Scene #2309: Automated Armistice

Owner	Pose
Zwei	It isn't much to look at from orbit. Earth, that is. If it weren't for the occasional glimpse of the outines of landmasses oh so familiar to anyone who had grown up on or around the planet, it could probably be mistaken for a smaller, dingier saturn. At some point, the planet has developed hundreds of kilometers of rings around its circumference, comprised almost entirely of the refuse of a civilization steadily on its way off the planet. Old rocket boosters, graveyard satellites, hab parts, fragments of asteroids pulled into orbit to mine. They're as dull and ugly as the swirling brown mass at their center; an acrid, rust colored mess of fast travelling clouds, barely giving so much as a glimpse of the equally discoloured oceans beneath it; save for a single, notable mark two hundred kilometers across. A gleaming freckle on the face of the earth where a certain city called Chicago used to be. The clouds don't cover there. Well before actually getting into proper orbit, sensors start going in and out of focus, gradually fuzzing over the closer one gets to the planet; the effect of thousands of jammers in geostationary circles about the Earth, forming both the first line of warning and defense of the blockade Rory has assured everyone is there. It's impossible to get a decent lock on anything past a certain distance, making only multiversal transceivers useful for the purposes of communication. The only things possible to pick up are nasty radiation spikes in certain parts of the defense grid, corresponding to the profiles of nuclear weapons. A set of coordinates Rory and Kotone have been sent by neutrino communication indicate a corridor in the blockade where the grid doesn't quite overlap. There should still be more than enough killsats to blow the entire group out of the air ten times over, but as they approach, the interference begins to clear.
Rory White	The COGNIZANT ODYSSEY is on approach, all possible power from nonessential systems - and weapons - routed to its meager shields... an advantage that nothing native to the locale has. By now, she's teleported to all of the other Flotilla vessels and given out Emergency Packages. Contained in them: A) Vac Suits. comfortable, suitable for emergency EVAs and fully environmentally sealed (and even capable of repairing small breaks and tears) equipped with Guardian Nanites. B) A small package of food and water for those who need it. C) Antivirus software able to detect the Exsurgent Virus and attempt to purge it to the best of Transhuman abilities. She's leaving very little to chance her, and has even taken the time to (now that she's in range) upload all of her recent backups to Mitre station. Unfortunately, it's not like the others have that luxury... "Beginning approach. Don't deviate a single meter from the given course!" The frigate-sized ship's engines thrum to life and hit a good burn, propelling it into the death zone!
Starbound Flotilla	The STARBOUND FLOTILLA is here! Their crafts are quite similar to the frigate-ish size, though perhaps they're a bit more on the gunboat end of things. Albert's craft is an ultramodern white sort of thing, loaded brutally with numerous energy cannons and missile launchers designed for fighters, plus heavy shielding. Biteblade's is about five different ships salvaged and welded together, with a tremendous fixed-forward railgun mounted on the top. George's and Moonfin's, respectively a modern gray chunky gunboat and a sleek blue shark-like craft, are made for maneuverability, sporting their own energy weapons. Pavo's yellowed stone-like pirate-temple-ship may be designed for boarding action, but it also works wonderfully as a zippy little runner too, scouting and darting about. Seft's large sensor array and heavier bombardment cannons mounted on what appears to be a mixture of a spaceship and a castle provide copious tactical data. Unfortunately, the sensors and the scouting will be more useless today. They've all lined up -- Albert first in line -- and they're using laser-based super short-range communications, unable to reliably establish anything else. "Beginning approach. Core Fleet fall in line and match speed." Albert grunts over staticky laser-comms. They're going to follow the narrow corridor exactly, and they hope to make planetfall in short order. They've come fully stocked with building materials today; one assumes they're intending to establish an outpost base as soon as possible, without any delays. They intend to pass through the corridor and immediately land at any points designated by the Reclaimers for their landing and following any requested post-landing protocols, wasting no time.
Kotone Yamakawa	This was a dead world. This Earth was dead or at best on death's door. With technology gone mad. The Briefing from Rory had just driven home how dangerous this was but there was no real choice. Someone from the outside was poking this husk of a world. It could be after who knows worse, wores whoever was backing this could end up causing the virus to get lose. She was suited up and ready to go save for her weapons which were hanging at the teleporter further back in her ship. "Hang on tight this is going to be a bit nuts." Kotone notes as her ship the Bluenose, she had the package from Kotone ready and she checked the feeds from S.A.I.L. "Copy that, keeping to the course." Kotone looked over everything again and a prt of her mind wandered. Most of the Folitlla would be consider insane for this. Then again wouldn't most nativex thing of people who couldn't or refused to back up doing a stunt like this?
Nozomi Houken	Nozomi Houken has kept her ear to the grapevine, so to speak, as far as Vert's activities. She hasn't been active so much with the Union recently, thanks to certain superior officers making it difficult for Taiga to leave their world. But her direct commander is a good man. He's managed to get people off his and Taiga's backs long enough for her to take the robo-tiger out to handle an investigation. It helps that this is something that's directly endangered their world in the past. But riding down a ridiculously narrow corridor of safe space in the defensive net of an Earth gone death world, is not how she pictured things happening. The quiet girl has the Vac Suit from her package on, and is strapped in on the Bluenose, with Taiga seated nearby. There is little for her to say, but Taiga replies to Kotone with a faintly amused, "That seems to be standard operating procedure in the Multiverse."
Staren	The interdiction preventing travel to Earth could be problematic, although they have FTL jumps and beaming tech... but those turn out not to be necessary, the Reclaimers know about a hole in the blockade. It would be stupid to get stuck down there just because he can't give the beam-up command. From what he's heard about the titans, he's decided to be a robot today. The TITANS have plenty of nasty things to throw at a robot, of course -- but he'd be vulnerable to nanoplagues or hacking anyway -- and if a TITAN warbot comprimises his systems to the point that it can use scorchers on his cyberbrain, he's already lost anyway. Previously fabricated just-in-case nanodetectors and a guardian nanoswarm have been equipped, per Rory's advice. The antivirus software is accepted with thanks. Rory's not the only one with the luxury of backups. Staren, of course, has left dormant copies of himself at the lab and the ship. And one change has been made to his robot body today: The replacement of the cortical stack with a cranial bomb. He intends to get out of here alive, with everyone else. But if the worst happens, he's not risking getting grabbed and uploaded. He's not sure what will happen if that occurs. Of course, given the possibility of TITAN warbots, and /not/ having to teleport... well, why not bring his giant robot? Yes, it will suck if it gets infected, but precautions can be taken and if it comes to it its own weapons can be used to immolate it with plasma and burn off any troublesome nanites. The mech might even survive! Besides, he intends for everyone to make it back. "Seems this location /is/ safe. I wonder how they're keeping it unnoticed by the people maintaining this..." On the bright side, as a fighter, it should be pretty maneuverable if the area isn't as clear as was promised...
Kyra Hyral	Earths-Kyra has been to a few of them. The structure of these planets were pretty curious to her since they seemed to be oddly fragile. The state this particular Earth is in half proves that though Kyra would have expected a structural failure to do the world in and not the nastiness going on right now. Kyra is here in her own Starling-class ship which seems comically fragile compared to the might of the Starbound Flotilla and friends. She shadows the other ships on the way down-in particular, Seft is who she's going to follow through the nastiness of the space defenses.
Zwei	It becomes abundantly clear as the convoy approaches the blockade that that the lessened presence around the gap in the grid shouldn't be nearly wide enough to allow anything more than a rocket drone, drop pod or a very small ship masquerading as debris through. The coverage is weaker, yes, but as the sensors clear, it becomes apparent that there are no less than three killsats within firing distance, two dozen smart mines within aggro range, and hundreds of defense bots that should be able to pick them up easily with so many large energy signatures. At first it seems as if everything within a certain radius has just been shut off. The jammers certainly aren't covering this sector after all. Descending through the debris field however, treats anyone watching to the sight of laser installations intermittently blast orbiting junk that would otherwise collide with part of the defense grid, thus preserving its operational integrity. It's definitely all still working alright, and yet over half a dozen ships marching straight through it fail to provoke any kind of aggressive response. Some kind of exploit is obviously at work here, but what? The descent through the atmosphere is almost depressing. Where a blanket of pristine white clouds would normally rise up from the black of space and transition into beautiful blue on the other side, nothing but a cloud of greasy chemical mist arises to embrace the ships, blowing fine dust over the viewports, circulated throughout the altered air currents after being kicked off the ground by god knows how many catastrophic mass driver impacts. Said drivers don't appear to be done their job even ten years later, as the burning trail of an artificial comet cuts across the squalid skyline from afar and rumbles cockpits and cabins with the distant impact a full thirty seconds later.
Zwei	The ground below is equal parts typical for a post apocaylptic wasteland, and entirely unexpected. The jagged, dark grey mess of a sizable city can be seen in the distance, surrounding by endless plains of off-brown sand and dirt, no doubt toxic judging by the traces withered foliage that still manages to cling to it against the violent winds. The coordinates lead into what appears to be a forest from a distance, completely out of place on the vista of the wastes, but its nature becomes more apparent as the ships close. A canopy of flexible black solar cells gives way to trunks of copper, iron and crystal and looping vines and shrubs of plastic and ceramic. It certainly looks lively, and even sounds so with the background chitter and chatter of god knows what, but it's clear that nothing strictly alive is anywhere to be seen. Out the boarding ramps, the background radiation is higher than normal, but not a real risk to anyone. The air is breathable without a filter, but it reeks of fumes and strangely organic rot. Beneath the shade of the 'trees', the heat is barely tolerable. Patches of direct sunlight scorch so badly that second degree sunburns are inevitable within minutes without protection, owing to a complete lack of ozone layer. Far, far up above, it seems to be raining, but the precipitation turns to steam miles before reaching the ground. It's only a short walk, but long enough to become sick of the haunting noises that echo out of the darkened nowheres out of sight, and the intermittent sight of piles of animal bones littering the ground. Judging by the decade old skeletons of everything deer to birds to mice, humanity wasn't the only thing that died out during the Fall. For that reason, being suddenly met with what appears to be a solid acre of pristine natural landscape is all the more jarring. Past an infinitsmally thin line, the scorched dirt has given way to healthy, bright green grass. The inorganic foliage disappears entirely, replaced with extinct species of original, Earth based plant life. The air is cleaner than it had been for years before the Fall. Even direct sunlight seems to have dropped to the mid thirties in centigrade. It's an absolutely bizarre sight, ruined only by the fact that the sky overhead is still a mass of tormented, muddy clouds. Signs of activity can be seen at the rough center of the clear zone, surrounding what appears to be some kind of jet black building the size of a small apartment complex.
Nozomi Houken	There is approximately nothing that Nozomi knows about high-tech defense grids, orbital descents, or advanced environmental science. She knows only that she's staying strapped into her seat until the moment they touch down, and then that she will be exiting Kotone's ship as soon as possible. And she knows that what she sees when she steps out, what she smells on the air, is utterly terrifying in its own, silent way. "Th-this... this is /Earth/? It's... how horrible..." She isn't so much 'afraid' as 'downcast' for the short walk they make. Seeing Earth in such a wretched state is an absolute tragedy... and one that makes the sudden transition to more normal terrain and foliage all the more jarring. Taiga remains silent and aloof for the entire time, however; at least until they reach the grass. "I detect no signs of supernatural power," he remarks simply. "This is a work of pure technology, it would seem."
Rory White	"Once it was a beautiful sight. But so much happened..." Rory's emotional the moment she's stepping down on solid ground. Odd indeed some might think, for an AI, but she's clasping both hands together across her chest almost as if praying, shoulders bunched up. Her words are a little shakey and subdued. "How were the satellites disabled? Why are the TITANs not taking advantage of it?" She'd asked earlier. Now though, faced with a 'forest' of artificial power generation and who knows what else, the questions have become, "What sort of technology is this? High-density biomimicry, at a glance. The tree mimicry is very efficient for light-gathering..." Any topic to take her mind off how things were when she LAST stood on the surface is a good thing, really, right? And yet upon crossing that strange threshold... "This can't be right! How.... how...?!" Into the greenergy and foliage she hurries, looking up, down, all around... filled with both wonder and worry in equal parts.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone is glad she's not along in this and she glances back to Nozomi for a moment. She also takes note of her partner as well. They seem to be all right. "I'm starting to learn that, Nozomi." She now goes back to focuing on the path at hand as she takes back over from SAIL. She looks out the main port even as her cyberbrain keeps getting data from her ship as they make thei way towards earth. She keeps an eye on thing and has to wonder about why is there a gap? That almost worires here. Soon they make their way towards the ruined world and she gets her first good look at it. "Good God..." Kotone is left horrifed at the ruin of this alternate world but there's little time to focus on that. It's time to beam down and that's what she's going to do it seems they won't need to teleport as her small ship starts to come in for a landing once the ship's touched down? She moves to get her gear and gesture to her two passengers as she makes for the airlock to get out. She seals the vacsuit up and exits the ship once everything has cycled. She clutched XCOM laser rifle as she moved through the dead zone. Some bones were crushed under food. Then she sees it living biomatter? Which normally would be a happy thing? This makes her go on /edge/ it makes her ask why and how. "I ... I see live plants I don't like this. I'm also not opening up my networks not on this rock."
Staren	The grid isn't destroyed, it's... disabled? Staren wonders if they could take one of the killdrones and analyze what's been done with it... but that's a seperate mission, that will require planning. Attempting it might provoke the wrath of the whole defense grid, and they're not prepared for that. So for now he simply flies past. This... this Earth is far worse off than his own. And a comet or something just went by. "Where'd that come from?!" Staren shouts over the laser comm. There's a metal forest. "Yeah, I'm not going anywhere near /that/." Staren transforms his machine to hybrid mode and flies overhead of the group unless someone gives him a good reason not too. Once they're out of the forest he'll transform it to a 40-foot tall humanoid and walk along with them. "Movement!" The robot kneels, holding up its right arm and opening the gunport for the railgun. Staren tries to zoom in as best he can with his sensors, trying to see /what's/ moving and checking its heat and radio signatures...
Kyra Hyral	"...wow, this place is dead." Kyra says before grasping a syringe off of one of her bandoliers and injecting herself with the contents. Contained therein was a mixture she'd been working on that functioned as a sort of ingestible sunscreen. This way, the atmosphere-lacking world would not turn her ashen skin into painful burns if any of it was unfortunate enough to be exposed. She also waits a few moments to confirm that the outside air is breathable before exiting her ship. When she does exit, Kyra is wearing her camera but in this case, she isn't livestreaming the event out of concern that something might tune in that she doesn't want to tune in. Taking a record of this for the Flotilla just seemed like a good idea. "It's like somebody scooped a live patch of forest and dropped it onto this spot." Kyra remarks, immediately moving forward to take samples of the honest-to-goddess living forest. She takes soil samples as well both inside and outside of the green patch for later comparison.
Starbound Flotilla	The Starbounders emerge from their ships with utmost caution, and rendezvous between them, checking that everyone made it through. They've come suited up in their top of the line survival and combat gear, DURASTEEL SEMI-POWERED ARMOR. Moonfin, the fishman, is in elaborate full-body durasteel armor that looks like a powered cross between a diving suit and a samurai's armor. Biteblade, the humanoid plant, is in durasteel plating with elaborately carved wood and bone ornaments over glowing powered components. Pavo the bird-girl wears a pirate-aesthetic set of mesoamerican-style armor, with bands of energized fabric linking the pieces and powering them. Albert the monkey-man is wearing elaborate dystopian commando armor reconstructed with a 'rebel spy' aesthetic: A sleeker faceplate, a slimmer form, and a more chaotic design that integrates thin, resilient plates of durasteel. George (just plain human) wears a set of futuristic EVA-combat and exploration armor in a suit that glows a gentle blue at the faceplate. Seft, the robotic Flotilla member, is wearing full-on medieval knight armor with a soft energized glow below the plates on her body, and especially around the eyes. They've landed their ships in a little circle here. Nozomi gets a brief laugh from George. "Big blue's a lot more delicate than you'd think, huh? One little nudge and it all goes to shit. You're some kinda defender hero kind of girl, right? Your job is keepin' shit like this from going down." He says, muffled through the EVA helmet, his face simultaneously lit and obscured by an active HUD. "C'mon kid, cheer up. Could be worse. Least the rock's all together, haha!" His goofiness is entirely false Albert sticks close to her, and ideally Kyra and Rory as well, once again insisting on being close to vulnerable parties. "Cyberwarfare results." Albert says, specifically to the lattermost. "Impossible with jamming equipment here. These were meant to be in isolation. Last forever." There's a tense apelike noise. "Zero interface hacking." He doesn't comment further or try to draw more conclusions. Biteblade, the leafy little plant person, is the one who points over. "Look." She says, gesturing at the structure in the center of the zone. "In center, isss probably caussse. We go, look around, look inssside, find out. Only place." Albert nods to her, making a few practiced tactical gestures at her, signaling Biteblade to go scout. "Floran look ahead, report back." She's in her natural environment, a forest, and so her ability to scout ahead and ensure a clear path should be unparalleled. She'll make sure there's a clear way to the structure in the center, and if there is, the Starbounders will immediately be seeking entrances, access points, people, or similar in the vicinity or into the interior.
Zwei	Kyra finds that the soil a millimeter on one side of the line crumbles to dust as soon as she picks it up, making it a pain to even get into a sample container. A millimeter on the other side, it's damp and loamy, giving off the smell of fresh rain when removed. The difference is so startling as to be utterly absurd. It's likely there isn't a single grain of dirt caught halfway between the two extremes. She will also later find that the former is sterile and filled with dormant nanomachines, while the latter has an ideal makeup of organic nutrients and microorganisms for agriculture. Staren finds a little of a dozen heat sources roughly corresponding to human shapes, and a half dozen corresponding to large vehicles of some kind, though the radio signature suggests that all of them are entirely metallic. It's difficult to see through all the trees, but he can make out the shapes of big, bulky, eight wheeled transports resting on the grass a short ways out of the building, with a pair of ordinary looking people in form fitting environment suits standing outside of them in conversation. Neither of them are wearing helmets or masks. Albert's suspicions are almost immediately confirmed by Biteblade. Being of a similar composition to the foliage itself, no sensors pick the floran up, letting them get a close eye on the compound itself. A small crew of people in jumpsuits, vacc clothing, and a handful of sets of combat armour, circulate in and out of the building at its center. Secondary structures have been built all around, made of advanced polymers and plastics, bearing photovoltaic cells and fullerene cables holding a polarized, paper thin AB dome over certain buildings. They comprise a garage, a transmitter station, some kind of commons area, a sensor array, an armory, and two workshops, as well as a variety of fences and automated scanners and defenses. The black tower at the middle is of unmistakably different make. Roughly four storeys in size, it has somehow dropped from orbit without making so much as an inch deep crater. It has absolutely no heat signature at all, as compared to the rest of the facility, broadcasts no recognizable signals of any kind, and appears to be at the exact, geometric center of the green zone. Despite the presence of no additional generators to power any of the equipment, there seem to be no cables connected to it, implying wireless power tranmission. It's all kind of irrelevant however, considering the aesthetic style of its exterior is clearly and obviously of Collective make.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra even has a small 'kit' on her (really just a series of chemicals she uses in a certain order) to make a quick and dirty analysis of the elemental composition of matters. She'd need a go in her lab back at school for something more detailed but it can at least tell her the nutrients present in each of the soil samples. Or soil lack-of sample in the former case. Kyra digs the vial into the dust in order to get the barren soil sample if she needs to. "Hm! Appropriate bacterial life for a forest biome...whoever replicated this here has attention to detail at the very least." Kyra very, very carefully seals the first vial filled with dormant nanomachines. Kyra also swipes some plat matter she can run genetic analysis on later, which would hopefully provide some clues on origin. The white mage moves to join Albert.
Staren	They have /large land vehicles/? "Where the f*** did /trucks/ come from?" Staren's getting what info he can. But then radio discussion postulates that this was set up to attract attention... And Staren's mind immediately makes the connection: IT'S A TRAP! The Star Hawk is still but Staren is looking through his 360-degree sensor feed, frantically looking around for anything out of the ordinary.
Rory White	There's just nothing doing, is there? Nothing left to attempt that hasn't already been attempted. Rory's own opinion of things is rather complex already, too. Collating everyone else's findings is her job more than investigation directly, and the results are breathtaking... All up until the Collective's mentioned. "What would they be doing here?" Of a similar mind to Biteblade, Rory White decides the best course of action is to go say hi! So she hurries across the patch of greenery towards the distant gathering. Her Mesh Inserts come alive but do NOT connect to whatever local wireless there is just yet, but are broadcasting her profile. NAME: Rory White GENDER: Female AFFILIATION: Argonauts, Project Odyssey SPECIES: A.G.I. She has a high supply of R-Rep and has a considerable set of studies on Multiversal worlds published, plus hundreds of contributions to important software repositories. Aside from that, not much else. Of course, broadcasting you're an AGI might rankle some people, but she doesn't seem to be paying this any mind on approach...
Nozomi Houken	Taiga regards Staren with a dubious stare. "Were this a trap for us, we would almost certainly already be under attack. Traps are meant to be subtle." Nozomi, neanwhile, has much more pressing concerns, already voiced to some extent on the radio. If this is Vert's doing, it bodes poorly for this world... or rather, the society that once called it home. Vert isn't given to asking permission, or even listening to concerns. So they have to find out for sure, because if it /is/ her, then no matter how pretty and hopeful this huge tract of life on a lifeless planet is... When Rory starts headed towards the distant gathering, surprisingly enough, so does Nozomi. Even Taiga looks a little surprised before ambling along behind her.
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade leads the charge with Rory and Nozomi, and Albert comes along too, ready at a moment's notice to defend the less resilient people who come along. Biteblade, in their teched up hunter's outfit, doesn't have any appearance of being human, and neither does Albert. George, on the other hand, does, and he comes along too, removing his EVA helmet with a soft hiss and holding it under his arm, cheerfully striding along. Moonfin comes along too, the most diplomatic of the Flotilla, leaving Seft and Pavo behind to guard anyone who's staying back. "Floran greetsss! Not gonna hurt! Hello!" Biteblade calls out to the people at the truck. "You come from ssspace, or you come from dirtrock Earth place? Floran want to underssstand big foressst in dead place!" Moonfin almost immediately tries to shove Biteblade aside verbally. "Greetings to you, humans. Whatever your circumstances, you seem quite lucky. We mean no harm, and will leave your oasis immediately if necessary." His Hylotl empathy and diplomacy ought to make this easier to deal with, especially with a regular old normal human right next to him. If there's not an immediate obstruction, Moonfin will immediately try to negotiate some way to meet with whoever local leaders or individuals meant to handle reception for the curious might be.
Zwei	If Staren's waiting until something swoops in to try and kill him, he's going to be waiting for an awful long time. His sensors pick up plenty of movement in the TITAN made forests beyond the boundary established by the black tower, but none of it is venturing within 300 meters, as if that portion of the landscape simply doesn't exist. Of course, the main group charging on ahead trips the sensor net these Reclaimers have established around their compound, but the only member among them that would resemble a threatening 'native' would be Taiga, and the Gensou Engine doesn't match any known energy signatures, so the only alert they trip is a silent one over the area's mesh network. The guns don't bother to track them. The Reclaimers get Rory's profile broadcast first, which is probably for the best, as that gives them time to communicate and gather to greet the group. A handful of workers carrying extremely large objects hurry off to their respective destinations as someone exits from the central tower, flanked on both sides by armed men. He has the general appearance of an extremely generic man in his mid thirties, with features so plain and forgettable one would be hard pressed to remember them an hour later. It's a dead giveaway for a low cost, off-the-shelf synthetic body, as is the faint whirring the workings of his legs make as he walks out to meet them. It's an odd sticking point, as his escort is outfitted like hypercorp elite soldiers; the kind of resources this group shouldn't have access to. Rory is privy to his own profile in response, loaded with an absolutely staggering amount of e-rep and r-rep; that is, digital social currency indicating top authority status in ecological research circles. He greets the group with a bow so excessively formal it might come off as a little bit ironic. "Far from it! We had some advance warning that others might be showing up. Anyone with peaceful intentions and an interest in our homeworld is welcome here! Anthony Cereza. A pleasure to meet you." He waves off the armed escort, who meander over to the garages where something is being loaded onto two of the heavy transports. "I assure you, all of us here are old enough to remember this 'dirtrock'. What it used to be, anyways. What it still might become. I hadn't expected to see an Argonaut and multiversals here however. Were you contacted by our benefactor?"
Staren	Some dude comes out and talks. That's... the last thing Staren expected. He didn't expect it, really. He expected at worst an ambush, and at best people scrambling to hide whatever they're doing here. Staren looks around during the speech. Still nothing on his sensors. Is this legit? ...Could his sensors be being zero hacked? Could his /body/? The others would say if they saw something, right? No, if his eyes and ears are hacked... Okay, calm down Staren. It's probably not going that far. If it is, you're so doomed anyway. The Star Hawk's cockpit opens. Staren climbs out. He's in his combat robot body, armored... but he decides not to show that he can fly. His visor retracts, showing the human face as he walks up, stopping alongside Rory. "Your benefactor. Who /is/ your benefactor, anyway?"
Nozomi Houken	It's at this point that Nozomi realizes that she's taken steps forward to speak with new people. It's the funniest thing, but at some point she's managed to shift so that she's got Rory safely in front of her and slightly to one side. She can peek around, but is thus protected. "...Nozomi," she replies to their greeting. "Nozomi Houken." The mechatiger, on the other hand, ambles up beside Rory outright and sits down, greeting with a simple, "You may call me TIGER." Staren has already asked the most important question to open with, however, so for now Nozomi and Taiga both remain silent.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is not sure what to think about this place other than it's dead. She looks about at the diffence in the ruined land and what's not ruined. Kotone is very much edge now about this and she says little at this point and only watches for the moment as she checks over things as she wonder what hte heck this place is. And then they now hook up with the Recliamers Kotone seems to be very wary of the tgroup as she looks them over for a moment. "I see, I'm Kotone Yamakawa. Pardon out alarm on this Anthony." She tilts her head and smirks a little bit at him. "Multiveral here and no we caught wind of this and thought to see what was going on."
Rory White	"News travels quickly." Rory replies, smiling and returning the bow. "We might've. I did poke around about it and we were provided with the coordinates! Whoever has managed this wonder deserves much praise!" Her eyes are wide and full of zesty life. In a certain animation style there might be stars in them! "Rory White, Argonaut Infosec specialist. Allow me to introduce Staren," She gestures to the catboy-scientist, then to Kotone... "Kotone Yamakawa... and let's see, you're much better at this than I am!" She peers meaningfully at Albert and Biteblade. Yeah maybe the Flotilla should introduce themselves! "The technology on display here is something else! ... So you can certainly guess what my main interests are here." Of course. The Argonauts would love to have open Source far-future tech for everyone...
Starbound Flotilla	Moonfin answers the bow with a bow of his own, though it's a lot less deep. "It is our pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cereza. I am Moonfin of the Starbound Flotilla. We have some... Contact, very indirectly, with them, but we do wish to know what you know of them, or what you know of them that you would be willing to tell a traveller of course. I would also be quite interested in hearing what your objective is here, and perhaps some of how far you've gone towards it. It is my hope that perhaps you may have intentions that we might find ourselves wishing to assist; a traveller finds home where he is needed, and the work you have wrought so far is an improvement over the wastes and dust." He then looks very critically at the trees. They remind him of a Floran takeover. "Could do with more bodies of water, though." He says, with the tone of an art critic. George speaks up briefly. "Yeah, don't gotta spill all your secret shit or whatev', just wanna know what's up with forest-in-a-can over here, huh?" He jerks a thumb at the large structure, still keeping casual despite the incredibly serious business afoot. Albert grunts. "Whatever briefing you can be reasonably expected to provide will suffice." "Introductions, please, introductions! Don't be rude." Moonfin says, gesturing critically to the others. Seft and Pavo are already arriving now that it's been confirmed that this seems entirely legitimate. Each Starbounder introduces themselves very quickly and concisely with their name and affiliation with the Flotilla.
Kyra Hyral	"...it doesn't actually seem like a trap." Kyra asides to anyone within earshot before she eventually moves into the forest to catch up with the others that have gone. She'll take additional samples as she moves in, though not so many that it holds up her trek into the curated woods. She arrives alongside Seft and Pavo, seeing Anthony for the first time. She too provides an introduction, "Kyra, white mage, future doctor." She resists the urge to add, 'completely biological' to that.
Zwei	Anthony greets each person in turn as they are introduced, or introduce themselves, by name. Strangely, he doesn't flinch in the slightest at the TIGER unit, almost definitely assuming him to be a sophisticated synthmorph from somewhere local, and only just barely makes note of the sight of the floran, hyotl and apex. Physical appearance is almost entirely irrelevant in this world. For all he knows, they were all locally grown. Pavo and Seft only get looks when they deign to arrive, though the glitch's 'vintage' appearance does get an eyebrow quirk at such odd taste. "I'm always happy to meet people who have interest in our work. It does my heart well that the reclamation initiative is gaining so much traction these days, as much as the Planetary Consortium might wish otherwise." He shakes his head at the obvious question, laughing quietly. "I wish I could tell you myself! Whoever they are, they have an exceptionally large inner system bank account and the highest rep score I've ever seen, so for now we're going on the assumption they're a dummy account set up by a hypercorp, or a few of them working together. Terragenesis seems like the most likely candidate, considering their possession of the Vulcanoid Pandora Gate, but I'm not sure why they'd risk antagonizing the Lunar Lagrange Alliance. For our multiversal visitors, that is we believe it to be a proxy set up by the company in charge of terraforming mars, using reverse engineered alien technology, set up under the nose of the inner-system government." Good of him to clarify, because it'd all be gibberish otherwise. "Of course, there are the inevitable rumors that they might be a friendly Seed AI of some kind, but I'd apply Occam's Razor first." Next he gestures to the expanse of green, a note of ethusiastic pride in his voice. "Isn't it marvelous? For the past decade we've been launching missions in and out of the blockade, surveying our home; its climate, its geography, the remnants left behind, all for the purposes of seeing if it can be saved. In all of our lobbying, we've estimated the sustainable population to be two hundred thousand after a century of terraforming, but whatever breakthrough they've made, we've set down right outside of Washington only ten years after a dirty nuclear strike and terraformed this in a /day/! Can you believe it?" "Admittedly, we haven't had much more than basic instructions on how it all works. As far as we can tell, all of this was fabricated atomically after we uploaded our genetic databank to the central computer, though it hasn't let out a single nanomachine as far as we can tell. The fabbers inside work no matter what we put in them. We shovelled dirt into them and printed the parts to make everything you see here! Hostile nanoswarms can't cross the outer boundary, and the headhunters just seem to avoid the place. It seems to have a limited area it can maintain at one time, but our benefactor has promised a mass production if we can recover something for them. It's been easier said than done however. Though it's perfectly safe here, going outside is still exceedingly dangerous. We're at no risk of running out of new bodies to sleeve into, and we have an egocaster here to receive backups from anyone who dies on excursions, but we've had to wait for blueprints for heavier weapons to make further progress. Our benefactor instructed us how to turn on the bots in the basement, but honestly we're a little reluctant to turn them on."
Nozomi Houken	"It... might be an AI, actually," comes the soft reply from Nozomi. She steps out a little from behind Rory, leaving her and Albert's protection just enough to properly converse. "This technology... i-it's not from this worl.. this solar system. Neither are most of us. It's multiversal." She folds her hands in front of herself and ducks her head, instinctively shying away from a conversation that bears just vague resemblances to a confrontation... and yet, the tiny little schoolgirl forces herself to continue. "I-it's... from someone called 'The Collective'. The last time we saw it, i-it was trying to kill most of us... it attacked me at school, even. I had to... my classmates were in danger, I had to protect them." There's a little fidget, but she raises her head enough to look at Anthony directly. "...we... we need to know, if the name 'Vert' has ever come up. I-in relation to your benefactor, I mean..."
Starbound Flotilla	"One day?" Moonfin's three eyes just about pop out of his skull. This would have been something he'd expect would be growing for weeks, months, maybe years! He shakes his head swiftly though. "I've come to the understanding of this. It is the product of all my wisdom to say that the best one could do now would be to 'go with the flow' in a sense, and to recognize that you are clearly part of a winning team on the cutting edge. Please, Mr. Cereza: What have they asked you to retrieve, that would earn such wonders? If you are uncomfortable with performing excursions on your own, the Starbound Flotilla may assist you, should your objective be appropriate and should you have the appropriate materials of payment. Our rates are quite generous, and we are capable soldiers, engineers, and survivors of such destruction." And there's also the fact that Moonfin wants to find out more about this operation, and the best way to do that is to get his foot in the door /helping/ it. Seft beeps and speaks up in a synthetic feminine monotone, while one eye on her display is halved, giving her a confused expression like raising an eyebrow. "Curious. Please provide additional data regarding the machines you have been provided and your concerns about them, if it is not intrusive to seek such data." She has flipped her medieval mask up to fully expose her eye-visor, which now displays a wireless signal, indicating that she'll also accept wirelessly-provided data on their imagery or specs, and holoproject it in front of the group. Walking all the way to the basement would be really inconvenient, probably!
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is admittly very concerned about a technological cousin to the Flith getting lose into the multiverse. She does also think if it can be reclaiemd it's a good idea. She looks to them for a moment and tilts her head. "Aside form the Titan issues? Their concerns are likely about losing control." Megacorps are Megacorps no matter what you call them right? She seem to relaxt a little bit as she listens to what they have to say. She's on guard but she's also being careful, who knows who are baking these people. The Reclaimers might not be any threat intentionally but their unknown backer? Who knows. She shoulders her weapon at this point as she listens. "I seems your well set up for the moment. I don't doubt you on that given the bots who knows whtthey might do."
Staren	Staren wonders what to tell them. For once, he's /not/ the one to decide to just tell people. Well, that makes things easier for him. He nods. "The last time we saw technology like this... It was trying to /kill/ several of us and our friends. And most Multiversals /don't have stacks/." He pauses for a couple of seconds to let that sink in. "Drones were sent after us that hacked my armor, hacked my implants, and attempted a forced upload on Kotone here. We've seen them massacre the personnel of another earth's missile base trying to start a nuclear war. We've seen them attack a city without provocation." He looks between the reclaimers and his allies. "...But, it's true that Vert isn't the only Armiger out there. We have met a much friendlier one, although she was more reluctant to share technology... I can confirm zero interface hacking and atomic-scale matter reassembly among their capabilities, singularities used for energy storage, and energy weapons that punch through armor and forcefield alike and can channel immense power in a portable space." Staren points at the building. "That looks like the collective's aesthetic, as well, though that's much weaker evidence. I just..." he scratches his head. "You can see how we're concerned, what they might want here. What they might be trying to do. This feels like a trap of some sort, but on the other hand, if it's above-board..." He looks around. "Reclaiming this planet would be wonderful. And it may even be possible that even if it is Vert, she has wholely beneficial intentions towards you, even though we've only seen destruction from her so far. The armigers are AIs from another universe, who knows what they're thinking for sure?" He shrugs. "In short... we just want you to know what might be going on, so we can all take appropriate action to find out what /is/ going on. Surely there is /a/ price too high for this technology..." He scratches his chin. "/Although/, now that we know it can be done, we might be able to find other ways to obtain it, even in the worst case." He wonders if Zwei could be persuaded to make things like this. "...Could we take a look at those bots in the basement you mentioned?"
Rory White	"All of that?! ... Done by this one installation? If it's weapons you're looking for why not use the open source ones?" Rory's so assailed with questions and trying to answer that she's doing them out of order! Essentially, this all has her head spinning. It shows. She makes a weird face, expressiona ll contorted... then more calmly with her head bowed slightly, "For Collective technology, the fabrication facility appears to utilize quantum manipulation as much as nanotechnology, so it's no wonder simple soil is sufficient! Where it's getting the energy I cannot say... but all of that?! ... It's rather like a miracle to hear, and here I am seeing it!" She's excited alright! But the more excited she gets... The more worried she gets. And that's showing too. "My only concern is that since the technology is unknown and dependent on a promise, this can't be effectively put under Transhumanity's control. It's my belief that the technology came from none of those organizations because Earth is the last place anything this sophisticated would be deployed first! This entire arrangement could collapse at any time, leaving everyone stranded..."
Zwei	Anthony regards Nozomi with a look that is ill at ease, but not all that startled, as if reluctantly hearing something that might have occurred to him already. "I can't say that name has ever come up. Our Benefactor has forwarded no identity or code name, likely to avoid potential consequences of openly supporting the Reclaimers in violation of the Planetary Consortium's standing orders. I wouldn't be terribly surprised that this technology originates from outside of this world, but at the same time, I can't automatically accept that it comes from the same person." He looks to Staren briefly. "If it's true that there is more than one person in possession of this equipment, I think it's entirely possible that someone else entirely has forwarded it to us, or even failing that, that the same person has completely different intentions here. All evidence suggests this platform is entirely autonomous. If they had meant to do us harm, they would have plenty of chance to do so. I apologize for any misfortune you may have suffered through, but even if this is the doing of this 'Vert', we personally have no reason to go against them, and every reason to give them the benefit of a doubt. It's an unfortunate reality that help rarely comes from people without their own private interests. We wouldn't have half of these blueprints if certain hypercorps didn't think they could make a profit off of this venture." For an environmental activist, he's certain practical; perhaps even cutthroat. It seems unlikely someone would get this far in this world without that particular quality. He seems a little more pleased to reply to the Starbound. "They've been a little scarce on the details! We all have guidance beacons, and they all seem to point to somewhere in the ruins of central Washington, but getting there has been exceedingly difficult! We lost all the biomorphs we came here with to a nanoplague cloud that swept in halfway there. Necrotic supercancers. Nasty business. Strictly synthmorphs from here. They've assured us that we'll know it when we see it, assuming we ever get there. We're willing to keep trying, especially after we get some reinforcements from the Titanian Commonwealth." He seems a little caught off guard by the request to see the 'security bots'. "By all means. I'll send Kavo notice you'll be going downstairs." He steps aside to let anyone who desires through. Finally to Rory "All the more reason I'd like to see more of it! We've already made multiple backups off planet with dead switches in case this goes south, don't worry. Even if we don't ever learn the secrets of how these things work though, and they all get taken away some day, I feel like having a green Earth left behind will have been worth it."
Nozomi Houken	"I... I understand," Nozomi replies to Anthony, lowering her head again. "I just..." Taiga finally seems to take pity on her. Forcing out so many words in a short span of time is rough on the poor girl. "My user wishes to urge caution. You are correct in that this may not be Vert's work. If it is not, we have no way to gauge intentions of the originator. If it is, then I can personally confirm that Vert would be quite willing to help until and unless you found something distasteful about the help she offered. At which point she would become... insistent." Nozomi gives the robotiger a grateful look. He stands up properly again, tail flicking, and turns his head towards the tower in the middle - as if speaking to it just as much as he's speaking to Anthony. "My user and I are willing to provide assistance to you and your people in advancing your goals, if it will benefit your Earth. Quiet and distrustful though she may be, she's altruistic in nature. This also allows us to remain close by, in case things should turn out as we fear and we are required to defend you. And if they don't, then I assure you Nozomi Houken will be nothing but pleased."
Staren	When Rory wonders where it's getting the energy, Staren tilts his head. "Are you kidding? It takes my mech's fusion reactors /hours/ to charge the singularity power cell inside something the size of a /man-portable rifle/." He nods at the building. "That thing could hold a /huge/ power supply." He sighs and nods at Anthony's stance on their benefactor. "Of course. We're just asking that you keep this in mind, should later events supply more evidence that... has more meaning in light of what we've told you." Frustrating, but it's all they can ask for right now. Staren is... surprised that the Reclaimers are willing to let them inside so readily. What if this were all a ruse to get inside and blow everything up? If Collective tech is involved, /can/ everything be blown up?
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa looks ot Anthony for a moment listneing to what he's got to say about it. "I understand Anthony. I also get you want to get your home back. Nearly lost mine when I was a child and idiots started tossing nukes about for a bit." Sh notges she's honesly sympathic to Anthony's plight she also seems ot be relacing a little bit. "So it could have come through a chain of people, I get it. I see where they re going too at least we're on the ground? It is true if Earth is even cleared out of the dangers even if it's still an echological mess it would shake things up a lot here wouldn't it. I'm from North America myself and it's chilling to see Chicago like this. Your wise to not get attached to the tools as well. Look I'm willing to offer my help in this venture as well." The idea it's a trap is possible but they have to risk it right? "Well if your willing we can take a look. I am a mechanic though likely a bit primative by your standards."
Starbound Flotilla	Moonfin nods again, mentally noting the location. "I understand. If you will provide us with the details of the guidance beacons, we will be happy to attempt a retrieval of our own. I understand we are an unfamiliar organization for you; we will require no payment up-front, and have our own methods of protection." Not exactly, but at least they're good at rigging up some kind of protection on their own in the time between now and when they'd launch an excursion! "As you can see, some of our allies and associate members may also be willing to make the attempt." Seft is the one who leads the group on to go see the robots. "Polite. Thank you, Mr. Cereza, I promise that we will only be a moment. I just want to understand your reluctance in detail." Ideally the whole group will move on inside with her, and hopefully Anthony too. She's going to head on in, if guides appropriately. The group has mostly worked out their next course of action, and so taking a look at the tech inside seems like a good idea before they try to trudge back to their ships...
Rory White	Rory beams a smile. "I'm in possession of a a small piece of Collective technology, though it hasn't proven very useful. A single arm from a fabricator recovered from a massive automated starship. Given carbon and power it produces a fullerene far more complex than our current metamaterial technology, but I've had no luck at all deducing how it accomplishes this or reproducing it. Once I've finished my studies it'll be turned over to a more specialized scientist!" And she's eager to do that. "Your prudence is relieving. I'm very worried about what the Collective's technology might mean if employed like this. Consider this: the satellite defense was rendered harmless. This is something nobody's been able to do. If the impenetrable defense field can be so easily neutralized, no system in the solar system is safe. We are dealing with a technology level that makes ours inconsequential. It's very dangerous..." Of course, anyone with common sense would know that... She glances around at the others though, and suggests, "If we used the ships for a low-level flight, we could be there very quickly. Provided we don't encounter any nanoswarms or TITANs..."
Zwei	Anthony finally smiles at Taiga. "I'm happy to hear that. From all of you. I know they're not the most transparent of circumstances, but at this point, after coming this far, I'd rather not look into the gift horse's mouth /too/ closely. In this line of work, you have to accept that you'll be left in the dark at some points. Admittedly, if they have all the technology they claim, I can't imagine what they'd want on this planet of all things, or why they'd want us to recover it specifically." He hands a chip the size of a sequin over to Moonfin, and then forwards what data he has to Seft from his mesh inserts, which admittedly isn't much, before nodding solemnly to Rory. An Argonaut would know that, after all. The inside of the structure is significantly different from the interior of the small number of examples the multiverse has seen thusfar. Clearly retrofitted for human habitation, there are bright lights (coming from somewhere at least), exterior view panels (in lieu of windows), visible instrumentation (even if it is all holographic), and other wonderful amenities (such as stairs and doors). It's still a little too bleak and black to want to live in, but it's easy enough to navigate. It's anyone's guess what is upstairs, but the floor plan is open enough to make it clear that the ground floor is for manufacturing. Going down the stairs around the perimeter implies that the thing goes a floor or two into the ground, despite the lack of apparent impact crater from outside. The central portion of the bottom half is all walled in and closed off, with no instrument panels at all and a construction clearly meant to discourage tampering, making it most likely where the reactor is housed. The only person there leaves as soon as the group arrives, making no eye contact on the way out, leaving them in a two-tiered circular array of holding pods. The walls depolarize as people approach, turning transparent to reveal the compact, neatly folded forms inside of them, all sharp edges and organic curves like most-modern sculpture. None of them are models anyone has seen previously, meaning the only way to ascertain their specific function would be to ask Zwei, but they're quite clearly Arma. The panels outside each pod give no real information on their specs, only their dimensions. At a rough estimate, the place is housing a large Company of automated soldiers; not enough to storm Washington by force, but easily enough to slaughter a Consortium military detachment sent to try and take the outpost.
Staren	Staren takes in the odd Amiger-designed-for-human aesthetic, and then sighs at the robots. It's about how many he expected, maybe a bit more. Of course, he has no idea about their capabilities or even if they're intended for combat. Of course, at the Collective's tech level, even the weapons you put on science observation bots might be pretty fearsome. "...Alright. Let's take a look around upstairs, shall we?" He turns to head back up, searching for someone to ask for permission to check out the upstairs.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa enters in with the rest of the party now she does honestly wonder about things here. She can understand where the recliamers are coming from too. She keeps an eye on all the holographic displays and such as she heads down into the depths of the place. She's going to go down anc check ou the drones that are downstairs. She does take a good look over the bots she keeps an eye out for the scout model that ghost hacked her. She's wary as heck about that, right? She does seem to clearly know the tech base from her reaction. She says nothing however. "Right lets head up and see what's there." <<Staren? Rory? Those are Arma all right to be sure. Enough to hold this place but not much else. Man I'm just thinking about what Zwei said about how her people would handle this system. Under cutting the corps was one of the methods.>> With that Kotone is heading upstairs.
Nozomi Houken	Seeing the Arma of such different design to what she's encountered, Nozomi can't help but shiver. It's intimidating in that she knows what they are, and creepy besides for the designs in and of themselves. Taiga remarks a simple, "Interesting," before looking at Staren with a very humanlike nod of agreement. "I am curious as well. Nozomi?" The girl nods quietly. She's glad to have any reason to not be down here now.
Starbound Flotilla	Moonfin accepts the data, as does Seft. Albert comes in just after the robo-princess does, scowling at the interior due to his own history with places like this almost as much Moonfin scowls at its aesthetic offensiveness. The monkeyman focuses on examining the soldiers, assessing the area. Seft and Moonfin are the ones who leave him to this, letting him form his own assumptions and and conclusions. They head upstairs with the others; Moonfin in particular has interest in this sort of terraforming technology, so he'd love to take a look at whatever quantum shenanigans are involved in this sort of mass reconstruction.
Rory White	When Rory sees the hibernating Arma over her link with Kotone, she shivers. "I am very unhappy with having these here and not necessarily under anyone's real control." She states bluntly. Zwei's explanatons of the Collective are more than enough reason to get all rankled, that's for sure! "Well, the outcome's of top interest to me! ... But never let your guard down, Mister Cereza. Not that I need to say that given our location." Her expresion turns a bit apologetic. Yeah, stating the obvious. She's apparently good at that.
Zwei	Without a good idea of how the technology works, it's a little difficult to tell what everything does, especially when a lack of size constraints lets everything fit together without any obvious need for means to physically manipulate it. As far as anyone can tell, the Arma in the basement aren't even powered, which means that they aren't able to receive remote activation commands; or at least it appears that way on the surface. It seems somewhat likely that they really have been left to the discretion of the Reclaimers, though there's no guarantee that won't change if they're activated. The ground floor is mostly taken up by fabricators hooked into a central computational column that runs up the center of the facility like a spine, though they bear only passing similarity to what Rory and Staren are used to, only recognizable by the blueprints still left on the projected screens of many of them. Their functions are being abused to the fullest with the amount of rare and expensive components being produced. The second floor is a little more difficult to determine the purpose of, but it appears to be the main data input center for the functions of so called 'terraforming'. A great number of locally built computers have been moved in and set up to form a local mesh network, deliberately isolated with the public mesh outside for well-advised safety concerns. It doesn't seem as if the Reclaimers have had much of an active say in how anything has been placed, simply selecting the appropriate flora and microfauna and allowing the machine to crunch the mathematics. It's clear that nothing has been actually grown or cloned; rather, living organisms have been fabricated wholesale from subatomic components, leading to some vaguely alarming implications. It seems as if the module could have built a castle or a starship as easily as a forest. There's no real indication of why the maximum radius of control halts so abruptly. The third floor appears to be the resleeving facility. It's difficult to even ascertain where the receiver for transmitted backups actually is within the floor plan, but there are a large number of human sized canisters wirelessly connected to it nevertheless, all of which appear to be occupied with reserve synthmorphs; robotic bodies used for the purpose of practicality and effectiveness. At the very least, the format the technology is being employed in is very close to local standards, and likely easily understood with some analysis. The fourth and final floor is some kind of sensor array and observatory, though the scope of it is a little alarming. The displays indicate that the facility has a full map of the entire blockade circling the entire planet, though whether it had acquired it earlier or is somehow aware of it in real time is difficult to say. Which defenses are being neutralized seems to be controlled from here as well, and it appears to have the capability to intercept communications from low orbit and provide advanced warning of anything approaching the planet. All in all, it's a very well equipped forward command station. Were its own schematics accessible by the fabricators, one could theoretically copy it over and over again, exponentially multiplying across the surface of the planet. To that end, it certainly seems like repurposed and retrofitted military hardware, designed to establish footholds on hostile worlds and manufacture an occupation force on the ground. It can be conjectured that one of these would normally have access to anti-orbital weapons, but that addition seems to have been purposefully left out, though for what reason is anyone's guess. Essentially, the Reclaimers could operate the outpost essentially indefinitely, and if the Consortium can even find it, they'll have an extremely difficult time taking it out. It's precisely the foot in the door that they need.