[X] ESC Command
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Pausing for a moment, you glance past your companions at the unadorned wall of the APC. Hunger could come later, which left two problems to consider. While you were lacking in concrete information, your companion's frustrated exclamations seemed to indicate that the military situation was the more precarious. While you did not know what kinds of weapons these people wielded, internecine conflicts could only put you all at risk.
"I think we should head to the defense facilities; try and stop things before they get out of hand."
Cabiro nods, "Sounds like a plan. Hopefully between you showing up out of nowhere and having a bit more time things have calmed down. Otherwise I'll have another try at talking some sense into the spacers."
She leans down slightly, hand over her ear, before you can feel the tilt of the APC making a hard turn.
=\\//=
It's a quiet ride from there on, as the soldiers seem more preoccupied with checking their gear and communications than talking with you.
Thankfully your isolation only lasts for a few minutes before the rear door of the transport lowers to the ground with a dull pneumatic hiss. Talking that as a cue to stand, you shiver slightly as you step into the chilly air.
"Keep up and follow me," the colonel claps your shoulder as she starts off towards one of the squat grey buildings at a brisk trot. As you fall in behind her, you take a moment to glance around. The buildings themselves are rather nondescript, almost prefabricated looking. It's the pale green, nearly teal grass that holds your attention until you're through the doors.
Two more sentries move to stop you on the other side of the door, armored in the same way as the soldiers you've seen already. Cabiro brushes them aside with a silent wave, her own men forming up in front you.
As you stalk down the bare corridors of the base, you can see the few uniformed personnel awkwardly dashing to escape the phalanx of troops in front of you. Their eyes briefly meet yours, no doubt curious as to the importance of their charge. This marks only the second time you've seen other people since landing on Atlas, and they're all soldiers.
So distracted you are trying to pay attention to everything that you nearly run headlong into Cabiro as she comes to a sudden halt. You've arrived in the base's command center. A vaulted room lined with prominent displays on five of its six walls, a dozen or so officers manning stations along the perimeter while a raised dais sits empty at its center.
"Put an orbital track on the central monitor – has the situation changed?" Your companion steps onto the center dais as a wireframe of the planet is projected in front of her. Atlas is surrounded by a myriad of colorful symbols, but two groups stand out to you. A cloud of blue diamonds and cubes is slowly closing on a sphere of similar icons, these colored brilliant crimson.
"Ma'am," one of the operators calls out, "Situation unchanged. Flottillenadmiral Werner's squadron is still on an intercept vector with the American station. Their formations will merge in less than five minutes."
You step onto the dais in time to catch Cabiro hissing in frustration. "Get them both on the line now, before someone decides to start shooting!" She passes you an earpiece at the same time. "And loop the Carthies as well."
Two of the other screens flash to life as you get your first look at the commanders of the two fleets in orbit. To your left is an impressively mustachioed man with intense green eyes. He's wearing the same uniform as the EU soldiers around you. The man on the right screen is visibly the older, with tanned complexion and greying hair cut close. He scowls into the camera.
"Eurocom, this had better be good," the American commander rumbles. "Your craft are already well within my defense perimeter, and we both know I cannot allow you to unilaterally dock with our station."
"Admiral Raines, Flottillenadmiral," Cabiro speaks up, "We met the shuttle from Von Braun on the tarmac." She gestures towards you. "This person was the only one on board. There were no pilots or crew, and as far as my men at the spaceport could tell, no tampering to the shuttle. I think they might be authentic."
"Preposterous!" The German officer cuts in. "I refuse to believe that some child could possibly have orchestrated this. What evidence can you claim?"
"Sir," Cabiro says, "we checked with Von Braun. No one saw them aboard the station or triggering the shuttle to launch. In addition, it seems doubtful they could have piloted it to the surface themselves."
"So you have nothing but hunches? I had thought better of you Emmanuelle," Werner retorts. "I can see that I will have to get to the bottom of this trickery myself. We will investigate the American station to confirm if they are involved."
"I cannot allow you to violate American sovereign space on mere hunches," the American admiral growls. "Besides, as impossible as it sounds, who's to say I shouldn't be suspecting your involvement in this? That shuttle did land in Hoffnung."
From your position on the command floor you can see Cabiro, Emmanuelle's, hands grip the railing ever tighter. The blips on the center display slowly inch closer, almost overlapping. You can feel a twisting in your stomach, wondering what to do.
"Sirs, please stand down," her tone is higher now, more frustrated, "There is no evidence that either of our nations caused this event, and any spacer can see a battle in low orbit will be a bloodbath."
"Status change," one of the operators calls out. "Transports have separated from the
Westfalen. They are on a vector for rendezvous with the American base. Formation merge in three minutes at current."
"Damnit Konrad!" Cabiro slams her fist on the railing. "Stop this now, before you get yourself killed." Neither man answers her, both talking to figures off screen.
This isn't right, you think. You don't know how many people are up there, but they shouldn't lose their lives over you choosing this place. Another status change is called out from below.
"The American ships have gone emissions active. Their outer formation elements have begun interception burns. Targeting and data links from our fleet are coming in now. Merge in two minutes."
"Stop," you speak up. "There's nothing to be gained from this. We're all stuck here, and shooting at each other isn't going to change anything. Just stop this, please, and I'll explain what I can."
The American admiral just looks pensive, but your words appear to have piqued Werner as he swings back towards the camera.
"I have no time for the idle fantasies of some young fool with delusions of importance. I will find the answers I need up here, even if I have to take them."
The next few moments pass in silence as the American craft close on the ESC shuttles, slipping ever closer to the point of no return. Years of paranoia building towards a seemingly inevitable conclusion. The only sound comes from Cabiro as she sighs, turning her eyes from the monitors.
No. One more try.
"Admiral Werner." You muster all the authority you can find in your voice, a building pressure pushing on your head. "Stand down now."
He only scoffs, "Do not presume to command me, child."
The cry comes up from the command pit, "Missile launch!"
You don't know who fired, but it really doesn't matter. As the pressure in the back of your mind grows ever greater, you shout out one more time.
"You will
stop!"
The pressure releases in a flood, and for a moment your eyes catch Werner's. They go glassy for a moment as he sits stock still, rigid as a board. When next he speaks it is in a dull monotone, all traces of the outrage from earlier absent. "All ships, come to zero relative to the American station and stand down."
The lone missile indicator disappears from the tracking board, self-destructed by whoever had ordered the launch. All eyes focus on you before Raines finally gives voice to their feelings.
"What the hell was that?"
"I. I don't know," you whisper as you're overcome by a feeling of weakness. Your legs quiver slightly as a wet sensation makes itself known on your upper lip. Idly, you raise two fingers to wipe at it. They come away covered in blood.
When next you look at the three officers, you can see the balance has changed. Raines is staring intently at you, like a bear eying a threat. Werner's produced a handkerchief and is slowly wiping sweat from his brow. Whatever you did has really unnerved him. Cabiro looks more contemplative than anything else, but you can see her drift backwards ever so slightly.
"Perhaps." Surprisingly, the German admiral is the first one to break the silence. "Perhaps this matter requires a more thorough assessment of our situation. Colonel, please see to determining a location. I'll leave the particulars to your discretion."
"Of course," Cabiro nods. "Admiral Raines, in the interest of international cooperation, will you plan to attend?"
The American just nods once before the video feed cuts out, joined shortly by that of his European counterpart. Your compatriot drops forwards to lean on the railing as soon as they're gone, a deep sigh escaping her lips. "Well," she says, "that could've gone better. Least it's over."
"Colonel," one of the operators interrupts, "Reports coming in from the city. A riot's broken out at the governor's mansion. Captain Daza is asking permission to suppress the rioters."
She just rolls her eyes at the news. "I brought that on myself, didn't I?"
"Yes," you agree, "you did. What now?"
"Well, now that Konrad and Raines are willing to talk, we should probably set up a meeting between all three nations planetside. We might want to choose a different locale though, since Hoffnung might give a bad impression after almost starting a war. The Carthies should agree to come as well, especially if they had a representative present for this."
"There's also the matter of whatever is going on in the city. If this gets out of hand, we could see the city in a bad way. Finally," she suddenly steps closer to you, arm flashing out to catch your wrist in a vice like grip. She lifts your bloody fingers to your face. "I'm no medic, but bleeding out your nose probably isn't a good sign. Especially with whatever black magic you just did."
You can't help but nod at her observation.
"So," she releases your arm, "What do you suggest?"
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Where should you go [EDITED]?
[] Prepare to meet the military and civilian leaders [specify location]
- Select a location (examples include Hoffnung, Kennedy, New Carthage or Von Braun station) to hold a proposed summit with Atlas' military and civilian leadership. While you'll always get to choose the location, taking this action exclusively will mean you arrive before the other delegates and have increased time to prepare.
[] Travel to the governor's mansion
- Travel to Hoffnung proper and help deal with the rioting currently occurring in the city.
[] Seek medical attention
- Seek a full medical examination and attempt to determine the nature of whatever ability you used on Werner, as well as its possible health effects.
[] Multitask [Select Which]
- Attempt to address multiple situations described above. Note that each additional task selected will impose penalties towards their completion - only so many hours in the day after all.
[] Write-In
- Propose another activity to undertake. Subject to approval.
[]Delegate to Colonel Cabiro
- Pick one of the tasks above (excluding seek medical attention) and ask her to focus on it while you handle something else. While it might allow you to tackle multiple tasks separately, her presence or lack thereof will affect your performance on any of the tasks you decide to tackle (troops will be less likely to obey you directly, for example).
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Sigh. I blame work.
Still, sorry if this feels a bit railroaded, but I want to get to the grand strategy portion of the quest sometime soon. As to the votes, treat them as more general suggestions than specific actions, and feel free to add additional detail to any plan submitted.
On the other hand, you've now discovered one of the more mysterious powers at your disposal (and given someone an existential crisis in the same go).
As usual, any comments, critiques or questions are more than welcome.
