the cavalry arrives - and lies in wait

[queenmonarch]

[ The frequency used to communicate with the Interceptors lights up with an incoming transmission - a familiar voice, for those who ran into her at Dreadhorse's ball, or happened to hear her fighting off raiders all those systems ago... ]

Drift Fleet Twelve, come in. This is the Interceptor Fleet. We've just arrived in the system. Holding at our position, just outside of range of your... company there. Looks like we could use an update. Someone care to bring us up to speed?

In the meanwhile, we've got weapons, supplies, materials - anything you need. Just tell me what you need, and where you are. I'll set up a transport to you. Do not come to us for supplies. I repeat: do not come to us. Let's surprise those bastards with sheer numbers when the time is right, whaddya say?


(( ooc: She will be responding! Make your requests, tell her the plan (and/or all about Zhade~), and talk strategy! Catch her up on what happened since the last time she heard from the Fleet! She can send high-speed drones to anywhere planetside or in orbit, so don't be afraid to ask! ))

Comments

voice;

[sylphid]

A chunk of the fleet and ships are stuck on a planet with alien cannibals after they took us by surprise and shot at us. They've been picking off local villages and keeping us on our toes. Plus the food's gross, and it's way too red in this place.

Might wanna check with the engineers down here to see what their ships'll need to be spaceworthy again.

voice

[queenmonarch]

Yeah, I heard about the grounded ships. I'll do my best to establish individual contact with them and get them what they need.

And honestly? I don't think I'd trust any of the food on a planet with cannibals running around.

voice

[sylphid]

Thanks. I think there might be shuttles down here, too. Dunno how it'd work getting those back, but it's worth tell you.

[Can she hear the shrug in Fie's voice?] I've had worse. Just cook it, and it works just fine.

voice

[queenmonarch]

Well, if the damage is irreparable, that ship might be down a shuttle. Unless Atroma decides it's worthwhile to give 'em a replacement. Never had to think about that, but I wouldn't put it past 'em.

voice

[sylphid]

Hn, interesting to know.

Are you familiar with this system or planet at all?

Voice;

[heroofcocoon]

Drift Fleet Twelve? The hell?

[In the background, there's the sound of screaming, but pay that no mind. Snow sure isn't.]

Send healing supplies to the Blue Fish then! Our medics gone missing and we're stuck on this freaking planet while our captain tries to repair the damage!

[queenmonarch]

Negative. We've never been to this system. Been to plenty of red planets. Cannibal-free, though. The cannibal part is definitely a new one.

[queenmonarch]

[ Ah, must be new here. ]

Yeah, twelfth cycle. I'll explain later if you still need it.

Blue Fish. Got it. I can't get a lock on my own. Send me your coordinates. I'll put 'em in manually and get you the healing supplies. Won't take long.

[heroofcocoon]

[Right, he'd heard something about that, but they can talk about that later.]

Look, I... [He fumbles around a bit and finally finds an option to send his coordinates to his conversation partner.] There. What's going on out there? All we've got is a bunch of lunatics that want to have us for dinner shooting at us down here.

[sylphid]

Gee, lucky us. Thank you so much, Atroma, really. [Bitter? Maybe a little.]

Is there anything else we can do down here that'd make it easier? It's hard to get a layout of everything.

[queenmonarch]

[ Perfect~ ] Thaaank you-- [ A couple of buttons pushed, and off go the supplies! The drone is much too fast to be seen, but in approximately 10 minutes, it will pass over the Blue Fish and, in a flash of light, beam down a large crate filled with a lot of advanced first-aid kits and extraneous supplies, as well as 10 vials labeled, simply, "Formulated 'Hi Potion' ". There are instructions included, but Snow, of all people, should be able to figure out what one of those can do~ ]

Good question. Last I heard from one of your buddies, you guys got shot down and were dealing with cannibal hunters, and some mysterious informant offering help for money. Right now, I'm seeing a bunch of enemy ships staring down everyone still up here in orbit. It's like some sort of stand off or... I don't know, a game of chicken?

[queenmonarch]

[ God, she can sympathize. ]

I don't have the whole story yet, so I can't say for sure. But my scans indicate the ships up here are being shielded, and the source of that is scattered all over the planet. Probably a bunch of generators? If you have the ability to take something like that down, try looking.

[ Yeah, she has no idea Zhade's been back in touch with the fleet. She... doesn't even know who Zhade is, other than 'person who is shifty but momentarily helpful'. Oops? ]

Barring that... you could always just murder the next few cannibals you see. Do the planet and yourself some good, I'm sure.

[heroofcocoon]

[If he wasn't tired, dirty and in pain, he might be impressed with the efficiency with which his request was handled. But he's not. Not really.]

What is 'chicken'?

[They don't have those on Pulse!]

[sylphid]

Yeah, that's what the other guy said, but I wasn't sure if there was anything else.

[Fie actually sighs.] Been doing that. I was keeping a tally by collecting their masks, but it got too cluttered.

[queenmonarch]

[ No need to be impressed. You just heal up and get yourselves off that damn rock, that's what matters. ]

It's an Earth thing. A stupid game where you keep pushing each other's limits or staring each other down until someone caves. It's named after an animal, but the animal is stupid and usually ends up as food, if that's any indication.

[queenmonarch]

The "mysterious informant mercenary" guy? [ you can practically hear the air-quotes. ] I take it he's still being somewhat useful, then.

Oh my God, they're masked? [ She snorts. That's so amusing to her jdfksl ] Yeah, keep offing 'em. I'd burn the masks, personally. Talk about extra.

[sylphid]

Yep. Gave us some good info, too. [Before he peaced out and never called back.]

It's dramatic at first, but then it's just lame. I'll keep a couple to hang them on the walls somewhere. You want one? [Aw, look at her, sharing.]

... and extra what?

[tempredmental]

Oh, hey... you made it. Good. Glad to hear you're still in one piece.

We have some catching up to do.

But first, we've got seven ships stranded on the planet. I saw you were already looking to contact them individually, so the ships down there are the Bishop, Bloodsport, Blue Fish, Goldstone, Heron, Tourist, and Twin Roses. We still have the Blameless, Caprine, First Breath, Huntress, Iskaulit, Red Fish, Starstruck, Vanquish, and Wonderduck in orbit.

You guys might have more firepower than most of the ships in the Fleet here. I'm not exactly sure who's upgraded recently. [He hadn't finished upgrading the pilot station on the Huntress, yet...] How many ships do you have?

[queenmonarch]

Eh, sure, why not? I'll keep it on the bridge as a souvenir.

It's just an expression - like when someone goes out of their way to look or act a certain way. Totally extra.

[brainiest]

We're spread out on the planet. Do we need to focus on getting back into orbit? [ Hermione is... Tense, understandably so, but she's doing her best to work with villagers and anyone down on the surface. ] Do you need anything else from us?

[sylphid]

Once we're clear, let me know how to send it to you. As a thanks or something.

[Fie likes this and will use it herself. Nice work.] Oh... Hm.

[queenmonarch]

[ He can hear her fiddling with buttons, switches, etc. while he lists off ships and their locations. ] Thanks, Keith. That's a good start. Good to hear from you, too.

Oh, I've definitely got firepower. I've had a lot of time to build all sorts of fun toys. Don't you worry about that. And we're five ships strong now. Used to be six, but... Well, you saw what happened to Angel's ship.

[queenmonarch]

As long as you're down there, knock out whatever they're using to shield the ships up here. That way we can really hit 'em where it hurts. Otherwise, if you can get up here, all the better for you. If not, we'll get you flying again as soon as possible.

[ She hears the tension in her voice, and completely understands. Her own tone turns a teensy bit softer. ]

Don't worry about what we need from you. Worry about yourself. What do you need? I'm prepared to transport whatever supplies I can.

voice;

[alwayscomeback]

Boy is it good to hear from you guys. Snow already got supplies for us, so thanks for that. The Blue Fish is nearly spaceworthy again, so we'll be able to get to battle stations sooner rather than later.

Did anyone tell you about Zhade yet? [He didn't speak to the guy personally, but he sure watched. ]

[heroofcocoon]

[ Good because he's not. In the slightest. But he is more than happy to get the hell off of this planet. Any time now. ]

You're right. That is stupid. But so are cloud sheep, so I guess that could be close enough.

[Cloud Sheep, the meal of Behemoth Kings.]

Anyway, if they're just sitting there waiting for people to make the first move, why aren't you?