TheBleachDoctor
Secretly a Cat
- Location
- The Plane of Infinite Kittens
- Pronouns
- She/Her
*muffled voice inside box*
Tally pls
Tally pls
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Beneath Celestial Depths (An Arpeggio of Blue Steel Quest)
- Thread starter TheBleachDoctor
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
Vote Tally : Sci-Fi - Beneath Celestial Depths (An Arpeggio of Blue Steel Quest) | Page 45 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.7.9
[X] Ask Mary if she wants to come along or not.
[X] Disembark, with or without Mary. It's time to get some answers.
-[X] If Mary doesn't come, explain to Blue Steel why she didn't want to.
-[X] Leave a subnode behind to watch things in your absence.
No. of Votes: 19
[X] Disembark with Mary. Meet Gunzou in person and talk things over. You trust him, and you're not exactly helpless away from your hull anyway.
-[X] Leave a subnode behind to watch things in your absence.
No. of Votes: 2
[x] Refuse to Disembark. Demand that Gunzou talk to you over comms, instead. You doubt that will be good for relations with Blue Steel, but they hopefully won't open fire over it.
No. of Votes: 1
Total No. of Voters: 22
##### NetTally 1.7.9
[X] Ask Mary if she wants to come along or not.
[X] Disembark, with or without Mary. It's time to get some answers.
-[X] If Mary doesn't come, explain to Blue Steel why she didn't want to.
-[X] Leave a subnode behind to watch things in your absence.
No. of Votes: 19
[X] Disembark with Mary. Meet Gunzou in person and talk things over. You trust him, and you're not exactly helpless away from your hull anyway.
-[X] Leave a subnode behind to watch things in your absence.
No. of Votes: 2
[x] Refuse to Disembark. Demand that Gunzou talk to you over comms, instead. You doubt that will be good for relations with Blue Steel, but they hopefully won't open fire over it.
No. of Votes: 1
Total No. of Voters: 22
SOON
EDIT: NEVERMIND
EDIT: NEVERMIND
Depth 19
TheBleachDoctor
Secretly a Cat
- Location
- The Plane of Infinite Kittens
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Ask Mary if she wants to come along or not.
[X] Disembark, with or without Mary. It's time to get some answers.
-[X] If Mary doesn't come, explain to Blue Steel why she didn't want to.
-[X] Leave a subnode behind to watch things in your absence.
You really don't have much of a choice here. While cutting and running is an option, this is one particular bridge you don't want to burn. You spent years cultivating it as your strongest connection, and while it appears you may have frayed the trust that holds it together, it's still sound. So it's time to speak to Gunzou.
"Mary, darling, I'm going to speak with Gunzou," you look to your small charge, "Do you want to come with me? I understand if you don't, dear."
Mary shakes her head vigorously, grabbing your hand.
"I'm coming with you," she insists, gaze resolved. She really is serious... you take a moment to pat her on the head. Really, such a brave child. You hope you can foster that into something useful later in her life, but for now it's endearing.
You send your confirmation to Gunzou, and receive a prompt acknowledgement and navigation package.
"Follow the designated course, we will guide you in," the woman from earlier speaks, "deviate and you die."
Fair enough. You let the data guide your helm. With Hyuuga sailing beside you, you continue forward and dive just under the ice, gently moving forward. As time goes on, you start to notice little sensor posts. Not big enough for any crew, so likely automated. Even a little Fletcher doing patrols passes close by. Then you surface and the view is... somewhat shocking.
A large array of berths, all shielded by enormous blast doors and protected by massive turret emplacements. A high ice ceiling... likely surface camouflage. A concealed base for Blue Steel... even from what you can see, this is already nicer than what they had back during the war. Home Ports were nice and all, but they were kind of... small? Relative to this, at least.
One of the massive metal gates slowly lowers, a grinding noise that fills the metal cavern. You're guessing it's aged, but it appears to operate just fine. You glide smoothly into the dock.
At once, the scope of the docks are made clear. Ship after ship to your right, to your left. You recognize all of them. You met them, talked with them, befriended them during your times with Blue Steel. They still wear their colors, but you notice some small... differences. Fog ships tend to be pristine copies of the ships they are modeled after, and as a result never quite gain the little quirks and modifications that human vessels acquire over their lifespan. The little things the crew changes to make the vessel their home. The old Fog you knew, even Blue Steel, had none of this.
All of these ships feel lived in.
Custom paint jobs on turrets, emblems and homemade flags. Little awnings and wear from a thousand hands. Names painted on hulls, grip mats on decks. Real rope and chain.
These vessels are not just warships. They're homes.
Large docking clamps come down on your hull, magnetizing and locking on. They look formidable, but a brief scan reveals that you could tear out of them if you had to. They're more for stabilization than anything else.
The docks themselves are solid concrete with metal railing. Electric trams are hauling around pallets of boxes and armament to various ships, but overall the bright lighting and high spirits of everyone here suggests that nothing important is going on.
However, around your own berth you've seem to have attracted quite the crowd. Young men and women, as well as a few older individuals are all gawking at you. Most of them are wearing blue naval uniforms with Blue Steel patches on the shoulders and ship designations on the front. Some of them are in more utilitarian outfits with simply the Blue steel patch. You assume they just work the docks.
A ramp extends to rest on your deck. It's time to go.
You leave a little subnode behind to keep an eye on things. It comes up with you on deck, to emphasize that you're not leaving your hull unattended. Of course, a Fog ship is never truly unattended, but Humans tend to forget that.
Little Mary's clothes have become a uniform reminiscent of the uniforms on the dock, only she has no Blue Steel patch and simply sports "Surcouf" on her shoulder patch, along with your Fog emblem.
How cute.
Wary of all the eyes upon you, you make your way down the ramp as Hyuuga pulls up in an adjacent dock, her crew now on deck and staring at you. She docks just as quickly as you did.
"Are you really Surcouf?" a young blonde man apparently belonging to the crew of the Enterprise asks eagerly, "Did you know Enterprise back when she was awake? What was she like?"
Quite the barrage of questions. You haven't even gotten to ask any of your own! Still, you're tempted to reply when you're interrupted by the same voice from before.
"That's enough," the woman from earlier jumps off of Hyuuga's deck, landing on the dock with a roll and quick recover. She had short cropped black hair along with a mature complexion. She seems to be of mixed race. Partially Japanese and something else? You're not quite sure, but her uniform identifies her as Captain Mikoto of Blue Steel and, presumably, Hyuuga herself, "Gunzou wants to speak with Surcouf. Hold all questions until after they've met."
The young man nods, stepping away. Mikoto indicates for you to follow her... and you see no reason not to.
Towards the back of the docks are a series of freight elevators and, you notice, deployable cover with gun emplacements. It looks like Blue Steel is wary of an invading force. Or rather, was when they were designing the place. You step into one of the elevators with Mikoto and wait in silence as it brings you down to the next level.
The doors on the other side open onto a large storage area, with crates and stacks of munitions. You note that most of them have Blue Steel emblems. Where are they getting these from? They must have a production facility somewhere.
Mikoto takes you on a tram ride through to the other side of the warehouse, where you're faced with yet more unmanned defensive positions and a large blast door. You stand there impatiently as many locking mechanisms on the other side cycle noisily. With some annoyance, you note that they're trying to show off. Off to the side, there's a nanomaterial portion of the wall that's currently configured into a door. You guess it turns into wall when the facility comes under attack.
The massive door segments into three parts, each sliding away into the wall... and you're struck by the scene before you.
A large circulrar open domed area at least the size of New York's Central Park, with a ceiling so high you could fly a plane around inside with no issue. An artificial sky is projected on it, shining light down upon the interior, and what an interior it is! Housing complexes ring a large park area with trees and walkways, dense enough to be almost like a forest. And in the center, you see a battleship's superstructure, although you're too far away to tell which one.
"Come on," Mikoto leads you down the steps from the gate into what you assume is the residential area, "Stay on the path."
As you enter the area proper, you hear... birds. There are birds. You even pass a little recreational area where some children are playing catch. Children.
Blue Steel... they fled here, and these are their children, huh? Everyone you've met here, including this Mikoto woman, you probably knew their ancestors.
Then you get to the center, and... you're a bit speechless.
It's the Fog Battleship Missouri. Her deck is level with the ground, and all the handrails are gone. The Blue Steel flag flies from her mast, and her paint is worn in places. You can see people bustling about inside through the windows, and there are others polishing one of her dual-mount turrets. Her most forward turret's barrels are elevated, and an awning has been hung across them for a stage beneath.
She must be serving as a command post, although from the looks of things she's also somewhat of a community center.
Mikoto ushers you inside, and you can immediately feel her humming with power. Missouri must be powering this entire complex. And although she's not awake, she is alive.
Your guide leads you into a small furnished lounge, decorated in good taste with wooden furniture and soft blue walls.
Sitting in one of the chairs is Chihaya Gunzou. He doesn't look a day older than the day you left to destroy Habbakuk.
"Please, sit," he gestures to the couch on the other side of a small coffee table as he pours you and Mary a cup of tea, "I'm sure that you have many questions, just as I have many for you. So tell me, Surcouf, where have you been these past few centuries? Why are you awake when no one else is? And what exactly did you do to Habbakuk?"
Those are all very good questions. And unfortunately, you're not exactly privy to their answers. However, you do have some details to tell him...
Although, you don't have to let him know that you're in the dark as well. On the other hand, letting him think you don't know more has its advantages too. Might make it more convincing when you omit certain bits of information.
[] Imply that you know more than you're willing to disclose.
-[] Tell him everything you know
-[] Withhold information about Habbakuk
-[] Withhold information about Mary
[] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[] Tell him everything you know
-[] Withhold information about Habbakuk
-[] Withhold information about Mary
And you take some time to come up with questions of your own, but for fairness's sake, you'll only ask three questions, as he did for you.
[] How are you still alive? Be specific, please.
[] What is this place? How did you build it?
[] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[] What is the state of the world?
[] How is your father? Is he similarly long-lived?
[] How is Iona?
[] Write in...
[X] Disembark, with or without Mary. It's time to get some answers.
-[X] If Mary doesn't come, explain to Blue Steel why she didn't want to.
-[X] Leave a subnode behind to watch things in your absence.
You really don't have much of a choice here. While cutting and running is an option, this is one particular bridge you don't want to burn. You spent years cultivating it as your strongest connection, and while it appears you may have frayed the trust that holds it together, it's still sound. So it's time to speak to Gunzou.
"Mary, darling, I'm going to speak with Gunzou," you look to your small charge, "Do you want to come with me? I understand if you don't, dear."
Mary shakes her head vigorously, grabbing your hand.
"I'm coming with you," she insists, gaze resolved. She really is serious... you take a moment to pat her on the head. Really, such a brave child. You hope you can foster that into something useful later in her life, but for now it's endearing.
You send your confirmation to Gunzou, and receive a prompt acknowledgement and navigation package.
"Follow the designated course, we will guide you in," the woman from earlier speaks, "deviate and you die."
Fair enough. You let the data guide your helm. With Hyuuga sailing beside you, you continue forward and dive just under the ice, gently moving forward. As time goes on, you start to notice little sensor posts. Not big enough for any crew, so likely automated. Even a little Fletcher doing patrols passes close by. Then you surface and the view is... somewhat shocking.
A large array of berths, all shielded by enormous blast doors and protected by massive turret emplacements. A high ice ceiling... likely surface camouflage. A concealed base for Blue Steel... even from what you can see, this is already nicer than what they had back during the war. Home Ports were nice and all, but they were kind of... small? Relative to this, at least.
One of the massive metal gates slowly lowers, a grinding noise that fills the metal cavern. You're guessing it's aged, but it appears to operate just fine. You glide smoothly into the dock.
At once, the scope of the docks are made clear. Ship after ship to your right, to your left. You recognize all of them. You met them, talked with them, befriended them during your times with Blue Steel. They still wear their colors, but you notice some small... differences. Fog ships tend to be pristine copies of the ships they are modeled after, and as a result never quite gain the little quirks and modifications that human vessels acquire over their lifespan. The little things the crew changes to make the vessel their home. The old Fog you knew, even Blue Steel, had none of this.
All of these ships feel lived in.
Custom paint jobs on turrets, emblems and homemade flags. Little awnings and wear from a thousand hands. Names painted on hulls, grip mats on decks. Real rope and chain.
These vessels are not just warships. They're homes.
Large docking clamps come down on your hull, magnetizing and locking on. They look formidable, but a brief scan reveals that you could tear out of them if you had to. They're more for stabilization than anything else.
The docks themselves are solid concrete with metal railing. Electric trams are hauling around pallets of boxes and armament to various ships, but overall the bright lighting and high spirits of everyone here suggests that nothing important is going on.
However, around your own berth you've seem to have attracted quite the crowd. Young men and women, as well as a few older individuals are all gawking at you. Most of them are wearing blue naval uniforms with Blue Steel patches on the shoulders and ship designations on the front. Some of them are in more utilitarian outfits with simply the Blue steel patch. You assume they just work the docks.
A ramp extends to rest on your deck. It's time to go.
You leave a little subnode behind to keep an eye on things. It comes up with you on deck, to emphasize that you're not leaving your hull unattended. Of course, a Fog ship is never truly unattended, but Humans tend to forget that.
Little Mary's clothes have become a uniform reminiscent of the uniforms on the dock, only she has no Blue Steel patch and simply sports "Surcouf" on her shoulder patch, along with your Fog emblem.
How cute.
Wary of all the eyes upon you, you make your way down the ramp as Hyuuga pulls up in an adjacent dock, her crew now on deck and staring at you. She docks just as quickly as you did.
"Are you really Surcouf?" a young blonde man apparently belonging to the crew of the Enterprise asks eagerly, "Did you know Enterprise back when she was awake? What was she like?"
Quite the barrage of questions. You haven't even gotten to ask any of your own! Still, you're tempted to reply when you're interrupted by the same voice from before.
"That's enough," the woman from earlier jumps off of Hyuuga's deck, landing on the dock with a roll and quick recover. She had short cropped black hair along with a mature complexion. She seems to be of mixed race. Partially Japanese and something else? You're not quite sure, but her uniform identifies her as Captain Mikoto of Blue Steel and, presumably, Hyuuga herself, "Gunzou wants to speak with Surcouf. Hold all questions until after they've met."
The young man nods, stepping away. Mikoto indicates for you to follow her... and you see no reason not to.
Towards the back of the docks are a series of freight elevators and, you notice, deployable cover with gun emplacements. It looks like Blue Steel is wary of an invading force. Or rather, was when they were designing the place. You step into one of the elevators with Mikoto and wait in silence as it brings you down to the next level.
The doors on the other side open onto a large storage area, with crates and stacks of munitions. You note that most of them have Blue Steel emblems. Where are they getting these from? They must have a production facility somewhere.
Mikoto takes you on a tram ride through to the other side of the warehouse, where you're faced with yet more unmanned defensive positions and a large blast door. You stand there impatiently as many locking mechanisms on the other side cycle noisily. With some annoyance, you note that they're trying to show off. Off to the side, there's a nanomaterial portion of the wall that's currently configured into a door. You guess it turns into wall when the facility comes under attack.
The massive door segments into three parts, each sliding away into the wall... and you're struck by the scene before you.
A large circulrar open domed area at least the size of New York's Central Park, with a ceiling so high you could fly a plane around inside with no issue. An artificial sky is projected on it, shining light down upon the interior, and what an interior it is! Housing complexes ring a large park area with trees and walkways, dense enough to be almost like a forest. And in the center, you see a battleship's superstructure, although you're too far away to tell which one.
"Come on," Mikoto leads you down the steps from the gate into what you assume is the residential area, "Stay on the path."
As you enter the area proper, you hear... birds. There are birds. You even pass a little recreational area where some children are playing catch. Children.
Blue Steel... they fled here, and these are their children, huh? Everyone you've met here, including this Mikoto woman, you probably knew their ancestors.
Then you get to the center, and... you're a bit speechless.
It's the Fog Battleship Missouri. Her deck is level with the ground, and all the handrails are gone. The Blue Steel flag flies from her mast, and her paint is worn in places. You can see people bustling about inside through the windows, and there are others polishing one of her dual-mount turrets. Her most forward turret's barrels are elevated, and an awning has been hung across them for a stage beneath.
She must be serving as a command post, although from the looks of things she's also somewhat of a community center.
Mikoto ushers you inside, and you can immediately feel her humming with power. Missouri must be powering this entire complex. And although she's not awake, she is alive.
Your guide leads you into a small furnished lounge, decorated in good taste with wooden furniture and soft blue walls.
Sitting in one of the chairs is Chihaya Gunzou. He doesn't look a day older than the day you left to destroy Habbakuk.
"Please, sit," he gestures to the couch on the other side of a small coffee table as he pours you and Mary a cup of tea, "I'm sure that you have many questions, just as I have many for you. So tell me, Surcouf, where have you been these past few centuries? Why are you awake when no one else is? And what exactly did you do to Habbakuk?"
Those are all very good questions. And unfortunately, you're not exactly privy to their answers. However, you do have some details to tell him...
Although, you don't have to let him know that you're in the dark as well. On the other hand, letting him think you don't know more has its advantages too. Might make it more convincing when you omit certain bits of information.
[] Imply that you know more than you're willing to disclose.
-[] Tell him everything you know
-[] Withhold information about Habbakuk
-[] Withhold information about Mary
[] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[] Tell him everything you know
-[] Withhold information about Habbakuk
-[] Withhold information about Mary
And you take some time to come up with questions of your own, but for fairness's sake, you'll only ask three questions, as he did for you.
[] How are you still alive? Be specific, please.
[] What is this place? How did you build it?
[] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[] What is the state of the world?
[] How is your father? Is he similarly long-lived?
[] How is Iona?
[] Write in...
[x] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[x] Tell him everything you know
[x] How are you still alive? Be specific, please.
[x] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[x] How is Iona?
Can someone summarize what we know?
-[x] Tell him everything you know
[x] How are you still alive? Be specific, please.
[x] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[x] How is Iona?
Can someone summarize what we know?
AnonymousRabbit
Rabbit Faced
Oh boy this should be fun
oh no guys, we only got 6 hours till vote closes!
probably
real talk, when vote close?
AnonymousRabbit
Rabbit Faced
A few days agter this
[X] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[X] Withhold information about Mary
[X] What is the state of the world?
Most important question we can ask here. No matter what happens, well aside from us dying but you generally plan with the assumption you'll still be alive, here we need to know more about the outside world.
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
I tossed up between this and finding out with his father was still alive. On one hand knowing what Blue Steel has been doing in the intervening years will inform our future relations with them and provides context for the state of the world. On the other hand knowing if the Scarlet Fleet is still under Shouzou's commend could be quite useful. In the end I figured knowing more about Blue Steel was both more useful, since they are something approaching allies, and because discussing Shouzou is likely to put Gunzou in a poor mood for the rest of our talks.
[X] How is Iona?
While it will certainly bring up some angry feelings since Gunzou seems to blame us for driving her into dormancy it's also likely to win some points for us since we're showing we care about someone important to him.
-[X] Withhold information about Mary
[X] What is the state of the world?
Most important question we can ask here. No matter what happens, well aside from us dying but you generally plan with the assumption you'll still be alive, here we need to know more about the outside world.
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
I tossed up between this and finding out with his father was still alive. On one hand knowing what Blue Steel has been doing in the intervening years will inform our future relations with them and provides context for the state of the world. On the other hand knowing if the Scarlet Fleet is still under Shouzou's commend could be quite useful. In the end I figured knowing more about Blue Steel was both more useful, since they are something approaching allies, and because discussing Shouzou is likely to put Gunzou in a poor mood for the rest of our talks.
[X] How is Iona?
While it will certainly bring up some angry feelings since Gunzou seems to blame us for driving her into dormancy it's also likely to win some points for us since we're showing we care about someone important to him.
[X] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[X] Tell him everything you know
[X] What is the state of the world?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
-[X] Tell him everything you know
[X] What is the state of the world?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
kinigget
Best Demon
- Location
- People's Republic of Portland
I was cinsider information trying to pretend we knew stuff, but then realized that that didn't actually help us any
I have no objections to the current vote, and don't feel like trying to construct one on my phone, therefore:
[X] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[X] Tell him everything you know
[X] What is the state of the world?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
I have no objections to the current vote, and don't feel like trying to construct one on my phone, therefore:
[X] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[X] Tell him everything you know
[X] What is the state of the world?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
[x] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[x] Tell him everything you know
[x] How are you still alive? Be specific, please.
[x] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[x] How is Iona?
-[x] Tell him everything you know
[x] How are you still alive? Be specific, please.
[x] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[x] How is Iona?
Zeroth Jupi
Sporadic Writer and Haver of Ideas
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
[X] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[X] Withhold information about Mary
[X] What is this place? How did you build it?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
-[X] Withhold information about Mary
[X] What is this place? How did you build it?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
Zedman7054
Eternally 3rd
- Location
- United States
[X] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[X] Tell him everything you know
[X] What is the state of the world?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
I have to say, I'm not entirely sold on the Iona question. It might sound like we're trying to pick at an old wound to throw Gunzou off.
I'm thinking, it might sound better if we ask about the status of all of Blue Steel's ships, make it sound like we're concerned for our sisters.
-[X] Tell him everything you know
[X] What is the state of the world?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
I have to say, I'm not entirely sold on the Iona question. It might sound like we're trying to pick at an old wound to throw Gunzou off.
I'm thinking, it might sound better if we ask about the status of all of Blue Steel's ships, make it sound like we're concerned for our sisters.
- Location
- Canada
[X] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[X] Withhold information about Mary
[X] What is the state of the world?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
-[X] Withhold information about Mary
[X] What is the state of the world?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
- Location
- USA
[X] Be honest in your ignorance.
-[X] Tell him everything you know
[X] What is the state of the world?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
-[X] Tell him everything you know
[X] What is the state of the world?
[X] What has Blue Steel been doing since Habbakuk?
[X] How is Iona?
