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Post by Hiroko Agueda on Sept 30, 2022 18:17:54 GMT
HANGAR BAY THREE, HEXHAMMER FLEET IN ORBIT
Finally, E-Day had come. After weeks in transit, days of training and acclimatisation lectures, hours upon hours of cultural briefing videos (most had fallen asleep during these) the day of dis-embarkation for most of the Techmages had finally come.
Divided into well over two dozen initial landing teams, each assigned a different city somewhere on the planet below, it was Team Twelve who would lead the way in establishing the Primary Beachead at Kamihama City- the location that all orbital scans had confirmed had the highest concentration of the exotic energies that had brought the fleet to this world in the first place.
Fully suited up and equipped to the teeth, Hiroko Agueda stood rigid to attention, her eyes staring straight ahead, as Admiral Clef Harlaown personally surveyed them in formation.
He paused for a moment as he walked past Hiroko, as if he recognised her for a moment, before continuing his review of the gathered techmages.
Accompanying him were Captain Trek Jansen and a number of other high-ranking fleet officers, all of whom regarded their gathered charges with mixed emotions.
Trek Jansen seemed to glower at a few of them, apparently angry for some reason. Hiroko had only taken minimal notice of the social dynamics that had been going on while they had been in orbit, preferring to focus all her mental energies on the difficult task ahead.
Finally, satisfied with Team Twelve's appearance, the Admiral took a podium that had been set up in this Hangar Bay. Behind that were parked a number of different shuttles and drop-pods, which an assortment of support staff, troopers and other tech-mages were already boarding.
Clearing his throat, the Admiral activated a holographic autocue, and briefly began to read a no-doubt highly motivational pre-operations speech, full of historic allusions and soaring sentiment.
Hiroko dimly recalled a time when she had been subject to such speeches before, in the company of others, and laughed about them at the time. An odd memory, and one her emotional dampeners had failed to fully suppress.
"Troopers, Staffers and Techmages of the TSAB Expeditionary Force:
You are about to embark upon a Great Endeavour, toward which we have striven these many months.
The eyes of our fleet, nay, our entire civilisation, are upon you. The hopes and prayers of science-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave sisters and brothers-in-arms on other ships, in other teams, you will bring about the full exploration and exploitation of this world's remarkable and unique energies, and open up the way to a-"
Admiral Harlaown coughed, his eyes glazing over as he skimmed ahead through the auto-cue.
"Anyway. You all know why you're here, and what you're here to do. Listen to your Superiors, keep all limbs inside the shuttle untill disembarkation, and don't frak this up."
With an airy dismissal, he turned, and left the podium, apparently too bored to finish the speech that had been prepared for him.
The other officers took up the slack, and glared at everyone assembled.
"Alright you maggots! Fall in line, fall in line! Operation Falling Star begins now! You will drop to the surface of the planet, proceed to your designated rendezvous points, secure the Beachhead, and, for all that is holy in Belka and above, do not start a frakkin' war with the locals. Keep it low-profile, at least untill we've got a foothold. Anyone who lets off so much as a Barrier without full written clearance from the Sanktkaiser herself will be fried from orbit. Do I make myself clear?!"
Captain Trek Jansen's face bulged with a throbbing vein. Clearly this man had been under a lot of stress, Hiroko observed internally.
"Any questions? And if any of you ask where the bathroom is, so help me powers above..."
[open, all techmages]
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Post by Lorie Zetros on Oct 1, 2022 12:03:03 GMT
There wasn't anything like a Belkan stiff upper lip or anything like that. However, the nobility and royalty were certainly taught their manners. And so Lorelei Zetros Hechingen sat at attention as the seemingly plain man in a flag officer's uniform strode past her up to the makeshift podium set up for this little ceremony. In theory, even an Admiral was subject to Lorie's whims were he in the service of House Hechingen. But no, Admiral Harlaown was the servant of a state ruled by citizen soldiers, rather than those of higher blood. One whose rank was either attained by proving himself to his superiors, or corruption of some sort. It was a different glory from that attained by withstanding grueling tutors and familial rites. Some might say it was superior, precisely because it took nothing but one's own ability to achieve, rather than any blood connections. But these achievements are built on water. If he did not find a wife and sire an heir, then he had no legacy to show for all his work. Eventually, he would be forgotten, buried beneath the pages of history as new heroes rose to his station and beyond. A Great House ensured the survival of its members' achievements, commemorating them through history and passing that history down the line for future generations to follow. At least in theory, Lorie was that latest generation. But her fate had been cruelly subverted by that conniving House Steward, who no doubt sabotaged her future to curry favour with her parents! So for now, she would give deference to the Admiral as he went on his fairly pedestrian speech to open this operation... and then abandoned it right in the middle to give some basic instructions and an implied threat before leaving them in the very capable hands of the ship's captain and command staff. How bad this speechwriter must have been. Their work was so blase that the intended speaker did not even bother to finish it. Whoever that was should be sacked and a more suitable replacement found! Captain Jansen was a tad more emotive than his superior. Perhaps he had been this way since that day Sigi had mistakenly gotten Lorie's parfait, leading to a chain of events that ended with both of them engaging in a ceremony of endowment. This required a warrior's full garb, and the warship apparently did not like this, as they were quickly set upon by guards, who needed to be put in their place. Verbally, of course. After that, Lorie was called to the Captain's quarters where he chewed her out for perhaps a quarter of an hour, while ranting and raving about his marital problems. One should not take on a dozen wives of various origins and dispositions and then expect life to give him anything less than combustible lemons. In any case, the captain finally calmed down enough to take... well... questions. Lorie raised her hand. Jansen was quick to spot it and sighed in resignation, as if his day had just gotten thrice as bad. "Volunteer Zetros. Make sure it's a good one." She sensed a silent "or else" tacked on to the end of that statement, with the way he said it. The young Archon lowered her hand and asked the question. They had been briefed earlier, of course. "Does the designated Field Base site possess amenities appropriate for one of our station?""Why, yes, Volunteer Zetros. The building we've designated as your Field Base site has amenities for someone fitting your station AS A VOLUNTEER." He didn't even pause to build up dramatic effect. Perhaps he was just that fed up. "Next question!"Lorie's face remained stoic as her station required. But inside, she was irritated. How was one supposed to function without important amenities like a gym with multiple gravity settings? Or a hot tub? At least the gym on the ship had gravity adjustment, but it had been too long since she'd bathed in a hot tub... Now what was she supposed to do? [677/677/1]
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Post by Athena Velgear on Oct 1, 2022 12:38:49 GMT
Between the scary-looking woman who looked like a Combat Cyborg, and would be exciting to challenge, and the regal-looking blonde Belkan who also looked fun to challenge, or even Admiral Harlaown who looked bored to death while reading the final announcement...
C'mon, the speech wasn't that bad! It's always important to motivate the troops before a mission!
Or at least that's what Athena Velgear thought. To be fair, she didn't need any speech for motivation, since she was finally about to head out to the Earth that wasn't the Earth she knew. The Elite was one of the few who didn't fall asleep during the lectures, eagerly counting down the days until now.
And here she stood, wearing a light blouse and denim shorts and carrying a duffle bag packed with not only supplies, but a significant portion of her trading card collection. Her Device, Duelist Alliance, resembling nothing so much as a Duel Disk straight from the show, was mounted on her left wrist. If one would take notice of the girl, she appeared to be vibrating, presumably in excitement.
Captain Jansen on the other hand appeared to be on edge, yelling commands before finally taking questions. Befitting of a Belkan noble, the blonde proceeded to ask a particularly arrogant and ridiculous one, which further infuriated the Captain.
That being said, Athena had one, so she raised her hand. If permitted to speak, she would ask this:
"Sir! When may we interact with the locals?"
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Post by Sigi Winter on Oct 1, 2022 19:15:06 GMT
Sigi made sure to get a spot a the back of formations for the briefing. Last time, she had gotten in trouble for nodding off, and she wanted to avoid trouble after the incident in the cafeteria. She spotted Lorie, and thought about standing next to her, but wasn't sure if it was appropriate or not. Belkan nobles were very particular about etiquette, and she was rusty on the procedures. She wasn't about to risk her first friend being too clingy.
She could already feel herself getting sleepy as soon as Admiral Harlaown started speaking. Something about his voice put her right to sleep. She had saved a recording of one of his speeches, and listened to it before bed when she had to camp out in harsh conditions. She never had to worry about getting to sleep. Thankfully, some of the other volunteers' eyes must have started to glaze over as well because he gave up on the speech pretty quickly.
Sigi was eager to get down to the surface. Most of the planets the church had assigned to her over the last few years were uninhabited. To be able to visit a planet with civilization was a huge treat. She wondered what kind of snacks they ate down there... Lorie must have had food on her brain too, as she made a point to ask about the amenities in their forward camp. Sigi felt a pang of jealousy that her lady was privileged enough to expect amenities during a mission. Of course, as royalty she was likely only sent to hospitable planets where she wouldn't be in danger. Couldn't have the head of a major house getting killed, could we? Meanwhile, Sigi had been camping out under the stars and eating bugs. She imagined whatever Hex Hammer set up would not be to Lorie's liking, and made a mental note to watch out for her while they were down there. Maybe she could do something to help make her lady more comfortable.
Someone she hadn't met yet was asking about the locals. Sigi absent-mindedly flexed her fingers, and fidgeted in her place in line. It was getting hard to sit still back here. She really did want to know when she could talk to the people down on this new planet, though. How advanced were they? Would they be friendly? What did they look like? These questions were probably answered in the mission brief, but Sigi hadn't ready it so she was enthralled nonetheless.
Still, she wasn't one to sit around and wait. She wanted to be done with the questions and just get out there. She'd keep her mouth shut for now. It usually got her in trouble anyway.
[452/452/1]
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Post by Cao Lixue on Oct 1, 2022 21:22:26 GMT
Relocating the remaining forceps to hold the previously open epidermis, Lixue's scarlet eyes would focus on the closed yet serene eyelids of her current patience as the heat rate monitor kept a peaceful almost metronome like beat keeping an ever watchful eye out while praising its user for their hard work. " Grafting mode initiate". " Initiating Grafting mode, the doctor is in". Alongside the confirmation, the finger guard obscuring Lixue's ring finger would extend to her remaining extremities forming a gauntlet that reached just shy of her elbow with the original finger guard now pointing into a thin yet hollow point. Winking to open a holo-window to zoom in on the incisions the young techmage would be the needle like end to the incisions appearing to trace over the wound to the untrained eye. Yet to a trained eye they could see near invisible threads waving and biting into the skin to pull and act as a guide for the cells that quickly began to reproduce, cover and absorb the mana threads. At the tail end of her operation, a knock echoed through the isolated room followed by the hissing of hydraulics, opening up to reclaim both her and the room that appeared almost outside of the vessel's day to day activity. " I'm just about finished if that is why you knowingly contaminated the room". Barely acknowledging the intruder, Lixue remained focused on her task for the few lasting seconds that she needed before flashing her ruby eyes at her colleague. "A fine way to treat a colleague after she came here to remind you of the current operation you are currently absent from". With a pause, Lixue placed the forceps into the tray full of disinfectant with the other used instruments that aided in the healing of her currently unconscious patient. Holding her response further as she used the still open holo-window to zoom in on her older and dry skinned colleague. " If I gave you a hint on the right cream to purchase would that suffice as a thanks"? Only receiving a narrowed glace in response, Lixue gave her senior a wry smile before switching the holo-window to the ship's comms to act as a sort of background noise while she washed her hands. Folding and scrubbing she listened to the Admiral's 'speech' if you could even call it a speech. In reality it felt more like he was a school teacher making sure his students knew to not eat the paste or stick their fingers in the funny looking socket; it did not convey hope for the future of the operation as a whole. Glancing over to the screen as the captain stepped in for the clearly caffeine deprived Admiral the whole stealth aspect seemed to clash with securing an area and sending a platoon of people decked out to the nines in militarized gear, especially the one next to the captain who looked as if she was planning to fight a war all by herself. Waving away the window and removing her scrubs to reveal her simple clothing that matched roughly that of what most would believe to be an earthling student's attire. " See I prepared, though I suppose I may look out of place amidst all those soldier boys though the idea is to not draw attention". Tossing her scrubs into the bin before leaving the room. "Thanks for cleaning up after me 'big sis' I'll bring you back a souvenir or an earth parfait". giving her senior a double handed wave the now very late techmage made her way to the briefing.
(Fifteen minutes and a few elevator trips later)
Entering the shuttles at the tail end of the brief her eyes fell on the stoic almost combat cyborg like woman next to the captain. While she seemed reliable and more than a match for anything one could expect, something just felt unsettling about the woman. " One to keep close, but at an arm's length". Muttering under her breath just as the regal blond began with her questioning. Perhaps regal might be a stretch with the plume that rested atop her head was almost peacock like with how much it stood out. Another blond techmage spoke out which then gave Lixue pause as there were many volunteers at least they appeared to be volunteers that were blond; hopefully she gained their monikers fast as if any more blonds enter she would have a difficult time pointing them out. The jittery blond attempting to hide in the back was either nervous or ready to pounce on the first thing she sees definitely a one to watch out for and keep on a tight leash. The bleached blond a descriptor that already grew tiresome the more she used it in the sea of gold seemed to be more reserved and level headed. Though what stood out most to her was the interesting device resting alongside the girl's arm. Lixue know that it is intelligence device though what it's functions were remained unknown to her. Lost in what model and what possible subroutines the device held within it, Lixue absently raised her hand after the Deck user finished their question. " I would second what was just said. If we are trying to stay under the radar why do we look like an invading force? Also, how would we secure an area and remain inconspicuous at the same time these two acts tend to contradict each other". [903/903/1]
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Post by Hiroko Agueda on Oct 2, 2022 20:06:26 GMT
Hiroko began to tune out the rest of the de-briefing, as she reviewed the information she had already stored in her memory regarding the tasks assigned to her and the role expected of her in the upcoming hours, days and weeks of Operation Falling Star.
It was a fairly comprehensive mission involving hundreds of personnel, not including those who had already arrived discreetly ahead of the main fleet to prepare the way. These "First-Ins" had strict orders to avoid contact or conflict of any kind with the locals, only to observe. Technically everything they were involved in was strictly "need to know", but Hiroko's brain was essentially an always-on wi-fi network, and some lazy IT Tech aboard the Hexhammer had backed up some of their data on the "free open wifi server", not realising it was in fact, her.
Not that she had any intention of announcing this fact. She had not been given any orders with regards to information security for other people's tasks, after all.
Jansen continued, answering each of the Volunteers questions with remarkable restraint.
"All interactions with the locals are to be kept to an appropriate necessary minimum, until you have fully established yourselves within our Field Base of Operations and developed an appropriate cover-story when dealing with locals. I realise this will be harder for some of you than others, but we are fortunate that the target city, Kamihama, is known for its...strange youth culture, and as such the ready made excuse of "I am a cosplayer" is available to you when questioned."
His eyes seemed to sweep the room, taking mental stock of who was there, who was paying attention, and who was goofing off. He frowned. "We seem to be missing someone..."
A trooper leaned in and whispered in Jansen's ear, causing his face to turn an angry tomato-red colour.
"Fine, Fine. I'll handle it."
He turned his attention to the entrance-way at the back of the hangar, just as Volunteer Lixue came dashing in, apparently unconcerned with her extreme tardiness.
Boldly, she asked a fairly sophisticated question, as if she hadn't been absent from the room for the past fifteen minutes at all.
He glared daggers at the trooper, and mouthed something about "improve our comms security, you worthless frak-up".
Adopting his usual dour face he turned back to Volunteer Lixue.
"An excellent question, Volunteer. But the answer to which is currently above your level of clearance, and indeed, your paygrade. The fact of the matter is you are to make the drop in full gear, then upon immediate landing, assuming you are not engaged in a hostile fashion, you are to immediately transition to your prepared civilian disguises, and make quiet, orderly infiltration as guided by your section leaders to your designated Field Base. In the eventuality of being split up, cut off, or otherwise distracted, a coded message will be sent via local public broadcast networks providing emergency contact information and rendezvous co-ordinates. I assume you all took care to memorise how to do this."
"Look, I'll be blunt. You're not expected to be super spies. You're not expected to be super soldiers. A certain level of disruption by your arrival has been factored in to the plan. You simply need to arrive, and secure a semi-permanent place of residence you can discretely reside in. No funny business! Further orders will follow as and when necessary. This isn't quantum mechanics or anything difficult. Just try to pretend you're normal people and follow the examples of your section leaders when all else fails."
Jansen deflated, apparently realising the futility of his words.
"Whatever. Your destinies are now in your hands. We will be watching. Good Luck."
With that he saluted them lazily, and turned and left.
In another life, Hiroko would have saluted back, and been overcome with a variety of emotions. On a certain level, she recognise that anxiety, fear, anticipation, excitement- all of these were things she would, could, indeed should feel. Yet they felt like something just out of reach, like a particularly good dream you have woken up from, and which evaporates like rain-tears in the hot sun of morning.
Turning, she addressed the volunteers stood behind her. "Section Three? You are to follow me. We will board as instructed and prepare for entry."
She saw that one of her section-mates was Sigi, the short one she had fought earlier during the gym training session. She nodded in recognition at her, as it seemed appropriate.
The others were soon corralled or guided towards their points of departure. The air in the Hangar seemed to grow much colder. Soon it would be rapidly heated, as the roar of shuttle burners would fill the tight confines, and they would indeed become, for a short time, the eponymous Falling Stars.
@techmage
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Post by Lorie Zetros on Oct 3, 2022 10:12:41 GMT
The hangar continued to go as it was with the background noise of expeditionary personnel loading up in preparation for landing. Captain Jansen answered some other questions that followed Lorie's. The kind that seemed marginally more practical, if one were a commoner who did not have to worry about such important things as basic castle amenities. She gradually recovered from her rumination over the horrid news of having no hot tubs, just in time to start noticing if the other questions bore any other bad news. The first was a short girl who had the temerity of combining plainsclothes while wearing her Device out on her arm. The way she carried herself and her question was one who was excited, but had enough training to hold it back in. Must have been, like the tall android who stood in the place of Section Leader, someone who at least had some Bureau experience. As a Volunteer, however, she clearly had her own reasons for coming to this backwater that didn't even have Trans-Dimensional reception. Lorie had been to unadministered worlds before. Most of them only had reception because of the presence of a Church parish. But this world was none of that. Why did she come here of her own accord? It was not Lorie's place to care. Some time while this went on, another Volunteer arrived, late enough to have missed the Admiral's reading of a sad speech that he never bothered to finish. Or half of Captain Jansen's Q&A session. Both of them were already dressed accordingly. But the newcomer asked some question or another about details of the mission profile that didn't seem to add up. The Captain answered her with the usual classified plausible deniability babble that would not have worked on Lorie, had she been in charge. And one day, she would. Not for the sake of this tardy one who somehow sounded like she was here the whole time. But for her own sake. Jansen finally gave up on the questions and made his own blunt closing remarks. His bar for them was low, and he just wanted them to remember those basic instructions that were presented at the briefings and cultural training they had gone through. Cosplay. What an amusingly pedestrian pastime. Peasants enjoying mass media produced entertainment enough that they decided to dress up like their favourite characters as though it were some important ceremony. They had of course watched a few shows that had been intercepted by exploration units from the earlier months. Some were even complete seasons bought by surface agents on a physical medium that was read using blue lasers. While there certainly was some variety, a plurality, if not an outright majority of what they saw, were rehashed variants of some kind of fad storytelling formula. A (usually male) prole with an unfulfilling life would get unceremoniously run over by a passing truck. Some higher power would then reincarnate him in another world where magic was prevalent enough to be commonplace. Oddly enough, usually in a premodern era where magic could not possibly have been discovered yet, given its level on the scientific ladder. He would have vast amounts of magical potential, and oddly enough, would be able to control his magic through an interface reminiscent of his previous world's video games. And then he would go about defeating all sorts of dreaded enemies with ease while picking up a harem of girls with cookie cutter personalities for no other seeming reason than to serve as a surrogate for the audience's fantasies. What trash. Where was the drama and tension present in the Old Belkan epics? Of Siegren and his quest to rescue his sister's soul from the wrongful judgement of Hel? Or even the historical tragedy of the Last Sanktkaiser Olivie and her childhood friend Hegemon Claus, raised as siblings but forced to duel each other in the end. One pursuing a higher purpose of bringing peace to a war-torn Dimensional Sea even at the cost of her own life, and the other attempting to dissuade his dearest friend from throwing her life away so quickly, stalling in the vain hope that perhaps another way could be found to end the eternal Belkan wars... No, the dominant media available on this world was absolute plebian garbage. No gravitas. No tragedy. No joy. No fulfillment. Ironically, the product itself being as empty and unfulfilling as the lives of its protagonists prior to their fanciful reincarnation. The young Archon activated her device and with it, her Knight's Armour. As was instructed by the Captain, they would descend in full gear. And if anyone asked, she would be a transfer student cosplaying "Princess Rune Vega", from the ancient myths of Al-Hazard. A wise and noble warrior princess. What a fitting outer shell for one such as herself. The Section Leader called out, and as one who understood when to look like she cared about a commoner soldier's alleged authority, Lorie followed in lockstep. She briefly glanced behind her at Sigi, who had been quietly fidgeting to herself, anxious. "You will make us proud, Sigi. That is our command for this mission."It had to sound magnanimous. Vague enough to entail some degree of urgency, but understandable enough to evoke some sort of obedient action. In this case, it was her way of telling her to just... stop acting in such an embarrassing fashion and stand proud as a knight and vassal to a Great House. It was a stupidly simple mission. Nobody needed to fight. They just needed to not frak up. Lorie strapped herself into her seat on the shuttle, Hofud glowing brightly as she held it between her knees. Soon enough, they would be down on this Earth. And soon, she would be testing this city of what meagre splendours it had to offer. Like if the parfait was at least as edible as the ones in the Fleet. [991/1668/2] Hiroko Agueda Cao Lixue Sigi Winter Athena Velgear
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Post by Athena Velgear on Oct 3, 2022 12:10:06 GMT
After Athena asked her question, another Volunteer walked in and asked another one on the same tangent as the young Elite. The newcomer was very much late, and yet somehow segued perfectly into the discussion as though she were actually listening in on the introductory speeches. Or maybe she was; there were any number of ways to observe the hangar from afar.
And now for the answers. According to the Captain, they'd have to put off interaction with the city's inhabitants until the away team found a place to settle down, and any encounters were to be explained with the cover story of being cosplayers.
That does put a smile on my face, thought Athena, allowing herself a self-assured grin.
During the cultural training, she'd made it a point to search for one piece of Earth entertainment in particular, and she was not disappointed in the least. Yes, Duel Creatures did in fact exist on this familiar yet foreign planet.
The Duel Creatures franchise was a children's card game inspired by a popular anime from Unadministered World #97, though the majority of the playerbase were in fact adults for a large portion of its history. The game emerged around the time the legendary Three Aces were born, and somehow managed to outlive their active careers. Each new season built the Duel Creatures mechanics further, introducing things like new creature types and the spinoff game Blitz Duel.
The version of Duel Creatures on this Earth, aside from having an almost completely different card pool, plot, and characters, appeared to be the version of the game from several decades ago, when the Three Aces were young adults. While not as old as the first season which featured creatures like Exodus the Restricted One and Pyramid the Punisher, Athena had never envisioned that the creatures she'd be using were the equivalents of Iron Beast Shrike the Frightful Feathers or Priestess of the Declarers.
Fortunately for her, Duelist Alliance wouldn't look too out of place if she was to be passing her outfit off as a cosplayer. The toy Duel Disks used by these Earthlings were certainly not too shabby, and the technology level of Unadministered World #626 was certainly advanced enough to be more than a match for the Earth she knew. Still, part of her felt that coming down in full gear was indeed overkill, and the latecomer was right. Athena sighed, and activated her Device's Field Spell, covering her civilian clothes in a naval uniform that, frankly, did look like cosplay and could pass for a certain subset of Earth clothing. She'd picked out the identity of her cosplay the moment she finished binging all seven seasons of this version of Duel Creatures. For now, Athena was Yuki Mutsu, one of the main characters of the seventh season.
Evidently, the Belkan with the ahoge had decided to suit up as well, and seemed to have been looking at Athena for some time before going off to comfort the jittery Volunteer in the back row. Flashing both of them a confident smile. Athena marched over to the shuttle along with the others, making sure to pick a window seat next to the hatch.
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Post by Cao Lixue on Oct 4, 2022 0:34:49 GMT
Doing her very best to hold back a grin at the captain's mouthed response. Lixue very much relished the challenge of the trooper and company doing their very best to stop her from accessing the system; even if such attempts were in vain. Nothing save for an entirely new system could keep the young girl out as she has both extensive knowledge and time with TSAB's systems. Any changes to the code may keep her out for a time as no backdoors or weaknesses were added as her goal with to use the system not weaken it.
Shifting her focus back to the captain who gave her about as unsatisfactory of an answer as she could have expected. Her previous excitement faded as the captain continued to give non-answers while contradicting himself and his orders giving off the feeling that the command and the officers were in two minds about the operation.
Sighing as auguring would do nothing as it seemed that even the captain was unaware of the whole picture. She still disagreed with the whole mission, but the other volunteers were already preparing their gear seemingly okay with the cosplay angle. Looking around her mind thought back to the media offered to her surrounding the mission as her ruby eyes scanned the area showing mostly heroic or at the very least protagonist like jackets that would suit the mission parameters well. However, unlike her fellow volunteers, the media shown to her surrounded around the villains' taking the lead instead of the heroes. The twist on the hero's journey was at least more interesting than the same old story told thousands of times over; yet she could not help but feel odd about how these earthlings could cheer on monsters that would without a second thought kill, eat or experiment on them.
Half heartily raising her hand over her head a transparent crystallized mirror would appear over the less than ecstatic Lixue. Bringing her hand down the ring ran down her entire body covering her entire form in frosted crystal. In a matter of seconds, the ice crystals branched out, twisting and crawling along one another until they formed a base outline of her Barrier Jacket. With a snap, the crystal shell would crack as it dispersed into the shuttle as small snowflake petals.
Checking her gear to make sure everything seemed to be in order. Lixue attempted to hold back her displease as she had to take on the role of the vampire sorceress known as Sunada Mai. Sucking her teeth at her new persona as she was convinced that this character was purposely chosen just to insult her less than main character aesthetics that stuck out in between her more golden volunteers.
Upon hearing what appeared to be a call or what she took to be a call, Lixue looked over to the robotic brunette hoping that she was not asking if they were section three. Though she decided on the better part of valor and remained silent. Jokes did not seem to be their leader's strong suit and it would not be the best of plans to make enemies with people she will be working with. Though not all seemed to be lost as a spark of humanity shone through as their leader gave a nod to the jittery volunteer followed by the peacock princesses' odd mix of a command and praise that caused Lixue to rethink her previous judgment on her emotive yet silent squadmate.
Following the leader, Lixue stood behind the sailor with the deck device still fixated on what the focus of such a device was. While it did not appear to be combat focused she would soon find out as she was not about to let such an interesting thing out of her sight until she knew everything about it. Sitting next to the strange sailor girl, Lixue locked herself into the seat become meeting her ruby eyes with the deck users' own. "Wished they gave us more information we are volunteers after all not soldiers we maybe a few of us here are, but that is beside the point". Offering her hand to her bleach blond companion. "Cao Lixue medical and science officer of the trauma center though Lixue or Xue is fine". Keeping her hand open and available she continued even if the response was not overly friendly. "You have unique intelligence device has to be custom, what is it tuned for information gather, tactical support"?
[748/1651/2]
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Post by Sigi Winter on Oct 4, 2022 22:22:23 GMT
Hiroko called out to section 3, and at that moment Sigi realized she had completely zoned out the last five minutes of the assembly. Captain Jansen had asked for questions, Lorie had asked about the amenities, and then... what? Something about making contact with the locals? She didn't remember the answer, but if she just followed what everyone else was doing she'd probably be ok.
She was still lost in her own thoughts when Lorie began to talk to her. At first she thought she was in trouble, and snapped to attention. "YES MA-- oh it's you, Lady Hechingen. Don't worry! I won't disappoint you!" She pounded a fist on her chest, equipped her device, then turned on her heel to follow the rest of her section.
Even the shuttle was luxurious compared to what she was used to. Some of the drop pods she had used on her solo missions were cramped even for one person, with no padding or even a seatbelt. She had to wedge herself in and brace herself against the walls and ceiling so she didn't get a concussion on impact. The shuttles had actual seats! She settled in next to Lorie and strapped herself in. The seats were padded! Even if they crash landed she probably wouldn't die. From the sound of things, they'd have a fully supplied forward base as well. No foraging for food, shelter with probably no hostile monsters-- this was more like a vacation than a mission. She began to joyfully hum a tune as she waited for the shuttle to take off. She wondered what the locals were like. It seemed silly that they had to make first contact fully equipped. What kind of impression did that send?
The others were starting to file into the shuttle as well, and she saw a lot of faces she didn't know. How hadn't she met most of her section yet? At least she had already made friends with Lorie and the Section Leader. It would have been really awkward if she had to start out not knowing anyone at all. "Nice to meet you, everyone! I'm Sigi Winter, but you can just call me Sigi. I'm a knight of the Sainktkaiser, but you don't need to worry about being formal around me. My family is a pretty minor one. This is pretty exciting, isn't it?" Sigi grinned at her section mates and rocked back and forth in her chair.
[408/860/2]
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Post by Hiroko Agueda on Oct 6, 2022 18:52:47 GMT
With everyone strapped in and seemingly ready, Hiroko made a quick spot-check of everyone's gear and seating arrangements, having to duck a little in the cramped shuttle confines. The boarding ramp was retracted, the doors locking together with a tight and reassuring hiss, and the noises of the Hangar Bay outside were reduced to dull muffled vibrations. In the somewhat claustrophobic interior, Hiroko's heightened senses became acutely aware of many other details about her section-mates, such as who had showered most recently and who had applied eye-liner this morning.
Such details were presently unnecessary and something of a slight distraction from her main focus, but she couldn't exactly turn them off. Stowing her own gun and gear, she strapped in last, idly wondering if this was her thousandth shuttle drop in full combat gear or somewhere way beyond it. Most of her past life memories were a blur if not outright unavailable to her. She would be annoyed if she was capable of feeling annoyance about such things. Truthfully, even the ability to notice the discrepancy was a new development. Her neural net was slowly degrading, she knew this. What would happen when it degraded enough, she didn't really know.
But, until then, Section Leader Agueda had her orders, and she was going to follow them.
Confirming that launch was imminent through the comms to the space jockey in the pilot seat, Agued now shouted to be heard by her section-mates, as the engine's whine began to build.
"Hold on tight, we are in for some chop." She yelled.
"If you are going to be sick, there are bags under t-"
THWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The main ignition was a go, and they were all thrown back into their seats with several G forces. This pilot clearly didn't know anything about a comfortable take-off. Chances were they didnt know anything about a comfortable landing, either.
The outside was dimly visible through translucent portholes, each barely the size of a dinner plate. The Hangar outside rushed by in a blur, quickly turning to black, and then, spinning on its axes- a sensation that churned almost everyone's guts- it came to facing a large blue and green marble, swirls of clouds and the thin shadow of night approaching down below. It was her first full view of the Earth outside of photos and vid-recordings, and it was...beautiful.
A moment that was quickly shattered, as the shuttle roared towards it, the cowboy in the front-seat actually whooping as she drove them at roughly ten times the speed of sound towards the planet below.
"Pilot! This isn't a combat drop, slow your jets!"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
Hiroko slammed her jaw shut as they were sent hurtling through the Karman line of Earth's atmosphere. Everything was sound, fury and heat, a tale told by an idiot signifying much chundering.
Agueda mentally made a note to have the pilot's reckless flying addressed by command, once her current assignment was completed.
Looking around, she checked to see if any of her section-mates had passed out yet.
It was going to be a very bumpy ride.
@techmage
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Post by Lorie Zetros on Oct 7, 2022 13:58:35 GMT
Lorie frowned as the shuttle rocked hard. Whoever was flying this tin can must have been some kind of rimworlder without a sense of proprieties, dominated only by her hunger for thrills. Her cowlick stood up straight and shined a golden elemental hue as she surrounded herself with a mana construct approximating a cushion and shock absorber. This done - albeit with limited results that didn't completely replace the theoretically more effective act of what the Section Leader was trying to do - she turned a portion of her attention to the discussion that was trying to form. Sigi and the late girl had begun to introduce themselves, while the Section Leader attempted to get that accursed pilot to calm down. Alas, to no avail. Lorie's frown mellowed out into a somewhat disappointed look, as she waited for what one could argue as her turn. Oh sure, any brute could interrupt the chain of discussion to insert themselves with no poise whatsoever. But a true ruler was raised with poise. Sigi had already partially introduced her through her response, for example, and so it was only appropriate to wait until she was done. "More information would certainly be in line with our interests, and our accommodations and transport could both serve to be more comfortable. Were we in charge, we would at least conduct a proper forum of inquiry. But that ship has sailed. There will be other opportunities to remind the armed services that we are here of our own volition, rather than at their pleasure." She probably thought that what she was saying was profound, but somewhere inside, she knew most of that was fluff to elevate her own opinion in public. Which was the whole point, one might argue, of her saying anything to that effect in the first place. Appearances were important. The Section Leader was present, someone with Bureau-mandated authority over her personally. She had to put her best foot forward. "New frontiers, new horizons, potentially new..." The word on her mind was "subjects", but she stopped herself. "Associates. Yes, regardless of the challenges we must face in carrying it out, this is a worthy endeavour. Were it not, We would not have taken the prerogative to participate. Our name is Lorelei Z. Hechingen, Archon of Gullintanni. You may address us as Archon, or Lady if the more esteemed title is too... historied... for your modern sensibilities."She raised a hand and presented an open palm in Sigi's direction, all five fingers pointed at her. "Sigi here is our loyal vassal. She may present herself as approachable, and that is her own decision. But cross her, and you will have to answer to us."It was a fair warning. And seen from a certain perspective, might be considered something a protective friend would say. But Belkan feudalism was contractual, and it could take years for a vassal to be considered a friend by their liege. For Lorie, this was merely following through on her end of the feudal agreement, a lord declaring protection over her vassal. Or perhaps, in a more cynical context, someone declaring her ownership over someone else as property. Of course, those who observed the former would argue that slaves had no rights to tax serfs. Nor did slaves have anyone below them for the matter. But in practise, Sigi didn't have anyone under her right now, so... Well, Lorie had no time to think about such impolite implications. [575/2243/3] Hiroko Agueda Sigi Winter Athena Velgear Cao Lixue
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Post by Athena Velgear on Oct 8, 2022 10:12:59 GMT
As soon as Athena took her seat, the latecomer girl sat down next to her and introduced herself, clearly interested in the unusual Device worn by the duelist. Always one to accept an offer of friendship, the silver-haired girl took the outstretched hand and replied in kind.
"A pleasure to meet you, Lixue. My name is Athena Velgear, and this here is my Duelist Alliance!" she said. "You're 100% correct, this is a custom Device. And it is tuned for-"
The Device began playing a catchy beat.
"For d-d-d-d-duels!" As Athena said this, the music reached a climax and faded out shortly afterwards.
A few moments later, the previously jittery Belkan gained enough confidence to introduce herself as well. She seemed to be one of the nicer people, and that was something notable in itself. Athena was about to return the greeting, but the cyborg Section Leader issued a warning that the shuttle was about to take off, which would cause turbulence.
(Insert the thwooooom effect here.)
The launching shuttle accelerated to far beyond standard operating velocity at the mercy of its pilot, with several of its occupants being thrown back in their seats. Fortunately for Athena, her petite body was saved from being flung backwards by her Device autocasting a subroutine attached to her flight spell. This spell acted as a sort of inertial damper that prevented her cards from flying off at high speeds, and as such came in handy whenever she wished to duel in mid-air or on vehicles (read: card games on motorcycles). Still, she felt the acceleration enough to enjoy it, and especially the rapidly approaching blue and green orb out the window.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" The Elite shouted in exhilaration. "LET'S FREAKIN' GOOOO!"
She quieted down just in time to hear the more pompous of the two Belkans speak. Judging by both her tone and the contents of her speech, this "Archon" was evidently some important person, and even though she referred to Sigi as her vassal, Athena fancied herself able to tell the real situation. She'd heard that Lorie was some kind of tsundere or whatever, and it seemed as though the rumors were right.
"Lady Hechingen... such a title must mean you're really strong, especially if Sigi alone having a friendly spar with the Section Leader is enough to wreck the gym. My name is Athena Velgear, and I would like to challenge both of you properly someday. There's an old Earth proverb that says iron sharpens iron, and there's nothing quite as thrilling as testing one's skills against someone strong and coming out better from it. That being said..."
"It was great meeting all of you! I hope we can get along and help each other get stronger!"
(455)
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Post by Cao Lixue on Oct 8, 2022 15:12:13 GMT
Softly tightening her grip around Athena's petite hand, Lixue eyes widened as her mind flooded with endorphins as the younger girl began to explain her device. Though as the device played its unknown tune; reality quickly put an end to her intellectual high. Stunned from being cut off from her hopes and dreams; her eyes quickly traced the device back and forth while Athena responded in an impossibly cute manner. Duels? It does not appear to be a belkan system or designed around combat; perhaps it holds hidden settings suited for individual roles?
Losing herself in what ifs made Lixue forget her social graces for longer than was reasonable. Flicking her ruby eyes to Athena's, Lixue released her grip on her younger ally's hand flashing an apologetic expression. However, before she could apologize the roar of the thrusters deafened the shuttle as the g-force nearly snapped her neck.
Thankfully the forces' attempts to make her one with the chair quickly died out once they entered the vacuum of space; catching the tail end of their section leaders snapping at their adrenaline junky of a pilot. Their basic understanding of physics aside, Lixue did not wish to find out how their pilot would handle entry into a planet's atmosphere. Reading herself, her eyes would glow as her device sprang to life. Unlike the ordinary mechanic response, a synchronized response would be heard instead.
"Soul Influx processed completed, time for our counterpoint"
Placing their device against the shuttle wall; luminescent light blue lines trailed along the wall towards the cockpit. Soon code would scroll down Lixue's irises followed by the slowing of the shuttle. "Sorry flyboy, you're grounded, sit back and let us show you how it's done". Unlike before now the mix of both Lixue's voice and her device bounced out from not only her but the shuttle's onboard speakers.
Preoccupied with her sense of self melded and stretched along the shuttle's systems. While Lixue or whatever she was currently coiling her psyche along the wires and circuits, she barely held her more impulsive self back from responding to Lorelei's posh stuck up introduction. Peering through her tag the edge of her ruby eye peered at Lady Hechingen. Holding back a cheshire smile as her sense of self, lined the very hull of the shuttle screaming at her while filling her mind with impulsive emotional satisfaction. She hated people like Lorelei and nothing would please her id than to tear down the princess’ self importance, but all of them were against an entire planet. As much as Lixue hated it she needed the support of everyone including the peacock princess. Sitting back and taking a deep breath and trying to focus, Lixue worded her words as best as she was able in her current state.
“Lady Hechingen, it appears we’ve reached several misunderstandings. We are your allies, threatening us does nothing, but sully your name while placing both Sigi and yourself at risk volunteer or not. Remember Admiral Schtuegert words. This is a military operation and as such the chain of command must be respected or the operation will fail. I am not asking you to be an unquestioning drone. However, constantly undermining the mission and our section leader while raising yourself on a foundation held up by zero accomplishments within the fleet will never gain you a leadership role nor be seen as noble.” Feeling pleased about her wording and how it should cause even the most bullheaded of nobles to reflect on their actions if not for others' sake, but their own.
Taking a deep labored breath as they neared the atmosphere, Lixue would halt the shuttle just outside of the gravitational field “Section leader I apologize for not only acting on my own in commandeering this vessel on top of reprimanding Lady Hechingen. It was not my place to do so I will accept the punishments rendered after our mission is at an end. Nevertheless please allow me to put forth a suggestion that seems more beneficial than relying on our ‘pilot’. Altering the course we can enter further from the beachhead we can travel along the water to raise less suspicion rather than landing directly on the beachhead. Please consider my suggestion hastily as the act of splitting and binding my consciousness to technology is taxing, to say the least.”
[724/2374/3]
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Post by Sigi Winter on Oct 8, 2022 17:10:59 GMT
Sigi was surprised at how smooth the shuttle ride was. Sure, they were going a little fast, but compared to the gravity-assisted drops that she was used to, the controlled flight of the shuttle was downright enjoyable. Her seatbelt kept her in place, and she tightened her core to keep herself from bumping into the others. Some of them were struggling with the turbulence, but thankfully no one seemed to be ready to throw up.
Two of the others were talking about some... thing on one girl's arm. She thought she heard them call themselves Lixue and Athena. And that thing was for... duels? Sigi's eyes darted over to Hiroko for a split second at that thought. She seemed to be fully healed already-- somehow--, but the memory of their fight was still fresh in Sigi's mind. She didn't want to fight anyone again any time soon, and she hoped those two wouldn't start dueling as soon as they landed. Surely there were more important things to worry about right now.
She beamed at Lorie's introduction. Though she couldn't quite hear the whole thing over the roar of the engine, she thought it was very nice of Lorie to compliment her. For some reason, Lorie's introduction caught the attention of Lixue. She used a lot of big words, but Sigi could tell she was mad. She understood it had something to do with Lady Hechingen and herself... They were in danger? Had she done something wrong? Even pampered as she was, surely Lady Hechingen could handle a shuttle ride. Was this Sigi's fault then? She stammered as she tried to understand what was going on and think of a response. Now Lixue was apologizing to Hiroko... She wished she could hear properly so that she could understand what was going on. Still, she felt like she had to say something.
"Um... I don't really get it, but I'm sorry for whatever I did!" She blurted out, unsure of what else to do. "Lets not fight! I'm sure we can all get along if we get to know each other better. Lady Hechingen is a really nice person, and I'm sure the rest of you are too. I don't want to do any more duels..."
[374/1234/3]
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