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Re: REKT: BTE Mission 2: Fuhodo Station

#860
"Oh. Um. Right. T-Tools. Well, supposedly ye c-can use an electro amp t-to arc weld, so maybe if you t-tell me exactly what I should do..."
I help Vynkor with the repair if I can (e.g. using the electro amp to arc weld, following her instructions).
If they fail, I ask someone to help me carry Lucas and try to carry him, if they succeed I order him to follow us.
Warning: do not ask about physics unless you really want to know about physics.
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Re: REKT: BTE Mission 2: Fuhodo Station

#861
I turn off my PDA and keep an eye out for any one/thing attempting anything untowards us
Dinosawer wrote:
Thu Aug 27, 2020 12:39 am
If they fail, I ask someone to help me carry Lucas and try to carry him, if they succeed I order him to follow us.
Assist Saoirse with transporting Lucas if necessary
"Come on little buddy, lets get you somewhere where you can get some repairs"
Last edited by Cornflakes_91 on Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: REKT: BTE Mission 2: Fuhodo Station

#862
I look at the little robot, having almost forgotten about the poor guy. It had probably saved our lives more than once, so I'm not willing to write it off, despite how bad it looks at the moment.

I take out my laspistol and offer it to Vynkor. "I think I remember the manual for this thing saying it could be used as a welding torch in a pinch. Would it help?"
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Re: REKT: BTE Mission 2: Fuhodo Station

#863
Turn 26

Nemesis Interactive Map

  Saoirse walks up to them. "But th-they're not from our universe, are they?"
  Serava Dai looks at the woman for a moment, but shakes her head decidedly. "Interuniverse travel is impossible."


  "T-today's impossible is t-tomorrow's everyday oc-occurrence," Saoirse stammers with an awkward shrug, "and there's no other e-explanation for th-this data."
  Sukava notices that her limbs work again, now that the Anomaly's EMP effects have had a chance to wear off, and climbs off Brom's back. "Thanks, handsome," she says gratefully. She grabs the woman's finger, and the PDA half, off the ground. "Do you figure someone back on the Nemesis could get anything out of these?"
  Saoirse, watching, takes her backpack off and begins rummaging through it. "Oh, uh... Maybe I should c-carry that, since you're... b-backpackless." Finding what she's looking for, she retrieves it and offers it to Sukava: a couple sample bags.
  "Yes, please," Sukava replies coolly, putting the finger and PDA in separate bags and handing them back to Saoirse.
  Saoirse closely examines the items, and does a scan on each of them. Her PDA scan reveals that only a fragment of the disc is intact - the rest of it got left on the other side of the breach. The finger, on the other hand, is very decidedly and obviously human, and the PDA scan confirms it. Unfortunately, Saoirse doesn't have the equipment necessary to determine much beyond that, although she does notice that both the PDA fragment and the finger are ever-so-slightly anomalous. These results are not to her liking. "Cac cioch báltaí bod," she curses. Maybe they'll be able to salvage data on the Nemesis, but Saoirse doesn't expect anything great, given the bad luck they've been having for a while. To Buck, she angrily spits out, "You really c-couldn't leave t-things alone for ten seconds without p-punting a rock at it could ya?"
  Buck laughs. "Hey, it's called expermientation for a reason. Now we, like, know shit 'bout that thing! Like, that rocks destroy it! An' besides, if I dun' plugged it, who knows what coulda happened - for all we know, giant scary alien intredamansional gravity eatin' worms coulda come out an' devoured us all!"
  "Yeah, and if you'd waited, we could've had an entire pad instead of this fecking sliced thing!" Saoirse retorts hotly.
  The man shrugs and starts to walk away, but then his curiosity begins to get the better of him. Saoirse seems like the nerdy type, and she seems to have a good idea of what she's talking about... Against his better judgment, he reluctantly turns back. "So, uh... you have any ideas as to what that was? Damn weird... never seen nothin' like it."
  Saoirse hesitates. She's completely repulsed by this... caveman... but her inner nerd eventually wins out... for now. "I'm not sure what the electrostatic anomaly came from, but presumably it was how the thing was formed - if ye look at these gravitic vector scans, ye see that inside the bubble there was about normal gravity, while the rest of the station is kept at 0.5g. It was also obvious it wasn't a holographic projection - matter passed through the edge. One might think it's a wormhole, but those don't operate like that, even if they exist. Porting steel also doesn't fit, as that just transports matter in an instant." As she continues her explanation, she's growing more and more excited.
  Buck nods. So far, he understands what she's saying. Serava Dai also seems to be listening intently, as do Brom and Vynkor.
  The Irish nerd continues, pulling out her PDA to show off the relevant data. "So, clearly it was a spatial superposition of another parts of spacetime on our locality. The logical assumption would be that it's simply a spatial link - I mean, not that 'simple' is the right word, because we have no idea how to make those, but anyway - the scan also picked up on the neutrino background, which - given her environment - we can likely assume is fairly 'clean', especially since few things produce low energy neutrinos; and if we compare the energy distribution, it's slightly off compared to what it should be. Not by a lot, but it's notably not within the margin of error, which indicates it doesn't lead to our universe, but to one a few years older. Which in itself is groundbreaking! It's actual proof of multiverse theory! Do you know how big that is? If we could verify and publish this..." Suddenly she cools down as she realizes that the people she's talking to may not understand. "Em. Em, simpler stated... So, let's say our universe is a poster, and there's a parallel universe that's also a poster. Someone, or something, cut out a circle out of the other poster, and put it on top of our poster, and that's what we saw. No clue how, or why."
  Buck rubs his chin, thinking. After a few seconds, he says, "Eh, I was never good at this math crap anyway, but I'll trust you on that netrino stuff. So, parallel universes - that sounded kind of out there even in the movies. You're sayin' this is somethin' that dun' happen often?"
  The lass shakes her head. "I've never read about anything like t-this happening, but according to our new f-friend it's not unheard of h-here... but this s-seems to be the first d-documented case. Which r-reminds me..." She packages the data on her PDA and sends it to that of each of the other surviving inmates, via direct device-to-device transfer, just in case something happens to hers.
  Serava Dai steps forward, abruptly dropping the rude, rough attitude. She didn't fully understand Saoirse's explanation, but she seems to understand how important it was. "Could you send that data to me?" she asks, reaching forward to press a finger against the top of Saoirse's PDA; a notification springs up with the necessary information. "My superiors would find it very valuable."
  Saoirse hesitates first for a moment. While a little worried that she wouldn't get full credit for the discovery, she realizes that the commander would be perfectly capable of simply taking the data without asking... and she's already lost enough friends today. "I wouldn't mind knowing wh-who I be sharing this d-data with, b-but..." She sends a copy of the information to Serava Dai, too. "...if it weren't for ye w-we'd be a bloody p-paste, so. F-fair's fair, I g-guess."
  As Serava Dai receives the data package, she grows motionless, as though she's reading the contents on the interior of her helmet's HUD. Then she nods. "Thank you... Saoirse Fri'leth. If the event is half as important as you say, it'll probably make up for my failed objectives when I present this to my superiors. As to who we are..." An image appears on Saoirse's PDA screen of an emblem or insignia: three mountains under a darkening sky and a setting sun. "We're a branch of The Twilight - the Azhakel. My superiors may have questions for you in the future."
  
  "Maybe I could get the rest of the story from the slate?" Buck suggests, looking interested.
  Saoirse hesitantly hands over the baggie with the PDA fragment. "You c-can try, I guess," she says.
  Buck takes it (with considerably more caution than he normally shows), and commences a more thorough analysis of it with his own hacking skills.
  Caleb ponders what he's heard about the Anomaly. "It looks like those breaches might not be a natural phenomenon, or at least this one certainly seems to have been deliberately created," he suggests tentatively. "Though they seemed real surprised about where they ended up... Maybe we didn't see those nezoelb because it was made by those people?"
  Saoirse considers the possibility, but shakes her head. "Didn't look d-deliberate to me... If I'd be c-creating holes in the universe, I'd d-do it in a contained chamber, and interact with a d-drone, not toss it in the m-middle of a lab..."
  Buck pipes up from behind them, still deeply entrenched in his hacking attempt. "Maybe them past-future-alternate reality folks were testin' out some borin' lookin' ancient alien gadget, pressed the wrong button n' punched a hole in reality by accident? Speakin' o' which, why here? Of all the places in the galaxy, they choose this craphole rock?" Suddenly, a tantalizing thought occurs to him. "There must be some kind o', like, evil ancient alien ruin or artifact o' doom here! Well, whatever it is, I call dibs on it!"
  Saoirse doesn't think so, but says nothing. Dustwalkers, she thinks. She was looking at us, and just us. The only thing we have in common is that we've been in cryo... Maybe I should see if I can get my hands on schematics for those cryo pods and how they work...
  Brom's been listening to everything that's unfolded thus far, and he's not particularly impressed. Why would he be, after all? He's virtually an anomaly of miraculous masculinity himself! He folds his arms and tries not to look impatient as he humors these nerds. "Being a man of many talents, I can appreciate the importance of the events that just unfolded, and I would love to discuss the ramifications of interdimensional travelers forcing passage to meet me. That said, might I remind you that we're still on a station whose inhabitants would like little more than to end your lives? Being on this station is hazardous to our health, and I would advise leaving as soon as we're able. We've lost a number of friends, and I would like to avoid losing more." Brom then turns to Serava Dai and addresses her. "We would like to take our leave now. Due to my popularity, trouble has a tendency to follow at my heels. The longer we're here, the more difficulty we'll cause you."
  Serava Dai shrugs. "I'm not stopping you. My soldiers and I will leave the station shortly."
  "W-wait, now hol' on a bit!" Buck says, gesturing with his hands. "Yeah, this place's a shithole, but what if there's really some kind of alien treasure here? Imagine what we could do with that intradamnentional time machine or whatever them things in the portal used!" He narrows his eyes, and then adds conspiratorially, "Imagine if them squids got a hold of it first! We need to do this for the good o' humanity n' shit!"
  "No, Brom's right," Caleb says, uttering a phrase he'd never dreamed of using. "We have the PDA piece and the woman's finger, those can be analyzed better back on the ship. To do that, we need to get out of this hellhole. And Buck, you've seen this place. What kind of treasure worth the name could there possibly be? Let's just leave before someone else tries to kill us."
  Saoirse dissents. "Em. Now, while I'd l-love to leg it, we were here t-to find a start, and all we've got so f-far is an offer for work l-later, not now..."
  Buck chuckles, again distracted from his PDA work. "Eh, Brom n' me found some... squid willin' to give tin if we bust some station up n' fetch some rover for it. As much as I fukcin' hate squids, that's all we found, n' it's better than nothin'."
  Saoirse nods in agreement, and surprisingly, slight approval. "Ah! B-before I forget," Saoirse says, "While we w-were fighting earlier - t-there was a large explosion up above - do ye know what t-that was?
  The commander shakes her head. "It wasn't anything I or my soldiers did. I'd suspect it was the Minas Maniri trying to kill each other, quite probably using induced cave-ins. A view of the station from the outside might reveal more."
  Concluding his hack, Buck speaks again. "Hmm... can't read the data," he mutters in confusion. He holds up the PDA fragment. "But this? This is our tech. Like, our employer's. Tartarus Incorporated."
  Caleb does a double take. "...Wait, that PDA half is Tartarus tech? What the hell are they playing with?"
  Buck nods. It's unmistakable. The PDA has all the hallmarks of Tartarus Inc. technology. Not only that, it's fairly standard make - albeit an entirely different model than any he's seen. Unfortunately, the shock to the disc has made it virtually unreadable via hack; the only information that he can glean is fragmented binary data. It might become useful in the future, but for the time being, with only the equipment he presently has available... there's just not that much he can get out of it.
  Buck is just about to explain, but as luck would have it, at that very moment, everyone's PDAs buzz. A message flashes across their screens: lines and lines of bright green, scrambled nonsense characters, many of which the PDAs don't even seem capable of rendering properly.
  
  "B-buck?" Saoirse stutters nervously. "Was that you?"
  It wasn't. "The bloody hell?" he bursts out. "Can anyone read this squid gibberish?"
  Vynkor narrows her eyes. This series of unfortunate events is really beginning to try her patience. "Oh, this day just gets better. Torture chambers, parallel universe - or maybe just future - hardware from our own people, mysterious explosions, and now something's wrong with the computers."
  Buck sighs. "Well, we've kinda been havin' these weird slate problems for some time. Haven't tried tracin' it yet... Dun' like it though."
  Visibly alarmed, Caleb bursts out, "You guys should get that off your PDAs, or lose them. Who knows what they're picking up off of them? Maybe they're tracking us!"
  The hacker purses his lips. "If they wanted to track us, they dun' need to do this theatric crap. Looks like a ciphered message to me. Or somethin' that got scrambled badly. Lemme see if I can trace it."
  "I'm n-not dumping my PDA," Saoirse states firmly, raising her voice above the chaos. "The d-data on it is just t-too important." Instead, she powers it off by taking the battery out. The screen goes black immediately.
  Tracing the source of the weird message proves to be a very difficult task for Buck. All the extant inmate PDAs are in the same location, so triangulation isn't even a possibility. There's very little included that's useful as identifying the source as well; it seems to be gibberish, and certainly not readable as text. It's also pretty sizable: over 200KB, which is a good deal more than your average text message or even lengthy email. You feel like you've seen something similar before, but Buck can't quite put his finger on it... But what he is able to figure out, looking through the associated data, is that the signal seems to be rather faint, as though it's either A. being generated weakly, B. coming from a good distance away, or C. both. "Well, it's gibberish, is what it is," Buck shrugs in frustration, unceremoniously shoving his PDA back in its holster. "For all I know, it's some advert for fried brains, or whatever the hell the aliens on this shithole eat. Funny though, could've sworn I've seen somethin' like this before... In any case, it's -"
  
  Suddenly, everyone's comms go haywire. A loud static screeches in their ears, with just enough of a garbled transmission to make it seem very much like it's not entirely random - but it's impossible to tell what was just said. Vynkor, Sukava, and the cybersuits are exempt - they haven't heard a thing. Vynkor and Sukava don't have suit comms (or suits) anyway.
  "Bloody hell!" Buck shouts, holding his helmet like he's trying to cover his ears. He hastily lowers the comm volume.
  "Foork, that was loud!" Yuuji yelps, having been silent up to this point. "Someone has to calibrate their equipment better... Let's save a copy of that burst, for the eggheads back on the ship to analyze. Maybe they can ungarble it."
  Before anyone else has an opportunity to speak, the transmission repeats: loud, screamy, garbled static.
  Shuddering, Buck says, "Dunno about y'all, but maybe we should get out of this goddamn cave? Intrademinsional portals n' shit are cool, but I'm not plannin' on gettin' eaten by some ancient tentacled alien monstrosity that seems to be livin' down here!"
  Nodding, Caleb throws in, "Yeah, there's something strange going on here and I don't like it one bit. We need to get out of here!"
  Saoirse agrees. "Sure, l-let's take the sh-shortest route to the h-hangar."
  Brom strikes a heroic pose. "Fear not! For the magnificent Connley Mckale shall lead you all to safety! Bill, keep an eye on those transmissions if you will, but try to stay on your guard. There could be enemies lurking behind every corner, and we mustn't let them get the drop on us! Those with appropriate skills should help if at all possible. We cannot rule out that what we received was a warning..."
  Caleb turns to Serava Dai hopefully. "Do you guys want to come with us? Safety in numbers, at least."
  "With you among our group, no one would dare attack us!" Brom chimes in.
  Serava Dai does not disagree. "We're headed to the top of the hangar," she informs them, checking her weapon one last time before holstering it. "Our shuttle is programmed to pick us up there, and we don't have long to delay. If we miss the rendezvous, we'll be marked MIA."
  "We won't slow you down," Brom assures them. "I run a tight ship."
  And so, the group leaves the little chamber together - seven inmates, five cybersuits, and one spiderbot co-held by Saoirse and Yuuji.
  
~~~
  
  After a few minutes of navigating the dark tunnels, it suddenly occurs to Buck why the message seemed so familiar: It has the same headers and format as an audio file. As he walks, he opens up a few tools on his PDA, clumps a few libraries together, shifts them around, and the strange, garbled text makes sense - as screamy static. It's the same sound that he's heard on your helmets.
  As if on cue, the scream, like a garbled version of a frightened woman or screaming ghoul rattles in the inmates' ears again. Buck winces, turns down the volume, and runs that through a few algorithms. To his surprise, when he actually starts trying to run it through the decryption hardware on his PDA, it takes over and wrests away his control. As he watches, the various fragments of the audio file rapidly unscramble themselves and fall into place; a line of clarity moving through the audio from one side to the other. The message decompresses itself, lengthening by several times and changing the pitch.
  Then all is silent.
  The message plays.
  
  Is there anyone out there? Anyone at all? Oh, gosh...
  For the first time, the voice of SCAMPS sounds frightened and uncertain - even hopeless.
  If any Tartarus personnel are still out on Fuhodo, be warned: The Nemesis has come under attack. Everyone is missing - I think I might be the only one still aboard. SCAMPS is gone, too - they broke into his biochamber and it's... oh, gosh, it's severely damaged. I'm routing this through his admin channels because I don't have the clearance to send a long-range comm message myself. But please, if you can make it here, come find me. My name is Janeway - Merla Janeway - and I'm hiding in the SCAMPS Core.
  And be careful! They're watching.

  
  On hearing the transmission's translation, the group's forward progress grinds to a halt. Everyone turns around in horror to face Buck, who's been trailing at the back of the party.
  "What th' fuck?!" he exclaims.
  "'They'? Who 'they'?" Vynkor wonders aloud, bewildered.
  "The entire crew is just gone??" Caleb chokes, his face paling. "What the hell is happening here?"
  Saoirse thinks. "So either t-that message is right, an' the N-nemesis is in serious trouble... or the mole g-got into SCAMPS. Either way is b-bad news... also d-doesn't say who be attacking and who's w-watchin', and...how d-does everyone on a ship v-vanish?"
  Serava Dai ponders the transmission for a moment, and quickly makes a snap decision, barking a few orders to her soldiers in Bhezian. They snap to attention and begin to move. Turning to the Nemesis Ten, she says, "I believe it would be best if we found our own way to the hangar, especially if you're going to be attracting undue attention. You may be able to count on our assistance at some point in the future, but right now, we can't afford any delays."
  Caleb sighs, but can't find it in himself to blame her. "I do hope we'll see you again," he says. "We could probably use the help."
  Brom, on the other hand, is very unsettled by this. "Perhaps you could radio back if there's an ambush prepared for us? An extra pair of eyes is always welcome, even to someone with my experience!" he calls out hopefully.
  Serava Dai looks like she respects Brom as a like-minded individual (both of them are leader-types, and a bit "confident" of their own abilities), but she's careful with her reply. "We're on a tight schedule. If I see someone, I'll let you know. Otherwise... you're on your own." She sends Brom her comm data, and she and her soldiers make a swift exit, jogging down the eastern corridor.
  Buck shakes his fist and calls after them, "Yeah! We're gonna have lots of, whatcha called it, undue attention! Best we never see each other again!" Then, muttering under his breath: "Damn meddlesome aliens."
  
  With the Cybersuits gone, Brom clears his throat, strikes a pose, and begins an inspiring speech. "In light of the new information from Bill, I believe an alteration to the plan is in order. Given the situation, we should move with the upmost caution. I intend to get everyone out of this alive!" He continues on for a while, but absolutely nobody pays any attention to him. Naturally, Brom is so focused on his speech that he doesn't really notice.
  "Anyone ever heard o' this Murla?" Buck calls out over Brom, already trying to dig up some info on his PDA.
  Caleb thinks about it. "I don't think so, but the name sounds vaguely familiar."
  Buck tries to search his PDA's database for "Merla Janeway", and quickly finds that she's listed as the Nemesis's "Lead Electrobiologist" in the Nemesis Roster document. "A'ight, says here Murla's the lead elcetro... electrolo... electronic biologist on the ship. Whatever that is. Like, a doctor for robots?" Then he's suddenly struck with an idea. "Hol' on, need to check somethin' else."
  "Also..." Saoirse adds hesitantly, watching Buck poke around on his PDA, "I think it'd be b-best if we ALL t-turn off our PDAs once w-we start moving. Might be b-being tracked."
  Looking around nervously, Caleb chimes in with his agreement. "Good idea. We should get moving soon, though. We've already been here too long, I think." He's beginning to feel like he's being watched.
  Vynkor looks at her hands. "In any case, I'd very much like to get an EVA suit of some kind. Vacuum exposure sucks even worse with open wounds..."
  It looks like Sukava is about speak up, but Buck interrupts loudly. "Welp, it's from the big ship, that much is sure," he announces. He's cross-referenced a number of things, including the map of Fuhodo Station, the signal strength of the comm messages, and how strong the Nemesis comms had been back on Fuhodo, and it only points to one thing: something's happened to the Nemesis. Nobody is really that surprised by this revelation. "Fukcin' hell... How are we even gonna pilot that thing with just the, what, five or six of us?" It's actually seven, but naturally, Beta doesn't matter by Buck's count.
  "We're not going to be able to pilot it ourselves," Caleb says, shaking his head. "But... we might be able to find out what happened, and hopefully get at least some of the crew back."
  
  A thought strikes Saoirse suddenly. "Oh, now, em, maybe V-vynkor could f-fix the spiderbot before we l-leg it? Extra f-firep-power could come in handy."
  Vynk nods. "Maybe I could. Anyone got tools? Duct tape, even?"
  "Oh. Um. Right. T-Tools." This wasn't something she'd thought about. "Well, supposedly ye c-can use an electro amp t-to arc weld, so maybe if you t-tell me exactly what -"
  Caleb interrupts her. "I think I remember the manual for this thing saying it could be used as a welding torch in a pinch," he says, holding his laspistol out to Vynkor. "Would it help?"
  "Definitely," Vynkor nods. She takes the laspistol, kneels next to the spiderbot, and directs Caleb to hold it. Lucas the Spider willingly and trustingly complies without dissent, and Vynkor begins her one-armed operation.
  Saoirse watches Vynkor's attempts for a moment, thinking. "Actually... maybe we'd b-better not go to the hangar," she finally says. "Since the v-veteran REKT lads g-got in a fight t-there, fellas in the st-station likely know those are our ships, and t-there may be an FMU ambush. So maybe we'd do b-better taking a cab or so, and have S-SCAMPS fly our ships b-back?"
  "Cab?" Buck spits. "Fukc no, I ain't gettin' tried to get ripped off by them bug scammers again!"
  "The f-focus of the st-statement was on 'not going t-to the hangar'," Saoirse tries to explain, feeling a little exasperated. "If we c-can go back another way, all t-the better."
  Buck ponders for a moment. "Me n' Brom found some secret tunnel in n' out o' the ship - totally risk n' tin free!"
  Caleb nods. "Sounds like a good choice, as long as nobody else knows about it. Otherwise, we're just as likely to be ambushed there since it leads right to the ship."
  "Nope! Totally top secret! Well, some bug that was fixin' crap in there saw us, but we dealt with it." He starts towards the edge of the room. "Dibs on the captain's room n' hat! Hell, since there ain't no captain, I volunteer to be the new one! Capt'n Buck, now that sounds right n' proper!"
  Saoirse shudders at the thought.
  
  "Bot's done," Vynkor says nonchalantly, tossing the laspistol back to Caleb, who catches and holsters it. The spiderbot jumps up and begins skittering around to test its newfound mobility, all limbs fully functional. Vynkor's welding skills are as phenomenal as Saoirse's grasp of astrophysics. "So, we going?"
  Yuuji kneels next to Lucas. "Come on little buddy, you ready to head back to our ship?"
  At that moment, Brom, just having finished with his last speech, immediately starts in on a new one. "Since nobody has any objections, I shall lead the boarding party through the secret passage and onto the Nemesis!" he cries with frenetic fervor. "Keep on high alert! We'll need to know if we're walking into an ambush."
  "Lead th-the way," Saoirse stammers. Then, louder, "Everyone! PDA off!"
  
  And the party begins to move, as one, towards the Docks, with the end goal of the Nemesis. Everyone turns their PDAs off.
  Everyone, that is... except Yuuji.
  
~~~

  The trip to the Docks is a rather quiet one. The Palace maintenance tunnels extend all the way to the Downtown area, near the same empty underground warehouses that Caleb and Saoirse (and Frank) passed through only a couple hours ago. They steadily trek their way through the maze, not really seeing any other living souls... but they always feel like they're being watched. From underneath Downtown, they find their way to the Docks, and after a little bit of searching (and careful avoidance of patrols and workers), Brom and Buck manage to lead them back to the underground tunnel that runs directly beneath the Nemesis's docking site. The entire journey was a team effort, and they'd feel proud of themselves - if they weren't so tired.
  A long corridor stretches before them - half a kilometer of concrete and rock, both equally cracked, aged, and lined with scores of pipes and bundles of tangled wiring. The lights flicker occasionally: it's clear to all that this tunnel isn't used often.
  Near the entrance to the tunnel, there's a small alcove where Sukava and Vynkor find functional human-sized suits. They're a little bulky, and clearly designed not for combat, but an extended stay in a hostile environment, and not that easy to move around with... but as Sukava points out, it's a lot better than suffocating.
  Seven inmates, one spiderbot - they move towards their final destination as one. No one says a word; it's as quiet as a funeral procession.
  
  After a good five minutes of walking, they reach the end of the tunnel, finding the same set of airlock doors that Brom and Buck originally passed through with the now-missing Gene. The last time Buck was here, he put in a backdoor passcode. Now, he makes use of it, pressing the keypad buttons in order, and the doors slide open with a soft hiss. With some degree of trepidation, the inmates (and spiderbot) enter, and the doors close behind them.
  The artigrav shuts off; the inmates flip on their suits' magboots so they can continue standing on the floor.
  The airlock cycles; the far set of doors slide apart without so much as a whisper.
  The vastness of space, dotted with stars and wispy nebulae, stretches to infinity.
  Before them stretches the long, aged metallic framework of the rear docking clamp that presently holds the Nemesis firmly in its grip. The clamp arm itself is a telescoping framework of metal beams, ending with miniature hooks and electromagnets designed to grab vessels and hold them steady. Through the center of this construction lies a single perforated walkway, lit at intervals by permanent low-power lightning. If the inmates wanted to, they could step right out onto the asteroid's surface - there's only a few meters to fall, and in this gravity, that's hardly something to care about.
  There's no one in sight. Not a single soul. Clearly, this isn't the normal route to and from the ship - possibly because you have to walk over the outside of the Nemesis's hull and look for a sizable breach just to get in and out. But that's exactly the course of action that the inmates have condemned themselves to.
  
  One step after another, the inmates navigate the unsteady walkway through the clamp's interior; every step they take makes the metal rattle and shake under their feet, and they can feel the loud clangs of their boots vibrate in their teeth. If it wasn't for the silence of space, it would be a miracle someone didn't hear the rhythmic pounding of their footsteps.
  Lucas seems to have much less trouble. His little feet seem to have no issue clinging to the ramp, and as he scurries alongside the REKT inmates, his little head is on a swivel, looking for any source of danger that might threaten his new masters.
  Not a single inmate says a word. They've shut off their PDAs, and shut off their comms. If they tried to communicate at all, it would be through hand signals, or touching their helmets together - but there's nothing to say.
  Silence reigns eternal.

~~~
  
  Upon reaching the end of the clamp, the inmates climb out onto the edge of the clamp, balancing on the beams, and attach the soles of their boots to the Nemesis's hull. Thus begins the long and arduous process of navigating back to the Nemesis's ruined bridge, and back down into the ruined elevator shaft.
  
~~~

  After a very tiresome trek over the Nemesis's scarred and battered armor plating, the REKT crew climbs down the ladder in the abandoned elevator shaft, thankful to be back under 1g again. At this point, they're very much ready to be home... if you can call it home, anyway, after only having lived here for about three days. Still, at this point the Nemesis represents a sort of stability to them - far more than they've had since they set foot on Fuhodo, and for some of them, more than they've had for most of their lives.
  And now that faint promise of normalcy has been shattered. To say they were unhappy about it would be a gross understatement.
  
  When they reach the bottom of the shaft, they quickly find that the plastic bubble that previously served as a makeshift airlock is no longer there - instead, in its place, is a closed blast door. There's some kind of keypad on the wall next to it, with a piece of paper attached to it. Caleb walks forward and picks it up, looking at it carefully. "OUT OF ORDER", it reads, in large, handwritten letters. He sighs, fogging up his faceplate in the process, and lets the paper fall from his hand; it drops without a flutter to the ground.
  Buck, watching this, suddenly bolts forward and snatches up the paper, holding it out for everyone to see: On the backside is a row of numbers. Without waiting to explain, Buck immediately tests his theory, inputting the number series into the little control panel. And, as was certainly intended, the blast doors unlock themselves with a short burst of air and slide to the side, revealing a shimmering airshield. The engineers must've fixed it while they were away, perhaps at SCAMPS' behest. Whatever the case, they certainly didn't take long. The Nemesis Ten probably owes them a debt of gratitude.
  ...well, if they're even still around to owe.
  
  The survivors take a few uncertain steps through the airshield and into the wide upper hallway near the computer cores, looking down it both ways. Not a soul is in sight - not even one. The lighting flickers in the distance; sparks occasionally fly from the walls. Not a single footstep echoes through the halls. There are no messages over the comms, and the familiar sound of SCAMPS's voice, frequently present, is now eerily absent. Where before there was a feeling of "triumph against odds" and "unity despite persecution", now there's just... nothing.
  A loud groan interrupts their thoughts - the unmistakable sound of metal grinding against metal, echoing through the floors. The spiderbot jumps to attention at the sudden noise, spinning around and searching for danger - but of course it finds nothing.
  While the Nemesis may be asleep, it certainly isn't dead.
  
  Now the only question is... how will they awaken it?
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Re: REKT: BTE Mission 2: Fuhodo Station

#865
Dinosawer wrote:
Fri Sep 04, 2020 4:23 pm
I close the blast door behind us and turn my head light on.
It seems...oddly empty...
"So... where t-to? The m-message supposedly c-came from the SCAMPS c-cores, and that's nearbye, s-so maybe there?"
"What if it's some kind o' trap in there, though? If I was an evil alien abomination hell-bent on destroyin' humanity, lurin' us in there would be exactly what I'd do! There's gotta be some kind o' security room on this tin can where we can get the video feed n' see what actually happened! Fukc if I know where it is, though, some absolute moron made this ship as confusin' as a maze."
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Re: REKT: BTE Mission 2: Fuhodo Station

#866
"I don-" nevermind, ignore the alien abomination
"...v-video feed d-doesn't sound bad. I reckon t-that'd be in t-the computer rooms, t-that's just a f-few corridors in t-that direction. We're alm-most right on t-top of them. Maybe we c-can also recall our C-CASKETS from there."
"Now, and b-before we go, m-maybe we should make s-sure the sp-spiderbot listens to all of us, n-not just me and C-Caleb. Just in c-case."
I push the button on Lucas, and say "Spiderbot, change users."
"Now ye j-just all have to s-say somethin' for him t-to record yer voice, l-like this."
Once everyone has said something (or when we move on, even if certain people didn't listen), I press the button again.
Last edited by Dinosawer on Sun Sep 06, 2020 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Warning: do not ask about physics unless you really want to know about physics.
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Re: REKT: BTE Mission 2: Fuhodo Station

#867
The Nemesis is eerily quiet. While it wasn't a hugely crowded ship before the attack, there was still the ever-present sounds of human habitation. Now...nothing. It sets my nerves on edge as I try not to think about what might have happened to the crew. Even though it's technically a prison ship, a surprising number of the crew has turned out to be generally decent people. I push the memory of Frank's mangled face from my mind, a reminder of what could be happening right now...

Soon we come to a stop though, and start trying to work out where to go first. I quickly latch onto this and wrack my brain to remember the ship's layout.

"I agree that we should hit the computer room first, we might be able to figure out what happened here," I say, making sure the spiderbot hears me. "Like Saoirse said, I think the SCAMPS core is nearby too, so we can still head there fairly quickly if needed."
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