Lucifer notes the business in Brahe's voice. He wasn't in the best mood for calm analysis right now, though.

"Tch. So the enemy's throwing off the kiddie gloves and now they're not only immeasurably more numerous and supplied than us but also more powerful individually? Fuck that. She had the upper hand but I would've gotten my break eventually."

He clenches his fists. The entire battle had been one grand frustration that he had no proper outlet available for. He was well aware that without Lyla and Brahe backing him up the fight could've gone very differently - but right now anything even hinting at his powerlessness was a red cloth.

"So we need to reconsider the use of mortal fighters, and I need to stop wasting time on enemies who don't actually die and focus on actually perishable resources. That it?"

He sneers. "As for the ships, they're saying the Buchenwald was a prison ship, right? Maybe the Abyssal within was the prisoner and they considered it low-priority so there weren't many ships nearby. Besides, Thanatos was just detachedly taking her toy out for a joyride to gather performance data - not actually invested in the operation. This was a fight they didn't actually give a shit about losing. You're right they're just gearing up for the real thing."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:52, Sat 22 Oct 2016.

Without any real intent in her blank mind, Lyla does raise her brows out of surprise upon her cigarette being lit.

"You are welcome. Anytime."

She straightens her arm, laying it to rest on her propped up knee. The smoke from the cigarette slowly wafts upwards as she stares into the distance. The steady humming of engines and metal trembling begins to ring in her ears. At the same time the place was awfully loud and even more terribly quiet. The long pause pushes her mind back to the battle field, her mind wanting to replay everything just incase of any loopholes. She grits her cigarette and inhales deeply.

Him talking once again is a welcome relief to that cinema.

"You've piqued my curiosity. It'd be an honor, in which I'll gladly help," she exhales some smoke rings and very lightly lets a smile of gratitude tug her lips, despite her eyes still being tired as hell. "Also I think me being busy has been greatly exaggerated."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:17, Sat 22 Oct 2016.

Trying to recover a bit of herself, Jess looks oddly at the doctor, wondering if she's being put on. She had seen things like that before, but finding out it was an actual medical phenomena frankly surprises her.

"I suppose I could do with some sleep." she says, looking like she doesn't really believe it. It made Jess feel incredibly awkward knowing how little there was she could do to help. Then again, she did need to do something with the footage from the battle. There was what she was going to distribute to the populace, but also the matter of tactical information that might be gleamed.

"I'll head back on my own." she says as she carefully gets up. The Lunar was a mystery she could figure out another day. All that mattered for now was that she seemed to have an ally here.

The doctor looks totally serious.  Dead serious.  He's put away the light, so that means she doesn't have to murder him messily.

"It'd be best if you did.  If you were a mortal, mind you, sleep would probably kill you right now." He dabs at her face with gauze, "I'm not going to stop you but if the external hemorrhaging continues for longer than a day, please report to Sanctuary immediately.  If you don't I'll be required by procedure to call internal security."

Makes sense.  He's not saying it to be a dick- it means, in his medical opinion, that if she keeps bleeding she's been infected by a Neverborn malady.  The Neverborn have been known to infect people through mere words, after all.

Standing up is a battle all on its own for Jess, but she gets on her feet.

---

"Glad to hear you're in,"  Five Days Darkness sounds profoundly relieved, "I'll put in the request with Core ASAP.  You don't have any crew for your ship, right?  I can put in a request for some talented personnel.  If you're going to do this, it might mean a lot more modifications to the Benisuzume... and a long time out there alone.

Anyway, I've heard a lot of things about you from Core and Command.  You sound plenty busy to me, Lyla.  Tracking down death cultists in the Great Railway isn't most people's idea of a fun time. Juno told me she had no idea where they were."

---

"No, they're not more powerful than us individually.  But they have the breathing room to adapt.  We're running on limited resources, with limited time.  They have all the time in the world to prepare."

Brahe folds his arms, looking bored at Lucifer's growing rage. "You're misunderstanding me.  We can't reconsider the use of mortal fighters.  They're necessary.  At the worst, they're dross with a bit of gold inside of them, like what we found with Kumiho.  At the best, they're capable of taking out the odd Imperator.

The ships, on the other hand... I think this was a delaying action, like at Ceres.  They didn't expect us to run a blockade.  I bet if we'd found a few other jump points they'd be there in similar forces as well.

In the end, what I'm really saying, Lucifer, is that you need more personal weapons.  Since when have you ever scoffed at that idea?"

Brahe closes his eyes.

"And not the kind that fire bullets."

---

"Is your suit that much of a hangar queen?" Battles jokes at him, "Fine, fine, we'll get your stuff there.  And the hot cocoa.  I think we're out of sprinkles, though.  Come on."

Battles starts muttering into his headpiece, putting down orders.  The two head through the halls, passing through smashed bulkheads and areas where they could still smell roasted human flesh- well, that is, if Iapetus didn't have a very effective filter.

It still smells a bit like pork.

"Any idea where Grunt went?"

Hearing death-cries still echoing in his head and reading a disregard for mortal life that may or may not be there in Brahe's words, Lucifer's temper suddenly flares. He punches a nearby wall a bit harder than necessary, leaving a dent and raising his voice to a not-quite-shout.

"Without me there wouldn't be a Kumiho! And without mortals packed up on the field like sitting ducks too far away from the enemy to do any good, the Buchenwald's missiles would've been ineffectually battering at us rather than claiming lives by the dozens with no true gain! This exchange may have turned out well on paper in the end but if you don't see how fucked our approach was you've been watching a very different battle than I. Are they necessary? Yes. Can we keep using them like today? No."

He snorts and runs a hand through his hair, composing himself.

"Now that the enemy has shifted focus to maximum casualties per encounter, we can't keep serving them up. I'm not saying we should stop using mortal fighters altogether, I'm saying we should shift our approach to counter the enemy's. Meatshields and human waves are exactly what they want from us now; we need to look more closely at where and how to use them. Launch them from carriers when closer to the enemy, launch them in waves that spread out, that kind of thing."

He folds his arms as well, brooding for a moment before moving on.

"As for weapons, I agree. I've been looking into different ways to manifest my power for a while. If you've got something I can use, I'm all ears."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:14, Sun 23 Oct 2016.

"It's just what you taught me, 'try to learn from every battle'. I want to know what kind of effects did a close contact with an Imperator do, and how did the suit hold up to an extended visit to a place with so much of.. that stuff."
As they walk in the halls, Iapetus falls very silent. The thought of not being able to prevent any of those deaths came instantly back.
When Battles asks him the question, there is a small delay before Ia answers to his brother.
"I think he headed straight to deliver the laptop. As far as I could see, he did not linger in the hangar"

The sharp sound of Exalted fist on metal reaches Jess' ears, creating a momentary feel of dizziness. Her first instinct is to blame Lucifer, but with so many others who had endured losses, it was just as likely to be any of the other powerful survivors working out frustrations.

"Get in contact with Doctor Kelleigh Connelly." she says in a voice that carries a polite order. "Inform her of the situation, just in case. If she wants to examine me, I'll permit it, though I doubt she'll feel the need to waste her time."

His willingness to be so frank with a Pre-Exalt is at least refreshing. "May I get your name, by the way, doctor? I believe this is our first time meeting."

Lyla nods and suddenly becomes awkwardly aware of her hand still resting on his shoulder.It is the loud clang that wakes her up to her lingering gesture, and thus she subtly lowers her hand back to her side.

"Yeah, a crew would be nice, especially if there are modifications. Do what you must as long as it won't slow Benisuzume or make it shine like a rainbow...though I doubt any normal light could shine through my shadows."

She agrees almost professionally, her facial expression vague for a moment, before she clears her throat. She shrugs some ashes on the floor, while looking around the hall.

"At least if I'm alone, there won't be anyone else to harm," she states having a perhaps tint of disappointment in her voice that she doesn't manage to mask away. "Ah. That. I just had a hunch. I have a lot of alone time in my hands, so why not use it for something useful? Especially since I'm not too excited about involving myself in politics. I'll rather leave it to those more discreet in their way of portraying their thoughts."

The adrenaline rush of the battle was finally wearing off, and it left her cold, but also relieved as she sighs deeply. Lyla stretches her legs straight, and flexes her fingers to get blood flowing. She keeps a pause to smoke in and out, whilst gathering her thoughts.

"Will there be a debriefing? Not that I mind this type of debriefing for a change," the tone of her voice is warm.

"That was unnecessary," The doctor mutters aside to Jess after the slamming on the bulkheads, "Doctor K?  Fine, but you're going to owe me a drink after talking to her.  She makes my head hurt.  My name's Doctor Jim DeForest.  If you make the obligatory joke I'll personally confine you to Sanctuary for ten weeks."

---

Five Days Darkness' shoulder stiffens as Lyla brings her hand away.

"I'll find my best for it.  Benisuzume deserves it.  And no, the modifications I'm thinking of are long-term flight equipment, extra fuel tanks.  Grapples.  Magnetic lines.  Possibly even a towpod." 

He stands up and stretches.  She can hear his shoulders pop.  "I think a debriefing will wait until we can get a better look at that laptop.  For now, it looks like I have to speak with Lucifer before he decides to put a few more dents in my ship."

---

"Oh, calm your fucking tits," Brahe rolls his eyes and then his head, "When the hell did I say that?  I said the use itself of the mortals is necessary, not the use of them in this particular engagement.  Yes.  The big problem is they're trying to maximize attrition but we actually cannot afford to give up our fighter screens, especially with the kamikaze attacks.  Here and now, it was a terrible idea, but if there's another skirmish with our fleet they will need to be there because ten fighters dead instead of an essence tanker is a great trade in my book.  It's terrible calculus but that's war."

He looks around, fully aware that the hangar has grown silent and started staring at them.  The man obviously looks uncomfortable.

"Look, Lucifer, yes.  I've got ideas you can use.  Start out by developing your skillset a bit.  Run through some of the tactics simulators with Battles because you've got the tactical chops of a ten year old child.  A very smart ten year old, I'll grant.  I'd also suggest getting a bit more... spiritual.  What happens if you deal with Thanatos again and you just can't hit her?  She's obviously kitted out to avoid your physical attacks."

---

"Well Journeys is in the board room, so-"  They pass by the bar where they spot Grunt waiting for a drink.  "Oh, hell."

Iapetus knows Burning Feather, the Goddess of Intoxicants, because she's a frequent guest in Command, often speaking with Serenity.  He also knows the Goddess should never, ever, ever be allowed behind a bar.

Ever.

"Burned Graveyard," Grunt told Burning Feather, "Go as heavy with the peppers as you like. I need the clarity."

While Jess had picked up bits and pieces of pop culture ever since she managed to get that housing thing going, references to Star Trek were almost completely lost on her. The Exalt's expression is polite.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Dr. DeForest. And sure, just let me know where you'd like to go once alcohol is a less immediate health hazard for me. My tab is good most places."

She heads out the door.

"Thanks, I'll owe you for that then," Lyla reaches upwards to give a pat to Benisuzumes smooth black surface. "As curious as I am concerning the new mission, I'll leave the interrogation for a later time. When this one has been flushed out."

She regards him absentmindedly as he gets up, and decides to do so herself as well.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to tag along. Think the battle upset Daniel as much as it upset me. If you two wish to talk in private, I'll find something else to busy my mind with."

In a normal situation, the sheer audacity of Brahe's words might have amused Lucifer enough to calm him down. As it was, however, his needling came at a very bad time.

At least it wasn't the bulkheads that were in danger of dents anymore - it was Brahe's face. Lucifer's fist replies faster than his thoughts can catch up and the impact echoes through the hangar almost as loud as the previous one.

"Do not test my patience right now, Brahe!"

He takes a few short, agitated breaths as his mind catches up with his temper, wrestling the urge screaming in the back of his head to continue the momentum and pulverize the Infernal's smug face before he found his chance to betray the Living. It was all that could be expected of one of the Ebon Dragon's, after all.

"I'll let you off this time since you helped in the battle, but do not think I'll hesitate for a moment to end you if you forget your place."

His point made, he cracks his neck before turning back to business. To an outside observer it's not clear at all whether or not the situation is actually over, though.

"You think I don't realize I need to spread out? I've been studying everything from the occult to computer science to physics for years since we left Earth. Tactical training is already next in line. And intangible ways of exerting force is an ongoing effort as well. I don't need ideas, I need means."

"Glad to hear it.  Be careful." The doctor admonishes Jess and turns back to Tomato.  Then there are... so many others.  Most of it by now has already been through triage.  A very few are silently dying, their wounds deadened by painkillers.

From there it's to her only place on the Enterprise, a little room that served as her makeshift quarters.  Of course it's right across the hall from the Red Queen.

---

"This isn't private anymore,"  Five Days Darkness tells Lyla grimly as he starts striding over towards Lucifer and Brahe, "Please watch my back, this may get troublesome.  These are the last two people I want to see get into a fight."

Lucifer's fist connects right onto Brahe's arrogant face.  Lucifer feels cartilage deform and snap and blackish-red blood spurt from the Infernal's nose.  Brahe's head hits the back of the bulkhead with a hard 'THUNK'.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, LUCIFER."  Five Days Darkness admonishes him, "That was out of line!"

"Yeah he is.  Forget my place, hah!"  Brahe stands up and expels a gobbet of blood from his nose, "I've got your means, Lucifer, but I don't think you're in the right frame of mind to listen or care.  And I don't think you deserve the help."  He looks over to Five Days Darkness, "Your ship your rules, but if there's no penalty for what he just did there's going to be a problem."

Five Days Darkness rubs his forehead with one of his arms, "Lucifer, what the hell."

---

"You're asking me for clarity," Burning Feather laughs, "Fine, fine.  I'll get you clearer than crystal."

Grunt isn't sure what she's mixing up but some of that looks like some kind of blue crystal, four red pills, three hot peppers, vodka, and whiskey, tequila, gin, rum, and triple sec.  It's a roiling red-blue when she places it in front of him.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 20:36, Mon 24 Oct 2016.

"I'm asking for clarity in the drink," Grunt replied as he lifted the creation to his lips and drained it slowly, "Mental acuity is vastly overrated at times."

Five Days Darkness's shout makes Lucifer jolt. His fists stay clenched as he turns to face the giant deity, sneering. The realization and shame of going out of line gets lost in the fog that had been accumulating in his mind since the end of the battle, however.

"Out of line? I'll tell you what's out of line, throwing away forty lives because you couldn't adapt to the enemy's tactics! This battle was a fucking travesty!"

Slowly his mind catches up with his spiteful tongue and he bites it, turning back to glare at Brahe.

"This sniveling rat thought this was an appropriate time to insult me. Easy to play the rational victim when you don't give a shit about the lives lost to begin with. How lucky you are to have grown so accustomed to losing comrades when throwing them away for personal gain, Fiend."

He swipes his jaw with a now-bloodied knuckle, shooting one last glare at Brahe before lowering his fists to either side of his hips.

"Do what you want, I'm done here."

Upon passing the cockpit of Benisuzume, Lyla grabs a scarf of hers along to wrap around her neck. Her exhausted mind was already extending its claws around her exhausted body. She follows swiftly after Five Days Darkness, giving a short nod in response to his plead.

Daniel's rage caughts her by surprise, as she raises her brows upon the sight of a bloodied fist and a nose. She folds her arms on her chest, and tilts her head to the side. Once again the flashbacks of people dying infront of her eyes played in the back of her head. Lyla looks at her brother in arms with concern, pondering and trying to find anything sensible to say. This causes her pull a cloud of smoke from her cigarette, which is left wafting in the tension filled air.

"Daniel, it's not like you to fling the mud around like that. We're all equally to blame," she sighs, her gaze lingering on Daniel. "Bickering here does not help those around, who'd now need the silence to recover from the heat of the battle. Quarrels only aid our enemy."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:52, Mon 24 Oct 2016.

Though intending to head to her quarters, the painful noise inevitably draws Jess to the scene between Brahe and Lucifer, her path causing her to approach the scuffle opposite side Five Days Darkness and Lyla. Vision swimming with strange colors, she never quite registers the blood, and the shouting creates a buzzing in her ears, making it difficult for her to hear much. Her head really is killing her.

Jess walks towards the two, finally notices Lucifer seems angry, spies a liquid mess on the ground, sees it's also all over Brahe and naturally assumes the argument is over a spilled drink.

She walks in between them, just a moment or two after Lyla finishes speaking, gets down on her knees, and begins to clean the liquid up with the rag she'd used on her own brow before. Looking up at Lucifer, Jess sees his hand and face are dirty as well. She stands, tears the still relatively clean rag down the middle, and offers one half to each of them.

"Heroes shouldn't appear like this in front of those who put their faith in them." Jess gently chides the two, gesturing at the gathering crowd. She tries to sound upbeat, but her voice betrays her, going the opposite direction towards a tired, pleading tone.

Noticing Lyla, she starts to wave, but catches sight of Five Days Darkness and freezes. It's all Jess can do to remain standing as she thinks of how unkempt she herself must look at the moment. Looking like this in front of a superior was just unacceptable.

Of course, passing out would probably be worse.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:09, Tue 25 Oct 2016.

A weird noise comes from Iapetus, a modulated scoff.
"I certainly hope that this drink will bring the mental clarity, Grunt. We are going to have a debriefing and we need you there, preferably with at least some mental acuity."

Five Days Darkness shimmers, the briefest moment of gold and black.  He shakes his head, his mane of hair giving him the appearance of a particularly tired lion, and everyone there is suddenly struck with the realization that Five Days Darkness is tired.  "Yes, we're done here.  I'd like all of you to clear the hangar.  Jess, get some rest, you've taken enough flak for the day without jumping into this one.  Brahe, we'll talk about your grievances later. Lucifer, go get some R&R, hit the gym, get something to drink-"

"Fine by me," Brahe stands up and grabs his sniper rifle and walks off, whistling a little sad little tune.  He leaves Jess holding 'his' pathetically dirty, bloody rag.

"Sir?"  They hear a bubbling, chipper voice on the edge of crestfallen-ness interject right after Brahe, "I was wondering if I could have a moment of Lucifer's time?"  Kumiho leans forward towards Lucifer's shoulder, "If that's alright with you, Lucifer?"

Five Days Darkness watches.  It's obvious he can't leave until he's sure that everything is 'handled', as if anything like this could be handled.   He places a hand on Lyla's shoulder, his grip firm.  She's sure it's for his reassurance and not hers.

---

"Ah, leave the man in peace."  Burning Feather tells the lot of them, "It's not like he's the first to come here today-"

"He is the man with the laptop, and the only one who can safely operate it at the moment," She's interrupted by Battles.  "Sorry, Grunt, but my sister wants to talk to you because she's very anxious about taking a look at what's on there.  I can promise you plenty of other drinks on me later."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:18, Tue 25 Oct 2016.

"The laptop has a full log, and you spent more time talking to him than I did," Grunt pointed out as he continued with his drink, "For all practical purposes turning it in is my debriefing and they're not going to let a Terrestrial near Command until all the others have made their way."

Then Battles shows up.

"Fine."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:03, Wed 26 Oct 2016.

Lucifer looks to Lyla, his eyes belaying a sense of tiredness tucked away under his rage. "Not equally, Lyla. I will freely admit fault when I fuck up, but that was not the case here. You did well tonight so it's chivalrous to try and split the blame equally - but wrong."

As Jess stumbles into the scene and starts making an utter fool of herself, Lucifer is dumbstruck. The surprise works to her advantage, however - by the time his incredulity turns back to rage and he opens his mouth to tear the confused girl apart, Five Days Darkness interrupts.

All that escapes him is a sputter of unformed vitriol as he bites his tongue at the last second. He pauses for a moment, glaring daggers at his Zenith sister while Five Days Darkness defuses the situation. He reaches down to yank the rag off her hands and throw it away, then grasps her by the armpit and effortlessly hoists her to her feet - likely not quite as gently as could be hoped, but eh, it was the best he could do at the moment.

His voice is drawn tauter than piano strings as he looks around for anyone to take her away from his hands before she gets a chance to make him change his mind. "No, Jess. No they shouldn't."

Kumiho manages to be the first who succeeds at approaching Lucifer without drawing his ire. He glances briefly to the freshly Exalted Lunar, then turns back to scanning the hangar. "I need to get this headcase to a doctor. If you follow I won't stop you."

He starts walking away from the hangar with long, agitated strides, all but carrying Jess effortlessly in one arm until he finds a doctor to offload her to.

Jess stumbling into the scene, causes Lyla to tense up, her tiredness toning away for a moment. There is a small disapproving click of her tongue and a frown, signaling the unasked question of "why aren't you resting?" in regard of Jess' condition.

As a response to Daniel, she just nods to him, pulling a long breath from her cigarette. They could pick the battle apart later in better conditions. When a hand is layed on her shoulder, she instinctively lays her own on top of it, ready to give further support incase of need.

"Rest well, Daniel, Jess, Kumiho."

She waits a moment for the three to part, all the while smoking her cigarette from it's near start to finish. After that she lowers her voice and turns to Five Days Darkness:"The hangar isn't clear before you leave to rest as well. I'm not leaving before I see that happening."

Concussion or no, Jess is more surprised than bothered at being manhandled. While not grasping precisely why Lucifer is angry with her, she nonetheless puts up no resistance. She could trust Morningstar. He was good people.

She does her best to collect her bearings as she lets herself be led away.
"I'm sorry." Jess manages somewhat soberly to her fellow Zenith. "I should have been in bed already... something made up sounding like shieldshock, but I wanted to see how Tomato and the other survivors were doing. Then... I think I got lost."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 07:05, Wed 26 Oct 2016.

Splitting into three subthreads.