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RP: YSS Kaiyō Mission Ten: Takaramono

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Ametheliana

Head in the Stars
Staff Member
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🌸 FM of Yamatai
🎖️ Game Master
Planet Yamatai
Star Prefecture
Temple of the Stars

25日 9月 YE 39


With a slow evenness, Eden stepped onto the ladder that delved into a slow gradient of pale to dark blue that soon seeped into pitch darkness. Her hands gripped the tops of the durandium ladder and the cold of the alloy seeped even through the thick experimental cold weather gloves to her palms.

She shook her hand and cursed, "Kuso...!"

Absent-mindedness was the only excuse for not already having her pain receptors off. With her back to the open crevice between the carved cliffs of ice, she blew out into the frigid air and looked across the sheet of ice at the Project Star Princess crew and personnel that had come along for this mission. The Kaiyō II had been nowhere in sight for the past week of training exercises and lessons in the finer points of glacial archaeology and snow safety that the crew had undergone at the homey town of Ralt. As for the mission specifics, they were only briefed to Taiyou Hoshi and Eden. The crew knew this and also knew they were to be briefed themselves within the half hour, once everyone was below the ice.

The black and hime cut haired Nekovalkyrja began stepping down the ladder and before she was able to go down the entirety of the way, she noticed Hoshi's hair whipped and flew about around her and could have easily been a new stealth variant of Kagayaki's Hea Gel as it was being flung by the racing winds. The icy hair blended in so perfectly, it made the deep blue of the experimental cold weather uniform seem to be a standout piece. Hoshi, meanwhile, made herself available while still remaining at the shuttle's landing zone to make sure everyone followed in Eden's wake. She double checked everyone had their NSP secured in holsters and that diamond survival knives were on their person.

Around them were no mountains, no other apparent crevices, nothing but the Raccoon that everyone had filed out of that was now lifting off. Eden took one last long look around before tucking down below the ice.
 
Sacre hated the cold. It was perhaps ironic, given that her species was cold-blooded. However, what cold-blooded meant was that the freezing temperatures were more dangerous for her and the other Shepra'shan. Fortunately, the cold weather uniform for Shepra'shan took this into account, including extra heating elements and monitoring of their body temperature. She had also added extra batteries and heating elements to her medical kit. If things went wrong, and they always went wrong, she didn't want any of them to freeze to death. Several of the items in her medical kit had also been swapped out with low temperature variants. In addition to the survival knife that had been issued, Sacre had her own knives. Vera in particular, but other knives of various types and uses. In particular, she had a couple of heat blade knives that could help if they had problems with ice. One of the advantages of cold weather gear was that their thickness and layers made carrying and concealing knives easier. Given that she had no idea what to expect, except for perhaps the cold, the medic had prepared for everything that she could think of.
 
Katsu looked around as he was seated in the Racoon. During his training he had seen this ship a couple of times, in it's various configurations, and overall got to like it. But that might very well be because he had always liked aircraft of all kind. Still, even though he wasn't in the cockpit, sitting in this shuttle reminded him of flying, which made a faint smile appear over his muzzle.

As the shuttle landed and he stood up, the fox boy looked around himself once more to look at all the different people. He didn't know any of them really, but that would probably change pretty soon anyway. And as such he stepped out into the cold, a pair of protective goggles that he never seemed to take off covering his eyes. Once outside the shuttle he instinctively wanted to crouch down to be a smaller target but resisted the urge as he instead looked around at their surroundings once. There was painfully little around them though, making something like navigation a hard objective, which was why he started checking himself to make sure his equipment was all in place, thankful for the cold weather clothing. He didn't know if his fur alone would have provided protection against the cold... For this mission he was issued a second knife, which now rested on his hips, right next to the holstered pistol and opposite of his other knife in it's scabbard.

Once the Racoon shuttle lifted off, Katsu started to look around at the others, especially at their displayed ranks, so he knew who was his direct superior and who were the couple highest ones at all here, just so he knew who he had to report to. He saw how the Nekovalkyrja moved on, but waited, a little bit unsure if he had to wait for an order to start moving or not.
 
Yamatai
Star Prefecture
Temple of the Stars

Created in a tube on UX-19 II, Kasumi was a woman who found cold weather to be comfortable and facilitating to her performance. The sight of her steamy breath in the air was soothing to her. However, she was well aware of the inherent dangers that cold weather presented, and it's relative unfriendliness to organic and synthetic life. Like everyone else on the expedition, she was dressed in the experimental, deep blue cold weather uniform, with gloves and thick socks. Kasumi carried a NSP, survival knife, and a commissioned chakram on her person, along with any other gear that had been required for the mission below the ice.

With her vertical ponytail blowing in the wind, Kasumi levitated in the air just before she floated down into the depths, which slowly became pitch blackness as she descended.

In spite of her neutral expression, Kasumi was prepared and excited for the briefing and what was to come after that. It was very rare that SAoY personnel were sent to Yamatai for missions, especially when there were plenty of external threats to the integrity of the empire. Kasumi trusted command, knowing that if they had been deployed to an area on the capital planet, then something there was worth their attention...
 
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Even with all of the gear clinging to his body to keep his body heat in, he would still shiver like a rickety motor where he stands, trembling in place and looking forward while wisps of white that were his breath cascaded in agonizingly slow clouds from his mouth before disappearing into the air. His teeth chattered, creating a loud ticking sound that he tried to suppress by keeping his mouth shut or letting it hang loose - but to no avail, only leaving his lips chapped and cracked. True, he's been in this frozen hell for a week, but that was definitely not enough time for him to acclimate. He could only imagine how his colder-blooded crewmates were faring in this. He places his hands on his biceps, trying to rub them to generate some warmth.

Despite this, he offers a small smile to the others in case they may express some form of concern. He'll warm up when the squad starts moving. That'll help. And maybe it will be better once they're out of the beating winds?
 
Yamatai
Star Prefecture
Temple of the Stars


William buttoned the collar of his new jacket and pulled his hood up before stood. He made sure that his swords were attached to his belt and he had his Styrling Man Cannons in their holsters as well. Once he was satisfied, he joined the others stepping off the shuttle.

He flexed his new cybernetic arms, working out the 'kinks.' The Nepleslian boy had not revealed much about his trip to Nepleslia, and what he had learned. Not yet anyway...

He saw several new faces amongst the crew, before his eyes fell on Sacre, the medic who had saved his life and watched over him after the last mission. He minimised his HUD in his cybernetic eye as he walked up to her. "Sacre wait up." He said, moving quickly to catch up with the medic.
 
Yoshida Kokoro shook herself her body around- and her tail to free herself of what little flakes of frost clung to her body as she advanced into the gloomy environment. She knew she didn't want that stuff sticking to her. Even if all it did was make her look like a freezerburned doll, tracking it inside to... wherever they were going didn't seem like the best of plans. She sighed as she continued onward, but shrugged and tip-toe hopped along to the destination, before basically sliding down the ladder with the use of her own gravity manipulation.

She felt quite proud of herself on landing, nothing she never had to quite grip the ladder, and only barely touched the floor. Maybe it was time to start practicing gravity manipulation techniques like that out of her armor just in case for the future. It was thinking on ths however, that she was once again reminded of the fact that they were wearing experimental suits when they had perfectly good all purpose environmental hazard ones. She let off another sigh, and continued on her way. There wasn't much of a point, bringing it up again infront of everyone else. It wasn't her place to make first command, then herself look bad when it was inevitably turned around on her.

Instead, she quietly opted to bring along a type 31 survival kitin a similarly named type 31 backpack, and the W3100 plasma blade. Just in case. She really had thought about bringing her Aether Gatling rifle on the trip instead but, the plasma blade held a few extra uses besides just shooting at things, plus it was far less space consuming. "You know, I almost didn't think about this but..." She looked around, checking to make sure she wasn't the only one confused about the exact features of the suit from a quick read on the room. "How exactly do we use these suits and what do they do?" That was perhaps, another gripe about using these over AMES suits to file away for later, and probably forget about ever bringing up.
 
Alastair Belmont stepped out of the transport and took a look around. His first mission with his new crew and they picked a winning of a place. To really get the point across, he had been given an experimental outfit to wear. Alastair didn't think much of this since he was confident if anything happen he would step up and make it better. He remembered something about naked cuddles in order to keep warm. This might of also been something he made up and told people. Either way he would step up and do what was needed.

Alastair was a tall Minkan, with long white hair that faded to black. He felt it was off they did not share any information on the mission before hand. Granted after being on this rock for any length of time it makes a lot of sense also. Lets just trap everyone here first then break the news about the impossible task to be completed.

None the less as an officer on the Kaiyo Alastair would make sure everyone made it back. He looked out over the troops which looked like a bunch of blue icicles standing on the flat landing. He looked over his suit and took notice of anything special about it. He made a point to bring a backpack with tools required for ice climbing. It was filled with ice anchers, belt hooks and high test rope. He also had a pair of snow shoes strapped to his back. An two ice picks were attached to his belt. Already on his feet was a pair of climbing shoes.

"Beautiful sight, shame something this beautiful is also so deadly. Buddy up and stick close. Connect lines to your buddy. If one manages to find a hole in the ice, might just save your life." Alastair said in a firm voice. He looked around looking for someone to buddy up with.
 
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Yamatai
Star Prefecture
Temple of the Stars


Sacre turned towards William. "Well then catch up, your moving like a slug on salt." She said, but slowed slightly so that he could. As he caught up, she gauged him for a long moment. They had not had time to talk since he had left the ship to get his spine fixed. "I thought it was your spine that was broken, not your face. Well, at least now when you send little children running, you can blame the doctor." To most, her tone was humorless, but there was no genuine bite to it. For Sacre, that was almost friendly.
 
Yamatai
Star Prefecture
Temple of the Stars


William smiled as he approached the abrasive medic, happy to see his friend. "What's wrong with my face? I thought I'd get some upgrades." He said showing his hand and blinking his cybernetic eye at her as he caught up to her.

"Besides, now I'm even stronger than ever." He added as he walked alongside Sacre, following everyone across the ice.
 
Yamatai
Star Prefecture
Temple of the Stars

Chlorate clanked her way out of the shuttle and stepped into the cold. She didn't seem to be bothered by it, but the temperature had chilled her plastic, and more so her metal parts to an ice cold that would surely be very uncomfortable to touch. True, perhaps the temperature was less than optimal for her systems, but it was nothing major as she didn't have all those... messy organic tissues... The android was synthetic. But without most of her skin overlay, she couldn't produce much of a body heat, which made her electronic body more relatable to a cold hard shell than anything real and biological.
 

Planet Yamatai
Star Prefecture
Temple of the Stars


Ume was cold, so cold that she had actually put on undergarments beneath the blue camouflage outfit. It was supposed to protect from the cold but it barely did its job. Was it because it was not rated for such conditions or was it faulty? Ume did not know, but she had only just gotten off the shuttle and she already wanted to go back. She couldn't though, she had a job to do, even if she did not know what it was at the time.

The plum Neko stood straight and tried to not look phased by the weather. Her NSP holstered on her right thigh and her knife was secure near the back of her wast on the left. The reason for this was because of the specialized blade she carried on her left side. a Gunto sword that she always carried when she had a sidearm, part of it was a symbol, but it was equally about her feeling most comfortable with the weapon.

The one upside to all this for Ume was that she was not in charge of medical responsibility or leadership right now, so she could focus on staying warm and the mission. She sighed and made her way below the ice, not too cheerful in order to conserve heat.
 
Temple of the Stars
Crevice


When Eden got to the bottom of the seventy meter ladder, she stepped off and began trying to unzip her jacket's pockets, though the zipper stuck the first try. Capable of infrared but knowing not everyone else was, she began handing out floating type 32 flashlights to those that needed them from her pockets while everyone filtered and milled about in the angular crevice's entrance that had been perfectly chiseled into the ice.

"This way," Eden said with an air of brevity while motioning with her hand to the angular enclosed hallway. They walked through it for 100 feet in a single file line with Hoshi at the rear once everyone was down, until taking a sharp right and there was 200 more feet of hallway. Eden made one more right turn into a short hallway where buttery warm lights could be seen better as they made their way closer to the glow that was seeping from a doorway that Eden entered.

Briefing Room

Once inside, the Project Star Princess personnel would warm from the several generators in the small room. There was one exit to the opposite of the entrance to the room that was shadowy and barely lit. Their team's XO was standing at a matte black four-legged table that was the central focus of the room's stand-up lighting. Teien Eden stood with a finger tapping at it with her gloves off and in a bin alongside her cold weather jacket near the door.

With a tone of severity, Eden said, "A look around you tells us that we're not undergoing the mission profile we may be used to. The First Expeditionary Fleet, though, is to test developing technologies and that is what we're doing—" Eden pointedly eyed the bin where several of the infantry Neko had deposited their cold weather jackets, taking Eden's lead in doing so. Hoshi looked ready to speak by clapping her hands and watching the room full of people properly assemble.

"What you are or were wearing is the same uniform the team of glacial archeologists have been wearing for the past week. That is because we want this to look like what it's been so far: an attempted excavation. It shouldn't look like this was anything other than a part of the ongoing excavation that just didn't pan out and was abandoned. We will be the last people out of here."

"This is a sensitive location we find ourselves in for this mission," Hoshi said as she concentrated her attention on those gathered without a bit of forgiveness. "This is a spiritual location and an ancient temple that deserves our respect. Do I have your respect for this temple in your hearts?" The question was apparent important to her as she had begun to clench her fist and Eden's brows had pushed together in the center as they looked around the room as a pair.
 
Temple of the Stars
Crevice


William climbed down through the hole in the ice and looked around. He was happy to be out of the wiping wind, but left his collar buttoned and his hood up. When Eden passed him a flashlight, he took his and passed it off to someone else. Perks of his new augmented eye was the ability to see in other spectrums. He closed his organic eye and toggled on night vision.

He followed Eden quietly as they walked through the icy tunnels, till they reached the door...

Briefing Room

As they entered, William undid his collar and pulled back his hood. He opened his organic eye, quickly switched off the night vision, and scanned the room. Eden was right... this was not an ordinary mission.

He jammed his hands into his pockets and stood a bit straighter as Hoshi spoke. When the captain's and XO's eyes passed over him he nodded his assent, curtly.
 
Temple of the Stars
Crevice/Briefing Room

Kasumi listened to Eden and Hoshi intently, making eye contact with each of the women as the two Nekovalkyrja took turns speaking. The tone of the two women was solemn and dignified, dissipating the feelings of fresh anticipation that Kasumi felt in her heart. However, the slight mental shift in her attitude towards the mission was not marked by any visible changes in her expression.

When the briefing room warmed up around her, Kasumi shed her jacket and held it in her hands, intending to stay still until the briefing was finished. Although Kasumi was only a casual spiritualist, when Hoshi presented her question to the group, Kasumi answered without reservation.

"Taiyou-Chusa and Teien-Shosa, I respect the Temple of the Stars with all my heart.", she responded in a solemn and slightly monotonous tone.
 
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Temple of the Stars
Crevice/Briefing Room

Sacre followed William down the ladder and took the flashlight he passed along. She guessed that his augmentations had something to do with his eyesight. Sacre then pocketed a second flashlight, just in case someone's got broken while they were down here. As Eden started the briefing, Sacre listened. When Hoshi asked her question, Sacre turned slightly introspective.

Sacre didn't have anything against religion. She just figured that if any sort of God existed, then he didn't really care about what he created. In turn, she didn't really care about who or what created her. It wasn't anger, it was apathy that drove her lack of belief in the divine. However, she did respect Hoshi. For her, Hoshi was a good captain who cared about her crew deeply. Even the members of the crew she wasn't sleeping with. When she had accompanied Sacre to get the implants, she had shown that she cared about Sacre. For Sacre, Hoshi's apparent belief that the building was special would be enough for her. If she couldn't muster up the belief, she could just barrow some of Hoshi's. So Sacre found herself nodding her assent.
 
The chocolate-skinned Neko medic was one of the newest faces to be assigned to the crew, or maybe re-assigned was the better word, and had kept quiet for the most part over the last hour or so. She'd spent most of her time in the back of the shuttle double-checking the medical supplies that she'd brought along, the spare ammo for her NSP that sat tucked in her pack, and of course the knife that sat so prettily on a chest-sheath near her left shoulder.

She'd also brought along some climbing spikes and shoes in the event that she was unable to fly for whatever reason or in the event spares were needed by the less able members of the team.

Miyako followed the group down the ladder and deep into the crevice, surrounded by ice and snow. She could hear the crunch of snow under their feet and the occasional slip of a boot or a hand on ice. She had no need for a light and so had instead opted to use her natural abilities to peer through the darkness until they had arrived at the apparent briefing room. There they were able to start stripping away the coats on the fancy new winter survival gear they had been issued and sit for the briefing.

As for reverence to the temple? Miyako wasn't a woman of spirituality - that came from her schooling and education as a medic. Things like providence and gods were for those who didn't wield scalpels. But orders were orders and if they were expected to be respectful of the temple and anything they found within then that was likely easy enough. At least that was what Miyako thought as she gave a quiet and curt nod.
 
Katsu was, quite honestly, pretty confused by what happened there. To be fair, he was only just assigned to this group and this was the first time he was in the field with them, if one wanted to call this the field, but for a few seconds he just stood where he was and waited for orders. Orders which weren't coming. As he saw more and more people walking forward and disappearing down the ladder though, he too set himself into motion. Apparently only a single Shoi attempted to give orders, but none of the higher ranking enlisted relayed those. But maybe he himself was just too deep into basic training and chain of command was handled differently with this crew. As such he chose to not bother too much about it and step forward, careful to move the same path those before him did, and waited patiently for his turn to climb down the ladder.

Crevice

Needless to say, with him having to climb down a seventy meter long ladder, he envyed those who were able to fly without a power armor suit. The ladder's metal was cold, making him thank that they were given this cold resistant gear. It was a long way down, but in the end he made it and looked around, passing on the opportunity to get a flashlight as he walked on looking with his normal eyes, seemingly not bothered in the slightest by the darkness, until they reached what was the briefing room apparently.

Briefing Room

Once inside, Katsu took off the hood of his head, making his fox ears flip up, standing turned forward and straight up, but getting a slight inclination towards leaning forward as he saw Hoshi. At her clap, he quickly got in line and listened to her words. 'Well, with the nature of what this mission apparently is, it would explain why there were so few orders so far.' he thought to himself, then continued listening in. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a couple others nodding to show their agreement, and so he too nodded when the Chusa looked at him, but otherwise stayed quiet.
 

Temple of the Stars
Crevice -> Briefing Room


Ume followed the pack closely and stuck near others to keep as much heat as she could. She was thankful for the warmth of the briefing room once they had arrived, so she removed her coat and basked in the warmth. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before she had to return to the cold but she was still happy for the moment.

When Hoshi spoke up about respecting the temple, Ume gave a nod and then a salute. She was not one to get very spiritual, but in her mind, the place was kind of like a museum, so she would use similar rules, don't go past the ropes and only touch things that they say you can touch, even if it's pretty.
 
Temple of the Stars
Crevice


Alastair followed behind the team just in front of Hoshi. The cold rungs of the ladder reminded him how awful this place really was. The coldness sapping the heat away from his hands as he descended into the icy hole.

Briefing Room

As he entered the room and was greeted by the warmer a smile crossed his face. He listened to the story and it was all making sense now. They were using deception to keep someone from knowing they were there. Though the words "attempted excavation" stuck out to him. Even more concerning is the fact they will be last out of this place. Whatever was being tested was not going to be left behind.

"Captain, if this place is important and demands our respect, you shall have it from me." Alastair said in a calm yet firm voice. Alastair raised his hand before speaking. "So what is it that we are going to be testing. Clearly its not the I can already tell you need work cold weather outfit we have on." He asking in a serious tone.
 
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