RP: YSS Kaiyō Mission 36: Kōsaten no Hoshi

[aitoseigi]

Cargo Bay

Asuka couldn't keep the look of disgust from her face, and it wasn't just because she'd never had any theatrical training. "How many times does he have to try and not get the hint? It seems so... wasteful." There were a lot of other words she wanted to use, but she was to pretend to be NMX, after all. "Enough of that and I'm sorry, but my choice would get pretty easy. Almost anything would be better than that." She looked about, seeing just how close anyone else was to overhear. "Do you have a plan? If your number comes up for his little seeding experiment, that is?"

 

[Nameless]

ST Closet

'That's a good point, at least when it comes to the Overseer. I don't think the grunts would appreciate it having their STs held hostage though... Might need to give them a wink-wink or something,' Sif responded to Molli, looking over the black boxes. Having them disconnected would also save them from having to deal with any that had already perished. It was a good idea, but there's no telling if they already convinced the swarm around them that the winning move was to go with them. Molli shared that worry with her.

"Fear only goes so far when that is all that's relied upon. Notice how Rancede shrunk away in the presence of a true warrior in our own Overseer," she added to Molli's appraisal of the state of the ship.

But then the black boxes lit up as the automated system began the process of resurrection. "That's today," she said, a frown on her brows as she read Chincha's details on the box. And then she noticed the Overseer's details also lighting up. "It would seem the takeover has started," she'd say. She wanted to speak more with the parasites, but they had already began scurrying off, very likely towards the medical bay, or wherever they kept the hemosynth chambers.

"Something tells me we should be following them. We could probably get them to have Rancede turn to our side too," she said with a wink. If all went well, they could get that demonstration of the parasites' abilities, and hopefully have Chincha willingly join them. The last part of that gambit being the most important considering she would have the bigger influence with the worms.

"Wait for us!" Sif called out to the worms, eagerly following in their wake towards the hemosynth chambers.

 

[Gles]

ST Closet

The lighting of the ST boxes, plus the names displayed upon their interfaces, convinced Molli that her initial plan to use them as leverage was the right one. She waited until most of the parasites had left, along with Sif, before approaching the architect of the crew's resurrection. She'd never handled such a device in the Star Army in-depth before, but Molli's neko brain had more than enough data on its operation so as to make deactivating it relatively painless. The question of how it would affect the women the device was currently resurrection crossed Molli's mind, but she discarded that concern and proceeded. As she'd been told before, Yamatai came first, and endangering her people on a gamble wasn't something Molli was ready to do anymore. Once she'd finished her work, Molli ran after Sif, who was on her way to the medical bay with their skittering 'friends.'

 

[Ametheliana]

Bridge

The Mishhuvurthyar seemed ill content to remove himself from the platform where he had feasted. Pointing at Raspu, he swatted a tentacle from her to Aiko. The NMX stepped forward with a sneer, scrutinizing the paper Aiko held like it was something soiled and detestable.

"Change of command seems to be in order for her." Raspu's words to the Mishhu above her were icy as she crossed her arms.

"You can take command of the Mordrakka over mine and Overseer Superior Rancéde dead bodies," Gorga bellowed, looking at viewscreens on his platform instead of at the trio that had entered the bridge.

"Well, then." Raspu spoke judiciously as she leaned in close to Aiko, "We will assist in your mission from our current roles, Overseer... What was your name again?"

ST Closet

It wasn't a simple process, overwriting commands and shutting down the backups. But with a little technical finesse and now-how, Molli was able to cut contact the black boxes had with the rest of the ship. This meant that Molli was a little late to arrive to the medical lab.

Outside Medical Lab

Sif had gotten a chance to get a good look at the state of the medical lab through the force field at the door that prevented her from entering. The Mishhuvurthyar there was barely visible. Sahacre was a splayed pile of tentacles and carapace half on an operating table and half off. It was either asleep or deep—but not conscious. The hemo tubes were running fast and strong without him, though. Rancéde's bald head shone from inside the tank and she was more complete than Chincha's growing form. Soon, the captain would be awake and remade.

Cargo Hold

Tension formed between Leepa's brows at Asuka's question. With a silence that only thickened, she seemed to hold on to the foreboding possibility with uncertainty before she looked to the walls, checking for parasites or sensors.

"I'd go one door over straight to the PA bay and put a Reaper on. I'd rather die fighting than die on my knees, insane, from the curse."

The NMX Neko whispered with a venom that made her words lash out at Asuka and Charbon. The latter put her hand on Leepa's shoulder.

"We're here to help protect you from that fate." Charbon said with a sincere warmth to her nasally accent that she had never used amongst the Kaiyō crew.

"Oh." Leepa looked relieved, but the expression was wiped clean off her face as she said somberly, "NUCLEON is requesting I assist with some resleeves."

"We'll come," Charbon nodded to Leepa then more knowingly to Asuka. Whatever was going on, they should become involved.

 

[Gunhand4171]

Captain's Quarters
Left to his own devices, William explored the room some more. He was pretty tired of running around in his underwear, so he ripped the sheets from the officer's meager cot and fashioned himself a toga. Now that he was dressed somewhat, he turned to scan the room, his augmented eyes picking up extra detail on the second pass. He noticed a small data port on the former captain's desk. He smirked to himself as he moved to the desk and pulled a cord from behind his neck. The Major's first attempt at penetrating the Nucleon system had failed, but not in its entirety. He had gained valuable insight into how it had attacked his intrusion attempts.

He had also been at a disadvantage because he was trying to hack in remotely. Now though? He could hardwire his mindware into the ship. It was not without its share of risks. If he failed in this attempt, the ship's Nucleon could use that same link to attack his own mind. The Major was not the same grunt he used to be. He knew how to use his augmentation to its fullest extent. He also had his unit's best tech craft some nasty code for him to unleash. Not to mention the stuff he managed to craft on his own with the connections that came with being the Premier's son. With a smirk, he plugged in into the data port. His consciousness began to split, half in the real world and the other in the digital one. He knew this time he had to go all in. He threw all his metaphorical chips on the table and completely shifted his focus to the digital world laid out before him.

Ship's NUCLEON

In his mind, the digital world lay before him. At first, it took some time for him to make sense of it, but after a moment, the picture became clearer. The world before him looked like a massive insect hive made out of flowing lines of code, and he was inside one of its many chambers. 'Of course it had to look like this.' He groused to himself. Part of what led to his failure the first time was his attempt to stay stealthy and retreat when he feared discovery. This time, he adopted the blitzkrieg method. It was NUCLEON or bust.

As he began to unleash code, the digital world version of William drew a katana in one hand and a submachine gun in the other. His body was armored in layers of code, looking like he had donned ancient armor that blurred the line between samurai and knight. More code formed around him, taking on the shapes of a quartet of AIR2 PAs. Following a quality-over-quantity approach, William and his four bodyguards entered the next chamber, he and the AIR2s quickly dispatching any code guarding the space and moving onward. The ID-SOL ran while the AIR2s flew all around him, protecting him from whatever defenders managed to get close. More than once, a defender broke through the AIR2s as they made their way to the NUCLEON core, biting and clawing at his digital armor, only for William to slash and gun down the offending code.

Back in the real world, blood began to drip from William's nose—a small testament to the inner war that he was waging.

 

[aitoseigi]

Cargo Bay

"Good to know," Asuka said simply, not quite trusting herself to say much more and happy to let Charbon take the lead. That she hadn't blown the operation with an ill chosen word was, to her mind, nothing short of a miracle, and she didn't want to push her luck any further than she already had. Nodding in agreement with Charbon, she made a quick double, and then triple check of their handiwork. It was unthinkable to allow for the possibility that an error in stockpiling would lead to an explosion, but it didn't take long to be sure, and there was more than a little professional pride in not wanting to leave things untidy.

"Sure, let's do some resleeving. Let's hope you won't have to don any Reapers today, huh?"

 

[raz]

Bridge

"Kasa-kun! Now!" Aiko sent wirelessly to the operative Erika, who had been in the process of preparing her sack of grenades for this moment.

Simultaneously the princess' right hand shot to Raspu's neck, indignant that the girl and her Mishhuvurthyar master had refused the ruse and doubly so because the naughty Nekovalkyrja had leaned in so close to flaunt her cheeky disagreement. Aiko's obsidian claws dug into the NMX Neko's flesh and squeezed. And then, for the brief sliver of a second that remained between life and death, Aiko replied to Raspu's question in truth. Not with any words but instead images and sensations — providing the same filling inspiration that Star Army soldiers experienced when they witnessed Kitsurugi Aiko on the battlefield — telepathically transmitted into Raspu's mind while Aiko's blazing crimson gaze held meeting the doomed officer's own.

Only a heartbeat later, Raspu was dead. Her head bobbed to the side and her body beneath it dangled limp in the Yamataian princess' grasp. Aiko then tossed the NMX Neko straight at Gorga's face to reunite those vile lovers. If nothing else, she hoped to buy herself and her friends a second before the beastly Advanced-Type could spring at them.

"Down!" Aiko managed to say with what little time she expected was left prior to an explosion. She hopped backward towards Isuke in an attempt to put herself between the blast and her team's most vulnerable soldier, but kept her eyes on the Mishhuvurthyar — and a hand on the hilt of her blade should she need to fight.

 

[Sunny D]

Two-second fuse, she sent to Aiko, and moved.

Erika yanked the carbine from its rest to her left, catapulting it over the console. Her hand plunged into her bag and came up with a grenade, she tossed it just high enough to free her grip and caught it in her other hand as she snatched a second.

She crossed her arms tight over her chest. The pins tore free as they snagged on the clips at her belt. To anyone paying attention to her it would have seemed as though the ropes had clipped through her NMX uniform before the holographic façade began to shimmer.

She sprang up and out of her seat, rolling and flipping over as she rose. At the apex she snapped her arms open and released both grenades in the same motion, hurling them toward the rear of the bridge, toward the command dais.

She dropped behind the fleshy console feet-first, landing in a crouch. Her hand went down to the carbine and brought it to her shoulder as the SAINT suit finished shedding the disguise, its surface blooming into mottled flesh tones which blended into the bridge's decor as the majority of hits power began to feed its personal shield.

Erika then readied herself to sweep from left to right, her first task to take out the NMX Nekos that were sitting at her side before shifting her focus towards the larger but less immediate threats on the command dais.

 

[Nameless]

Medical Lab

Seeing the Mishu gave Sif pause, not knowing if this was going to be a concern she had to address. Though she had hoped that the fact that Aiko, William and Isuke were ushered here meant that this creature was out for the count. Looking to the hemosynth chambers, she recognized the form of the Overseer, still in the process of being printed out. The other active chamber was likely where Chincha would appear, so she had to work fast. She didn't want to be caught with a two versus one situation.

Looking to the parasites, Sif readied her rifle. Neither of these two would recognize her, so she had to put on a show. She had to adopt her NMX identity with a bit more flair. As she got ready to greet the overseer, she noticed that Molli wasn't nearby. Was she waylaid on the way? She couldn't go back to find her, not when it seemed like the chambers are about to free the new sleeves.

Once more she looked to the parasites that lead her here. She sure hoped she had their... would one call it loyalty? Maybe... determination for rebellion? Whatever one could call it, she hoped she had their confidence in carrying out a mutiny. She had to go all in here. If she were to falter or show any kind of weakness, these parasites could turn on her instead. Straightening up with her Impaler at the ready, Sif shifted her eyes to the parasites, but kept her face towards the Overseer, ready to greet her once she was done sleeving. "I dearly hope we are on the same page here," she would say to the parasites. "For the sakes of Chincha and the grunts on this ship, we're to capture former Overseer Superior Rancede. If she struggles, enthrall her. She has already wasted too many resources throwing away perfectly good sleeves for petty reasons. She can still be put to work. As for... the Mishhuvurthyar here... prevent him from interfering should he rise."

Turning her head slightly towards the parasites, she gave them a hardened look. "Hop twice if you are with me." She would say. She needed the confirmation that these parasites would play along. If not? Well... there was precious little she could do. She was outnumbered, and without a grenade. All she had was the Impaler. She would be able to overload it, but the explosion wouldn't wipe out the worms. Likely wouldn't guarantee her own death either... Whatever the outcome, she was resigned to going down swinging.

 

[Gles]

Fortunately for Sif, Molli wasn't far behind her after taking the time to sabotage the black boxes. Peering at the room blocked off by the force field, the corpse of the mishhu with its guts splattered over the walls and ceiling gave Molli a brief pause. She didn't know which side had escalated things to this point, but she had a pretty good feeling it'd been their warrior princess. It was clear, now, that she and Sif were running on a tight schedule for assisting in this mutiny.

Molli could see the bald mien that the machines were churning out, and promptly scanned the door for some manner of panel she could pry apart to disable the force field. While she worked, she kept glancing at Sif and her uncertain parasite allies. It was impossible to know how much they could be trusted, limited as their communication was. If Sif were to chance a glance to her comrade, however, she'd see silent determination in her crimson eyes that made it clear the Overseer she stood over wasn't going to get an opportunity to endanger the others.

'If things go badly, I won't let them take you,' Molli said to Sif via telepathy.

 

[krisslanza]

Bridge

The Lorrfolk wasn't the most well-read individual, mostly just because she preferred to spend her freetime doing other things then read novels, but she felt like the line of anyone uttering that someone could take over "their dead bodies", was always a flag. And it was pretty true in this case, given half that statement was already correct, and they were going to finish the job anyway. Guess you could hear that kind of line uttered in real life! Wild.

For the time being, Isuke made sure to keep a hold on the sidearm that Aiko had given her earlier, and braced herself. While her natural instinct is she should shield Aiko with her own body - bodyguard instincts and all - given the fact one of them was a normal Lorrfolk and the other a Nekovalkryja, it was pretty clear which one of them could handle it better. In another situation, being tackled to the ground by Aiko did sound quite appealing, but given the situation, Isuke couldn't just enjoy it. She had to make sure to keep an eye on her surroundings, ready to fire at anyone who approached them before Aiko could recover.

Hopefully the explosion would deal with the Advanced-Type. Isuke had a feeling the sidearm wouldn't do much against something like that after all.

 

[Ametheliana]

Bridge

Winding around, Erika danced with the element of surprise. Uncoiling only to unleash her grenades towards the Mishhuvurthyar in command, Erika acted on Aiko's inciting cue before the enemy was put on guard. With her NMX uniform shimmering out of existence only to be replaced by an amalgamation of fleshy tones around her, the SAINT's volatile visage became hard to track.

Raspu's was not. The woman was flung from Aiko's deadly grasp to collide with Gorga. For a fleeting moment, it looked like the Mishhuvurthyar was more concerned with catching her than whatever endeavors Aiko or her crew would take. Grenades lashed out towards him and he struck out with his slippery appendages away from them. He grappled the wiring that hung from above, swinging down and towards the back of the bridge. Tumbling onto the platform, the grenades detonated, scorching the top of his carapace.

Gorga slunk into the shadows near where he had only moments ago been whispering ideations of copulation with Raspu. The NMX Neko, now engaged, hissed into combat. Their loud and whining vociferations masked the sound of their gun's capacitors as they fired shots—first at Erika, then at Aiko and Isuke when Erika became more camouflaged.

Medical Lab

The parasite she spoke to hopped excitedly but, before a second hop, the front of Rancéde's hemo tube hissed open. It shrunk away from both her and Sif. All of the parasites seemed to grow scarce.

"What in Mefpralphra's name? Who are you and why is Sahacre dead?" the captain asked as she took a jerky first step out of the hemo tube. Her attention was split between the two seemingly NMX Neko and her ship's medical officer.

"What is our status?" Rancéde said. She put her hands on Sahacre's carapace with tender concern. Her long nails dragged over where the giant injectable struck out from him. She plucked it as if she were a mouse pulling a thorn from the lion's paw. Pulling a science scanner from a drawer, Rancéde studied the needle with a scrutiny that only grew into agitation.

Molli's attempts would have unnerved Rancéde if they had continued. William's efforts in cyberspace, though, were chipping away at the ship. In an attempt to override Molli's work, the ship's systems overworked itself and an electrical current shot out of the panel before the force field sputtered. The transparent orange field flickered then turned off completely.

Ship's NUCLEON

Like ribbons unwrapping themselves from present boxes, code unfurled from what were once walls. Whereas Yamataian code is made up of cool blues with teal overlays and Nepleslian kept to strictly bright green text on dark green backdrop, the Mishhuvurthyar's was much less harmonious. Highlighter pink text interspersed with an orange that was just as jarring. Brown backdrops were sometimes patched with a burnt sienna just red enough to look different then the surrounding environment. All this coupled with the hive-like architecture upon which the code was built made for an aesthetically hostile workspace for William.

Having proved his own determination time and again on the corporeal battlefields, this new one was readying to try his resolve once more.

Four almost identical AIR2's peeled off of the quasi-wall. Made up of sickly oranges and pinks with pseudo-random spikes jutting out of the armors like cancerous sores, whatever NUCLEON had created were unique. Shoulder sensors were not built into crosses but, instead, were dug in sets of two like the beady Mishhuvurthyar eyes. BOLTs started flying en masse from the skirt of one and then another of the Mishhu Lancers while the other two shot out rapid ARROWs at William and his cohorts.

Hallways

Charbon looked to Asuka, "How would you blow this ship up right now in under five minutes?"

 

[Sunny D]

Bridge

Once Erika felt the concussion of the grenades roll over her, she popped up with the carbine pressed hard into her shoulder. She locked onto the NMX Nekos from the left side of the bridge to the right, exposing as little of her profile as possible as she dropped each target with short, controlled bursts.

When that side was adequately thinned, she sprinted toward the left bulkhead. She jumped, ran along the wall for two steps, then kicked off toward the Mishhuvurthyar, her Inertial Control Implants accelerating her trajectory.

She rotated into a backflip, traveling feet-first toward her target. Bracing the carbine along her body, she aimed through the gap between her legs and picked out one of the scorch marks on the Mishhuvurthyar’s carapace. She fired on full auto, her inertial control bleeding off the recoil, allowing her to hammer the same point in its shell with precise, sustained fire as she fell toward it.

 

[Nameless]

Medical Lab

'Thank you. I promise to do the same. Whatever happens, they're not going to take us.' Sif responded to Molli.

The parasites' excitement seemed to be a good sign, however before she could get a proper confirmation, they had shrunk away at the sight of the Overseer's revival. It seemed they feared the overseer. She would just have to hope that that fear was weaker than the bonds they had with Chincha and the other grunts.

Looking straight ahead at Rancede as she examined the Mishu. This was going to be a problem. If only they got here just a moment sooner. Sif had to put on a straight face and bluff her way out of this situation while Molli worked on the forcefield.

"I am Cynea, a recent assignment to this ship. The Mishhuvurthyar there was executed for insubordination and a lackluster performance in sedating a vital prisoner, which lead to your untimely demise."

The surge of energy startled Sif, immediately jumping to see if Molli was injured in any way. 'Are you alright?' she would ask telepathically before turning towards Rancede and continuing her bluffing. With the forcefield down, she felt that she could go on the offensive. While the adrenaline began to pump in anticipation for a fight, Sif was confident that she could take down this Overseer, even more so with Molli by her side.

"I am unsure how recent your recollection is, but you have recently been relieved of command of this ship. We were sent to appraise your current state of mind and are under strict orders to ensure compliance."

Offering a helping hand to Molli, when Sif stood up, she would stand tall as she walked into the room, just in case the forcefield would re-engage. "Overseer Rancede. Until orders arrive, you are to remain in the Medical Bay."

Great... how was she going to follow up if Rancede does end up staying in this room... She would definitely need to get dressed up, that was for sure... The sight was beginning to look like a scene from a novel. Sif had to be careful of thrown objects, especially ones that looked like needles.

 

[Gunhand4171]

NUCLEON

William cursed as the ship sent NMX copies of his Air 2's at him. His Air 2's wasted no time, breaking away to engage the new threats. Darts fired back in response, and laser countermeasures began firing at the incoming missiles. William launched forward, the SMG firing at the closest threat. Once he was in close, he slash the defending code with his katana.

He needed to keep moving. He couldn't get bogged down with these defenders or else NUCLEON may be able to regroup and stop his attack cold. William fought hard, green code flying out at the speed of thought.

 

[Gles]

Medical Lab

Though Molli ignored Rancéde's return to life and lucidity on the surface, she focused even harder on her efforts to disable the forcefield now that their adversary was closer to regaining her wits. The Overseer's lack of information regarding her own death was an advantage they needed to capitalize on. At the very least, Molli and Sif were on the same page, and equally concerned with each other -- Molli wouldn't readily admit it, but she was starting to depend on Sif more and more as time went by.

There were red holographic warnings that flashed from the panel Molli worked on, making it crystal clear that her efforts were being resisted by an automated defense system. This didn't concern her, given how such responses were standard on proprietary hardware produced by corporations, but this proved to be a mistake on her part when the panel suddenly sparked with an overcharge of electricity. Molli's body began to seize up and spasm as power coursed through her body, and she would have screamed if the muscles that controlled her throat could respond in the moment. She was thrown onto her back, and the smell of burning flesh began to mix with the standard foulness of a fleshy NMX ship corridor to concoct a truly unholy and foul scent. When Sif inspected her friend, she'd find Molli still breathing, with the most visible damage being to her fingers, which were charred black.

'I'm fine,' Molli responded, but even her mental voice sounded strained. It was very apparent that if Molli had been in her quarter metal Nepleslian body, she'd have been severely injured or worse from such a jolt. As it stood, Molli's injuries were starting to heal on their own, and the pain wasn't enough to cripple her. Still, Molli didn't grip down on Sif's hand, with a silent gesture to her wrist instead. 'I won't be quick on the draw,' she said, glancing thoughtfully at her shoulder holster as the two entered the medical bay.

The Overseer's state of undress gave Molli the strong urge to look anywhere but the woman's naked form, to the point where the Mishhu's corpse was more appealing to stare at. It was a good thing that Sif spoke up, because Molli would've been far too embarrassed to come up with a convincing story. She still kept Rancéde in the corner of her vision to catch any signs of hostility, at least. "Make this easy on us," Molli said in a tone that implied unfavorable consequences if her request wasn't granted.

 

[aitoseigi]

Hallways

Asuka reminded herself yet again that things were fine, the weird squishy walls were supposed to be normal for her. That said, blowing up the ship seemed far from the worst idea she'd heard today. "Well, that depends," she said slowly. "It's really easy if I don't care about getting off it before it blows. If I do care..." She considered this a longer moment. Not the mechanics, necessarily; there were a couple of ways to go about it, some more risky than others. Disclosing a possible plan was a bit different, though, if they might be overheard. "They loaded a lot of ordnance. The simplest way would be to rig them in the engine spaces and blow the reactor. That's a lot harder to do without anyone noticing. I could probably rig up something a little more clever, though. The ship is armored against external blasts, but if I could find a weak spot in the hull, or better yet break her back, it should be more than any DC team could cope with. I think I could do that without attracting too much attention, but it's not like I spend a lot of time studying ship schematics. I'd like some help there."

The neko blushed faintly; when said aloud she realized how dangerous a scheme it was. On the other hand, you could only do so much in five minutes. "Of course, if we don't care who's watching, distributing enough weapons throughout the ship, or just emptying out the magazines, would do it. Given the time crunch, though, that's probably a last resort."

 

[raz]

Bridge

Shielding Isuke from both the flaming concussion that engulfed the bridge for a brief moment and the NMX bridge crew's opening volley, Aiko snarled at the slavish Mishhuneko thralls as their shots impacted the console-laden bulkheads behind her. The princess couldn't tell if she'd been hit in the sudden commotion, and didn't seem to care as she drew her katana. The protection afforded by her Eihei body's subdermal armor combined with her determined Kitsurugi mettle — perhaps more so the latter — enabled her to shrug off minor wounds and spring forth toward the nearest enemy Nekovalkyrja.

"So you have chosen mutiny?" Aiko asked, maintaining her cover in spite of the circumstances. Her blade flashed forth from its scabbard and lopped off a few of one Neko's fingers, forcing the girl to drop her pistol. Aiko then rose up from where she'd ended her strike kneeling just before her target and slashed the foe from hip-to-shoulder, quickly ending the enemy's struggle.

"Subdue that renegate or die with him!" the princess demanded. She pointed her bloodied sword at the next NMX Neko she saw while her eyes darted to Gorga, indicating her orders. "None of you will get a third opportunity to serve Yaggorahurl!"

 

[Ametheliana]

Medical Lab

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Rancede spat. She looked up, as if speaking to the ship AI. “NUCLEON, what is our status?”

The ship AI spoke out something garbled. The indecipherable words made Rancede look from the ceiling to Molli and Sif. She drew closer to the Mishhuvurthyar and plucked the huge needle out of him. It was as long as her forearm and she wielded the plunger playfully like it was a baton as she spoke.

“Mishhuvurthyar are not executed.” She seemed to be correcting Sif rather than informing. “What is this? ’Relieved of command’…’Make this easy on you’? You two will stay here while I go to the bridge and sort this matter out.”

There was a strange sound, like a thousand leaves being picked up by the wind or a snake’s rattle shaking. The parasites were whipping up together, forming one cohesive form as if they were a school of fish.

“Oh… you—“ Rancede looked from them to Sif and Molli. An expression of clarity was replaced by a venomous visage. Her long nails dug into her own palm as her grip on the plunger strengthened. Rancede then lunged forward at Sif with the needle, swiftly and almost imperceptibly. The parasite form moved just after her, swarming both Sif and Molli.

NUCLEON

The Air2's assault against one another were streams of code more than flurries of bullets. The green text and overlay fought out against the brackish Mishhuvurthyar's. William had a leg up on the systems, having had time to identify them earlier and work on a counter prompt in the time between then and his assault now. Pillars of NUCLEON code crumbled only to be rebuilt with scrolling lines of Nepleslian green from William. The AI ceded, letting William mark what he wanted into their coding.

Hallways

"Interesting use of both manpower and ti—ah" Charbon had begun to reply to Asuka's thorough explanation. A girl that had recently broken into a sprint hurried past the trio, then two more followed her. One looked back worriedly and caught eyes with Chincha.

With a the clumsy air of a newly born foal, Charbon caught her foot on the ground and fell forward between the hurrying NMX and Leepa. The NMX Neko's concern showed they didn't realize she had intercepted their line of sight wireless communication.

"Oi savat!" Charbon cursed aloud. She also looked to Asuka and said over wireless herself, “The captain has been killed and there is a fight on the bridge. Should we continue to med bay or to the bridge? The resleeving we are to assist in is likely that of the captain Rancede."

Bridge

"I acquiesce!" An NMX shouted over the carnage. Her grey uniform was sprayed with the blood of the bridge bunnies slain into by Erika and Aiko but the arms of it went up before dropping again to grab the arms of the woman next to her. "You too, stupid."

"I'm flying the fucking ship here!" The foul-mouthed NMX Neko spat at her crewmate. She gave a nod to Aiko as if she had done this routinely, "I'll submit from my station, if you don't mind."

"Gorga, please... they have documentation. Even NUCLEON identified that Rancéde was replaced as captain. Let them take comma—ack!" The NMX Neko that had stood and tried to follow Aiko's bidding was shot from the shadows. Back there, the Advanced had picked up some weaponry and armor that glinted in the amber and pink lights coming off of consoles as he held it.

I̷t̵ ̷i̴s̸ ̷y̶o̸u̵r̶ ̷k̸i̷n̴d̷ ̷w̴h̸o̸ ̶f̵o̴l̶d̴s̸ ̵t̶o̶ ̶m̴e̷,̴ ̵N̸e̶k̶o̴v̶a̴l̶k̷y̷r̶j̸a̸!̷ ̵
̷̦̚N̶͓̎o̷͙͋t̵͍͊ ̷̖̇t̶̪͘ĥ̸ͅe̶͋͜ ̶͓̆ô̵̞t̴̪͝h̵̲̚ȅ̷̹r̵̜͊ ̸̞͆w̷̳͆a̸̖̿ŷ̵̹ ̷̩̈́à̴̜r̵̮͑o̸̳̕û̸̳ṇ̶͑d̵͚͝,̶̼̅ ̷̺̈ǔ̵̮n̷̘̋d̵͎̉e̷̪̐r̷̛͍s̷͌͜t̶͕̋a̸̲͌n̸̨̉ḋ̸͜?̴͕̾

He psionically spoke in a booming Umbral to everyone, but especially the Neko clutching her shoulder. Her mouth was flared open for heavy breaths as she tried to bite back the pain and shut off her receptors to it. She remained quiet despite the hatred blooming in her eyes and she looked from him to her wound.

Having turned her attention to the Advanced rather than continue mowing down the surviving and surrendering NMX Neko, Erika's attack on the unsuspecting Mishhuvurthyar caught him in the process of putting on his armor. The carbine's repetitive blue beam shot into the sight of its previous injury. Moving quickly with several tentacles, he hefted the armor onto his shell with the determined, focused movement of someone locked in under duress. Erika's feet impacted with a spike of the armor after it snapped into place over the Advanced. Her camouflage made it hard for him to locate her, but the pressure of her suit's boots against his armor meant he could easily place her in that moment. The tentacles that had not shimmied his armor on were raising above his own eye level, groping in a quick flurry for the SAINT agent.

The Advanced's armor took on a new hue of bounce light as bright red boxes appeared on the consoles of the command dais and on the NMX bridge crew. The seated helm officer looked to Aiko wide-eyed.

"Incoming transmission. Shit, it looks like an ultra-wide band meant for more than just us? I'm not a comms officer, though. Want to take a look... captain?"

 

[Sunny D]

The psionic screech was like being pulled quickly into deep water. Erika felt what could only be described as a sudden pressure try and crush her mind. Her leg bucked when she landed, and she wasn't able to cease her and she skidded along the surface of the Mishhuvurthyar's armor. She was tossed from its front.

Her training kicked in. Deny access, shut off higher reasoning where the tendrils can slither in. Reduce to core functionality. Protect Yamatai. Destroy the Enemy. Threat, anger, rage, pity, disgust. Protect Yamatai. Abomination.

She rolled off its front, through the tangled mess of tendrils chasing her and her eyes focused, her pupils shrinking to pinpoints. Her legs came over her head in a wide arc as she extended her body in a back flip. She landed feet first, crouching down to absorb the momentum. Her mind stabilised, her momentary trance equalising the pressure like holding one's nose and popping one's ears.

The battery was discharged in her initial assault, and it ejected out of the top of the carbine with a push of a button. The next one was slid into its place with mechanical speed and precision. With her alpha strike failed she went to her fall back: Degrade, provide opportunites for follow up attacks. With her now fully charged carbine she targeted its eyes. Fully automatic impaler fire peppered the optics of its armor.

The broadcast barely registered to her, a notification left unanswered for the moment. She would spare her NMX Nekovalkyrja sisters if they stood down, but never the Abomination. Until the Mishhuvurthyar was dealt with, it was a distraction.