[color=f7941d]"Wait, did you get him?"[/color] Holly questioned over the comm as she heard some of the chatter coming from Fox. Her displays were down for good, it seemed, and she couldn't see any of what was happening. Her mapping was still partially functional, based on the last known images, but the Ahab wave ovelay seemed to still be operating in real time. Using this, Holly turned the Big Boi so that its back was to the fancy Graze, and hit the control to open her cockpit. 

She heard the wirring of servos as the armor plates moved out of the way, then the hatch in front of her opened forth. She could see now that her sidelong tumble had been stopped by grabbing the edge of the hole in the old wrecked ship's hull. What she saw inside stopped her dead. [color=f7941d]"Uh, stand by, my system isn't working right..."[/color]

The rent in the bulkhead opened to the ship's hangar bay, and there were five mobile suits lined up. Each was unique, and Holly did not recognize any of them. She disconnected her AV and the harness that kept her secured in her seat, then kicked off from the cockpit and drifted into the bay. 

It was dark, and she realized the only reason she could see is that there was a computer terminal that was still active after all this time. She drifted over and looked at the screen. It was cracked down the middle, and the only word she could make out was "Wake," which seemed to be part of a button or prompt. She reached a gloved hand out, her breath caught in her throat, and pressed it. 

~~~

On the bridge of the [i]Mercurial Witch[/i], Brun was watching with a satisfied smile as her rats tangled the interloper up. 

Her reverie was interupted by a bleeping from the console, and Mick spoke up. 

"Uh... there's new Ahab waves... I don't even know where they came from! They're right on top of Familiar One, but I don't see anything..." 

"Could it be an error? Maybe one of the old reactors shifted when the feral one flew through the debris." 

"It's possible..." he sounded like he doubted it, "I don't recognzie the signatures, so it would make sense if they're from older reactors." 

~~~ 

Holly gasped as new light came on in the vast dimness. Five pairs of eyes suddenly flared to life, glaring down at her. As one, their armor shifted, silent in the vacuum, revealing the opening cockpit hatches in their chests. It seemed incredible that any part of them could still work, but Holly chose the friendliest looking one, and kicked off the floor towards it. She pulled herself past the armor plating and into the cockpit. It was light up brightly from all the displays and controls. Unlike the computer terminal out in the hangar, nothing could get to these electronics to damage them. 

The cockpit looked remarkably similar to what she was used to. The seat was cushier, but she noticed the Alaya Vijnana interface embedded in it. The controls were also comparable, though without the scratches, scuffs, burns, and other little marks from long, hard use. 

Without thinking nearly as much as she should have, Holly plugged the interface in. She made a choked groaning sound as the man-machine interface connected, her body convulsing wildly in the plush seat. The feedback was worse even than her Rodi. As her body relaxed, she gasped out the word [color=f7941d]"Stolas..."[/color]