High End IC Episode II-At the End of the Time Which Can Never Be Returned to

[YuweaCurtis]

Stephanie would remain in her mecha for the time being. "Eh, maybe keep those images to yourself, okay Aryk?" Stephanie says, herself intrigued at Ammy's transformation. She would sigh heavily at the arrival of the White Fleet. This Damarius guy was pointlessly flashy. But then again they could use all the help they could get.

"It's unusual that you speak so friendly of me Arotadam when I've just recently meet everyone here. From what I can tell Hugo is an alright person, even if he is a bit odd about how he goes about things. That said, he does feel likely to be villain material... Not withstanding the fact even my own mother is villain material and I'm probably a couple of choices from it myself."

Stephanie would finally exit her mecha using a zip-line.

"Time is both fluid and none existent... Yea we should just avoid that subject, I'm rather fond of catgirls. I mean, we don't know what happened to the "other" Ammy."

After listening to the exposition of future Katherine she had plenty of questions and ideas. Cloning heroes, that would explain Queen Alis Landale she had encountered. "Where was I in all that? If I disappeared that probably means I was killed at some time. Or did I get stupid and attack Dark Force by myself?" she stops and looks thoughtful. "Was I secretly working with the Fucker of Worlds in the background But what about Teresa? Or my mother and Team Silver for that matter?"

She turns her attention to the Confident recordings. "Ah, of course its a Phantom Fleet... Computer communicate with R.I.N and ask her for maps of abandoned shipyards or large fields of wreckage... Also ask her what's going on and if Rica is still with her." she would tell her HARO unit via her personal computer. Stephanie would turn back to the group while looking thoughtful. "It does sound like it's personal somehow. We need to find a fleet or several fleets of ships that have been abandoned. Katherine, this is probably a stupid question, but who have you particularly pissed off? Especially maybe someone who started using a large amount of mecha in lieu of battleships? Because this grudge sounds like it may have started before they where ghost ships. We could possibly prevent them from gaining conscious or get them on our side."


"I hate to do this, but I may have call not only Uncle Zieg, but the Brilliant one herself, my mother... The actual one." She looks visibly disturbed, cringing a bit. "Best keep an eye on her. She's not evil or anything, not this time. She's just odd." But she hasn't talked to her mother in person since she had to deal with her on another timeline, the situation that left both Stephanie and Teresa touched with the ability to manipulate time. So her opinion was a bit skewed. "And, of course, I can call Team Silver." she would look towards Aryk smuggly, knowing she would get a kick out of that. She would check the area for wreckage that Ammy hadn't took in.

[Raineh Daze]

"Phantom fleet... ghost ships?" Amaterasu muses, looking thoughtful, then snapping her fingers, "Got it! This wouldn't be the first time something like this happened. Every now and then a destroyed or scuttled battleship will start moving. AI malfunctions are common but it's a bit more than that; all those rumours of ships coming for vengeance aren't so far from the truth.

"Anyway, to get an entire fleet of the ships with any sort of co-ordinated intelligence, you would need a massive graveyard--and some sort of equally-massive collection of AIs and computers to help it along. Like, say, the Steel Garden--at the core you have an entire fleet of scuttled but intact ships, AI that know they've been abandoned, and sufficiently out of the way and impassable that nobody would think to check before it was too late.

"Damarius, if I guide you past the gravitational and spatial anomalies, will you take us there? I think we'd be able to stop this Phantom Fleet before it gets going."

[Kuroimaken]

"Wait a second. Why destroy the Phantom Aether Fleet when we can use them to our advantage instead?"

[Nanshork]

"Bastion is currently carrying two battleships, and has room for more. I can fit all of you with room to spare, and I have above average speed capabilities as well as teleportation. There will be no issues getting us where we need to go."

[ketaro]

"Wait a second. Why destroy the Phantom Aether Fleet when we can use them to our advantage instead?"

"True, that. It did kinda feel like they just want a place to be accepted... That wouldn't be that hard to do, yeah?"

[Kuroimaken]

"Just because mecha have taken the forefront doesn't mean they can't be useful in many other ways. Besides, it seems to me like all they really need is a little bit of love."

[YuweaCurtis]

"Wait a second. Why destroy the Phantom Aether Fleet when we can use them to our advantage instead?"

"Its possible you misunderstood me Hugo. I would rather have them on our side, it may just be easier to prevent them from awakening in the first place. After all, if it is more than just AI kicking in and some sort of supernatural effect that caused this the fact they are active may mean it is too late. I do want to speak to them first if possible."

"Just because mecha have taken the forefront doesn't mean they can't be useful in many other ways. Besides, it seems to me like all they really need is a little bit of love."

"Indeed, we can find some sort of use for them."

[Nanshork]

"The White Company is always accepting new recruits and has no problems with battleships. Bastion always ends up in the thick of it," Damarius says with a grin.

[Raineh Daze]

"If you can think of a way to persuade a fleet of ships abandoned for being seemingly useless in modern warfare that they aren't going to be dumped again... assuming that we're the only ones using future knowledge to go visit."

[Kuroimaken]

"...oh shit.

I just realized - we may have to get there like, right fucking now."

[YuweaCurtis]

"The White Company is always accepting new recruits and has no problems with battleships. Bastion always ends up in the thick of it," Damarius says with a grin.

Stephanie rolls her eyes. "Honestly I was hoping for the fleet myself. You have a sizable enough fleet already and I have a practical thing I can do with them." She sighs before continuing, "However I feel if we could get them to forgive Katherine it would be most suitable for her to lead them."

"...oh shit.

I just realized - we may have to get there like, right fucking now."

"What did you just realize? Is it the possibility of Dark Hugo showing up? Either way I agree."

[Nanshork]

"Technically The White Company only has three battleships in it's fleet," Damarius counters.

[Raineh Daze]

"Probably that the Aether Phantom Fleet knows exactly where it's from as much as we do, so if they send anyone else into the past..."

[Kuroimaken]

"Exactly. We just beat them back, and this was the first time I met them 'in the past'. So the only time we have left to make a move on the fleet is the time it would take for them to process their defeat and send someone to their origin point.

We need to move out now."

[oslecamo]

"Stop thinking about her. If you see her again, I want you to flee. No matter what's at stake, okay? I don't want you to ever, ever fight her again."

:”Heh… What about what I want? If she’s about to hurt those I care about, do you think I can just turn my tail and flee? No matter the stakes? A planet? A system? The whole galaxy? Even if it means my death, if I can just delay her a bit more to possibly save millions, billions, trillions, or even just somebody I love, I would gladly fight her one last time. There may not even be anywhere to flee at that point.  So if you want me to do what you want… Then you need to promise me you won’t let her escape. Don’t try to reason with her, don’t try to flirt with her, promise me you’ll put her down for good when the time comes.”

"Eh, maybe keep those images to yourself, okay Aryk?"

: ”Eek, sorry for speaking out of place!”

: "It's unusual that you speak so friendly of me Arotadam when I've just recently meet everyone here. From what I can tell Hugo is an alright person, even if he is a bit odd about how he goes about things. That said, he does feel likely to be villain material... Not withstanding the fact even my own mother is villain material and I'm probably a couple of choices from it myself."

:”Oh, you’ll get tknow Katherine better in the future. Or would. ”

: "Where was I in all that? If I disappeared that probably means I was killed at some time. Or did I get stupid and attack Dark Force by myself?" she stops and looks thoughtful.
: "Was I secretly working with the Fucker of Worlds in the background But what about Teresa? Or my mother and Team Silver for that matter?"

 : “Last records we have, you all went out in some secret mission to supposedly deal with the Aether Phantom Fleet, and that was the last I heard or saw any of you, at least with those names and faces. Yet Katherine changed to me, so who knows what actually happened to you. You and your family and Team Silver are officially listed as missing in action as far as DAUGHTER’s archives tells, but then so is my previous persona. You could’ve joined Hugo, Fucker of Worlds, supporting him behind the scenes and we wouldn’t be any the wiser.”

: "Phantom fleet... ghost ships?" Amaterasu muses, looking thoughtful, then snapping her fingers, "Got it! This wouldn't be the first time something like this happened. Every now and then a destroyed or scuttled battleship will start moving. AI malfunctions are common but it's a bit more than that; all those rumours of ships coming for vengeance aren't so far from the truth.

"Anyway, to get an entire fleet of the ships with any sort of co-ordinated intelligence, you would need a massive graveyard--and some sort of equally-massive collection of AIs and computers to help it along. Like, say, the Steel Garden--at the core you have an entire fleet of scuttled but intact ships, AI that know they've been abandoned, and sufficiently out of the way and impassable that nobody would think to check before it was too late.

"Damarius, if I guide you past the gravitational and spatial anomalies, will you take us there? I think we'd be able to stop this Phantom Fleet before it gets going."

: "As expected of Ammy, both brawn and brains!”

: "And, of course, I can call Team Silver."

: “Yay I’ll get to meet the whole gang! I knew it was worth sticking with you!”

: "True, that. It did kinda feel like they just want a place to be accepted... That wouldn't be that hard to do, yeah?"

 : ”Finding a place to be accepted is hard.”

: "Just because mecha have taken the forefront doesn't mean they can't be useful in many other ways. Besides, it seems to me like all they really need is a little bit of love."

: “...That’s what you think of every girl you see, Hugozinho. I bet that Dark Force got Hugo, Fucker of Worlds by taking the shape of a cute girl.”

: "The White Company is always accepting new recruits and has no problems with battleships. Bastion always ends up in the thick of it,"

:”A veteran ship captain may have the best odds of talking things out.”

: "Probably that the Aether Phantom Fleet knows exactly where it's from as much as we do, so if they send anyone else into the past..."

:”...What are you doing standing here and calmly chatting then? HURRY UP!”

[Raineh Daze]

Amaterasu stares at Arodatam for a second. "Because talking calmly now saves time in panicking later? Though you have a point... Damarius, open up."

[ketaro]

: ”Finding a place to be accepted is hard.”

Katherine merely sticks her tongue out at the maid, annoyed.

[Kuroimaken]

"Only every girl with your face.

I... look, we have all the time en route to the Steel Garden to have that conversation, so let's get moving. Arodatam... you have our contact info now. If something important comes up, I'm sure you'll let us know.

Damarius, if you don't mind, we could really use your help getting there."

[Nanshork]

"If you're all ready to go, come on in then," Damarius says.  He hops back onto his motorcyle and drives back up the outside of his ship before it enters a dock.  His cohort follows him in, although in a more traditional fashion.

(click to show/hide)

Getting in my ship is a free action for all of you.  I have room for everyone including Yuwea's cohort and probably all of the NPCs although they probably aren't coming.

[oslecamo]

Once you are all inside of Damarius flagship, you sail towards the coordinates provided by Amaterasu.

It is an extremely bumpy ride even for warp speed travel. At some points the on-board clocks seem to pause. There’s a few power failure and multiple times gravitational pressure starts to reach non-safe levels. At one point you feel like you’ve been in the same undetermined place for years, maybe centuries. Only by combining Damarius sailing skills and Amaterasu’s specialized knowledge you manage to make corrections on the fly to keep going and arrive at your actual objective in one piece. The clocks suddenly seem to be working fine, showing normal transit time, and the heavy gravitational pressure is gone.

All around you there are battleships. Many relatively small, some rivaling even Damarius flagship in size if not quality, plenty in between. Many showing signs of varying damage, from large holes in their hulls to burned bridges to frames cleanly cut in half, some looking brand new and in pristine condition, several looking like old models with heavy sign of use, plenty somewhere in between. All seem inactive besides a few flickering signal lights here and there, standard safety measure for idle vessels. All you can seem able to catch up in your channels from the surroundings appears to be static.

(click to show/hide)

Spot and listen checks please, plus any special senses you may have.