Eternal Galaxy: Phoenix - Intermission

[SUSTIC]

Palace

The Doctor didn't even bother to turn to Achlys as he sped up his pace until he was even with the technician. All the while the Doctor spoke once.

"I've been in the Venturian Galaxy only once before, but that was a long time ago!" He spoke as he began thinking of many different ways to get the systems of the place working on the same frequency. That didn't seem all too difficult, but with this kind of technology the Doctor will have a bit of a more difficult time as he is still a little unfamiliar with it. Thankfully it the room they were in previously didn't seem too complex. When Achlys asked him if he was a traveler he let out a quick chuckle as he turned the technician.

"You could say that, yes. I've travelled all over the Universe. I have probably seen more things with this face than most of you probably have in your lifetime" The Doctor stated as he did a sort of hand gesture over his face as if trying to show them something about his well... face. "I'd like to thank an old friend that you lot should really meet sometime, but that is of no concern right now! For we have a reactor to fix." [/B] He said as he clapped his hands quickly and lightly, definitely ready and eager to begin working on the systems of this place.



Weapon's Lab - CY-001 - Nevaaras

Astraea smiled as she saw Ethan retreated into a building by crashing through it, but as she looked up at the sign she had quickly held her shield in front of her. Forming a quick hardlight-type barrier with it she had blocked any and all projectiles that Ethan would fire at her from the front.


"Hey stop cheating! You're not supposed ta fight back!" Astraea yelled as with her other hand she readied another strike of energy with her blade at Ethan.



The Expense | Hallman's Office

"Predecessors? You're talking about Astraea right? Well we aren't just going to scrap her of course... We will still keep her around for... entertainment purposes." Hallman replied quite casually as he looked right at Emil. "I mean like I said... she was made with such a body for a reason. Not just to lull people into a false sense of security, but also for more entertainment based reasons. A few guys in the lab had fun with her as part of her... and their 'punishments' so... Yeah."

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity Space | Heaven
BGM: Umineko: When They Cry - Haze
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DGI1XWx1szM

---

"So it's a latent ability... not dissimilar to the abilities the other Guardian Angels are born with..." Valli said, contemplating a number of things. "I wonder..."

The grizzled Angel pondered the idea of training Terra and inviting her to join the Guardian Angels. However, he decided that that would be a question for another time. Terra's been through enough oddities as it was. Being displaced from her world, having to fight that "Null" twice, and almost being killed alongside Phenom, Amanda, and Gaspard. It would be better if she were given a place to sleep.

"So... Phenom's SitRep... that's... Situation Report, by the way... from last night notes that you're not from around here. If you'd like to stay on Heaven for the time being, you are more than welcome to." Valli said, a welcoming smile on his indiscernibly artificial face.

"Oui, there are apartment structures of a sort. Those dark towers with no lights you may or may not have seen in the Atrium." Gaspard interjected, "Though I imagine the lack of tenants currently might prove eerie... We can probably find you space elsewhere if you prefer. There are homes all over the Atrium that were meant for families, but well..."

"Long story short: We're understaffed, so they're mostly empty now."

---

Hangar 2

---

Several minutes later, Keegan was boarding a dropship manned by half a dozen other Angels. As he stepped on board, he began to speak.

"So... what do you guys know about what's going on on the surface?" he asked.

"No idea," one of the Angels started, "something was picked up on our proximity scanners. Slipped by long-range sensors. Not sure why. We have no clue what it is, but the scanners indicated it might be mechanical in nature."

"So they send me to take it apart and put it back together, huh?"

"I would imagine so..."

"Well... let's get going, I guess."

[S121]

(Morse Converter: http://www.unit-conversion.info/texttools/morse-code/)
Palace

"So we make the crystals resonate at the same frequency, then feed the core.", John said to Achlys, more to confirm what she had said than simply echoing what she had said.

Meanwhile, while John was speaking to Achlys, Cortana was listening to both John's conversation, and "The Doctor". She didn't really know what to say about The Doctor's story, but if he was telling the truth, then his wealth of knowledge was incredibly vast. In their presence was an interdimensional entity, one that was capable of traversing both space and time. At this, Cortana couldn't help but want to ask him a question, but she didn't want to interrupt John and Achlys, so she instead used John's onboard systems to detect whether or not The Doctor had anything on his person that she could hack into, and when she found his sonic screwdriver, she did just that.

All of a sudden, The Doctor's sonic screwdriver suddenly made a rather odd warbling noise before the warbling became distinct and organized high-pitched chirps.

*.-- .- .. - --··-- ... --- .. ..-. -.-- --- ..- ·----· ...- . ... . . -. .- .-.. .-.. -.-- --- ..- .... .- ...- . ... .- .. -.. --··-- - .... . -. .- .-. . -.-- --- ..- .- -. .. -. - . .-. -.. .. -- . -. ... .. --- -. .- .-.. . -. - .. - -.-- ··--··*





Weapon's Lab - CY-001 - Nevaaras

Ethan could feel the broken vertebrae in his back realign and as it did so, he quickly lunged to the side as Astrea's energized sword swung down, slicing the air he had previously occupied, the wall he had his back against,... and the gas pipe and wiring hidden inside the wall. Ethan did not have much time to react to what happened next, but in that tiny fraction of a second, he questioned whether or not it was a good idea for him to have dodged the angelic woman's strike.

In that very instant, a spark could be seen erupting from the freshly made cut in the wall, then nothing but fire as the gas within the pipe ignited, causing the room they were in and every room those pipes were connected to to violently explode.

*BOOOOOOOM*





The Expense | Hallman's Office

Emil didn't really know what to feel about the thought of a bunch of either sexually deprived, or simply perverted scientists using one of GRACE's assets to pleasure themselves. Perhaps in some way, they saw Astrea as akin to being human, but although Astrea acted very human, Emil saw her as just a collection of circuits and wires performing pre-programmed responses. She was a piece of military hardware. In response, Emil only raised an eyebrow at what Hallman had said before speaking.

"So they have been screwing a toaster?", Emil asked Hallman.





Jiff-E-Mart - Electra | Geminiea Alpha

When Rebecca had entered the room, Thomas's neutral gaze was quickly shifted over to her, but soon wandered back to the camera he was fixing as she voiced her request. Thomas was still busy with the camera, but he was still willing to listen to his sister. In fact, he would even possibly be done by the time she had answered his next question.

"What would you like to play?"

[SUSTIC]

Palace

As the Doctor paced back and forth, thinking of how to handle the tasks the technicians have gave. He was already thinking of several different possibilities, but all with very... potentially mixed outcomes. It was clear that the Doctor was busy thinking deeply about it as he was sort of drawing and counting in thin air with his hands, almost as though he was trying to draw himself a mental blueprint of sorts. This was interrupted when he jumped as he felt his Sonic Screwdriver turn on and quickly began... beeping and buzzing in a strange pattern.

It took the Doctor a minute or two before he figured out that it was morse code. Without a single bit of hesitation he took out his Sonic Screwdriver, and with a flick of his wrist it extended. It didn't take much longer for him to actually translate the morce code message in his head. Upon which he giggled lightly as he scanned the area. Someone had to send him a message through Morse Code, and that someone had to be in the area... at least that's what he thought. Upon scanning the room he couldn't find anyone who could potentially hack his Sonic Screwdriver like that wirelessly... Which made him think that maybe it was some THING instead. Remembering the AI that seemed to speak to him from John's suit earlier, the Doctor straightened his posture and put the Sonic Screwdriver back in his coat.

"Whoever it was that just sent me that little message. I will inform you that you do not have to use morse code to communicate. Twas rather clever though... Anyways to answer your question, I am not. Good guess though." He said aloud, while glancing over at John.


Weapon's Lab - CY-001 - Nevaaras

Astraea smiled and laughed arrogantly as the explosion happened, but when she saw the fireball increasing in size she quickly covered herself with her arms, got close to the ground, and used her shield to try and block most of the flames. The shockwave also began pushing her back quite a bit.



The Expense | Hallman's Office

Upon being asked a rather blunt... legitimate, but hilarious question from Emil. Hallman nearly spat out some water from the cup he had from his dinner earlier as he began laughing.

"Ahahahah!! That's actually a good question!" He laughed before immediately straightening his posture and calming down... but not with a chuckle here and there. "But yeah. Some of the men in the Labs have been 'screwing a toaster'. Then again she's more like a fighter jet. She's not entirely electronic. In fact she is so close to simulating a human that she can probably get pregnant... wouldn't be surprised if any of the men who made her gave her that ability... Be creepy though if she suddenly got pregnant..." Hallman finished with a bit of a shudder at the thought of Astraea suddenly coming back to the Expense after a mission, and her claiming that she's pregnant.

[Cucoo5]

Palace - Power Core Chamber

The technician still seemed uncertain about the Doctor and what he knew, but a gesture from Achlys told her to not worry about it. Achlys seemed to be the only one of the Hunteri not on edge. As they spoke they entered a massive, cylindrical chamber that was mostly open save space for a central column and a giant crystal, approximately 1400m tall and 560m in diameter, suspended in the middle. A platform reached up from the catwalk, that followed the walls of the room, towards the central core. A large array of systems were set on this with no apparent displays. The group headed up to the control area and the technician answered John as she inserted what looked like a smaller version of the core into it, causing holographic displays to appear, "Right. Then we have to gently let power through the systems. Due to the size of the city, that will take awhile since there's a lot of systems to warm up."

Achlys was now curious about when the Doctor had been in the galaxy before but before she could finish saying the question When did you visit? she went rigid for a moment before looking about frantically, as if trying to see something in the dimly lit room. "Better hurry with that Core boot-up, we're not alone here." This made the rest of the Condor Squad raise their rifles and watch high and low for any movement.

"Nihiliods?" One of them asked.

"I'm not sure. I felt a presence only briefly."

Another one relaxed slightly when Achlys mentioned this, "Well if you felt something then it might be nothing to worry about."

"Unless it's a Nihiliod messing with us, knowing what we would notice and-" Jac cut off the theory that the one member was constructing with a groan.

"They might be cunning but they're not that clever to play those kind of mind games."

Achlys shook her head. "Still, be alert. Regardless of what it might be, we assume it's a Nihiliod. Understood?" A chorus of Yes ma'am answered her as the squad took up positions around the platform and along the walkway nearby.

[S121]

Palace - Power Core Chamber

John returned The Doctor's gaze with one of his own, only John's was one of slight suspicion.

"You contacted him, didn't you?", John silently whispered to Cortana.

If Cortana was in the physical world, she would have had a rather mischievous smile as she said, "Hmmmaybe."

John was going to speak more to Cortana, but as soon as Cortana had finished speaking, Achlys warned the group that she had felt a presence, prompting John to suddenly stop in his tracks, raise his rifle, and look onto his radar. There didn't seem to be any activity save for the members of his temporary squad, but John still remained vigilant. The last thing anyone needed was to be taken by surprise and become a casualty. As the others debated on the intelligence of the Nihilids, John silently considered what could be done to give the team a heads up in case there was an ambush. Last he remembered, Achlys said that virtually no readings could be found on Nihilids, as if they were living deadzones. If that was the case, then John might of had and idea.

"Achlys, does this station have a way to scan entire portions of the palace for energy signatures?", John asked Achlys.





(I smell an opportunity to give this battle a song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR7qwu8grWo)
Weapon's Lab - CY-001 - Nevaaras

For a few seconds, everything was quiet as the rubble settled from the explosion. The room was still filled with smoke and the smell of lightly burnt flesh, but no signs of Ethan... at least until he suddenly lunged out from the smoke with his open hand leading the way. All of a sudden, Ethan had grabbed Astrea by the face, and slammed her through a nearby wall with all of his might, causing the wall to collapse.





The Expense | Hallman's Office

To be honest, Emile thought that simply using Astrea in such a way was ridiculous, and even more so if what Hallman had said was true. Even if she were partially organic, then it really was a bad idea for them to be doing such things.

"Then why don't they create their own pleasure-bot instead of screwing one of our military assets? First and foremost, Astrea is military hardware, not a way to relieve personnels' frustrations.", Emil said to Hallman in a rather calm tone.

[WriggleRid3r]

Jiff-E-Mart - Electra | Geminiea Alpha

---

Rebecca puffed her cheeks when Thomas asked the question about what she wanted to play. She was expecting Thomas to come up with something for her to do, not the other way around.

"Uuu, I thought you had something in mind!" Rebecca pouted and sat next to Thomas, her helix necklace dangling around her neck. "Well, we already killed a bunch of meanies, but I kind of want to spill some more blood. Can we find people to kill? Please? PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE?"

[Aria of Forbidden Magic]

Prosperity Space - Heaven

---

"Hmm..." Terra looked down at her food, thinking about the prospects laid out before her. The less creepy family houses sounded like they might be more of what she wanted. Already no stranger to being alone, the young lady didn't feel the need to exacerbate such things.

"I... I guess I could try living in one of those, in the Atrium," Terra said. "B-but..." She blushed, clearly thinking that what she was about to say was foolish. "I-I really just wish I could go home... N-not that I'm not ok with being here, I just... I'm attached to my house..."

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity Space | Space Station "Heaven"

---

"If that's what you want, we'll do everything we can to make it possible. Unfortunately, we can't make any guarantees, and it may be a long while before we're able to return you to your home." Valli responded.

"But, if you would prefer to stay in one of those homes while you are here, we will appropriate one for you. What sort of style home do you prefer?" Gaspard inquired while packing away the last of his meal.

---

Prosperity Atmosphere

---

Keegan's dropship screamed through Prosperity's atmosphere as it approached the crash site that had made itself now strikingly apparent, due to a plume of smoke rising up from the middle of a forest. As they approached the site of the crash, it was clear that whatever had impacted the surface was definitely mechanical in nature. It looked like... a fighter of some sort.

"Put us down 50 meters from the crash site." Keegan commanded.

"Roger. 50 Meters out."

"Let's hope that whoever was in this crash survived..."

[SUSTIC]

Palace - Power Core Chamber

Seeing the returning gazes kinda entertained the Doctor as he opened his coat to put his Sonic Screwdriver away. However before he could say anything himself, Achlys began looking around the room as if she was paranoid. Hearing that they were not alone also put the Doctor on toes a bit as he began looking around the dimly lit room.

"Well now... I guess we'll have to work fast. Welp. Let's get to work! Show me where to start." The doctor replied as he turned to Achlys.




Weapon's Lab - CY-001 - Nevaaras

When Astraea was pushed back by the shockwave she scowled as she quickly took out her blade and lowered her shield as she was ready to strike Ethan again, but Astraea was caught off guard when she found Ethan grabbing herself by the face before slamming her painfully into a wall. As the wall began to collapse, it filled the area with dust and smoke... and Astraea at first seemed unresponsive... when suddenly Ethan would feel Astraea's grasp on the wrist he used to smash her into the wall as sparks of electricity could be seen sparking in the cloud of dust from the wall collapsing.




The Expense | Hallman's Office

Hallman sorta... winced a little at Emil's question... "Well... That's sort of... interesting to say the least. I mean... why do you think we gave her such an amazing body? Just to be eye candy and appeal to the general customers? Well that was a big factor, but we did actually give her that ability for originally more stealth reasons. I mean she would have been able to blend in more easily with a crowd of people. She could have used her ooks and... physical traits to lure in male targets, and use her... capabilities to get valuable information. So she did have a reason to be like that. Minus... the pregnant part. We made sure she will never get pregnant at least. That'd just be weird. It just so happened that men in the labs began to use her for 'stress relief.' So yeah. Does that answer your questions? Okay, thanks. TIME TO CALL IN LYCORIS!" He replied as he pushed a button on his desk to call Lycoris to the office. Lycoris would then receive an 'Emergency' alaert beep on her communicator, essentially signaling her to come to Hallman's office as soon as possible.


Hallman then turned to Emil and simply gave him a rather fake, and awkward smile.

[Tewi_Inaba]

The Expense

The ever curious cat girl was sitting off in one of the corners of the bio lab. she had been simply laying back and watching everyone work before she fell asleep. Her head laid back against the wall. When her communicator started beeping, she didn't notice at first. She was still fast asleep looking oh-so peaceful as she did. The continued beeping eventually woke her up, causing a sleepy and confused kitten to slowly open her eyes. She looked around for the sourse of the beeping only to realize a moment later that it was commigng from her.

when it finally sunk in what was going on, the girl jumped up in a mixture of shock and panic and quickly sprinted out of the lab and down the halls towards Hallman's office. She moved as quickly as she could whole avoiding obstacles and people that she came across. when she finally made it to Hallman's office she took a sharp turn and found her face planed in emil's back as she ran into him from behind. She didnt' ram him hard enough to hurt him or knock him over but it certanly suprised Lycoris to be stopped that way. So much in fact that she froze there as if she were unsure of what to do.

[Cucoo5]

Palace - Power Core Chamber

Achlys turned to the technician who was staring at the console deep in thought. When she felt Achlys's gaze, she finally spoke up and answered John. "We could choose to boot up certain systems first quicker but overall it will take longer to get everything up and running."

"Do it. Get the internal sensors and defenses working." Achlys glanced about as if there was something more coming. "We're going to need it."

The technician nodded and then responded to the Doctor. "Ok, in that case I need you to work on the inner defense systems. I'll work on the sensors. Set the system to send pulses through for about 5 and a half minutes or until it reaches a frequency of 24.2 kilo-hertz. Then adjust Core Receptor..." She paused as she skimmed through a holographic manual, looking up the proper code, "... Receptor H1215 to output setting 1.4%."

Jac then pointed out something they were forgetting. "We also need to get the main thrusters online to get the labs cleared for the other group."

"Frict... Right... uh... we need someone else to work on that then..."

[S121]

Palace - Power Core Chamber

As Achlys tried to figure out who to send to activate the engines, John quietly thought to himself about how they needed to be turned on. The group needed someone over there that would have the technical know-how to activate them. At the same time, if there was truly the threat of the Nihilids in the city, they needed someone that was capable of fending for themselves. John looked about the group for anyone that would be able to go alone and possibly fight back against the Nihilids, but he was not sure any of them would be able to. Seeing this, John found that he and Cortana were best suited for the job. Cortana would be able to activate the engines, and if Nihilids came to kill them, John had the speed and strength to combat them. Taking all this into consideration, John decided to speak up.

"Cortana and I will go activate the engines, that way we only send one person and have less chance of suffering possible casualties.", John said to Achlys.




(Battle Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR7qwu8grWo)
Weapon's Lab - CY-001 - Nevaaras

Ethan was a little surprised that the angel girl had seemingly become unresponsive, but his assumptions that she was knocked out were quickly put to rest as he felt a hand wrap around his wrist and saw electricity course from inside the cloud of dust. He knew that the girl had a very dangerous sword in her possession, and he was at just the right range to suffer significant damage. With that in mind, Ethan twisted his arm in the girl's grip so that he could grab her wrist as well. After that, Ethan tugged her arm as hard as he could, whipping Astrea towards him, and right before both of them could collide together, Ethan passed underneath her arm and spun as he let go of her wrist, and she flew away from him until both Ethan and Astrea's arms were completely outstretched. Such a maneuver looked reminiscent of an ancient 1950's swing dance, only repurposed to either make Astrea lose her grip, or at the very least allow a few more inches between Astrea's sword and Ethan's body.





The Expense | Hallman's Office

Emil was about to snark once more at Hallman's answer, but right before he could, Emil felt a small mass impact him from behind. The collision was not strong enough to knock him off balance, but it did prompt him to turn and look down at what crashed into him. Emil saw Lycoris simply standing there, confused about what had just happened or possibly what to do. Seeing this, Emil decided to come up with a decision for her in an effort to break her bewilderment.

"Come in, Lycoris.", Emil calmly said to the small cat-hybrid girl as he stepped out of her way.





Jiff-E-Mart - Electra | Geminiea Alpha

Thomas simply sighed at his sister's lust for more blood. Granted, she had always been like this, and it proved to be helpful when they were in a pinch, but he was slowly running out of safe targets for her. There were plenty of targets abound, but the only time Thomas would ever let Rebecca roam about on a bloody rampage was when he knew for sure that she would be safe from capture or death. His sister was incredibly powerful, but he knew that even she could be in trouble if she stumbled into some of the Aristocrats' more well equipped forces. It was because of these facts that Thomas decided that it was about time to hit a mission-specific target. After all, it had been a while since the two of them had destroyed a supply depot or took out an intel post.

"Okay Rebecca, I might have a target in mind. What do you know about The Aristocrats' logistical capabilities?", Thomas asked Rebecca.

[Tewi_Inaba]

The Expense | Hallman's Office

The confused cat girl closely watched Emil, not daring to move or speak until she was spoken too. When Emil simply asked her to come in, Lycoris gave him a sunny gril and rubbed the back of her head. "ehehe... Sorry Emi... I mean... sorry sir!" She corrected herself as she stepped into Hallman's office and awaited further instructions. "You wanted to see me sir?"

[WriggleRid3r]

Jiff-E-Mart - Electra | Geminiea Alpha

---

"Logi- wha?" Rebecca took a second to realize where Thomas was talking about. "Ooooh, the Database Center! There's this one giant tower thingie near their headquarters. I saw them one night carrying some important looking stuffs in there: it might be the perfect place for us to hit next!"

Indeed, a tiny bit off the center of Electra lies the symbol of Aristocrat oppression: the Electra Database Center. Housing all the information about the Gemini Reactor as well as other various historical texts, scientific theory papers, and top-secret documents, the towering skyscraper is protected by some of the best men the Aristocrats have... 1500 at the site, and a lot more on deck and ready to reinforce the positions. Taking the tower down would prove to be a crushing blow to the Aristocrat forces as among the data contained are info about how to stop the Gemini Reactor from launching its' devastating artillery defenses, as well as other various data about the remnants of Aristocrats' armies: their locations, stratagems, positions and, with proper analysis, weaknesses.