RP: YSS Mikomi Mission 3: Part 3- Back on Planet!

Kestral awoke in Ghi's arms; he had felt the motion of the ship. They where heading off. Where he wasn't sure. Daduar was next to him looking at the PHALANX pad and waiting to get his suit of. Kestral picked himself out of Ghi's hands and step onto it. The suit cam of and he was left there for a minute. Realising that it was done he moved of to the side so that Daduar could have his turn. He felt...better, not great but better. He looked down to his right side to see the damage. There was blood around his side, but it didn't seem to be that bad, mainly him making a big deal out of it. He was tired, but sleep could come later.

As the suit disassembled itself in what seemed to take an eternity to Daduar, Kestral was finally removed from his PHALANX and so he began to the process to remove the armour that seemed to weigh more tiresome. The two minutes passed ever so slowly, but then the PHALANX was removed from Daduar's body and he was able to have move around in his own skin yet again. Blood has dried up around his left shoulder and a few more minor places from where smaller blasts had penetrated. Daduar threw his left hand outward and pushed against the wall, hoping to find a centre of balance quickly. His eyes were glazed over from the effect of the battle, awestruck by what had unfolded so very quickly. He just stood there, barely taking the time for a breath.

Kestral looked up at Ghi, and then to Daduar. He looked liked he had been working for a week straight, which in actual fact he probably had been. Kestral stepped to Daduar's left side, and sat against the wall looking at the mans face. He noticed he had blood on his right shoulder, but hoped it wasn't to bad. "Daduar, I have to congratulate you on your service. You were exceptional, and took the lead well while I was unable. How are you feeling? I also need to ask an order of you, can you find out who is fit to fight one last time? Just the names." He sat there for a second longer thinking about Tom Freeman; he was a good man and had been with him for a while but he wasn't here right now, and he had to focus on what would be happening.

Daduar caught his breath for a few more moments before mustering a response for Kestral. "I'm just a little in awe of the carnage that I witnessed, that's allâ€

Masako's face looked more haggard than it had ever been in her life. She had witnessed the deaths of her crewmates just moments before the Mikomi had taken off. "So...this is *true* combat," she mumbled to herself as she received the order to come to the bridge through her connection to the Mikomi.

The problem was...Masako was still in her Mindy. Getting back up, the young Neko went to the racks and peeled out of her Mindy armor, her body wet from her armor's interior. From there, it was a quick walk to the shower area to wash up and get back into her uniform. Though, she stalled while the water was running over her body. She couldn't help but let her mind wander for a moment.

Fortunately, it was only a moment as she regained herself and dressed before heading towards the bridge.

No sooner had Nick disassembled his armor than the AI's message called him and the Mikomi's other survivors to the bridge. He continued to sit in the armor bay for a few minutes after the call had met his ears, making his uniform as presentable as possible despite the fact that it probably didn't matter at the moment. At least the Captain and his second ended up living through that, he thought, running his hands over wrinkles and folds on his jacket.

As Nick made his way to the bridge, he continued to scrutinize the situation at hand in his mind. He knew that there had been losses, but after seeing how many had actually made it back alive caused his survivor's guilt to grow. The question of, "If I had done more, would things have turned out better,â€

Ghi was left alone sitting on the pad, wondering what to do. Well treat people obviously.

Something about being around the wounded and being so close to death ... it stirred something in Ghi. That voice which she'd been free of for, well it must have been for hours, long wonderful hours. It spoke to her quietly, insidiously, "You should not be here, here there is death. Run and survive. Or finish off the wounded, they are only a liability."

Ghi shook her head vigorously. Now was not the time for that. It was never really the time for that, but now was certainly not the time for it. She had a duty to fulfil, and that did not include running away or granting coup de grace.

She went to work on the heavily injured crew members, Carlos and Neka either dragging them over to the PHALANX pad to disassemble their armour (in the case of Carlos) or working them out of it (in the case of Neka), depending on what they were using. Their situation was far worse than Kestral's, so she was working as hard as she could.

"MEGAMI-san, please create stretchers for these two and carry them to the Medbay." Ghi requested the Mikomi's AI, and Carlos and Neka were transferred onto suddenly conjured stretchers which floated themselves down the corridors towards the Medbay. Ghi now realised she could have probably asked MEGAMI to help her carry Carlos to the pad and work Neka out, and cursed herself. "Fool." the voice hissed, "You have risked their lives further, see what caring for others brings you."

Ghi ignored the voice, a task that she was both getting more used to and finding increasingly hard, and ran after the stretchers. Once back in the Medbay she began to treat the two as best she could with all of her knowledge, and before long they were both in Regeneration Tanks, unconscious but healing nicely.

Silence fell across the Medbay, and Ghi recalled that she should probably be at the Bridge by now. To make up for this she ran to the Bridge as fast as she could, dropping to all fours at one point, ("That's better." The voice had said), and soon reached the Bridge, bursting in through the doors.

Kestral stood up, it had been comfortable in the chair but he could feel himself drifting of and this definitely wasn't the time to be falling asleep. He had something big to tell the crew. There where only the four of the six here though, he need the other two too come. No, this was important and had to be done quick. The other two could be filed in.

"Right guys, firstly I want to say well done. You did well under pressure... OK extreme pressure and managed to help each other out when it was possible. Sorry that I wasn't there all the time. However I think Daduar did well in my place." He added a little clap of the hands with this to show his respect and appreciation. "However it is not over yet. This has been a long time for all of us. The Mikomi has been through Tami, and now Bowhordia. Yet... I am going to say it straight... I want us to go back in one last time. You may think it is crazy, yet now we know what we are facing, and I know how to get round it. This is optional, as I know how hard it has been. I just... want to do this for the men who gave their lives... I know there are ST backups, but they I want to remember them now. I certainly did get through this without their help. I don't think I would be here otherwise. They made the team. This is why I want to go back down, but under cover, and use the ship as a cover. It will take their focus from us. We can do this." Kestral looked at each of them in turn, then sat back down.

"That is all I want to say. It down to you. Tell me what you think."

"Sir, I agree with you completely. Although I was ... indisposed and wasn't on the planet, I do think we should return to the planet. I will go with you. As it is I shall work on restoring our lost crew, their Soul Transfer backups should still be intact." Ghi responded to the captain. Honestly she didn't have much to say. Unlike the rest of the crew she hadn't been on the ship, had been fighting with the voice, and then had been stuck in the Medbay. She hadn't risked her life, hadn't been shot at, hadn't even left the comfort of the ship.

"I saved your life you know. Without me you would have been out there, and you would have been killed. Dying for duty is a human failure, weakling." The voice told her, and to a degree she agreed with it. She'd have rather fulfilled her duty her duty of course, but she was certainly grateful that she hadn't died.

The moment Kestral announced his intention to return to the surface of the planet, Nick felt his face transform into an expression of bewilderment. It was the type of expression that occurred purely of reflex and instinct, when one is surprised with a horrendously backwards idea such as the one that the assembled had just been presented with. As he quickly contemplated the dread that his Captain's words brought, there was not much that he could think to say in reply.

"If you believe that we are up to the task, sir, I will follow you,â€

Daduar was stunned to his very core by the announcement by Kestral. â€

Darkness. Empty darkness.

Is this death? I can't see anything... I can't feel anything.

What happened to me? How did I...?

Tom Freeman. What does that name mean?

...is this all there is? What meaning did my life have?

Why be born at all... if I am to be just another soldier to die a meaningless death? Another body left somewhere to decay... alone and forgotten.

I'm so lonely...

...won't somebody talk to me?

Mother... father... where are you?

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Searing, unbelievable pain. The Geshrin's eyes slowly opened only to let daggers of light stab them. The smell of dirt violated his nose.

I want to cough so badly... I'm choking.

No... something is wrong...

"What... the hell is that?"

Stay still.

I mustn't move.

God help me.

Drones dotted the landscape, but they were ready for another fire fight. The ship has taken all of the humans away and had only left the dead but they could return. Robot 217FZ scanned the area around him. It had been him who had shot down one of the pitiful humans. He had an object on his monitor, one of the human most probably. He began moving towards the human, feeling something within his wires that could almost be joy. The joy of killing, he wasn't sure however if it was alive. As he got closer, he saw the shape, lying still unmoving. It was a wreck, he looked as though he had been hit by a thousand drones. Moving closer, he though he say the humans eyes move. It is alive. He was about the shoot the creature when he got a call from he leading officer.

"Soldier 217FZ and 542FX return to base for servcing." The robot didn't linger, turning away as though it's mind was no longer his. Tom Freeman had just managed to escape.

After he saw the monstrosity leave, the Geshrin let out a cough that shook his whole body. His spit splattered on the ground, laced with specks of blood.

"Have to call... distress Mikomi."

He opened the comm link on his tattered suit. It worked, but the static was horrible.

"Mother, this is Tap happy... I'm... GACK GACK... kicking but tattered like a dirty rag. I'm neck deep in water with my arms and legs tied. Going to skip out into Rocky Boxer land and await the party. Don't look in the shell. The crab's gone."

Tom Freeman forced himself out of his suit and onto his feet. Pain shot through his entire body, but nothing stopped him from moving, step by step, away from the scene.

The young Geshrin's mind was scattered as he slumped against a rock.

Kestral looked at his men, they where scared and rightly so. However they had to return, he needed to. He has let the side down, he had lost concentration while down there, because of that Daduar had taken control and it made him feel stupid and a coward. "We have to go." He mumbled to himself.

"Ghi I believe we need all the people we can, help the one who can be helped, and then get ready. Nick I really appreciate your trust, thank you. Daduar I also appreciate all the help I have had from you, the reason we have to go back is complicate, but I should tell you. I believe....." He couldn't finish the message as he was interrupted by the loud speaker.

"Mother, this is Tap happy... I'm... GACK GACK... kicking but tattered like a dirty rag. I'm neck deep in water with my arms and legs tied. Going to skip out into Rocky Boxer land and await the party. Don't look in the shell. The crab's gone."

"Shit, that's Tom. I though he was dead. Although he is not in a good state. He is surrounded by enemy we no weapons. He is going to hide among the rocky ground and wait for us there. And he has taken his Phalanx off and has left it. Bloody hell." He sat down rapidly. "Alright lads, I think we have another reason why we are going down. Get suited up right away, we are going down in our PHALANX 's, but at ground level we are taking them off. Go go go. We have no time."

Kestral stood up from the chair, he expected them to all be gone by the time he turned round. "Suzi get me the location of his PHALANX , he will be near that." It took only a moment for Suzi to find his position then she patched the location through to Kestral's PHALANX's computer.

"All done Sir, the location is on you PHALANX . Good luck." Kestral had spoken to Suzi about what she needed to do. It was all sorted. She was going to go down and take all the fire while the group went through the back way. This was going to be fun.

"Daduar, I can quickly prepare a shot that will beging healing that injury and serve as a painkiller. I shall do the same for you, captain, if you would so wish. The two crew-members who are in Medbay healing will not be healed for some hours, or at least should not be disturbed." Ghi responded quickly.

"Thank you Ghi, that will be good. I will be out in a minute." Kestral said.

Ghi ran down the corridor into the Medbay, where she quickly pulled up the genetic information on all of the crew members. Then she set the Mikomi to prepare a concoction of painkillers and stem-cells, combined with a cocktail of other drugs, each in relation to their exact body-chemistry and genetics. It only took a few moments for Megami to synthesise what was requested, and to place it in small vial's much like those used by Emrys Drugs.

She glanced over at where two of her crew-members where floating in the regeneration chambers, and bowed at them for no apparent reason.

"If you follow that madman you will die. Why risk yourself for another? It is only you who are important." The voice whispered.

Shaking her head she collected the vials and ran to the Power Armour bay, where she handed out the vials to the relevant people, if the people would take them, "You should probably inject them on to your arm, don't worry it won't hurt."

Daduar looked at Kestral for a moment, confused as to why he would not tell him at the moment. Without taking another minute to rest, Daduar returned to his quarters to remove his pistol and tucked it into his jacket, removing the battery. He then double-timed it back to the power armor bay to from his suit.

Daduar ran into Ghi and thankfully accepted the injection, taking no wait to inject the serum into his arm. He then tossed the empty vial on the ground and got to the formation pad. Arms and legs spread slightly, Daduar was lifted in the air for a moment as the PHALANX began to form around him. Another minute drifted by quickly until the PHALANX was more of like a second skin to Daduar.

As the pain began to numb, Daduar hefted the SIAR into the armor's left hand and waited for the rest of the crew to suit up. Worry still gripped at Daduar's stomach as he could not help but to think about if more of the crew died in the process, but he had to help save Tom Freeman. Sternness was placed over the frightened interior, he could hold it together until the new mission was complete.

Masako bowed her Kestral before double-timing it to the Armor Bay. She hated to be going back down there...she really did. But there was one thing she couldn't do, couldn't live with. And that was to leave a comrade behind. She had only met Tom like she had the majority of the Mikomi Crew, at a glance.

A problem she was going to have to remedy after this mission. Entering the locker rooms, she quickly stripped down and threw her uniform into a nearby locker. From there, it was the simple manner of entering her Mindy...a process she had trained in all her life. With suit on, she unlatched herself from the rack and began to check her equipment. She had a new Aether Rifle to replace the depleted one and her GM-06 was still attached to her generator. "Juni Kurohoshi, all systems green," she spoke up coolly, her fear being repressed by will alone.

Kestral entered the armour bay and looked at who was there. Daduar was ready, he though he should really tell him the reason why, but now wasn't the time and he didn't want to tell him until he was ready, he felt as though it was the worst excuse ever.

Before stepping on to the formation pad he took the vile from Ghi and thanked her. "Appreciate it Ghi." Then he stepped on to the formation pad, it took only a few second for the Phalanx to form around him and then it felt almost like he had nothing on him at all. "Right, we need to get out of here. Who isn't here yet?" Kestral said while looking around. He remembered to look at his on system computer and found the location of Tom's Phalanx. It wasn't to far from where they had been. Kestral took a few seconds making sure his weapons were ready and in place, then stood there waiting for the last of his crew to get ready. "Let's move it guys, we have little time to get down there."

Ghi finished handing out all of the vials, and placed all the unused ones in the corner of the room. If people didn't want healing it wasn't her look out, besides she wanted to save Tom. He was one of the few people on the Mikomi she'd had a good conversation with. Actually the only person.

Waiting for an opportunity to gain access to the PHALANX pod Ghi saw an opportunity and grabbed it, jumping on to the pad, finishing with an imitation Pirouette. She didn't have any dancing training, but this was Tom she was trying to rescue.

Standing still for a moment she felt the vaguely pleasant sensation of being lifted, and the components of the PHALANX flying around her. All she had to do was stay very very still. And this was easier said than done.

"You're going to be trapped within that metal skin. No way out. You will be crushed." The voice whispered insidiously. Ghi fought the temptation to shake her head, but despite herself began to breathe heavily. This did feel a little like a coffin.

Thankfully the procedure did not take long, and soon Ghi walked off the platform, her skin crawling in the suit. "I've done this before," she thought, "It's no different."

Tom had staggered a fairly long distance on foot before he reached the rocky area. His breath was ragged and he shivered in pain with movement.

"Hah... I really wish I had a mirror right now. I'd be a smash with all the ladies. Ha...ha... GACK!"

Still, in the back of his mind, the Geshrin wondered if his friends were really going to rescue him. Paranoia once again set in.

His hand slid down to the holster where his sidearm rested...

Roken was sitting in the hanger looking at his damaged Phalanx, he was a little shaken by the events before but now he was calm and unsure what he could do. "Think i can find a replacement" roken said, most of his wounds had healed and hes was more that ready to head back out there to deal with still present threat. Hope the others are ok Roken thought.
(OOC: sorry for not posting got hung up on some personal things but im on now and ready to get back invovled with the story if its alright.)

He could hear his comrades massing in the armor bay nearby, but the corridors that made up most of the Mikomi's interior seemed strangely quiet, their voices becoming lost in the background hum of the ship's workings. As Nick headed away from the armory, a number of NSP magazines clutched loosely in his right hand, he still felt the sinking feeling in his chest that had been present since Kestral had ordered them to return to the surface.

He sighed as he wondered weather or not whoever was apparently still alive down there would remain alive, or was even worth taking even more risk than was already required. Yes – of course they were worth saving, he thought, as his conscience corrected his selfish thoughts. If I were down there, I would expect the same.

The young Geshrin technician ran his free hand along the ship's bulkhead as he moved to suit up in the armor bay, picking up his communications equipment on the way. Despite his short time as a member of the crew, and having been on two ships before this in rapid succession, Nick had grown fonder of the Mikomi than he had any of the others. Hopefully he would be able to return to her cold halls for a second time during this mission.

Entering the armor bay, Nick received the medical vial from Ghi, thanking her as warmly as he could before giving a small bow. Once it was clear, he stepped onto the empty PHALANX construction pad, allowing the armor to form around him. He then stepped away, checked his equipment, and attempted to optimize communications with the Mikomi as best he could, cursing the strange field that this planet exuded as he waited for the remaining crew-members to prepare.