2023-11-03: Into the Global

• Log: Into the Global
• Cast: Alto Saotome, Ruri Hoshino, Rita Bernal, Riika Sheder, Rin Naujakaite, Sheryl Nome, Trevor Teach, Ranka Lee
• Where: Gallia IV
• OOC - IC Date: 3rd November 0097
• Summary: A team of volunteers are the first to enter the SDFN-4 Global to see if its safe and find answers about the fate of the 117th Research Fleet.

---

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        The still form of the SDFN-4 Global has been looming on the horizon,
 bathed in the eternal dusk ever since the expedition arrived. However, despite
 being the most obvious source of potential insights into what happened here,
 it has yet to be explored. This is due to the uncertain integrity of the large
 Macross's frame. Even from the expedition camp, the green of countless vines
 and plant life can be seen growing over and through the giant. Even military
 grade space armor is no match for nature given enough time.

        Of course, the Global has not been left alone all this time. Remote
 drones and other devices have been used to inspect it, determining the
 feasibility of entering for salvaging purposes. Finally, the results came
 back: It's marginally safe. Though not one hundred percent guaranteed. Still,
 it's enough to authorize a scouting mission into the large vessel. One that
 will confirm the safety of the Global's interior, before the various other
 teams of engineers and scientists can go.

        So basically, guinea pigs!

        This team of guinea pigs-erm-fearless explorers are shuttled up from
 the expedition camp to one of the decks of the ships that make up the
 Macross's arms. According to remote mapping, access can be gained there, with
 a path leading further into the ship. An emergency generator has also been
 carried up to the Global by a pair of VFs, which are currently working on
 plugging it in.

        The scouting team is being organized remotely by the Macross Quarter,
 its chief operator, Monica Lang providing assistance over the radio. She
 explains, <"The emergency generator will power the Global's systems enough for
 basic things like doors and computer terminals. Just don't try to have the
 ship take off, or fire its main cannon. It probably won't work.">

        The team can hear the generator activating and sure enough, a number of
 exterior lights begin to flash across the frame of the giant robot they are
 all standing on.

        Monica continues, <"You should be able to pass through most access
 hatches and doors now. You've all been given master codes for the ship, should
 you need them to get into restricted areas or terminals. The first objective
 is to head for the ship's bridge. Unfortunately due to the damage, you may not
 be able to take the most direct route, so you'll have to feel your way
 through. We're also not sure about the state of the elevators in the ship, but
 I imagine most aren't working. So you'll have to use stairwells. Good luck!
 We'll be here if you need us.">

        Alto is of course one of the guinea pigs on this mission and he has
 come equipped with his military model EX-Gear. You never know when a powered
 exoskeleton suit with wings, a jetpack and giant rifle might come in handy!

        Case in point, as Alto tries the nearby access hatch into the ship,
 it's a bit stuck. The frame apparently warped by years of weather and plant
 growth. But some application of power armor assisted elbow grease forcefully
 opens the hatch with a screeching of metal. See? He's helping!

        Entering into the ship, the interior corridors aren't too bad. The
 atmosphere feels a little damp, likely a result of considerable moisture
 buildup from weather and plant life. Speaking of, the various vines seen
 running across the ship's exterior are all throughout the interior too,
 clinging to walls, ceilings and floors alike. They don't seem dangerous
 though, so are mostly just a tripping hazard.

        According to the map that has been provided to everyone, the path ahead
 is rather straight for now as they need to make their way from the giant
 robot's 'arm' and into the chest proper, before they can get to the bridge in
 its head.

        As Alto begins to stomp through the corridor in his power armor, he
 cautions the rest of the team, "Try not to wander off on your own. It could be
 dangerous for you to be alone in this place."

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        Millions of gilla in investments does not a guinea pig make, and so
 Ruri Hoshino is not in the current party.

        Not... directly.

        No: Archimedes, Ruri's silver Haro, rolls along behind Alto in his
 power suit. She comes to a stop, and pops up a communication window -- where
 Ruri's seated, at the controls of the Nadesico. "Please let me know if you
 encounter any stubborn code," she says. "With Archimedes as a direct
 intermediary, I should be able to negotiate."

        "Negotiation! Negotiation!" Archimedes echoes, flapping her little
 wing-flaps.

        "I'm relying on you to keep Archimedes safe, Alto-san," Ruri adds, dry.
 "She's an important friend of mine." She's a robot! Apparently robots are
 Ruri's friends, though. At least Archimedes is able to roll along without
 getting in anyone's way; she's not terribly large.

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

As perhaps the least killable of the expedition, Rita has decided to join them.
 While she can only manifest here in her spiritual form, she's still capable of
 using her Newtype abilities, and she's instructed the Phenex to hover just
 outside. Should anything go wrong, Rita will do her best to protect the living.

...and beyond duty to her friends, Rita's been curious of the silent, giant
 Macross since they first arrived at Gallia IV. Something inside feels like
 it's calling to her.

It's Newtype stuff. Not to worry.

Perhaps in contrast to the rest of her companions, Rita has manifested herself
 in a simple khaki dress. Really, it's better suited to a day-safari than
 exploring an unknown spacecraft -- but she's happy with it. That's what
 matters.

Trevor, would you please tell everyone I can scout ahead if they want me to?
 Walls can't stop me. Or elevators.

The Newtype spirit hovers beside her loved one, feet a few inches off the
 ground. She is untouched by moisture and weather, but finds the trailing plant
 growth just a bit spooky. Rita scuffs her illusory foot at a vine growing
 across the pathway, igniting the poor plant with prismatic fire. Archimedes
 needs a clear path to roll down! It burns away to the walls, but no further.
 Rita doesn't want to cause a wildfire.

Is there stuff you want to try and pirate here? It seems like anything would be
 covered in gross mold...

<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.

Riika Sheder...

...actually is one of those engineers! But she's also qualified for active,
 dangerous duty, and that means putting her in the scouting team is a sensible
 idea. It means that the crew going in has some on-hand technical support if
 they need it, and it means that she can mark locations of interest for the
 more specialized scientists and engineers.

So here she is!

There's no EX Gear for her. Riika has a normal suit, slightly reinforced with a
 more rigid chestpiece and shoulders, with a helmet in the strange, lumpy style
 that ZAFT prefers. There are no ZAFT insignias or rank markers, though. Her
 helmet currently has the clear faceplate closed to seal it, and underneath it
 Riika is wearing not her usual glasses but a bigger, more securely fastened
 visor that more effectively conceals her eyes.

Riika also has a gun. Just in case. It's a machine pistol, and she doesn't pay
 it much mind. She's way more interested in the other gear she brought; tools
 and scanners and a few other odds and ends.

"And if there's something she *can't* negotiate with," Riika says, brightly, "I
 can probably get it open." Archimedes is all well and good, but Archimedes
 does not (as far as Riika knows) have opposable thumbs, a set of mechancial
 tools, or a laser cutter, and Riika has all three of those with her.

She has been looking somewhat uncomfortably at Rita as she... walks? floats?
 along. "Please don't burn it," Riika says, a little uncertain of exactly how
 to address a ghost. "We don't know if it will react to it, or if it's safe to
 breathe afterwards." That's why she's got her faceplate down. She's not on
 local air.

<Pose Tracker> Rin Naujakaite has posed.

DURING THE TRANSIT,

Several individuals in the group have been equipped with EVA-grade normal suits
 - no, that doesn't mean they have the benefit of the AT Field, it just means
 they are going to be somewhat armored and have headlamps!

"I... shall keep that in mind," Louis Lioncourt answers Monica.

"I doubt she's listening," Sam Crowley responds.

And at the end of the bench, RIN NAUJAKAITE is putting her helmet on. Whistling
 tunelessly to herself, she comments, "That EX-Gear is pretty premium. I wonder
 why they don't use those in the infantry."

"There are tens of thousands of persons in every infantry division," protests
 Louis. "The sheer logistical expense would be overwhelming, and imagine if we
 were all so equipped!"

"It would be pretty cool," Sam grudgingly admits.

ANYWAY:

"Wow, that's sick," says Rin as they move into the wreck of the Global. She's
 looking at Archimedes. "So that's just all a custom frame...? I mean it makes
 sense for the platform I'm just kinda surprised that it is like, such an
 original shape." A beat or two passes. "You know, for Scorn--"

("Ugh, the robot friends," Sam complains quietly.)

"-- I used that open-source HarOS from back in '82 to build up -- oh, yeah,
 we'll definitely be able to get through bulkheads."

(While they didn't get issued laser cutters, this teenage team did get given
 some basic implements of destruction.)

"If these vines are growing," Rin comments to Riika, "it can't be that bad.
 Actually, like... does the plant life here have like light zones they live in?
 Since light conditions are going to be kind of fixed... Haha, unless those
 Polygon guys stopped the planet's rotation, somehow!"

"That's impossible," complains Sam.

"I hope," she adds a second or two later.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        Sheryl doesn't know if this particular leg of the expedition will yield
 much of interest to her, but you never know what might make inspiration
 strike, so she's helping out anyway. Not in person, because she's no guinea
 pig*, but on the bridge of the Nadesico with Ruri. She's taken over Megumi's
 seat. Apparently the Galactic Fairy is the Nadesico's new comms officer.
        
        She isn't much interested in the station, though, even if she is seated
 there. Instead, she's smiling as she leans her chin on one hand as she admires
 the comms window, courtesy of Archimedes, projected not just at Ruri's station
 but also on the big screen in front. It has an excellent view of Alto from
 behind.
        
        "So make sure you do a good job~," she lilts to Alto of protecting
 Archimedes, at least using her own station to send out her message. Sheryl
 glances at Ruri and, if she catches her eye, winks. "No one will forgive you
 if you make Ruri sad!"
        
        She's joking, but also, she's just factually correct.
        
        Her eyebrows rise, smile startling off her face, as some of the
 greenery catches on iridescent fire--Sheryl can't see Rita in this state--but
 Riika fortunately indicates it didn't just happen out of the blue. "What she
 said! Cutting those vines down is probably smarter," she comments.
        
        She has no idea about light zones or how plants grow in or out of them,
 so Rin's question sadly goes unanswered.
        
        * Somewhere in the universe, Grace O'Connor smiles.

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

A ghost ship? Full of untold treasures? And even more untold dangers!? Which
 has gone untouched for years??!? FULL OF UNTOLD TREASURES???

Trevor is here. Of course Trevor is here. Trevor wouldn't have missed this for
 the world. He's set up in a Normal Suit as well, prefering the flexibility
 over the added strength of a full EX Gear. Also, the chances that he'd be
 allowed to play around with one is... probably very, very slim. So yeah! There
 you go!

...That said, he does come equipped with a few more personal accoutrements.
 Much like Riika, Trevor has come equipped for exploration. He's got a harness
 full of all sorts of miscellaneous tools (and plenty of space for storing
 loot), a small battery pack to power what clearly appears to be some manner of
 industrial ship-interior-chopper (A saw. It's a fancy space saw), a GUN, and
 of course...

A machete.

"Right away, Rita~" Trevor chimes. "Rita says that she's willing to scout on
 ahead if we'd like! Being able to walk through walls, disappear and fly have
 obvious advantages. So we should probably take her up on it!"

It's damp in here. Damp and wet and full of vines. Trevor whistles idly,
 hacking through vegetation that gets too much in the way. "That's the way it
 is with old hulks full of treasure, Rita! Either they're covered in rust, or
 they're torn up by some old fight, or they're infested by weird cosmic mold!
 Whatever we find here will just need a little bit of TLC and it'll be right as
 rain."

He pauses, glancing down at Archimedes. That's Ruri's little friend, he notes.
 Best to keep an eye out for them.

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.

Guinea Pigs, was the intention, however, Ranka all of a sudden signed up for
 this. She was quite insistent in that regard. Thus, right now she's wearing
 a normal suit in the SMS style for civilians, tan with grey accents.

On the flight over, there was a moment where she just, stopped and stared, her
 lip gaping like a fish, that some might have caught, eyes seeing and unseeing.

And she was looking straight at the Global.

Afterwards, she was coherent, but...

On the ship...

She's not in an EX-Frame. "I promise, I won't." She says to Alto, as he takes
 the lead ahead. Archimedes rolls by, and Ranka picks her up.

"... I'll look after her too. It'll be no trouble. She's good company. And
 I might, need the support of the two of you."

It's not long after that Ranka hesitantly begins to confide something.

"I have a confession to make, Ruri, Sheryl, Alto. I think... I've been here
 before."

She rubs Archimedes across the Haro's outer shell as if for comfort, despite
 the view screen.

"I can't say how... the three of you know how I don't have any memories of my
 childhood. Even though I can't remember anything, no matter how hard I try,
 sometimes they come out anyway... and I have episodes."

The repetitive motion continues, as if it were a substitute for Ai-kun, who
 can't come.

"They've been happening ever since I caught sight of this place for the first
 time."

She had wanted to deny it at first, but it built up, this creeping dread, it
 happening again and again...

... until...

"I have no idea what we'll find here, but-" Her arms suddenly tighten around
 Archimedes, "-I know I'm scared of this place."

Then why is she here? Well... perhaps, because she's braver than she was
 before. But, she is here.

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        It's actually Monica that replies to Rin's question about the plants,
 <"From what the exobotanists have reported, the plant life on this world has
 evolved to thrive in even constant sunlight. Meanwhile, the dark side of the
 planet is a fair bit more barren. But still there exists life, which
 apparently survives through alternate means of acquiring energy."> Informative!

        If the view from Archimedes could actually see Alto's face, they might
 notice him looking a little guilty. Is it the requests to protect the little
 Haro? Or is it Ranka's confession that she thinks she's been here before? Now
 why could either be?

        In fact, Alto is the only one here who actually knows the truth about
 Ranka's words...

        ... But he's not saying anything. Instead he replies, "Don't worry...
 There's people here to support you. Let's just see what answers we can find."

        The trek from the Global's arm into its chest is mostly uneventful.
 Thankfully Riika's concerns do not pan out. The vines don't really react to
 the fire, nor Trevor's cutting, apart from burning away/falling to the ground.
 And there's no problems with any poisonous gas releases. Though that doesn't
 mean Riika's closed helmet isn't necessarily a bad idea. Ships like this are
 known to carry various chemical substances for utility purposes, which may or
 may not end up leaking if they're not careful with how they proceed.

        Continuing forward does require some more creative maneuvering as
 previous collapses have blocked hallways, while others opened up holes to
 connect rooms that otherwise weren't connected. But Rita's ability to scout
 out the surroundings makes quick work of finding these alternate routes. And
 soon enough the team has entered into the chest. Now it's just a matter of
 getting to the center and then finding a way up to the bridge in the head.

        The team walks past a set of elevators. One of the doors is open,
 though there's no elevator beyond them, just the shaft. Alto stomps up to the
 shaft and glances into it. It's a long way down... And the walls of the shaft
 have vines attached to them, much like the halls. This would definitely stop
 any elevators from getting through.

        However, Alto brings the map of the Global up on his helmet display,
 apparently looking over something. He then glances back towards the team,
 saying, "There's somewhere else I want to check out. I'll catch up with you
 all later." Alto sends a quick glance towards Archimedes and Ranka, thinking,
 'Sorry, you two.'

        Before anyone really has a chance to question him, Alto steps into the
 deep elevator shaft and falls a short distance before the thrusters in his
 jetpack fire, stopping and causing him to hover there for a moment. He then
 starts to descend down through the shaft in a more controlled manner.

        On the radio, Monica can be heard calling, <"Saotome? Saotome!? Where
 are you going?"> Apparently this is not an official diversion. She gets no
 reply though. Did Alto turn off his radio? Given Alto seems pretty intent on
 going wherever he went, there's probably not much point to following even if
 anyone could. They may as well continue onward.

        Getting close to the center of the robot's chest, the exploration team
 comes across its first obstacle: A giant hole. Seriously, this isn't just 'a
 hole in the floor'. This is a giant hole that looks to have been burned
 through a large chunk of the Macross's chest. It spans a couple of decks up
 and down, as well as quite some distance side to side. If you look, you can
 even see sunlight from outside shining in!

        According to the map the team has, there's apparently no way around it.
 And Rita's scouting confirms this, various other collapses and damage
 preventing progress along other paths. Trying to jump it seems unwise, unless
 you're a cyborg or something. The team will have to devise a way to cross the
 large gap.

<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.

Riika clarifies to Rin, "I mean what's burned. Some plants - well, mushrooms -
 expel spores when they're burned... others, the ashes have chemicals you
 shouldn't inhale. I'm not a botanist, I'm *definitely* not a xenobotanist, and
 I can't tell much about them. So, I'm being safe rather than sorry."

A pause, then she admits, "I might have a bit of the space-colonist issue with
 wild growth," with a slight smile. "A lot of people who live on colonies get a
 little uncomfortable when it's this uncontrolled. It's not allergies... it
 just feels weird. The same way an abandoned rusty junk pile does." Riika never
 did get hay fever or anything when she came to Earth, but it took her a while
 to acclimatize to plants that had never known the touch of a landscaper and
 the smells of the wild.

She looks a little concerned for Ranka, and it's unclear if she hears despite
 not being addressed; if she does, she pretends she doesn't, for politeness'
 sake.

But then Alto runs off - "You're supposed to stay with the group!" she objects,
 taking a couple steps after him - but he's got an EX Gear, which has
 thrusters, and she does not, so she'll never keep up with him. She'd have to
 climb that manually, and it's not something she's particularly comfortable
 climbing in the first place. So, no.

"...he'd better have a reason for that," Riika says, with a tone that implies
 that she thinks Alto's done something very wrong. Part of her wants to take
 charge, but she doesn't really have the authority here. She tries anyway:
 "We'll meet him further on," she decides. "Let's keep going... we'll be
 careful until he comes back. And leave a guide." She pulls out a marker and
 draws an arrow on a wall, so that if Alto returns he can find which way
 they're going.

Eventually, they get to the pit. This stops Riika for some long moments while
 she considers what to do about it. "Hm," she says, considering possibilities.
 She crouches down next to it, making some measurements - distance, but also
 the stability of the metal. "Looks like something melted it... I suppose this
 may be part of why they crashed here," she says, frowning. "This must have
 been a powerful beam."

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        Archimedes is able to roll better when the vines are burned away (she
 DOES bounce, of course, over obstacles) -- but it's easier when Ranka picks
 her up. "Ranka, Ranka!" She says, flapping her little head-wings. "Where's
 your scooter?!" She's referring to the scooter Ranka uses to deliver coffee to
 the people of the Nadesico, of course.

        Apparently, Archimedes thinks that her Segway would be useful here.

        (Apparently, Archimedes thinks --)

        Ruri frowns, through her communication window. "It does happen," she
 confirms. "Isolated memories, or fragments of memories..." Like something
 splashing in the water, "... even if you've forgotten."

        She looks across to Sheryl, beside her. The concern on her face is
 muted, but quite visible to someone who's known her as long as Sheryl has.
 Should Ranka be here, right now?

        But... she insisted on going.

        And Alto insists on going down the big hole. "Fool," Ruri says. "He
 shouldn't go on his own. Maybe we should wait for him. This hole is too large
 to cross." She pauses, and presses her hands to her console, doing some
 calculations. "... if you were to throw Archimedes over, I think she could
 reach the other side. Her mass is low enough for that to be possible in this
 atmosphere. But she might not get too far on her own."

<Pose Tracker> Rin Naujakaite has posed.

As they keep on schlepping, Rin and the others look towards Trevor Teach, the
 man about whom... they have little opinion, because these are teenagers from a
 Britannian academy and mysterious spacemen and their equally mysterious
 hologram(?) girlfriends are the kind of thing in the 11-14 media markets for
 them.

Rin answers Monica. "Oh... like chemical stuff, right? Like deep sea worms." To
 Riika, she nods once, slowly. "I guess I could see that... it's definitely
 uncontrolled. It's like something out of a game, right? The overgrown wreck of
 the ancient glorious..."

And then even as they keep touring onwards, trudging dutifully, there's a
 confession.

From Ranka.

"Like... traumatic repression?" echoes Samantha towards the back, but Rin takes
 an extra trudge-and-a-half to come up near Ranka.

"Hey," Rin says to Ranka, squatting slightly thanks to the bonus height of the
 EVA suit. "I dunno what happened here, but don't worry. We're going to watch
 out for you, whatever happens. This place has been cold for years. The worst
 we're going to find is information. And if it's anything more than that, or
 like... a bird or something, we're going to protect you."

"..." Rin continues as Alto bugs out. Her shoulders roll back slightly.
 Inwardly, she thinks: bruh.

Soon enough, they come upon a HOLE.

"... hrm," says Louis as he considers what Riika said.

Rin puts her hand on the edge of the wall just before it gets cut off by the
 interruption of the beam-hole. "Hrm indeed." Her head turns as she looks
 towards Riika for a moment, and then towards Archimedes (and probably also
 Ranka as a result). Her expression is cryptic.

Fortunately, she and the other two represent a potent, draftable source of
 manual labor.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        Sheryl hums thoughtfully at Monica's explanation of the plantlife on
 Gallia IV. It's at least a little interesting, considering she hasn't traveled
 far off the habitable portion of the planet.
        
        Something else seizes her attention quickly, though.
        
        "What?" Sheryl utters, blinking wide when Ranka makes her confession.
 "But how could that be? I thought we only learned about what happened here
 recently!"
        
        Despite what she says, though, Sheryl believes Ranka--even without Ruri
 weighing in on how it could in fact be. As Ranka reminds them, she's lost her
 memories of her childhood; it makes the fact that Ranka insisted on joining in
 person make much more sense; and most importantly, Sheryl knows Ranka's no
 liar. She might potentially be mistaken, but she's definitely not lying.
        
        So when Ranka says she's scared, Sheryl's gaze and voice soften.
 "Ranka..." Her gaze flicks towards Alto. Then she straightens and puts on a
 smile as she tosses her hair over one shoulder. "They're right, you know!"
 (Alto and Rin, she means.) "But you already knew that, didn't you? That's why
 you went in the first place, even though you're scared!"
        
        She's made a lot of progress since that day they first met. Alto,
 though... Alto finds an elevator shaft and ditches the rest of them to jump
 down it. (Well, float down it. Still.) "Alto?! Alto!" Sheryl makes an
 aggravated noise, affronted on Ranka's behalf despite herself. Riika says he'd
 better have a good reason, and Sheryl wholeheartedly agrees. "I guess 'people'
 doesn't include him! The nerve!"

        Sheryl catches Ruri's worried glance. It might be a micro-expression for
 normal folks, but she has been around her a lot by now. Gentler, she adds,
 for Ruri too, "Ranka, are you going to be okay?"Gentler, she adds, "Ranka, are
 you going to be okay?"
        
        Ruri wonders if they should wait for Alto. Sheryl huffs. Personally,
 she's already worried about him... but she's not going to admit that in front
 of God and everyone. "He's got his EX Gear suit. If he were here, I'm sure
 he'd tell the rest of us to go on without him." He already did say that
 indirectly by saying he'd catch up with them. "If you all think you can keep
 on, keep keeping on. We'll give him the scolding of a lifetime when he gets
 back."

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

"Oh, well, perfectly safe to set the place on fire then," Trevor jokes, "But we
 honestly probably shouldn't. It'd be a damn shame to put all this effort into
 growing only to get set ablaze because you were there, right? So, let's keep
 the fire to a minimum if we can, hey?"

And also because, you know. They're inside this old Macross, too. A fire would
 be... hazardous, to say the least.

So instead, onwards! To glory! And loot! And--

And... Ranka knows this place. Fears this place. "...You've got a connection
 here...? Of all the wild coincidences." It's one thing to go space
 tombrobbing. It's another thing entirely when someone right there with you
 is directly connected to the tombs that you'll be pillaging. But moreover...
 "...I understand, confronting that kind of thing can be pretty hard, huh...?"

It's a good thing Ranka seems to have plenty of support. Sheryl, for one, and
 that Alto--

Alto abruptly decides to go off on his own. Trevor scratches his chin, "...Who
 set his britches ablaze? Did he notice something we didn't...?" And if he did,
 why isn't he telling anyone about it? "If it's something he's worried about,
 he probably should have let us know before running off like that. Tch."

...The moment they come across the Giant Hole, Trevor suddenly wishes Alto and
 his wings were still handy. But this isn't something that can't be conquered
 with a bit of ingenuity. "I think we've got this, just need a bridge..." he
 says, pulling a cord of rope from his pack, topped with a heavy-looking hook.
 "I can get us started, but a single strand ain't going to be safe. We're going
 to need some of those vines to chuck across too, and someone on the other side
 to put it all together."

Trevor glances toward Rita... and the little Haro. "Sooo. How're you two at
 making knots?"

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

Rita tilts her head at Riika, curious at the concept of plants harming the air.
 Don't they create the air? In any case, it's not something worth fighting
 over. Especially with Sheryl speaking up to request she doesn't burn them as
 well.

Trevor agrees, including sympathy for the plants. Rita considers this as well,
 before nodding to the pirate and her other companions. Alright, I won't burn
 any more. Unless they attack people or something.

You never know.

Trevor's handy translation earns him an illusory kiss to the cheek. He's far
 better at this than Zoltan ever was. And, thanks to his hacking through the
 vegetation, Rita is happy to leave the plant clearing to him. This gives her
 the time to dart through walls and obstacles, reporting back to help fill in a
 more accurate map of the giant ship.

I'll tell you if I find anything good. So far, it's a lot of gross old stuff...
 I'm not sure even the best TLC would fix it up. I wonder how long ship thing
 has been abandoned like this.

Ranka speaks up, and Rita's gaze lingers on her for a long while. How could
 Ranka have been here before? This thing is ancient, and Ranka is from the
 Earthsphere, isn't she? The Newtype Spirit's eyes glimmer with curiosity.

Alto takes off. Rita vaguely watches him descend. Didn't he just say they need
 to stay together? Of everyone, she thinks, Alto is the most likely to be
 alright on his own. The best choice is to stay with the rest of the group and
 keep them safe. And, soon enough, they come to an impasse -- even Rita's
 spiritual abilities can't find a way around the gorge-like hole in the path.

As her companions explore their options, Rita floats over the hole, looking
 down its expanse. How odd, seeing a wound like this from the inside... It
 makes her wonder if anyone was left alive when the ship was shot down. Did
 they escape? She hasn't seen any remains so far.

Trevor gets Rita's attention, and she smiles to him, floating back over.

I can do that. I'll make sure they won't break apart!

With that, Rita raises one of her hands, pulling the thicker vines toward
 Trevor to allow him to braid them to his liking. Once he's prepared, Rita
 floats back to the chasm, psychically pulling the ropes and vines with her.

Hopefully with Trevor's guidance, Rita weaves a bridge to allow the others to
 come across. After attaching it firmly to the other side of the hole, the
 Heart of the Phenex returns to the center of the bridge, eyes alight. She'll
 hold it together psychically until everyone is across, just to be certain...

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.

Ranka smiles subtly at Archimedes' suggestion, "Well I'm not delivering coffee
 today, so I left it behind. It's not really rated for... a shipwreck."

As Rin asks, "Yeah... they call it, dissociative amnesia." Ranka tells her the
 diagnosis, "I just, when something reminds me, I have an episode where I-
 usually I pass out, and don't remember what happened at all."

And indeed, as Sheryl questions it, she tries her best to answer honestly, "I
 don't know. But - my big brother adopted me before the Frontier Fleet was
 recalled... he tells me when I first came into his care, I couldn't even
 speak or, do much of anything on my own."

It's difficult to talk about that even, how helpless she seemed. It's little
 wonder that Ozma was so protective of her for years to come, how difficult it
 was to put herself out there.

Rin, saying she's going to watch out for her, "Alright - I trust you.
 Please... look out for me, while I'm out here, Rin." And indeed, Sheryl's
 words cause her to straighten, and... "You're right. It's like... how I
 used to be scared at the thought of even, standing on that stage." She turns
 Archimedes around to smile at her, "But just like I said... I'm braver now,
 and its thanks to you and Alto. The two of you are the reason why I can be
 here now."

Ranka does look at Alto, and there's a moment where she's looking at him. And
 there's a quick nod, a look of resolve, "Right!" She is definitely still
 frightened about the answers they might receive but...

Ranka is part of the trek, and isn't doing much in the way of the physical
 labor. Other than being the Archimedes carrier. She's along for the ride.
 She does want to pull her weight, but she's not exactly certain how?

As Alto says there's somewhere he wants to check out, "Alto-!" Ranka looks like
 she's gonna say something- but then... at that glance, it becomes a muted.

"Stay s-"

He's already gone down the elevator shaft. The call from Monica and Riika
 doesn't exactly HELP her anxiety here.

Sheryl does ask however, the question, "Mmmm. I- yes. Yes I am. It's-" She
 looks at Sheryl, "- I'm not by myself, I can keep going."

Yet on they go, to the large gap in the chest, which Ranka gawks at but edges
 away from the giant hole.

Ruri offers a suggestion and, "Eh!? You want me to throw Archimedes?!" Ranka
 looks at Archimedes, then across the gap, then she raises Archimedes like a
 Volleyball she's about to serve and...

... halts...

... thinks better of it...

And hands it over to Rin, "Um, here can you do that?" Ranka awkwardly clears
 her throat, "I was never really good at sports..."

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        With a little ingenuity, Trevor devises and enacts a plan with some
 others. Gathering the necessary vines isn't too hard, there's a lot around.
 The others can probably help too. On their own, even the thick ones could have
 the potential to tear and break. But woven together like rope, they strengthen
 each other. Soon enough several of these makeshift ropes have been created and
 with Rita's help positioning them, they provide a path across, somewhat
 dangerous as it may be.

        Of course, trying to cross with a Haro in your arms would make it even
 more dangerous. So perhaps it's for the best that Ranka offers Archimedes up
 to Rin to send over first.

        Thankfully, everyone makes it across without anyone falling to their
 death. Not long after the team reaches roughly the center point of the large
 robot's chest and it becomes time to go up. As warned, the elevators aren't
 working. But after a bit of scouting from Rita, they find one of the
 stairwells is still intact.

        With its many, many flights of stairs to reach the top.

        After the exhaustive climb, the team exits the stairwell onto the
 bridge, they will find it to be a large affair. These large Macross class
 ships are not the kind you operate with just a few bridge personnel.
 Especially as they also act as fleet command for entire colonization fleets.
 As such, there are dozens of terminals, across several levels. Each level is
 quite open with railings along their edges. This allows for a view out of the
 giant transparent window that stretches across all the levels and makes up the
 'face' of the Macross's head.

        Having only just started receiving power again, the consoles are all in
 varying states of either 'broken' or 'standby' mode. Even those that are
 working are generally not going to be able to do much due to years of
 degradation in the ship's computer systems. Thankfully though there are people
 here (either in person or via proxy) that know a thing or two about
 engineering and computers!

        Riika and Ruri have an opportunity here to work together trying to
 recover some initial data from the bridge systems.

        Trevor is the first to find what must obviously be the captain's chair.
 A little look over it will reveal a small compartment, within which appear to
 be a few of the former captain's personal items. Some appear to even be
 antiques and may be worth selling.

        Rin's team are the ones that manage to stumble upon the only console
 here that appears to still be fully functional from the offset. It appears to
 be the one responsible for long range fold communications. And judging by the
 status on the screen, it's currently transmitting on a loop. Perhaps this is
 the source of the distress signal that prompted this whole expedition to begin
 with?

        Though one has to wonder if it's been active this whole time...

        As for Ranka. She would find the view through the bridge's massive
 window somewhat... Familiar.

<Pose Tracker> Rin Naujakaite has posed.

When Trevor asks who put a bee in Alto's bonnet, Samantha answers him: "Maybe
 he couldn't take the self-help talk." ("Samantha!" Louis declares, indignant
 but parenthetical.)

Rin purses her lips for a moment. What does it mean? Did he remember something
 weird too? Is he in the pay of the aliens? A deep-cover agent?

That's ridiculous, Rin thinks, before -- "Huh? Me?" Rin asks Ranka.

Rin has, before you get into anything else, like eight inches of height on
 Ranka. The Haro is passed, and Rin looks at Archimedes, her glasses-less face
 visible for a moment as she raises the Haro upwards. "... Sure."

She tosses the Haro up and down a little a couple of times. Ruri can probably
 intuit what she's doing: feeling the weight out. After this, she stretches out
 her right arm and flexes it out several times, with a couple of snappy little
 shadowboxing punches, followed by turning to face the chasm.

As she wiggles around for a moment, as if to get the ideal angle, Rin thinks --

        OK.
        Pressure time.
        Are you a super soldier or ain't you?

Rin's eyes narrow. She takes a deep breath...

There is a slight tossing motion of one hand as if she's testing out
 Archimedes' mass again and then SNAP, the next frame has her already done with
 a twisting open-palm serve, hurling Archimedes forwards with shocking amounts
 of force! As it happens, there's a 'pop' in Rin's spine and she straightens
 up, shaking out her right arm and hissing.

"What the hell was that?" asks Samantha, rudely.

"My super move," Rin answers her.

"Your super move," Samantha replies.

"Well, I can do that but it hurts," Rin continues, rubbing the back of her
 shoulder. "S'fine, it's like... my nerves let me do it but I have basically
 the same muscles?"

SOON ENOUGH, after an interminable period of stair-climbing and a mandatory
 rest break, the group spreads out to inventory things. Perhaps appropriately,
 it is Samantha the radio-astronomer intern who finds a console that does not
 have large error messages. "Hey," Samantha announces, "I think this is the
 fold signal!"

The other two quickly trot over. "Whoa, really?" "THIS is still operational?"
 "I mean it's on distress mode but that's probably hardwired." None of these
 teenagers with attitudes seem eager to poke the panel, doubtless to avert
 responsibility if they blow up the Global a little bit.

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        Flapflapflapflapflapflap!! Archimedes soars majestically across the
 gap, thanks to Rin's SPECIAL TECHNIQUE, going "wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!" the whole
 way across. Thanks to some special custom jets, she's even able to land on the
 other side without crashing into a million tiny Haro bits.

        She proceeds to help with securing the bridge through some long, thick
 grasping wires which come out from under her headwings. She kind of has
 hands! A little. Well, she's corporeal, that's got to count for something.

        And yet, she's foiled by stairs. "Foolish! Foolish!" She rages,
 flapping her little headwings angrily, as she hops up and down at the base of
 the staircase. Luckily, she's able to get some help from Riika climbing up
 them. Ruri chimes in, from the communication window nearby: "Thank you for
 your help."

        When they come to the bridge systems, Ruri says: "Riika-san, can you
 put Archimedes down on the console?" And once she's down there, she'll reveal
 the true purpose of her wiggly little wires: plugging into systems. Once
 she's in, Ruri is able to communicate with the Macross's systems, using
 Archimedes as a go-between. "Now accessing data... ah, the black box was
 physically disconnected," Ruri frowns, lightly. "Riika-san, can you connect
 everything back up...? I don't think Archimedes has the tools for that."

        Ruri looks over to Sheryl, as they're working, and then goes on to ask:
 "Ranka-san, are you... doing all right?" It's far too much of a personal
 question for a mission, in her eyes, but it's a little easier to ask something
 like that with Sheryl here to support her.

<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.

Riika gets involved a couple times - mostly to make the rope arrangement more
 sturdy with reinforcement and a braiding technique - but she lets Trevor take
 the lead otherwise on the rope bridge. It was his idea, after all! And it is a
 good one.

She does watch Rin get Archimedes across, though. "Are you all right? It's easy
 to try to do too much," she says, afterwards - and more quietly. "Don't strain
 yourself just because you can." Though she's never had a problem quite like
 Rin seemed to have.

But they get across well enough, eventually. Riika makes absolutely sure things
 are secure once she's across, because she's paranoid like that; it makes it
 easier for everyone else and also ensures there's a clear way back. She also
 marks another arrow for Alto to follow when he inevitably catches up.
 Hopefully.

Stairs, in comparison, are not a problem. They're stable. They're secure.
 They're not going to fall over. There's just a lot of them. "Do you want a
 hand?" Riika asks Archimedes (Ruri) because, well... it seems to her like
 stairs are going to be the bane of anything that doesn't have actual legs. "It
 isn't a problem," she assures Ruri.

Though, now she's starting to run out of ways to carry things. She's pretty
 loaded.

At the top, she sets Archimedes back down (sorry, you get to roll now). The
 bridge is a hot find, better than she expected to get to (relatively) quickly.
 "I can," she assures Ruri, stepping to the side of the console and popping
 open a maintenance cover. "There's a bit of a mess in here, it might take me a
 few minutes. I have all the things I need, I think..."

Riika gets to work. It takes a few minutes, just as she claimed; she doesn't
 just have to hook up the black box, she has to check other wires to make sure
 nothing's split and she has to reroute, in one place, to make up for damage.
 And she has to do it with some of the systems live, because if they turn it
 off they might never get it back on again.

"I think we're good," she says, eventually. "Ruri, how does it look? Rin,
 Samantha, do you want me to check that wiring too?" She holds up the toolcase
 she'd been working out of.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        It's because Sheryl knows she wouldn't have been a lot of direct
 assistance on this trip--and maybe a little because of how Alto scolded
 her the last time she followed him somewhere dangerous--that she stayed on
 the Nadesico with Ruri. Ranka going in person anyway is admirable, even if so
 far she's mostly just been Archimedes's legs. The risk of danger is still real.
        
        Even so, Ranka says she can keep going because she's not alone; Sheryl
 shoots Ruri another little glance, but nods to the comm screen. "Okay. Since
 you're sure," she replies. She smiles. "You give Alto and me too much credit,
 though. All we did was give you a little push. You're the one who made the
 choice to take those steps all on your own."
        
        That dissociative amnesia sounds intense, though... Sheryl knew about
 it to some extent, but she hadn't known it was that bad. She wishes she'd
 known about it sooner; she'd have insisted Brera join the expedition in that
 case.
        
        Honestly, she's surprised he didn't join it anyway. Where is he
 right now?
        
        Oh well. He's allowed to have his own life.
        
        She watches as Rin takes care of Archimedes-chucking with vigor and
 speed and maybe a little pain. Trevor's idea about the vines is a solid one
 too. Thanks to all that, everyone makes it across that massive hole just fine.
 Including Archimedes, whose 'wheee!' is adorable and gets a giggle out of
 Sheryl. That was the biggest highlight; it was otherwise nerve-wracking to
 watch, honestly... even if Sheryl kept her cool on the outside. (How's it
 going to affect morale if she falls apart, after all?) The stair climb of hell
 is a weird juxtaposition, being the opposite of nerve-wracking.
        
        Still, they get where they're going soon enough--and 'where they're
 going' ends up being the Global's bridge. The power means some of them are on,
 but many more are broken. Legs folded, she takes in the sights. Ruri's
 checking in with Ranka this time, so she'll leave that to her for now, even if
 she does look to Ranka for her response. After she gives it, Sheryl blinks
 over at Rin and her friends when they find the source of the distress signal.
        
        "Oh, really?" Sheryl furrows her brows. "...It was transmitting from
 here? I guess it's just about the only place it could've been transmitting
 from, but... God, this place is such a wreck."
        
        But then, were any of them expecting differently?

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

Trevor gets: x1 Rita Cheek Kiss for being a good translator! That's one more
 than Zoltan ever got! Take that, heterochromatic angry guy!

...

In all honesty, Zoltan is actually-- a lot less of an asshole than Trevor
 thought he'd be, having only really known the guy by the aura of apopleptic
 rage he used to emit at the helm of the Neo Zeong II. But outside of that?
 He's actually pretty okay!!

...Trevor may not have hung out with Zoltan all that much, in retrospect.

"More than a decade, at least," Trevor murmurs under his breath. If Ranka was
 connected to this place, how did she get away from... whatever happened here?
 Something-- something is missing. But he can't be sure exactly what that
 something is.

...

The bridge is crossed. And then: Stairs.

S...stairs.

...

So, fun fact! Trevor grew up in a place with KIND OF SHIT GRAVITY. Why, if it
 wasn't for the carefully cultivated (partially Zentraedi) genetic engineering
 responsible for building him into the dashing pirate he is today, his bones
 would probably have the consistency of cardboard! Sure, he keeps himself in
 shape, and artificial gravity helps a lot, but--

This many stairs?

Carrying all his gear??

IN A GRAVITY WELL!?

"Hhf-- hhf--" Trevor wheezes as he reaches the top and sags against a wall,
 "Hhhhohhhmygod I don't want to see that many steps ever again." That was far,
 far too many stairs. Trevor-- needs to do more on leg day. Much more. He
 groans and shambles after the rest of the team, finally collapsing into the
 captain's chair with a sigh and... begins rummaging...

A ring, an engraved flask and a smoke box. A hat (fancy, captainly, and now on
 Trevor's head). A photo of a family, set in a finely etched locket, opposite
 to a pocket watch stopped at around 5:15. And... other sundry knicknacks. Not
 the best haul, but... it's something, at least?

Though-- that locket. He'll leave that one here.

Taking something like that is how you get yourself haunted, after all. And it'd
 feel wrong, to just... take it.

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

The makeshift bridge works! Rita looks proud of herself, even as Archimedes
 whirls by her spiritual form. The Newtype lets out a noise somewhere between a
 squeak and a squawk. Haros can fly!? Have they been birds all along?

While it takes the others a while to climb the stairs, Rita simply ascends
 through them, taking in the bridge in silence for a long moment. Floating
 forward, she places an illusory hand against the captain's chair.

I wonder what happened.

The others can find answers. Rita, with an unusually solemn expression, floats
 around the rest of the room, visiting the chairs one by one. Once she's
 satisfied her invisible search, she returns to Trevor, peering over his
 shoulder to observe his newfound treasures.

I'm starting... to feel...

Rita murmurs, slowly.

There's lingering emotion here. I don't know what it is, but I'm not sure this
 is a place we should be.

Rita's eyes go distant, looking beyond the walls of the ship to connect with
 the Phenex, hovering just outside the walls.

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.

Sheryl's answer, she can't help but smile, "Maybe so... but that little push.
 It- meant the world to someone who was used to thinking she couldn't do
 anything." Her eyes close and, "I stopped standing still."

Ranka's hair leaps, at Rin's move and then the pop, "Rin!? Are you al-" 'My
 super move,' "Oh - I -" Ranka's face shores up, and a hand is laid upon her
 arm, "Thank you, for taking the risk of using your super move. I appreciate
 you doing that for me."

Across the gap - Ranka scoops up Archimedes on the other side, and up the
 stairs. It is an exhaustive climb, but Ranka has far more stamina than she
 used to. It is still sweltering in this suit, in this place.

Eventually at the top, she's panting, sweat beading on her forehead, but she
 still has a tight grip on Archimedes, never letting her go despite the journey.

Once they're on the bridge, Ranka lets the others take point on checking the
 console and as Ruri asks... she might notice from her look from Archimedes
 that Ranka has pointed it at the window, and there's a faint jostling of the
 camera.

To those looking, her eyes are unseeing, her lip trembling.

To Rita, lingering emotion might be an understatement in the sudden chaotic
 jumble of imagery. Each so fast and indistinct, like it's actively being
 erased even as she experiences it.

A familiar view
                        why
        can't
                 I

                 the warmth of a hand
a hillside
        the accompaniment of a harmonica
                          a celebration
    a song
                Aimo aimo nedel lushe
                Noina miria endel prodea
                Photomi
                Here we are in a warm sea look up and

"-breathe."

Ranka says, as her suddenly quickened breathing begins to settle. As she
 closes her eyes, consigning all of it within the void of memory. Arms
 tightening around Archimedes.

It takes her a moment, she's not really answering Ruri, what Ruri said didn't
 register, but, "It happened again. I-" Ranka counts again to four, takes
 another breath, "-all I remember is... that song..."

She takes a moment to assess and- "It's not bad. Not like the usual, I
 remember coming here. I remember everything that's happened."

Just not what was so familiar.

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        Riika and Ruri are able to put in some patches between the two of them
 that allows them access to the Macross's systems. As expected, damage reports
 are extensive. This includes the data transfer network, so most of the rest of
 the Macross's servers are inaccessible from here. But there is some data in
 the bridge servers which may prove interesting:

        Bridge logs.

        The data is corrupted and recovering the logs will likely take quite
 some time, with assistance from numerous engineers. But Ruri is able to find a
 couple of particular note that she can recover now. The first is from part way
 through the fleet's journey, from around the time they settled on this planet.
 Ruri is able to get it playing over the bridge speakers:

        "Captain's log, March seventh, zero zero seventy six. Based on the good
 doctor's recommendations, and after negotiations with the existing
 inhabitants, we've settled down on the fourth planet of the system that is
 apparently called 'Gallia'."

        "According to the doctor's research, there is a high chance of us
 finding some remnants or indications of the alien creatures here. Apparently
 the Protoculture referred to them as 'Vajra' and even studied them
 extensively. If the Protoculture felt it was worth studying them, then surely
 we will gain something from it ourselves."

        "We're establishing a more permanent presence here. We've identified a
 landing site with promise and are setting up habitats on the ground now.
 There's not a lot of landing space so for the most part, the rest of the
 research fleet will remain in orbit. But we will land the Global to provide
 assistance for the new colony. End log."

        The next log recovered appears to be from several years later and is
 the most recent:

        "... I don't know if anyone is going to find this log, but I have to
 leave something behind. It seems we've stirred up the hornet's nest. They just
 suddenly appeared in the airspace around us, folding in with no warning.
 Hundreds of Vajra..."

        "I don't know what happened, it was all so quick. Suddenly we were
 fighting for our lives. Reports from orbit indicated similar attacks on the
 rest of the fleet. I ordered an evacuation of the colony, loading everyone on
 transports and sending them into orbit to fold at the first opportunity."

        "The Global suffered during the defense of the colony and is too
 damaged to take off. I guess this is the end of the road... Maybe we shouldn't
 have dared to dabble with something so ancient. I can only hope we haven't
 doomed the entire human race..."

        The log ends. Monica is the first one to speak up over the radio, <"I
 suppose this pretty much confirms what we expected... We'll leave more log
 recovery for later. For now, we'd like you to proceed to the main research
 labs next. You'll find them in the lower decks of the Global's torso section.
 Hopefully the servers there will have something we can use.">

        Thankfully the trip down the stairs is probably easier for Trevor and
 everyone else. Though still a bit of a hike. Reaching the right deck, there's
 still a few more corridors to go through. And it's here that the master codes
 the team was given really come in handy, as this section appears to be
 secured. They have to pass through several sturdy bulkhead doors on the way
 through, putting the codes into the door terminals along the way.

        The corridors they're going through have a number of doors branching
 off. Quick inspection reveals them to be storage rooms for various types of
 research materials and the like. Probably not worth too much in terms of cash.
 But still potential salvage in the future.

        Passing through one of the bulkhead doors, the team may notice the
 sound of something sparking. It's not hard to spot, a partially damaged power
 conduit has fallen out of the ceiling, its end sparking from the power trying
 to flow through it. The conduit gently sways a little from what airflow is
 going through the damaged ship. As long as they don't go near, everyone should
 be fine.

        But it's Rita who sees the danger first. And with enough time to
 provide a warning before-

        -The swaying conduit sparks near a cracked pipe which was apparently
 leaking something. Something which is flammable! The pipe explodes, larger
 amounts of flames starting to spread along it. The flames quickly rush along
 the walls, following the pipe within.

        Soon the entire corridor is alight, the path forward and back both
 blocked. The team are going to have to find a way to fight the fires off if
 they wish to keep the entire ship from eventually burning down.

        And, you know, if they wish to survive.

<Pose Tracker> Rin Naujakaite has posed.

After launching Archimedes, Rin rubs her shoulder a little more. "S'fine," she
 tells Riika. "Thank you, I mean, for worrying. I kinda got that ironed out
 when I was a kid... I was a real mess until I was like ten."

"At least he had fun with it," Rin echoes, as Archimedes' WHEE fades from stark
 reality into memory. At Ranka's praise, she bows for a moment and gives her a
 thumbs up. "Anything for Ranka!" she editorializes.

Hopefully that doesn't get explicitly tested at any point.

SOON, AND ON THE BRIDGE:

"Uh... sure," Samantha says, brow furrowing as she looks towards Riika. "So
 like this stuff has dedicated circuits and everything, and the distress signal
 is like hard-coded into a ROM board so even if everything got wiped in a solar
 flare or something, people could come... rescue? them?"

Like they're doing now. Except, of course, that if there are survivors, *where
 the fudge are they?*

Then they find the logs.

Rin and her friends are all silent as they listen.

"..."

"Yeah," Rin says, straightening up. "Um. I guess moving on is a good idea,
 yeah." Shuffle, shuffle. Move downwards. At least now they're working WITH
 gravity!

Until they are also working with flames.

"FUCK!" declares, surprisingly, Louis; he attempts to bat at a spreading streak
 of the fire but accomplishes nothing. "Shit--" "It's like, all throughout the
 damn ship!" Rin says with alarm. She moves nearer to Ranka, perhaps
 remembering that recent promise --

But okay, genius: NOW what do you do? Shelter her with your body!? That does
 not work for fire!!

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        They're able to retrieve the log files, and they don't... paint a
 positive picture. "All right," she agrees, when Monica suggests moving on.
 "I've copied the data to the Nadesico's systems. We can go through it later."

        But aside from the mission, there's -- "Ranka-san..." Ruri frowns,
 hearing the way Ranka's voice hitches. "Just stay with everyone. Archimedes,
 you stay with her too, okay?"

        "Ranka! Ranka!" Archimedes flaps her ear-wings, affirmatively. "Focus!
 Focus!"

        Luckily, Archimedes sticking with Ranka means she gets to skip the pain
 of those stairs, too.

        But there's a warning, and a spark, and -- "Hot! Hot! Hot!" Archimedes
 chimes warning, flapping her ear-wings. "Ranka, helmet up! Helmet up! Don't
 breathe smoke, Ranka!" How she knows to issue Ranka such a nuanced reminder in
 a situation like this is another mystery.

        "Be careful," is all Ruri can say, from her position. It's not enough,
 but there's nothing she can do, here, can she?

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

This is not a place they should be. "It's a place of the dead. And judging by
 the state of the place, I doubt they died peacefully. Whatever is lingering
 can't be good. But... You know, it's weird. Why aren't there any bodies...?"
 They can't have just decomposed completely. Bone, at least, would stick
 around for some time.

Vajra. A memory of life beyond number, minds too alien to understand, and so,
 so very many of them. A sensation of being swallowed up by a buzzing, angry
 shadow.

Trevor shivers, frission racing down his spine. "The Vajra came here? Did they
 just... attack the fleet and then leave once they dealt with the Macross?" Too
 many questions. Only the data stored in the ship's black box would really be
 able to answer. Or maybe... in Ranka's memory...

...No. Trying to force her to remember would be far too cruel. So instead,
 perhaps there's something in the research facility?

...But to get there, they're going to need to take the stairs again...

At least it's going down this time.

But as it turns out, walking is the least of their concerns. Much more pressing
 is the problem of fire. Overwhelming, choking flame. Trevor hisses a curse and
 ducks behind a corridor wall. His eyes scan desperately, there has to be
 some kind of fire extinguisher he can grab, right?

But even if there is one... will it even work, after all this time?

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

Waiting as her companions explore, Rita's attention is suddenly locked on
 Ranka. Echoes of the young woman's vision (or is it a memory?) pass to Rita,
 with her terribly open heart. She gasps, bringing a hand to her head as a
 jumble of words flash through her awareness.

Ranka. Ranka needs help!

Rita announces this with significant volume -- hoping to reach those less
 sensitive to her psychic voice. Thankfully, Ranka is willing to advocate for
 herself, letting Rita settle her heart after a few moments. Something is
 definitely going on with that girl. Does this warrant hunting down Alto?

A few moments pass as Rita considers. No, Ranka seems okay. She remembers
 everything. Alto may continue with his mission for now.

Bridge records play. Rita listens along with the others, her expression
 unreadable. Varja. They're bugs -- she's seen them before, in her visions. One
 of many endings of humanity. Something strange.

For now, Rita keeps her thoughts to herself, though her expression darkens at
 the idea of visiting 'research labs'.

What sort of labs?

Suspicion laces the fire of her voice. She will accompany her friends still,
 but if this is the sort of lab that preys on Newtypes, Rita will destroy it.
 Research and history be damned.

Radiating wariness and long-smothered anger, Rita floats alongside Trevor on
 the way to the labs, occasionally passing through walls without realizing.
 She's distracted, working herself up at the Possibility of what might await
 them. Thankfully, when they arrive, the laboratory seems... normal, as these
 things go. Still, she hovers just outside the door.

It isn't until a FLASH of awareness scorches across her mind that Rita darts
 into the lab, radiant with otherworldly grace. As the room catches fire,
 Rita's stretches out both of her hands, grabbing the fire where it begins
 to climb. She can hold it in place -- for now. It's a difficult task, holding
 something intangible.

Stay behind me! I can keep the fire still. Someone needs to put it out!

Again, she raises her voice. Rita takes on the tone of a battle-struck
 soldier, commanding and piercing all at once. She glows, radiant with
 strength, shining like the sun against the walls of flame.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        Ranka insists that those little pushes mean the world to her all the
 same, and Sheryl can't help but smile fondly at her friend. That smile doesn't
 last when they all move on to the Global's bridge, and Ranka is suddenly
 snapping out of an episode.
        
        "Ranka?" she says, hearing her speak out of the blue. It happened
 again--all she remembers is--that song--? "You mean Aimo?" she utters, eyes
 flying wide as her heart starts to hammer.
        
        She'd promised Brera ages back that she'd help him unravel the mystery
 of Aimo, and for a while had been helping him do just that. They'd never
 gotten anywhere, though. After all, Sheryl always figured that Aimo was a
 song Ranka knew from somewhere else. But if she'd lost her memories--
        
        Brera also lost his memories--
        
        --and all they remember is that song.
        
        Sheryl bows her head, the shock apparent in her parted lips, in her
 unfocused stare. If they have that in common, then... does that mean that
 Brera has been here before, too?
        
        Before Sheryl can examine this thought closely, though, the bridge logs
 start to play, and she has to snap her attention back up to it. The
 Protoculture knew about Vajra? And they were studying them here... Sheryl
 holds a hand to her mouth. And then something happened to anger the Vajra. Who
 knows what--it's probably no different than it is today. "Good question," she
 comments to Trevor grimly. But... there was an evacuation...
        
        Then it really is possible that Ranka and Brera both were here before.
 (And if Rin doesn't voice the question of what happened to the rest of the
 survivors, perhaps Sheryl can be forgiven for not thinking of it herself.)
        
        For a time, Sheryl is silent. Then absolutely nothing is silent
 when that sparking pipe EXPLODES and hurls flames in every which direction.
 Sheryl might not be physically there, but it feels like she can feel it all
 the same. "Ranka! Everyone!" she calls, jumping to her feet in alarm.
 Fortunately, Archimedes is there to give Ranka advice on what to
 do--important, if she's having another flashback--but Sheryl herself can't do
 anything to help. She can only hope the others handle it themselves.
        
        She hates it.

<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.

Riika says, to Rin, "It's no problem!" because it sounds better than 'I feel
 responsible for you ending up in a combat role on this trip', even if it was
 Rin's decision *and* this isn't quite a combat role. "I'd been meaning to see
 how you were getting on, anyway..."

Bridge logs are even better than Riika expected. She sets a recorder down, just
 in case, to pick up the audio. If the logs are that fragmentary, there's no
 guarantee that they'll keep working indefinitely, and having a first-hand
 recording is a good thing.

Second, if they DON'T need her recording, she now has a recording of actual
 historical value. So that's nice. She always did want to amount to
 something... Though the logs are worrisome. She opens her mouth, then closes
 it, then goes again: "Roger that. I'd like to see a transcript of the full set
 once you've done it. Or hear it myself."

"Probably," she says to Samantha. "That's how I'd set it up; I don't know the
 details of their emergency beacons, and I've only worked with ones for smaller
 vessels before. Mobile suits, or shuttles," she clarifies. "But you'd want to
 hard-wire at least the most basic of signals so that someone else could pick
 it up... and also have a way to turn it off, in case you didn't want it to be.
 But the default would be on."

She's worried for Ranka, too, but she doesn't know Ranka very well, and she's
 not sure if it's appropriate for her to ask. But she does, taking the lead
 once again: "Are you all right?" she asks, more directly. "If you need to head
 back - " Well, she's not sure how she'll get her out, but she'll find a route.

The route is down a zillion stairs. Again. "Better than up!" she says, trying
 to brighten people up. Even she's tired by the second time.

Joining in Sheryl's conversation: "Do you think they evacuated successfully?
 Where would they go...?" Even if they did get away, there's no guarantee they
 got anywhere by the time everything ran out... now she regrets asking.

Fortunately (?) there is a distraction. In fire. The ghost - Rita - apparently
 has something to do with fire, because she's holding it back. It gives Riika
 enough time to look around, find the closest maintenance cover, and, well -

Normally Riika does not do 'Coordinator things', both because she doesn't like
 to show off, physically, and in the interest of not rocking the boat too much.
 But rather than take it off the slow way, she inserts a bent piece of metal
 and slams her strength and body weight against it, popping the cover off
 violently. (It's more her strength than her body weight. She probably doesn't
 weigh a hundred pounds.)

Crouching, Riika reaches in and manually connects two wires. It's going to
 cause a short; they might lose lights, such as there are, in this hallway. But
 more importantly, it *also* shorts the firefighting gear; she's trying to get
 the old safety systems to deploy firefighting foam, and she doesn't much care
 about whether it's too much right now. Override all the sensors, override
 whatever programs it's using - just directly activate the sprayers and worry
 about the problems later. Better covered in foam than burned to death.

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.

I'm alright now.

Is she?

Sheryl asks about Aimo, and her eyes come back into focus, "Yes... Aimo. My.
 My only memory from before my brother took me in."

Ranka listens absently to the bridge logs, as she absently says the word-
 "Vajra?" As if it were a question, as if in disbelief, at that connection to
 'Protoculture' which she admittedly knows much less about.

She looks at it in alarm as they mention hundreds folding in without warning,
 eyes growing wider.

Perhaps she spoke too soon.

        they come
                 so much blood
                          y o u r f a u l t
                 the end comes
        and she is all alone

'Focus! Focus!'

"Ah- uh. Right!" Ranka keeps ahold of Archimedes, during the trek down.

It's not until they pass the bulkhead door that she seems more with it, as the
 sparking conduit, that she takes a step back. The pipe explosion causes a
 scream from her. Even as she steps back.

And Rin steps in front of her.

As Archimedes calls that into attention, and Sheryl calls her name, she
 suddenly nestles Archimedes under an arm, hastily drawing the helmet of her
 suit back up.

"Rin!" She cries out in alarm despite Rita holding the fires back, Riika
 working with the wires. The wires to what? To what?

A thought vaguely occurs to her, that if she's actually been here, shouldn't
 she know where the ship's fire extinguisher systems are? Even a child that
 young knows that...

... but... she can't recall...

And so in the moment, all she does, is put her arm around Rin, and cling to her.

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        Rita's unique abilities slow the progress of the fire, which is not
 only helpful in keeping them from engulfing the ship and everyone in it, but
 also in buying time to do something about them.

        Trevor is thankfully able to find a fire extinguisher. One that even
 works, after all this time thanks to advanced tech! He joins Rita in fighting
 the fires, helping to keep them from spreading too far. But a single hand held
 extinguisher won't be enough for a fire of this size.

        This is when Riika comes in for the save. Breaking her way into the
 maintenance access, she manually triggers the fire suppression system that had
 apparently failed to do its job. Several ports in the ceiling slide open to
 reveal the outlets, copious amounts of foam rushing out. They rapidly smother
 the fires, quickly putting them out before they are able to escape deeper into
 the ship.

        Unfortunately the foam also smothers the team. Thankfully it's not
 harmful to people! Though it might be a bit icky for a bit until they can wash
 off.

        Having defeated the fire, saving the remains of the Global (and their
 own lives), the team is able to finally continue on into the main research
 labs. There are several here, each apparently specializing in some area of
 research.

        Thankfully none appear to involve researching people in any way, so no
 need for Rita to finish off what the previous fires almost accomplished.

        As for what kind of labs are here, there is for example a lab
 specializing in plantlife that has been completely overrun by local flora.
 Probably samples that were freed from their containers during the battle.

        Another example is an engineering lab, which has a large mecha-scale
 weapon laid out in the center with numerous wires hanging from it. A quick
 look at research notes on consoles nearby indicate this is apparently a
 Zentradi weapon, a design not commonly seen due to the Zentradi nature of not
 really knowing how their own tech works outside of the occasional specialist.
 Seems the engineers here were trying to reverse engineer it to be able to
 produce more.

        However, the lab of particular note is the one labeled 'Protoculture'.
 Though not so much because of the title, but rather one of the names beneath:

        'Dr. Mao Nome.'

        Mao Nome. Those who helped with the recent making of the 'Bird Human'
 movie, or those who saw it, would be familiar with the name. One of the main
 characters, the younger sister of the female lead. Portrayed in the movie by
 one Ranka Lee.

        Is it a coincidence?

        Investigating this lab, the team will find a number of interesting
 things:

        There are several samples of what look like bits of Vajra, confirming
 that the fleet was doing research on them. Additionally there is a small
 collection of rocks with some kind of ore laced through them. If anyone here
 is familiar with geology, they will not recognize this particular ore. Beyond
 that, there are also several small uncut gem-like stones of a purplish colour.
 Once again, not a material people will recognize... And yet at the same time,
 everyone may get the feeling they've seen something like them before? Hard to
 place where though.

        Finally, there is the desk of Dr. Mao Nome herself. There's not much on
 it, perhaps she was the kind of person who didn't keep many personal items?
 That said, there is some kind of small display case. The glass lies shattered
 around it, but the contents still seem to be intact. Not that the item inside
 the case is much to speak of, as it just looks like a chunk of stone. Regular
 old stone that you might find anywhere.

 ut to one person here, it's no ordinary chunk of stone.

        To everyone else though, Ruri in particular, what's more attractive is
 the computer console built into the desk. With some more miracles from the
 computer genius, the local servers are accessed. No voice logs this time, but
 there are research notes that Ruri is able to bring up on screens both in the
 lab and the Nadesico:

        -Experiment 417, failure.
        -Experiment 418, failure.
        -Experiment 419, failure.
        -Experiment 420, slight resonance in the fold quartz detected. This
 method of refinement may be worth investigating further. It's still not strong
 enough though. How do the Vajra refine it so perfectly with just their bodies?

        Beyond these notes, there are also some that seem a bit more personal:

        'I hope they'll forgive me for lying. But how could I tell them how I
 really learned of this place? I can't explain why I'm getting these feelings
 from the material we've taken to calling fold ore... They're hard to describe
 and make no scientific sense. But I just know... They feel like her. If the
 Protoculture being we called the 'Bird Human' really did come here, I need to
 find evidence. A trace. Perhaps the Vajra will show the way? If we can refine
 the ore into something purer like they do, the feelings may be stronger. There
 must be more to this... I need to find out where it went... Sara...'

<Pose Tracker> Rin Naujakaite has posed.

EARLIER:

("Heh," Rin answers Riika. "I actually got a second job already. This
 planet's economy is looking up, huh?")

"Yeah, it makes sense," Samantha answers Riika, any lingering Britannianism
 absorbed into the sheer joy of this technological challenge. "The Global's
 older than that... it's gonna be built differently, just from the sheer size."
 A beat passes, and she asks Riika, then: "So how come the aliens didn't find
 it?" Meaning the Zuvorgs.

BUT NOW, SHERYL:

Nothing you can do but WATCH YOUR FRIENDS BURN.

Rin's decisions, such as they may be, are swiftly constrained - but also eased
 - when Ranka clings to her. Her head turns down for a moment to look at her,
 and she sweeps her left arm down to *scoop* Ranka up even as everything comes
 into sharper relief. Oxygen deprivation?

She looks around for a moment as if to plot out how to move. Her leg muscles
 tense up to a degree they usually don't. It *already* hurts but it is at least
 a familiar sort of hurting. Her eyes flick for a moment towards the appearance
 of Rita, but she's doing -- something --

Is she suppressing the flames with a static field or something? Rin literally
 cannot tell. Seeing Rita is probably on the edge of what she can manage. But
 she can also see Riika moving towards -- a vent? Emergency escape?

CRACK! *something* moves.

Foam begins to fall downwards from the ceiling. Rin pivots around then and puts
 Ranka on her feet hunched over and leans over her and --

-- it will spare Ranka getting too much foam on herself, at least. (Rin is in a
 suit. That's what it's *for*.)

"-- heh! I thought we were going to have to launch for a minute there," Rin
 says, before straightening upwards, smiling at Ranka with a slightly reddened
 face. "I hope that we don't have any more -" A splat of foam lands on her
 faceplate.

Rin laughs.

... and soon enough, the labs.

"Huh," Rin comments about the flora overgrown in the lab.

"Ooooh," says Louis, ogling the enormous Zentradi gun. He's a young man who
 appreciates guns.

But then--

                        That name.

Rin blinks several times. She looks at Ranka; but she does not crack a joke.

Not at this point.

"What's with these rocks?" Samantha asks, continuing the general policy of Team
 Ashford Academy of "not grabbing onto loose objects."

"They're... amethysts? Like that window they've cut out of a single amethyst in
 the Pendragon natural history museum," Louis supposes. "... No, these are..."

"They're not... cut?" Rin looks towards Trevor, after this. "Hey, you know
 about treasure and everything, right? Are these like, asteroid gems or
 something?"

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        "It's okay, Ranka! I'll protect you, Ranka!" Archimedes doesn't have a
 fire suppression system, yet, but Ruri considers whether she could give her
 one. Just in case. This is... quite frightening.

        But she'll keep her nerve, since Ranka's in more trouble.

        When they get to the lab, Ruri, with Archimedes' help, makes quick work
 of the logs. And she reflects, as she shows them: "Fold quartz experiments...
 I wonder who Sara was." Maybe she's a garnet, now...

        Instead of sticking to that thought, Ruri looks over to Sheryl, and
 asks: "Do you know, Sheryl-san?"

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

At least being covered in foam is superior to being covered in fire. Trevor
 will take it. "Thanks, Rita. Riika, too." Trevor pulls himself out of a mound
 of fire suppressant, bubbles clinging to his arms and legs occasionally coming
 loose and drifting gradually downwards. "I'm fine, everyone else alright?"

Yes? Except for emotional injury? He glances again at Ranka. Her emotions
 are... Not quite 'in disarray,' but this is all a lot for her. At least Sheryl
 is here too, but...

Damn, where is Alto?

...

Oh hey, those are some sparkly rocks.

"Asteroid gems?" Trevor cants his head, then shrugs, "I mean, they could be.
 Not exactly common that you find whole and intact gemstones in asteroids,
 though. They're usually bunches of ore. These..."

Trevor fishes into one of his Utility Belt Pouches and pulls a handful of
 styluses, each tipped with a rough gem, and settles on a couple: one mounted
 with a red-orange tip, and another with a lime-green one. He takes the chunk
 of stone and scores its surface with both styluses, before holding the rock
 carefully up to the light to see if either did anything at all to the sample.

...

Trevor is a treasure hunter. Of course he has some Mohs hardness testers
 on-hand.

...But they already know what this is, don't they? It's Fold Quartz. But
 Trevor's never actually... encountered any in the flesh, before. So his
 curiousity is perhaps not unwarranted!

...Even if he clearly never got taught to not pick up strange science rocks.

...He doesn't even have a chance to ogle the Big Gun. Well. Maybe afterwards.

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

Foam rains down. It destroys the fire, thankfully, and passes harmlessly
 through the Newtype Spirit. Rita releases her psychic hold and turns to face
 her companions--

And can't help breaking into laughter. She's not trying to be mean, really!
 Floating toward Trevor, Rita scoops up a bit of the foam in her otherworldly
 grasp and holds it up to his chin.

You're Santa Claus now.

Rita laughs again, then tosses the foam away. Who knew fire protection could be
 so fun? Carefully, she helps Trevor clean off the foam, tossing bits of it to
 the floor with her illusory touch.

Most of the relics here mean nothing to Rita. She floats through the lab,
 harmlessly picking up and putting down objects.

Bird Human?

That gets her attention. Rita hasn't seen a movie since she was six years old,
 and certainly hasn't heard of the latest show starring Ranka. Curious, Rita
 floats over to the desk of Dr. Nome.

Was this person related to Sheryl? They have the same name.

Waiting for an answer, Rita settles herself faux-sitting atop Dr. Nome's desk.
 While others examine the computers and files, the Heart of the Phenex finds
 herself drawn to the glittering gemstones. Cooing softly, Rita lifts each one
 of them, pulling them to her spiritual form one by one.

After examining the gemstones, Rita floats them before her in a tight, rotating
 circle. They're pretty, but overall unremarkable. Which can't be said of the
 normal, boring chunk of stone inside the ruined display case.

Something gleams in Rita's eyes.

Let me see for a second, Trevor. I'll give it back.

Slowly, the chunk of stone rises into the air and floats to the firebird's
 illusory body. For a moment, she holds it before her.

The moment ends. Rita reaches out, touching the unusual rock with one fingertip.

<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.

BEFORE:

"I don't know," Riika admits to Samantha. "Perhaps they did, but there was
 nothing they wanted. Or maybe they check a different set of frequencies -
 would they have detected it if they use something other than Fold, and so
 weren't used to checking that kind of intersystem transmission? I don't know
 enough about their technology!" It really is an interesting challenge, isn't
 it?

NOW:

Riika remains standing stoically as she is sprayed with foam. She's in a full
 suit with a helmet, so it's not getting on *her*, but... it's still very
 messy. "At least it wasn't stagnant water," she says - she was taking a risk,
 but not a big one, because nobody sensible would use water as fire suppressant
 on a ship. Not with all those electrical hazards around, even disregarding the
 fact that you'd then be carrying a lot of water you couldn't use for anything
 else (though on a ship the size of the Global, that part didn't matter so
 much).

"You're going to want to clean that off when you get back, though... it gets a
 bit stiff after a while and it won't come off on its own." Riika won't
 apologize for coating people with it, precisely, but she *sounds* apologetic
 as they head into the research labs.

Riika knows precisely nothing about about half of this stuff. She took biology,
 but she's no botanist; she also doesn't know anything about Fold systems, Fold
 crystals, or Vajra. Ruri is on that, with some of the others; she walks over
 to something she is much more likely to know about, the Zentredi weapon.

"Do you like it?" she asks Louis, before looking at it more closely. "You know,
 I'm not sure it's a standard weapon." Riika steps over to the console to page
 through it: "Look, it isn't! It is an exotic - the Zentredi didn't understand
 their own technology for a long time, so some designs lingered while not being
 in regular use. This is one of those."

She considers for a moment, then decides, "I'm going to tag that for retrieval
 too - it's not what we came to find, and it's not exactly going to set the
 world on fire with the findings, but it might be interesting." And, being
 mecha-scale weaponry, it's something Riika actually *is* an expert in, so she
 may as well take advantage of that. "If you want to come and help me
 investigate it later, you're welcome to."

Riika marks it all down, before glancing over toward the other labworks. "Is
 that a little more important?"

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        RUDE, RIN.
        
        Fortunately, between Trevor and Riika, nobody burns. Rin even
 specifically makes sure Ranka's safe. Sheryl breathes a sigh of relief, then
 sags down onto her seat.
        
        "I don't know how you handle it, Ruri," she breathes, resting a palm on
 her forehead. "Having to watch while everyone else is in danger... I hate not
 being able to do anything."
        
        This is an underestimation of what Ruri can do from a distance, but,
 well. For all that she teases and plays around a lot, Sheryl always has been a
 straightforward woman.
        
        The group moves on to an engineering lab, and it's here that they find
 Vajra samples, fold quartz samples, a rock in a certain desk, and research
 notes. Those rocks start floating, but Sheryl is generally aware of Rita now,
 so it's only a shock for a little bit.
        
        What's more of a shock to her is that name: Dr. Mao Nome... It's
 familiar to Sheryl, not just because of the movie, but because--well. That's
 how she first knew of Mao Nome, her grandmother. Again, her eyes widen in
 shock, but this time it's for her own sake, not for her friends'.
        
        She'd known that Mao had died in an accident in space. That was about
 all she'd known, because then her parents had died too, and...
        
        Sheryl had known that Bird Human was based on a real story. She'd
 had it in mind when she read and re-read its script. But, being a script, she
 couldn't know how much of it was real and how much was the scriptwriter's
 imagination. This is an actual log from the actual Mao Nome, though, and it
 makes specific mention of the Bird Human--and Sara.
        
        Sheryl raises a hand to her mouth as tears reflexively well up. As her
 vision blurs, she jerks her head away to keep anyone from seeing.
        
        The violet gem in her drop earring glints as it sways before the comm
 screen.
        
        "Grandma... So you came here searching for Sara..." she whispers. Her
 fingers curl in towards her chest. "...so this is where you died."
        
        Ruri asks Sheryl if she knows who Sara is. Discreetly, Sheryl wipes her
 tears away. (Thank god for waterproof mascara.) Then, shoulders squared, she
 raises her chin and looks back at Ruri and the comms screen.
        
        "She's my great-aunt," she replies with the emotional control of a
 professional entertainer. "My grandmother Mao's older sister."

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.

Ranka's feet suddenly leave the floor, as she hangs onto Archimedes and Rin for
 deaf life, "Rin!?" And shields her with her body and...

...
...
...

"Rin..." It's very sweet but, Rin might notice a few moments later that,
 Ranka's in a suit too. With a helmet on.

And is only wiping a tiny amount of foam away.

"Thank you for protecting me." There's something cheerful to it, as if saying
 'the thought counts' giggling as foam splatters on her faceplate.


It's once they arrive at the labs that Ranka notes to Sheryl and Ruri, "Sheryl-
  look!" As she points Archimedes at the name on the lab.

"I can't believe it... she was here!?"



There's this, touch of familiarity there. A flash of a face, grandmotherly,
 bespectacled, face lined-

-already gone.

And she snaps back.

"...I don't... get it."

If she was someone from her memory, how could she play her? How!? Shouldn't
 she have been passing out all the time? How could kind of coincidence even
 happen?

She gives Rin a helpless look...

... hearing how torn up Sheryl is, Ranka says softly, "Even playing her in the
 movie... it feels like we're coming to know her real feelings right now...
 even if only a little." Ranka says quietly, "I wish - you'd had the chance to
 know her Sheryl. Really know her."

That it hadn't been taken from her by the Vajra.

Rin points out the rocks, discussing it back and forth with Trevor, and...
 Ranka looks at them in wonder, and at that moment, glimpsing at the screen,
 the flash of a violet earring. It's not quite the same feeling of
 familiarity. It's different from this whole trip.

"Hey... Sheryl..."

It's different because it's an actual memory. A direct observation.

"You said your, earrings, were a gift from your parents, right?"

And while rougher hewn and uncut...

"... do you think, if they did cut those... they'd look the same?"

As she holds Archimedes up to let her get an even more direct look.

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        Alto is... Elsewhere. He hasn't returned yet. But there hasn't been any
 calls for help or signs of distress so he's probably fine.

        None of Trevor's tools put even a scratch into the stone. Suggesting
 that this is DEFINITELY not an ordinary chunk of stone, no matter what it
 looks like.

        As Rita examines the uncut gems, she will feel like there's definitely
 something unusual about them. They actually respond to her presence to some
 degree, though not visually. These are not inert gemstones like those you
 might commonly find on Earth.

        The chunk of stone that Trevor is holding has a far stronger impact
 though. There's a lot of history behind this piece of rock. And as Rita
 approaches, reaching out to it something happens...

        A single feather made of white light, one that only Rita can see,
 floats down into her view. As she touches it she is suddenly barraged with a
 rush of powerful memories...

        A massive winged alien being, floating in Earth's skies. A battle rages
 around it.

        A human woman, encased within the begin's chest. She reaches out
 towards a demon in the sky. The begin unleashes a massive barrage of hundreds
 of crimson beams, which attempt to chase the demon down.

        But it turns out the demon is no demon at all, but a Variable Fighter.
 It flies up to the woman, the pilot opening his canopy. He leans out of his
 cockpit, reaching out to her. She reaches out to him. Feelings of longing,
 relief, sadness, joy, gratitude. Their hands can't meet, separated by the cage
 the woman is trapped within.

        A monster appears. Massive missiles rush up towards the being. It is
 engulfed in the destructive fire, hurt. It wants to fight back...

        But the woman calms it. Together, the two vanish in a burst of light,
 traveling far away...

        All these memories hit Rita in only a moment. It might be a bit of a
 shock, but then again maybe not given who Rita is.

        Still, as she comes back to her senses, she, along with everyone else,
 will be able to her Monica on the radio again, <"W-Well... This is.. This is
 going to require some more analysis."> Even the normally unshakeable Monica is
 a little surprised by their findings. She continues, <"I think that's enough
 for now. Already we've found a lot... I expect we'll find more to come.
 Especially thanks to your help in preparing the path. Thank you, all of you.">

        On the return trip back, Alto will make his return, safe and sound.
 He's somewhat tight-lipped at any questions about where he's been or why he
 disappeared. Is something going on there?

<Pose Tracker> Rin Naujakaite has posed.

Before --

Rin chuckles.

Then giggles.

Then snorts -- and suppresses it --

And that's all there was to it.

Right?

(And a bit later: "I mean it's quite impressive," Louis tells Riika. "I think
 it's Zentran, right? - Hah, I knew it. So they kept it around as a backup, eh?
 Waste not, want not... oh, er, if it won't put you out." Now Riika has a
 minion too.)

-- but now:

"I mean I don't have any idea what they are," Rin tells Trevor. And now he's
 touched them, so he'll be the one in trouble!

But it seems -

There's more here than that. And this is it for today, it would seem. The
 exeunt, at least, is less dramatic --

-- "Hey Archimedes," Rin asks covertly, when Alto is in front and not paying
 attention. "Is there a SMS complaint form or something...? Because he would've
 been super helpful with his *power frame*..." The fact that this means Ranka
 can probably also hear it... is acceptable.

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        "Oh," Ruri frowns. "I remember, now. I'd put it out of my mind, since
 that actress was so cruel to Ranka-san." Ruri just forgot all about the lead
 actress's role... out of spite?!

        Truly, the young are vicious.

        ... not vicious enough to point out Sheryl's motions, on telling the
 story, though. "We'll save the data. We can go through it later." It's like
 an apology.

        But on the way back, there's Alto, and...

        "Fool form! Fool form!" Archimedes confirms, flapping her ear-wings.
 "Fool, fool! Accessing form!" And lo, Rin will have the paperwork delivered
 right to her, from Ruri's helpful (if terribly foul-mouthed) Haro.

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

Miraculous green eyes widen as a single feather descends. Rita, of course,
 reaches out to touch it. Feathers are part of birds. This can only be a good
 thing.

Memories rush into Rita's consciousness, and she gives herself to them fully.
 Her expression doesn't change as she bears witness to the battle. But Rita has
 always been weak to happiness. The moment between the man and woman brings a
 sweet, soft smile to her face.

It isn't shocking. Not really. Rita has had hundreds, maybe thousands, of
 visions -- but usually, they belong to her. This one, clearly, is from the
 heart of someone else. Both her hands fold in over her heart, and Rita closes
 her eyes as the memories fade.

Trevor, please tell Ranka and Sheryl I have something to tell them when we get
 back. I'm not sure what it means, but it's something that must be known.

<Pose Tracker> Sheryl Nome has posed.

        Sheryl can't help but huff a laugh at Ruri's casual diss of Miranda.
 She hadn't liked that woman, either, for precisely the same reason. It helps
 ground her, too, in a moment when she very much needed grounding. Ruri's
 understated kindness a moment later is appreciated, too; this time, Sheryl
 simply nods.
        
        They'll definitely need to go through that data. Not just that data,
 too--Ranka points out something very important, something that Sheryl was too
 busy trying (and failing) to hold back tears to notice.
        
        Her eyes widen a third time. "They are," she utters. "They gave them to
 me on my sixth birthday. They were a memento from--" Quickly, she reaches up
 and unclips her earring to hold it up to the light. Unfettered, it glints that
 much more brightly.
        
        Perhaps some of the purple stones within those uncut ores glint at the
 same time.
        
        "--Grandma Mao," she breathes.
        
        Monica bids that be the end of the exploration for now. With a path
 established, it'll be easier to return here and get more data. For now,
 Sheryl's expression sets with determination. It changes not one bit when
 Trevor passes on that message from Rita. "All right," she says, affixing her
 earring back onto her right earlobe. "When you all get back."