World Tree MUSH

    It's been a little while since checking in on the Warden. The Vine briefly destabilized, which made it harder. But the group that gets together and takes a look will find the Androids on high alert! Apparently the Exploration Deck, that had the actual rupture and a way into the asteroid, has been having trouble.

    Which is where we find ourselves today! Numerous barricades are up, and the base camp next to the ship's main elevator is abuzz with activity. The coordination between the fuzzy mutants and the androids has definitely increased of late, given the way they're working together, and there's even a little target practice going on to the side where the androids are teaching the creatures how best to use advanced weaponry. It's definitely a mess though, and it looks like several attacks have taken their toll. Off in the distance, there's even a trio of androids with flamethrowers torching a weird fungal growth.

    Circe has been laying low in the time since their last visit herself, possibly because of the various bounties that are on her head. Not that anyone would know that, because she's Most Definitely Not Circe in there here and now. She even has an ID badge to prove it, of course.

    She's frowning as she looks around after arriving, folding her arms. "...Doesn't really seem like a whole lot of progress has happened, does it? But I guess things aren't getting worse at least. Usually things just always get worse." With that rather cheerful notion, she'll look to see if any of the androids they had previously dealt with before are still around, their limited lifespans making her mildly pessimistic on that front.

    It's been a while since Valerian was last out here! But he's here at least. He's wearing a combat helmet and wielding an assault laser rifle of some fashion. It's probably a mid-level Northern Gun rifle. Something that an elite squad would use, but not really Heroic Epic Top Tier Equipment. 

    "Wow this place has really gone shit-shaped since the last time I was here, eh?"

    On the one hand it's good to see the androids (the not robot fascist ones) working better togetehter with the fuzzy mutant things. On the other hand, it looks like a lot has happened.
    Samus Aran has returned to the Warden; her gunship docked nearby, the bounty hunter is already clad in her full Chozo make suit of powered armor.
    Also Samus knows about those bounties.
    She totally knows about them.
    "Mmm."
    Samus does not comment on Circe's bounties, at least.

    It looks like a few of the androids might be the same, because one of them recognizes the group. "Oh, you're back!" He approaches quickly, gesturing to a small prefab built nearby. "We've been having some trouble. The aliens have been really making a push. We've had our new allies to help us and they've been really skilled at picking up on more advanced tech, but I'm not sure how long we can hold with our current manpower. Androids are falling faster than we can replace them, and the vats do have limits."

    "Do you have anyone who can close the way they're getting in?" Valerian asks to the android as he rests his rifle up against his shoulder, "We could try to cover them while they seal the breach or door or whatevs and that should slow the advance." 

    Valerian is just kind of spit-balling ideas to the group at this point.

    "Oh, good. I can try to take a look at the vats if you want? But I may not be able to do anything if they're just reaching the hard limits for the parts." Circe admits, giving a glance over to Samus before deciding not to ask if she's still good on the not-murdering-here thing.

    "Or maybe not at all. I'm more of a nanotech specialist than any kind of androids." She'll add. "We might be better off getting people who are good in a fight. I'm not much for direct action like that, but I have a cousin..."

    "What's been happening while we were gone?" Samus asks in a mild tone as she follows to the prefab. "Is there any reason they've been pushing harder or?"
    She exchanges glances with Circe and says noooothing.
    "Is there anything we can do to help?"

    The android shakes his head, "I'm not sure, but maybe they realized the status quo was changing on the Warden. Maybe they were building up a larger force and we forced their hand. Or you did."

    One of those furred mutants wanders over, but appears to just be listening for now, while the android continues. "The vats have a limit in how much fluid they can create, and I'm worried pushing them further will make more deviant androids and compound our problem." He looks at Valerian and nods, "We closed off one way, but the other is too well-fortified. What we'd really like is to push them back enough to somehow remove the asteroid from the hull, but we just don't have the manpower or the equipment. Maybe one of the other Decks does, but they're usually wrapped up in their own problems."

    Valerian frowns and thinks about it, "I can GET you to the asteroid and push them back. I'm reasonably confident in my ability to murder weird monsters. I'm just totally out of my league on dislodging an asteroid. Even with MY strength, that's a pretty huge ask, being honest." 

    He taps the rifle against his shoulder a bit as he considers it and looks between Circe and Samus, "You two have a falling out since I was here last? Tension in the air is thick right now."

    "...Since you were here last? No." Circe says, with complete and total honesty. "We can go maybe talk to one of the other decks. Especially if any of them mostly is having computer troubles? Do you know which ones might be able to help that might have a problem like that?"

    She's not going to be able to push back an asteroid either, but it seems like getting rid of it would be the best way to go if at all possible, at least.

    "We could also try to drive them back, and by we, I mean you two." She'll say, pointing at Valerian and Samus.

    The other decks. Their own problems. Samus harkens back to fascist android utopia briefly.
    "Ah."
    But then she offers Valerian a lazy shrug.
    "Oh us? No, we're peachy. Everything is just fine."
    As long as Circe doesn't plan to backstab her anyway.
    Beyond that Samus actually does not care.
    Moving on.
    "I highly doubt I can dislodge the asteroid either. But."
    'Extermination is always an option'.
    Samus does not say the words. She simply looks to Valerian at Circe's suggestion.

    The android nods, thoughtfully. "We do have ships, but getting them to launch and cut away the asteroid would be tough. And we'd have to find a way to make sure it didn't depressurize the hull. The command center should handle that but if it can't, then the city sector has a backup means, and Engineering should have the tools if you can find enough people to use them."

    The fuzzy one finally speaks up, "All these androids are fighting themselves on the other decks, if they'd figure out a way to work together this thing would be gone. Then again they'd probably kill us or one another once they did that."

    "I'm not exactly a tactician here, nor are mine a subtle people. I'm gonna defer to the two women way smarter than me on how we wanna handle this," Valerian says, adjusting his stance a bit and looking back towards Circe and Samus, as if expecting them to hash out the plan forward, "I'll follow your leads. I'm a bit behind the curve on what's been going on."

    "The ship plan sounds better, though I'm not really a good enough pilot for delicate manuevers like that. I'm better at programming a ship's computer and having it do all the detailed work." She'll glance over at Samus, and then ask. "Do you think you could maybe ram your ship into the asteroid and dislodge it? It seems like the sort of blaze of glory someone like you might want to go out on, saving a whole giant ship like this with who knows how many living things aboard."

    "I'm not ramming my ship into the asteroid in a blaze of glory." Samus succinctly shoots Circe's dreams down in one curt sentence.
    "I am however that good of a pilot."
    So cutting away the asteroid could be a viable option but.
    "I doubt we're going to get help from the androids up in the city. What if we got the tools from engineering here?" She also considers before pursing her lips behind her helmet visor.
    Also leaving the little mutants to be killed doesn't sit well with her if the androids did figure out to band together. But that's another problem entirely isn't it.

    The android nods, "The androids in the city are their own kind of deviant, and it's something we'll have to take care of someday. But for now they seem to be content to stay there. But if you can go to the Engineering deck and get the proper robotics to equip on the exploration ships, we might be able to cut the asteroid free."

    "They probably won't like that," says the mutant. "So we'll have to time it with an assault to keep them distracted."

    Valerian looks towards the other two, "Alright. I'll lead the assault. THAT is something that I'm good at, so I'll keep as many of these mooks alive as I can once the operation starts." 

    He gives Samus and Circe a thumbs up.

    "We should probably try to get someone else to help with that, too, but something like that does seem like a reasonable plan if SOMEONE is too afraid to actually earn her paycheck." Circe says, blissfully ignoring that she mostly just pays Samus for protection from Samus more than anything else, and also that she hasn't really paid Samus anything lately because she's pretty much broke at the moment.

    "But keeping as many alive as possible is good, yes."

    "Alright. Valerian can be the distraction. Circe and I, and any others that want to come along can head to Engineering while he holds things up here."
    It's not like Circe actually pays her, anyway.