[IC] Symphony of the Stars

[Kurotsune]

"Flame yousei. They're arrogant and honorbound enough that even if startled, 'tis unlikely he'd give up a fight." Blackseed speaks matter-of-factly, analyzing the pirate's features coldly.

"That said, ideally we'd not have any unwanted noise this side of the cave. I'm counting the others will make enough. Is your weapon silenced? Can you take him from afar? If not, then let me do it; I can take him down without giving him the chance to call for backup."

[K_H]

Millennium simply turned around in a circle, infrasonic sonar giving him a good picture of what was going on around them. He then pressed the side of his helmet, contacting Blackseed through their personal Comlink, only the two of them knowing what the other said, much like earlier on the way there.

"Is there anything strange on your end, Blackseed? we've got an elevator and two dead bodies over here. One of them is a male Snow Yousei, the other is a female Human. Both of them appear to have died from stab wounds. The human has a knife in her neck, while the Yousei seems to have bled out."

Millennium then heard clicking coming from the direction of the elevator, and looked in that direction. He then saw that Symphony was pressing the buttons on the elevator. He then spoke through the Comlink, updating Blackseed on their status.

"It appears that we shall soon see what those buttons on the elevator do, as well as if it's got traps installed, thanks to Symphony."

[Chevaleresse]

Heavensea stepped up gingerly, taking care to avoid stepping on or in any blood if at all possible, and put one hand on Symphony's shoulder. "Maybe we should consider a more careful approach?" Her voice was calm, not panicked or afraid. "Whoever killed these two was probably an expert in hand-to-hand combat, judging by the state of these bodies." She glanced back and forth at the corpses again, looking them over. "If rather unhinged, if the excessive manner in which this one was eliminated is any indication. They also left their apparent weapon behind." Withdrawing her hand, she placed it on the handle of her weapon and brought it into a half-ready stance with a final glance at the woman with the knife in her neck.

[rustytengo]

Reggi whistled as he saw the two bodies and the blood "Well its looks like where not the only one's here to kill some pirates." he mussed to Mira as he crouched down to examine the body of the woman. "Hmm... she didn't die fast if she had time to reach for the knife. maybe that's why who or what ever did this left it,or their forgetful." he says out loud, not directed to anyone as he examined the knife more closely before attempting to pull it out.

[Hiss13]

"Poor woman. It probably just missed the carotid artery if she had enough time to grab it." Mira stared at the corpse with the knife lodged into its neck. As she turned to look at the other corpse, she came to realize that both likely had prolonged deaths.

"Neither of them died immediately from the looks of it though if the killer is as sadistic as the wounds are letting on, then it's likely the woman died quickly enough before they could inflict any more wounds upon her. Regardless, you guys are all missing the important part here. We have no idea who the attacker is. Are the victims part of the target group or perhaps a third party? No matter which the answer is, this entire mission just got more complicated."

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Blackseed and Kyle

"This thing makes less noise than a ballistic gun" Kyle said as he raised his weapon to take aim at the Yousei. "But it will still alert anyone nearby. Try to kill him silently, I'll cover you." He kept his barrel firmly aimed at the Yousei.

The Yousei now seemed to have calmed down, or maybe he was just tired. His face was looking down, and he looked as if he was trying to catch his breath. The wounds on his arms just seem to bleed more and more.

Rest of the Party

The elevator panel first roared to work... Then stopped, and roared again. After a few more seconds the panel turned blue... And another message came up. 'Please see administrators for access'. It looks like the elevators are out of order.

[Chevaleresse]

"Mira has a good point. We should be particularly cautious; I do not believe we can consider this a simple sweep and clear mission any more." Looking around, Heavensea failed to spot any obvious alternatives to the elevators. She turned her head to look at the Nienian in power armor, though the Michi continued to glance about the room occasionally. "We should head back down the other path. Let your partner know we're coming." Her weapon held in front of her at the ready, the ceramic edge faintly reflecting the dim light, Heavensea cast one last look over her shoulder before starting back toward where they had come from. "Symphony, can you get a link with the Ballad? They should know about this."

[Code: PIRULUK]

Symphony heard her cute Michi partner say something or other about the other path, but she was too preoccupied fuming at the stupid unworking elevator to care. It was like a metaphor for how this stupid security system was blocking her own ascent to the peaks of idolhood. Growling under her breath, she was vaguely aware of Heavensea asking her something from behind, but that could wait for a bit.

She unslung her microphone stand and swung it outwards. Making whirring noises as its various components shifted around, the microphone stand rapidly disassembled and reassembled itself, leaving a white assault rifle, complete with trigger, guard, handgrip and stock. It was longer than the width of Symphony's chest, and looked rather heavy, as well. A compartment in its side opened up, revealing a feeding chamber. Simultaneously, a compartment on Symphony's arm opened up, displaying a neatly folded belt of ballistic ammunition that seemed to run all the way up her arm and into her back. She skilfully tossed the rifle upwards into the air, the motion causing the start of the bullet belt to exit its storage, flailing in the air. With speed born of practice, Symphony grabbed the belt with her left hand as she caught her rifle in the right. In the same motion, she swiped her left hand over her right arm, causing the belt to enter the feeding chamber, whereupon the rifle promptly locked the first round in. Squaring herself to the front, the rifle pressed firmly against her shoulder, she began firing at the panel, at the doors, at basically everything.

[Kurotsune]

Blackseed's muscles immediately tensed, sweat making them glisten in the dim light, and she lunged herself upwards.

Grabbing onto the box she'd been using for cover, the woman silently climbed atop it, and immediately jumped towards another, closer to her target, in a second quiet motion.

Before the Yousei would have the chance to notice her or react, Blackseed would pounce, claws pointed forward, and tackle him to the ground. Should she be able to do it, all ten of her claws would attempt to dig into the creature's head, to destroy the brain as soon as possible and render him, at least, incapable of combat or of calling for backup.

Should this succeed, she'd then stand up and press her comlink on her right ear, speaking to Millenium.

"One contact. Fire Yousei. Was alive. Isn't anymore. Carrying some sort of unidentified weaponry."

As she turned to speak to Kyle, shots began to ring out, loudly, from the other side of the cave. Blackseed smiled.

"Seems they're good for distraction, at least."

[Hiss13]

Mira watched Symphony fire at everything in front of her. It truly was an amusing sight to watch someone take to heart the concept that "if you have not solved your problems, you simply have not used enough violence." Though, that amusement was short-lived as she realized the immediate consequences of Symphony's actions. Gunshots were loud, after all. The environment had an atmosphere and they were in tunnels so sound would carry.

"So much for being discrete. We're essentially alerting the enemy to out position…"

[K_H]

Millennium folded out his Hand Armor, as well as his hand, to reveal the Railgun underneath. A small buzz, a whoosh, a few nanoseconds, and a dull thunk later, a well-aimed metal sphere weighing one pound hit the door exactly in the center. If he'd calculated correctly, it would take the doors right off of their bearings, as it had the mass and velocity necessary to do so. A solid projectile weighing one pound can really pack a punch when travelling close to the speed of sound, after all. To be more precise, it packs the equivalent force of roughly 6.48 grams of TNT, give or take a hundredth of a gram. Not very impressive, but definitely enough to knock normal elevator doors off of their bearings.

Edited February 22, 2016 by K_H

[Chevaleresse]

Heavensea froze when she heard the barrage behind her, turning around slowly to witness the apparent frustration of Symphony and Millennium at the elevator's lack of function. Her ears drooped in resignation, and she placed her hand over her face as she tried to regain her composure for a moment.

After a very deep breath, she spoke in a measured tone. "What makes you think that removing the frame and the terminal will change whether the elevator actually functions?"

[rustytengo]

Reggi just blinked at the scene in front of him.

"I have to agree with the little one, did you really think that shooting and blowing up an elevator in a confined space, UNDERGROUND would change anything? Other then alerting anyone ore thing that we are here, or you know injuring on of us."he said with his usual relaxed tone though with a bit of annoyance in it.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Symphony thought hard about what Heavensea said.

...she had a point.

But the thing was so annoying!

...but she still had a point.

But Symphony definitely didn't think that shooting the panels and doors would really do anything.

...Well she hadn't really been thinking about anything so it was kind of a moot point.

She shouldered her rifle and scratched her metal head with her free hand, one eye closed in a wink, her tongue sticking sideways out of her mouth.

"...Tehe~"

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Blackseed

The Flame Yousei barely notices as he is killed, it's almost as if he was already dead. He falls over and doesn't resist. He simply goes limp. The weapon he dropped, powers down immediately after coming into contact with the floor. Kyle emerged from behind the crates. "We'll need to recover that and take it back to the ship, it's definitely something Freya will want to get her hands on."

From the center of the room, you can take a new view point. There are only two entrances into the room, the one you came from and a path straight ahead that goes down some stairs. The walls of the room are stacked with metal crates, a few of them open containing ammunition and energy cells. Others are closed shut. A wooden barrel stands near the left wall, the wood tainted red near the lid. A strange stench of burned meat comes from the barrel.

Rest of Party

The constant barrage of weaponry and attacks against the metal seemed to do nothing at first. Until the first bullet left a dent. And then it cleared through leaving a hole. Soon enough, the elevator panel and the elevator doors seemed to be pieces of swiss cheese. The metal creaked loudly, announcing that it was going to fall. The metal plates no longer able to hold themselves against the wall simply fell forward against the floor revealing the elevator shaft. Looking into the elevator shaft reveals that this is the top floor. By looking down, there seems to be one other floor where the elevator is. The panel into the elevator seems to be open too, as light can be seen coming from the elevator.

[Code: PIRULUK]

As the destructive results of Symphony's impulsive actions show themselves, she stowed her tongue back in her mouth, but kept the wink. The hand that was scratching her head shifted to her front and formed a V-shape, as she grinned and remarked,

"You were saying?"

[K_H]

Millennium then walked forwards to the Elevator, and then looked down the now open shaft.

"What matters now is that we can move forwards. Onward we go, fellow Mercenaries. I'll catch you when you come down."

He then hopped into the Elevator Shaft, landing on his feet with a dull thunk at the bottom floor a second or two later. He then faced upwards, ready to catch everyone else as they came down.

Edited February 22, 2016 by K_H

[Kurotsune]

"This base is either already under attack, or it has been recently. Millenium also communicated to me two casualties that were not of our doing in the other side. I suggest we change our approach to locate and debrief survivors so we can understand what's going on."

She speaks matter-of-fact to Kyle, but there is still a tone of subordination to her voice; She isn't about to talk down her field commander.

Pressing into her comlink, she relays the information to Millenium: "Miles, we're changing our objectives. Something is going on here. Try to find a survivor, and question them to figure out what's happening, then inform me. We're moving on through our side, I see some stairs down."

She then examines the body, as to figure out if there is any type of marking or identification she could later use to discover what band of pirates - if one at all - this man belonged to.

After that's done, she picks his weapon off the floor "I'll carry it. If I can't use it, I can still keep it safe. Do you mind taking point?" She nods towards the staircase. "I'll follow your lead."

[K_H]

Millennium replied through his comlink, pressing the button on his neck with his shoulder.

"Understood. We've busted through the Elevator Doors and are heading down now."

He then unpressed the button and waited to catch the people following him.

[rustytengo]

Reggi shook his head in disbelief as the metal doors feel down. "Well i guess that's something." He mused to Mira. After Millennium jumped down and offered to catch them he let out a laugh as he jumped grabbing onto the thick wire in the shaft and slide down it landing next to Millennium.

"Well catching the two little ones might work out fine it wouldn't be a good idea to catch my sister or me given our armor. Especially my sister her's is a lot heavier...just don't let her know I said that. Kay?" he said to Millennium as he waked over to the open doorway his shotgun readied in case of anything attacking them well the others where making their way down.

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Blackseed

Kyle's helmet retracts back into his suit, revealing his face. He crouches down to look at the Flame Yousei, examining the wounds. "This ugly was attacked recently. I think the base is suffering a double invasion as we speak." He re-equipped his helmet and stood upright again. "Wouldn't want you breaking a nail, now would we missy? At least not one o' those. But it looks like you got that thing working so it might do you some good." Kyle pointed at the weapon Blackseed was holding. All of the lights seemed to go back on, and it looked just as functional as when the Yousei held it.

The commander moves forward, going down the stairs. They clunk loudly, announcing the presence of the commander and he doesn't make any efforts to deafen his steps either. The stair case don't go on for too long, spiraling only once. They end with a metal door in the middle of the cave stone. Counting to three, Kyle signs his plan to Blackseed. On three, he kicks the door with all of the force of his armor easily knocking it down. He rushes in to the room, laser repeater in hand.

The room is empty by all you can tell, but it is very dimly lit. There are machinery and consoles everywhere, some of them for mech maintenance, other pieces aren't recognizable. A large automatic door is ahead, probably leading to a hangar of some type by the looks of it. The panel next to it is covered in blood, someone typed n the keys while their fingers were drenched in the fluid.

A very soft sound can be heard in the room... The raspy breathing of a woman. To the left of the room, a human woman lays against the wall. One of her arms lays over her stomach, her clothing black as if it was burned. In fact, her skin shows severe burn marks.

She notices the Commander and Blackseed. She extends a hand out "H-help... Stop him. I don't know what he is doing, please stop-p him."

Rest of Party

The elevator panel was already opened, because someone clearly was trying to climb the shaft. In the elevator, you find another corpse. This time with a stab wound in their back.

Outside of the elevator, the room looks something out of a nightmare. It's a large cafeteria, judging by it's size and amount of tables. But there are bodies, dead bodies everywhere. A few of them are still alive, but those are bleeding out. In the middle there is a group of three people, two humans and a Snow Yousei seating at a table calmly chatting. They seem completely oblivious to you or the rest of the cafeteria...

[Chevaleresse]

Heavensea gingerly climbed down into the elevator, following the others that had already done so while avoiding the corpse. Before dropping into the elevator proper, she spoke to Symphony. "This was luck. Anyway, I asked you if you could call the Ballad and let them know that there's a lot of dead pirates here, and we're not responsible for any of them." Before the Nienian could reply, she dropped the rest of the way down into the elevator, landing next to Millennium rather than letting him catch her. Upon seeing the three survivors, she flattened herself against one wall with alacrity. She patted one a particular spot on her chest before leaning back out to watch them.

[Kurotsune]

Blackseed immediately moves onto the keypad. Eyes tracing the places where the blood dripped, she clicks the communicator on her ear and a HUD pops up.

"Miles, I'm sending you an image. Try to trace me a pattern in the blood smears to calculate the keypad combination code."

Afterwards, she turns to Kyle. "Commander, we'll have this open soon. Should I go ahead, or would you rather? Someone should stay behind and make sure she's stable enough to talk." She nods towards the wounded pirate.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Symphony followed aftwr the rest, jumping down the shaft, grabbing onto the edge of the open panel, then lightly dropping onto the floor below. She blinked several times when she saw the large amount of dead people. Was the food in this cafeteria thing really that bad?

Noticing the three people sitting in the middle of the room, she levelled her rifle and took aim. But she stayed her hand. Symphony might be an impulsive, excitable, overly optimistic bundle of robotic joy, but she was an impulsive, excitable, overly optimistic bundle of robotic joy with combat experience, and said experience was telling her it was generally a bad idea to provoke peoplw who were seated calmly in the middle of a room filled with bleeding dead people.

Quietly backslinging her rifle, she moved her right hand to her thigh, causing a compartment to open up and deliver a white wireless microphone into her hand. It was slightly longer than the palm of her hand, causing the bottom to protrude slightly when she gripped it, and had a pink ribbon trailing from its end. Within her enclosed fingers, a wire snaked out from the handle of the microphone, attaching itself to a port in her palm, the whole process concealed by her fingers. She gave a meaningful glance to her lovely cat-eared partner as she primed the microphone, selecting <<human>> as the configuration.

[Hiss13]

Just like her older brother did, Mira jumped into the the shaft, grabbing a thick wire and slid down until she landed and then dropped into the elevator. She took a quick look at the body laying in the elevator before making her way out, following the rest of the group. Like Heavensea, she too pressed herself against the wall at first sight of the three in the center of the cafeteria.

Were they survivors? From the situation and the corpses strewn about, such an explanation was unlikely. In other words, these three were likely the assailants. Either that or survivors without a single care in the world. She then turned her head to see Symphony as she pulled out a microphone. She wouldn't! Does she realize what she's about to do at all? The fact that they're ignoring us even after all the noise we've caused is...