Steps Into the Unknown (06-23-2022)

## Preflight Checks - [06/23/2022] | GEO-7, Camelot

*"Vol!"* Void shouted, being launched into the air by A-015's power and up onto the rock wall. He had been in the obstacle course for over two hours now, training as much as he could before the mission, departing in just under an hour. He breathlessly scrambled to the top of the 3 meter high wall, and as soon as he got up and over he heard a round of sarcastic applause from behind.

"Thought you and Wiz weren't using those tricks anymore," they said, looking up at Void.

"Shit, I'm starting to remember why. Even with that 'high-energy' shake Tenma gave me earlier I feel like someone kicked the wind out of me," he replied. Specter wordlessly threw a blue bottle bottle up to Void.

Void's eyes went wide, it was his favorite soda, the one he had to pay extra for at the vending machines and canteen. "I think you earned it, after that interview," Specter said, looking at their feet. Without hesitation, Void cracked open the bottle and started drinking... until suddenly.

***"What the FUCK!?"***

Specter couldn't hold it in anymore, they started laughing uncontrollably as Void spat out the blue liquid. "Is this fucking window cleaner?!" he shouted, nearly falling off the rock wall.

"That's for the damn holy water. I have a case of the actual shit waiting for you in the Slipstream."

*"Fuck,"* Void muttered under his breath, trying to get the last of the chemical taste out of his mouth. Specter was gone as fast as they arrived, presumably to the launch site. With a deep breath in, he jumped off the rock wall. *"Ater!"* he shouted just before hitting the ground, comfortably cushioning the fall's impact with seemingly nothing but the air beneath him.

He hunched over, trying to catch his breath from using A-015, before eventually stumbling out of the course and over to the launch chamber.

He managed to regain his energy, striding through the door to see the Slipstream on its launch rail, as well as the entire crew ready or getting ready. Kana was working the launch controls, Dr. Lambert and Thunder were already in their hardsuits, and Reptile and Specter still slipping theirs on. "Aye, was beginning to think you chickened out," Lambert said to Void, having a bit of a chuckle.

"Well, that does bring us to the point. This mission has a nonzero chance of failure, the Group does not have enough resources to go rescuing us all willy nilly and I doubt any of you want a trip to the afterlife. If anyone wants to back out, now's your last chance."

Thunder and Reptile scoffed at the remark, with Specter chuckling.

"In the past few days we've fought against both an evil magical demon and the court of public opinion. If those won't kill us, nothing will," Thunder said confidently. Void wore a weary smile, chuckling a bit at the past month.

Void slipped into his hardsuit, just as Specter and Reptile finished putting theirs on. With one final pull of the sleeves, everyone in the crew was ready to go. They all embarked upon the Slipstream, and they slipped on their helmets before taking positions. Thunder, and Void were manning the pilot seats, Specter was strapped into one of the main cabin seats, and Lambert and Reptile were in the lab doing checks on the life support systems.

"Equipment checks... equipment checks," Void said idly, tapping at the console surrounding his seat in the cockpit. "We've got the FCL packed in the cargo hold, alongside a few spare particle crates... what about the science equipment?"

"The Multiverse Science Package? It's in the exposure hold. I'm pretty sure Lambert put the rest in the cargo hold too. Manifest says a few handheld scanners and field labs," Thunder replied, sending the manifest over to Void's screen.

"Weapons too... that's good," Void said, trailing off.

"You really think someone could stay alive on that thing for so long? I mean, the rigors of multiversal space aren't just something regular humans can just tank. I saw what happened to the probe the GSA sent way back."

"I'm not saying it's impossible is all... the Empire is a huge unknown, we need to be prepared just in case."

"Alright, alright. I can respect that. If they're out here in multiversal space in the first place, there's no reason to assume they don't know how it works."

"We're ready to go lads!" Lambert shouted heartily as he returned to the cockpit, followed by Reptile. Void's heart raced at the anticipation, tempered only by the remaining launch procedure. "Kana, we're ready to launch," Thunder said over his helmet's headset, with Void giving a silent thumbs up through the cockpit glass towards her station. "Alright then, Expedition EREBUS-I is go, disconnecting umbilical connections now," Kana replied over the comms in each crewmember's headset.

Pressure hissed as the umbilical hoses and cables disconnected from the Slipstream's exterior. Kana's voice came over the comms again, "Sealing cabin and priming the barrel, make sure you're all strapped in." They all snapped their harnesses on, and a hum filled the air as the atmosphere in the chamber seemed to electrify.

"Launching in three, two, one," Kana said, counting down as the end of the chamber began to distort. As she made it to one, the Slipstream shot forward, propelled on the launch track towards the distortion ahead of it. As the ship met the distortion, it ripped through reality itself. A blinding bright kaleidoscope of colors assaulted the crew's eyes, as the vessel penetrated the walls between their world and others.

## The Great Expanse - [ERROR] | Crown Wing, Multiversal Space

The light intensified yet again, and then faded. The crew's eyes met with the vast expanse of the Multiverse, with countless multicolored spheres spread across its canvas. "Holy shit..." Void said to himself, still staring in awe at the new environment they had arrived in. "Alright boys, go ahead and plot a course to that flagship. I'll go back to the equipment and see if I can't get a radio link to HQ," Lambert said as he unstrapped himself from his seat. Void pulled up the navigational screen, plotting a course for the ship's autopilot.

"Thunder, can you set the probe to release right about here?" Void said, pointing at and highlighting the midpoint of the course on Thunder's screen.

"Yeah, I'll patch it in to our comms as well so Kana can get a lock on it."

As the two pilots worked, the cabin fell silent.

"So when are we getting there?" Specter said, breaking the silence.

"About 13 minutes. I guess we have time to rest in the meantime," Void responded.

With that, Specter unclicked their harness and wandered off into the armory, leaving only Reptile, Void, and Thunder left in the main cabin.

"So... you guys think there's gonna be some dangerous shit in that carrier?" Reptile questioned.

"I would guess so. We're talking a massive empire after all."

"So... poisons?"

"...Yes, there will be poisons. Just make sure that you catalogue them first."

Reptile's eyes lit up with excitement as he leaned back in his seat. After a few minutes, communications crackled to life.

"EREBUS-I, do you read me?" Kana said, her voice partially obscured by static.

"We can hear you Tezuma, still a bit of static on our end," Void replied, checking the interior cameras and seeing Lambert configuring the transmitter. With a single sharp blow to the transmitter, the static cleared.

"Copy that EREBUS. GSA has locked onto the payload signal, you are cleared to deploy."

And with a single press of a button, Thunder released the GSA's science probe into the vacuum of multiversal space. "Hope this gets us on the GUN's good side with this Heralda shit going on," Void mumbled.

After a few moments of silence, the crew in the cockpit could see the Imperial Flagship in the distance, adorned with the Ataros coat of arms and worn black lettering reading "PALACE."

"Heads up!" Specter shouted, tossing a soda towards Void's head.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Thunder caught the drink right before it hit Void's head, handing it to him. "Nice save," Specter said as they chuckled, followed into the main cabin by Lambert. Void cracked open the drink, taking a quick test sip to make sure it wasn't just more window cleaner. As the sweet and tangy taste of the soda hit his tongue however, he was immediately relieved.

After a good swig of the soda, he turned to the crew. "We're going to be landing inside of the ship, I have some personal digging I want to do, so I'd advise we all split up into teams," he said.

Specter rolled their eyes, "Splitting up? *Reeeal* good idea V, real good."

"We have an entire flagship, what else can we do?"

"...Not split up? Yeah, nevermind."

"Alright then. Thunder, put us down there," Void said, pointing at massive breach in the flagship's hull. The tear was large enough that the Slipstream got through without difficulty. With a soft thud, the Slipstream landed in the middle of a large commons area.

## The Flagship - [ERROR] | HMS Palace, Crown Wing

The crew filed into the airlock, clicking on their hardsuits' personal gravity fields and depressurizing the interior. As the exterior door opened, their sound sensors registered a sharp hiss as the remaining atmosphere vented into the vacuum, followed by eerie silence as the crew looked in awe. "Alright then, let's go," Void said, just before jumping down the ramp. The rest soon followed, gazing at the universes dotting the sky, like shining giant marbles upon a a sea of ever-shifting colors. Before heading any further Void turned back to the crew and pointed towards the screen on the wrists of their hardsuit. "Make sure you pay attention to these, they'll map out the ship as we move through it. And... good luck fellas."

With that, he started into the ship. "Goddamn psycho, going in there alone," Specter muttered. Lambert cocked his pistol, holstering it and moving further into the ship with Thunder following close behind. And, after a moment, Specter and Reptile followed the rest into the darkness.

"Arthur's Ghost, this is so exciting!" Void said, brimming with enthusiasm after sliding down the bannister of a sleek pair of defunct escalators. As he reached the bottom, he tapped at his suit's wristpad. "Kao, you with us?" he probed. KaOS' avatar popped up on the screen, seemingly... sleepy?

"What's up? Where am I?" KaOS replied.

"Imperial spaceship, that's besides the point. I need a map of this thing."

"Ugh, this early in the morning? Plug me into a terminal."

Void looked around the corridor, there wasn't a terminal in sight. KaOS was about to patch into his helmet camera before he suddenly dented one of the wall panels with his elbow, giving him a handhold to rip it off. "We're doing some hacky shit now."

He pulled a purple wire out, labelled as "DATA" on his FORA visor. With a single look, he started tapping away at the wristpad, designing a clunky adapter for his suit's data cable and the ship's. He could feel the whir of the hardsuit's fabricator before a pleasant "ding."

"Plugging you in now, Kao," he said, grabbing the adapter and affixing it to the ship's data line. As he plugged the suit's data cable into the adapter, KaOS immediately got to work, gradually mapping the ship sector by sector."

"Aaaaaaaand thank you! You can go back to sleep now," Void said, with their only reply being a tired thumbs-up from the on-screen avatar.

Void took a moment to draw out preliminary plans for salvaging and scavenging from the most intact sectors of the vessel, the Engineering Sector, Research Sector, and the Royal Sector. He assigned Thunder and Lambert to Engineering, Reptile and Specter to Research, and the Royal Sector was all his to explore.

"Orders and data just came through Doc," Thunder said, looking at the plan sent out by Void. With the map on his screen, he looked at the corridor, and then back at the map.

"We're right where we need to be then lad," Lambert said, pointing at the large and bold "ENGINEERING" printed on the wall of the corridor. Thunder chuckled to himself, and the two continued into the massive engineering sector. The main room they entered had a massive cylindrical device dominating the center of the room. They immediately got to looking, trying to find anything worth scrapping. Thunder probed the defunct machinery with the metal contacts on his hardsuit gloves, using his electricity to 'feel' for working components.

"Hey! I got one!" Thunder shouted, feeling a completely intact component of a larger machine. As he tried to locate it physically, his hand brushed up against a handle. He instinctively grabbed onto it, and with a twist the component he found came loose. It was hard to make out, but it seemed to be a cylindrical "cell." Dr. Lambert came over holding a strange hunk of machinery. "Guess we both found something then lad, you know what that thing is?"

"I'm assuming some type of... something? I dunno."

"Well then. FORA says this thing is a data storage unit," Lambert said, patting the side of the machine he held.

"Shit, you and Void are gonna have a field day with that!"

"Aye lad, let's see if there's anything else."

Elsewhere in the Palace, Reptile and Specter stumbled right into the Research Sector. Reptile's eyes lit up as he eyed down the various poisons and reagents littering the counters in between all the science equipment, with such strangely named items as Aether Dew, Riyanflus, Reaper Glands, and more. He excitedly palmed them into his hardsuit's pack, while Specter looked at cleanly preserved alien creatures, as well as their respective skeletons. "Dream Reaper," they idly said to themselves, before a skull caught their eye on the floor. Quickly shifting their gaze to Reptile, who was still haphazardly filling their pack, Specter pocketed the skull.

And finally, in the Royal Sector, Void was in awe at the opulent throne room of the emperor, as well as his most loyal staff. "Damn, I wonder if Archie would be up for remodeling the Hold after I show him this," Void mumbled, walking through the place. Several viewports lined the walls adjacent to the throne, giving Void a view of the many universes outside of the Palace. For the briefest of moments, he imagined this ship in its prime, with Saren Ataros at the helm dutifully leading his people.

And as soon as he snapped out of it, he set his eyes on the prize... the Emperor's own quarters. Void pried the door open, shedding light from his hardsuit helmet into the dimly lit quarters. In it sat a horrid-looking scorch mark, as well as a simple canopy bed, adorned with silken fabrics and flanked by two finely crafted bedside tables. One side was barren, with a thin layer of dust covering it, but the other side held what could've only been left by the Emperor himself. A vaguely gun-shaped device, a good portion of which was fashioned out of skeletal material, and a faintly glowing purple crystal in the shape of an octahedron.

His hands were drawn to the pair of objects, as if an unknown force drew them together. But Void could barely get his hands on them before an alert came over his visor. There were multiple non-CACG lifesigns swarming the ship in groups, with a group heading to each of the teams he had assigned. As he heard a breaching charge outside in the throne room, he could only mutter...

*"Fuck."*

## The Jaeger Unit - [ERROR] | HMS Palace, Crown Wing

"Shit, shit Reptile get down!" Specter yelled, drawing their sword and deflecting a blow from an electrified staff. The group came from the darkness, all donning blocky geometric power armor and wielding various high-tech weapons. As soon as Specter blocked the attack with the staff however, a charged shot came from the darkness. In an instant, they etherealized the part of their body it was about to hit, but they could clearly register the pain as it tore straight through their flesh. Before ducking under a cabinet with Reptile, Specter used the last of their reserved energy to activate the Rings.

The unknown assailants shared a few garbled exchanges, seemingly masked by their armor, before the now-animate skeleton of the Dream Reaper roared. As it charged the armored foes, Reptile loaded a round into the Scorpion. The reaper skeleton slashed at the surprised gunmen, and Reptile managed to pop out from behind the counters, firing a single round before bracing himself alongside Specter.

An explosion rocked the lab, felt by Lambert and Thunder as they fought off their own assailants. Arcs of electricity flashed as Thunder lashed his powers out at the armored opponents, and shots rang out as Lambert returned fire with his old-fashioned rifle. The gunmen were extremely well coordinated, but the darkness of the sector coupled with the flashing of Thunder's lightning managed to disorient them just enough. One well-placed shot from Lambert dropped a hoisted piece of machinery right on top of the three foes.

And in the Royal Sector, Void was struggling against his own opponents. He sidestepped the swing of a stun baton, barely firing a shot off from the Gauss Revolver before a weighted chain was launched at his arm. It wrapped around his wrist, pulling it backwards and forcing him to drop the revolver shortly before a giant hammer swung into his chest. He was sent flying into the opposite wall of the throne room, taking the unfortunate chain wielder alongside him. Pain shot through his body as he hit the wall, nearly rendering him unconscious if not for the adrenaline in his system.

It was a giant among the two other soldiers, bearing a gunshot wound and carrying a large pneumatic hammer. Void had no doubt pissed whatever that *thing* was off, and it was out for blood. He grabbed a sticky grenade from his pack, priming and chucking it at the giant while struggling to get his arm out of the chain. With a bit of struggle, he managed to slip his arm out of the chain as he heard a *crunch.* Void looked forward to see that the big one had ripped off the grenade, crushing it within their power armored hand.

With a quick burst of motion, Void grabbed the weighted chain as the giant began to charge. As he got into position, he just barely dodged the first swing of the giant's hammer. He winced at the sickening crunch the hammer produced as it hit the ground, forming a circle of A-007 around the giant as he evaded its attacks. As soon as its compatriots caught on however, they started to open fire. But by that time, it was already too late. A full circle of the black ooze had been made, and the floor began to buckle as it was slowly eaten away.

The armored giant fell through with a crash, coinciding with a massive explosion out of the Research Sector. Reptile and Specter ducked as debris flung over the counter, with Reptile waiting until the smoke cleared to pop back out from his cover. If the armored people survived *that*, they sure as hell weren't anywhere close. He crouched back down, observing the gunshot on Specter. It was on their side, scorched and slightly oozing blood. "Alright, let's get this fixed up," he said, taking his FCL out and mixing up a concoction while he fished in his pack for a quick-repair kit for the hardsuit. After some whirring, a measure of orange liquid was filled into a vial with a ding.

"This is gonna hurt like hell," Reptile said, not giving Specter time to respond before splashing the liquid on the open wound. As soon as it soaked in, he applied the repair patch, and Specter started feeling the pain immediately. "FUCK FUCK ***FUCK!***" they shouted, holding their side as pulses of agony washed throughout their entire body. Reptile gave Specter a hand, getting them back up on their feet before sprinting back to the Slipstream, just as Lambert and Thunder did the same after retrieving the salvage they had dropped, among other pieces and bits of machinery.

And in the Throne Room, Void was surrounded by the unconscious bodies of three gunmen and a massive hole in the ornate flooring, worn out and exhausted from the footwork the battle put him through. He picked himself back up, checking to see if he still had the Emperor's devices secure, and finally retrieving both his fallen revolver and some of the weaponry dropped by the soldiers.

## A Clean Getaway - [ERROR] | HMS Palace, Crown Wing

"So, you guys alright?" Void said, trying to avert his eyes from the battered crew as he entered the Slipstream.

"Shit, I was wondering the same thing," Thunder replied while Void shuffled into the armory. Reptile kept eyeing down the various chemicals he had gotten from the lab while Specter silently held their side in pain. Lambert was busy looking for a place to pack the various articles of salvage they had all gathered. Void walked back into the main cabin from the armory, sitting back in his seat as Thunder repressurized the Slipstream.

The crew stayed silent as Lambert finished up in the cargo hold. "Are we ready guys?" Thunder asked, looking back at the rest of the crew as Lambert strapped himself in. Reptile gave a thumbs up, still looking at one of the vials he had recovered in awe. Specter looked as if they wanted to say something mean as well, but the pain kept them from following through. Only Lambert audibly replied, "We're ready lad."

"Let's go then!" Thunder shouted excitedly, bringing the Slipstream off the ground of the commons, exiting the hull breach from which it came and traveling back into multiversal space. "Initiating pulse drive now," Void said, entering coordinates and tapping a button as the Slipstream began to accelerate towards their home universe. Thunder looked back at the rest of the crew, with the look in his eyes telling it all.

"So, we don't know *exactly* how smooth our landing is gonna be. So just be prepared guys."

"How rough of a landing are we talking?" Reptile said, concerned.

Thunder took a moment before shrugging, leaving the whole cabin in silence.

A silence that was only broken once they were around halfway to home. Void stared in confusion as a small blip appeared on the radar readout faded in and out of view on the screen. "Thunder? Is something following us?"

Thunder pulled up the radar on his console as well, taking a look at it before chuckling. "Probably just the radar system going wacky. Didn't have much time to stress test it back on the ground."

"Are you two sure this thing isn't just a giant death trap at this point?" Specter said sarcastically.

"Pssh. It would've exploded by now if something bad was gonna happen," Thunder replied.

"Don't remind me of the test flights you had me do," Void said with a chuckle.

The multicolored marble of their home universe came into view shortly after the exchange, with Thunder and Void prepping the craft for reentry. Thunder supercharged the relativistic shields while Void configured the Liminal Routing System, and both of them gunned the engine of the Slipstream into the event horizon of CMLT-919. Light blinded the crew's eyes once again, as turbulence began to shake and sway the craft. The air in the cabin seemed to electrify, and the Slipstream gave one final heave before it all faded at once.

A familiar blue hue filled their vision, they were in the Grail's upper atmosphere, above one of the planet's oceans. A feeling of weightlessness took hold of the craft's crew, but was soon replaced by immense force picking up around the craft all at once. White-hot flames started to lick up from the bottom of the Slipstream as the craft hurtled towards the water at a breakneck speed. The altitude kept getting lower and lower until Thunder managed to reach the console. He pulled up on the control grip, pitching the Slipstream up just before it hit the water. The craft skipped along the water before finally crashing to a halt on the water's surface.

And with that, almost all of the passengers let out a sigh of relief. Void slumped back while Thunder pinged the CACG for pickup, and the rest of the passengers just took a moment to collect themselves. Despite the difficulties, they had survived, and EREBUS-I was a resounding success.