logs for ef

06[11:55] * Altea calls Claire [To: Claire- Hey, you done visiting Athena? I think we're about set up to head to papa's cruiser.]
[11:56] <Claire> [Yeah, I'm on the way back. Hold tight, I'll be there in a minute.]
[11:57] <Claire> [Are you still at the Strategos' place or already at the starport?]
01[11:58] <Altea> [Strategos' place, Fury got some transportation lined up for us from here to the starport.]
[11:58] <Claire> [Alright, I'll be quick.]
[11:59] <Claire> As advertised, she touches down for a landing and dismisses her flight spell outside the front door a minute later. [Here.]
01[11:59] <Altea> [On my way down.]
01[12:00] <Altea> After a few minutes, Altea steps out of the front door. "Okay, the car she called should be here soon."
06[12:01] * Claire smiles slightly. "Sounds good. Excited to see your dad again?"
01[12:01] <Altea> "Yep! I wonder how it's been on the ship all this time."
[12:02] <Ikiryo> A flying car heads towards the area, touching down in front of the building.
[12:03] <Claire> "Hope the windows are bulletproof," she quips, opening a door and sliding in.
[12:04] <Ikiryo> Huh. No driver. Must be automated.
06[12:04] * Altea gets inside. "So do you drive yourself?"
[12:05] <Claire> "If it doesn't fly itself, I bet Fury's doing it. She's way too good."
01[12:05] <Altea> "She is really good. I didn't know one person could do so much stuff."
[12:07] <Ikiryo> As they get in, the doors close and it takes off...
06[12:09] * Claire composes herself for the ride. "I wonder if we'll get the chance to talk to the Strategos again, too."
01[12:10] <Altea> "Hope so!" She watches outside as the landscape flies by.
[12:12] <Ikiryo> The car is soon on it's way towards the space port.
[12:13] <Claire> She watches through the window, her device in her hands, idly turning its storage mode over and over like a worry toy. Tisiphone is along for the ride, having her own seat between the other two.
01[12:17] <Altea> "So how have you been Tisiphone?"
[12:17] <Ikiryo> "This has been...strange." She frowns. "Much not like I remember."
[12:22] <Claire> "Which side? The violence and sabotage, or the regular life stuff?"
[12:22] <Ikiryo> "Both." She sighs. "It is strange to see it from this side."
06[12:22] * Altea nods.
[12:24] <Claire> "Did you and Fury at least catch up a little?"
[12:24] <Ikiryo> She nods. "A little, yes."
[12:24] <Ikiryo> The car touches down.
06[12:25] * Altea opens the door. "That's good, Fury seems nice."
[12:26] <Claire> "Here we are. Hopefully things get better, Tis. Altea, keep your eyes open, just in case that other Atalanta tries again."
01[12:26] <Altea> "Okay!"
06[12:26] * Altea refuses to blink for anything.
[12:26] <Ikiryo> There is a TSAB shuttle nearby, rather a contrast to all the Hyperion ships.
06[12:26] * Altea walks over to there.
06[12:29] * Claire follows her to the shuttle. "Funny how odd it looks next to everything else..." she muses.
01[12:29] <Altea> "Yeah, it's a real design difference."
[12:30] <Claire> "Yeah. And the whole immersion in Hyperion stuff makes you kinda get used to it quickly."
[12:31] <Ikiryo> There is a young man in a TSAB uniform standing just inside the shuttle. "Altea and Claire?"
[12:37] <Claire> "That's us, yes," she nods. "Thanks for coming to pick us up."
[12:38] <Ikiryo> He gives a smile. "Orders are orders."
[12:46] <Claire> "Well, thanks nonetheless~" Tisiphone floating nearby, she boards the shuttle.
06[13:11] * Altea boards the shuttle. "Thanks!"
[18:30] <Ikiryo> It's nearly half an hour before they see a ship ahead of them, the smooth lines rather a contrast to Hyperion's designs. An Adityas class-cruiser, the replacement to the aging Asura.
[18:31] <Claire> "This'll be kind of exciting too," she remarks in an aside to Altea, staring at it as they approach. "I've never been in one of these."
01[18:31] <Altea> "Me neither!"
[18:33] <Ikiryo> It's a large ship, clearly much larger than almost every single Hyperion ship nearby. There is only one in-system of comparable size according to the shuttle's sensors, an Oceanus-class dreadnaught. The latter is a huge ship with a spinal railgun along it's entire massive length.
[18:34] <Ikiryo> The shuttle is approaching the Adityas, signalling for landing.
06[18:34] * Altea is pressed against the glass as they approach.
06[18:35] * Claire checks the view for the space station that the warhawks are supposed to be so proud of...
[18:36] <Ikiryo> Much like most TSAB ships, there isn't any visible weapons, though from previous experiance the pair can recognise an Arc-En-Ciel array on the front of it. The Space Station in question is very obvious, the only thing that vastly out-sizes the TSAB ship.
[18:36] <Ikiryo> A huge, blocky space station that currently seems to be acting as docking for several Hyperion battleships.
[18:37] <Ikiryo> It seems to be an endless block of railguns, armour and missile batteries.
01[18:40] <Altea> "That thing is huge!"
06[18:40] * Claire murmurs to herself as the station dwindles behind them, cataloging what she can see and its relative effectiveness. "...Probably ruin any normal ship easy, too. It's kind of like a space station version of you, Altea."
01[18:40] <Altea> "Wow, that's a pretty good space station then!"
[18:41] <Claire> "Yep. Hard to wear down, packs a big punch, but I bet there are ways around it."
[18:42] <Ikiryo> Claire is reminded of what Panakiea mentioned. That the railguns on the station have K1-enhanced rounds. The mana-based shields of a TSAB cruiser...likely wouldn't exist as far as they are concerned.
[18:43] <Claire> "If push came to shove, it would be a big slugfest. Whoever manages to get the big--or lucky--hit first."
[18:45] <Ikiryo> The shuttle comes in, landing in a small shuttle bay on the TSAB ship. Altea can see her father waiting by the doors to the shuttle bay.
06[18:46] * Altea is bouncing by the shuttle door. As soon as it opens, she leaps out in a tackle-hug. "Papa!"
06[18:46] * Claire holds back with Tisiphone at the bottom of the ramp, outside of the blast radius.
[18:47] <Ikiryo> His barrier jacket strains but barely holds as he hugs back with a smile.
06[18:49] * Altea looks up. "Wow, you managed to stay standing that time! They're keeping you in training here huh?"
[18:51] <Ikiryo> "Macho posturing by Antistrategos Ares helps a lot there. He's been trying to crush my hand since we met."
[18:51] <Ikiryo> He smiles slightly.
06[18:52] * Claire giggles as she stays a short ways back, leaving them to their reunion for now.
01[18:52] <Altea> "So how's it been way out here?"
[18:53] <Ikiryo> "Quieter than I feared. Mostly a whole lot of staring back and foward at each other and hoping no one does anything stupid."
06[18:53] * Altea nods. "Sounds kind of boring, but in a good way."
[18:54] <Ikiryo> "More or less, yes." He nods. "But I'll take good boredom over bad excitement."
01[18:54] <Altea> "Okay! Things have been exciting back at Cerberus, but in a bad way. Did momma tell you what happened on Francisco?"
[18:55] <Ikiryo> He nods again, his smile slipping slightly. "I heard..."
01[18:55] <Altea> "Yeah, that was kind of rough. We're gonna fix it though."
[18:56] <Ikiryo> "Oh?"
01[18:56] <Altea> "Well we're gonna find Hugo and Alpha and whats her face and beat them up!"
01[18:57] <Altea> "Oh, and we found Dr. D afterwards and she woke the Strategos up too! So it wasn't all bad."
[19:02] <Ikiryo> "I'm just glad you are safe." He tightens the hug.
01[19:02] <Altea> "Oh, you don't have to worry about me. Though being on Hyperion has been weird."
01[19:03] <Altea> "Apparently I accidentally joined an anti-mage protest."
[19:03] <Ikiryo> "I havn't had a chance to...what?"
01[19:03] <Altea> "Yeah, I got confused by the signs and thought they were only protesting evil mages like Hugo Jager."
[19:05] <Ikiryo> "And so you joined..." He sighs. "I'd like to say this is a suprise dear. I really would."
01[19:05] <Altea> "It's okay. Oh, we also got to go see where they make Myrmidon Wars!"
[19:07] <Ikiryo> "Oh? Did you have fun with that?"
01[19:08] <Altea> "Well, I may have traumatized the actress who plays me, but it was neat."
[19:08] <Ikiryo> He laughs. "That's my daughter."
01[19:08] <Altea> "Oh, Claire, you want to explain the other reason we're here?"
[19:11] <Claire> "Hmm? Oh." She shrugs. "I mean, you came to say hi and catch up with your dad. I just have to make a call back home. I'm pretty sure communications via Hyperion channels are embargoed, or at least monitored, and I'm not really keen on checking in with *my* parents where someone's gonna be listening in."
[19:12] <Claire> [To: Altea - I need to keep this secret.]
01[19:12] <Altea> [OK, my bad.]
01[19:12] <Altea> "Right, can you show Claire to the comm section?"
[19:12] <Claire> [It's fine. That I need to call is no problem. Who, and what I'm calling about, is the Big Deal. Sorry.]
01[19:13] <Altea> [Ok.]
[19:13] <Ikiryo> "Hmm...oh, yeah. I can do that." He smiles. "I think I can trust you two, after all."
01[19:13] <Altea> "After, can you show me around the ship? I've never been on one of these before."
06[19:14] * Claire smiles back. "We'll try not to give you reason not to."
[19:14] <Ikiryo> "Of course. It's rather similar to an Asura but I can do that."
01[19:15] <Altea> "Awesome!"
[19:17] <Ikiryo> He leads on to a private room they can use communications from.
[19:19] <Claire> "I'll wait here while you two keep on the tour, kay?"
01[19:19] <Altea> "Okay, have fun!"
[19:20] <Ikiryo> Altea's dad leads her off...
[19:27] <Claire> With the door shut and the room hers, she gets working on the equipment, spawning an AR window to facilitate her attempt. When she's sure it's ready, she puts in Desdemona's info and initiates the call.
[19:28] <Ikiryo> An image flickers into existance. Desdemona on a deck chair at a pool. "Hi Claire~" She waves to the camera.
[19:29] <Claire> "...Hey, Doc. Looking good."
[19:34] <Ikiryo> "I thought so!" She grins. "But then, why else would I be at a pool?" She grins.
[19:36] <Claire> "You have a point there~ Kinda wish we'd done just that at the beach, but...I *am* glad we got Henrietta out of there. Uh, anyway. I've...got some news. For your ears only, kind of thing."
[19:37] <Claire> Her voice has that "You're probably not going to like this" tone.
[19:40] <Ikiryo> She sighs. "...never good news, is it?" She nods
[19:41] <Claire> "Believe me, I honestly wish it was this time. Athena's hurt."
[19:44] <Ikiryo> "...what?"
[19:45] <Claire> She nods. "Something or someone took down all her distributed processing centers, cut her off the network entirely. She's stuck in a single body."
[19:46] <Ikiryo> "All? That...that shouldn't be possible." She seems utterly stunned.
[19:48] <Claire> She shakes her head. "I don't understand it, myself. She was in a building, her main one I think, with all the usual guards--I met Medusa--but every computer system in it was just...off."
[19:50] <Ikiryo> "...there are backups...backups to backups. The sheer number of systems that would need to be disabled..."
06[19:51] * Claire shrugs helplessly. "And at the same time. *And* hidden from her notice. All I can tell you is what I saw."
[19:52] <Ikiryo> "...gods and demons...I'll be on the first ship back."
[19:57] <Claire> "The icing on the cake, Doc, is that someone took a shot at us with Pana when we first got here. Rigged car bombs and a sniper. The sniper...was an Atalanta."
[19:58] <Ikiryo> "THE FUCK? WHO THE..." A large [Censored] appears on the screen as Desdemona continutes for a good few minutes, the automated sytems kicking in.
[20:00] <Claire> In spite of the circumstances, she can't help but grin at the tirade.
[20:01] <Claire> When she calms down, Claire nods. "Looked like a black-haired Epsilon. I haven't seen her since then, but..."
[20:01] <Ikiryo> The censored symbol gets a lot larger as she starts shouting.
06[20:06] * Claire waits her out patiently again. "Does that remind you of someone?"
[20:07] <Ikiryo> She shakes her head. "No but the Atalanta series is MY creations!"
[20:26] <Claire> She nods. "I...suppose there's a chance she was a knockoff, I didn't have time to note a lot of things." A sigh follows. "Medusa swore me to secrecy...only the four of us, Melete, and now you, know. Not even the Strategos is in on it."
[20:27] <Claire> "For Athena, I mean."
[20:28] <Ikiryo> She nods "That makes sense."
[20:29] <Claire> "I'm sorry to ruin your vacation...but I'm scared for Athena. And Pana, too, even if she's safely locked away inside the station. And none of us really have any idea what to do..."
[20:31] <Ikiryo> "I'll be on the first ship I can. Then I'll find who did this and...I dunno...what's the term for exterminating an entire family line?"
[20:32] <Claire> "That's...uncomfortably close to the Jaegers for me," she confesses.
[20:33] <Ikiryo> "They are already on the list." She frowns.
[20:39] <Claire> "...Right." She shifts slightly on the screen. "Anyway, um...we'll hold tight until you get here, I guess. I had to call you from Altea's dad's ship because no one knows of any other secure method that wouldn't be watched, so any future messages might be...sporadic."
[20:41] <Claire> "Is there anything we can do in the meantime, though?"
[20:44] <Ikiryo> "Find out who fucking did this and not kill them till I get there?"
[20:50] <Claire> She gives her half a smirk. "I think we can manage that second part, since we're still on training limiters...that means nonlethal magic."
[20:51] <Claire> "Anyway...we'll be waiting for you."
[20:51] <Ikiryo> "I'll be there as soon as possible." She nods and cuts the connection.
06[20:54] * Claire blows a sigh, hoping that the trip will give Desdemona some time to cool off, and...composes a message for her own parents, sending it off after a few minutes and leaving the room. [To: Altea - Alright, all set. Where are you guys at?]
01[20:54] <Altea> [We're at the gym! I wanted to see it after that weird gymless hyperion ship.]
[21:01] <Claire> [I'll meet you there, then.]
01[21:02] <Altea> [It has automated spotting! Now I don't have to round up ten people to spot me on bench!]
[21:02] <Ikiryo> Like most TSAB ships, this one has a surplus of non-war things. Claire passes an indoor hot spring and a meditation room on the way to the gym.
01[21:03] <Altea> [Of course the spotting system has been making weird creaking noises...]
[21:03] <Claire> She gives the hot spring a longing look but passes it on her trek to the gym. Time enough for that when they get back to Mid-Childa...
[21:08] <Ikiryo> It doesn't take her long to find the full size gym.
[21:14] <Claire> She heads inside, aiming for the nearest sounds of straining machinery.
[21:16] <Ikiryo> That makes it very easy to find Altea.
06[21:17] * Altea is attempting to lift far more weight than any person should be attempting.
01[21:17] <Altea> "Hi Claire! I'm trying to break my record!"
[21:20] <Ikiryo> Her dad had to overrule the machine a few times trying to say that a person can't lift that much.
[21:21] <Claire> "Just try not to break your dad's ship while you're at it?"
01[21:21] <Altea> "I won't!"
06[21:22] * Altea pushes it up and down. It's slow doing so, but she does make it. "There, a full rep! Take that previous best!"
[21:22] <Claire> Against her better judgment, Claire checks what resistance-weight the machine is set to.
[21:24] <Ikiryo> Yes. It is set to Yes.
[21:26] <Claire> "...Some day, Altea, you're going to bench press a planet. And none of us will be surprised."
01[21:27] <Altea> "Man, I hope so."
01[21:27] <Altea> "So how was the call?"
[21:28] <Claire> "Doc's unhappy, but she's gonna come back here ASAP." She blushes slightly. "She also looks as good or better in a bikini than I do and I'm sorta jealous."
01[21:28] <Altea> "I thought that was a secret."
[21:29] <Claire> The blush deepens a bit. "Sorta."
[21:29] <Ikiryo> Altea's father raises an eyebrow
[21:30] <Claire> She waves it off. "She's coming to make sure Pana's okay after the big dustup at the spaceport when we first got here."
01[21:31] <Altea> "Oh that makes sense."
[21:31] <Claire> "Yeah. It's not like that wasn't all over the news for a bit."
[21:32] <Ikiryo> He nods, clearly not convinced but also not questioning it.
[21:33] <Claire> "I also called Mom and Dad, but they were at work so they couldn't pick up, so I just sent them some messages instead."
06[21:51] * Altea nods. "Okay. So now that the work is done, we can hang out right? Or are you busy later papa?"
[21:52] <Ikiryo> "Of course you can. I'll be on duty...but not much is happening currently."
01[21:53] <Altea> "Okay! Is it real busy to be in charge of so many people?"
[21:54] <Ikiryo> "Not usually. Most of them are well trained enough they don't need constant supervision."
06[21:55] * Altea nods. "Hey Claire! When are we supposed to start looking at specializations in the program at Cerberus?"
[21:56] <Claire> "Toward the end of this first academic year. We'll get to actually pick midway through our second, and then the third is when we'll start having fewer classes together since they'll be focusing on our choices."
06[21:57] * Altea nods. "Still thinking about Enforcers?"
[21:57] <Claire> "Yep. If I can't meet their requirements, I can do Search and Rescue like I originally thought about."
01[22:02] <Altea> "Okay! I have no idea what I want to do!"
[22:04] <Claire> "Hmm." She taps her lip. "Maybe...well, I guess it sorta depends on what you like doing. I could see you going back home to Francisco and training a cadre of any other giantblooded like you that have magic, make a sort of invincible home defense corps."
01[22:04] <Altea> "Well, I could have done that in the Homeguard, rather than as TSAB."
[22:06] <Claire> "Oh. I didn't know that there already was something like that." She shrugs. "I guess you could join it? Or do instruction like the LT, or be a marine officer and lead assaults with a whole team from a ship like this one..."
[22:07] <Ikiryo> "Whatever you choose dear, I'll support you."
01[22:09] <Altea> "I'll figure it out then!"
[22:13] <Claire> "I'll be interested to see what catches your eye. I'm sure we'll have a big festival-type thing where they'll lay out what we can join."
06[22:14] * Altea nods.