“Akashi? Anyone home?” I knock on the door again. The woman at the bay was nice enough to tell me to go to the yard for general maintenance and fitness before coming to her, but it looks like she isn’t home?
“B-be right there!” A flushed and disheveled repair ship opens the door partly, leaning out.
‘Oh, okay, uh…’ I fight to keep my face steady.
“You, uh, want me to… Come back later? I, uhm… I’m interrupting something.” Akashi goes more red.
“No! Well, kind of, no, I mean… Y-yeah. Yeah, uh… Please don’t tell the cruisers I’ll be teased for weeks!”
I hold up my hands. “Secret’s safe with me.”
The repair ship gives me a grateful smile and retreats back into her room, locking the door. I turn to leave-
“Ch-chicago? What is that?”
“Consider it a surprise.” Right, that’s my cue to pick up the pace!
===
‘So I’ve got some time to burn.’
…
‘Nope not thinking like that.’
‘If nothing else, then I definitely should go explore. Forty-five minutes or so should be enough for Akashi.’ Also going to call it in with the launching bay. Just say she’s attending to someone else and might be a while.
They’ll buy it. Probably.
===
Thinking about heavy things is best done over breakfast. ‘Can’t be getting existential on an empty stomach, haha…’
‘What am I even going to do? With limited ammo and no resupply unless the Seer drops a Graznian depot in my lap…’ Suddenly the pancakes don’t taste all that good…
The lights on the wall flash red and suddenly there’s a blaring klaxon. The hall is suddenly thundering with the tramp of boots rushing out the door. “…NOW HEAR THIS, NOW HEAR THIS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ABYSSAL RAIDING FORCE EMERGENCE, THIRTY KILOMETERS, BEARING NORTH NORTH WEST 347. NOW HEAR THIS, NOW HEAR THIS…”
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‘…wait fuck me that’s a combat alarm!’ I hastily get up to go, rushing out the door and trying to find the crowd.
It’s not hard, the majority of the women are running for the launch bay, some boat bits coming up here and there. ‘They probably have a better name for those don’t they? Boat bits sounds ridiculous.’
The door to the launch bay opens, and we’re greeted with a rush of noise. “ALRIGHT FOLKS, TWO WAVES CAPITAL AND ONE WAVE AUXILIARY! FREQUENCY 121.5 TO 132.7, KEEP EXTRA CHATTER TO A MINIMUM, COME BACK ALIVE!”
Everyone’s shifting around in a blob but all of a sudden it’s like the sun rose on a foggy day and I’m left standing around as everyone else is in some sort of formation or another.
“Rampart! Psst! Over here!” I start, then turn around- Tenryuu!
Quickly I join the line, as she turns around with a smile to someone else in the line. “Yeah, just uh, showin one of the newbies the ropes. She’s new yeah?”
The taller… Uh, Norezian? woman behind her gives me an odd look and steps back slightly. I slot into place.
“Alright so since you’re new, you probably should get your riggin out before we actually get up to the front of the line. No performance jitters n stuff.”
“…rigging?”
“…yeah, y’know, these.” A double barreled gun turret pops in and out of existence in her hand.
“Oooh, the boat bits. Got it.” Tenryuu snorts as I hold out my hand…
And nothing comes out.
‘Anytime now!’ No gun turret or missile launcher appears out of thin air.
“Okay, try and-” There’s a loud BOOM from somewhere above, the launch bay gently trembling.
‘The fuck was that?’ People murmur, looking up fearfully, some talking into headsets or handsets.
Tenryuu spares it a glare, before looking back to me-
“AUXILIARY GROUP FOUR, READY UP!” Some names are called, and one of them is Tenryuu.
“Shit. Alright just keep tryin!” She hesitates and then rushes off to the launch station, along with several others, as I’m left there alone in a sea of noise and chatter.
'Fuck. Come on, woooork!
I stare at my hand, as I will as hard as I can for there to be even a faint shimmer of metal or something, ANYTHING-
Suddenly someone taps me on the shoulder. “Excuse me, miss?”
“Eh?” I look up, and see the Norezian woman from earlier giving me an inscrutable look.
“Listen, you’ve been staring at your hand for a minute or so. If you can’t draw your rigging then please leave.” I wince, and nod, trying to go as quietly as I can.
She catches my shoulder to whisper something before letting go. “There is no shame in not participating when you aren’t ready.”
There’s some sympathetic murmurs as I go over to the wall and sit down, trying to be small.
‘What the hell is wrong with me?’
‘When I first came here I had my ‘rigging’ up just fine! So why-’
Another something impacts with a BOOM above us and I reflexively shoot to my feet, before I catch myself and relax against the wall. “Okay seriously what was that?”
‘Damnit! I need my boat bits! I need my-’
“…RADAR?” Something shimmers in front of my face, before a dozen weights settle into place all over my body.
…I react to this gracefully and in no way fall over on my butt. Absolutely not.
“Okay so I just have to think about it really hard. Yip fuckin ee. Now, where do I go…?”
Learn by example? Monkey see monkey do right?
I take a look around. Now that I’m out of the crowd, I can properly see this place.
The launch bay’s U-shaped, kind of like a carrier’s well deck sized up a hundred times. There’s rails leading out the massive garage door entrance that you step into and then squat down into for launch, with a crowd of people safely behind it.
Some quick repair bays and a triage center door to the side, and I think there’s a retrieval bay there, like some sorta super large aircraft carrier.
The lines are getting shorter…
I join the shortest I can find, ignoring the stares and whispers.
When I get to the head of the line, the man is thankfully, understanding, and walks me through it. “Step onto the water, and do it confidently. You’ll walk, don’t worry. And remember to get your radio on.”
I step forward, trying to ignore the voice in my head, before my boot meets… apparently solid ground. “There. Now, step between the lines, and crouch down, like you’re skiing.”
‘Just like the Olympics.’ I squat, and-
I see something on my passive RADAR, just for a moment. Then-
BOOM!
There's a crunching and then a cannon blast of a crack from the roof-it's falling in!
Fuck fuck-WHACK!