trans_9 | The Ptolemy [Open/Safe Zone]

Entry tags:

The Ptolemy [Open/Safe Zone]

Sumeragi was glad that despite it's outward appearance as a simple carrier, the Ptolemaios was, in fact, a war ship, and had both the physical and electronic defenses to match. It had taken an hour to dig up the hardcopies of the cryptographic verification scheme, another hour to actually run them and make sure VEDA hadn't been compromised by whatever had taken over everything else, and then another half an hour to get VEDA to verify the rest of the ship's systems. But they were safe.

The first thing she did after this was switch all the systems she could to manual access only, followed by locking down the bridge controls, the MS hangar, and the VEDA chamber. If she was going to invite strangers on board, she was going to be careful about it. But if the ship was clean, it would be safe - if it really came to it, they could try to cut their way out of the Hangar and drift in space until whatever this was cleared.

After a quick announcement on the comms about the ship's availability, she grabbed a rifle and went to go secure one of the airlocks, to let people in.

[Image refs: Exterior, Bridge, corridor 2, viewing room. No set layout to the ship!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The first thing Alendian thought of was to show up at the ship. She didn't wish to be somewhere with a crowd so people could see her in the her pathetic state of...humanness. To get around, she donned her cameleoline cloak, which worked only part of the time. Every so often, she would flicker back into vision, forcing her to be careful as to where she stood when it happened.

Finally she made it to the airlock and threw back the hood on her cloak and revealed her head, leaving the rest of her body to fade in and out of sight.

"Greetings."

Ah, a familiar face on the viewscreen. Sumeragi didn't bother asking any questions, simply swung the airlock open and gave the woman a quick smile.

"Alendian. Good to have you."

"I do what is expected of me."

Thankfully. She could have run off to somewhere else but she did realize she had duties beyond that. Stepping in, she made sure the airlock shut tightly behind her. She didn't know if the machines had the equipment to penetrate the hull but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Sumeragi nodded, and gave her a quick smile.

"The weapons section is under manual lockdown, but it's the same passcodes I gave you before. I didn't want anyone wandering in unsupervised." She paused, and then added after a moment, "Hopefully we won't need them. But... better safe than sorry."

"That reminds me."

She digs into her cloak and pulls out two cylinders and tosses them over to Sumeragi.

"Haywire grenades. They will temporarily disable anything with electronics and even biological creatures. You may need these."

Sumeragi took the grenades with a small, grim smile.

"Thanks - I hope they work on whatever the hell those things roaming the ship are. I dodged a few on my way over. They're like nothing I've seen before." And she'd done her thesis on automaton use in warfare.

"They will. You have my word that this technology is more advanced than anything anyone on this ship possesses. They will have no defense."

And on the off chance that Sumeragi saves them, it makes for excellent use against Ohm if required.

Sumeragi refrained from bringing up the possibility that these things weren't from onboard the ship - some fights weren't worth picking, and Alendian had seemed like a stubborn woman. So she nodded, instead, tucking the grenades into a pocket.

"Thanks, then. You can reach me over the comm systems if you need me - I'm going to let people in manually, though."

"Call me if required then. I may only have one weapon but I will still fight." Alendian stepped off, heading for the bridge. She did have a weapons station to check out, after all.

Sumeragi nodded. "I will - we've got some spares in the armory, but I know they're not much. And thanks." It was good knowing there was someone she trusted elsewhere in the ship to keep an eye on things, too.

In the flesh. That was rarely a statement connected to Dhianeila when it came to ship-wide meetings or places where too many people would be. But there she was, slightly out of breath as she arrived from who knew where? But she was a counselor, and despite the danger, she had to do her best to move, to make sure the crew - her friends and allies - was safe. She made sure to be careful if she didn't have an escort or no way to defend herself-- she didn't want to burden anybody else with having to keep her safe on top of protecting everybody else.

"Excuse me!" she called as she approached the ship. "Are you all okay, in here?"

Her lack of weapon was pretty telling enough, but after the question she moved to enter and get out of harm's way.

"We're-- ...we're fine." The slight hitch was because it had quickly dawned on Setsuna that the Princess was standing within a few feet of him, and he wasn't doubled over in pain. That was unusual. As was the fact that she was here. Didn't this ship provide secure locations for its own leadership?

"You should head further into the ship." He was going to stand watch for a little bit longer.

"Setsuna," she replied with a soft smile-- as soft as one could get in the situation, anyway. "I'm glad you're safe."

She moved closer as she entered, and turned back to the airlock after it had been shut again. Dhianeila frowned worriedly. "Things outside are ... I wish there was something I could do. Something more than simply trying to make sure those who are looking for a place to stay safe find one."

He held out his gun, in an offering for her to take. She wanted to do more, right?

For a brief moment she looked Setsuna in the eye before shaking her head, putting a hand up. "No ... no. I only meant ... the machines that this new AI had summoned. Because they're machines they cannot be reasoned with, and are simply controlled. And if this ... SHODAN possesses more that just a simply AI, there is no way I can tell, like this."

He's quietly glad she refused, though his expression remains as neutral as always. He would have shot her had she went for the gun. Now, at least, he knows she's not a robot in disguise, or something.

"You've lost some of your... abilities." Superpowers. Or whatever she preferred to call them. He had seen mention of that on the comms, but didn't know how accurate that information was. now, at least, he had some level of verification.

...which also meant that he had finally breached that ten meter halo of hers.

...

He'll worry about why he bothered to notice something like that at some point later. Maybe. He checked the viewscreen near the airlock, and the cameras didn't show anyone else in the hangar at the moment. He could take something of a break, he supposed.

"Princess Dhianelia Y Lieshia Altoria Ol Yunos, follow me." He can at least escort her to one of the conference rooms and see what she knows about the situation so far.

"Yes."

With a nod, she moved to follow Setsuna closely. Though her eyes kept wandering, when they chance passed other viewscreens.

He briefly glanced back at her as they walked, but shoved whatever he was thinking off to the side and kept his eyes straight ahead.

The Ptolemy's corridors all looked the same, though having lived on the ship as long as he had, Setsuna wasn't about to get lost. The ship was designed with function in mind over aesthetics, giving it a somewhat sterile and lifeless feel, though that always suited him just fine. Even the conference room they arrived at was just four plain walls, a metal table, two benches.

He motioned for her to sit.

"What else can you tell me about the situation on the rest of the ship?"

And sit she did, exhaling softly as she put together words in her mind. It was strange, not hearing anything but her own thoughts inside her head. Even when she was far enough away from people to not hear their thoughts, she could feel their emotions instead. She couldn't even do that at the moment, which felt so odd when she looked up at Setsuna.

"It's not much different from here. The places that are safe for the time being, anyway. Everybody is doing their best to keep those looking for refuge safe. As for everywhere else..." She trailed off, recalling some of the things she'd seen during her movements. "There is a lot of damage from the fighting. These machines that SHODAN has released appear to be very strong. And uncaring to the environments around them. Those who are trying to stop them are all doing their best. I hope ... I hope they're all okay."

Sorry, princess, you're going to have to learn how to read his stonefaced expressions if you want to know what he's feeling. Though, truthfully, even Setsuna wasn't entirely sure what he was feeling right now. Though mostly he was focusing on the more strategic aspect of what she was saying.

"So SHODAN's machines have control over most of the ship." Less of a question and more of an extrapolation, really. But if they were going to intervene, they'd have to be careful about it.

"And what do you intend to do now?"

"When the attacks began, I moved to make sure that those looking for refuge found it. I wish to make sure that there is nobody still in danger, but it is ... difficult to know where the crew members who may be hiding are, like this." She looked to the side. It felt so strange, being unable to sense other near her. While many people might have assumed it was a good thing in some ways, to Dhianeila the bad outweighed the good. Especially in the situation they were in.

Setsuna regarded her in that way of his, like he was still trying to see through all the layers of her personality.

"You'll remain here, for the time being." It wasn't a suggestion, so much as a decision that was made. He had a feeling that, if given the opportunity, she would go back out and look for whomever else she could, something that would get her killed.

"The communications system still works. You can use it to check on everyone else."

Fuu had studied the network after she'd found the safety of the TARDIS. So far, it seemed that the crew was still in some kind of scramble mode. Even though she had no magic and was unable to call out Windam, she was determined to do something other than hide in a subspace pocket contained within a phone booth. She still had a brain. If she could get to somewhere with supplies or weapons--!

She had a destination in mind when she left the phonebooth: either the Macross Quarter or the Ptolemy, both having been announced as safe zones. She intended to hop from one safe zone to the next until she reached a place to get supplies (and she'd already borrowed a flashlight from the TARDIS). It seemed that the Ptolemy was closer, so she scurried to the indicated airlock and knocked, looking around to make sure she hadn't been seen by any of the robots.

At the knock on the airlock door, Sumeragi took a glance at the exterior view from a sensors. A girl - thankfully, she was getting tired of their attacks banging up against the ship's outside. She tugged a lever, and with a woosh of air, the lock released. She gave the girl a quick smile.

"Here, come on in."

"Thank you, miss," Fuu said, hurrying inside. Despite the urgency of the situation, she looked around curiously once in the airlock. This looked more like something she would expect from a spaceship, somewhat to her relief, although it probably didn't have the same kind of resources as the TARDIS.

She adjusted the messenger bag on her shoulder, which was packed with such resources. "I don't have any special abilities right now, so I'm trying to set traps for the robots. But I do need a place to hide."

Once Sumeragi had the outer lock closed and sealed again, she relaxed a little - enough to give the girl a proper smile. "Sumeragi - and welcome aboard the Ptolemy. We're pretty safe inside for now, though dealing with the stuff outside is a little 'make it up as you go along' right now."

"It's nice to meet you, Sumeragi-san." Fuu bowed politely once the airlock was safely shut. "I suppose this shows us how much we rely on superpowers to fight. A lot of people are helpless without their abilities."

Well, almost helpless. "I've been trying to set booby-traps for the robots. May I ask what kind of supplies you keep on board this ship?"

Sumeragi bowed back, a little awkwardly - it had been a long time since she'd used that particular set of manners. She wouldn't have guessed the girl was Japanese - but then, people probably thought the same thing of her. The wonders of globalization.

"We've got... a lot of machine parts, I haven't really inventoried, a small armory... I think most of the rest is just living supplies, though."

"Living supplies are very useful too!" Fuu said brightly, pressing her hands together. "Soap and water has been quite effective at hindering the bipedal robots."

Machine parts, a small armory... "I don't know that I'll be useful with any of the weapons you have, unless you have swords or archery equipment that would be effective against them. Could I see the machine parts, though?"

Sumeragi raised an eyebrow. "That actually works on them?" It seemed... almost too simple. "We don't have a ton of soap or anything, but as long as we don't have to blow our way out of the hangar and live in space a few months, you're probably good to have it." Not that there were many people to go through the soap and shampoo supplies on board anyway.

"Armory is all side-arms, so that probably won't do you much good. We might have some survival knives or something, I dunno. Machine parts are probably too big to be any use - and I'd rather keep those around as long as possible, in case of repairs." It was easier for her to be calm in a situation like this, to take charge. There were things that needed doing, and for once, she could do them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Ptolemy [Open/Safe Zone]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject