Michiru, Haruka, and Beth trekked slowly and cautiously across the Proteusan surface, helping each other across rough areas. Beth led the way, picking a path through sharp rocks and crags and keeping an eye on her two companions at the same time. Finally, they came to the vast chasm that they had seen on the computer screens. "Here!" Beth called over the howling wind while she gave them a long, strong cord to attach to their suits. "Keep that on, and hold on tight. That way, if one falls, they won't get hurt or killed!" The three carefully made their way down the jagged chasm wall. Each of them slipped three or more times going down, but they were always caught by the two who still had steady footing.

When they reached the bottom of the canyon, they couldn't feel the wind much. Every now and then a strong and determined gust would reach them and shower them with dirt and ash, but they could walk around without slipping down into a hole or off a cliff. "Oh my… that thing is enormous!" Michiru stared at the huge rock in front of them.

"Follow me." Beth said. She untied her cord from her suit, then quickly made her over to the huge object. Haruka and Michiru followed, also removing their cords, and soon found themselves looking at a huge hole in the rock. "I was able to squeeze myself and Dancer in there, so the three of us should be able to get to the Sea-breeze. Come on." She grabbed Haruka and Michiru by their hands and pulled them into the hole after her.

The crawl down the hole wasn't too hard, because all they had to do was duck down or crouch to move through it. Soon enough, they came to a big metal something blocking their way. "This looks like a door of some kind…" Haruka murmured, running her hands over the metal, feeling the smoothness and sudden bumps and dips in the metal. Her skillful fingers skimmed over the shiny surface, looking for some sort of lever or button. "Here." She pointed at a bit of rock that had not been blasted away. "Drill there and see if you can find something, like a key pad or something like that."

Beth pushed Haruka to one side gently, then took out her Kama. She squinted at the rock Haruka told her to get rid of, then gripped her weapons tightly as they began to glow with black energy. She ground her teeth, feeling the energy surging through her, then let loose with her charged blades. In a matter of moments, the space around them was much bigger, and a sort of key pad could be seen on the surface of the metal.

"It's covered by something." Michiru pointed out.

Beth stared at the thick glass covering over the key pad, then gave a snort. She tapped the barrier with the tip of a kama blade, then gave it a hard whack. The protective dome split in two, allowing the key pad to be reached. "Not any more." She stated matter-of-factly.

Haruka smirked and tapped the key pad thoughtfully. "What do you think the access code is? This has letters, not numbers."

"Try something that would relate to the ship itself, like where it came from or what it was used for, or who it served under." Michiru suggested. She reached around Haruka's arm and punched in a bunch of letters that read on the small screen THE THRONE OF NEPTUNE.

[ACCESS DENIED]

Michiru grunted, then was about to try something else when Haruka stopped her. "Wait." She said. "Let Beth do it. She might be able to crack the code." The two of them looked at their younger companion, who blinked. Shrugging, Beth crawled over and began punching in random words.

NEPTUNIAN DEFENDER

[ACCESS DENIED]

BATTLE SHIP OF THE THRONE

[ACCESS DENIED]

Beth glared at the key pad and gave a frustrated growl. Haruka and Michiru sat behind her, watching what she did. "Didn't get it?" Haruka asked as Michiru leaned against her.

"No." Beth muttered. She glanced back at the two and saw Michiru snuggling up close to Haruka. "Get a room, you two." She said, smirking. Michiru stuck her tongue out at Beth, then promptly gave Haruka a kiss on the cheek. Beth rolled her eyes, then went back to code breaking.

CODE

[ACCESS DENIED]

I AM YOUR NEW PILOT, OPEN UP

[ACCESS DENIED]

MICHIRU AND HARUKA ARE

"Don't even think about it!" Haruka yelped, pushing Beth aside and quickly deleting what the giggling girl had put in. "You're dirty."

"Not as dirty as you."

"Get serious. Keep hacking."

SEA-BREEZE

[ACCESS DENIED]

[…]

[…]

[LOSER]

"Hey!" Beth scowled and hit the key pad with her fist as Haruka and Michiru burst out laughing. "Not funny…" She muttered.

LOSER

[OUCH]

"Does this thing talk or have a personality or something?" Beth asked, glancing at the key pad oddly.

"The key pad or the ship?" Michiru asked.

"The ship."

"Heard rumors about one, but I dunno if they're true." Haruka said.

LET ME IN

[ACCESS DENIED]

BEWARE MY SPIRIT KAMA

[…]

[ACCESS DENIED]

Beth stared at the key pad.

SPIRIT KAMA

[…]

[…]

[ACCESS GRANTED]

"Well, what do you know." Haruka mused as she and the other two women climbed into the hatch. "Beth figured it out."