1168/There Will Be Death pt1

There Will Be Death pt1
Date of Scene:	18 December 2014
Location:	Void - Debris Field
Synopsis:	Kojirou and two of Zod's crew members investigate one of the possible Kryptons.
Cast of Characters:	524, 662

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General Zod (524) has posed:
    The drop ship is black and smooth, beetle-like, and rumbles as it shoots out from the hangar bay of the Black Zero, carrying two of Zod's crew and a guest. The crew are in what can only be described as armored space suits, manning the ship. The guest has been offered an armored space suit if he needs it as well, though it is Kojirou's perogative whether or not he will wear it.
    "We will return in four hours. Black Zero out." comes over the comms as the sky-scraper sized vessel prepares to teleport to a different location.
    The planet below is barren and dead, with a landscape that can only be described as 'blasted'. There is no atmosphere left and the sun is a dim red thing that barely gives off light. A bit further out from the planet are the large and shattered remains of two moons trailing around the dead world as solemn reminders of the star's dying fury.
    "No signs of life. No signs of civilization so far. Looks like it was hit with a nova."
    "Not likely to be anything, but the boss wants us to look. Could check the mountains to see if they built bunkers or something. Any observations, Citizen Sasaki?"

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     It's probably easier for Kojirou to take the space suit, so he has. It's an uncomfortable fit for the ancient Samurai; it's restrictive and restraining, and he's forced to wear Monohoshi Zao's sheathe outside it. Combine that with the unfamiliar feeling of holding his sword without touching it, and Avenger can't help but find himself somewhat...well, unsettled.

     It says a lot about the Heroic Spirit that he's more unsettled by the lack of direct contact with his katana than he is hovering alone in the void of space. Space is just a thing, after all. It's not like it can kill him.

     That said, once he's settled in, the ancient samurai takes in the view with a solemn and tranquil approach. He's very old, after all, though one wouldn't know that just from his youthful appearance. He's had a lot to think about over his life. Flying in space in front of the ruins of a dead planet is not one of those things.

     "I defer to your expertise," the swordsman offers finally, "I'm afraid this is something of a first for me."

     Floating over a dead world is, anyway. Kojirou can't help but notice the parallels between this and his own world, though, admittedly, human life continues to flourish on in the Land of Steel, even with Gaia's destruction. He looks over it again, thoughtfully.

     "Life is tenacious, especially intelligent life. I would be unsurprised if there were survivors inside some of the larger chunks, I suppose, or maybe on one of the moons."

     Life! On a moon! The very idea. But, well...this wasn't his world, after all.

General Zod (524) has posed:
    The crew sets a course for the remains of the closest moon, which is marked on the giant HUD screen of the drop ship as 'Wethegor?'. The small craft moves smoothly, avoiding the bits and pieces of larger debris with ease, while the shields handle the fine particles, flaring blue where the things strike.
    "Well, at least we won't have to worry about the atmosphere." says the pilot in Kryptonian. Fortunately the Multiverse translates for Kojirou.
    "Not seeing any signs of orbitals. Just rocks so far."
    The moon that might be Wethegor looms large as the ship speeds toward it. The moon's surface has a half-melted look, with continent-sized cracks and canyons unnaturally carved out of its surface. The largest feature though, is the piece of the moon that is missing. A full quarter of it seems to have been exploded into space, with those aforementioned continent-sized cracks and canyons radiating outward from it. The false composite of the HUD illuminates the dark portions of that hole by reading various spectra, with a faint dull red emanating from the interior. Some little lines appear and magnify particular sections of the hole, showing a wirefram of what looks like the remains of a structure.
    "Ah ha. Got something. Headed in." And the ship speeds onward through the debris field towards the structure hanging precariously from the interior of the scarred moon.

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou just sort of nods at the pilot. He watches the ship move carefully, keeping an eye on the surroundings with a relaxed attitude. That's probably the weirdest thing about the strange Japanese man - his attitude is perpetually, almost bizarrely, relaxed. It isn't the relaxed attitude of a self-assured or arrogant man, and it isn't the relaxed attitude of a careless man who doesn't know any better. It's just...there. It's possibly even a bit unnerving - most people in a space vessel are probably highly worried about the wall giving in.

     "May I ask what happened?" Kojirou's accent is loosely formal as he watches the instruments, a lack of comprehension on his face. The wireframes are intriguing. He's seen similar devices, but he never bothered to learn to use them.

General Zod (524) has posed:
    "If it's anything like what happened back home, some experiment with exotic energy went wrong and blew up most of the moon. Don't ask Jax-Ur about it, he gets pissed when people bring up what his ancestor did." say the gunner. "Now if you're talking about the planet, I have no idea. Quin-Pol," he gestures to the pilot, "... thinks the sun went nova." He points to some of the half-melted features on the remains of the moon. "That'd make sense based on those features."
    The interior of the moon seems to have suffered from the apparent nova, but to a much lesser extent than the planet or the moon surface. The sensors show the wireframe and false-color pictures of the structure, which seems to be some kind of major installation. The design is extremely crystaline, like somebody grew it out of the rock face instead of building it. There's an emblem on what looks like the landing pad, a triangle of circles connected by lines in a V shape, inside the very stereotypical Kryptonian shield heraldric device.
    "This is definitely not like our Krypton." Quin-Pol the pilot says.

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     "What would the sun going nova mean?" Kojirou asks politely. He's a samurai from the Sengoku era, and while he's lived longer than most people can imagine, he never really had time to sit down and read a book on astrophysics, apparently. "Would it mean that the sun lashed out in anger, or something to that effect?"

     Sasaki looks over at the landing pad. The crystalline, intricate nature is intriguing, to say the least. "Ah...that's very interesting," he voices, levelling a finger at the crystal matrix, "I've seen something like that before. Although I wouldn't imagine it's for the same reasons."

     "Are we landing there, then?"

General Zod (524) has posed:
    "Yeah... boss wants us to be thorough. Can't blame him, since we're probably the only Kryptonians left out of a whole planet..." The pilot says as he takes the drop ship in.
    The gunner uhs... "I'm not an astrophysicist. I kind of failed that part of the creche education program. Something about when a star gets unstable and ends up only /sort/ of blowing up." He turns in his seat to face Kojirou. "Normally Rao, I mean our sun, is red. Not the red we saw, but bright enough to actually get a nice sunrise over the city state's towers. Not this guy- the computer says that's almost a brown dwarf. Nearly dead. Which means something happened."
    Quin grins at the controls. "Maybe some crazy member of House Ur decided to experiment on Rao, eh Raal?"
    The gunner, apparently named Raal, chuckles.

    The crystalline landing pad has a strange internal glow, casting everything in the same light as a full moon back on Earth does. There's an incessant clicking sound that grows louder as the ship manuevers for landing.
    "Ah nuts. Radiation. We can't stay too long, gents." says Raal. The drop ship hovers in place, the rumble quieting to a low hum as the crew members lower the rear boarding ramp, a forcefield snapping into existance to keep the air inside. The two crew members activate the rebreather elements of their helmet and help Kojirou make sure his own breather (active since he set foot on the Black Zero because of the fatally low levels of oxygen there) is working correctly.
    "The boss wouldn't like it much if a guest suffocated." Quin explains.

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou considers this for a moment. "I wasn't aware stars could explode," he says honestly as he watches the gunner turn. He takes in the man's features carefully, his own calm and casual.

     "I wasn't aware suns could be red, either." Still, he seems amicable enough to the whole idea. It sounds less like a rejection and more like the ancient swordsman is just coming to terms with the idea.

% Kojirou patiently allows them to set his rebreather. He doesn't need it, but then, they probably don't care about an expanded explanation of a Heroic Spirit, and he doesn't particularly care to offer one if it would delay getting to the surface of this bizarre planet. However, the mention of radiation - something he *is* acquainted with - gives him pause.

     He's never really tested the full limits of his powers as Avenger. This was as good a time as any.

     There's no outward change to Kojirou, but if the pilot or gunner are paying careful attention to the Heroic Spirit's eyes, they might notice the tiny little black flecks shifting and rearranging. Undereath the space suit, the black-and-red scars he bears do the same as he instinctively draws on Battle Continuation rather than Presence Concealment.

     Would that allow him to survive radiation? Well, it wasn't as if he could *die*. He knew that much. But it might also protect him from the worse effects, and that might allow him to help his new allies a bit more.

     And maybe he'd get to fight something...*interesting*.

General Zod (524) has posed:
    Even through the space suit's insulation, there is a sense of unimaginable cold emanating from the crystaline make-up of the structure. Glaciers and icebergs exude more warmth than this stuff. Above is a slash of the starlit void across the utter blackness of the chasm walls, an eerie sight to be sure. The pale light of the crystal platform illuminates from the bottom up, casting everything in a sinister aspect.
Quin and Raal grab what look like rifles off the drop ship's interior racks.
    "If you wouldn't mind leading the way, Citizen Sasaki. We were told you're an Elite and probably better equipped to deal with FUBAR situations than us." Quin says.
    Raal says, glancing around. "Yeah, we're not under a yellow star and we're breathing good ol' Kryptonian air. We're kind of vulnerable if we get into a real mess." He points towards something. "I think that's the door."
    The door has the same motif as the landing pad; a triangle of circles, connected by lines in a V.

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou steps out of the vessel and into the room experimentally. It's frigid, but frigidity has never killed a Servant before, and Kojirou isn't really the type to get antsy over things like that anyway. He walks forward, looking between the starlit void and the crystal.

     A truly alien world. He pauses for a moment, then looks back at the other two, a smile gracing his face. "Of course. It would be my honor."

     Sasaki turns back to look at the platform. Acquiring rifles implied that he might need Monohoshi Zao after all. He forgoes the guns with a polite wave if offered and moves towards the door. "Hm."

     "Can you open it? Or would you prefer if I did the job?"

General Zod (524) has posed:
    Quin ahhs... and scratches his head. "Don't see an opening mechanism, so... maybe?"

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou nods politely.

     He then presses his hand against the door. The inhuman strength of a Heroic Spirit is applied lightly at first, but it grows rapidly. By the time Avenger's magical musculature is done straining against the door, it's being pushed with the strength of thirty men.

General Zod (524) has posed:
    There is a screeching sound as the crystals are forced to move without assistance, and the dust of countless millennia is disturbed inside. The two crew members cover Kojirou with their rifles, making some kind of attempt to at least protect their Elite guest (even though they're not really qualified).
    Inside it looks like a well organized growth of crystals, approximately the size of a great cathedral on Earth. Frosty-looking steps circle around the greatest concentration of crystals, with some sort of pedastal or dias in the middle. There seems to be a triad of crystals at the center. Above, a mirror image of the crystals hangs from the vaulted ceiling. The entire place hums with a strange high and clear tone that seems /just/ barely perceptible.
    Raal translates some strange flowing script that's etched into the floor. "Hall of Records, Back-up Facility Thirteen. Or something like that, it's got some weird grammar compared to our Kryptonian. Might be better translated as 'Brainiac Neural Node Thirteen."

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Avenger observes the growth of crystals once again. He reaches out to touch one, thoughtfully. It's massive and fascinating, and he appreciates that. "These crystals must be a common thing for you," he observes, "Or at least this version of your people." They certainly don't seem out-of-place, which is different from the only comparable event he's ever seen.

     Kojirou moves over to join the other two. He looks at the script for a moment. All language is the same to him when it comes to writing - he can't read any of it, after all. "If you say so. This is a library, then. How would you access those records? It might tell you what happened."

General Zod (524) has posed:
    As Kojirou touches the crystal, it glows bright and hums clearly.
    Quin points to the top of the path, where the platform in the middle of the three largest crystals is. "Probably that."
    Raal squints at all the crystals. "Not too different from home. Ours look more like rocks than crystals though."
    Quin jogs his way up to the top, while Raal is hunting about for any more examples of writing on the large 'lobby' area.

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou wouldn't know one form of writing from any other. So he just walks up the path to look at the crystals. He's at a careful pace behind Quin, unless Quin really wants him to go first in case of something horrible happening, in which case he goes first out of politeness.

     "How do they work?"

General Zod (524) has posed:
    Quin ums... "No clue. We usually use controls you can see and voice-activated computer assistants. Well, that one did something when you touched it, sooo..." He taps a few, gets nowhere. He scratches the top of his helmet out of habit. "You seem to have better luck than me, Citizen Sasaki. Why don't you try?" He says sheepishly.

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou looks at the controls for a moment. Well, it's true - his Luck parameter is very high-ranked. He considers this for a long moment, just sort of standing there, stock still. Quin might even think he died standing up, for how long Sasaki takes.

     Finally, swiftly and decisively, he presses a button.

General Zod (524) has posed:
    A recording is projected in front of Kojirou and Quin, a point of view shot of a clean-shaven man with dark brown hair with an s-shaped curl sticking up from under a golden headband, in white robes with an S inside the Kryptonian shield device emblazoned across the chest, clad in a black undersuit very similar to the ones that Kojirou saw the unsuited Black Zero crew wearing mere hours earlier. The man seems agitated. The footage quality seems rough and corrupted, as the visuals flicker and distort, as does the audio...
    The man asks a question of whomever is operating the camera. "Why did you hide the facts? People could have been saved, Brainiac!"
The voice that replies is clearly a synthetic voice, inhumanly calm and detached. "If the council knew that Rao is going to go nova, Jor-El, then they would have forced me to divert resources to saving the people. This would not have given me sufficient time and computational power to save myself and the entire sum of Krypton's knowledge."
    The look on the man's face is one of shock, horror, and disgust. "... How long?"
The voice replies. "This world has seen its last sunrise."

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou watches the display thoughtfully. The inhumanly calm machine reminds him, in an ironic way, of himself. A thousand years ago, after all...well, that wasn't really relevant, was it? But it brings him a sense of nostalgia.

     "I suppose that 'to live' is a wish stronger than any other," Kojirou observes thoughtfully as he watches the display. He glances over at Quin, gauging the other's reaction. Machines weren't really his specialty, but he was quite familiar with people.

General Zod (524) has posed:
    Quin seems stricken with shock. "I.. that somebody would let Krypton die like that. I mean, I was exiled to the Phantom Zone because I /killed/ people, but I'm not heartless..."
    The display changes again, showing the familiar motif of the three circles arranged in a V. That same cold and detached voice speaks, though damaged. "Greetings, citizen. Welcome to the Council Archives on Wethegor. You may address me as the Librarian or by my more common apellation, Brainiac. How may I assist your inquiry?" There are parts where it stutters and gets stuck on a word, the image frazzles and blinks out in whole and in part.
    Quin screams as the voice starts speaking and falls backwards.

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou looks at Quin for a really long moment, like he's debating what he ought to say. The mechanical voice, however, pre-empts him utterly.

     "You are the one who allowed this world to die, then?" Kojirou inquires calmly. There's not a trace of judgement, anger, or...well, anything, in his gentle voice.

     "I would like to know how it died, if you would be so kind. Could you show me on the screen?"

General Zod (524) has posed:
    Quin is hustling his way back down the stairs in the meantime, severely spooked.

    The Librarian says "Krypton was destroyed when its primary star Rao accumulated elemental hydrogen and helium on its surface as the result of stellar engineering experiments. The excess material underwent a fusion reaction and caused Rao to eject super-heated plasma in all directions. This subsequently destroyed all surface life on Krypton, Wethegor, and Merror. The Council Archives record no events after this. But a logical extrapolation of a nova-like event would include the destruction of the outer planets due to their gaseous compositions and the irradiation of all rocky bodies orbiting Rao by high energy photons."

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou watches the man go out of the corner of his eye. Then he turns his full attention back to Brainiac.

     He doesn't understand all of it, but he understands enough to get the gist. It takes him a moment to consider his next question - the explanation was extraordinarily comprehensive. The ancient swordsman stands there thoughtfully.

     Something seems to come to him a moment later. Kojirou tilts his head backwards and chuckles. "Of course. Mr. Brainiac, you said your name was? What about subterranean life? You mentioned all surface life being exterminated, but what about underground life?"

General Zod (524) has posed:
    The Librarian speaks. "Please remember that this is extrapolation based on astrophysics theories and available data; to date, no direct observation of the aftermath of a nova-like event has been made. Although subterranean structures and life forms would not experience the full brunt of the nova-like event, the planetary crust would have been sufficiently heated to cause the deaths of the survivors. It may have been possible that a portion of Kryptonian civilization could survive in the geothermal power stations within Krypton's mantle. The stations are deep enough to protect against the high energy photons and built to withstand the heat of the planet's mantle. However, without access to hydroponic gardens or bio-engineering facilities, they would eventually starve. It may also be that the surface access tunnels could have been destroyed by the plasma wave, making any return to the surface impossible."

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Well, that's nifty. Kojirou seems thoughtful for a long moment as he digests the information, Again, the parts of it he didn't understand, he just glossed over. But that was enough of a confirmation for him. He considers Brainiac again, then tilts his head back, as though he's listening to something.

     "...mm. How many books are in your library?" Kojirou inquires after a moment, "Do you have a means to transport them in a handheld form? I understand some computers are capable of that kind of thing."

General Zod (524) has posed:
The Librarian speaks. "While I would be obliged to fulfill your request, the full Council Archives will not fit on a single data crystal. Furthermore, it seems that most of the archives are missing. The relay stations in orbit around Krypton are not present, nor are the relays to Merror. In short, I am only able to access the information present at this node." There's a long pause. Long enough that Kojirou may try to speak before the Librarian continues.
    "The archives present at this node will fit on a single data crystal. However, much of the data has become corrupt over the past seventy-eight years. Do you wish to proceed, citizen?"

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     "Yes," Kojirou replies simply. He looks down at the Kryptonians below. Well, perhaps this would help them. And if not, perhaps it would help someone. If nothing else, Kojirou knew enough to know that information was a resource.

     "Make two, if you are capable of such," he says finally, "I would like to review the...archive on my own at a later date."

General Zod (524) has posed:
    There is a very looong wait. Finally, the platform 'grows' a small raised table, about waist high. A single crystal is extruded from it, awaiting extraction.

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou takes the crystal and tosses it up in the air thoughtfully. He's not really afraid of dropping it; Servants don't *drop* things. Once he has a sense of its weight and texture - as best he can despite the space suit, which is pretty good - he heads back down the stairs to find the Kryptonians.