Saved by the boss. Ash had to grin at the way Caulder saved Alice from making up any more excuses for now. She was safe until after they got through with MIT, after that well... she had to either come clean or hope that Rodger really did come back. Either way Ash doubted, Alice would be given any more leeway as far as dragooning fighters into going along on her little side trips anymore. Shaking her head rather ruefully, Ash followed along behind Caulder. "Spoilsport. But really, what do you think our chances are of finding poor Rodger alive?"
Caulder didn't stop, anger inside him rising. "They better be damn good," Caulder spat, answering Ash, speaking just loud enough for Alice to hear, "Or there will be hell to pay." He eyes Alice suspiciously, continuing down the tunnels, still fuming. ----------------------- Time until Realspace 0:01:12 Alexander Murren gripped his console, hoping that everyone just didn't die on re-entry. The sudden tear of realspace appeared on screen, and the Concordia burst through, appearing just outside of Earth's orbit. He let out a sigh, and began to check for signals from the Aurelia and the Sodorii, the other two scouting vessels. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" Murren said, looking at Earth in the distance, savoring this moment of peace before turning back to his duty. At least it still existed. It occurred to him that they should have received a report from the other vessels, so he checked his ansible. Nothing was displayed; no contact. Come to think of it, he hadn't received anything from Maria, either. Indeed, there were no signals, no communication. The space above Earth was silent. Something was definitely wrong. Murren picked up the the address system. "Attention. This is the Captain speaking. The Aurelia and the Sodorii have not reported in. We will be investigating further, but anticipate the worst combat. That is all."
Ohen stared at the clock. Only a minute, but it felt like hours. Eventually a tear appeared in the aether and they went through. And there it was. Earth, the home of humanity, in all its glory. The intercom came on, but he was not listening, fixated on the majestic rock floating in space that was his home, the place he had waited to see for so long, that he learned so much about in school... It was more of a legend than a place, until now.... Tchhhhh..... Steam once again exited his mechanical arm. He looked at it "It shouldn't be overheating this often...." He muttered, snapped back to reality. He shifted in his gear uncomfortably before finally finding a good enough position. This was it. There was something stopping them from communicating with Earth. Whatever it is, they will have to face it. He walked to Sargent Harrison, the commander of his unit for further orders.
Harrison had, after getting out of the elevator, had retired to his office. He waited for the deployment orders to be given, but he also knew that he'd have to be ready. So when Ohen approached Harrison, the Colonel was in full plastisteel armor, and currently sitting on the ground with his weapon disassembled. Standard thing for him, to disassemble and reassemble his weaponry before a mission. There was no ammo, since that was prohibited in the quarters. He looked up, while putting the stock of the rifle together. "Corporal." he said, and waited for a salute. ((Wait, are you a Corporal, or a Private, or what?))
((First class Private)) "Sir, umm...." He tried to get a grip on why he exactly came, his mind was still wandering about, still on Earth. "Ahem.... I... What happened to Earth Harrison, what are we gonna find?" He said, violating at least 7 laws by calling him Harrison. He had to get it out. What in the world could've happened? What could stop the combined forces of Earth from sending communications? And most importantly perhaps, "And.... how are we going to deal with it?" They were just humans in the end. Earth would be in the same military state as the fleet, and if anyone, anything, could take Earth, surely they couldn't fight it back. He knew if he told this to the Colonel he would likely be shoved down the trash bin and launched into space. Tchhhh Again steam flowed out of his arm, before dissipating in the air. He gave the heat vents a light touch, only to get a minor burn, they were scorching hot. He noted he needed to replace the heat sinks. He gave the 10 bucks he won earlier and an additional 70 a silent goodbye, before realizing that he originally came here for mission orders.... Godammit brain.
Harrison frowned at the chap. The kid was new, and obviously not suited to the army/marines. But still, military protocol had to be respected. He got up, and put his hand on Ohen's shoulder. He then said, in a comforting whisper "Private, as much as you are new and are a rookie, you must remember military protocol. I will give you this one last chance for this, and not anymore. You must address your superiors by either 'Sir' or their rank. When you start off speaking to them, you start with their rank. Think of it as capitalizing letters at the beginning of a sentence. I'm a much more lenient officer than most, especially Lieutenant Colonel Norris over there, as you can surely attest to. But even then, military protocol forces me to punish you in breach. But, I'll let it slide this one time. Remember, Private, always refer by rank and 'sir'. Last chance." he removed his hands from the Privates shoulder, noting his arm giving off steam. He'd say something about that. But first he'd answer the kids original question. He walked up to the window, a triple reinforced plastiglass-carbon carbon-carbon nanotube (in that order) plating to protect from the vacuum of space. He brought his hands together behind him, stand-at-ease form, and said, not looking back at Ohen "Private, we're now assuming that there has been a catastrophe, for us expect hostiles, due to the loss of the scout ships. First actions will be to asses the situation, and upon discovery of any hostiles, we take em fast and clean. If we are unable to do that, the military might of the flotilla shall be applied, and we'll fight anything tooth and nail. Survivors will be recovered, and recovery ops will be first priority. I assume that you are not excited for your magnum opus? Oh, yes, if you don't know what that means, its standard Latin for 'first operation'."
"Not really, Sir... Going into battle isn't really something that excites me." Ohen replied. His arm needed immediate attention, it usually only needed to emit steam every few days, and only on command. Doing so automatically this often means something was wrong with the cooling system. He couldn't have it doing so when they were on a mission. Luckily cooling system maintenance was fairly quick, just replacing the heat sink usually, It tends to wear out after a while. "Permission to leave, Sir?" He said, gesturing to his bionic replacement arm.
"Permission granted. Oh, and kid." He reached into his desk and pulled out a requisition sheet. He quickly filled it out, and wrote a requisition for a high grade bionic part. He handed it to Ohen. "Fill out the part you need to be replaced, and quick. The army takes care of its soldiers. The mechanics should be able to hook you up with something. Now giddy up!"
Even in her lab Alice could hear Caulder shout at her, honestly it wasn't something new. She did lose quite a lot of people on her escapades but she had either made up for with better weapons or just other survivors she found, surely Caulder and Ash couldn't stay mad at her forever. After placing the gem inside the container she opened her personal safe, where she kept her ongoing researches, and kept the container in there. Alice waited for a while, just so she could have a little distance between the angry 'leaders'. Once she thought it was okay to go out and follow them to MIT, at a safe distance, Alice left her lab and started to walk towards the exit. On her way she saw a bunch of people gathered around a bench, she really wanted to see what was going on but falling behind this much would make the angry couple even more mad, so she decided to leave it and start making her way towards Ash and Caulder.
"Thank you!" Ohen replied and exited, heading to 'Tech and Maintenance'. He sat down in the waiting room and filled out the sheet commander Harrison had given him. A bored looking guy at the clerk's desk regarded him "All our mechanics are busy preparing last minute gun replacements and infantry. You have to wait for one to free up" He said, snatching the form and skimming through it. Ohen returned to the waiting area. Sitting on an uncomfortable chair.
"Aaaand... There! She's all done and good to go!", Kris exclaimed from within the hangar, proudly placing a hand on her work. To be perfectly honest, she felt that that maintenance run on the APC was the best one she'd ever done solo - undoubted proof that she's getting better, ever slightly. It did take a long while, of course. It was sad that she didn't have the time and means to put that awesome-looking logo Colonel Harrison requested, though, but she can probably sneak in some time later on to paint a flaming skull with snazzy black shades on the sides of the squad APC. Stretching her weary muscles, she turned to the windows, and went agape. Not the Aether. She turned to the timers, which have stopped at 0:00:00. Oh, shiitake mushrooms. I just missed the big event of Realspace re-entry. I guess I'd just have to settle with seeing Earth later, which isn't too bad at all. Before she can reorient, the intercom buzzed, relaying a message from the Captain himself. Kris raised an eyebrow at the announcement. No reports from the Aurelia and the Sodorii? Worst combat? She was sure that the Aurelia and the Sodorii were supposed to re-enter Realspace at a similar time to the Concordia. What happened? Kris sighed and shrugged, knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to do much about it even if she knew why, turning around to the entrance of the hangar. "Chief? I'm free now. Anything else I should work on?"
"Ohen Green, Ohen Green, we are ready for you" the clerk said into the microphone, seemingly on purpose mispronouncing his name. He got up and walked into a door labeled 'Electronics and weaponry maintenance hanger'. "Hello!" He said to the mechanic that awaited him. She didn't look very experienced, but he decided not to judge a book by its cover.
She narrowed her eyes at Caulder's back as he stalked off, but didn't say anything. Not yet. Instead she followed Caulder through the underground, her gaze focused primarily ahead though it did wander from time to time to her companion and friend. It was funny, most of the time their circles didn't interact much unless Caulder required some kin of technical expertise or repair work done on his equipment. Normally he was too busy organising the rag-tag group of survivors that had fallen in under his command, but every now and then they'd find themselves working side-by-side. Over the years they'd come to know each other well enough and a kind of friendship built on trust had formed between them over time. In a way it let her be more frank and open to him than anyone else. There were few people Ash liked and even fewer she would obey the orders of with little-to-no argument let alone entrust her life to. Caulder was, to date, the only person she'd met who fit that bill, but then her social circle was rather limited and she'd known him since they were kids and despite being five years senior to his twelve. Not that Caulder had ever been twelve-years-old. In his short life he'd seen more pain and horror than any kid should. Demons rode him and Ash knew about demons, she had a few of her own. It was why she let him walk off some of his anger. It wasn't until they were well and truly out of earshot of everyone -- it wouldn't do for the others to get excited by raised voices echoing down the tunnel -- before she pounced. "Alright Caulder, I'll bite." Ash said, her tone telling him that she wouldn't back off. "What the hell is riding your ass? I doubt its just Alice losing another soldier. That girl has a habit of paying dividends with her little side-trips. She has some of the most uncanny luck I've ever seen, even if she comes across a little scatterbrained."
Maria stared at the console's screens in silence, an oppressive sense of dread covering the entire room. Something wasn't right, the entire space above the Earth was deathly quiet and the Earth itself was no better. All the channels she'd tried to contact were completely silent, even as her transmissions went through less and less secure lines. She shouldn't be doing this, but desperation drove her away from professionalism. One last time, this has to work. She thought, but she knew better. Reaching for the microphone button on her headset, she recited the same words she'd come to be familiar with. "Earth PDF, this is the UEF Concordia. Do you copy? Please respond, over." She said several times, her voice becoming graver each time it was repeated. Well, that was it. Without completely forgoing security, it was impossible to contact Earth. She sighed in defeat and leaned back on her chair. The entire Earth had gone dark, but there was something else. Something about the Earth seemed... off. Unlike the pictures she'd seen of the planet, the Earth that was displayed on her screen seemed still and lifeless. The bright lights of civilization were nonexistent and the entire planet lacked the color and vibrancy that it had shown in old photos. Something horrible had happened to the Earth, and she was determined to find out what. It wouldn't take too long to find out. The speakers on the console suddenly blared with the captain's voice. Their sister ships, the Aurelia and the Sodorii, had yet to report. The captain advised them all to prepare for the worst and anticipate combat. Had the two ships been attacked? No, she would have picked up a mayday signal if they had been attacked. Had they had a delay while in Slipspace? There were too many things to worry about right now, but she had her orders. Maria brought up the key pad and sent a report to the captain. "No response from all PDF channels. No response from national militaries. No response from peacekeeping companies. The Earth is entirely silent." She stopped typing for a second before adding, "Permission to attempt contact with civilian radio lines?". Sent. Despite the captain's announcement, there were still a few marines on her platoon that hadn't been registered as ready. Most importantly, the leader was still noticeably absent. She was tempted to call them out on the PA system, but decided to wait. It couldn't possibly take them that long, right?
Kristine suddenly opened her eyes wide at the person that came in, looking like someone who just opened a treasure chest full of gold. "Is that... A bionic arm?! It really is one!", she chirped as she ran up to Ohen, looking over his mechanical attachment with eyes that probably would fit better on an overly enthusiastic puppy-dog. "And it's not just a normal bionic arm... It's modified! Oh, this is awesome. And you want me to work on this?", Kris continued, even more energetic than usual. She swiftly snatched the form containing the specifications of the maintenance as it came, looking over it quickly and concisely, nodding as she saw jets of steam exit Ohen's bionic arm. "I see... Ohen Green, heat sink repair. Yeah, I can do that. It's been a while since I last got to work on a bionic arm, but I can do that", she said, actually pronouncing Ohen's name right. She quickly walked over to her toolbox, rummaging for the tools she might need, and turned back to Ohen. "Alright, then! Just sit down here. This won't take long, really!", she then called, gesturing for Ohen to come. As immature as she might seem, there is a reason she's part of the ship's engineering branch.
Caulder sighed, for all her nagging and hard-ass demeanor, Ash was the closest thing he had to family. "We're spinning our wheels," Caulder said, not slowing down at all, "We're getting no where, and we're still losing people. Yeah, Alice seems to find useful things, but what at cost? We've been stuck in the city for months, and all we've really accomplished is not getting completely wiped out. Derek, Chiam, Lauren, Petra, Gale--" Caulder stiffened at Gale's name. Her loss was particularly bitter for him, the two of them were close. A raid for supplies gone wrong; in the chaos, she had been left behind. Her body was found in a scouting mission several days later, propped up as a trophy and a warning by the Gaaurv. "We just can't keep fighting like this," Caulder continued, trying to deaden himself to his own emotions, "We're losing. We need to do something, but I don't know what." ---------------------- Nothing from Earth, nothing from the Aurelia or Sodorii. Something wasn't right. Murren looked to his console as Maria sent her report, and asked for permission to contact civilian channels. As the Captain debated the merits of it, one of the console operators spoke, his voice grave. "Sir? I believe I have found the Sodorii..." Murren looked up from his console to the main screen, as the operator zoomed into a section. There, in the midst of the black, the carcass of a human vessel lay crushed and sparking, the letters S--o-ri visible between blast marks on the ships hull. "Mother of God," Murren breathed, typing furiously in response to Maria: Do it. The Captain picked up the address system again. "All hands to battle stations. Repeat, all hands to battle stations. The Sodorri had been located, and the vessel has been destroyed, and--" Mid-sentence, Murren stopped: something around the wreckage of the Sodorii caught his eye. There was something else there, if only for a split second: a slipspace tear. Murren checked his console, checking for any anomalies. Another slipspace tear: this one just above them. It was close: too close for any UEF vessel. No ship in the entire fleet could make a jump that precise. Murren held fast to his console as the Concordia lurched, as whatever it was emerged from the tear, displacing the very fabric of the universe around them. The main screen faded to so the top cameras, showing a bulbous vessel, painted black, emerging from the tear and descending on the Concordia with frightening speed. Several sets of mechanicals arms released from the seamless hull, reaching out to grab ahold of the UEF ship. "Helmsman, full throttle! Keep that thing away from us! Fire a warning shot across its bow!" Murren commanded, watching as the strike craft were launching from the flight deck. The Concordia barely missed the grasp of the unknown vessel, but it was already turning to pursue with uncanny precision. The warning shot did not even cause the vessel a moments pause, it continued on its course, catching the Concordia with ease and latching on. The Concordia lurched against, its engines struggling to break them free of the assailant's grasp. Without warning, the communications of Concordia lit up, and a stern, mechanical, and inhuman voice resonated throughout the ship. "Thrall vessel, heave to. Report to camp 28419. Rebellion will not be tolerated, resistance will be met with force. This is your final warning."
Ash sighed with real feeling. Yeah, she knew the feeling it had been nagging at her for years, watching, listening, seeing the loss caused by the Accord and their damned dogs. At the same time it was a relief to know that he hadn't completely lost the ability to feel the pain of those losses. Ash wasn't so sure about herself. Sure she felt regret at the loss of a soldier, but it wasn't particularly upsetting. Death and loss was far too common and she found it harder and harder to get worked up over it. All she seemed able to feel was anger. Deep bloodied anger that needed to be aimed at something. "Who knows kid," she said trying to find someway to distract him a little. "Maybe we'll find something that'll turn the tables on the bastards. Make them the ones to bleed for a change." Glancing back over her shoulder she scanned the tunnel for any sign of Alice and spotted her doing her damnedest to keep the distance between them. "Pick up the pace Wonderland!" she called down the tunnel. "Does this look like a morning stroll? When we reach surface we'll need to keep close, and we can't do that with you playing least in sight!"
Alice kept on walking at her pace, humming 'Star Spangled Banner', it reminded her of the beauty of the earth before the Accords came. As she was walking Alice heard Ash yell, 'Pick up the pace Wonderland!'. 'Wonderland', it was bad enough that people called her Alice just because of some story, but Wonderland was just annoying to her. Either way she picked up her pace and was now following Ash and Caulder at a close distance. She knew they were angry and that nothing she does can make up for the loses. The thing is that she can never get a proper team for her own missions as no one understands how important they can be that's why Alice could only manage to get one person to help and she can't always look out for them. All she could think about right now was if Rodger was still alive, she did check his nerves and he didn't have any pulse, but Alice needed a miracle right now to cool down the angry couple. Alice never really knew much about anybody in the Resistance though others knew her very well by her story of survival. No one seems to take as a friend but more so as a 'mentor' which to her was absurd. Sure she was in the army before and she's very well trained but doesn't mean she can't have acquaintances, so the loses of colleagues never affected her by emotion. After walking for a while Alice thought she would break the ice and try to communicate with the couple, "So..." Alice said while looking at Caulder, "What exactly do you think we're gonna find in MIT other than broken computers and incomplete projects?"
Immediately, as the hull of the ship shuddered on the impact, the Colonel got to his feet, without letting any time go to waste. And then the voice could be heard. "Thrall vessel, heave to. Report to camp 28419. Rebellion will not be tolerated, resistance will be met with force. This is your final warning." "Oh hell no" The Colonel said, as he grabbed his gear off the floor, and armed himself. He'd ponder on the words "Thrall" and "Rebellion" later. For now, he had to find out what was going on. Some sort of aliens, maybe? He tapped at the holoscreen, and brought up the external camera access. The things he saw were enough to give him a slight idea of what was going on. Are they trying to............ board us? he thought. They definitely were, because he couldn't think of any other reason for them to show those tentacles. Other than hentai, of course, but that was stupid as fuck to think. He contacted the Bridge "Captain! I request permission to go deal with these bastards. I request you evacuate all the outer decks, which are close to the hull, and when we are boarding, and I am sure they are because that's the only possible thing, open all the are locks! Sir, this should be a course of action to give us time!"
Quickly, Ohen sat in a conveniently placed chair. He pushed a small button to open the maintenance hatch for the machine, which then needed to be unscrewed. However the captain quickly interrupted the repair with his call to arms. "Sorry, that's me!" He replied quickly to the mechanic. The hatch closed and he got up, swiftly moving back the waiting room. Suddenly the ship lurched to the side, staggering him into the wall, before the voice spoke resonated throughout the ship. "What the hell?". He quickly dived for his equipment and put on his helmet, loosely fitting on the vest as well. He quickly covered the distance to the door to the hallway, and took cover behind it. Always expect the very worst they always told him in training, peering into the hall and finding nothing of importance. He continued his advance, making his way to where he assumed the Captain and Commander Harrison would be, for further orders. He passed by a window on his way and saw the alien looking vessel holding them in it's grasp. A fearful chill went up his body, but he reminded himself that he was a soldier, and that he shouldn't be scared of facing the enemy, whatever the hell that was. He considered going back to escort the mechanic and clerk, but reasoned that since all staff on this military ship carried, or had a weapon stored in their workspace, as well as basic training, going back would simply be wasting valuable time. They could take care of themselves.
