped with hacking abilities, but soon found it to be unnecessary as there were clearly labeled opening and closing buttons for each of the airlock doors. She looked backwards, seeing the way they had to go that Tsuguka and Junko were heading to. She bobbed upwards and trotted after Tsuguka, then knelt down where the innermost airlock blast door's frame was, though it was currently opened. She spotted the same control panel there as there had been on the previously closed blast door. She knelt at it while sending a small phrase over comms.

"Right here."

Her fingers slipped on the feces on the controls and she gritted her teeth, but didn't give pause as she kept up the short work of both closing the door they had just passed through and opening the first door nearest the majority of the away team after the innermost one had closed.

"Hope this works," Masumi said as stood and then wiped the fingers of her Mindy-clad left hand on the wall of the metal dungeon.