2023-07-28: Chariot

• Cast: Alouette Pommier, Gai Daido, Go Ichimonji, Liam 7-020, Lucine Azul, Sho Tachibana
• Where: A catamaran ferry in the Philippine Sea
• Date: U.C. 0097 07 28
• Summary: After a rough few weeks, Liam finally gets to go on that double date with Lucine, Sho, and Alouette. On their way there, though, Liam starts acting strangely, and the other three are forced to fight against mysterious robot attackers. The rest of the Neo Getter Team arrives in the nick of time, but not soon enough to save Liam from his abductors. The only lead they have is a faint, erratic trail left by Gai Daido's tracker beacon. Will it be enough?
• CW: Implied mind control, references to brainwashing.

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<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        A catamaran ferry speeds across the Philippine Sea. It's a hundred fifty meters from stem to stern, with enough space inside to carry over five hundred passengers--and, if needed, some personal vehicles--in ease and comfort. It's one of one of dozens that make the trip between Tokyo and Manila every day.

        It's a little after 10 AM local time, and the sky is clear and blue. The ferry's passenger deck features stunning views, climate-controlled comfort, ample seating and induction-charging facilities, comfortable, accessible restrooms, and a full-service galley. Towards the back, Legend of Zero plays on a fold-out screen for a small audience.

        Liam, though, is more interested in the trip he's planned. He's explaining it to the others. His phone sits on the middle of the table, next to a half-empty bottle of diet mango soda. The screen displays a picture of another, much smaller vessel, a sailboat seen from its glass-bottom deck. Tourists smile for the camera against a backdrop of bright coral and schools of fish. Those with a truly keen eye might note that the reef is... vaguely humanoid, beneath the new growth of coral. It's a Gogg, stripped of all weaponry but its Iron Nails. Coral now grows in the cockpit, opened to the sea and stripped to the bare metal.

        "'Luzon Coral City is now offering boat tours of its new Reef Intensive Care Unit,'" Liam says, reading the text. "They're taking old war wreckage and using it to make new reefs. I... read about it in the news, one day. Thought it would be good to see." He takes another drink of his soda, and gives the others a smile. "Others are fighting to keep the planet alive, too."

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        Sure, Lucine knows about water. Nemi had its own stocked lake, after all, where she had learned to swim. She had that. She knew how to swim, in freshwater, in a lake that only on the surface seemed 'natural'. It's hard to have all the necessary components of an ecosystem on hand, after all, when you're not even on the planet you're trying to emulate. Some shortcuts had to be taken with the use of nanomachines.

        So Lucine knows about water: non-salty, relatively clean, largely artificial water.

        So forgive the Martian if she seems as charged as a grade school child on their first field trip. "So we'll be seeing what real coral's actually like...." Not the mock stuff, not the stuff she's seen in a video, not the small imported stuff in an aquarium she took a trip to as a child. *Real coral*. "That's so amazing..." She adjusts the strap of her small purse and smooths out the hem of her pink linen dress. "... So... a coral is actually millions of tiny creatures that build those structures, correct...? So they're building their cities across the mantle of old war machines..."

        She looks across the way, at Liam, Alouette, and Sho. "Did any of you go on trips to places like this?" It's a fair question, judging from the little she knows of Alouette and Sho. "... There is an aquarium exhibit in Alba City on Mars, and it's very well-done, from what I remember... but... you always knew you were the ones looking into a tank, in the end. Instead... we're the ones in the tank. Or, ah, boat..." She frowns. "... do they ever have to worry about the glass exploding in...?"

<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.

Perhaps there are better times to talk about a double-date than in the middle of a storm chasing down a rogue submarine.

There are never bad times to accept the invitation, especially after surviving such a rough mission.

Sho is leaning forward to peer at the display on the phone. "Oh, wow. That's beautiful." She grins, zooming in on an image of the reef and pointing at where a sea anenome has rooted itself in the torn upholstery of the Gogg's cockpit seating. "It has a new pilot, look."

The Squadron Leader of Neo Getter Robo's piloting team has her long red hair tied back in a ponytail by a powder-blue ribbon that matches the short-sleeve blouse she's wearing, open just enough for a glimpse at the neckline of her gunmetal-grey and red-striped competition swimsuit, a pair of denim shorts riding her waist. She seems to be proceeding under the presumption that they're gonna get soaked - not unwise!

She can't help but smile at Lucine's utter rapt fascination with the complexities of the ocean. "I've always been more of a 'joy of flight' person myself, Gai is the aquatics geek on the team, but... you learn to appreciate these things, on multi-hour underwater scouting missions."

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette had been looking forward to this. She'd taken some time off from 3G - and with the hazard and fire pay she received, she can afford the trip and some really nice souvenirs to boot!

She was invited with Sho and naturally, they'd arrived together, meeting up with Liam and Lucine on the tiny, yet comfortable vessel. She dressed carefully for the trip, wearing a sky-blue dress and heels (making her height advantage over Sho much less subtle). "You know what else is beautiful?" Alouette teases - but to be fair, that peek at the swimsuit is just as teasing in her opinion.

Alouette is having fun of course, but on an intellectual level, it is fascinating to be here - seeing sights she's only ever had the chance to read about. Knowing about nearly anything she'd like as if she's an encylopedia is one thing - seeing it is another. It's yet another advantage of the wider world.

"That's kind of incredible..." She comments, as Liam explains the point of the tour. "It's always a good thing to see hope live on." She agrees. "So thank you for inviting us to see it." She adds, with a smile.

"You must be mademoiselle Lucine, right?" She turns to face her when she asks her question. "I'm with the Gutsy Global Guard so I've been on a lot of warships on Earth and space. Nothing quite like this, though..." She answers, gazing out the glass. "But I know they put in countless protections and emergency contingencies to prevent something like that from happening. They've probably test ran it over and over until finally opening it for tourists. So... let's just relax, okay?" She smiles, awkwardly.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam shares Lucine's excitement. He smiles at her, and nods. "Yeah. The reefs... haven't been doing so well, especially since Second Impact. But they're also doing things to reduce the local acidity, and clean up the water. That's it, though. That's millions of little animals, even though it looks like a plant, or a stone." He shakes his head when Lucine asks her question. "Just... the aquarium, when I was little." It wasn't terribly impressive. Britannian culture tends to be much less about studying the environment and more about exploiting it.

        Liam turns to Alouette, and grins. "Yeah. And, ah--" Back to Lucine. "It's the same thing they use for windows on Islands and other orbital stations. And just in case, they have life jackets and a signal buoy." Sho points out the 'new pilot', and Liam can't help but smile. "It does!"

        Liam finishes his drink, and leaves his phone on the table as he walks over towards the recycling bin and puts the bottle in. There's a soft 'clink' as the glass lands on something else inside, but--

        Another noise, too, just within the range of Liam's enhanced hearing. It resolves into a hum. Liam tilts his head, trying to pin down the source... which appears to be the vehicle compartment. He turns back to the table. "Did any of you just--"

        '...am? Are you... help... please...'

        A chill races down Liam's spine. The last time he heard that voice was years ago. Desmond, telling him not to worry. It was the last time he saw him alive. "I think--someone's--" Liam puts a hand to his head. Panic spikes inside his brain, but the neurochemical controls turn it into the will to take a risk, rather than run away.

        Just as planned.

        "Someone's back there," he says. "Back me up." With that, Liam opens the door, and steps into the vehicle compartment.

        A dozen personal EVs sit in two neat rows within the mostly-empty vehicle compartment. Liam walks down the first row, casting his eyes about with agitated fear. "Desmond...?" he breathes. "Desmond, are you--"

        He hears the soft hum of something descending from the ceiling on cables. He whirls around, eyes wide with terror. There's the soft pch of a taser bolt firing, and sinking tines into Liam's hoodie and skin, and then the sharp CRACK of an elecrical pulse powerful enough to stun a combat cyborg.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        "... Ah.... that's so cute! An anemone pilot..." Lucine giggles. "But yes, I'm the same. Flying through the air... you can be so much faster."

        Alouette's gentle teasing reminds Lucine again that this is a double date; her head had been busy with the prospect of brilliant coral and fish, but that lovey-dovey energy is definitely in the air, and not just coming from her. She grins, then turns to the subject of Gai. ".... I suppose that's the advantage of a team... everyone brings something different to the table."

        Turning to Alouette now, Lucine nods. "Yes, Lucine Azul." She smiles. "It's funny... we've been in many battles, but this is probably the first time we've met, face to face. Liam's told me so much about you." Her smile turns warm, as her voice dips softer to avoid being overheard by any strangers. "... You've helped him a lot through some dark moments. Friends like you..."

        She trails off, looking towards Liam, who stands by the recycling bin. ".... Mm? No, I hadn't..." She frowns suddenly, as Liam puts a hand to his head. "... Liam?" She stands up and looks to Alouette and Sho, her eyes communicating her growing sense of unease.

        'Back me up'. "Wait a second, something's not ri--" He's already gone and opened the door, disappearing inside. She rushes towards the door.

        It's not like she feels any immediate danger to *herself*-- that particular sense is wholly selfish. This is just pure paranoia.

<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.

Liam steps away for a moment and Sho takes the opportunity to grin at Alouette, with a "Well, off the top of my head, you~" and leaning in to kiss the 3G Blue Operator on the cheek.

Out of the corner of her eye - Liam freezes and stiffens, and Sho sits up. "Hear wh - Liam?" Just like that, with a chill up her spine, her catlike playfulness is gone, replaced by the steely focus of someone who threw herself through soldier training with a manic devotion as a child. "Hold on, don't rush ahead - " it's too late.

Glancing to Alouette and jerking her head in the universal 'cover me' gesture, Sho follows to where Liam disappeared into the craft's vehicle compartment. For a moment, she wishes she had the revolver Mary King gave her as a gift to hand - but who brings a gun to a date?

(Let's just ignore that her personal mentor is Hayato Jin, who absolutely would.)

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Alouette Pommier. It's a pleasure to meet you." Alouette returns Lucine's greeting with a smile. "Yeah... we've all been through a lot. It's relieving that we can finally meet outside of all that. And... I'm glad I could be a beacon of hope for Liam, too." She reaches her hand forward, and if Lucine accepts... she'll get a firm handshake, with some warmth to it.

Getting that short time alone with Sho, Alouette revels in it. "Oh? Well I was going to say-" Alouette prepares a counterattack, when Sho pecks her on the cheek! "D-Definitely you." She grins, taking the Getter Pilot's hand.

She'd love to stay this relaxes and carefree, but... Liam divides her attention. "Someone's... where? I didn't hear anything." She asks, perking her head as Liam goes to follow a voice no one else hear.

A lot happens then without a single word exchanged, as Liam wanders towards the vehicle compartment, Lucine close behind, and then Sho follows. "I'm right behind you." Alouette reassures as the two couples wander into unknowing danger. "Liam... what in the world are you doing?" She wonders.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam does not answer Alouette. His attention is consumed by the voice. The faint, hollow numbness settles over him like a cloak.

        BGM: 9 OST - The Seamstress - Deborah Lurie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcbAff4bfkU&ab_channel=DeborahLurie-Topic

        Something heavy and metallic settles down behind a family sedan. Rounding the corner, Lucine sees it first. It's a robot, maybe six and a half feet tall, and armored in matte-black plates. It's quadrupedal, with four insectile legs ending in gripping claws, and a torso that's basically a mount for two more limbs with articulated hands. Camera sensors glow red from key places on the armor. Liam dangles from its grip, wide-eyed, struggling weakly.

        He tries to mouth the word 'help', but all that comes out is a strangled choking noise.

        Two more robots descend from the ceiling--through a ventilation hatch that's been pried open by metal claws. One immediately turns to Lucine, a taser prod firing from its torso, carrying a significantly weaker charge. The other turns and fires at Alouette. The one that grabbed Liam turns to Sho, and there's a hollow 'whoomph' as it lobs something at her: a metal canister that hits the ground at her feet.

        A high-pitched hissing fills the air as white gas vents into the closed vehicle bay. Coming into contact with it makes the eyes water and burn, and the throat constrict. Tear gas.
        No one is armed. After all, aside from Hayato Jin and Kris Azul, who would bring a gun on a date? But there's cover, at least--and possible salvation in the form of someone else's car problems. One of the vehicles in the bay is separate from the others, marked with 'MECHANICAL HAZARD' warning stand-ups. It's on a jack. A tire iron lies nearby; whomever was changing their flat tire is nowhere in sight. A door nearby is marked 'MAINTAINENCE CLOSET'; that might have useful tools. And the controls to open the vehicle bay to the ferry deck are nearby, though they'd need to be cracked into first--there's just enough security to stop passengers from meddling with it.

        Something shifts in Liam's brain as the auxiliary drones deploy, and attack the others. The clarity of horrid memory spikes through the fog. He knows these things intimately. One of them--a prototype--escorted him from the craft, and into the lab. He never thought he could hurt them.

        A strangled, pained cry escapes Liam's throat as he reaches out, plants one palm against the robot's torso, and grips one of its legs with the other hand. There's a horrible RIPPING noise as metal and polymer tear, and Liam slides the leg to the others. An improvised weapon is better than none. Fluid leaks from the robot's wound as it tases him again.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        Taking Alouette's hand in a firm handshake, Lucine grins. "... Anyone Liam trusts is someone I trust. You likely have many allies you can depend on in the GGG, but... let me know if you are ever in need of a pilot with a very fast suit."

        Lucine's abilities on foot, unfortunately, are far more limited.While she's had some recent training in hand to hand combat, it's not very useful outside of basic self-defense.

        In the vehicle bay, Lucine jogs ahead, her head raised to look for her tall cyborg boyfriend, but also keeping close to Alouette and Sho. How far did Liam go? She hears some noise, looking eyes with the two behind her ahead, cautiously moves ahead.

        "LIAM!!" Lucine screams. Fear freezes her in place; she has no metal suit to protect her from what she's seeing, or to take back what's hers.

        But if she doesn't act, she'll lose Liam agai-- _there's more_

        ....~~--!!

        The tazer prod fires, but hits open air, Lucine flinching to the side, almost falling backwards. She's open, vulnerable to shots from any direction, just like she was when she was running to the Dianthus, her mom on her back. There's no pilots to sense. Robots, like the Jovian lizards. _They're taking someone she loves from her *again*, and she doesn't move, she'll forever regret it._

        He head wheels about, looking for a possible weapon. Something like... yes. That vehicle, with the jack, and... there, a tire iron.

        Running towards it, Lucine hefts the tire iron in both hands, and wheels around. "... LET GO OF LIAM!"

        She runs, turning the tire iron behind her. She'll only get one shot at this before she realizes the tear gas and what it does, but anger and panic can be a very, very powerful tool.

<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.

At the sight of the robot grabbing Liam, Sho assesses the situation in moments - and spots the gas grenade arcing towards them. "COVER!" she barks. Her first instinct, of course, is to pull back one leg and give the canister a solid kick back towards the robots, to at least buy the girls a little bit of time before they start gasping for breath.

If she were wearing her favourite boots, this would go a lot smoother.

She chose sandals instead.

Ow.

Ducking behind the nearest vehicle for cover, she taps the waterproofed watch-like device worn on her wrist - a NISAR communications band. "Go! Gai! We're under attack on the cruise - they're taking Liam! Get here as fast as - " she's interrupted by a burst of static as the robots detect and jam her broadcast and curses, a vehement "kuso!"

Even assuming her interrupted transmission got through, and even with the incredible max airspeed the Neo Getter Machines can manage, Sho knows her teammates are at best a couple of minutes away even with emergency scramble; the window of opportunity is now or never. She flexes her injured foot - okay, not broken, luckily. "Alouette! We're gonna need fresh air!" She shucks off her blouse, wrapping it around her nose and mouth and tying it securely before tucking the dangling sleeve under her swimsuit straps.

The sound of metal tearing catches her attention, in time for the limb Liam ripped off his captor machine to clatter next to her behind the car. She picks herself up off the ground into a ready position, grabbing it. "Not a sword. It'll have to do."

She moves. Alouette knows from their sparring matches - she's fast. Faster than one of these machines? TIme to find out, as she rushes the one trying to taze Lucine, swinging the limb so that its appendage tip is what meets its armour.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"I'll keep it well in mind." Alouette replies to Lucine's offer. "When it comes to the kind of threats GGG faces... there's no such thing as too many allies." She says, a little more grim than she intends. "We'd never turn away a heart with courage."

As it happens, the four of them are certainly about to have their courage put to the test.

Finally catching up to Liam, Lucine's the first one to let out a scream as Liam is tased, and then gripped by a drone of sorts. "Liam!!" Alouette shouts. They're under attack at their most vulnerable, she realizes. They're after Liam.

Alouette hears Sho's voice. She's calling her teammates. Thank goodness.. they'll need all the help they can get.

For now, she will simply have to use the full extent of her available skills. Alouette sees that taser shot coming the moment it's fired - rushing forward, snapping the robot arm, throwing back the taser, and jamming one of her heels in for good measure.

The drones aren't the least of their worries, though as the gas makes its way in. "I've got it!" She calls, as Sho requests for that fresh air. "You two, hold the fort and look after Liam! I'm going in to stop the gas! I know I can trust you, Tachi-chan." She runs as far as her legs take her, looking for some kind of obvious terminal to jack. Surely she'll face resistance, but if she's going to save a friend, it's simply what she must do.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Sho's lightning reflexes spare the four of them from the immediate effects of the gas. It'll still disperse into the bay, but that will take time. While she runs interference, Lucine goes for the tire iron. As she runs back towards the robot holding Liam, she finds the two of them grappling; Liam's hands are closing around the thing's oviod, sensor-adorned 'head', while the robot's are planted on his shoulder and torso, trying to shove him away.

        Its taser line is still embedded in Liam's chest. It whirls on Lucine, firing another tear gas grenade, but she's already out of its arc of fire.

        CRUNCH

        Lucine does not have Liam's enhancements, but she does have adrenaline, and the desperate need to protect someone precious to her. The tire iron's tines punch into the robot's armor--not enough to penetrate to the CPU, but the force behind it is enough to dent the armor and unbalance the machine. Its claws pull away from Liam as it tries to balance itself. Liam shoves it over, and with a single, violent STOMP, crushes its torso.

        The drone going after Alouette doesn't fare any better. In the space of a few seconds, she's broken its arm, electrocuted it with its own weapon, and then SMASHED a hole in its central body. It falls from its perch atop the hood of someone's car, its remaining limbs scrabbling futilely as it tries to right itself. Sho drives the limb Liam severed through the weaker armor near her robot's limb-joint--it punches through, and there's a crunch as something inside goes up. Was it the Fahrzeugronne architecture? The battery? Either way, that drone topples over, and doesn't move again.

        The door controls are at the far end, towards the stern of the vessel. There's a simple keycard reader and a password and a bog-standard vehicle operation OS, but it's nothing she couldn't bypass in her sleep. As the door starts to open, sunlight pours into the vehicle bay. The tear gas vents out of the enclosed space.

        And Alouette is in the perfect place to see the vessel that's been tailing the ferry since it left the docks. It's present by implication. There's the bright blue sky, and a half-dozen open hatches on what must be its underbelly, disgorging more of those insectile drones via tether ropes. Some of them hit deck, and start scuttling up, and towards the bow--towards the uppermost deck, with the ferry's bridge.

        Simultaneously, the doors leading to the main deck swing open, revealing a woman in a ferry-service uniform and an man in a floral-print shirt, in mid-conversation.

        "Is that a break-in?" the man says, "is someone BREAKING INTO MY CAR--" He trails off. His scream echoes through the vehicle bay. Panic flashes through the ferry worker's eyes, and she tackles him out of the way. Moments later, a hail of rubber bullets flies into the air, aimed mostly to ricochet into Alouette and Sho. Another, larger drone--with shields on the end of its arms--advances across the deck, and fires another canister.

        The flashbang goes off with a deafening BOOM, and a flare of brilliant light.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        Seeing the tear canister pivot back towards the bay from over her shoulder, along with the call of alarm and 'ow' from Sho, Lucine realizes just else they have to fear. She doesn't want to know what's inside them, though she has a few guesses as to what.

        So, when the robot tries to fire another grenade, Lucine awkwardly thrusts her tire iron early, trying to knock it forward like a baseball while still swinging the tire iron forward for that satisfying *CRUNCH* into the robot's midsection.

        The former intent likely doesn't succeed; she was already out of the way, and momentum is a jealous mistress.

        Alouette is spared a nod from Lucine. "We'll do out best! Go!" She's lucky that Sho and Alouette are more compotent on foot or Liam would already be dead. .... If that was the intent.

        When the ferry worker and the other man open the doors to the main deck, Lucine has enough sense of mind to shout over her shoulder. "Get back!!'

        Liam is right there, thankfully. It may be all over soon.

        "... Liam, we need to get out of here. Something about all this is affecting your mind, even before the attack, I could feel it..." She tries to reach for Liam, with the finality of someone willing to drag a person away, even if that person is much taller, and much stronger.

        And then the flashbang goes off, and painful light fills her gaze.

<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.

They have a moment to breathe - to try and reach Liam -

Sho is fast, but she can't dodge bullets, even rubber ones. A glancing blow to her ribs as she dives for cover puts her on the ground gasping, the robot limb clattering uselessly to the ground.

She rolls onto her back, hand on the injury - yeah, that is a break - and sees the flashbang in the air. She rolls again onto her uninjured side, hands over her ears and eyes squeezed shut -

There's still a dreadful ringing in her ears as the world goes white even through her eyelids.

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"Simple," Alouette murmurs as she reaches the vehicle terminal. She cracks her knuckles... and prepares to crack a computer. It doesn't take long, using a few simple overrides to bruteforce her way into the terminal and prevent the tear gas from being any more of a threat.

She sees that vessel tailing them... are they coming to back them up, or is it more trouble? Unfortunately, it's the latter.

"The tear gas won't be a problem. Unfortunately, we're not safe just yet." Alouette announces, rushing back to return to the others. "Lucine! How's Liam?"

"Merde," she curses under her breath when two more drones catch up to them, firing a storm of rubber bullets.

She immediately gets to the ground, in search of cover, hoping that the bullets scrape against the metal instead of her. And then Sho falls not far away... and Alouette panics. "Sho!! Are... are you okay?" She crawls closer to her girlfriend, trying to reach for her hand. "I know some first-aid from operations training, I can-"

She's not able to finish her statement when the flashbang goes off in a burst of brilliant, searing light. But to her, it's just one more storm they have to weather tonight.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam's body twitches as he slumps over against the wall. It feels like every nerve in his body is on fire at once, and his head is swimming. Just because a taser is theoretically less likely to kill you doesn't mean it can't, or that being shot with one doesn't hurt. He looks up at Lucine, his eyes unfocused, his limbs still shaking from the disruptions in his nervous system.

        "C--c--" is all he manages to get out, because his jaw is trembling, and his breathing is ragged. He reaches for her, his hand tense and jittering--

        The flashbang goes off, swallowing light and sound. For Lucine and Alouette, there is a horrible nothing, where all they have to go by is touch and disoriented proprioception. Alouette is shoved away, roughly, by pincered metal hands. Lucine and Sho feel many more of those metal hands gripping them, turning them over, and hoisting them off the ground. Cold metal snaps shut around one of Sho's wrists. Metal cable winds around one of Lucine's ankles.

        Liam's confusion and terror and rage illuminate the local psychic ether, along with a spreading miasma of fear and anxiety that must be coming from the passengers and crew. There is no sign of any mind aboard that vessel.

        The drones are not Jovian Lizards. This may be cold comfort to Lucine.

        When vision returns, Alouette is cornered by two of the drones. No less than a dozen are carrying Liam, holding him fast with wire wrapping. He's right beneath the strange craft. Sho and Lucine are a little further away, held by smaller clusters of drones that don't quite have them secure yet. Screams echo through the air. From the rear of the craft, they can look up and see...

        More of the drones, filling the bridge of the ferry with tear gas. One of the crew bangs on the window until it overtakes her, and she slides down to the deck.

        This isn't looking good.

<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.

Sho's just conscious enough to realise she's being grabbed. The ringing in her ears isn't subsiding.

Wait. That's not ringing.

It's the sound of VTOL thrusters overhead.

The door to the compartment is kicked open roughly, and in steps a figure in a familiar blue, reinforced pilot suit, helmet and oxygen mask donned - and an automatic shotgun in his hands.

Go Ichimonji takes in the scene, lifts his weapon, and fires round after round into the drones holding up Lucine and Sho until they collapse in sparks - then runs for Alouette, yelling "hit the deck!" as he dives to push her down to safety.

If you look past the still-standing drones, out to the open boarding ramp -

Neo Bear, the black-green Getter Machine, is making an attack run.

"Claws off my friends," Gai Daido snarls, spinning up the nose mounted gatling gun - and letting rip into the vehicle bay.

The cacophony of high-frequency gunfire and detonations in the drones persists for several seconds, then stops. The car alarms of the surviving vehicles do not. Neo Bear pulls up, swinging around to try and get a firing solution on the drone-carrier.

"Alouette! Lucine!" Sho calls out as Go helps Alouette to her feet, hand still on her side. "Are you okay?"

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Alouette can recognize she's been pushed away, and she reaches out without even knowing where she's reaching out for. She has no idea what's going to happen, how a simple expedition transformed into this. All she can do is take cover. If she was a crueller, more callous person, she could use the drone's distraction from taking away Sho and Lucine, and whatever they're doing to Liam to attempt to run away herself.

Despite it all, she still believes in her courage, and she doesn't let go. She's cornered, but she still won't give up. These aren't simple attack drones, she realizes, they're highly coordinated -- acting with an intelligence she didn't see when they first struck. How can she win against that?

As it turns out, courage doesn't mean standing alone. The rest of the Neo Getter Team, right on schedule. "H-hey, careful!" She wants to sass Go as he pushes her down. But her gratitude overpowers that. "...Thanks."

The final cherry on top of Gai Daido's insane stunt - don't ever piss off a Getter 3 pilot, or worse, place their friends in danger. They're going to all be just fine, Alouette tells herself over and over and over. This won't be like the Garuda.

So she gets to her feet with Go's help. She's still disoriented, but she hears Sho's voice. "Fine..." She answers, a little weakly. "I'm fine."

"But Liam... he's still-" she glances across the vessel. He was the one they were really after. And if these drones are as coordinated as Alouette thinks they are, they've likely committed the entirety of their remaining resources to him.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        'C--c---' Whatever Liam might be telling Lucine, Lucine's too anxious to spare any moment to deciphering it. Her hand grasps for his--

        And then, all she has is smell, touch, and the limited grasp of that extra mental realm. Liam might be beside her, he might not, Lucine's too disorientated to be able to read what her mind tells her beyond that struggle to keep ahead of that wave of fear, confusion, and anxiety threatening to sympathetically feed into her own.

        Especially once she's being hoisted clear off the ground, upsidedown. Then, all bets are off.

        She's getting kidnapped. Leina was kidnapped. She'll be brainwashed, like Leina. Liam will be brainwashed. She wouldn't even be useful in the same ways. She's getting kidnapped. She's getting kidnapped. nonononononononononononononono

        Lucine struggles that much harder, wheeling her wrists and fists around with all the panic of someone drowning. It's barely heard over the sound of ringing ears, but all the same, Lucine shrieks like a banshee until her voice gives out, twisting around and kicking with her free foot, fingers out like claws as if they could do anything against a metal chassis.

        ----! Hitting the floor, Lucine is stunned again; safe from friendly fire as Gai valiantly rushes in.

        Turning over, yellow eyes wild and opened wide, Lucine answers Sho's question with one of her own: "Liam, where's Liam?!"

        She'll be much more thankful later, but right now, her entire body is on edge.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        The crewwoman who went to help that one guy with his flat tire was in just the right spot to keep anyone else from wandering into the danger zone. There's no lifesigns anywhere inside the vehicle bay, and as long as Gai Daido checks his backdrop--which he most certainly does, being a professional--the only things destroyed by his hail of gunfire are drones and a handful of civilian EVs. Cars can be replaced. People cannot.

        Where's Liam? That's a very good question. The cluster of drones holding him are beneath the invisible craft's belly, ascending at speed using tether lines. The larger drone with the double shields has stayed behind, while the rest of its fellows attempt to retreat up those cable lines as well. None of them are carrying captives. But Liam--

        "RUN!" His voice is ragged, and almost drowned out by the sounds of nearby aircraft. "RUN, NOW!" He can't see what's happened; he's been blindfolded with a polymer cloth. The drones carrying him disappear into the body of the craft...

        And the hatches shut, leaving only a handful of drones behind. An invisible signal flies through the air as the jamming ends.

        The remaining drones erupt in balls of fire, one by one, the massive shield-drone detonating last of all. Gai is going to have the narrowest of windows if he wants to tag that craft.

<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.

Gai is not the best test pilot in NISAR - she's in the ferry's vehicle bay, nursing a broken rib.

He is, however, good - or mad - enough to handle a Getter. Some rapid flicking of switches, and a small missile launches forth at the gap in his sensors - a projectile tracking beacon.

Go heads over to Sho on the ground and helps her back to her feet too, before turning his attention to Lucine. Once her feet are steady under her, Sho stumbles over to Alouette and pulls her into a hug.

Go offers his hand to help Lucine back to her feet - he's on edge too, a mounting anger boiling in him. "They'd already dragged him clear of the ferry by the time we got here," he says, tapping his own comm. "Gai, report." ... There's something uncanny about seeing the normally-hotheaded Pilot One of the team falling back on actual discipline and protocol.

"They got him inside the carrier," Gai reports, Neo Bear now hovering over the ferry next to Neo Eagle. "I'm not even sure if my tracker hit. ... I'm sorry, Lucine."

"They didn't get the rest of us, though," Sho gasps out, hand on her ribs still. "You two got here in time to stop that. Means... Means we can fight back."

In any other situation, Go would contest her decision. Instead, he shares a dark look with his Squadron Leader. "It's gotta be the Crucible." He stows his shotgun, turning to look at the shredded wreckage of the abduction drones. "Nobody else would go this hard for Liam. Bastards."

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

Liam demands for them to run. It feels awful... but she understands the situation, she knows they have to listen to his wishes here. "We'll be back!" She shouts in return. "NO MATTER WHAT!"

When Sho pulls her into that hug, Alouette squeezes her shoulders, helping her steady her balance with that broken rib. "It's okay. I'm here... and I won't let go." She whispers.

The adrenaline still hasn't fully passed yet, and her heartbeat is racing. It hasn't even been a full two months... and she just barely escaped another hostage situation.

"Lucine..." Alouette looks at the girl with a sad expression, her eyes looking downward. "I've seen a lot of situations like this. I was just a part of one not that long ago... we'll do everything we can to make sure Liam gets home safely, okay?" She promises. It feels like an empty promise when they're this powerless right now... but she's been learning from the best in turning 0% into 100%.

"The Crucible..." Alouette murmurs. She tries to get her brain back into gear the best she can. "Unfortunately, I don't have much intel on them. BioNet is such a large organization that my project never really intersected with theirs. And if they were able to get Liam here, it's possible they've been tracking him for a long time... waiting for the most convenient time to strike." She frowns. Nevermind that this seemed like the perfect trap - could the idea have been planted in his head?

"This won't be an easy fight, and we have a lot of strength to regain. But I won't give up on Liam, and I know you would all say the very same."

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        "Liam..."

        Grab a vehicle and go after him. Gai has a jet. It's flying. Demand he get close enough and jump on. Sure, she'll fall to her death, but there's a 0.000001% chance she won't, and they'll find the plane, and then she'll get on, and then she'll

        She'll likely die a million times over.

        There's someone standing by her. It's Go. Lucine looks up, hair disheveled, eyes wild. Then, as a mote of reasoning takes root inside her mind, she presses her hand into Go's and uses his help to mutely get to her feet.

        Gai's report and apology, meanwhile, seem to deflate that balloon of adrenaline in the pilot's gut. Her eyes fill with tears, but she smiles, nodding. "Thank you, Gai." Of course, Gai being in a jet would mean he likely doesn't hear her, but it's a sentiment that may be carried on visually.

        She turns to Go, then, as well. "You saved us... thank you." She gives him a small smile, her gaze a smidge too distant to really read.

        Alouette's words seem to bolster the quiet young woman, as does Sho's, dealing realism along with that small bit of hope. "I told Liam about that, Alouette.... I think he shut down mentally, realizing you, Banagher, and Mineva might get the same fate." Alouette willingly went into that danger for the sake of her friends. Meanwhile, Lucine struggled and kicked and screamed. "... You're both strong. If you weren't here, I'd be kidnapped too." The gratitude is genuine, but a contradictory hollowness follows each words. If she was there with Liam, he wouldn't alone, but it wouldn't be for long, would it?

        "... His phone's still on the deck. We should secure it for him.... He'll want it back, won't he..." She drifts past Go, fueled by all their words. It'll be enough to get herself out of this room. After that, it'll just need to be one step after another.

        She gets to the door.

        Ah, there's one emotion left, isn't there? "..... We'll make those assholes *wish* they killed us off....."

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Gai fires the beacon. The enemy craft reacts with eerie speed; it's already lifting clear of the ferry, and bright, Minovsky-charged flares shoot free from its rear. The beacon disappears into the cloud. The craft takes flight, and vanishes without a trace.

        ...Well. Not exactly without a trace. Though mostly jammed by the craft's onboard systems, it's not quite nonfunctional. There's just enough of a trail to follow.

        The question is, then, can they follow that trail, and get to Liam before something even worse happens to him?

<Pose Tracker> Sho Tachibana has posed.

"I've got something," Gai announces. "Sho, if you're up to flying..."

"I'll manage," Sho growls. "Let's figure out a rendezvous point and get HQ to drop Neo Jaguar off there."

She takes another step, winces and coughs, and leans on Alouette a little heavier. The thought of Hayato's reaction to flying Neo Getter after years of retirement comes to her. "On second thought... Should get this looked at. Go... take Lucine up to Neo Eagle. Alouette and I will ride in Neo Bear. Let's... let's regroup at HQ. Get Captain Jin's input."

"I'm glad you're safe," she murmurs to Alouette as Gai steers Neo Bear back into position over the ferry.

Go nods, and follows Lucine. "I think Sho thinks we need to disappear," he says to her. "Don't worry. We'll save him. I'm not gonna leave him in the lurch."

<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.

"I can imagine," Alouette says, of what Liam felt about the Garuda situation. "And I can tell you this much... anyone can be that strong. So don't count yourself out, mademoiselle Lucine." She gestures to the heart, its own source of bravery. "I can just tell you're going to have an important role to play in saving Liam."

But for now, she has to tend to Sho... and Go actually manages to read the room and give them the space for that. "I'm glad too, Tachi-chan," she whispers, entirely serious despite the nickname. "But your rib... are you going to be okay before we get back?" Alouette can't believe she actually considered flying like that.

"...I'll just have to do what I can." She insists. Even if it's just being right next to her, letting her fall asleep besides her. For the sheer speed these jets go, it sure does feel like a really slow ride.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        Opening the doors... was a bad idea. Coughing, Lucine shuts the door quickly. ".... I should've grabbed his phone..." Her voice shakes at the mere implication of losing another part of him, even if it's just an object.

        Thankfully, Alouette's words seem to bolster Lucine a little more. She nods. ".... It'd be enough just to have him back. All this is... is just anger. And fear." She sighs. ".... Liam's..." Lucine hesitates, then settles the question in her own head. Liam trusts these people; Lucine should do the same. "His mind... was being affected, somehow. I could feel it. It's similar to a state he sometimes drops into during battle, but... it's never happened, like this. It was just after he thought he had heard something. In the middle of everything, it didn't seem to matter, one way or another, but... it scares me, for some reason..."

        The next part comes easily enough, after that first detail is dropped. "... Also, as far as I could sense.... there was nobody on that craft that picked him up, too." She glances down, her soft tone turning bitter. "All this, and they still didn't even see him important enough to send someone we could shoot down..."

        'I got something'. Lucine turns her attention straight to Gai's plane. Sho's courage bolsters her. They'll do that, and then get there, and--

        Lucine's hands tighten into a fist, as she fights against that urge to mindlessly chase ahead. "... I think--" Sho is already on that, thankfully, and Lucine simply nods instead. "... We've all been injured, in a lot of different ways. I'm... going to need your help in full. Liam's strong, and as long as we have a signal... We can go after him, when we are ready..." She can feel a brush of that warmth between Sho and Alouette.

        This day was supposed to be the four of them, like this.

        She shoots a look towards Go. ".... I don't blame them. .... Lead the way, Go."