RP: YSS Celia Mission 3C: [Space] Grace Under Fire

As the edges of the target ship's hull came into view, Joey prepared to maneuver beneath the larger craft, and as the shuttle entered the hangar bay of the larger ship, he dropped below the transport and used it for cover as he finally moved onto the pirate ship's hull.

"Yessir," he replied shortly. "OK guys, let's split up and scan the ship for an emergency hatch. Avaldamon, Orie, you guys take one Lamia each with you and check opposite sides of the ship, and I'll check its underside. If anyone finds anything, let Tangozulu-Heisho know first; I'm sure he'll signal the rest of us when we're ready to storm this ship."

With that said, Joey began scanning the smooth metallic underbelly of the pirate marauder ship for an emergency hatch. If the designers of the ship were smart, they would've included one in the ship's architecture to allow individual units to enter the craft if they couldn't use their docking bay. After searching for this type of hatch for about thirty seconds, he noticed a small gap in the ship's hull, and he closed in to investigate it, hoping that it wasn't a gun turret port.

The end of the journey interrupted Orie's mental review of ways that she could die, cutting it off just between 'being drawn and quartered' and 'having her skin peeled off.' Once the order was given, she started eagerly searching for a hatch, searching in the opposite direction from Joey. The task quickly calmed her down--taking her mind off of the threat of combat helped, but most of the advantage lay in the fact that searching for an airlock was close enough to an engineering task to be enjoyable for her.

She spent a few moments looking over the ship, then chose the best areas of it to search based on her own estimations of where she'd stick an airlock if she were designing it. She briefly considered just asking her AIES about the ship's layout, but it seemed like the commanding officers would have already done so if the information were so easy to find.

“Hmm? You're authorized to use both radio and telepathic communications. No need to be discreet on this mission,” replied Sakai. “Do not fire unless fired upon. Again, we're not expecting any hostiles flying around out there, as we have the last remaining enemy ship at gun-point. Contact the Celia if you spot any possible bogies though. As for return protocols, I want you to search the ship wrecks throughly. It may take you 20 minutes, or it may take you 4 hours, depending on how much stuff got vaporized when those ships blew. The Celia will recall you if you're taking too long. Are there any other questions? If not, please report to the launch bay on Deck 28.”

Meanwhile, on the pirate ship...

Aurore waited patiently as the shuttle bay sealed shut and re-pressurized. Zug continued to peer through the portholes. “Ooh! Someone's coming!” he exclaimed.

Aurore shoved Zug aside and looked through the porthole. “Looks like two Neps. Let's go meet them... Itkatsu-Shosa, you take point. Zug and I will be right behind you.”

The ship's hull bore an eerie resemblance to those of the Celia's Yui-class escorts. However, those paying attention to the small text that scrolled unobtrusively across the edges of their vision would know that the Celia had already identified the pirate vessel as of the Bellystabber-class. Like most non-military ships, however, this one's hull was covered with modifications, graffiti, and damaged hull platings bearing wounds both fresh and ancient. It appeared that several areas that had once been entry points were clumsily welded shut with replacement hull platings, most of which do not match the ship's original paint job. In other areas, the hull was so close to being punched through by weapons fire that, the away team would have been easily able to enter the ship, if the ship had suffered a few more shots when the Arashi escorts first arrived on the scene.

The gap in the ship's hull that Joey found turned out to be a small, operational airlock. The opening was secured via a door-sized hatch, on the other side of which was a small, closet-sized room. The room would presumably pressurize and de-pressurize as needed, and allow those wearing suitable protection from the vacuum outside to safely enter and exit the ship.

“Hey, I think Joey's found something!” shouted Sixthree as he spotted Joey and one of the Lamias leaning over the airlock. “Converge on his location!”

"Shosa!" Ren snapped off another crisp salute before turning smartly and marching for the lifts. Boarding a free lift she held it for Isuzu before requesting level 28.

Bowing to Sasaki-shosa, Isuzu followed Ren into the lift. As they descended to the power armor launch bay on level 28, she brought up her Mindy's navigation system and 'painted' their destination in her HUD so it would be easier to orient herself once they left the ship.

That done, Isuzu glanced over at her partner. Opening an encrypted telepathic link with the red-haired Yamataian, Isuzu whispered into Ren's mind, "Initiating comm systems test. Are you recieving, Hibiki-san?"

Ren easily locked into the encrypted channel and replied, ~Five by five Kuroaki-san. System checked out green, you?~

When Isuzu and Ren arrive at the destination floor Ren steps off the lift and begins preparing for launch. carefully psyching herself up for going into a zero-g environment where all directions are equal.

Hmm, probably converted before she signed on, Isuzu mused to herself as she completed her own pre-launch preparations. Ren's quick and comfortable response to telepathic communication was also a strike against Isuzu's 'Nepleslian' theory. I guess I'll have to watch a bit more closely... "I copy, Hibiki-san. Five by Five, all systems green. Starting radio check," Isuzu replied, switching on her suit radio and repeating the exchange aloud.

Ren Replies the exact same over radio before switching to telepathy again.

~So...you ever space walked before? It's my first and I'm kinda nervous. I've read up on it and know what to do, at least i think i do, but still....~

"Perfect," Joey said with a smile as he identified the airlock. "Tangozulu-Heisho, I've found an emergency hatch on the underside of the ship, approximately five feet forward from my position. It doesn't seem to be locked shut from what I can see; so long as there aren't any surveillance units in the airlock, we should be able to sneak in through it. I'm holding my position unless instructed otherwise."

After hearing Tangozulu issue his orders, Joey maintained his position, guessing that it would be unwise to go right in without thinking about it. Instead, he decided it would be best to wait for a more experienced member of the team to verify that the airlock would provide secure entry for them.

*You didn't go up during basic?* Isuzu asked in mild curiosity. At least she'd been right about the 'planet-born' part. *I was trained on a starship. All of our zero-G classes were in space,* she replied. In fact, Isuzu had practically spent her entire life in space, but that was probably more information than Ren wanted.

*I imagine it's like being in a zero-G training room, except that there are no walls,* the Neko continued, trying to see the situation from Ren's point of view. *It might help to have your Mindy overlay a 3D grid on your HUD, so you can visually judge distance.*

To show Ren what she was talking about, Isuzu quickly set up such a program on her own Mindy, then telepathically patched Ren into a visual feed from her eyes. The illusory 'grid' divided space up into hundred-meter 'cubes' bounded by glowing blue lines.

Ren blinked and tilted her head. ~Well that helps a lot. Thanks. But what I meant was that I've never been so far from a planet before. I've done a few space walks but most were at least near a moon....~

Ren shrugged and quickly reset her HUD to fit. Nodding to herself she rolled her shoulders and sighed.

~Regardless....this is my first official mission. I'm scared. I guess that's just putting me off. I'm babbling. Don't worry about it. I'll shut up now.

“I'll take a look,” said Liam as he ran up to the airlock. “Hmm. It's locked. No surprise there. This looks like it should be fairly easy to hack though,” he observed after examining it. “Ah, here we go.” He tapped at a barely visible button at the side of the airlock. A panel cover slid back, revealing a control panel with a keypad. “Give me some room here... Ah, you, Santô Hei, hold this please,” he said as he handed the signal jammer to Joey, and then took out his energy pistol.

ZOIP

As atomic particles that used to be the control panel rapidly flew away from the ship, Liam brushed aside a few slagged plastic pieces that was still barely attached to the hull, reached into the small gap, and pulled out a fistful of wires. “This will take only a few minutes, guys. Stand by,” he reported.

The lift opened up to Deck 28, onto a corridor not far from the launch bay. Sakai's voice came over telepathically. ~ I have work to do in engineering. Please let Celia know if you need help with launch procedures. Good luck, soldiers. ~

“Hmm. Do you guys need help with launch procedures?” asked Celia from her ceiling speakers. “I usually just de-pressurize the launch bay and let people out. You are all big girls. I'm not going to remind everyone to make sure their suit is fully air-sealed and such.”

Meanwhile, in the pirate ship's shuttle bay, two Nepleslians stepped out of the shadows and onto the deck next to the Lion-class shuttle.

One looked to be a fairly nondescript Nepleslian in his forties, bald, with a graying beard. He wore a green turtleneck sweater and jeans, strangely enough, and had a NovaCorp Peacekeeper rifle slung over this shoulder.

The other was a hulking ID-SOL, fat, and about eight feet tall. He wore military fatigues, full body armor, and a red beret. He carried a Zen 10mm Submachine Pistol in each hip holster, and two more in holsters underneath his armpits. He must have really liked that model.

“Branard-Taisho?” The middle-aged Nepleslian called out. “We're here to escort you to the bridge.”

“Almost... got it...” said Liam. By this time he had a few of the wires stripped and twisted together, while a few others were feeding into his data pad. “Dammit, this would have taken a lot less time if I had my tool box... There we go. De-pressurizing and opening the airlock.”

The airlock soundlessly slid open.

“I'll take that back now, thank you,” said Liam as he retrieved the signal jammer from Joey.

“Okay, the Lamias will go in first and secure a perimeter,” ordered Sixthree. “The rest of us will follow. Go in one at a time and follow proper pressurization procedures. That means one side of the airlock is closed at all times! We don't want to have an explosive de-compression in that hallway and kill any hostages inside. Let's move out!”

One by one, the Lamias quickly entered the ship through the airlock.

“Contact!” shouted the first Lamia that entered. A “thump” sound could be heard over the radio. “I have one target subdued here,” she reported.

Glancing at the soldier beside her, Isuzu decided that it would probably be best if they got started before Ren got any more nervous. "Negative, Celia," she replied in a firm tone that was meant more for her partner than the computer. Crossing the coridor with purposeful strides, Isuzu took a quick turn around the launch bay to check for any unsecured supplies or stray tools.

Satisfied that everything was in order, Isuzu waited for Ren to seal the airlock behind them, then fired up her IDS and began hovering a few inches above the floor. "The bay is clear, Celia; please open the doors," she requested.

Orie bit back a squeal of protest as Liam got to work. If she had been designing an airlock on a pirate ship, it would have had a hidden interface to inform the bridge crew if it had been opened. But, Liam seemed to know what he was doing, and besides--they were pirates. They probably weren't that smart... right?

Her tension only increased with the report of hostile contact, even though it had been easily neutralized. She'd been hoping the mission could focus a bit more on the messing-with-wires bits, a bit less on the ones where people shot at them. Still, the airlock didn't look big enough for everybody to easily fit into at once, there were higher-ranking officers present, and she was the only neko left outside--it seemed obvious to her that the onus of being the next one into danger fell on her. Still shaking nervously, she broadcast, "I c-can go in next!" while doing her best to strike what she hoped was a confident pose.

"Negative Celia." Ren echoed Isuzu as she followed the Neko into the bay. Sealing the door behind her as she entered. Noting her new partner checking for loose objects Ren decided to make sure the door was fully engaged before moving to the middle of the room.

Engaging her IDS Ren stared at the door and muttered to herself sub-vocally. "Its just a training op.... No worries. Honest."

As soon as the bay emptied of oxygen and the doors opened Ren began moving. Not letting herself become any more nervous waiting for her partner or the ship she almost began to move before the doors were fully clear.

Easily reorienting herself so her feet faced the destination, automatically readjusting her perceptions so that the ship to be searched is "down" to her. In the few seconds it took to get across the gulf to the destination Ren had managed to become completely calm.

Avaldamon hadn't gotten very far when the call came in to converge on Demaro's position. He carefully moved along the hull using the modifications and patches as handholds so he wouldn't have to fire his engines.

On arriving, he took a position slightly to the perimeter of the group with his back to the hull. It was pretty crowded around the hatch and he didn't need to be in the way. He had chosen his position precisely to work defense for the crew in case any drones came by. "You never know what pirates are going to throw at you" he thought to himself.

Once the airlock was hotwired, more orders were released and it sounded like a "stealth" battle was beginning to form. Avaldamon began to focus himself for battle and waitied for his turn to enter the lock, all the while keeping his passive sensors active and his eyes open for more trouble.

Leaving the bay at a slightly saner speed, Isuzu activated her CFS once she was clear of the Celia and accelerated gently toward the target marker that she'd set for the center of the debris field. Patching herself into a long-range sensor feed from the Celia, she synchronized it with her armor's sensors and began plotting debis trajectories, spatial distortions and the radiation 'bloom' spreading from the site; it was possible that significant pieces of the wreckage had already left the immediate area, and the pattern of destruction might give them an idea of what had happened. She also surveyed vapor cloud mass distruibution to determine when and where the ships had lost internal atmosphere, and what its approximate composition had been.

Sixthree gave Orie the okay via a nod. “I'll be right behind you, soldier. The rest of you, follow after me.”

As Orie entered the airlock, the hatch behind her soundlessly slid shut. A loud whistling noise could be heard as Liam re-pressurized the small room at the maximum possible speed. A few seconds later, the hatch on the other side of the room slid open with a light hiss.

As Orie stepped through the hatchway, she saw a corridor that ran off to her sides in both directions. Another hatchway could be seen to her right, on the other side of the corridor, labeled “medical bay”. Next to the doorway were two of the Lamias, pointing their weapons at a prone figure on the ground. The third Lamia was standing guard on her left hand side.

From behind her, the rest of the away party entered one at a time: Sixthree, then Joey.

Liam, after checking his data pad, and satisfied that he could control the airlock remotely, pulled out the rest of the wires from the broken control panel with a snap. Giving an appreciative nod to Avaldamon, he entered the airlock and then into the ship.

Avaldamon, bringing up the rear, was the last one to board the ship.

Sixthree prodded at the prone figure with his boot. “Is he dead?”

“No sir,” replied one of the Lamias. “One swift blow to the soft tissue at the back of the neck. He'll wake up a few hours later with a bad headache.”

“He was carrying these, sir,” added the other Lamia, and then handed Sixthree a GP-1 rifle and a Zen Armaments “Liberator” pistol.

Sixthree pulled out the ammo cartridge of the GP-1. “Loaded. He's definitely a pirate then...” He turned to Liam. “Any bright ideas on what to do with him, sir?”

“Hang on... I'm patching my suit's sensor data to everyone,” answered Liam. “There we go...”

https://wiki.stararmy.com/lib/exe/fetch. ... 3_map1.png

The intense levels of radiation present in the debris field were interfering with the sensors, but Renko and Isuzu had a clear visual of the wreckage, at least. The fastest moving particles were already far away from the debris field, but one still needed to be careful. Getting hit by a ten-ton piece of floating starship hull fragment going at one mile per hour could still hurt.

Renko and Isuzu were now floating at the loosely defined edges of the debris field. It was hard to see anything interesting at this distance though. They could only get brief glimpses of the two ship's hulls from underneath the pieces of scrap metal and slagged plastic, all of which drifted ever so slowly away from the ships. Further investigation would require that they wade in closer to the ship wreckages.

Hmm... Should've brought a shield unit- or a shovel. Deploying support drones to help compensate for the poor visibility, Isuzu activated both of her forearm shield projectors. She also set an 'emergency return' point for her TP unit well outside of the debris field, so she wouldn't be fumbling for safe coordinates if they needed to evacuate.

*Stick close?* she suggested, turning to Ren. *We have enough drones between us that we should be able to move together and still sweep the field thoroughly.*

~Agreed. That was why i brought the extras.~ Ren grinned cheerfully in her helmet as she adjusted her distance to her partner and her speed of approach.

Shifting her legs up closer under herself, doubling them over into a kneeling position, Ren grabbed them and produced her shields in an overlapping entry position to be able to block fast moving particles from striking her.