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  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP: 188604 Salvage

Z

Zack

Somewhere Nice

This particular establishment was 'classy'...

Maybe not 'suit and tie' classy... but certainly 'they can afford to hire some very pretty waitresses in very form fitting black dresses' classy.

Or at the very least Uso liked it here. Quick meetings were great, no one asked too many questions, the price tag kept out the unwanted.

The 30ks a drink paid for far more than just the alcohol.

"TOSHI!" Uso shouted, waving her hands up in the air as soon as she saw her target arrive.

Uso herself was dressed in a form fitting bodysuit, dark blue, a datapad clipped onto the belt around her hips, mesh pannels over her outer arms and legs helping her inbuilt radiators breathe a bit,

"COME! SIT! I got something I think you'll like!"

The young man blinked in surprise at that outburst as he entered, before giving a small smile and having a seat.

"Hello there...heh, I'm not really sure what title to refer to you by. You're a head of state and all..." Toshiro said, looking at the attractive but by all accounts ancient Neko. Someone who carved out a niche for herself in space in a way only a few in history would.

It wouldn't be long until Alex also entered, her large rack potentially distracting a little from the waitresses. She looked around, towing a guy in a helmet and blue coat along behind her, before seeing the table and dragging him along behind.

"Hey, Uso! What's up? How's Mom doing?"

"Alex!" Uso shouted, waving again, "How's my favorite Burning doing?! Your mom is doing great b-t-w. She's a real hard worker...Maybe your friends would enjoy her services?"

"Thanks for introducing me to them, I hear Toshiro is the best salvager anywhere and... ok, to be honest I've got no idea who you are blue-coat-guy."

Alex gave Uso a grin. "Burning the candle at both ends and looking forward to a haul. And you're welcome!" She smacked Toshiro on the back. "This guy's known for being decent and saving stranded people, making first contacts, and the like. Managed to write a first contact law too. And the other guy's an old vet trying to get a foothold in space. An extra hand trying to earn enough for a ship."

Catharsis had black hair coming out the back of that masked face, and gave a nod of agreement. "Catharsis Black, at your service."

"So like... uh... how decent?" Uso asked, "Should I not be bringing up Erika?"

"You kidding? I want to see his reaction~" Alex said, winking. Toshiro looked confused, and Catharsis' expression was has hard to read through that mask...

"OH cool." Uso would move around so that she was behind Toshiro, her breasts pressing against the back of his head as she pulled her datapad off her hips and brought it up infront of him, "So Alex had a little falling out with her mom. Her 'used to be a lawyer' mom..."

[Censored 18+ stuff!]

Toshiro gave a telling twitch under those boobs, seeing the lewd display on camera. Catharsis also watched with interest. Catharsis was thankful that he was wearing a coat, and Toshiro was glad he was already seated at the table... Alex smirked, liking the response.

"Oh...well, as long as she's happy with her line of work. She's clearly good at it..." Toshiro managed, while Alex began to laugh.

"Yeah, we're made for it. Of course, she tried to take us and run away from Dad to another nation, forced us into new bodies, and didn't give a damn what we thought. Being a slut is a fitting punishment...though it's not a punishment for her any more, but I still like seeing it."

Catharsis couldn't help but agree. "Oh yeah. She looks like she's made for the camera...and abandoning one's family is definitely something worth punishing."

"Made for being a mother more like," Uso teased, leaving the datapad in place for Toshiro to take, there were plenty of other videos of Erika for him to watch, "She's a lot of fun, her milk is really sweet, and she's well trained. Just ask and you can get her to do anything,"

Uso leaned in a bit more, her warm breath right on Toshiro's ear, "Maybe once we're done here I can introduce the two of you.?"

Toshiro shuddered again, finding that prospect quite interesting. "That's...quite tempting, honestly. I've never done that, either. Though I have to wonder what else you had planned for us..." He said, turned on and not wanted to get too worked up...

"I really prefer spur of the moment..." Uso said, trailing her fingers along his neck, then shoulders as she slid back over to her seat, "We have some business that Toshi here is well suited for. Large fight. Lots of destroyed ships. I hear that you're the thing that does best in that type of situation. We've got plenty of tugs to move material but we don't have the people to spare on identifying, breaking up, and uh... salvaging... the.... you know... salvage."

Toshiro blinked, and understood. "Ah, okay. That sounds interesting. Sure, I'd be interested in that. What sort of terms do you have though? I usually salvage and get to keep the pickings for myself, but you seem to want multiple salvagers...and probably a cut."

Alex smiled. "I'm bringing the heavy freighters, though I can also salvage. I've got a custom NAM power Armor, and a Mindy with the tits and ass let out~"

Catharsis nodded. "I'm an extra hand, if nothing else."

"I need this done sooner rather than later, and I haven't done any kind of 'exploration' here on price... you know, except for with Alex... " Uso chuckled, "But seriously... Alex's distractions aside... I'd rather not waste my time figuring all this out. Say 50/50 split? My people's drones, your people's... you know, salvage talent. We'll give you 50% of the value of any of the uh... raw materials that you send back with us. You give us 50% of whatever you sell off. Should make us both a lot more profit a lot more quickly than working alone."

Catharsis pondered... "What if we find something we'd like to keep? I know I'm in the market for a running ship, even if I don't have the cash to pay for one. You gonna stick a price on it and make us pay half out of the rest of the haul?"

"Sounds fair. Take the choice bits for yourself, just make things even out on the back end. Maybe stop by our planet afterwards and have a party." Uso offered.

Toshiro gave a nod. "As long as the basic value you name is fair for that stuff, I've not no problems with that...or the party..."

"Yeah, I bet you don't," Uso laughed, "So we have a deal? You guys got any questions?"

"Uso...I have one more request before accepting...one tiny bit of additional payment...I want three of these waitress uniforms, in my size~" Alex smirked, giving a wink.

"Wear it for me and you've got a deal," Uso flagging down one of the wait staff to have a quick, quiet discussion,

Alex beamed. "You know I already planned on it. Deal!" All three agreed to those terms, and were ready to work. Catharsis hoped to find something he could salvage with and move about on his own, perhaps make connections for more work. Toshiro liked the idea of salvaging and exploring again, his recant chat with Chiharu rekindling some interest....and Alex hoped for a sexy party.
 

Toehold System


The Yggdrasill and Alex' Caravan-class Heavy Freighter arrived at the edge of the battlefiels and commenced scans, trying to locate items of note. The trio of salvagers wondered what fortune might greet them, and what dangers awaited...and what pleasure might also find them here~

Uso had told the truth. nearly 468 starships were present in the system along with hundreds of thousands of other objects, a large number of which seemed to be on the path towards the edges of the system, inertia carrying them out of the sun's gravity well. Towards the interior of the system was a massive gas giant... or at least what had been a massive gas giant. Weapons fire had blasted much of the surface layers away, leaving a glowing metal core hanging in space near a slowly expanding cloud. A large number of ships were stuck in this planet's gravity well, along with the remains of thousands of kilometers of rock and metal that the Elysians had dropped towards the planet. The whole area a cross between a graveyard and rock-storm.

Toshiro's eyes widened. "My word...I've never seen a star reduced to its core by combat. And the hits are worth millions...maybe even more...surely there's something repairable here, too..." 468...and 234 of them were theirs.

Alex smirked. "And there's sure to be some special things here, too~"

Catharsis: "...It is a massive payday if we do well. I worry what sort of weapons managed to do this though."

Toshiro started calculations, looking for the closest ship, the largest ship, the ship with the best power readings, and the ship closest to falling onto the core of that star. Pursuing each had its own benefits...

Many of these ships turned out to be the same ship. Largest, closest to falling into a star, and best power readings were all from an Elysian craft. The massive blue diamond was apparently trying to restart its engine. A massive self-contained mass that was suspended behind the ship and super-heated by aether being poured into it... though it looked like the ship was unable to fully contain that energy as the large directional pannels had been knocked away from the core of the ship, leaving only 2 of the normal 4 in place.

The closest ship was a megamishhu, which appeared dead... or at least it wasn't moving. The hull was still warm from weapons fire.

Alex smiled. "That one's shining...it's still trying to start its engine! It's repairable!"

Catharsis, however, was a bit more concerned. "An open-cycle Aether system? What the hell were they thinking? That thing's a ticking time bomb!"

Toshiro sighed...there were pros and cons to open cycle Aether. "Scan for signs of life, Yggdrasill...aboard that ship and the others. If its engine is trying to start, we either have survivors...or an automated system that needs shut off before it blows up."

Yggdrasill complied, initiating scans...

It was certainly difficut to get accurate readings, or to know exactly what to look for. The megamishhu all registered as dead... but what exactly was dead for a creature like that? Similarly, the Elysian vessels seemed to be unmanned yet there were clear indications of something moving around on the inside.

There were also ships that didn't belong to the Elysians or to the NMX. Most were clearly dead in the water, though a handful were still warm enough to contain life, and intact enough to have atmosphere. The one with the best chance of having survivors was already falling towards the core of the gas giant, and would be gone within the next 48 hours. Unlike the Elysian ships, it was a very small craft, no bigger than a large bomber.

Toshiro pondered, and decided to more thoroughly scan that ship that might have the most survivors. What kind of weapons did it have? Who made it? Make, model, that sort of stuff. The ships moved forward, navigating the debris field to get a bit closer. The Yggdrasill attempted to use its graviton beam projectors to grab onto the craft with possible survivors...

As the Yggdrasill moved closer, it would end up in close proximity to the dense debris field that made up the gas giant. Getting ahold of the damaged ship falling towards the core of the planet with gravity beams would be tricky, as bits of starships and what used to be a planet orbited near the falling craft.

However, it wasn't just that which complicated things. As soon as the Yggdrasill approached it would start detecting life signs on some of the Megamishhu. Small power generators were starting up, and the heat being put off was unmistakable. The power output was too low for a full sized starship, but could easily be a missile, shuttle, or battlepod.

Toshiro's eyes narrowed, and his machine's sensors took note of the Mega Mishhu's activation. This was not good... "Tch...the Megamishhu is waking up! We need to disable it out before its shields go up! We might not have the power to take it down then! Be ready for small enemy targets!"

The Yggdrassil's point defense systems were already firing to endure the debris...and its Combined Pulse Cannon started to charge up to fire and try to overload the enemy's power system....

The pulse cannon didn't seem to have much effect on the power sources... though after a few hits it would be clear why. The megamishhu itself was dead, but it still had fighters held inside of it. A trio of battlepods launching outward, followed by a barrage of small missiles from the creature's point defense blisters. The missiles didn't seem to be guided, and would fly off in lazy spirals, some generally heading in the Yggdrassil's direction along with the battlepods.

Even before the Yggdrasill's point defense systems could aim at the inbound enemy units, several missiles slammed into wreckage and exploded. The debris was thick enough to cause problems with such weapons. The first explosion shook up the debris field with its shock wave and sent a burst, debris causing shields to flicker as they repelled the resultant debris. Weapons fire lanced out as point defense kicked in and fired at the battlepods, attempting to shoot them down.

The battlepods certainly didn't seem very capable. Flying out in a straight line, and combining their fire on the Yggdrasill, the smaller cannons of the pods easily being absorbed by the ship's shields while the point defenses struke down each pod one after the other. The missile fire and fragments were similarly easy to respond to for a ship that had power... however this knocked the damaged ship that the Yggdrasill was after into a tailspin, causing to to start moving faster towards what remained of the planet below.

As soon as this threat was cleared, the Yggdrasill followed that damaged ship in an attempt to grab it with its graviton beam projectors before it got past a point of no return. The fact that the planet's core was exposed meant that they only had to worry about the gravitational pull at this altitude, but it was still quite dangerous. "Come on...come on!" Toshiro groaned, working to try and save the vessel and whoever might have survived aboard it...

The ship itself was about the same size as the Yggdrasill, however its engines seemed to be damaged, a stead hiss of exposed gasses were seeping out, trying to pull the Yggdrasill into a spin along with it. The lights visible on the command deck flickering and going out... as the temperature of the ship started to rapidly drop.

Thankfully, Graviton Beam Projectors didn't work like a rope and didn't entangle. Instead, the center of mass of the ship was pulled by the Yggdrasill regardless of the spin itself. Still, the Yggdrasill fought to keep the ship from dragging it down, thrusters and verniers flashing and lighting up, the CFS working to protect the ship from debris. Of course, the spin was still an issue.

"Tch, we've got life support, power, and engine failures...I've got to stabilize it..." The pilot deployed the grapplers and tried to pulse secondary Graviton Beam Projectors along the edges of the ship on structural supports to reduce the spin independently from the main pull, while Catharsis kept watching the point defense and Alex watched from her larger vessel. She couldn't really intervene readily...

Toshiro hailed the vessel. "Yggdrasill to vessel, you need to try and deactivate your engines! You're venting and contributing to your vessel's instability!"

The ship's engines flared and then went out, along with the ship's power. The craft floating as gasses continued to pour out from damaged areas across the hull. The gasses were at least lessening, causing the ship to spin less, as the Yggdrassil locked on. The added mass would make both ships spin in sync, albiet much more slowly than before. The Ygg able to dampen or counter the spin with its own thrusters.

It would take about a minute, but someone would start turning on and off a light along the long, thin wondow that probably covered the craft's control center. There were a pair of access points as well, one on the underside of the ship just behind the lower turret, and one just behind the upper turret, but both appeared to be mangled by damage, it was likely they wouldn't be able to open.

Toshiro noticed the light, and raised an eyebrow. "...Someone's trying to signal, but that's no morse code or signalling syntax I've ever seen. We know someone's alive though. Captain Burning, we'll need to drag that vessel aboard your ship and recompress one of your bays! If there are survivors, they might need your ship's facilities!"

Alex gave a nod. "Well, as long as it don't explode in there. You're paying the bill if it does though!"

Rather than open the vessel right away, the Yggdrasill would take advantage of the massive bays of the Caravan Heavy Freighter...which could hold both vessels many times over. It carefully made a hole in its shields and dragged the vessel inside before closing the hole...then changing direction, pulling the ship along.

"Yggdrasill to unknown vessel. I see your light signalling, but I can't understand it. We are taking you to an associate ship that has cargo bays massive enough to load both of our ships into. Those bays will also be able to pressurize. Hang on!"

The ship would end up exactly where the Yggdrasill wanted it, though it was hard to tell if Toshiro's message got through. The erratic signaling continuing until the ship reached the bay of the larger freighter. The hull temperature of the ship had dropped considerably. Anyone without protection inside would likely be very close to death.

The bay closed and the Yggdrassil's grapplers got to work as the bay pressurized, welding 'fingers' extending and starting to cut through hull, heat from the atmosphere entering the vessel. Yggdrasill sent IronMan power armor out as well, to assist in the cutting. Toshiro and Catharsis also went out, Toshiro in a Kylie M3 Power Armor and Catharsis in an IronMan Command Power Armor, both having gathered some medical equipment. Alex, meanwhile, stayed on her bridge and kept an eye out.

Soon, in an area close to where the signaller was flickering lights on and off, a piece of hull was cut through and pulled away...leaving access to the ship. Toshiro exhaled and approached the hole to investigate...hoping those inside had the sense to put on space suits...and that he wouldn't be attacked.

The inside of the ship was mostly dark, the area that they had peeled away led into the main airlock and what looked to be some kind of equipment room. There was one person already there, laying on the floor. They had on a bulky grey pressure suit that bulged out everywhere like it was some kind of half-inflated balloon, however the front of the suit had been shreaded along with the electronics that were located there. The frost around what looked like punctures on the front of the suit indicated that both air was still escaping, and that the temperature had dropped to freezing.

Still further in, there were likely to be more people.

Toshiro monitored the air pressure and rushed in, trying to free the person from the pressure suit and into the warmed air, while also checking for injuries to treat. If this person could be saved and recover, they could help guide them deeper in as well. It would be tragic if they perished right when help arrived...

"Hey, hey! Are you alright? Snap out of it!"

Inside of the suit was a young girl... she looked like a baseline human of some sort... probably no more than 20 years old, wearing only a tight fitting temperature regulation bodysock that clung to her form. She was breathing... but it was quite shallow, and her body was cold to the touch. She'd need some actual medical attention.

Toshiro checked her vitals and took note. He began to give emergency medical treatment, but then the Yggdrasill took her and carried her toward the medbay using one of the IronMan Power Armors it employed remotely.

While the girl was taken away, Toshiro would be left with the ship... which was fairly small. The only life signs were coming from the command area towards the center of the ship which was protected only by an unlocked door.

The power armor-clad salvager stepped forward and opened the door, wary of small arms fire or fearful retaliation. Catharsis stayed near, even while an IronMan provided medical aid...

Hopefully they could help save more people here...

Inside were two more people, both wearing the same type of overly bubbly pressure suit.

"H... HI!" One said, her feminine voice could be heard even through the suit.

"Are... You here to help us?" The other said,

"OR... I mean... You're not a monster right?" The first asked.

Toshiro blinked. "Monster? No, we were hired by the local government to salvage in the area. I'm wearing a salvaged Kylie M3 Power Armor...and this guy's in a custom-made IronMan Power Armor. I'm Toshiro Yuki, Captain of the Yggdrasill and Commodore of the Yggsrasill Salvage Fleet. We've gotten our ship and yours in a massive cargo bay, and repressurized with atmosphere. There's a young woman who was aboard elsewhere and trying to get our attention by flashing your ship's lights. She's in our medbay..."

Catharsis stepped forward, not wanting Toshiro to talk at too much length before the other two introduced yourself. "I'm Catharsis Black. Who are you two? Are you injured, and what happened?"

Both stepped back as Catharsis stepped forward.

"I'm Moonstone..." The first girl said,

"And I'm Cinnabar...."

They looked at Toshiro for a moment, before turning their attention towards Catharsis... taking a moment to observe them like it was their first time seeing a power armor.

"It is just. We did not expect... other people. How is Quartz. Will she be alright?"

Toshiro noted the names, finding them to be interesting. Named for minerals and stones? "I don't know yet. She was breathing when we found her, but cold...and her suit had taken damage. If it's just the three of you, we should get to the medbay of my ship and check on her..."

"How much damage?"

"Was she exposed to the outside?"

"Will she be unclean?" They asked out of conern, each taking turns to press Toshiro for more information.

Toshiro was puzzled...not understanding anything. "What do you mean unclean? The front of the suit was damaged and shredded. Luckily, she wasn't exposed to shrapnel. She was exposed to very cold temperatures. Can you explain what you mean by 'unclean'?"

"Unclean,"

"Defiled,"

"Impure..."

"Father would cast us out. We are not to pick up the diseases and impurities of the world. We need to stay inside of our suits when we are away from home." The two explained, taking turns speaking to Toshiro.

Toshiro blinked... "Oh...well...the ships we're in have air scrubbers and the like. We're also extremely resistant to illnesses. We're not on the 'world' either...we're on ships. Who is your father though?" He tried to reassure what were fast seeming to be cultists...

Catharsis gave a nod. "Yes. There have been a lot of plagues out in space and the world, but we're resistant to that, and are very careful on our ships..."

They both shook their heads, "Father says any contact would be terrible for us." They both repeated at nearly the same time.

"If we didn't have to leave we wouldn't have."

"We should have stayed."

"The Elysians made us come out here..."

"And the ships we were given... well... most were destroyed."

"We just want to go home now."

Toshiro would have rubbed the back of his head, were he not in a Power Armor. "Well...here's the thing. Your ship lost containment and is damaged. You might have to rely on this ship's cargo bay's atmosphere. Your friend by now is because she's receiving medical care. It couldn't be helped. We'll have to hurry and try to find other survivors, but can you tell us who your father is and in detail what's going on? Who gave you ships? What did the Elysians do? You can stay on my ship where your sister is if you want...but I just don't know what your father defines as 'unclean'."

"Father said we would be fine so long as we stay in our suits."

Both of them seemed to nod at the same time, as if to agree with themselves. "We really should be getting back. The others are probably worried about us..."

"I suppose... father could tell you about the Elysians. But... uh... we're not really supposed to be talking with other people."

"Father said to keep it to a minimum."

"...Well, there might be other survivors in this mess. We've been hired to look for survivors and salvage materials by the entity that controls this area of space. I've heard of Elysians before...a long time ago, they and my people were at war, but the bad feelings have faded since then. I can't take you out until the job is done if you don't need immediate medical care, and there's a strange blue ship with an external reactor that needs salvaged before it falls into the gravity well...or explodes. Perhaps you can stay aboard and fill me in on the way? Maybe point out ships that might still have survivors?" Toshiro tried to help them understand the situation...

The two looked at one another,

"I suppose that would be alright," One said, before they both turned to face Toshiro. "We do not have another way back home after all."

"We are lucky you came when you did."

"Alright, let's see how your friend is doing real quick..." He heads off, letting the girls follow. Catharsis brought up the rear, after making sure that the engines wouldn't blow or kick on again...

---

A bit later >

Toshiro approached the medbay, and Yggdrasill took a look over to them. "...Ygddrasill here is actually the ship's computer. Sentient, Sapient, and abilt to remote-control humanoid power armor for interacting with us."

"Hello Yggdrasill." Both girls seemed to say in unison, as they watched, silently gasping when they saw their compatriot laying on the medbay table, just now starting to come to.

Yggdrasill responded to the pair of newcomers. "Greetings. The damage from the cold is healed. She is pure human...no mutation or genetic engineering detected. It is fairly rare to find an unoptimized version of one of the progenitor races...she is also waking." Toshiro crossed his arms. The girls' worry of 'taint' made possible sense...

"Girls...please tell me. How long have you and your 'father' been out here? Also, do you have any history with Geshrintall or Yamatai? Or perhaps Nepleslia?" He wondered if they were worried about the "Elysian Plague" of YE 08...

"We have been out here for... maybe... 6 years?" One of the girls said, sounding a bit unsure of herself as she spoke. "We came from Nepleslia and..."

"AHH!"

The girl in the medical bay yelped out when she realized her suit was gone!

Toshiro looked to her. "Hey, please stay calm. Your suit was badly damaged. Your ship in in a friendly ship's cargo bay, and you're inmy ship's medbay. We've verified that you're not ill. Your friends were about to try and explain the situation to us...so please try not to panic, okay? And don't worry about what I'm wearing. It's just a Power Armor to keep me safe in case you girls were hostile to us. We were hired by the local power in the area to salvage from around here, and that includes finding survivors and saving who we can."

Catharsis crossed his arms. "Hmm...they're from Nepeslia, around YE 34...it just ticked over to YE 40 a month ago...but why are you all worried about being 'unclean', and who is your 'father'?"

While Catharsis spoke with the others nearby, the girl that had nearly frozen to death had her attention on Toshiro, "I know what a power armor is!" she said, frantic, "But father said we could be corrupted by other people touching us. He might not let me back in like this!"

Toshiro thought fast. She seemed to certainly be worried. "Well, since I'm in a power armor, I haven't technically touched you, even when I initially found you. Also, the entity that provided you medical care was remote controlled by the ship's sentient and sapient computer. Her name is Yggdrasill. So technically...no one touched you without some form of protection between you and them? Does that work? Also, back in where? Who is your father? Your sisters were about to tell us a bit before you woke..."

"I... uh... " She looked unsure, "... I suppose that is ok... but I need my suit back. I can't be without my suit... Not while I'm out here." she insisted.

The Ironman controlled by the Yggdrasill took the cue and gathered up her suit...and handed it over...complete with its extensive damage... Toshiro knew that might not cut it.

"Well, does your ship carry spares? I don't really understand why you need it. You're from Nepleslia, circa YE 34, right? Is it your religion or something that you're worried about? Some specific illness in this area of space? I've actually got a Yamataian body under here, so I'm resistant to illnesses anyway..."

"There... really wasn't room for spares. I was not supposed to remove the suit until I got back... It is what father instructed of us." She explained, as if that should have been answer enough.

"...You're speaking to someone who doesn't know who your father is, or why you're worried about being 'corrupted'. I don't understand your relation to the Elysians or how and why you came to be out here in a fight. Can you please explain as if I were completely ignorant of things? Because I pretty much am." Toshiro attempted to get her to explain further...

"Will taping up the suit's damage be enough?"

"I... don't know. Maybe? I think so..." She still sounded unsure of herself, "Father said that we were to help the Elysians. I don't get what you don't understand..."

"Ah, I see. I wasn't here for the fight. I was called in to salvage and save people. I know the Mishhu, Elysians, and now you were here fighting, but no more detail than that. I don't know what sparked the conflict or who your father is...or who you girls are with...but I do know that the NMX are hostile to all other life." Yggdrasill worked to try and patch up her suit as best it could as Toshiro tried to get information from the young woman.

"Whatever happened to you girls since you left Nepleslia, or why you left, I know nothing about."

"We have been living at home with father." She explained, "Our ship should have the location for you... and father said we were called upon to aid the Elysians... so we went."

Toshiro pondered, and gave a nod. "Alright, I'll have to see how to manage that. First thing is first though. We need to look for more people in this debris field to save. There's an Elysian ship we need to stop from blowing up as well...I don't yet know if anyone is aboard. Sorry for any delay. If you want to assist, I could use some hands on the bridge once youre suit's back on. If not, you can work on trying to repair your ship...though it's heavily damaged. The doors were mangled, so we had to cut a hole in the hull to save you." He explained, hoping she understood the importance of the delay...

"I am not sure how I could help. I am not traied in how to pilot any other ships." She said, "... I think I should focus on repairing my suit."

Toshiro nodded in understanding. "Whatever you need to do to distract yourself from the situation. Just trying to keep you busy rather than dwelling on things. I have to go look for others to save...this ship has areas where you and the girls can rest in the meantime." He tried to meet the situation with a measure of kindness, even if he didn't understand the girls...

----

Toshiro, in his Kylie, departed after a time to the Elysian ship. Yggdrasill stood by to tow the vessel, Catharsis on standby inside. While Catharsis had the memories of a skilled engineer, he couldn't voice as such...and Toshiro's Kylie was better equipped to endure and escape if something went wrong. He made his way toward the bridge, concerned of Mishhu infestation or an explosion of the engine system...which was closely tied to power and weapons on this ship even more than usual...

He'd find that whatever protections the ship had, didn't seem to be working properly. Nothing stopped him from approaching, nothing stopped him from cutting his way into the hull which appeared to be just a giant container of components and support structures weilded together. The pressureized crew module appeared to be seated deep inside of the craft, and at least in the ship's current configuration there didn't seem to be a way in without cutting into the hull.

He first conducted scans, attempting to find the best place to cut into to enter, ideally without depressurizing that crew module. Only once he determined that did he begin to cut, seeking to enter with minimal actual damage...

The interior seemed to he honeycombed with some additional materials... he'd depressurize whatever he cut into... but the rest of the crew area would be more or less intact... though on the inside the setup was just as confusing as the rest of the ship. The room he cut into was fairly large, white, and the walls were all entirely smooth. The doors apparently entirely inset into the structure. The only hint of stuff in the room being the occational flickering volumetric lighting, leaving behind the ghost of displays that flickered in and out of exsistance.

With careful consideration, he walked along the ghostly displays...

They felt a bit fuzzy as be passed by, no doubt some artifact of the electrical fields used in the displays not being properly setup. The displays only flickering on for a moment. Not long enough to really see or inteact with them. The entire control aparatus in the room appeared to be virtual. Even the area where his sensors saw a door didn't appear to have any physical controls.

Toshiro attempted to read some of the controls at least...and see if he could get further in the ship or disable the engines. It was dangerous to just cut through the hull repeatedly and decompress a place with people inside. He needed to get control of the system enough to open and close the doors. He looked for panels in the cieling, walls, floor, anything that he could tap into...

There were control systems inset into the walls, the sensors on his machine could see that much, but he'd have to cut into the wall to reach them. It looked like they operated wirelessly.

He carefully worked to open the wall...and worked to try and tap into those controls. Hopefully he could manage this without decompression. Catharsis, meanwhile, worked on the smaller tasks...such as trying to get the girls' ship's systems repaired as best he could and getting data from the computer.

As he tried playing with the controls, he found himself almost immediately locked out. The system rejecting his inputs... at least for a while. As the minutes dragged on, the door would opening all on its own.

Standing on the other side was a nearly 6 and a half foot tall... creature. It was humanoid, and had a tight fitting white cloth around most of its form... looking like some kind of mix between Elysian robe and pressure suit. Its skin was otherwise exposed, a nearly glossy marble type color to it, its hands ending in sharp fingers, matching the sharp teeth it had in its mouth... though it was devoid of other facial features, lacking eyes or a nose. The creature had a rifle of some kind on its back, and a knife at the hip.

It seemed to be deciding what to do with him.

Toshiro was more than a little surprised to see this creature, but worked to keep his cool. Was this some sort of Elysian bioweapon? "...I've been asked to look for survivors before salvaging the wreck for raw materials by the power that controls this area of space. I was trying to open the door without damaging it, to avoid decompression. Who...are you?" It was all Toshiro could do not to slip up and say "what" instead...

"I'm not the one entering a ship that isn't theirs..." It responded, "You're not NMX. But you're not one of us."

"I'm a civilian salvager. I was asked by Uso of Uso's Star Organization to salvage the area. My standard procedure is to try and save people who are encountered aboard wrecks, or at least send bodies home where possible. Also, your open cycle Aether Generator is a notable danger should it overload or crash...which current projections indicate it will do. Save the ship and the people inside, or let it crash and burn to possibly kill any other survivors in the area as well...those were our options in regards to this vessel." Toshiro was tense, even just looking at this...thing...but appearances weren't everything. If it was intelligent, and not a known hostile, peaceful discussion should be attempted first...

"Hmf,"

The creature seemed upset by this news,

"I guess that means I shouldn't kill you. Technically we're allies at the moment... but I can't let you just take one of our ships... Put the ship into a more stable orbit and I'll take it from there."

The casual talk of killing made Toshiro a bit nervous, and confirmed his suspicions. He was dealing with some weapon, akin to the NH-28 NIWS. "Well, given that the custody of the ship stayed with you uninterrupted, it's technically not salvage anyway and you're well within your rights...so provided you're capable of safely navigating the vessel on your own without it exploding and posing a risk, that's acceptable. You seem to be missing two of what seem like four stabilization structures though, the ones that surround the ring comprising your reactor. Can the ship function in that state?" Toshiro responded and queried, willing to let this ship go if it avoided a fight. There wasn't much question as to proper procedure here.

"I'm sure I'll find out soon enough." The creature responded, a slow toothy smile forming on its face, "Repairs aren't my department, but I will make due...

... or I will explode..."

"...I see..." The smile was more than a bit creepy. "Let's see here...well...at minimum, I'd like to tow you out far enough to where that worst case scenario wouldn't harm anyone else, if you weren't willing to do anything else...aside from that, all I could think to do would be to somehow help stabilize the ship's propulsion on two such control devices if possible, or find some adrift stabilizers to stick on if there are remnants of more ships of this class adrift out here...I guess that's up to you and what's left here...provided we have your word that such assistance wouldn't be met with hostility after the fact."

"......." The creature sure took its time in responding, "Fine, no hostilities will be initiated on my side. If you find some spare panels leave them in a close orbit to this ship's own orbit. Though if you stick around too long I can't promise I'll leave you alone.

You should leave the Elysian ships be."

Toshiro was nervous. This was dangerous. This entity wasn't used to diplomacy. "I see...and is there any interest in rescuing or verifying the survival of other Elysian forces for withdrawl? I should also mention that some of the MegaMishhu in the area still have bombers and missiles. Fair warning."

"If I verified that any Elysians were still alive in the area I'd be obligated to save them.

So.

No. Not really. The ship is still... mostly, armed. I'd love to keep going... maybe once the ship is fully running I could go after those remaining Megamishhu." It responded

"'Keep going'...will you be going home, or going off to fight someone else?" Toshiro asked, curious. This being seemed to have no interest in saving its fellow soldiers... Even as he talked, he sent a communication to the Yggdrasill to search for more such panels via telepathy. "...Though I suppose that's not my concern as long as you don't attack innocent people...I am worried that you'll self-terminate in combat though. You seem to be created to fight."

There were dozens of Elysian warships that had been turned into wreckage in this system. It wasn't hard for the Yggdrasill to find panels that looked to be a match.

"I've got more bodies." It replied, "Death is only a temparary setback for me... though I feel like it will cause you far more... distress."

"Yeah true...I guess we'll have to find a way to hurry up and prioritize before you're ready to go then...the non-Elysian ships are still fair game at least." Toshiro sighed, not liking this...but the ship was a powerful one. The Yggdrasill, meanwhile, complied with the request...pulling the ship to a higher orbit and placing two more panels near it...

"Also, going after the remaining MegaMishhu poses a problem. If I understand the basics of how your system probably works, your weapon systems are tied directly into the Aether Generator and need the very focusing systems you'll have to patch together. The massive amount of firepower needed to completely destroy all those MegaMishhu might be too migh for such field repairs...you could strand yourself partway through while destroying already dead enemies. What I gave was meant as more of a warning to keep point defenses ready for surviving battlepods and missiles...and maybe a bit of care in case one survived somewhere." Toshiro said, trying to be respectful but also truthful. It would also help him if those Megamishuu were more or elss intact...

If he wanted to use a well-placed shot to labotomize each instead of completely destroying them, all the better for him.

"Sounds like you are more interested in scavaging their remains for yourself. We came here to steralize the surrounding space and...."

The creature gave Toshiro a very toothy grin,

"They don't let me use the big weapons so often... I will be sure to leave plenty of trash for you though. They would frown upon my distruction of allied ships."

"Well, my getting their remains for raw materials and you ensuring their death with well-placed blows and managed care didn't seem mutually exclusive. It also did not make my words in any way untrue, so had to try. I can hope that there's enough debris to process. In any case, I guess I should let you work and salvage what I can in the interim...maybe make myself scarce for a bit after that just to ensure the safety of my crew and all." Toshiro really didn't want to test the civilian ships against the new Elysian one...this was a military warship with a bloodlust-filled entity at the helm.
 
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