Animus Veritas: Humanity's Last Home

[Tempest]

Aimee Vera - Upper Deck​

She spits venomously as her and the creature part ways after scuffling. Blood trickles down her cheek. It had slipped underneath her helmet. Her lips curl back as the mute begins to take charge and tells her to go. "So be it. You get us all killed," she hisses as she storms off, punch daggers retracting into her suit once more. She eyes Sade as she made to look for some child. Just what they needed, to look for some brood of the insectoid. "Tcha, idiots," she mutters to herself. They were so concerned over a minuscule scratch, even! She continues to grumble to herself as she climbs back into the ventilation system to find her way to the room that was barred from there access by the malfunctioning door.

---

Kyine Lherox - Lower Deck​

Kyine scowls icily at the mechanical man but remains silent on the matter of leadership after Irving had weighed in. There was nothing more to say and it would only serve to impede their progress and make them a target in the dark of the lower deck. She raises her lantern as she looks about the silicone area, surveying the ways to go as she sees Kiera begin to wander off like a lost lamb. She sets her jaw as she spies some of the group head the other way and the report of Veritas of the direction their objection likely lay. She gnashes her teeth and stomps forward, her form large and imposing, grasping Kiera's smaller shoulder and jerked her around as she hisses lowly, "Child, you do the work of Veritas and Veritas itself speaks that our objective, and that which it needs, lies to the north. If you go now, alone and to the south, you risk your life and the objective on what? I do not know. But enough of these distractions, join us."[/hr]

 

[Grif ♥]

Ruth Sampson
Lower Deck

If Kiera had been trying to get on Ruth's good side then she was doing an awfully good job of it. She had effortlessly reproduced the component Damsel needed, a tiny little camera which would serve as a replacement for Damsel's eye, and then set about laying a trap down the path that the group were not taking to make sure that nothing could sneak up behind us. Ruth smiled as she fit the camera that Kiera had handed to her into the side of Damsel's head, replacing the old ruined one which she then pocketed so that it could be repaired later. She felt relieved when she saw that the feed into her eyepiece had returned. The camera alignment was a little off, but with some tinkering the difference was almost unnoticeable. Ruth raised her arm and Damsel sparked back into life, rising into the air and hovering above the group. As before, Damsel kept a wary eye on the path that Kiera was planting a bomb down, allowing her to focus completely on deploying it.

Ruth gave Kiera a brief hug with one arm as a thank you as she passed the woman by, her lips curled into a toothy grin. "Ah really appreciate you doin' this for me. If'n ya' ever need mah help, just ask. Ah'm not goin' anywhere!"

The woman and her robotic companion quickly rejoined the others who made their way down the left path. Ever wary, Ruth and Damsel were both on high alert, their movements cautious and their weapons raised to fend off would-be attackers. It was all silent here though, other than the sound of heavy boots against this strange, silicon substance that lined the floors and walls, and it seemed as if for now they were safe. How long that would last was yet to be seen.

"So whatever made this stuff is somethin' else entahrely from that thing we killed?" Ruth asked, clarifying what Irving had said. "Maybe it's lahke a hahve of ants? Whatever built this was just'a worker, and that thing we fought was a soldier?" Ruth suggested, recalling the books she had read on old Earth flora and fauna. "Naht sayin' we should lower our guard at all . Jus' sayin' it's possible…"

"…and that we mahght want to keep an eye out for a queen," Ruth added, swallowing hard once she had spoken.

Ruth would keep a focus on covering her allies and keeping them safe from harm, focusing on those with less durability on the front lines since as far as they knew their opponents were restricted to fighting in melee. Damsel was more adventurous, exploring the darker corners of the rooms and peering around corners before the rest of the crew did, giving them an extra moment to prepare if they needed it. He hovered up north in the direction that Ruth heard Veritas suggested, peering through the doorway and getting a scope of the room.

 

[Kadaeux]

Alkazar, Lower Deck​

Alkazar nodded at Irving. "Very well." He got out his replication box and began loading a string of orders into it. It worked diligently to provide the items he'd requested. "The first step is not to go about this blind. Instead of guessing where we should be going, we find out ahead of time." The first object was a handful of spheres designed to propel themselves along random corridors and relay the information back. But the others were simple tools, the team had likely seen a number of them on Animus Veritas many times before.

Half praying the spheres would work as intended he focussed on the little radar-sensor designed for shipboard work for detecting wiring systems and began checking the walls as well as replicating a second and tossing it to his compatriot. "See if we can find any primary cabling behind these walls. Then we can test at the next corridor break, where the larger bundles of datatransmission cabling goes, we can assume is the direction towards our objective. Warriors should keep alert. But instead of blindly exploring ladies and gents. Let's apply a little forethought and scientific methodology into it, we do this right and maybe we all go home intact."

The other basic tools included a data-probe. If necessary he'd crack open a wall and attach it to the cabling and see if he could give it enough juice to pull a schematic.

 

[Jakers]

Varsel | Upper Decks​

The worshiper of Veritas stood firm as a rock at the doorway, giving an obedient nod as Steven told him to move aside.

"Of course. Excellent work." Varsel said in reply; the mute's sign language was invaluable here, he had no objections whatsoever of him taking control of the situation. In fact, he'd have an objection if Steven wasn't taking control of the situation here: something like this was perfect for him. It was certainly an unexpected turn in their mission, but finding a missing child was a worthy side objective. Although Edgia/Derringer were still a priority. 2/5 doors: Clear.​

Varsel retracted the wide superalloy shield, standing aside, and giving a respectful nod to the insectoid creature as it passed. He'd had a hunch that the insectoid wasn't hostile, just defensive, so it was no big surprise that Aimee had been attacked in return. No serious injury, though, although she didn't seem happy about it. In fact, she stormed out the room, going goodness-knows-where. Varsel would've asked her to be careful, but that would probably anger her further. Best just to let her do her thing.

Varsel paused, inhaled, and took a deep breath outward as his muscles relaxed. It was a relief nobody had been seriously injured or killed from a misunderstanding there, with. It was lucky most of his team-mates had the skills to defuse the situation, and now, the creature's child could also be found. Helping another living, non-hostile being was a bonus - human or not. Nonetheless, Varsel was eager to find Edgia and Derringer as soon as possible. Pacing around as most people moved out the room, Varsel eyed Zeetch, who seemed to be scanning the helmet. If Edgia's scream came from there, Varsel was eager to see what results the scan had produced.

"Zeetch?" Varsel asked softly, not wishing to put off the man's concentration, "Has the scan yielded any information as of yet?"

"Not yet, soon, though, I think. Give Veritas a second." Zeetch replied.
"Ah - apologies." Varsel said with a bow, heading out the doorway and watching the corridor. This place... there was simply a hint of tension in the air that Varsel couldn't quite put his finger on. Almost as if he was expecting a hostile to come tumbling out of the door... or... or... almost as if he was expecting to later find the dead body of-

No. No, no. He needed to keep thinking positively. For he was still bathed in the hope and glory bestowed by the Animus, and Edgia's survival probabilities were very high. After a pause and a very brief prayer under his breath, Varsel gave a quick message through his radio. He was sympathetic, but his power armour caused him to look quite imposing - trying to retrieve the child might not be a good idea. He wasn't sure where Aimee had went off to either; he worried for her, even if she was skilled.

Should he explore more doors whilst some of the team were away? ...No, that could put the others in danger; he wasn't exactly discreet about doing things, either. Keeping alert and in a firm defensive stance, Varsel kept an eye on the corridor whilst he was patient for Veritas to process the helmet data. If anybody needed help, he'd go there as fast as legs would take him. For now; best to await the word of the Lord.