. o 0 Chapter Fourteen 0 o .
War. The battle to end all battles, the fight that pitches fighters against one another for the cause they believe in.
To serve, to protect, and to provide a better world for those who wish to live in an Utopian heaven of everlasting wealth and prosperity.
Lieutenant Garuru looked at the monstrosity of a spaceship for a very long time, admiring its build and design, unable to tear his eyes away from its commendable structure. Whoever came up with this prototype was a genius! The ship's codename was the 'the Keron Army's Black Sparrow' and the Admiral preferred to refer to it as just Sparrow, saying something about the Pekoponian birds helping inspire her with the design.
Although when and why she had gone to Pekopon was a different subject, Garuru worried if she had been looking at the Keroro platoon's progress without their knowledge. As Admiral she would be able to get away with a lot of things without being detected. The purple Keronian wondered if that was the case, Giroro's efforts would be put into perspective if she was going to judge them individually or as a group; his little brother had been hardworking through the past few years.
Although the lieutenant felt a little bad for having to ask Tororo to hack into the Keroro Platoon's databank every few months just to check on their progress, he was also forced into doing so. Sergeant Keroro was so tardy he never submits his reports on time, which left others no choice but to come over to collect the data. How someone as absentminded as Keroro became Sergeant was beyond him, he guessed as admirable as his leadership skills were he was a bit hard to take in as a person.
Nevertheless, his friendship with Giroro had reared his brother into a reliable warrior, and for that Garuru was grateful.
Regardless, looking back at the gigantic spaceship he noted the wingspan was perfect and maneuverable in narrow spaces, because it allowed the ship a perfect speed while sustaining the bulk in the center, and the wings could be adjusted to be tucked to about thirty to forty percent of their maximum length allowing passage in small spaces as well. The engines were placed alongside the circular frame of the backside allowing possible directional adjustments if speed is ever required.
Earlier when he was reading the basic construction manual of the spacecraft, the captain was astounded to realize this huge ship was capable of warp-jumping, because something with this frame-type were not stable in star-stairways, not with the bay so narrowed down in the back considering the lower frame of the backup wings.
Wasn't that putting the cargo and landing bay into risk of being torn off mid-leap if the structure wasn't sturdy enough? Also, being able to leap meant the warp engine would need to be pretty huge, yet he did not remember seeing it on the ship; was it hidden somewhere? In the Quarry, perhaps?
Giroro might want to have a look at this baby from the outside, Garuru could use his brother's input on the design seeing Giroro was more keen on battle birds, being a mobile arsenal and all. It would be a shame to not let his brother see what a beautiful ship they'll be working with, too.
He had tried to share his thoughts regarding the ship and its design to Chief Medic Pururu, but the nurse was not enthusiastic on most of the information he tried to share with her, Pururu had no interest in aircrafts and seemed awkward with his excitement. Just because they liked each other didn't meant they shared a lot of things in common, unfortunately. Garuru was a little disappointed an elite guard arrived a while later and requested her assistance, her knowledge was needed reorganizing the office that had been destroyed. The purple one took the hint and let her be.
Alone and with most launch preparations complete, Garuru figured it was about time he reunited with the others and had their bracelets calibrated, aware that the six of them needed to be together for the final signal-sync to be achieved.
Considering he did not know much about the terrain of Wasuru TE he didn't want to risk the team getting scattered, and since their short frequency signals may or may not be reliable in an abandoned planet, depending too much on default connectivity would not be wise under the possibility there would be some magnetic interference from the earth itself, they needed proper gear in case there was any type of intervention from their surroundings.
Not to mention the lack of habitants there bothered him; no matter how dead a planet might be there is sure to be some sort of life form lurking about. The investigation team sent there may not have come across them yet, hence why they reported it was uninhibited.
He gave the ship one last look to try and memorize all the details, that's when he noticed some parts at the belly of the wing were rotating at a rather slow motion.
Was someone in the pilot seat testing out maneuverability? The lieutenant wasn't sure. He was, however, aware the task of piloting was assigned to himself and Giroro, so perhaps his brother found something to play with? With a growing grin, the white fangs of the captain peeked from under his lips. He's bet a toy train set his brother flipped out when he saw the Queen Bee module's cockpit; Giroro would always freak out whenever he'd see one of the latest pilot stations.
Garuru couldn't wait to see the look on Giroro's face when he discovers what the actual module's design shell looked like.
The purple invader made his way to the front of the spaceship and up the ramp, paying close attention to the workers getting the last bits of wiring and ironing down, preparing the ship for its first launch. Once inside he gave the narrow interior a onceover before heading into the dormitory area. On the way was a small sliding door that led into the restroom and in there were five stalls, three stalls were the toilets and the other two in the back were the shower rooms.
Inspecting the bathrooms for anything suspicious, Garuru was pleased to find nothing there so he headed towards the dormitory to inspect it as well, just to be safe.
The room was fair sized, perhaps the same size as a one-person bedroom in Pekoponian standards. There were three large beds with small corner tables keeping them apart, if only a little, and they occupied one side of the room from one wall to the other. There were also three study-desks fixed to the opposite side of the room, and looked like the type that could be folded into the wall as well like cabinets in case they needed more moving space seeing there was no lounging space between the bed posts and the desks.
The captain's lips twitched; it looked like the men will be sharing the beds while Rinono and Tororo would have beds of their own, considering the symbols placed at the foot of each bed, he and Giroro will be in one bed, with Shupepe and Kururu in the other. Tororo had the last bed for himself, so Garuru assumed since Rinono was the only female onboard the ship, she may be bunking in with the Admiral in her private quarters; somehow he figured it would make a lot more sense than letting her share the same room with the men.
After all, if they were a bunch of strangers who knew nothing about one another then there was no need to provide the settings for any shenanigans of that sort. Although the captain already had his eyes on Chief Medic Pururu, he had to admit Recruit Rinono was quite the catch, with luck she might gain his brother's interest. Or so he hoped.
Choosing to fiddle with the foldable desks later the lieutenant went about searching every fold and corner in the dormitory, just to be safe no suspicious objects were planted when no one was looking. Once he was satisfied everything was clean, Garuru plopped on the bed to see how comfortable they were. Sure they were nowhere as nice as the futons back home, he guessed they were nice enough to sleep in at the very least.
The downside of being a light sleeper was he had gotten used to switching beds often, and since he was the type who could not get too comfortable in a new bed, he had grown to accept it. Unlike Giroro who could sleep through a cataclysm if he was really tired.
With everything in place the purple soldier thought it was time to go check on the others, with luck they are getting along and nothing weird had happened yet. His little brother had the oddest luck with attracting the strangest events to himself for some unexplainable reason.
Garuru made his way out of the dormitory, past the restrooms and through the narrow corridor, soon reaching the stairway that led up to the next floor. The lieutenant however stopped before going up, noticing the strange lines that split the stairway into six sections. Apparently when the ship transforms this section will be inaccessible, meaning anyone who remained on the lower floor may or may not have access from or to the upper or lower floors.
Garuru's eyes widened and he focused on the lines decorating the inner walls of the ship, a small frown started to knit his brows together when he followed it. It was almost a squared-zigzag of sorts, it followed a pattern. Trailing it from the stairway all the way back to the dorm Garuru noticed it stopped by the doorway, so going back into the room he saw that there were no trails in the dorm itself, meaning the dormitory was one large section, so when the ship transforms the room will not change… or would it?
His frown deepened and he walked over the desks again, wondering if their foldable state had anything to do with the ship's transformation options.
Torn out of his thoughts the noise of static from the intercom came alive.
The first thing he heard was Tororo's angry laughter laced with irritation, "There, now it's online, happy? Now Fuck off and let me work!"
"Watch your mouth, brat!" Giroro's irate tone followed.
"Aren't you too young to be using such language?" Rinono's agitated voice began afterwards, "Honestly, Kururu had been rubbing on you boys way too long," she muttered.
"He's a dick, you get used to it," Shupepe's voice spoke a little further away, "but at any case, instead of messing around why don't we get things going like we're supposed to? I think I saw a fa…" the voice trailed away, stepping away from the speaker and making it hard for the lieutenant to catch what the Chief Medic was saying.
"Oh shut up, you're not the boss of me!" Tororo snapped and the sound of a hand slamming the keyboard could be heard.
"Boys! Stop it! Settle down!" Rinono demanded aloud and there was a thwack of something soft hitting a solid surface, followed by a yelp, "Oh my goodness, Corporal! I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" she continued, her voice a bit further away from the speaker.
Garuru caught himself laughing and at hearing his brother's ranting voice and Tororo's laughter, he could take a wild guess something went awkward. With a sigh he decided to go up there and make sure they weren't killing each other; Tororo had the habit of driving everyone up the wall when he decides to be a pest. Giroro had a short fuse and Tororo had a bad habit of pushing the envelope, he needed to be there before they tear down the ship.
It didn't take long for the captain to reach the stairway and find his way into the bridge, this time choosing to disregard the temptation of exploring the rest of the aircraft. The journey from the Grand Star to their destination will require at least three days minimum, so he had more than enough time to go spelunking, with Giroro, assuming his brother was in the mood. His baby brother had a habit of being too married to his work much like Garuru himself, but at least the purple one knew when to let loose and relax.
Speaking of which, Garuru was a little reluctant, but he had wanted to ask Giroro if he felt alright with his Pekoponian warrior friend not being present. Code 723 was Hinata Natsumi's known alias to the Keron Army, so since the lieutenant knew his brother had a soft spot for strong women he was a little worried his brother might have attachment issues. So far Giroro seemed to be handling everything just fine so perhaps the older brother was just thinking too much on the matter? He sure hoped so.
He entered the bridge with a placid expression, and was a little surprised to see Tororo and Giroro on the floor facing one another and trailing her fingers over a blueprint, while Shupepe and Rinono were looking over from the side. The Medic looked up and saw him but made no attempt to alert the others to his arrival, so the purple one approached and stood just a bit out of his brother's vision to look over the shoulder and see what they were discussing.
Giroro, too absorbed with the task at hand had no hint whatsoever that someone was even standing behind him, so he glanced at Tororo who sat across him at the other side of the blueprint, "So how about cross-wiring the propeller with the section here, it'll allow better balance with the heat regulator instead of focusing all of it on the main engine board," he explained, moving his finger from the center of the map displaying the ship from the inside, and towards the lower side where a set of fourteen engines could be seen.
Tororo, who noticed Garuru's arrival smothered a grin and said nothing, aware the Corporal hadn't noticed his captain's arrival, "Pupu, cross-wiring wont be an issue, it is getting the interior to fold correctly without causing any sort of damage to the pipes that might be tricky. I need to check the thing in person before we do anything," the young hacker chuckled and straightened up, "and besides, the Admiral needs to give us approval first, no?"
"Of course, I'm just trying to see how well we can customize this before launch; that section of the engine doesn't bode well with being so close to the bay, it'll make deploying anything from and to the ship difficult since they'll be in the engine's venting range." She argued and straightened up to cross his arms over his chest, contemplating the edits they could afford before it was time to leave. The fewer problems they got on this prototype the better!
"The engine's temperature would be too high and might cause the glass on approaching ships to shatter if they get too close. The bottom engines need to be redirected or shifted, they're lowered too much." He paused for a second to take a breather before he continued, "Although small ships wont have any issues with it, the larger ones might; we need to put into consideration that we may or may not end up picking larger ships on the way so it's best to be prepared for anything,"
"Always the careful one," Garuru spoke, bent down just enough to murmur into his brother's ear.
Rinono bit back a giggle when Giroro screeched and jumped out of his skin, where Shupepe had no qualms laughing at the way the Corporal screamed. Tororo chortled and fell backwards at the sound the Corporal made, unable to hold his own giggles.
"Garuru!" Giroro shouted, face flushed and embarrassed, a hand on his chest to calm his throbbing heart, "How many times do I have to tell you Not to Sneak Up on me!" he scowled, irate and humiliated; "How long were you even standing there? You almost gave me a heart attack!" he admonished.
Garuru bit back a laugh and extended a hand, offering his surprised sibling help to get back up. "You get so absorbed into what you're doing you lose touch with your surroundings, Giroro; I like to think I'm giving you a reminder to step out of that habit." He teased.
Giroro huffed and accepted the hand, when he got to his two feet again he delivered a harmless punch to his older brother's shoulder, "You could have gone about it without freaking the daylights out of me," he muttered, still flustered.
"And what's the fun in that?" Garuru grinned, enjoying this way too much. Giroro's hatred for surprises never failed to entertain him.
Giroro's face flushed even deeper and looked like he was about to sock his sibling a good one, but then Rinono slipped an inward giggle when she struggled to keep herself together, earning the Corporal's attention. The two shared an awkward glance before they cleared their throats and composed themselves. Giroro drew in a deep breath and rubbed his forehead, there was no need to get so high-strung on these shenanigans, he needed to keep calm.
"What were you discussing? It sounded important." The lieutenant said again, redirecting the conversation to where it was before he made his presence known.
At that Tororo chose to speak after having controlled his laughter, "Pupu, the Corporal thinks the engine alignment on the ship need adjustments cause the bottom quarter is too close to the docking bay." He explained at first and then turned his attention to the blueprints to rotate it around, wanting the captain to see what they were talking about, "Although the design looked pretty flawless at first glance, looking at it from this side of the structure the Corporal does have a point,"
"large vessels wouldn't be able to get into the docking bay if they slow down, because the two engines here and here are facing downwards," he pointed at two of the large main engines drawn on the map, "meaning the heat and pressure would be facing the front of the arriving ship, and the heat will cause a rise in pressure that, depending on the ship, may or may not cause the front windows to shatter."
He paused for a second to sit upright again and looked at his leader, "Of course the heat could be limited and the engines adjusted to not face down so low, but it's not something I can change, they're built into the structure's skeleton-frame and need to be fixed by expert mechanics. This is not my league so I can't help," he mumbled.
"I see, I'll talk to the Admiral and have the adjustments made with her approval; since this is a prototype ship she may or may not be aware why such a crucial detail had been overlooked." He murmured, frowning a little at the thought that something so obvious couldn't have been made by mistake, could it? After a thought Garuru looked up and around, "I see Sergeant Major Kururu and the Admiral are not present?" he inquired, a little surprised they were absent.
"They went into the office earlier," Giroro muttered and then looked at the doorway with a hint of concern in his eyes, "they'd been in there for a long time, though."
"I don't hear anything, either," Shupepe muttered and leaned back against the back of the navigator's seat. "Usually furniture and electricity would be flying out the windows by now. They either knocked each other out, or, heaven forbid, they're actually getting along for once…"
Giroro blinked, "You make it sound like a bad thing," he commented, almost a question.
Rinono mumbled something under her breath and then crossed her arms, hugging herself, "Koii and Kururu are a disaster waiting to happen, pray to the heavens they don't agree on something without a catastrophe following soon after." She shuddered.
The group then turned to the doorway, each sporting a different volume of curiosity or concern.
Giroro would admit he was a little worried about Kururu, the Sergeant Major hadn't been acting himself as of late. What if he got on bad terms with the Admiral and needed some backup? Even if Kururu tended to be an ass he was still a comrade and Giroro felt that all things considered, Kururu was a decent guy once people took the time to know him. The yellow prick just had a knack of pushing the right buttons to set them off, is all…
And with a mental fluster the Corporal looked down at the map; there was no need to fret over the yellow creeper, Kururu was a big boy he can handle himself.
. .
The silence that enveloped the small office was only scratching the surface of the true danger that lurked within.
Though the office itself was empty of the two Keronians who were supposed to be there, the eerie lack of noise was enough to tell anyone something dark was lurking beyond and within the room, spreading something dangerous through the air, like venom.
On the far side of the room was a massive desk and through it seemed as normal as any other office furniture, an expert eye could tell there was something suspicious about it. The desk and chair that adorned the back of the office was a disguise, a cover for the rotating door that led into the Quarry room hidden beyond. There was a narrow corridor leading from the office to the hidden chamber, many small and long pipes adorned the four corners of the pathway, red lights also dotted the four pipe-aligned corners like seeing eyes, restless and unblinking.
At the edge of the tunnel was a violet-pink hued doorway, the path led into a room bathed in the vibrant light of the massive tank that took up most of the free space. The tank was positioned on a large pedestal that gave it a slight perch against the wall to back up all the weight it possessed. The pedestal at the bottom also had Keronian text engraved on the metal plating. The glass was thick, bullet proof by any stretch of the word. The tank was full of bubbling pink goo and a pulsating sound came from the base where monitors and status screens could be detected.
Sergeant Major Kururu sat against the opposite wall of the small chamber, a leather-bound tome in his hands and a pile of papers set besides him, he flipped through the pages slow and calm, but his expression was anything but relaxed.
This was bad. This was very, Very bad…
The Admiral sat down next to him and offered a cup of tea, she was holding the kettle in her other hand. She had her helmet and goggles off and placed near the foot of the tank. Her face was calm yet showed narrowed golden eyes and a ghost of a smile. "Found what you're looking for yet?" she inquired.
Kururu accepted the cup with reluctance, not sure if it was safe to drink anything brewed by her no matter how safe it looked. For all he'd know, she could have spiked or laced it with something his acute sense of taste would be unable to detect.
"Nope; I still can't believe something like this is even possible, and I've seen weirder things," He muttered and put the cup down, not daring to taste the hot drink just yet. He skipped a few pages, taking a long moment to read through the text before speaking again, "there is nothing in this tome about being able to contain thousands of souls in one body; no matter what kind of dark magic is being used it is just impossible for anything to stay sane under such conditions. I'm surprised you were able to contain it at all." He argued and then looked at the tank.
"That is why we're taking him to Wasuru TE, it is where we found him and as thus I wish to return this thing from the hells of which it came, but to do that I need your assistance." She responded and let her legs stretch out, back to the wall, and with the kettle besides her the Admiral nursed the cup in her hands and looked at her own weary reflection. "The commander had been missing for so long, and so many men lost their lives trying to purge this wicked spell off him, but not even I was able to figure out how to dispel it." She sighed, and then took a sip of the drink, savoring the rich flavor it provided.
"My only clue was the temple where we found this book in the first place," she gestured at the massive tome, "then linked it back to the report you sent in months ago regarding that Dragonian child, it all made sense. If we could take this beast back to that temple we might be able to figure out what or where it came from and how to retrieve the men it took away, assuming that is even possible." A wane smile curved the corners of her wrinkled lips.
"You, as one of my best students, have excelled in the Magi arts of the Keron Army beyond everyone's expectation, including myself." She praised and then took a slow sip from her drink, "If anyone can help solve this predicament, it would be you," she said, a hint of fangs shown from under weary lips, "After all, you are the family's Legacy, Kurru;" she murmured before she took another long sip of tea.
"I thought we agreed you'd stop calling me that," he hissed and let the book sit wide open on his lap, and then glowered at her just a little as a fluster colored his face.
"Ah, right, I apologize," she nodded once, not looking apologetic at all, "would calling you 'grandson' be better, then?"
"No, call me by rank; it'll be really weird if anyone knew we were related." Kururu muttered and picked up a small wad of paper, shuffling through in search of something, "Besides, I thought you said family ties are null within the army, so don't expect any favors from me. I'm only agreeing to do this because I want to know what the fuss is all about. Not to mention that," he tilted his head towards the tank, "isn't particularly something you handle on your own; don't you have an assassin team for these?"
"My job as both Assassin leader and Admiral is pretty much an occupational hazard; I frankly wouldn't have it any other way, it keeps me entertained." she chuckled with the hint of jagged sharp teeth, she took a sip from her drink to empty the cup and then pour herself another, then glanced at the massive tank, "Not sure if he feels the same, though. I hadn't let him out of there for a while, whenever it is time to let him out he might be very groggy when he comes to." she murmured, expression softened.
"Who is he, anyway?" Kururu muttered and glanced at the violet glowing tank, the faint silhouette of the beast within was somewhat visible.
"His name used to be Narara, but now we just refer to him as Kiruru-seven-point-nine. Due to many creatures being swallowed and trans-morphed into one, he is no longer a Keronian or a Dragonian, he's just… an abomination, sad to say." She paused as an expression of sadness shown on her features. "I thought that somehow we could reason with it, and it does seem to be sentient to some level, I'm just afraid that by hosting so many souls it has a worse case of personality-disorder than I do."
"Also, he used to be one of the Keron Army's best Commanders until a few decades ago, it was when he disappeared during an excavation on Wasuru TE when it was first re-discovered." She added and took a large swig of her drink.
"Heh, when I was a little girl he and I used to be close friends, but with time we drifted off and took separate ways," she murmured and she drifted into a tangent, her posture slacked against the wall looking like she was about to fall asleep, "He was a good friend, I used to have a crush on him when I was your age, but he liked someone else and I was too damn timid to confess, so I lost my chance to be with him… until I met your grandfather; that oaf." she laughed and took another sip from her drink, ignoring how the yellow made a gagging gesture.
"Don't go there," he growled and looked back at the papers. He did not want to deal with her girly pink-colored nostalgia…
The Admiral smiled, put down the mug and wrapped her arms around the yellow invader, she said nothing while she pulled him into a hug, holding him close. Kururu made a squeaked 'Kii!' is surprise and wriggled a little but made no attempt to knock her off, instead he waited for a few seconds just to be sure she wasn't going to fall asleep, before he sighed and his body went a little limp against him.
"You're not gonna stop doting on me, are you…" he murmured, a laugh to his voice despite his annoyed scowl.
"You've always been my favorite," she laughed and held him closer, "I'm just so proud of you, sweetheart."
"Koii! Stop that!" Kururu whined and flailed having the nerve to push her hands off at last, his face flushed a warm shade of orange, "I'm a Sergeant Major for crying out loud! I'm not the timid little baby anymore!" he complained and scowled, trying not to show how embarrassing he found the scene, he was too old for these hugs and cuddles! "And aren't we supposed to hate each others guts? Or is this your granny-side talking?" he grumbled.
"My medications are keeping the angry side sedated, so I think it's safe for us to have company," she murmured and let go with a weary smile, "unless you'd rather deal with the other me?" she arched a brow, eyes drooping a little.
Kururu sighed and grabbed her shoulder, "Koii, I think the meds are messing with you again, maybe you should go take a nap, I'll handle everything from here," he replied almost in a soothing tone, he reached down to take her hand, he got to his feet and with a tug gestured for her to stand as well, "I'll need to make sure all preparations are complete before we take off, we still have a few hours so you should rest." He reasoned.
The Sergeant Major hated having to play nanny, but also knowing that if he didn't then things will go south if this Admiral is left to do what she pleased without supervision; she was not acting herself and needed to be looked after. The downside of being under heavy medication was not knowing when the personality would switch, or what would trigger it, and he sure didn't want to be caught cuddling in one minute and then getting his hide tanned the next.
Shupepe's abuse still left him feeling pretty sore and tender.
In retrospect, when they walked into the office she had asked him what he was willing to gamble with in return of playing nice, and he had agreed to behave for the sake of the success of this mission if she let him in on the whole story. He had managed to negotiate and convince the Admiral to give him full access to the tank and all related materials, and though reluctant about letting him burn his hands with such a hot piece of coal, Admiral Koii figured Kururu was a big boy and if he wanted a bite of such a hard knuckle sandwich then, hey? Who was she to deny him what he wanted?
Little did he know what he had gotten himself into; alas this was not the time or the place for regrets.
He could not walk out of this, not anymore, not now that he had learned more than what his superior allowed. If he as much tried to get out of this mission now he would literally be putting his life, as well as the Corporal on the line.
Why the Corporal? Simple…
Koii knew everything about the Keroro platoon, she had somehow acknowledged his desire to join the platoon because the Corporal was there, and knew the connection between the red soldier and lieutenant Garuru. From the way Koii explained it, Kururu was led to believe Garuru was not convinced to join this mission out of interest, but rather out of peer pressure, which means Rinono and Shupepe may or may not have been conned into joining, perhaps for Kururu's sake?
The only one who was out of the loop was Tororo, but that kid was just a rookie and if things went south and they had to cover their tracks, his testimonies would not amount to anything to the ears of the council, not compared to those who are much older and outrank him.
They had all been played, but Kururu was the only one to realize just how deep they had been thrown. There was nothing he could do to get out of it, not to save himself or the others, or at least not for the time being. For now Kururu had to cooperate and play nice until he could figure out how to get out of this little mess. Alas, he can't even share what he had found with Giroro, because the Corporal was moral-driven and would no doubt try to turn the tides which would only make things worse.
No. Corporal Giroro did not need to know any of this, not until it was safe to share this information.
What Kururu had to say was dangerous and someone like Giroro would rather take it to the extreme than let them play the way Koii intends for them to go. This was very dark magic, and as far as the forbidden, almost forgotten arts of the once-banished Assassins magic would go, what Koii planned to do will require a very powerful sacrifice…
Given the selection she had handpicked for this mission, Kururu was just worried who she had planned to use…
. .
Garuru trailed his hand from one side of the blueprint to the other and stopped a mere inch from the red mitt of his brother keeping the corner down as well.
They had located another blueprint stashed in the same bin Shupepe had located earlier, said item was curled within another print which was why they didn't know it was there from the beginning. The second blueprint they found was a cross-section of the bridge, showing the basic wiring and construction of their assembled seats. The group had been looking over the blueprints displaying the details schematics of their vessel, noticing small and odd looking bits and pieces joining the whole thing together.
The two brothers were examining the details of the structure, when a moment later Tororo and Rinono arrived with items they could use as paperweights and placed them on the four corners of the parchment to keep it down. Through the conversation exchanged by the others regarding the things they noticed on the blueprints, the lieutenant did not share his thoughts because he wanted to know what the others thought of the massive piece of Keron ingenuity first.
"So if what Corporal Giroro says is true and this ship is capable of trans-morphing into a different machine, almost a battle module, then why aren't there any blueprints available of said module? Shouldn't there be one displaying what it'll look like?" Rinono argued where she sat next to the other recruit, a quizzical frown on her face. "I don't like the idea of being inside a giant machine and not risk getting crushed between the pipes, it sounds like a horror movie to me." She shuddered and hugged herself, appalled at the mere thought of such a thing happening.
"Koii probably decided not to share, she might have the full map of this ship in her office desk," Shupepe replied and crossed his arms, glancing at the door located across the bridge. "Maybe we ought to go see her, she and Kururu had been in there for over two hours," he muttered, anxious and uncomfortable with the disconcerting silence.
Giroro turned to face the direction of the door as well, the anxiousness visible on his features and he made no attempt to hide them, "Is it usually this quiet when those two talk?"
"Never," Shupepe responded, perhaps faster than intended, "like I said a while ago, they'd usually be furniture flying out the windows; heck! I'm surprised the ship is still in one piece. They're either dead or got along so well they forgot to gut each other." He grumbled, flexed his arms and then marched towards the office, "Screw it, I'm going in." he announced. Rinono said nothing and followed after him, but he was quick to whirl around and point a finger at her, "Alone!" he emphasized, stern and unyielding.
Whatever Rinono wanted to argue was tossed out her window of thought, Shupepe was serious. She sighed in defeat and nodded, she watched him leave and enter the office without bothering to knock, her lips pursed in mild displeasure at being denied to accompany him. Of course, for what felt like the slowest five minutes of existence, Shupepe peered out the door with a scowl minutes after. Rinono, confused and alarmed at his quick return hurried towards him, the two shared a hushed conversation that the other three were not able to catch.
Shupepe glanced past his sister to the others, "Lieutenant, the Admiral and Sergeant Major are in the Quarry room, you wouldn't happen to know the password, would you?" he asked, though from the look of his face one could guess he didn't think there would be a positive answer.
Alas, the Medic was right, "Afraid not, I have not been granted permission into the Quarry room," Garuru replied and got up to walk towards the pair, "is there no other alternative way to access it?" he asked, sounding far more interested than he let on. At least, that was how Giroro heard it.
"No, the Admiral hadn't told me if any other path, so I don't think there is one." The pale blue one muttered. A second later he glanced at the Corporal, "How about you?"
"I'm afraid I didn't even know there was a Quarry room," Giroro shrugged, awkward.
"What's a Quarry room?" Tororo piped up, confused.
"It's where the tank, our mission objective, is being kept," Shupepe muttered and then turned on his heels back towards the office, "I'm not getting any responses from the intercom, so I don't know if my connection is going through or if there is no one there."
The group soon followed into the office and looked around surprised the Sergeant Major as well as the Admiral were indeed missing. Garuru and Shupepe approached the office desk and shared a silent glance, both aware this was the trigger to go into the Quarry room, but they had no idea how to gain access.
That was when Giroro flinched and clapped a hand to the side of his head, the loud sound of buzzing and static could be heard from his short frequency communicator. Before the Corporal could say anything there was a jingle in his device, and then they all heard the sound of steam hissing. Seconds later there was a low groaning sound and the desktop vibrated. Garuru and Shupepe moved away from the rotating ground as the secret door moved, revealing the two missing agents.
They saw Kururu with the Admiral slumped on his back, she was silent and unmoving.
Rinono gasped and rushed towards them checking their leader for any possible injury. Seconds later she sighed in relief and turned to her brother, "She's asleep; thank goodness, I thought she overdosed again…" she murmured, her tone paled just a little at the thought. "Kururu, what happened? You two were gone for hours!"
The yellow remained quiet while he helped his sister move the unconscious figure of the Admiral to the nearby sofa to lay her down, while the Chief Medic made sure all her symptoms were stable.
"She literally fell asleep," Kururu said at last, then turned to the others, "she'd been pretty much asleep the whole time we were gone." He said.
Giroro approached, giving the yellow one a stern yet concerned look square at the face, "Kururu, is there anything we need to know?" he inquired, noting that the yellow one looked a little pale.
Kururu stared at him, almost looking like he had been doped up and shrugged. There was no smile, no chuckle, no sign of amusement, his expression was blank and neutral, "I feel fine," he replied, missing the question altogether, his body lolled a bit to the side before he up-righted himself, "I think we just… had too much tea," he then added, then his body began to sway again.
Giroro was not having any of that, so before anyone could interject he grabbed Kururu by the arm and placed it over his shoulder, his free hand circled the yellow back to rest firm on the hip, "I'm taking him to the dormitory before he crashes," he told and guided the weak-kneed Sergeant Major out of the room.
Garuru watched; some very interesting developments were starting to happen.
Whatever happened, he was sure the answers were in the Quarry room.
This mission was already becoming more and more complicated.