Mars, the great red orb lies before your little transport ship. On its edge the Yamato 01 can be seen orbiting slowly over the crimson planet. From this distance the ship isn’t as impressive as you imagined. Suddenly the silence is broken when your comms comes to life.
“H-Hello? Zeta Squad, do you read?” The voice coming thru is young and nervous. Its clear your operator is new hire, you wouldn’t be surprised if this was her first mission.
“Okay Zeta, my name’s Sammie. You can call me Sam, or Sammie, or whatever. Umm, yes, so I need to go over a few things. You all heard this in the briefing, but I’m supposed to refresh you before boarding.” Thru the comms the faint sound of papers shuffling only reinforces how inexperienced Zeta Squad’s operator is.
“Let’s see. You will be landing in Dock 1002. From there you need to work your way towards the bow of the ship, thru Residential District 1022 to the Command Room. Find Captain Johannes and gather what intel you can. Got it?”
Coming to a smooth halt, your transport shuttle pauses in place, allowing two ships to pass. The first one has seen better days, rust stains and scratched paint decorate its exterior. The second ship is a basic cruiser often issued to law enforcement. Red and blue lights flash as the pilot speaks over the public comms channel. “This is restricted airspace, leave at once or be charged for trespassing and destruction of property.” Its not surprising that scavengers and pirates have wormed their way here. Yamato Enterprises must have spent a small fortune hiring enough security to keep them all out.
“Oh yeah, a couple more things.” Sammie’s voice once again transmits over your comms. “You guys are immune from basic laws. You have been granted the power to arrest and detain uncooperative civilians and trespassers onboard the Yamato. Hmm, rules of engagement still apply but you won’t be penalized for discharging your weapon at your discretion. In the event of an air leak, you can access airlock controls by-”
“KONICHIWA! <3 I see some more friends have come to play!” Sammie’s transmission was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a young woman’s voice full of energy. “Oh, didn’t you know? You aren’t the first Yamato sent. They’ve been looking for their precious multi trillion dollar chunk of rotting steel for 7 years! Will our new contestants fair better than the last poor saps whose heads are hanging on Raijin’s flag pole? Tune in to find out! Fufufufu” The ominous transmission ended just as abruptly as it began, returning control of the comms to Sammie.
“-and that’s why the use of AP and High-Ex rounds is prohibited in the districts I mentioned. Otherwise, the whole ship will fall apart. Well, that’s that. I’ll be updating you with pertinent information along the way.”
The Yamato 01’s grandeur came to light as your pilot drifted closer and closer to the drop-off point. It truly was massive, enough that your ship’s boosters were on reverse to slow it down as the Yamato’s gravity beckoned it closer. At this distance no matter which direction you looked the Yamato’s walls spanned as far as the eye could see.
A faint pink glow surrounds your transport as it passes the plasma barrier of the hangar. Inside is black as the void you came from, the only light source being your ship and the stray sunlight from outside.
“I hope you’re not afraid of the dark” the pilot jested. “I’m gonna have to drop you knuckle-heads here, can’t risk maneuvering in this place. When the job’s all done drop your coded LZ beacon and I’ll pick you up in a jiffy, good luck.”
You all quickly dismount as the transport floated mere feet from the gray floor. And just like that your ship is gone, taking its floodlights with it. Only ¼ of the hangar was lit by ambient sunlight, but was shrinking quickly as the Yamato’s orbit was turning it away from the sun. You estimate to have 20-30 minutes before the place goes pitch black. The humidity in the hangar was striking, clearly beyond what it was meant to be.
“Zeta, do you read? bzzt” Sammie’s voice rings over your comms, obstructed by static. “I was afraid of this. bzzt Once you guys get deeper inside I’m gonna lose your signal. Thick walls and all. bzzt If you guys can find and fix the Yamato’s communications array, you can use it to boost your signal. bzzt” You can hear the static grow stronger the deeper you move in the hangar. “While you can still hear me, I would suggest you take the magRail or a shuttle to Residential District 1022. You could walk but it may take a couple hours. You’ll probably need to open the border locks to get in, the code is-”
You are unable to hear her as a screeching roar unlike anything you’ve ever heard pierced the blackness. A few seconds later another roar responds, followed by another. Before long a sea of the most goosebump inducing roars sound. Then silence. You estimate there must be dozens of them, whatever they were.
“What was that- bzzt hello? can you hear- bzzt” Sammie’s transmission cuts off abruptly, breaking off your contact with the outside.
Along a wall lit by the receding sunlight you see something painted on the steel.