RP: The Wayward New Heights (Ep4)

Asteroid

Ana looked over as Ash worked on the other side and she chewed on her lip. She nodded once the two guidelines were in place. "Yes. There's three anchor points. That will hold it in place securely."

She heard the message over the comms from Adiel, her heart skipping a beat. Shaking her head slightly, she mentally told herself, Let it go, Ana. You have a job to do. Focus on that.

She then worked with Ash to set the probe on the rock and set one of the three anchors.

Asteroid

Saku Hana's eyes went wide as she watched Ash work and she paused for a few moments while watching the Iromakuanhe woman secure the probe before flailing her arms, looking as if she was about to be floating away. In reality she was simply a little over-exuberant about asking her next question.

"Can I do the next bit for you?!"

Asteroid

Brigid watched the others and waited for the probe to be secured. She looked up at the stars, trying to find something familiar. A shiver ran down her spine. The stars were wrong, and although she knew they would be, it terrified her. The reality of the situation had finally hit her. She took a deep breath and looked back down at the asteroid.

Noticing the others were done securing the probe into position, the shaken woman calmed herself and got to work on her anchor. She wasn't used to doing so much manual labor. It will be good for me, she thought. Once she started, securing the anchor into place wasn't actually that hard. She made sure that the anchor was secure with a gentle push of her foot. "Got my anchor," Brigid announced. "Anyone need help?"

Space around the Asteroid

Work progressed smoothly on the asteroid as the beacon was first secured with a line by Ash. It was just a matter of securing the anchors and the beacon would be stable. All they would have to do is adjust the angle on the anchor, press the button to charge it, then the button to fire, and then finally lock the piston in place so that it wouldn't push back on itself.

Stefan turned his attention to Analiese when she called out to him and then motioned her on over.

"This time it's a little easy." The Abwehran man speaks once Analiese is closer. "Sometimes we'll have these deployed in open space, so you'll have to attach stabilising thrusters and program in their course." As he spoke he opened a small panel on the device to reveal a console. He typed away at it but made sure it was slow enough for Analiese to see the steps as he calibrated and tested the system.

Anbruch

Tanja recievedAdiel's message and then looked to Gabi. "Is there anything?"

Gabi looked down at the sensors a moment and then shook their head, looking up. "No, our sensors do not detect any processed metals in the proximity."

Tanja nodded and then spoke over the comms to Adiel. "We are not detecting anything on our own sensors. Can you go investigate?"

Space Cowboys

Adiel, heard Tanja's response over the system without a problem, and the metal was close as well, he could get to it no problem if he tried. According to the sensors, it was about 30 meters square, small compared to a starship, but about the size of a small fighter.

Asteroid

Ana moved over next to Stefan and watched as he programmed the probe. She nodded when he said that they would have more steps to take with programming the others due to the stabilizers. "So it's just a matter of synchronizing it with the Anbruch and each of the others when they come online?" She chewed on her lip a bit before adding, "Perhaps I'll watch again with the next one to see how you do that and then maybe, if you walk me through the third one I can help with others?"

Swordbreaker

Adiel nodded and turned the fighter around once more, jetting off into the black.

He kept his eyes on the sensors as he neared his query, yet also kept firm visual on the space ahead, in order to physically see just what it was he was searching for.

Space 'Recon'

The Swordbreaker made its approach without any problems, using the sensors to navigate through the expanse. Adiel quickly arrived at a small cluster of asteroids, and inside it was a large hunk of black metal, roughly the size of his own ship. Its geometric shape made it obvious that it was not natural. Before he could start to examine it, however, the object moved forward, silently, and then flew out of the asteroid cluster. There was no propulsion to this structure, but it moved around erratically.

Recon

Adiel raised an eyebrow. That was certainly a spacecraft of some sort. Most likely a probe, if he had to guess. Back in the Elysian Navy, he'd seen a few like this one.

It didn't appear to have any weapons, that he could see, at least. So, he kept his distance, but followed the strange craft, opening a video feed and sending it back to the others.

"It appears I was correct. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: sentient life. Someone please note that I, Adiel Avraham, discovered them, and kindly send it off to a prestigious academic publication." Sing-songed the bird with a triumphant grin.

Asteroid

Hana's hands went into the air and she jumped up and floated for a few seconds before landing again on the asteroid softly.

"New life!!"

Something gave her pause, though. Her arms came back down though and she gripped one hand in the other as she squeaked out a question.

She asked, "Is it nice, though? I mean..." She trailed off before she recuperated and could say her words, "Is it going to be mean?"

Asteroid

Brigid checked that the piston was locked into place. She had forgotten a step in the excitement. Finished with her job, she bounced over to Analiese and the Abwehran man.

"Think my anchor's good to go." She informed them. "Anything else I can do to help?"

Her thoughts about the strange thing flying around echoed Hana's. She checked that her gun was still at her waist. Not that it would be much use against something the size of a spaceship, but it could have occupants. "Yeah, I think we should hurry and finish up here, then get back to the ship ASAP just in case."

Asteroid

Stefan chuckled a little to Analiese's response. "Don't worry, we can do some practice back on the ship. I'll make sure you know everything you need to before you go out there to do it alone."

The Abwehran man then turned to face the others and update them on what they were going to do but the words that came out of his mouth were not the words that everyone expected. "Everyone, ready weapons but do not fire yet." His voice was calm but firm, almost like the orders of a commander as he kept his eyes fixated on something beyond the crew.

With a simple look, anyone on the rock could see black polyhedrons float up from cracks in the asteroid, the largest only half a foot, but there was at least two dozen of these black metallic objects of varying size. They did not make any drastic movements, but the began to drift in the direction of the group.

Space Chase

The large black object continued on its course undisturbed for roughly two minutes before it's shape changed and suddenly became more aerodynamic, like and arrow and then it accelerated, quickly reaching what could be considered combat speed for a fighter, and then it made a sharp bank and began a course for the asteroid.

Asteroid

"We need to get back to the ship," Stefan called as he turned to see. However, a second cluster of the metal objects floated up between them and the ship.

Asteroid

Ana smiled a bit at the Abwheran before her features blanched. She turned when his demeanor changed and she immediately tried to get back to the ship, only to be stopped by the same black things that were coming at them from the other direction. Not being a fighter...well...not much of one...she tried to skirt around them. TB detached itself from her and tried to act as a distraction as Ana went to the right while facing the shuttle.

Space Chase

"Damn." Adiel muttered under his breath, trying to come up with some sort of plan. There were more of these alien craft, sure, but they didn't seem to be firing, a fact that eased his steadily growing nerves just slightly. Therefore, to avoid starting a war between the Abwherans and an alien empire, he did not fire a shot himself. But what if they were about to fire, and he did nothing as his crew was destroyed?!

Adiel slowed the ship and stopped above his crewmates, sitting between the original fighter and the swarm. He cleared his throat and began imputing commands into the console.

He was a negotiator, so he would negotiate. Several moments passed before Adiel's comms clicked once more.

"Hello," spoke the Elysian aloud in a level tone of voice, having set his comms to broadcast over all known frequencies and channels; anything to get their attention. "My name is Adiel, of the freighter Anbruch. We come with peaceful intentions."

Chances are that these beings did not speak Trade, so to be safe Adiel repeated his message in Yamataigo, then Seraphim, and lastly very choppy Abwehran and Takavonai.

Just... anything to keep the bastards from killing them.

Ash was certainly surprised when all the black polyhedrons started to show up. She floated down from the probe to have her feet (relatively) firm on the ground. She cautiously placed her left hand on her laiz pistol and removed the safety, motioning to Hana with the other hand to move closer. She was about to agree with Stefan about getting back to the ship, but then more of the polyhedrons popped up between them and the shuttle.

"Well...so much for that idea," she frowned, her eyes glancing back and forth between the new visitors, quickly trying to come up with a plan.

"These things look like...machines...?" She glanced over her shoulder at Ana floating over towards the shuttle and TB floating away from her.

"Hey Ana. Just a hunch. Try to have TB communicate with these things."

Ana nodded as she used her remote to speak to TB. She wasn't sure if it'd work, but it was worth a shot! In the meantime, she kept trying to skirt around, hoping her little android could talk to the...black robots?

Asteroid

Hana moved close to Ash and whimpered a bit as she watched the black shapes move about and spoke out to Ash as she gripped the Iromakuanhe's arm and stepped behind her.

"Do I need to fight them? I'll fight them..."

Her words were confident in meaning, but not in tone.

Asteroid

I hate being right sometimes, Brigid thought. She pulled her HAS out of its hip holster and turned towards the ship. For the moment she held her fire, but she did aim at the closest polyhedron. She looked around for cover.

All she could find was the cracks in the asteroid the robotic looking things came from. "I hope these things are mining robots or something. Not sure why they would be interested in us.. could be the metals in our spacesuits or my charming personality." Brigid offered.

Space Chase

With Adiel still following the 'fighter ship', it became apparent that it was on a rather dangerous course for the rest of the group. However, it made a rather odd movement, the structure of the ship turned 180 degrees to face Adiel, but it did not change it's course, not until it suddenly accelerated in his direction on a crash course.

Asteroid

There were roughly four dozen of these strange objects floating around the crew, thinning out bit by bit. TB tried to communicate with them, but in deep space, there was no sound so there was no way to know if their signal was received. What did become apparent though was that the structures did not intend to keep their distance.

Some of the objects suddenly accelerated towards the crew, the first struck TB, sending it off balance. Another one flew towards Brigid, narrowly missing her. Those were only the first two of many as the objects began to speed up and circle around the crew, darting out at random to attack the members indiscriminately.

Stefan ducked under one object as it flew over his head. He drew an HHG revolver in response and fired a round, only managing to nick it and send it off course slightly, as well as damage it. "Doesn't matter if they're robots or not right now, priority goes to your own protection. Open fire!"

Another voice cut through the commotion over the comm line, it was the captain. "I have my eyes on you guys, we can't fire though because you're too close to them and the beacon. There are two courses of action, but either way, you'll have to push your way through."

Gabi then spoke up to fill the crew in on the details. "Away team, you can either make your way for the shuttle, and then try to lure the objects away from the beacon so we can destroy them, or you can move to the other side of the asteroid. It is a longer run but the terrain is more uneven and has ridges and indentations that can be used as natural cover. Either way, we need to eliminate the objects so they do not damage the beacon."

Near the beacon, surrounded...

Ana squeaked as she was becoming surrounded by the odd objects. They weren't that big...but they made up for it in numbers. She directed TB to head towards the shuttle, hoping to draw them as close as possible and away from the probe. Ana, not having a weapon on her person as she usually doesn't...even though Tonja had said to often...used her own propulsion to go towards the shuttle as well, though in a slightly different path than TB.

She ducked when any got too close, but for the most part she didn't attack any if she could help it. Even with the weaving and bobbing she was doing, eventually Ana would run into one of them...or one would run into her.

Asteroid

"I'm running!" Hana said as she grabbed the Iromakuanhe woman's forearm's sleeve and pulled it, then let go when she realized she would probably pull her down. She looked back at Ash. Her bright blue eyes were full and scared. She called out to the team.

"Book it!" Hana said and began floating speedily to the other side of the asteroid.