The ship's insides look more like a spaceworthy personnel carrier than a passenger vessel, with the insides mostly gutted and fitted with various radio and computer systems as well as some room to sit. The pilot is currently in his place, and Chirc is currently near the front of the vessel, facing back towards the rest of the space on the vessel.
Einiona raises her hand, looking toward the man who appears to be in charge. "'Scue me, Sir. What's with this ship we're going to? How'd it get there? Just another rifter, or something actually happen to it? DO we know the extent of any damage? Any preliminary reports?"
Akamatsu sits in a seat, being reasonably quiet it seems. Perhaps he just wanted an excuse to get out of the house and thought this was as good as any. He glances at Chirc as the questions are asked, just letting Einiona field them for now it seems. Kethren nods from his spot next to Ein, idly scratching the white tiger sitting in front of him.
Keaton is relaxing with a hilt of his blade strapped to his belt and tilted along, blowing at wisps of his hair that flows, occasionally tapping up a data on his wristcomp holoscreen. A smile is given to Einiona with a lift of his hand seated near to them, and then shifting to glance at the charge guy.
Newt's just hanging back quietly for now, watching the pilot do his thing.
"It was not rifted in, I can assure you of that much." Chirc replies, then she pauses, before adding, "More specifically, we have been out of contact with it for quite some time, so we are unsure of what exactly happened. The station is considered a sensitive matter internally, is all."
Alhambra sits, arms folded across her chest, eyeballing just about everyone on this trip, not quite commenting but for a few low rumbles. Her eyes narrow slightly at intervals, and then... "Howdy, little buddy!" she bellows at Newt, waving cheerily.
Akamatsu poses his own question to Chirc now, asking, "Is it the Svajone?" He's got an eyebrow raised and he glances to Al as she begins waving over to Newt, "Funny bit is, I'd probably trust him more than the guy who's already flying this thing."
Einiona arches a vulpine brow toward the response to her questions, a singular nod of her head given in understand and response. Amber orbs swing toward Keaton, and the Kirvir lifts a hand in hello before leaning over to speak in lowered tones with Kethren. "Do you think we should focus on salvage efforts first?" Almost immediately, however, her attention is pulled away by Aka's question, which is then transfered to Chirc.
Keaton lifts up a brow and sighs, turning back with his attention towards the group and running a hand along a bandage, the Atlantean content with listening though looking to be bothered.
Newt's head snaps up to Al and he grins, "Hey!" and waves back before heading over. To Ak he simply gives a, "Well, duh."
"The Svajone? No." Chirc replies. "As for salvage efforts, the ideal is to reactivate the station, as that would give us the ideal situation to work in and perform analysis of what the station was doing and what happened to it, barring that, we need as much information from it as possible. You could say it of historical significance to my people."
Akamatsu nods a bit, "Right. Been on this mission before, long as no killer AI shows up I think we'll be fine. That sucked when that happened."
Keaton pulls up a smirk and grins at Akamatsu, "Jinxing it," he says with a chuckle, and then adjusts his medic pouch, checks his wristcomp, and his armor and weapons, flicking through screens of his wristcomp, "As sensitive as it is, that might play to why ya hardly have contact?" he asks curiously.
Alhambra chuffs, and glances over to Keth and Ein. "Welp, y'all are in good hands..." she trails off, grunting as Akamatsu is addressed. "Whut."
Kethren just listens to everyone for the moment from the comfort of his smartsuit, still scratching that tiger. He does spare a moment to wave at Al though.
Einiona has never met Al nor Aka, and thusly she looks curiously upon them both as they speak in turn. Leaning slightly toward Al, the bushy-tailed vulpine's ears flatten out to the sides, and she inquires gently, "What do you mean by that?" The station comes into view from the front. It looks to be a medium sized station. Of course, it looks like it has its share of problems. First is that a quarter of the station seems to be missing, having been hit at various points, exposing several sections of it to vaccuum. The second is that it's consistently spinning. The pilot calls back, "Not sure if we're going to be able to land in there."
Akamatsu smirks a bit, "Well she may be referring to the fact that I'm one of the best human fighters in the verse, or that she's not far behind on that list. Most likely both." Seems it's addressed to Einiona. Then the bad news from the pilot comes and he asks, "So. We /do/ have enough space suits for everybody, right?"
Alhambra scratches her midsection, and cants her head to Einiona. "Welp, what -I- mean is that y'all are safe, 'cause you got some heavy hitters here to keep anythin' from bothering you. And if somethin' does manage to bother you a bit, I am yer fully operational emergency medical personnel..." Pause. She squints at the viewscreen. "Uh, yeah. Would -vastly- preference not suckin' the cold vacuum of space. Just sayin'."
Newt pipes up to the pilot, "I've got mine."
Keaton shifts up his jacket about his armor and adds, "I have medical training also if she becomes less than available, but I will fit whatever job ya put me on," he says to the leader and then sighs, adding, with a notice of the station, "Wonderful, I hope we brought bags to throw up in."
Einiona smiles and nods to Alhambra, a hand extended in greeting. "Very well then, thanks...and hello! I'm Ein." Once Alhambra has shaken (or not), the hand and the greeting are given to Aka, as well." Looking over her shoulder at Chirc, the Kirvir pipes up over the crowd again, "Oh ah...I'm a blacksmith, mostly. Though I can usually repair just about anything you throw at me."
"We came with plenty of suits in the event an EVA was required." Chirc replies. "The rest of you should prepare for that. I will maintain overwatch from the ship." then the pilot takes the ship towards the station. The airlock to the landing bay looks like it's still closed, but there's a hole in the hull that leads into it as well. "I'm not sure I can land this thing." the pilot says.
Alhambra rotates her shoulder. "Yeah I'd rather -not- have you givin' folks analgesics with a booze chaser, Siegfried," she drawls, and then does indeed shake Ein's hand. "I'm Al. Friend of Keth's is a friend of mine, an' vice versa." She squints between the pilot and Chirc. "...so if he ain't landing, folks... how pre-cise-ly are we making this shit happen?"
Akamatsu does indeed shake the offered hand, "Akamatsu, Caryas Councilor." He stands and rubs his face, noting to Al, "Means we're suiting up and getting dropped off if I'm not mistaken."
Keaton lifts up a brow of confusion towards Alhambra as if askance of what she means, and shrugs, beginning to adjust his armoured suit up to be ready for sealing. Dosent give a name. Hardly talks, just prepares. The Atlantean does adjust his usable gear to the outside for ease of use.
Newt scowls slightly and begins to head over to the pilot, "Well lemme do it and stuff."
Einiona's gaze darts between her new acquaintances, Kethren, Chirc, and Newt before she exclaims, "The kid can /fly/?"
Kethren nods to Ein "Oh, yeah. He's the pilot on the Cro."
"Hell yeah," Alhambra thunders, giving Newt a thumbs' up. "Kid can drink my ass under the table, too. Little buddy, you want us suited up before or after you take 'er in?" You are being kicked out of RP mode for excessive idling.
The pilot looks at Newt, "You can fly?" he says skeptically. Then he looks out the window at the spinning station then back at him. "Okay, fine, you win, try and land the ship and not get us killed." and with that he stands up.
Newt rolls his eyes, "I wouldn't be askin if I couldn't". Once the seat is vacated Newt plants his butt and... adjusts the seat for his frame.
Akamatsu nods at Ein, "Hell, he has my superior officer once upon a time, technically speaking. Back with the Confederates." With that off he is to get suited up. Muttering something about "Stupid leaking atmosphere".
Kethren gets up and follows Aka to see what can be found in the way of a suit that'll fit over his smartsuit. Can't leave that thing lying around just anywhere, afterall. Keaton looks up towards the pilot and lifts a brow, "That was easy," he says, with a sigh. Thats hardly regulation would be the Atlantean's thoughts, but taps at his chin and begins to suit up further, with a smile given to Einiona, Aka, and the group again within general, and then relaxes his grip to zip it up and wait.
Alhambra follows along with Akamatsu to also get suited up. "Y'all all right? Anybody need a hand?"
Einiona blinks rapidly as the half-round takes the helm, half-staring, half following Kethren, she manages to pull a suit on, squishing her tail into it, along with her ears. The result is quite comical, like a fox that's been shaved, except for the face. Chuffing slightly, she crosses her eyes and sticks out her tongue to Keaton, before turning back to Kethren, "I hope this face mask fits over my muzzle!"
Akamatsu smirks, "Yeah, that might be a touch bad if it doesn't. Might have to hold your breath otherwise." He manages to get his on without trouble, leaving the helmet off for the time being.
Kethren chuckles as he pulls out a conveniantly sized suit that does indeed fit over the smartsuit he has. "Well, I'm sure something here will fit properly, if that one doesn't."
Newt gets comfie both in his seat and with the controls. Settled he begins and with his manipulations of the controls the hole in the hull begins to spin less and less and less as they approach. Eventually it stops all together and the ship slips inside. Some slight corrections get made once the ship enters to avoid floating debris and then a nice landing. "Sorted! There's no grav in here so we're kinda attached."
Keaton adjusts with his suit and pack and grins at Einiona, "Fara," he teases as a reference to a game and then adjusts his jacket and stuff as they dock slightly, "Awesome," he says quietly.
Einiona strips off the suit she'd attempted to fit in, instead finding one designated for a Demarian. Once situated, the fit is snug, but appropriate, and she nods toward those around her, hands flexing into a thumbs-up gesture. The pilot looks at Newt, then looks outside into the hangar bay of the station as it lands. Then back at Newt. "I'm not sure what you just did, but good." seeming to have nothing better to say.
As for Chirc, she's busy settling in to the comm station. "I'll maintain radio contact." she announces, then looks over at a computer screen, starting to type something in. "I might be able to acquire some of the station's plans."
Alhambra shakes her head, and falls into step with Ein, Keaton, and Aka. "All right let's get goin, folks," she rumbles, followed by a "Crazy space nonsense." Kethren heads on after Al & company with his tiger in tow.
Newt grins up at the other pilot, "Totally good." and then gets out of the seat, making his way over to the others.
Akamatsu follows as well, making to walk beside Al, actually. Once out he'll take a moment to look around and ask, "So where exactly are we heading to try and activate this thing?"
The docking hub of the station looks empty, save for some debris, mostly clinging to one of the walls at the moment. Chirc begins over the radio, "The station looks similar to a Keant class station, or at least a modified one. The good news is that means I should be able to provide information on likely features. The docking bay you are on right now is level seven of the station's ten. The reactors would be on level two, and the command center is on level nine." she pauses, "It looks like levels five and six were where most of the research on this variant would take place."
Keaton shifts up to follow with the group and move near, adjusting his shotgun and his rifle to the outside of his suit for an extra measure, and then flicking up a holoview of his wristcomp to the front of his suit and then types more, and sighs, tapping his comm, "And how would ya suggest we maneuver, any easy way or are we walking?"
Einiona follows the assembly out, onto the ship. Magnetic boots clicking with each step, the Kirvir takes a long look around, nodding to Chirc's overview. Activating the com in her helmet, she speaks up, "I'll probably be useful at the reactors; deck two, you said? Right." A look is thrown over her shoulder toward Kethren, as if asking if he's coming, too.
Kethren nods to Ein "Reactor sounds good to me." And clangs along to follow. The tiger is just as clangy, really. Moreso, what with the four feet.
"Man this is weird shit," Alhambra grumbles as she clomps along. "Yeah let's all stick together. I seen that movie." She fumbles around with her comm. "I thought your name was Ein?" she drawls, once she figures out how to get her comm to talk to other people.
Akamatsu nods, "Yeah, together is fine by me. My luck the second I split up with you is when the giant spiders or something attack." Seems he's been in this cliche before. Regardless he follows along.
"You should be able to get down to the second level through the shaft of the lift." Chirc explains over the comms. "Objectively speaking, this class is about a couple years old, relatively new model designed by the Svajone, used internally as research vessels. Sold externally for a number of other purposes."
The Atlantean flicks up his comm and replies, "I hope its like the Titan," he comments to himself, "On that note, this place may be unstable," Keaton's feet clack about magnetically, "I do think its a good idea to be together, ya we can be Genre Savvy," he says to reply to Al, with a chuckle. A motion given about, "I can work on any tech we find if thats cool," he shoots back at command. Something seems to kinda settle on the Atlantean, on all comms, "What, couple of years, and this shape?" he asks, adding, only a glance at the group.
Kethren looks around as they walk along "You sure you didn't slip some digits there? If this thing is only a couple years old, it fell back quite a ways in time."
"...through the shaft... of the lift. Fuck me, Margaret. Keth, you are lucky I love you, man, 'cause goddammit I would not do this shit for just anybody." Alhambra grouses, and then squints around a bit. "All right, who's got -rope-? It ain't an adventure without rope." She looks at Keaton, expression quizzical and brows working like a confused dog's. "...who the hell is General Savvy? An' her name's Ein, not Fara. The crap's the Titan? Dude, are we on the same ship or whut?" Pause. "Aka honey you had -best- be joking about giant spiders, I am all manner of not prepared for giant spiders."
Einiona looks at Kethren out of the corner of her eye, heralding the party toward the indicated shaft by Chirc. "Well then, if we're sticking together, are we all going to the reactors, or is there somewhere else people feel is more pressing?" Hearing Al, the vixen looks over and wiggles a magnetic boot, "Won't these do the job? Don't all lifts have to have emergency cables? We'll just use the boots and the cables, provided they're in good shape..."
Akamatsu smirks a bit behind his helmet, "Well, they weren't spiders last time I did something like this, but they did have some sharp ass claws, I know that. Haven't seen anything here yet, though." He makes to move toward the shaft, noting to Al once more "And dear, there isn't any gravity, we haven't got much danger of falling."
Keaton flicks up a comm, "Rogue AI Spiders," he says simply, and then adds towards Einiona, "I believe all we need will be the boots if we center our gravity on the path, otherwise we will be pulled by the magnetism and held by cable, then again, worth a try," he adds. A digit of his finger brushes at the belt and a sigh comes through audio, "I think gettinh this place up and operational was their main want, worth a try if we at least activate a few systems first," then, the Atlantean thinks, and asks, "Is there any information you would be able to give us on that matter of research," a shrug at Al, "Rope chafes hands."
"That makes sense." Chirc says after Kethren makes his observation. "This region was afflicted by a temporal distortion until recently. It was quite a long time for us." As for the lift, the door is mostly gone, but the cables are, indeed, still intact. "I can tell you they were labs of some kind, most likely, but I do not have any specifics on the nature of the research, if there was any."
"Darling, knowing there ain't no gravity is NOT easing my discomfort. Just saying..." Alhambra starts, and then furrows a canyon's worth of confusion into her brow. "...are you not wearing gloves with your space suit? You know whut, nemmind. Maybe there's a tempura-l distortion going on in your dome. All right, Space Ein. Show me how the frig I'ma get down this thing with just these magneto-boots."
Einiona chuckles lightly at her new nickname and, giving the calbes a firm tug, tests of their strength. Assuming they're sturdy enough, she then uses the tethers on her enviro suit normally fitted for outer hull walks, clipping herself onto the lift's cables. Before swiming a leg entirely around the cables and, like a mime who hasn't quite mastered the art of the invisible stairs, places one food, then the other, on the verticle surface of the shaft. Hand over hand, and foot under foot, she begins to lower herself down, repeated checks of what lies both above and below given after activating the flashlight on her helm.
Akamatsu watches Einiona and soon makes to follow her, "Doesn't look too bad to me." And with that he follows her, mimicing her method of entry, not like he knows any better after all.
Keaton's hand shifts to his belt and then with a hook of his magnetic boots, begins to attempt a slow and steady centrifuge of gravity and walk along the lift shaft to keep up, and steady himself. Its rough, but it manages, tapping his comm, "Right, safe method," he says. Riiiight.
Kethren starts to make his way into the shaft after a couple successful entries. But he trips and fails to make proper contact with much of anything. But he does brush by the cable just enough to put a nice spin on the helpless floating. "Of all the days to not bring my jetpack..." Nuala just sits herself down outside the shaft and watches.
Alhambra pauses on her way down. "Oh, Judas Priest. Hol up, folks, we got a floater. Dammit, Keth! See? This is why I was lookin' for rope. It ain't an adventure without rope. Uh... Keth, can you -try- and float over here? Somebody hold up and like, hold onto me and then I'll try an' get him. Jesus Criminy Rice Krispies Christ."
Newt just looks down the shaft and, well, spots Keth, "Grab the cable or something!"
Einiona halts in her descent along the cables. Unfortunately, she's now too far down the line of people to scramble back up and help Al and Kethren. Like Newt, she speaks across the comms, instructing Kethren to grab the cables and gently guide his feet back to the deck, with careful measures not to over-correct.
Akamatsu looks back to Kethren, "Oh, dammit, Kethren. Yeah, grab a cable, you'll be fine. You're lucky we're in zero g right now."
Keaton's hands reach to try and steady up Kethren should the man make any moves and assist with them, trying to keep his position, and to not be kicked away from standing, "Zero-G is wonderful," he says.
Kethren looks around whilst spinning and listening to Space Ein's wonderous directions, and is able to grab hold of the cable. Nuala's not going to have to deliver bad news to Aina later. "Ohh, tha's better. And back off, guy. You don't look stable enough to help anyone."
Near the end of the shaft is the door to the second level. The good news is that this is well labelled. The bad news is that it's shut.
"Little Bird, you are cleared for landing," Alhambra crows, giving Ein a thumbs' up. "All right now seriously get the hell over here and hang on before I find some rope and tie you to my back like the world's most embarassing papoose."
Newt pushes himself towards a cable different from Keth's and stabalisies himself. Once stable he pushes himself down so that, instead of climbing down a wall, he floats down instead. Hands are kept near the cable, just in case.
Einiona huffing a note of victory, the fox begins her climb down once more, quipping. "Alright then, now that we're all on the same page: to infinity, and beyond?" But it seems infinity is a short trip and, spying the doors to the second floor, the vulpine's voice again breaks over the coms. "Hokay. Snag here: doors are closed...I might be able to pull them open. These modules are set up for that kind of safety feature." Planting a foot on either side of the opening that contains the doors, the vixen wedges gloved fingers into the crack between the doors and gives a heave.
Kethren heads along the cable to catch up with the others, but not going too quickly, as spinning around wildly is less fun than one might think. The Atlantean makes his way along to the area of the door with the group and along the wall, adjusting his suit for the magnetic maneuver to bound him about. Keaton glances about towards Einiona, and flicks with his gloved fingers through the suit, "If you need any assistance I am sure that I would be able to flick those hinges clean away," through comm.
Newt says, as he passes Keth, "Hi Kethren, bye Kethren."
"What's a papoose?" Chirc can be heard asking over the comms, though it seems to not be directed at those on the station. A few seconds pass, "Nevermind." she adds. Then her voice focuses once again on the comms as the doors open, "The reactors are standard, a duo of fusion based reactors. Try to activate what systems you can, but power to the research levels takes priority."
"Yeah I don't think we need to go so far as infinity, just sayin'," Alhambra drawls as she gets to the bottom of the shaft herself. "Well I suppose it'd be too easy if the doors were all open and invitin', yeah?" She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, and then shakes her head. "Flick what? I don't... uh. Well, jumping baby Jesus on a pogo stick. I think that door's all set. I think that door's -grandkids- are all set."
Akamatsu smirks a bit before moving to try and get himself onto the floor of the reactor room, "Well, let's check it out, then. Make sure there's nothing that thinks our faces look especially tasty or something. Certainly what my week would need to be made better."
Einiona un-straddling the doorway, the Kirvir laughs at Alhambra's surprise. Alighting onto the floor, the foxy lady stands off to the side, permitting Aka and Al to pass her up and secure the area. With a bit of a mummble, her com crackles again and she says softly, "I did mention I'm a blacksmith, yeah?" A arm is held out to assist Kethren once he reaches the area; presuming Newt and Keaton are good with their zero-g.
Keaton kicks back along the wall with his hand beginning to come to his belt, though safely near a weapon, because Akamatsu makes it sure thats on the Atlantean's mind. The youth makes a move along with the group or whomever would move to check further and sighs, glancing about at each reactor.
Kethren does what little he can to get himself in the general direction of the door and Ein, wanting to be back on relatively stable ground.
Newt plonks down with complete ease and steps away from the cables, "So how's the door?"
"Huh...seems that the reserves have been drained. We can probably rig this, though. Reactors operate on two cores each, right? SO we'll just pull the charged cores from half the reactors, and put them in the other half, retaining those charged cores in them. It'll, of course, only be partial power, but at least it'll be power." The Kirvir's whiskers surge forward inside her helm, amber eyes turning into stare into the darkness as she eases her way forward to begin work.
"Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not reckon -guns- will be terrible useful in the zero gravity. ...and how the crap hard am I gonna have to swing if I need to punch something in the mouth?" Alhambra drawls, heading along with Akamatsu and making appropriate gestures as to which direction they are going to survey the room, scan and enter, 'slice the pie, (negotiating turns carefully)' etc. "Not that I think ANYBODY don't know we're here now that Foxy Hulk over there done told that door who's... slow down, woman! Wait for us."
Akamatsu replies with a shrug, "Keep your feet on the ground, the magnets are there for a reason." He moves to take the left side of the room, "And yes, kindly don't just eyeball it if you do shoot, it'll ricochet everywhere with no gravity, and it will eventually ruin one of our days."
Newt says, "Shooting in zero-g is a bad idea in general. If you gotta use an energy weapon."
Keaton's brow shifts up and glances at the sword of his with a lift of his shoulders, "Swords swing okay," he says, and taps at the commlink again, content with saving up his energy and giving the others reign to fix the reactor, "What sort of an system does the tech work on here, so I can fit my PDA for their specs?" he asks back to the observational group.
"The basic system should be contemporary." Chirc says from the ship.
Kethren follows along after Space Ein to start juggling around those power cores, taking careful note of where things are and need to be.
"Alright, folks. Here's what we're dealing with: we can get about an hour and a half...or two hours...of power out of this thing once we fire it up. So /where/ are we going to direct power to? Everything else has to be shut down, and we're not even going to attempt to stabilize life support. Gaping hole in ship negates that. I'm thinking decks five and six, because those are the goodies the bosslady wants, and the command center. Any objections? Counter-argumets?" The fox's ears twitch in her helm, and a looks is thrown around to everyone in attendance.
Newt shrugs, "I'm cool with that."
Akamatsu simply puts his hands up, "Your call as far as I'm concerned. I'm here for your face eating insurance more than anything. I'm no engineer type or anything."
Kethren nods "Given that the vessel as a whole isn't immediately salvageable, that sounds fine to me."
Alhambra gives Newt a thumbs' up. "That's what I figgered," she replies. "I'm sure I'll find something to beat things with. Maybe I can find a pipe around here somewhere. Heheh. Maaaan, if I can't pick my feet up that means it's all upper body." Chuff. "I don't swing swords. Do I look like some kinda sam-u-rai to you? You know whut don't answer that I don't wanna know what's going on in your head." She also puts her hands up at Ein's questions. "Man you and Keth do your smart folk thing. I'ma look for a pipe."
Keaton shifts up his gaze and then glances at Einiona, tapping his comm, "That might re-activate the research they may have been doing possibly also, I would be quite cautious," he adds, and taps about on his wristcomp, and his comm adds, towards the ship, "Anything you would like to add?" to the observation group. Sometimes hardly trusting the benefactors is a -good- thing.
Einiona nods, though imperceptable in her suit, to the warnings of Keaton. "Yes, I had thought about that, if perhaps their experiments had created some sort of temporal distortion, particularly considering what Kethren said earlier in regards to the conflict of aging going on in the ship. So first, we're going to fire up the command center. Who here is good with computers?"
Kethren shakes his head "Despite any impressions I may give, I have to say I'm rather lousy with computers, really."
Keaton perks up at that and lifts up his suited hand, "I have tech experience, and a permit," the Atlantean adds to the group, and pats up that wristcomp of his, then flicks up a comm, "Whats the plan?" he asks.
Akamatsu smirks at Al once again, "I'll never know why you like the blunt ones so much better. I mean, yeah, they're better for cracking things open, but still."
Einiona a rather large smithing hammer is held out toward Alhambra from the Kirvir's position on the floor. "Here, give this a few swings, test the weight. Good for throwing, too." Head swiveling toward Keaton, the vulpine nods before speaking. "Great, once I bring the center online, try to find any reference to what they're doing down there, particularly if it deals with particles, dark matter, wormholes...you know. The normal folding space and time jargon." Sliding the last core into place, she configures the wires to send power to the control center, and gives them a final twist to get the juice flowing.
"Quite frankly I do not like the sensation of cuttin' into things," Alhambra drawls, pacing around a bit and keeping an eye out for unknowns or aberrant behaviors. At the question of who's good with computers, she guffaws a great, hearty, "NOPE!" Chuff. "I hope it ain't like his doctorin' experience," she rumbles, folding her arms across her chest, and then she perks up. "Ooh, a hammer! I like this girl where you find this girl, Keth?"
And with that the reactor sounds like it's working. "I'm seeing light in the command center from here." Chirc says over the comms. "Looks like some of the station is online."
It's probably not noticeable, but Keth's grinning behind that faceplate. "Told you I met a smith on Comorro. She happens to be it."
Newt says, "Nuh-uh, not me." And then looks up at Al, "Shooting thing's more fun."
Akamatsu smirks at Al once more, "Fair enough, I guess. Good thing we've yet to find anything needed a slash then, huh?" Seems at this point he's just standing and waiting for the tech savvy people to do their jobs.
"Ok! Lets move some feet, people!" The fox rises from her crouched position and begins plodding along the corridor back toward the lift. "Is there any other way to the control center than going through this shaft again?" Kethren is eyed, and the vixen points to her finger, then draws a question mark in the air. Hopefully, he'll get the math.
Keaton flicks up his wristcomp and then furrows up his brow with a sigh, tapping his comm, "Looks like we will have to move again if we want to access anything," and a hand gently brushes about the screen, the Atlantean adding, "Any calls on what we do next, we have limited time." Then Ein speaks and the youth follows, and preps up his system PDA for wheb they arrive, whatever way.
Kethren looks around the room for a moment, and sighs. "Well... basically we have to go upwards, however we want to do this. Our best options are either another trip through that shaft... or scaling the station exterior. Given time constraints, the shaft is probably faster."
"Oh bad-ass," Al replies to Kethren (regarding the blacksmith), carefully testing the hammer's weight and, judging by the pleasant rumbling she is perhaps unerringly broadcasting through her comms, happy with said hammer. She looks back towards the shaft. "...well, considering that whipping this thing around like Thor would probably be the crappest shittest idea -ever-, maybe we should try an get some way of haulin' the smaller folks up. Except for Newt, 'cause apparently little buddy is better at flyin', drinkin', AND goddanged zero-gee acrobatics than I am." Pause. Guffaw. "Yeah I am SO not running around on the outside of this fuckin' thing. Thank you very much."
The command center looks like it's taken its share of hits, but some lighting is on, and a couple consoles are lit up and active.
Once Alhambra reaches the top, she clambers on out of the shaft and kneels down beside it to help Einiona and Kethren up. "Heee-yah, folks."
Akamatsu goes on up with Al, making to help people up as well should they need it, afterwards he'll check around, make sure nothing is looking for tasty, tasty, faces to chew upon.
Keaton's slow moonwalk style of course makes him bring up to the back slightly, and the Atlantean shifts his way onto the floor proper with his boots, his wristcomp at the ready for work on consoles, you know, unless they do have to fight.
"The command center likely has logs of the functions of the ship itself. Life support, shields, hull breaches and such." Chirc says over the comms. "Depending on the need for personnel at the time, the people who worked on this level could have been contracted to handle ship operations so that the researchers could conduct their work." reaching the top of the shaft, the Kirvir clambors over the deck's edge, Kethren in tow. Gently, she flops the Architect onto his feet and looks around while Al and Aka secure the area.
Kethren oofs a little as he gets back on what passes for solid ground around here. "Thanks." And with that he starts walking a little to get a better view of the surroundings.
Akamatsu notes to the group after he looks around, "I don't see anything dangerous here, at least. About what you'd expect in a place with no life support."
"Welp, let's keep our guards up anyhow, I mean shit things could bust up, or fall... well not so much fall. I dunno. Just be careful anyhow shit I seen this movie," Alhambra drawls, making sure that everyone's come up out of the shaft and all heads are accounted for. And no extras.
Keaton's hand flicks up one of his wristcomp screens and then shifts a few data scrolls. Within a moment, the Atlantean taps his comm to the group and command, "Free to check the consoles?" he asks, and glances about, trying to keep a keen look for anything that may stand amongst the objects while waiting. Of note, the writing for the various stations of the command center are written in Terran. The two stations that seem to be working are the ones that detail the status of life support systems, and one for security systems.
"Yeah, go ahead," the vulpine nods to Keaton. Turning to Kethren, she says, "Poke around, see if we can find any surveillance of the research labs? Or anything, really."
Kethren nods to Space Ein "Well, I'll look if you really want me to. Can't say I've ever been much use around to computers, though."
Alhambra pipes up, "Well, I don't reckon anybody wants -me- to do it, unless you ain't never wanna see them computers again."
Akamatsu smirks, replying to Al, "Yes, just ask her PDA about that one. Poor thing must have PTSD by now."
Keaton nods towards Einiona and moves to begin checking at a console with a slow approach, and if reaching it, trying to bring up any information on the current systems status and what the extent of damage to the ship is.
Einiona shrugs at Kethren and peers over Keaton's shoulder, her gaze bouncing between his work and Kethren's. "You mean the guy who leads a planet doesn't know how to use a computer that well?" Ein blinks at Kethren, waiting for the laughter to roll out, as if he's pulling her leg.
Alhambra flips Akamatsu the bird. "No it don't," she grunts. "...I got a new one. It don't even turn blue and turn off alla the time like the old one did. That weren't my fault it got -sand- in it. Of course it's gonna get -sand- in it, Eiru's fuckin' -made of sand-. If it's gonna fall off every time I gotta goddang wrestle some dumbshit to the ground 'cause they think they can just break the dang laws, it ain't a good piece of machinery. This one's better it's got like some kinda thinger around the outside, holds it together an' keeps the water an' the sand out..." There is a rustling as she grabs at her hip to demonstrate, but of course the PDA is on the -inside- of the suit. "...well maybe later."
Kethren shrugs a bit "Well, I can get by in my day to day work, but that's largely due to having aquired some very user friendly apps on my pda. You do raise a good point though, I really should put some time into figuring those contraptions out in better detail."
Akamatsu just chuckles a bit, keeping the banter up as he waits, "I didn't even know you got a new one, Al. Did you even manage to get everything transfered to it okay?" Keaton's hand pulls up his wristcomp and begins to work, tapping away. Click, clack. Blink. Data received. The Atlantean taps his commlink, lifting a brow, "Ships worse than we thought, life supports been down for a while, several sections with a closed bulkhead." A blink from the youth and a furrow of his brow, his fist clenching, "Fuck," he whispers, "This ship was designed to contain biohazards, I dont like this guys," he adds to the comm, with a sigh, "I dont think this place is safe," he adds, perhaps hardly needed at this point.
Einiona's gaze swings toward Alhambra almost as soon as Keaton finishes speaking. "Doc! Yo, Medic Lady. How long will a virus or bacteria remain active in the vacuum of space?" Nose twitching, the Kirvir's eyes narrow, and she looks in the general direction of where the shuttle they arrived upon sits. "Huh. What bulkheads are sealed?"
"Well if these bits are wide open to the cold dang vacuum of space, can we at least be moderately assured that the biohazards that were contained were on the other side of said bulkheads?" Alhambra drawls, and then squints over at Ein. "Wrong specialty, hon. I am a paramedic, not a doctor. I know how to patch folks up and keep 'em from getting worse until the real medical attention gets here. But, the way I figure it... shit should not be able to live out here. Where there ain't no air or gravity or nothin'..."
Akamatsu just shakes his head a bit, "Uh, guys. We're wearing air tight space suits at the moment. Even if they were living they wouldn't be able to get through I don't think." To Chirc he merely looks for confirmation, "Right?" "If anything can survive on this station in its current state, it would likely be a psionic threat, of which I am not currently detecting any." Chirc replies over the comms. "Your suits should hold, they would also seal off any extremity should the integrity of the suit be compromised in those areas, so the risk is minimal."
Keaton's suited hand begins adjusting his package of supplies, and the youth gently taps up his commlink, "That or they are sealing it with a masking or the sealed bulkheads are holding experiments within them, and if they are sealed from another, it means they might be either survivors or a sentient threat, that manages minimal life support," he adds, then looks to the group generally, "You want me to check for anything more or whats our next move?" he asks, waiting for orders.
"Yeah, minimal." A deep frown creases the Kirvir's brow, and the amber-colored sights swivel back to Keaton, and then the rest of the group. "Well, we're here to get the research...so I say we restore power to decks five and six, and see if they were /creating/ biohazards, or trying to learn how to fight them, before we retrieve any research."
Kethren nods "Yeah, let's not go opening bulkheads unless it's necessary."
Akamatsu replies to Keaton, "I think step one is you stop being so damned paranoid. Now let's get to the research level. For all we know it's just referring to their blood drive or something." With that, he starts walking.
"Whooooah, yeah I don't wanna open nothing neither," Alhambra rumbles, "Can we find out like what's on the shipping label before we start cracking open boxes and getting eaten by giant spiders?"
Keaton's suit hand gently brushes at his wristcomp and the Atlantean begins following up with the group, "Right," he says on the commlink, "Because opening up research labs, on a biohazard ship, with sealed bulkheads, just yells safety," this to Akamatsu, then to the group as a whole, and observation, "Which lab do we begin with?" he asks curiously.
Einiona tired of all the talk, the Kirvir heads back toward the shaft before hooking herself back up to the cables. Without so much as a word, she begins to haul herself back toward the second floor, and the reactor room.
Akamatsu merely moves to follow behind Ein, apparently tired of the talking himself, "Going to have to do it anyway, no sense in complaining about it."
"For crap's sake! Whut in the name of Jesse James are you muppets doing? Don't split up! Christ on a bike." Alhambra clomps back over to the side of the shaft and reaches out in an attempt to retrieve her manfolk. "Mary Mother of God in a red Radio Flyer Wagon with spinning rims, so much for a change of scenery bein' -relaxing-."
Keaton's magnetic boots are adjusted, with a clank, and the Atlantean begins making his way along the lift wall slowly with hands positioning for balance and keeping a slow pace.
Kethren heads into the shaft to follow Ein. Rather more gracefully this time. Einiona, upon reaching the level-two deck once more, makes her way back to the reactors and, cutting power to the control room, she then initializes power to deck five, which is presumably closer.
Akamatsu replies rather simply, "Thanks, dear." As he's retrieved and grabs on once again to follow up, "Not used to this zero gravity crap, yet."
The fifth level looks like some kind of computer chip production lab. Once again, a couple terminals are working. The outside of the station is clearly visible from here, having had a large hole ripped in the exterior long ago.
"Yeah it's kinda shit for maneuvering," Alhambra replies, and once he's secure, moves to follow.
Einiona slides up to an active terminal, tapping away at the keys. "Hmm...lets see here..." Of course, she's looking for any information to add to what Keaton has found, and what they were researching on this ship, as well.
Kethren walks over in Ein's direction "Finding anything good?"
Keaton follows up with his wristcomp up and begins tapping on it, near the group, ready to assist if needed.
Alhambra mutters all the way down, and waits, arms folded across her chest. "...sonofabitch it's like herdin' puppies, I tell you whut... grumblegrumble."
"This place was used to produce dictionaries," the Kirvir says, looking around at the equimpent used to press chips. Following the logical path of the conveyor, she searches around the nearest "end of the line", that she can, for a discarded or perhaps spare chip that never made it to distribution.
Akamatsu smirks at Al as he too waits for the computer types to get things going. "Sorry. Least we've yet to see anything that wanted us for dinner."
Keaton taps at his chin and then looks at any of the other consoles that might be about, sparing an extra bit of his time during Einiona's search to gather any extra information possibly on the dictionaries or productions.
Kethren tilts his head a bit "Dictionaries... Odd, but good to know someone still has an interest in liguistics."
Alhambra looks over at Akamatsu and just chuffs, continuing to keep an eye on people and the things that are also people. Apparently she wouldn't put it past anyone or anything to get up to some manner of shenanigans.
Einiona wanders over to Keaton and his wrist-comp, the tiny chip clenched in a gloved hand. She opens her palm to him, and the crackle of static precedes her speaking once more, "Hey, see what kind of "dictionary" these are? My PDA is inside my suit."
Keaton's wristcomp flickers a screen of data and the Atlantean youth taps his comm, "Project Name: Longinus, Terran dictionaries complied and the production line aint really for contemporary computer systems," he says. Making an audible kind of sigh, "Longinus, Terran history regards a spear of that name within their myths, I believe," he adds, nodding at Einiona, "So much data but I dont even know if this is Expanse research?"
Akamatsu shrugs a bit at Al, "Still better than the damned AI trying to "Revoke my breathing priviledges" at least."
"Traditionally, Svajone leadership distrusted artificial intelligence approaching sentient behavior." Chirc says over the comms. "Given your fears of such an entity causing you trouble, there must have been a good reason for that. At least I doubt you would find one installed on one of their stations."
"Alright, we're going to go back down to deck two and switch the power again, so we're headed for deck six after that," the Kirvir states as she's walking back toward the shaft. "Anyone know this legendary spear? Or can find out the story behind it before we get there? They don't get projects symbolic names for nothing."
Newt comes upto the shaft, being late and hops "up", zooming vertically with one hand stretched out. Once at the mouth of the entrance, the hand touches the way, Newt arcs, lets go, bounces off the top of the shaft entrance easily and lands on his feet as if nothing happened. "Sorry I'm late."
Kethren glances over at Ein "Blieve that was the spear they rather gratuitously skewered that Jesus chap with."
Alhambra stretches her neck. "Hunh? Where are we going again? Dammit little buddy where the hell you been... and zippin around like a big ol' cute green bumblebee ain't gonna get you off the hook. Stay with Auntie Al from now on, yeah?"
Akamatsu just rubs at the back of his neck apparently waiting for progress to be made. Not like he's computer savvy enough to help with this process.
Einiona pauses at the mouth of the shaft, the security tethers hooked to the cables again, she throws a glance over her shoulder and inquires of Kethren, "Um...who?" Zoom! Down she goes again, to reroute power.
Newt looks over at Al, "I'm cool, but. This is great fun."
Keaton's digits tap at his wristcomp and makes records of what data can possibly be kept, and then replies by comm, following the group through their amazing adventure. With a tap of comm, "Aye I was about to bring up the Jesus thing, they checked for his lifeblood with it and the water flowed along it, legend is it kinda cured the roman soldier and he repented," the Atlantean says, adding, "Implications of any project named for Terran Bibles, makes the journey so wonderful," he says and then walks up the lift with the group. Kethren zips down after Ein "Religious figure back on Earth. Frankly rather doubtful he even existed."
"Hey! There ain't nothing wrong with Jesus," Alhambra drawls, as she continues to make sure that everyone's staying together. "They done hung him on a cross for telling folks how it'd sure be nice if they stopped fucking each other over to get ahead."
Akamatsu moves along with the group, in moderate silence. Seems he's got little input on the subject of Jesus. Real surprise that one.
The sixth level looks like it was a cloning lab. Several rows of damaged vats are followed up with by an operating suite with a few operating tools remaining.
Einiona looks around at the sixth floor, nose wrinkling at the various tanks and stuff. "Ok, so they stabbed some holy guy with a spear. What does that make the spear a symbol of? Maybe I'm going to literal with this...perhaps they're just trying to breed a more disease-resistant species."
Alhambra emits a low whistle, looking around the room. "...ohhh, that's not creepy -at all-," she drawls. Einiona gets a few blinks. "Whut?"
Kethren chuckles as he looks around "Never said there was anything wrong with him. Just the historical record is dubious. Anyway, some tomes have it that whoever holds the spear is basically unstoppable. Was a popular thing to go seeking at one point."
Keaton's magnetic boot begins to lift up and bring him on deck and an audible chuckle can be made through the comm, "Called it," the Atlantean says, and then adds, "Or perhaps as with most Biblically referenced projects with human ego, to bring people to life that were already about?" and then taps at his chin, "Its a good thing I know genetic research," he muses, and begins to move, "Oh, Immortals?" he asks Kethren, and begins studying the vats for any information he may find, or to find a usable console.
Newt does his usual uphopping into the shaft only to stop part way through, "How come you need to know about genetic research?"
Akamatsu blinks around a little bit at this room, "Huh. Well that's interesting. Suppose this is where there'd be anything trying to kill us though, best look around." With that he does exactly as he says.
"Biblical whut with ego??" Alhambra drawls, shaking her head as she peers around for trouble. "...uhhh... guys... this shit over here..." She gestures at the operating suite. "That's like -brain surgery- shit... The fuck were they tinkerin' with..."
Keaton begins to make move towards the vat itself and begin to try studying any materials or information with his wristcomp up, tapping his comm, "Probably enhancing life, at the expense of other's lives." Gaze sweeping about to study.
"That's not creepy at all!" The Kirvir ducks her head around the vats, looking for a way to turn them off...or something. Whatever's potentially alive in there, it doesn't need to be powered up and come bursting out. She pauses to look at Alhambra, "Anything that'll tell us what they were doing, like specifics?"
Kethren cringes a little "Yeah, this certainly looks wholesome."
"Radio ahead, Jordan." Chirc can be heard talking, presumably to the pilot. "Find me somebody that has clearance for this station's operations and have them ready to speak with me when we return." she seems less than pleased at the moment.
Akamatsu clicks his tongue a bit, before noting, "Looks like old man Mikage wasn't as quite as innactive as we thought he was." He doesn't sound too angry about it, more just a touch uncomfortable.
Keaton's hand reaches up to the commlink and to the group replies, "These were used to clone humans, the dictionaries, the Terran, try putting it together, it makes sense they wished to program the humans they created," he says, hints of bile to the Atlantean's words, "It makes sense if we think about it that way, thats why the files were hardly made for contemporary computers, thats why they made dictionaries of the human's standard Terran." Its an assumption on his area but with the compiled data? To him thats what it makes it to be.
"I have no god damn idea, Missy Ein..." Alhambra drawls, trailing off. "...I don't see how having old files means they're trying to program humans? I can't make heads or tails outta none of this. You know this old guy, Aka? Does this sound like anythin' he was doing?"
Einiona blinks, reaching up to shut off the vat she's near by flicking the switch. "Huh..creating humans...at an ideal...wonder if they were trying to colonize something. Or it's a war factory." A look is given to Kethren as she turns off the next vat, continuing to move down the line and deactivate the rest. "So what would make a person invincible? Genetics aside, squishy flesh gets shot, you still die. So something else was the magnum opus."
Kethren shrugs "I'm no doctor. Nanites to boost healing? Figuring a way to make carbon fiber part of the skin for added protection? Boosting reaction times? Any number of paths those inclined towards mad science could go. Personally I prefer to simply not be where the fighting is."
Akamatsu shrugs a bit at Al, "Well, I went on a mission for him once, some planet they'd colonized. Wanted us to go and trade some weapons, primitive guns, to see what they thought was valuable. He seemed like a nice enough guy at the time, I guess. Humans we saw were really primitive, though. Right around as advanced as they were in my time."
Keaton's magnetic boots make clomping as the Atlantean looks about the area and tries to find anything of interest from what they have found already.
"Aw fuckin' nanites, really? Tell me there ain't no -nanites- up in here. Sweartogod everybody I ever talked to that had some kinda -nanites- was fuckin' batshit crazy..." Alhambra rumbles, still peering around suspiciously. "Well this shit does not look primitive -at all-, hon."
Turning to look at Aka, the vixen's brow furrows again. "Yeah? A colonized planet, huh? And they were making clones at the expense of other life forms...so perhaps they were using that planet as a feeder for these clones. How revolting." With a shudder and an impreceptable lick and her chops, the fox gestures toward the shaft. "Ugh, I want to shut the power down, and then lets get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."
Akamatsu shakes his head, "No, I doubt it. Svajone wouldn't have the population to work with, and I'll go ahead and remind you that humans aren't natives in this universe. They'd have had to colonize it with their own population....but that doesn't explain why they were primitive." He tilts his head at the vats, "And....I remember an article a while back...it was talking about how Svajone was having a population boom, and at the time I dind't think it made any sense, think I'm starting to see why."
Kethren continues looking about at things in general. Being the architect, he doesn't have a heck of a lot to contribute vis a vis cloning tech.
Keaton's suited hand gently raises to the air and a whisper maybe heard from the Atlantean, then it draws up to his belt, "Ain't any psionic use, thats confirmable," he taps to his commlink, "So what are we doing guys?" he asks, coming to the group and keeping an ear open for anything, a gaze drifting about, and a tap of his chin, "They probably didnt want records, thats why there's a lack of consoles."
Alhambra blinks. "Whut? Um. Wait. Whut?" Her brow furrows. "...all right I don't know any of this stuff, heads or tails. What about a population boom? Weren't there like, people people on the news? They were like... I don't know. They didn't call themselves human. The whosamajiggers, whatchamacallits. You know, the thingers... anyhow are we done looking at stuff? Can we get outta here? It's creepish."
Einiona walks around the room, pressing on any flat surfaces, particularly vertical ones, hoping to find a hidden console or something. "I can be last one up, that's fine. You guys get started."
Akamatsu nods, "Point being, I highly doubt that he was killing anybody to do it. Even if the old man were a heartless asshole, which he may well have been mind you, it'd be stupid to use his own population to do it, and it wouldn't make the population grow. I think he was /making/ humans. From scratch. Not the traditional way in a bedroom, either."
"If there is nothing further, return to the ship." Chirc finally says over the comms, sounding more like a confirmation than an order. "We knew we were created for quite some time, the only difference is now we know more about where we came from."
Keaton's finger taps at his comm from the gloving suit, "I am happy that you know more of it then, but that means it would be the planet itself?" he asks, adding, "That means they are hardly natives," he sighs, and then moves up with that group.
"Ehh? Man ain't the Sivads been growing their own kids already?" Alhambra starts, and then trails off, eyes widening. She points, presumably in the direction of the ship they came in on. "Dude! See? She must be one of them whatsamajiggers." Pause. "Time to go? Yay! All right everybody out. No you don't get to be the last one up woman that's how movies happen. Heeeyup let's go. Little buddy! Where the crap are you, ponchik? C'mon we're getting the hell outta this derelicter."
Einiona moves toward the shaft, climbing her way back up to the seventh deck; the shortest trip they've had so far. "Well, Keaton has the dictionary still, if you'd at least like to study that."
Kethren follows along with the others to the shaft for another gripping expedition. Back to where the ship is. And his tiger, what's been prowling around up by the shaft entrence for awhile now.
Akamatsu replies to Chirc simply, "Well, glad to hear that I'm right at least. As he goes up he notes, "And yes, that would make them natives. Moreso than any other human in Hiverspace, anyway. Only ones who started their lives here...I wouldn't really call it being /born/ but you get the idea."
Keaton's feet clang up along that lift and the Atlantean sighs, tapping his wristcomp, "If its okay, may I give you the original of this data and keep a copy on file for reference?" he asks to Chirc, and taps at his commlink, "We know everything about it except the why," he adds, furrowing his brow up within his suit at the thought, "Well, aye, natives, but that means the ecosystem would be patterned for them likely."
"You would understand if we would like to keep any copies." Chirc replies. "It would create trouble otherwise."
Einiona pulling herself out of the lift shaft, she begins to thud across the docking deck toward the shuttlecraft. Once safely aboard, the blacksmith watches carefully that the others make it back inside.
"Welp I for one could give a rat's left buttcheek about y'all's secrets," Alhambra drawls, continuing to herd the group towards 'out'. "So long as you ain't gonna make trouble you can keep it all, I reckon. Heeyup, let's move it on along, folks..."
Kethren emerges from the shaft a short time after Space Ein, and heads over to where Nuala's pacing around to give her a good scratching before they get back on the ship.
Keaton's feet make a sound as the magnetic boots bring him to the ship, tapping his comm, "Understood, I will surrender all copies to you directly, if thats acceptable," he says.
Akamatsu boards as well, "Yes, though I have to wonder what Mikage's motives were for creating you. Or at least giving the order to make you. Doesn't seem like the product of an afternoon's boredom after all."
Einiona begins to unsuit as soon as all of the party are on the smaller ship, and the airlock had cycled closed. She's mute for now, neither saying anything nor looking at anyone in particular. Once free of the envirosuit, she flops down on one of the chairs and begins re-fluffing her tail and fauxhawk.
"Perhaps one day there will be an answer." Chirc says, looking towards the airlock as everyone returns. "You have my thanks for doing this."
Having enjoyed a brief reunion with the tiger, the architect finds himself back aboard the ship, and plunks himself back down in his seat by Ein. After of course, getting out of that space suit.
Alhambra does a headcount, making sure that we've come back with no less and definitely no -more- than we left with.