A Horror Out of Space (Part 1)
WHO: Sanger Zonvolt, Amuro Ray, Nono, Elzam von Branstein
WHEN: 04.08.07
WHERE: Somewhere between Mars and the Asteroid Belt, Fuel Transport Ship Gemini
WHAT: Drifting Mysterious Starships, Introductions, the Lack of Crewmembers
It has been weeks since the Gemini vanished from communications, and
off the screens, of the Federation forces when it was crossing through the
asteroid belt. Such happenings were not entirely unusual from the standpoint of
those in charge of the Earth Sphere. There were always a certain number of
ships that vanished, lost or crushed within the massive expanse of the asteroid
belt that ringed the inner solar system. It was a dangerous route that had to
be plied by the fuel ships that mined around Jupiter, but the massive profits
that were returned by this gargantuan ships made the risk more than worthwhile,
and those who forsook the war between Zeon and the Federation and provided
vital fuel for both sides would often return as rich men and women.
What was unusual in this case was that the Gemini turned up, located
by a ship that was traveling outside of Mars orbit, which noted the immense
transport drifting lifelessly through the void, heading upwards out of the
system's plane. It would eventually be pulled back down into a degrading orbit
around the sun, many centuries from now, but for the time being it drifts. The
message that summoned the IPA forces to investigate was a confidential one, its
origins unclear - although it is likely that Sanger will know those origins.
As the ship comes into sensor range, it will be apparent that there
is another, smaller ship nearby - operating in stealth, its emissions reduced
making it difficult to identify in the void between worlds, but still evident.
It stands a good five hundred thousand meters off the port side of the Gemini,
watching... and waiting.
A green Gespenst flies through space, taking off towards the lifeless husk of
the Jupitoris-class ship. It hesitates for a moment, hanging in space - and
then, Sanger frowns as he scans it over. It is gutted and damaged beyond
repair; this bodes ill, but wasn't wholly unexpected. The white-haired samurai
swallows. "Ill tidings."
He frowns and presses down another button on his radio, speaking into it again.
"We should approach slowly," he says, "and dock with it. Much of the ship is
not sized for these machines. We will have to go in on foot."
He taps the katana at his side. He suspects he will need it.
The smaller Gundam G-3 follows the Gespenst, cruising swiftly through space. It
hovers before moving towards the ship, ready to dock with it or at least land
on the surface. Inside, Amuro looks at the damage from the outside, clad in his
space-ready Normal Suit and helmet. It doesn't appear to be the work of Zeon,
nor would it make much sense for Zeon forces to target a Jupitoris ship. They
have as much to lose from any risks to the Jupiter Fleet as the Federation
does. A splinter group, maybe? Terrorists, or virulent anti-war activists who
somehow got the means to do that to a ship?
Those, he believes, are the /easier/ answers.
Providing escort for the group that is searching, a single Veritech of the
officer's variety drifts into position, landing on the side of the ship, much
like a fly on the wall. Cueing his radio, Roy brings up his own transmission.
"I'll play guard durty while you three check it out." the Black Sheep Commander
offers.
"Any trouble, yell, and I'll come knocking." Roy finishes up as he settles into
position, and turns his radio over to local frequencies.
You switch armor modes to Guarlion Trombe.
A figure is floating alongside the other two mechs - a man-sized figure,
encompassed in a thick, glowing force shield. It's a strange sight, because the
field isn't visible if you look straight at it, but the sides are, making it
seem that this strange, powerful being is surrounded by an impenetrable
coffeestain on the universe - although the light plays off the thin line more
like a red eclipse, shimmering and flickering.
Buster Machine Seven frowns at the wreck, her visor tinting the entire image
orange. "Do you want Nono to go in first?" she says. Despite the words being
spoken aloud in the vaccuum of space, they carry quite far, and indeed, can be
heard via radio, as well. "I am the invincible super robot here, after all..."
Inside of the Gemini's docking bay, there is a scene of chaos. This
might have been a method of escape for the people of the ship - however, in
this case it appears to have been a point of entry. The outer door of the
docking bay has been rent asunder, as something had ripped through the massive
steel doors, bursting metal aside and shredding it as it passed through.
Inside, there is floating wreckage all over the place, as it appears that the
several transport shuttles inside had suffered the brunt of the damage. Most of
them are also torn up, and two were literally torn to pieces, large chunks of
metal torn off and sent floating about the area, the head and tails resting in
different parts of the docking bay.
There is, however, one mech in the docking bay that IS intact. A unit
that should be familiar to Amuro, at the very least. A black, yellow, and red
Guarlion, known to belong to the Divine Crusaders, is working on clearing a
path to the back of the docking bay. A good amount of debris has been sent to
rest against the far wall of the bay, and it shouldn't take too much more work
to reach the cargo lifts beyond. As the IPA mechs enter the docking bay, it
pauses in its work and turns about, using its thrusters to swing its front
around towards the front of the bay. Its pilot pauses for a moment, and
smiles... but says nothing.
The Gepsenst sets down, magnetic strips in the feet /clinking/ in what little
atmosphere is left as they activate and pull it down. Sanger starts to throw
his hatch open, before he sees the Guarlion. He tenses, and then holds his fire
- he would have regardless of what Roy ordered. His eyes narrow.
He opens a radio band up to the Guarlion /and/ the Black Sheep, perhaps to
their surprise. His lips tighten into a frown, but he doesn't sound nearly as
angry as he should. "I should have expected to see you here, old friend," he
says. "Then you provided me with the intel?"
The Gundam's hatch slowly opens, and Amuro silently exits, moving as one
accustomed to zero-G conditions. While he has a Federation-issued rifle in his
hands, he follows orders and holds fire-though he might have done so even if
not ordered. He recognizes that unit, at the very least, and what he remembers
shows it belonging to one of the more honorable members of the DC.
And he doesn't think the DC is behind this.
Roy's fingers tense around the trigger as his head swivels toward Sanger as he
talks. "..familiar looking colors were seen in Macross City recently as well."
the Commander thinks to add, after sending the order to hold fire, regardless
if people would have complied or not, darnit.
Nono also sets down, although 'sets down' is sort of an odd term - she draws
closer to the ground, and when she reaches a height that is roughly equivalent
to 'standing', her shield deactivates. She can't stand - her legs, in this
mode, end in inflexible sharp angles, with rocket boosters on the bottom.
Nono's head tilts to the side. "Hello! I am Buster Machine Number Seven, but
you can call me Nono!" She pauses a beat, and then ventures, "Are you evil?"
"Of course," a rich, deep baritone replies across the same radio band.
Elzam leans back in his cockpit, reaching up to check the seals on his flight
helmet. "We discovered this ship floating out here about eighteen hours ago -
the Kurogane has been keeping pace with it, and I started clearing things out
of here. This is a situation that I felt should be investigated regardless of
affiliation. I am sure you remember why."
The Guarlion turns around, and muscles one last piece of large debris
- the wing of one of the shuttles - that had embedded itself in the deck
plating in front of the cargo lifts up into the higher portions of the ship.
With that done, Elzam swings his unit around and lands it on the deck nearby,
engaging several of its magnetic docking plates to keep it secured. "I wish I
could assure you that I am unarmed, but I think at the moment that would show a
distinct lack of prudence," he adds, as the Guarlion's cockpit block slides
open. Elzam emerges, dressed in a pilot suit that is predominantly black, with
the matching colors to his unit. In one hand, he carries a very large weapon -
about the side of a surface to air missile launcher.
His feet touch lightly onto the deck as he drifts down, and turns to
look at the IPA members standing there. He looks at Amuro for a moment, and
then over to Nono. "So these are your students, old friend? You do honor to our
old teachers by helping to train such able students, old friend." He chuckles
for a moment, and then replies to Nono, "I suppose that would depend upon your
point of view, Nono. Certainly there are some who would call me evil, but most
call me Elzam von Branstein."
"They have learned. Let us hope it is enough," Sanger replies. What the hell
does that mean, anyways? He offers no explanation. The man opens the hatch of
his cockpit and leaps out - in a red and golden normalsuit, with his katana
buckled at his side. He floats out and lands near Elzam, before he looks up at
the rest. His voice crackles over the radio.
"Whatever did this, then..." He scowls. He knows what may have done this, now;
what Elzam warned him of. He feels his throat clench and looks up at Nono,
before looking back at the pilot of the Trombe. "Do you believe it remains?"
Giving a curious look to Sanger, Amuro floats down, catching ahold of part of
the scaffolding on the side to lead himself forward. "This doesn't look like
the work of Zeon allies," he explains over the radio, opening the frequency to
Elzam as well. "Really, most people in our plane have little to gain from
attacking the Jupiter Fleet. This might be...this might be something else. Do
any of you recognize any of the damage patterns?"
Roy arches a brow behind his helmet, glancing between Sanger and Elzam, but is
quiet at the moment. The Veritech pilot and commander has to trust Sanger in
this. And for now, he does. There's no reason not to.
Nono is not a genius; she is naive, kind of dumb, and more than slightly
idealistic. She suffers from the belief that she alone is destined to defend
mankind, fated with an incredible burden that she sought out willingly, but now
is unsure she can bear.
But for all that, she is a warrior, a ten-thousand year old weapon with the
instincts to destroy her enemies. When Sanger looks in her direction, she nods,
grimly, but takes no action just now - except to alert the Buster Corps. to
prepare a collection of Pararagon-class melee-type machines for her use.
"Hello, then, Mr. von Branstein," she says, still in her chipper voice,
although it is a little more serious now. Sanger has put her on alert. "I wish
we could have met under better circumstances. Maybe soon I can get you ice
cream!" Nono's government gets her anything she asks for because they worship
the ground she walks on. It's kind of handy.
Her eyes crane to examine some of the damage, wondering the same thing Amuro
just asked.
"I do not want to discount the possibility," Elzam replies, equally
cryptically. "We did not survive in the Aggressors by assuming that our
opponents were less skilled than they actually proved to be, after all." He
brings the launcher up, resting it over his shoulder. Its easy to see that
attached to the side are several four foot long lances, with a large pack
mounted on one end, but what use they may have remains to be seen.
The DC pilot turns and starts walking towards the cargo lifts,
checking each in turn as he speaks. "The fuel tanks appear to have been
ruptured - I do not recommend removing your helmets, even though there is some
atmosphere at places inside of the ship," he states quietly, pushing the 'call'
button for one lift. It doesn't respond, and he moves on to the next, tapping
the button again. This one responds, and there is a faint rattle, which
probably would have been rather loud were there still much air in here. "Also,
be careful in discharging firearms aboard - a stray shot may ignite the fuel,
and reduce this ship to an expanding fireball with all of us inside."
"I am glad that I brought this, then," Sanger says. He clutches the hilt of his
katana, before he looks back at the rest of the Sheep and nods. It is safe to
follow, he means to indicate. He nods his head, and then looks up the lift. His
lips tighten into a frown. "You believe no one would have just cause to attack
this ship, Amuro?" he asks. "Then that doesn't bode well at all - because this
ship was very clearly attacked. Keep close, everyone."
Amuro glances at the pulse rifle in his hands.
And then puts it back in the Gundam, as he knows Minovsky Particles could
easily set off that kind of explosion. He's seen beam sabers take down ships
before. With that, he begins to follow, floating along the corridors with ease.
"There's not much else that could have happened to it," he insists. "If it ran
into an asteroid along the way, we would have known about it..."
And unfortunately, this is where Roy needs to bow out. "I'll keep watch in the
hangar, in case whatever it is comes back, I'll buy you guys some time." The
Veritech commander offers a two fingered salute. "Take care of them, Sanger..
Elzam." the pilot lets out a breath, turning his attention to flipping to
Battloid mode and shouldering his rifle. "And good luck."
Nono could totally tank an enormous fireball carrying with it a combined force
roughly equal to that of a nuclear weapon.
...everyone else would be screwed, though.
Hmm. Nono frowns, scratching the back of her head. "OK," she says, simply.
"Nono will be careful!" Obviously she'll just have to punch things. This is,
indeed, one of her key weaknesses - she has relatively little in the way of an
offense that isn't energy-based.
"Ah..." Nono hums, scratches her head again, and then supplies, "Maybe it was
space monsters? Not...necessarily Uchuu Kaiju, but..."
She looks around, frowning deeply. "This kind of damage...it doesn't really
seem like the sort of damage people, or at least...normal people...would
inflict. Dn't you think?"
"It is difficult to say right now," Elzam comments, and engages the lift. It
begins to move back up, giving a faint *clack-clack-clack-clack* sound as it
moves. "There are many threats in space that could produce such results. Some
you may have seen, and others... may be a mystery. You might call the
investigation of such things a hobby of mine." The lift rumbles up
slowly towards the upper levels. There are times where it hitches, or gets
stuck for a moment - it becomes obvious that there are gashes in the wall,
rents in the metal where it has deformed, and the occasional puncture mark in
the wall. It looks like something clawed its way up this lift corridor... a
supposition that is supported when they arrive at the top, and find the doors
to the cargo lift burst open in much the same manner as the cargo bay doors. As
if something huge hand stuck its hands between them, and ripped them aside,
with both halves of the twisted door laying out in the large loading hallway
beyond. It is here that the first signs of the carnage become evident.
There can't be more than five or six people here - the mess is not
all that much and it is confined to two or three small areas. But those areas
are the scenes of incredible carnage. There is little recognizable as a whole
person - people have ripped apart, and flung aside like rag dolls. Small spots
of blood can be seen all over the hallway, the unfortunate side effect of
liquids being thrown about in low gravity.
Elzam looks around for a moment, and finally points to a nearby
hallway where another set of double doors has been ripped aside. There is also,
however, a large hole in a nearby wall, with the occasional spark from the
shredded wiring leaving an eirie illumination across the room. "You were always
the most skilled at dealing with close in assaults, old friend," Elzam says,
reaching up and flipping on his helmet light. It projects a wide beam that
chases away some of the darkness, but given the cavernous emptiness of this
area, the atmosphere makes it seem like only a small island amidst something
large, dark, and hungry hovering over the group. "Where do you think we should
go?"
"Indeed, Nono..." Sanger looks up and sees the rended metal, his face turning
into a slow frown. He swallows, and then looks around as they enter the
hallway. The twisted, torn apart bodies are immintently visible; the samurai's
face becomes a grim mask, as he sees globules of blood float by in the low
gravity. He does not stir, too much, but there is a clear tension.
"This way," Sanger concludes. He motions down the hallway, towards a doorway -
most notably, the ceiling can be seen there, under the light from Elzam's
helmet. "In these ships, an enemy can hide from above. His lips tighten further
into a frown."
He realizes that is not all. "Be careful, as we enter the door... especially
without Commander Fokker able to assist us outside."
As Amuro floats in, he immediately recoils, choking down his gag-reflex for a
moment. He has seen blood and gore from the siege on the White Base, and knows
he should be used to it, as grisly a thought as that is. But this sort of
carnage is not the kind brought about by bullets and machetes. Whatever did
this was large, angry, and definitely not human.
"We should...maybe see if it left a trail," he manages, his voice a bit weak.
Briefly, he runs a gloved, suited hand over one of the gashes in the steel
wall. The pilot can't help but think how much they remind him of claw marks.
Nono hovers along obediently. Whatever she uses to fly, it doesn't seem to be
incendiary - she just..moves. This is because what she's /actually/ doing is
reconfiguring the laws of physics around her such that she essentially "falls"
through space in the direction she wants to move, but that sort of thing is so
preposterous that probably nobody even thinks of it. She is sticking as close
to the front as people will allow her to be - she is, after all, the only one
here who is an actual honest-to-God super robot. She will be hurt less if a
horrible space monster from beyond the edge of the universe tries to eat her
face. She seems to have no difficulty seeing, again despite the darkness of the
area. She's a space robot, after all.
The carnage earns a startled sound, but not a scream or any such thing. She
does mutter, "Space monsters..." in a perhaps alarmingly hateful tone, and her
hand covers her mouth in surprise. She would perhaps be breathing heavily from
shock, if not for the fact that there's nothing to respire that she can use.
WHEN: 04.08.07
WHERE: Somewhere between Mars and the Asteroid Belt, Fuel Transport Ship Gemini
WHAT: Drifting Mysterious Starships, Introductions, the Lack of Crewmembers
It has been weeks since the Gemini vanished from communications, and
off the screens, of the Federation forces when it was crossing through the
asteroid belt. Such happenings were not entirely unusual from the standpoint of
those in charge of the Earth Sphere. There were always a certain number of
ships that vanished, lost or crushed within the massive expanse of the asteroid
belt that ringed the inner solar system. It was a dangerous route that had to
be plied by the fuel ships that mined around Jupiter, but the massive profits
that were returned by this gargantuan ships made the risk more than worthwhile,
and those who forsook the war between Zeon and the Federation and provided
vital fuel for both sides would often return as rich men and women.
What was unusual in this case was that the Gemini turned up, located
by a ship that was traveling outside of Mars orbit, which noted the immense
transport drifting lifelessly through the void, heading upwards out of the
system's plane. It would eventually be pulled back down into a degrading orbit
around the sun, many centuries from now, but for the time being it drifts. The
message that summoned the IPA forces to investigate was a confidential one, its
origins unclear - although it is likely that Sanger will know those origins.
As the ship comes into sensor range, it will be apparent that there
is another, smaller ship nearby - operating in stealth, its emissions reduced
making it difficult to identify in the void between worlds, but still evident.
It stands a good five hundred thousand meters off the port side of the Gemini,
watching... and waiting.
A green Gespenst flies through space, taking off towards the lifeless husk of
the Jupitoris-class ship. It hesitates for a moment, hanging in space - and
then, Sanger frowns as he scans it over. It is gutted and damaged beyond
repair; this bodes ill, but wasn't wholly unexpected. The white-haired samurai
swallows. "Ill tidings."
He frowns and presses down another button on his radio, speaking into it again.
"We should approach slowly," he says, "and dock with it. Much of the ship is
not sized for these machines. We will have to go in on foot."
He taps the katana at his side. He suspects he will need it.
The smaller Gundam G-3 follows the Gespenst, cruising swiftly through space. It
hovers before moving towards the ship, ready to dock with it or at least land
on the surface. Inside, Amuro looks at the damage from the outside, clad in his
space-ready Normal Suit and helmet. It doesn't appear to be the work of Zeon,
nor would it make much sense for Zeon forces to target a Jupitoris ship. They
have as much to lose from any risks to the Jupiter Fleet as the Federation
does. A splinter group, maybe? Terrorists, or virulent anti-war activists who
somehow got the means to do that to a ship?
Those, he believes, are the /easier/ answers.
Providing escort for the group that is searching, a single Veritech of the
officer's variety drifts into position, landing on the side of the ship, much
like a fly on the wall. Cueing his radio, Roy brings up his own transmission.
"I'll play guard durty while you three check it out." the Black Sheep Commander
offers.
"Any trouble, yell, and I'll come knocking." Roy finishes up as he settles into
position, and turns his radio over to local frequencies.
You switch armor modes to Guarlion Trombe.
A figure is floating alongside the other two mechs - a man-sized figure,
encompassed in a thick, glowing force shield. It's a strange sight, because the
field isn't visible if you look straight at it, but the sides are, making it
seem that this strange, powerful being is surrounded by an impenetrable
coffeestain on the universe - although the light plays off the thin line more
like a red eclipse, shimmering and flickering.
Buster Machine Seven frowns at the wreck, her visor tinting the entire image
orange. "Do you want Nono to go in first?" she says. Despite the words being
spoken aloud in the vaccuum of space, they carry quite far, and indeed, can be
heard via radio, as well. "I am the invincible super robot here, after all..."
Inside of the Gemini's docking bay, there is a scene of chaos. This
might have been a method of escape for the people of the ship - however, in
this case it appears to have been a point of entry. The outer door of the
docking bay has been rent asunder, as something had ripped through the massive
steel doors, bursting metal aside and shredding it as it passed through.
Inside, there is floating wreckage all over the place, as it appears that the
several transport shuttles inside had suffered the brunt of the damage. Most of
them are also torn up, and two were literally torn to pieces, large chunks of
metal torn off and sent floating about the area, the head and tails resting in
different parts of the docking bay.
There is, however, one mech in the docking bay that IS intact. A unit
that should be familiar to Amuro, at the very least. A black, yellow, and red
Guarlion, known to belong to the Divine Crusaders, is working on clearing a
path to the back of the docking bay. A good amount of debris has been sent to
rest against the far wall of the bay, and it shouldn't take too much more work
to reach the cargo lifts beyond. As the IPA mechs enter the docking bay, it
pauses in its work and turns about, using its thrusters to swing its front
around towards the front of the bay. Its pilot pauses for a moment, and
smiles... but says nothing.
The Gepsenst sets down, magnetic strips in the feet /clinking/ in what little
atmosphere is left as they activate and pull it down. Sanger starts to throw
his hatch open, before he sees the Guarlion. He tenses, and then holds his fire
- he would have regardless of what Roy ordered. His eyes narrow.
He opens a radio band up to the Guarlion /and/ the Black Sheep, perhaps to
their surprise. His lips tighten into a frown, but he doesn't sound nearly as
angry as he should. "I should have expected to see you here, old friend," he
says. "Then you provided me with the intel?"
The Gundam's hatch slowly opens, and Amuro silently exits, moving as one
accustomed to zero-G conditions. While he has a Federation-issued rifle in his
hands, he follows orders and holds fire-though he might have done so even if
not ordered. He recognizes that unit, at the very least, and what he remembers
shows it belonging to one of the more honorable members of the DC.
And he doesn't think the DC is behind this.
Roy's fingers tense around the trigger as his head swivels toward Sanger as he
talks. "..familiar looking colors were seen in Macross City recently as well."
the Commander thinks to add, after sending the order to hold fire, regardless
if people would have complied or not, darnit.
Nono also sets down, although 'sets down' is sort of an odd term - she draws
closer to the ground, and when she reaches a height that is roughly equivalent
to 'standing', her shield deactivates. She can't stand - her legs, in this
mode, end in inflexible sharp angles, with rocket boosters on the bottom.
Nono's head tilts to the side. "Hello! I am Buster Machine Number Seven, but
you can call me Nono!" She pauses a beat, and then ventures, "Are you evil?"
"Of course," a rich, deep baritone replies across the same radio band.
Elzam leans back in his cockpit, reaching up to check the seals on his flight
helmet. "We discovered this ship floating out here about eighteen hours ago -
the Kurogane has been keeping pace with it, and I started clearing things out
of here. This is a situation that I felt should be investigated regardless of
affiliation. I am sure you remember why."
The Guarlion turns around, and muscles one last piece of large debris
- the wing of one of the shuttles - that had embedded itself in the deck
plating in front of the cargo lifts up into the higher portions of the ship.
With that done, Elzam swings his unit around and lands it on the deck nearby,
engaging several of its magnetic docking plates to keep it secured. "I wish I
could assure you that I am unarmed, but I think at the moment that would show a
distinct lack of prudence," he adds, as the Guarlion's cockpit block slides
open. Elzam emerges, dressed in a pilot suit that is predominantly black, with
the matching colors to his unit. In one hand, he carries a very large weapon -
about the side of a surface to air missile launcher.
His feet touch lightly onto the deck as he drifts down, and turns to
look at the IPA members standing there. He looks at Amuro for a moment, and
then over to Nono. "So these are your students, old friend? You do honor to our
old teachers by helping to train such able students, old friend." He chuckles
for a moment, and then replies to Nono, "I suppose that would depend upon your
point of view, Nono. Certainly there are some who would call me evil, but most
call me Elzam von Branstein."
"They have learned. Let us hope it is enough," Sanger replies. What the hell
does that mean, anyways? He offers no explanation. The man opens the hatch of
his cockpit and leaps out - in a red and golden normalsuit, with his katana
buckled at his side. He floats out and lands near Elzam, before he looks up at
the rest. His voice crackles over the radio.
"Whatever did this, then..." He scowls. He knows what may have done this, now;
what Elzam warned him of. He feels his throat clench and looks up at Nono,
before looking back at the pilot of the Trombe. "Do you believe it remains?"
Giving a curious look to Sanger, Amuro floats down, catching ahold of part of
the scaffolding on the side to lead himself forward. "This doesn't look like
the work of Zeon allies," he explains over the radio, opening the frequency to
Elzam as well. "Really, most people in our plane have little to gain from
attacking the Jupiter Fleet. This might be...this might be something else. Do
any of you recognize any of the damage patterns?"
Roy arches a brow behind his helmet, glancing between Sanger and Elzam, but is
quiet at the moment. The Veritech pilot and commander has to trust Sanger in
this. And for now, he does. There's no reason not to.
Nono is not a genius; she is naive, kind of dumb, and more than slightly
idealistic. She suffers from the belief that she alone is destined to defend
mankind, fated with an incredible burden that she sought out willingly, but now
is unsure she can bear.
But for all that, she is a warrior, a ten-thousand year old weapon with the
instincts to destroy her enemies. When Sanger looks in her direction, she nods,
grimly, but takes no action just now - except to alert the Buster Corps. to
prepare a collection of Pararagon-class melee-type machines for her use.
"Hello, then, Mr. von Branstein," she says, still in her chipper voice,
although it is a little more serious now. Sanger has put her on alert. "I wish
we could have met under better circumstances. Maybe soon I can get you ice
cream!" Nono's government gets her anything she asks for because they worship
the ground she walks on. It's kind of handy.
Her eyes crane to examine some of the damage, wondering the same thing Amuro
just asked.
"I do not want to discount the possibility," Elzam replies, equally
cryptically. "We did not survive in the Aggressors by assuming that our
opponents were less skilled than they actually proved to be, after all." He
brings the launcher up, resting it over his shoulder. Its easy to see that
attached to the side are several four foot long lances, with a large pack
mounted on one end, but what use they may have remains to be seen.
The DC pilot turns and starts walking towards the cargo lifts,
checking each in turn as he speaks. "The fuel tanks appear to have been
ruptured - I do not recommend removing your helmets, even though there is some
atmosphere at places inside of the ship," he states quietly, pushing the 'call'
button for one lift. It doesn't respond, and he moves on to the next, tapping
the button again. This one responds, and there is a faint rattle, which
probably would have been rather loud were there still much air in here. "Also,
be careful in discharging firearms aboard - a stray shot may ignite the fuel,
and reduce this ship to an expanding fireball with all of us inside."
"I am glad that I brought this, then," Sanger says. He clutches the hilt of his
katana, before he looks back at the rest of the Sheep and nods. It is safe to
follow, he means to indicate. He nods his head, and then looks up the lift. His
lips tighten into a frown. "You believe no one would have just cause to attack
this ship, Amuro?" he asks. "Then that doesn't bode well at all - because this
ship was very clearly attacked. Keep close, everyone."
Amuro glances at the pulse rifle in his hands.
And then puts it back in the Gundam, as he knows Minovsky Particles could
easily set off that kind of explosion. He's seen beam sabers take down ships
before. With that, he begins to follow, floating along the corridors with ease.
"There's not much else that could have happened to it," he insists. "If it ran
into an asteroid along the way, we would have known about it..."
And unfortunately, this is where Roy needs to bow out. "I'll keep watch in the
hangar, in case whatever it is comes back, I'll buy you guys some time." The
Veritech commander offers a two fingered salute. "Take care of them, Sanger..
Elzam." the pilot lets out a breath, turning his attention to flipping to
Battloid mode and shouldering his rifle. "And good luck."
Nono could totally tank an enormous fireball carrying with it a combined force
roughly equal to that of a nuclear weapon.
...everyone else would be screwed, though.
Hmm. Nono frowns, scratching the back of her head. "OK," she says, simply.
"Nono will be careful!" Obviously she'll just have to punch things. This is,
indeed, one of her key weaknesses - she has relatively little in the way of an
offense that isn't energy-based.
"Ah..." Nono hums, scratches her head again, and then supplies, "Maybe it was
space monsters? Not...necessarily Uchuu Kaiju, but..."
She looks around, frowning deeply. "This kind of damage...it doesn't really
seem like the sort of damage people, or at least...normal people...would
inflict. Dn't you think?"
"It is difficult to say right now," Elzam comments, and engages the lift. It
begins to move back up, giving a faint *clack-clack-clack-clack* sound as it
moves. "There are many threats in space that could produce such results. Some
you may have seen, and others... may be a mystery. You might call the
investigation of such things a hobby of mine." The lift rumbles up
slowly towards the upper levels. There are times where it hitches, or gets
stuck for a moment - it becomes obvious that there are gashes in the wall,
rents in the metal where it has deformed, and the occasional puncture mark in
the wall. It looks like something clawed its way up this lift corridor... a
supposition that is supported when they arrive at the top, and find the doors
to the cargo lift burst open in much the same manner as the cargo bay doors. As
if something huge hand stuck its hands between them, and ripped them aside,
with both halves of the twisted door laying out in the large loading hallway
beyond. It is here that the first signs of the carnage become evident.
There can't be more than five or six people here - the mess is not
all that much and it is confined to two or three small areas. But those areas
are the scenes of incredible carnage. There is little recognizable as a whole
person - people have ripped apart, and flung aside like rag dolls. Small spots
of blood can be seen all over the hallway, the unfortunate side effect of
liquids being thrown about in low gravity.
Elzam looks around for a moment, and finally points to a nearby
hallway where another set of double doors has been ripped aside. There is also,
however, a large hole in a nearby wall, with the occasional spark from the
shredded wiring leaving an eirie illumination across the room. "You were always
the most skilled at dealing with close in assaults, old friend," Elzam says,
reaching up and flipping on his helmet light. It projects a wide beam that
chases away some of the darkness, but given the cavernous emptiness of this
area, the atmosphere makes it seem like only a small island amidst something
large, dark, and hungry hovering over the group. "Where do you think we should
go?"
"Indeed, Nono..." Sanger looks up and sees the rended metal, his face turning
into a slow frown. He swallows, and then looks around as they enter the
hallway. The twisted, torn apart bodies are immintently visible; the samurai's
face becomes a grim mask, as he sees globules of blood float by in the low
gravity. He does not stir, too much, but there is a clear tension.
"This way," Sanger concludes. He motions down the hallway, towards a doorway -
most notably, the ceiling can be seen there, under the light from Elzam's
helmet. "In these ships, an enemy can hide from above. His lips tighten further
into a frown."
He realizes that is not all. "Be careful, as we enter the door... especially
without Commander Fokker able to assist us outside."
As Amuro floats in, he immediately recoils, choking down his gag-reflex for a
moment. He has seen blood and gore from the siege on the White Base, and knows
he should be used to it, as grisly a thought as that is. But this sort of
carnage is not the kind brought about by bullets and machetes. Whatever did
this was large, angry, and definitely not human.
"We should...maybe see if it left a trail," he manages, his voice a bit weak.
Briefly, he runs a gloved, suited hand over one of the gashes in the steel
wall. The pilot can't help but think how much they remind him of claw marks.
Nono hovers along obediently. Whatever she uses to fly, it doesn't seem to be
incendiary - she just..moves. This is because what she's /actually/ doing is
reconfiguring the laws of physics around her such that she essentially "falls"
through space in the direction she wants to move, but that sort of thing is so
preposterous that probably nobody even thinks of it. She is sticking as close
to the front as people will allow her to be - she is, after all, the only one
here who is an actual honest-to-God super robot. She will be hurt less if a
horrible space monster from beyond the edge of the universe tries to eat her
face. She seems to have no difficulty seeing, again despite the darkness of the
area. She's a space robot, after all.
The carnage earns a startled sound, but not a scream or any such thing. She
does mutter, "Space monsters..." in a perhaps alarmingly hateful tone, and her
hand covers her mouth in surprise. She would perhaps be breathing heavily from
shock, if not for the fact that there's nothing to respire that she can use.