Part 12: Arthur is back

Well. That ought to get everyone down.



Tyler: "I can't... do what you asked..."



"He was too brave... too kind... for a Commander."



"Without a leader, what's going to happen to us?"



Muccino: "The Red Sprite was still in danger itself! We were in no condition to provide aid to the Blue Jet!"




"Hey... Hey."



Tyler: "Oh... You're Jimenez from the Blue Jet, right?"
"What're you gonna do with the Commander's body?"




Well, yeah, that is a good question. He is now a corpse, after all.



"Be a shame if the man who saved me got buried outside only for the demons to dig him up for a snack."




He gets cut short, but still, Jimenez got a point there. Gore's corpse does not deserve to be desecrated in such a way after sacrificing himself (and some redshirts) in order to rescue at least ONE of the crew of the Blue Jet. All in all, it was a net loss, but at least it was tried.


Announcer: "This is Arthur, the Red Sprite's command unit speaking. "




Arthur: "Commander Gore, return to the Command room."



And he does not know that Gore died. He has just been reactivated. Arthur is not omniscient.


Arthur: "Accessing strategy matrix for contingency plans in the event of the Commander's loss. "




Arthur: "Your feelings are noted. However, I cannot respond to assumptions. It is vital in hazardous situations such as this to discard decisions stemming from heightened emotion. Let us rationally discuss methods of raising our chances of returning to Earth."




Ops Crew: "It's scary how composed you can keep yourself."



Arthur: "I will devise the optimum strategy for succesful completion of your mission."

Of course, that is not without objections. Let's see what Jimenez has to say.


"What's this thing talking about!? I dunno what the hell it thinks we're gonna accomplish! I mean, we got demons hunting us down and killing us! Screw the mission, we gotta find a way outta here! You listen to me, you hunk of junk--find us an escape route!"




Strike Team: "I know you heard him, York. We all did. It'll be a long time before I can forget what he said.... Look, Jimenez, everyone on the Red Sprite probably feels the way you do, deep down."




Seems Gore had a lasting impression on his crew.


"How 'bout it? The rest of you happy charging into a swarm of demons, if that's the mission?"





"So you wanna run, then? Or you want us to give you a nice funeral with whatever's left of you? I mean, that's if the demons don't make a tasty meal of you, suckin' on them bones of yours and all!"





Well, considering that the Schwarzwelt is expanding and is expected to CONSUME THE ENTIRE PLANET and that the mission is honestly a last-ditch effort by the Illuminati/The UN's sinister and effective twin organization, running away would only delay the inevitable a bit longer. Just a bit. Besides, York always finishes his missions. Always.



That is an option, maybe.


We'll see both results, but this is the one that will be selected.


"I saw 'em smash the Blue Jet to pieces, and y'know what that taught me? This mission's bullshit. Can't be done, man. C'mon, man, let's all talk this out like reasonable people. We can come up with a plan..."

So, run away and restock to try again, now better prepared. All things considered, it COULD be an option. But then again what of the other two ships? There may be survivors there. And they might have been luckier/more succesful than either the Red Sprite or the Blue Jet were.


"Good choice. That's using your survival instinct, man.One dumb move out here and we'll all end up dead. Just like the Blue Jet. "




No matter what is chosen, this is the last phrase Jimenez says before getting cut off by Arthur.





"What!?"



Well, that is understandable. They might be on the very edges, or even THE VERY middle of the entire thing.




Considering it was a crash landing with Arthur deactivated, yeah.





Well, Shit.



Arthur: "You are strangers here in this schwarzwelt... There is no way out."



"No! No way! I've had it with this place! I'm getting my ass outta here!"



Arthur: "There may come a time when you must make such a decision... But now is not that time. At present, you have no choice but to continue the investigation. "




Strike Team: "If you want to survive, you'll have to follow orders. "

But then a new message interrupts everyone, yet again.


"This here's the lab. I hear right that Francis got his hands on some rare stuff? Y'think he got it from that demon he just smoked? That's it. That, er... Lemegetonite. Just thought I'd mention it to Arthur."




Arthur: "It seems there are many mysterious materials that exist here in the Schwarzwelt. Crewman Irving, I look forward to the breakthroughs that will undoubtedly come out of your lab."




"I'll need a li'l time to myself to run some tests on it. I'll call y'all when I'm done."



"But if you find anything else, it'll be up to you to bring it to the lab yourself."




Well, at least Arthur's operational again.

I wonder what's next? Everything blowing up?