Space Logs by Gwen

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Audio logs by Gwendolyn du Lac, logged by GAIA (Galactic Ambassadorial Intelligence Assistant).
Introductorily text crawl here!
Playlist.
== Sonata Apocalyptica OVA Episode 1 - Big Team Can Into Space ==
=== Capitan’s Log, Earth Year 2018, November 11th ===
S.P.E.A.R. requested the presence of Big Team members at their space base. Most didn't want to go. Many couldn't, were it for obligations to family, out of simple fear of space, or the fear of failure. We all knew it was going to involve us getting a mission. The writing was on the wall after all that had happened yesterday. I'm just glad I had enough time to write my letters.
Of course we were given a mission: we being myself, Elle and Parrot. We'd managed to keep two pieces of the Sonata safe, out of the hands of The Host. Elle even killed Dreadful. I'm not sure if she meant to. We generally don't kill. It's a rule we have. I don't think she had a choice. I think it was more an accident than anything. I wasn't there when it happened and I definitely wasn't going to push her on it. We won. That is all that matters right now.
Our mission is to catch up to Horrid and Charade, take their pieces of the Sonata, and deliver those pieces to the Knights Protector. Seems simple enough.
Our mission was given to us by--
sharp breath noise
The agent's name was Josie Mann. I've heard her name before and I'd seen pictures of her. She's Olivia's grandmother. Just my luck, really. I would've preferred to have met her during easier times, perhaps at Thanksgiving. That's coming up pretty soon too. Just another reason for me to not fuck this up. Gotta impress my girlfriend's grandmother.
...
She's going to get these audio logs after the mission, isn't she?
You know what, GAIA, don't answer that.
End log.
== Sonata Apocalyptica OVA minisode - Space Jams ==
2018, November 12th-13th
Scene: Space Jams.
== Sonata Apocalyptica OVA Episode 2 - A Horrid Shape ==
=== Capitan’s Log, Earth Year 2018, November 14th ===
We landed and immediately faced trouble. Muse wouldn't listen, first of all. He just stormed off! She's so insufferable. They're gonna get a stern talking to soon--and by "talk" I mean my--coughing noises
...
Nevermind. Today has been a ride. It started off frustrating, but it turned into a hell of an adventure by the end.
We landed on a space station in a system controlled by Risganja, the shape-shifting people that The Shaper belonged to. We'd followed Horrid's signal here and had spotted his ship in one of the bays of the station. We were greeted by a Risganjan called The Watcher, who shifted into a more humanoid form when we approached. Seeing that happen in front of my eyes made me shiver, seeing that ripple go across their flesh...
We tried to convince them to help us stop Horrid, but seeing as both we and him are outsiders, they didn't want to do anything about it directly. Instead, they offered us use of their fighting pits if we wished to face Horrid there and settle this the old-fashioned way. The Risganjan way.
Things would have gone very differently if Horrid hadn't shown up that very moment and bid The Watcher to leave, using his mental persuasions to influence the Risganjan. We had known about his powers, but to see it in action in front of us had me take pause. We weren't ready to face off against him, let alone prepared to deal with being affected by such abilities ourselves. Sure, I could try and see if retrocognition on myself would break me out of it, but I would very much want to avoid using it on myself for a variety of reasons.
Yet that is where things perhaps turned for the better on this mission. Horrid offered us a deal. He has been fighting Ominus for centuries. Truly, yonks of time. I verified this without his knowing. I trust him, at least for now. The deal was that we help him defeat Charade and give her piece of the Sonata to him. This will allow him to take control over much of The Host's military, inheriting it from Charade and the already-late Dreadful. He would then ensure that The Host doesn't go against Earth or its allies anymore, that they wouldn't be expansionist the way Ominus apparently is, but keep to what is Host space. Pretty good deal, at least for now.
Elle was going to go with Horrid to get his piece of the Sonata from his ship. I would fly the ship around to pick them up, because Horrid's ship wasn't leap-ready yet. Elle wanted Parrot to go with me, but I commanded her to go with Elle and ensure she would be safe. I have come to trust Horrid since then, but I certainly did not trust him then to be alone with one of my teammates. I don't know how vulnerable Elle's mind is to weird space magic.
Even still, trouble had found us fast. As I was flying GAIA around, Charade's space cruiser was upon us, firing at the ship and the station. I managed to maneuver us around and prevent GAIA from taking damage. Then I came to the coordinates Horrid had given me, and I saw the bay his ship had been meant to be in was destroyed. I saw Elle floating in space. I handed the controls over to Muse and ran to the hatch of the ship, opening it up, slapping a chain on my spacesuit and leaping out to grab Elle. I swung around, got her, and then we got hit by direct fire from the space cruiser. I struggled through the pain, but Elle was hit hard. I drew us back into the ship. Parrot and Horrid flew in right behind me. Elle was knocked out cold. I told Parrot to perform CPR while I ran back to the control room to a panicking Muse. He ran off, but not before I got a glimpse at her face behind their broken kabuki mask. No time to think about cute bastards though, as we were under fire and I punched the leap-drive to get us out of there. To Risganja.
End log.
=== Capitan’s Log, Earth Year 2018, November 15th ===
At Risganja, things went absolutely stellar. Emphasize that.
The trip took a day or so, but Parrot stayed cooped up in her room. Something awkward between Elle and her or something of the sort. I didn't bother 'til later. Elle and I took care of the bigger fish: the Risganjans. We got hailed, asking for our diplomatic credentials, which had been damaged in the fight earlier. I convinced them that we were there to bring them tales of heroic battle and the deaths of Risganjans at the space station we'd just left.
We were led in by a large Risganjan called The Tower, who presumably governs that space station hovering over Risganja. Along with them, there were holograms of at least half a dozen Risganjan generals.
That had to sink in for a bit.
We told them tales of heroism and commended Risganjan bravery. We told them we had fought and narrowly escaped with our lives, intending to bring them this information. I praised Elle for her actions in battle and they kept calling her ELLE, WARRIOR FROM EARTH.
We asked to strike an alliance against The Host and attack them together at Whitestar Station for their transgressions against both Earth and Risganja. They said they would give their response later. They had to deliberate first.
Back on the ship, there wasn't much to do but wait. In this time, I decided to go to Parrot's room and check up on her.
Have you ever made a big mistake in your life, GAIA? Of course you haven't. You're perfect. You probably don't have to deal with teenagers much either. Fucking lucky.
Parrot was standoffish. Right like how I first met her, I think. A real dick. Actually, she wasn't that bad when I first met her and she turned out much less so, but now? She was being a shitty little fucking brat. All dismissive while I tried to console her, like she expressed desire to go back to Earth and her mom and her family and nyeehhh. Fucking whiner! We can't have that, we're saving the fucking universe here! So then I punched her.
And I screamed.
And she screamed.
And I broke her fucking helmet! Gods, that felt good in that moment... and then it felt a thousand times worse right after. I knew I'd crossed a line.
And she punched.
And I punched harder.
And we fought. We fought throughout the entire ship. I tossed her against walls, she kicked me off, we rolled through the hallways. I think I spotted Elle running off at some point. Probably trying to find an adult, before realizing there's none aboard this ship.
So, good job, Gwen. If you were trying to convince S.P.E.A.R. you can handle captaining a space crew and being a good diplomatic representative for Earth, you've definitely done that now. You surely must've impressed the hell out of your girlfriend's grandma.
Still, speaking of diplomacy, the Risganjans hailed us right before I punched Parrot for the first time. They ended up accepting our offer of a temporary alliance and of continued diplomatic relations. They're sending a diplomat to board with us in the next few days while they gather up their forces.
So...
Good job, Gwen.
End log.
== Sonata Apocalyptica OVA minisode - Space-Time Passes ==
=== Capitan’s Log, Earth Year 2018, November 21st ===
It’s bullshit. This mission’s been so much bullshit. How the fuck are we succeeding at all the wrong things? It sure feels like that. We’ve gotten a space station destroyed, we saved and allied with one of the people we’re supposed to be chasing and capturing/killing, and while we’ve got one of the pieces of the Sonata and made allies with the Risganjans, the human cost has been insurmountable.
That’s a thing space captains say, right? Insurmountable? The human cost has been insurmountable, but it’s honestly been just the three of us that that cost has been inflicted upon. I have been avoiding Parrot since our fight yesterday. It was easy most of the time, since she stays cooped up in her room a lot, but the ship is small. It helps to pretend that I’m busy with something. It helps that I am actually busy, too. I don’t know how to handle this situation. I can handle conflict between other people just fine. It’s especially easy if I can just punch one of the parties involved. It’s not so easy when I’m one of the parties involved and the problem was my punching.
I don’t know what to do. I’m shit without Nimue. I’m shit without people believing in me. I’m shit without the person who gave me my damn name in the first place. Fuck. FUCK! Fuck her, fuck everyone. I just want this to be over. I don’t want this to be over. I want US to be over. I DON’T want us to be over.
FUCK.
…
End log.
=== Capitan’s Log, Earth Year 2018, November 22nd ===
It’s Thanksgiving back on Earth right now, at least in Halcyon City. A holiday with some worth to it, at least the idea of it, I guess. I have a lot to be thankful for, but none of those people can be reached, it seems. Some of them don’t pick up their phones, like Rhiannon. Some of them I already tried to reach before, who said I could always reach them, like Olivia. Some of them are too stupid to be reached right now, like Parrot.
It’s because I’ve been too stupid too.
I wish I could talk to Elle about things, but she’s also not in a good place right now, it seems. This team has already fallen apart. What kind of shit captain am I, anyway? I was doing fine on Earth! I was doing fine with MORE people on my team, with LOWER stakes!
You know what? Sure. If I can’t rely on the few people I do have, let’s increase the stakes even further.
End log.
=== Capitan’s Log, Earth Year 2018, November 24th ===
I’ve been spending the last few days sending messages to surrounding systems. I’ve tried to reach out to every system the S.P.E.A.R. database knows that isn’t Host-occupied territory. The planet Horrid spoke of, with its sorcerers, a system with a centaurian research base, a system where the planets are actively at war with one another, and one where the native people resemble ancient Earth reptiles. There are few of them, but if we can rally them to our cause, who knows what we’ll be capable of?
Fucking watch me, Ominus. My fists are itching.
End log.
== Sonata Apocalyptica OVA Episode 3 - The Final Star Fantasy ==
=== Capitan’s Log, Earth Year 2018, November 25th ===
We've welcomed the Risganjans aboard. The diplomat among them is named The Master. Why does that feel menacing? According to GAIA it's meant to be both a noun and a verb, like they want to master skills and knowledge, and that that's why they are the ambassador to Earth. They're still confused that Earthling names are not descriptive in the same way.
We headed to Thea first. It's a desolate world where firestorms rage regularly across the surface. We'd been told a sorcerer lived here in some kind of office building, someone who could help us fix Nimue. Nimue is my sword and also the spirit within and also my great-something-grandmother. We found a self-styled wizard named Arcturus. He spoke in a peculiar manner and looked like twelve monkeys with sparkles jumping off their fingers, all busy with different things and at the same time buggering each of us at once. He did fix Nimue, for the record. He only required a small price from me: a keychain I'd been wearing as a necklace. It was a gift from my cousin, Rhiannon. A small price, relatively speaking, but one that weighed heavily on me nonetheless.
I started this journey in service for the protection of everyone in the universe--which is what I tell everyone else. The truth is, it's only partly that. I throw myself at the biggest problems I can find in the hopes that they will distract me from all the smaller ones. My father is in Hell, I haven't seen my mother or siblings in ages, and I have been cloned at least once by G.R.E.Y. for who knows what nefarious purpose. I fully expected to die on this trip, given the scale of threats and power and stakes involved. I was just so happy to have something to remind me of home, of people who care about me. Giving that keychain away was a small price to pay for Nimue, but Nimue is priceless. There's just no comparison. So, after that, the only things I have of home are my teammates, Parrot and Elle, some clothes, musical instruments, my basketball, a Nintendo Switch, and the music box Olivia gave me for my birthday.
deep breath
I'm just glad things got fixed with Parrot. She's a blubbering idiot, but now, after speaking with her, I know that she's my blubbering idiot. She's my friend--heck, my best friend, maybe--and my teammate. I can count on her. We just needed to get that out of our system and we've got to leave the touchy-feely stuff for after the big fight.
We're in this together. We're a team.
End log.
=== Capitan’s Log, Earth Year 2018, November 26th ===
We've made good time! We arrived at Whitestar Station. We met up with Stan Harder or Slam Parser or something. She's a smuggler, allegedly a "famous" one by her own saying, known across the four galaxies. She said she could get the Sonata to the Knights Protector. She had ID and verification that she worked with them and everything. That is perfect for us. We gave her the Coda, the piece that Elle and I had protected back on Earth together with Hesperus and Deadfall. I still intend to honour the deal with Horrid. I'm not sure if it's ultimately the best move, but I feel like it's the right one. If anyone in the future should be blamed for any fallout coming out of that, it should be me. That's what you're Capitan for, after all. Duties. Responsibilities. Taking the fall.
Tomorrow, we're infiltrating Charade's superweapon and her space cruiser, both hanging over Whitestar Station like looming dread gods. We'll see how that goes. It's going to be the moment of truth in all this. We don't know when the Risganjan forces will arrive exactly, but our estimates say it will be sometime tomorrow, so that's when we should strike too.
End log.
=== Capitan’s Log, Earth Year 2018, November 27th ===
WE DID IT!
By gods, we did it! We infiltrated the superweapon, Elle and I, dressed up as Host officers. We had gotten two of them drunk in a seedy bar somewhere, then knocked them out in an alleyway. The uniforms fit easily over our skin-tight spacesuits. We just walked right into a transport going up to the superweapon, then convinced all the crew to gather in one room for a surprise party for the commander of the superweapon. We spread the rumour that they were up for a promotion. After that, it was just a matter of locking them up, cutting communications, knocking out the commanders and then setting to work on disabling the weapon entirely.
So far, so smooth. Then a centaurian walked in and shattered the window and we got sucked into space.
I called Nimue towards me. I had left her with Parrot, figuring she could use her better than I for the moment as I could always call upon Nimue if I needed to. In space, I needed to be able to fly to get back inside the ship, together with Elle. As Nimue flew towards me however, I saw that Horrid was holding onto her. Horrid, whomst Parrot confirmed was still next to her.
Charade.
We had finally come face-to-face with her and she had her piece of the Sonata with her. I struggled with her, I punched, whipped Nimue around and slashed at her, we wrestled in the depths of space.
She got free and floated away from me. GAIA rammed into her! That was really awesome of them.
Then Charade turned into a dragon.
We gathered up. Elle was facing her down, throwing around her spear and flying towards it as she darted around Charade. Parrot and I swooped around to save people from the collapsing superweapon, now that the air was getting sucked out of it behind us. We got them all to safety aboard GAIA. Then we turned to rejoin the fray.
We were hailed by a messenger ship. A package for Parrot, in the midst of space. A message from Ominus. He promised her a miracle cure for her grandfather, who's been suffering from medical problems. The only thing she's have to do was to abandon us. Elle and I were marked for death for being responsible for the death of his son Dreadful. I saw her struggle. I don't blame her, but you can't trust evil galactic overlords who make big promises that are going to fix everything for you.
She rejected him.
I flew to the top of GAIA with her and yote her at the dragon.
Charade breathed fire at us. I flew as close as a could and spread my wings and held up Nimue, hoping to somehow shield GAIA and all the people inside them from the flames. It worked, but I was not well off after that.
I maneuvered around, flanking Charade with Elle and providing her with an opportunity to strike her deeply with her spear, before she passed out. I picked her up, and Charade's body and the Sonata piece, and flew back to GAIA.
Parrot was gone. I couldn't see her anywhere after that blast of fire. I was so worried! It turned out to be for little, as she materialized from the Sonata piece that I'd taken from Charade's body. That fucking gremlin!
Charade was still alive. Horrid was none too pleased with that, saying that part of our deal had been that we'd kill her for him. I had to grip Nimue a little tighter and consider her words.
"A wiser person than I once told me, justice is not brought to those who have done evil. Justice is for the victims, so that a burden is lifted from them."
I wanted justice for all those Charade has affected with her armies, including Horrid. He seems to have accepted that. We shook hands, our deal completed, at least our end. He was going to enter in negotiations with the Risganjans once he had consolidated control over Charade's remaining forces, now that the battle was over.
The battle is over!
We won!
It was mostly the Risganjans fighting all around Whitestar Station, but without us disabling the superweapon and taking out their greatest ship, they wouldn't have stood a chance.
We won.
There's only... one small thing left to do.
End log.
== Sonata Apocalyptica OVA Extra - Gwen's Proclamation ==
“GAIA, can we hail multiple people?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, if you can, then... hail everyone.”
“Everyone?”
“Everyone on Whitestar Station and all worlds connected to it.”
“That is at least ten thousand systems.”
“Can you do it?”
“I can.”
“Do it. Let them hear my voice, let them see my face, let them know that we are of Earth. Including Wrack. Including Ominus.”
On the control consoles on GAIA’s bridge, a series of lights spring to life to signal that other hailing frequencies have been opened. Gwen glances at Horrid and The Master, then casts a look at Parrot and nods. She takes a deep breath before she turns to the screen, where the dark shadows of tens of thousands of figures are looming--one looming more ominously than all the others together.
“Ominus! I was hoping to come face-to-face with you. I didn’t expect you to hide behind your armies and only send us an audio message. Not even directly! What a dredful disappointment.
“It’s time for us to end this sharade, and so I can deliver a message to you, to ALL of you, from the humble planet of Earth.
“Whitestar Station is no longer yours. Through act of war by warriors from Earth and the great might of Risganja, it is no longer yours. Whitestar Station is from now on neutral ground between all worlds. The Host will come no further than Whitestar Station. You have one Earth year to withdraw your military from all systems beyond Whitestar Station. That is not a threat. That is a statement of justice.
“That being said, we DO welcome you. We welcome your diplomats. We will welcome them from ALL your worlds. We highly commend and praise our allies of Risganja, whomst have already opened diplomatic relations with us, and we look forward to all of you doing the same. The United Nations of Earth are open to diplomatic relations with all of you from across the four galaxies.
“And when you get there...”
The camera zooms in on Gwen’s face. She smirks.
“Tell them the Big Team sent you.”
== Sonata Apocalyptica OVA minisode - Whitestar Shopping ==
2018, November 28th
Scene: Whitestar Shopping.
Category:Gwendolyn du Lac
Category:Journals