barrierabovethecrowd | CMO 4/2024 ー名前を呼んでくれー

[It was supposed to just be a routine exercise. New Jersey had been entrusted with a small group of shipgirls to take out on maneuvers today, and no one had any reason to believe anything unusual would happen. There were no reports of Siren activity anywhere within at least a thousand nautical miles, and the sky was clear.

Until it wasn't.

Some new kind of threat had seemed to descend upon them from above. No one could track where they came from, except for one factor -- they appeared to have dropped down to the surface from orbit. The sky soon filled with hostiles, in greater numbers than the hapless group of shipgirls could manage themselves.

Fortunately, help soon arrived. A beam of energy lanced forth from the horizon, catching several enemy fliers in its line of fire. Tracing the beam back to its source reveals a red-violet mech flying at high speed toward the fight. At the same time, the girls' communications came to life, with Athrun's voice coming through crystal clear and issuing them orders. Once at closer range, the machine put away its rifle and pulled out a pair of beam sabers, which it quickly linked together, and began to tear through the new enemies as if they were made of tissue paper. Its strength was able to tip the scales in their favor.

Once the fighting ends, the machine lands on a nearby island, and Athrun tells the girls to meet him there. When it lands, the cockpit opens, and Athrun, wearing his flight suit for the first time since arriving at the Azur Lane HQ, rides the cable lift down to ground level and approaches New Jersey.]

Are you all right?

[ Some days, you just wind up waking up somewhere unfamiliar and that's just fine.

Well, no. That's not entirely correct.

It isn't 'fine', no matter how much she'd like to play it up or pretend that it is. Obviously, she's terrified, right down to her very core. Instinctively, she reaches right at her chest--where her soul is.

She can still feel the darkness that's settled there, a murky goo that's almost wrapped around her heart even as she takes in the unfamiliar scenery. In any case, she's wary of where she is, checking to see if there is anything that she could possibly see; any places to go, any familiar faces, anything at all...

After all, who's to say that where she is isn't some sort of illusion or trap? ]

[ Midgard had become part of the galactic neighborhood. Although they are quite stubborn in the eyes of the opportunistic IPC and seem to worship no Aeon, Midgard has a uniqueness they bring to the table. They're an advanced civilization but only occupying a fraction of the entire planet - a small continent called Silvis tucked away on the southern hemisphere of the globe. What makes Midgard unique is that it's already occupied by locals of the planet who are still technologically primitive, long before people from space arrived and settled on their little corner of the world.

Silvis is even stranger. It was largely uninhabited by any civilization and was seen as a dark continent full of monsters and evil spirits. The arrival of the Terrans was an eye-opening experience for them in more ways than one, for not only do people come from the stars, they are also powerful enough to make the monsters they feared into mere fodder. Relationships are tense, but that doesn't stop the Terrans from bringing in more people from other planets. Researchers, tourists, traders... They all want to see the mysterious island continent of Silvis and it's legendary access to an underground world, easily accessible now with Terran technology.

Deep beneath the earth is where Ruan Mei of the Genius Society is brought. Expansive nature with inverted plains and mountains in the roof of this world. A big-shot according to the Terrans who advised Troy after he was assigned the mission to be her guard. Given his rank and status among the Terran military, he can only imagine how important this genius must be for interplanetary public relations. Someone in the higher rungs of Midgardian politics must want to cozy up with more galactic factions, like the Genius Society. There's a basecamp of elevated shelters and equipment set up for her, giving Ruan Mei whatever she specified.

Even snacks of sweets and pastries which Troy found a little odd at first. But he had some delivered earlier before his arrival. A spread of familiar sweets and pastries of his youth from yema, pandecocos, leche flan. He's not really sure what to give her, so he just went with what he knows. The basecamp is quiet with only robots keeping Ruan Mei company, so Troy knocks at the shelter's door: ]

Doctor. Can I come in?

[ He asks, standing outside of the door in his power armor covering him from the neck down. Troy glances around, as a vague memory of his past tries to creep up at his mind's eye. A secret that he keeps closely guarded. A secret he brought to this world. He may look like a regular augmented soldier to everyone, and carries himself like a man. But Troy is actually a god. Not that Ruan Mei here will ever find out. ]

[Being a king isn't all fun and games. Even for someone like Dimitri, who would like to spend time training to get stronger, oftentimes he just doesn't have the time to do what he wants. After one such long day of governing, he walks, clearly looking quite tired, into the dining room, and slumps in his chair.

It's much to his surprise when it's not the castle chef that brings his dinner out to him, but Pyra. He's been giving her free rein of the castle while he works, as long as she doesn't get herself into trouble. But to see her carrying a meal out to him?]

Wait, did you make this?

[His curiosity gets the best of him, but at least he doesn't look exhausted any more.]

[ With all the Nameless has seen in their journeys, a giant robot seems like a mundane sight to see while traveling through space.

But this feels a little bit out of place even considering the technological advancement seen in several planets. ]

He-... Any- -here

[ The machine is also broadcasting on open comms, but it seems the communicator has been damaged, so most transmission has been coupled with static here and there. At the very least, the pilot is alive. ]

New Jersey

apho mei! also starsand continuity, but let's say this is in mei's world?

Ruan Mei

Pyra

Welt Yang