RP: YSS Eucharis [Post Mission 23] Loose Threads (YE 37)

[Wes]

Fort Hanako, Several Weeks After Return from Higaflan

After the ship's battle at Higaflan and their subsequent second encounter with the Rixxikor, the damaged gunship Eucharis returned home to Fort Hanako on Hanako's World where it was undergoing major repairs on its armor and the mangled starboard wing, parked in a massive concrete hangar with an arched roof off to the side of the spaceport area. The hangar was piled high with cargo containers, crates, and boxes of various items the ship had acquired over time, and was basically used as a giant garage or storage shed while the gunship was halfway inside, covered in yellow scaffolding, cranes, and with pieces of machinery and armor plating strewn around it in neat little rows. A large aether engine on a large flatbed cargo truck protruded from under a camouflage-patterned tarp. Work was going slow and thorough. The ship wouldn't be moving anywhere soon.

With the Eucharis out of order and in the hands of dockyard engineers from the Star Army and Ketsurui Fleet Yards, the crew was left on the oceanic paradise world with seemingly little to do except enjoy themselves. But Captain Hanako was a contemplative type and right now she was fixed on the unanswered questions and mess of "loose threads" that their recent missions had left open. After letting the crew do some personal travel and relaxing, she had called them back to this large tent in the hangar, which had been set up as a temporary operations center by filling it with chairs, desks, and computer consoles.

The crew began to arrive at the scheduled mid-morning time and the Shosho stood in front of a worn, possibly salvaged viewscreen. "Welcome back, everyone. The ship is still being repaired but I called us back to plan our next moves. Over the last few missions we uncovered the existence of several new species, from the Essai Dreamworld, Urtullan city-state, and now the Rixxikor and Kuvexians, who may be planning an attack on our Empire. Star Army command has put SAINT on the case for many of these but ordered us to continue investigating as we see fit so I am going to put it to you, the crew. We need to identify the intelligence assets we have and decide what mysteries to keep unraveling over the next few months. I want your discussions and suggestions."

 

[Samanthia]

Fort Hanako:: Echaris Hanger/Berth.

Aikiko looked sharp in her pressed uniform with patches all in the right place. Her holster was highly polished with its service pistol just as clean and ready for use. Her hair neatly brushed and tied back into a ponytail which hung freely down her back.

Aikiko didn't know anything about the Essai Dreamworld mission. But had encounters with the Rixxikor and helped secure the Kuvexian Prisoner. She was in favor of going after Kuvexian/Rixxikor and see where that would lead. Also she had motivation of getting revenge for the loss of some of the crew of the Eucharis, she considered friends.

She stood up. Keeping her voice neutral and mind shielded, she spoke calmly in her neutral soft voice. "I'd say we go after the Kuvexian and those fast breeding Rixxikor. Shosho Ketsurui."

 

[Rizzo]

Fort Hanako
Candon was back to his old self again. He hadn't taken the news about not being permitted to interrogate the captured pilot well, though SAINT smoothed things over by arranging for him to learn swordsmanship from an ex samurai now serving as an instructor with SAINT. It wasn't a bad way to spend two weeks it was in a bad way to spend 2 weeks considering how the rest of his down time was spent, with nothing to do he discovered a new level of boredom which eventually gave birth to a countermeasure for the 'glue grenade'.

He essentially made a grill, like what's on the front of a car, to fit onto the intake with a built in heater wired directly to the reactor's main power lines, like an over powered electric barbecue grill. It got so hot so fast that it broke during the first test. He needed someone skilled in mechanical engineering to make it work though he couldn't get one of the local engineers to work with him without trying to get away from his black paneled uniform. He would just have to corner Jax later after takeoff.

Ever present for the meeting he voiced his opinion, "I'd personally like to figure out who exactly our enemy is. This Kuvexian threat needs to be handled before it can get traction."

 

[Reynolds]

Fort Hanako - Hangar

Mitsuko was quiet and still as Hanako spoke, hands folded on top of the desk she was seated at. She was doing her best to listen and hopefully contribute, but it was hard not to be distracted by what was going on nearby. Not only had the contents of her Cargo Bay been removed from the Eucharis during the repairs, but there were years worth of excess inventory stacked up everywhere around it. And none of it was organized the way she would have done it. Which was the right way, obviously. Thankfully her mind was built for multitasking, so it wasn't difficult to begin drawing up plans for reorganizing the hangar while still keeping up with the conversation. What was difficult was maintaining the willpower to only dedicate half of her brain to the less immediate task, when she was already devising several extra layers of complexity to the problem that were just begging for extra attention.

Firmly turning her head away from the nearby ship, she focused purposefully on Hanako as the meeting continued, hopefully not staring too hard at her. "If the Kuvexians were responsible for the attack that necessitated repairs of this scope, pursuing them without the proper assistance would be ill advised. That investigation does not appear to be a task a lone Plumeria-class gunship is suited for, Shosho." Murakami would be happy to return to collecting and cataloging debris, or perhaps try making contact with a few friendly species for a change, and let a few cruisers and battleships full of soldiers specialized in that sort of thing go after these Kuvexians.

She didn't have much else to add at the moment, returning to quietly not staring at the mess around her after piping up. Mitsuko hadn't had much luck with her suggestions over the years, as the captain always seemed to do the exact opposite of whatever she thought the most sensible at any given moment, but she wouldn't be doing her duty as a crew member if she didn't express her concerns. Especially when her opinion was being asked for directly. Still somewhat occupied with her mental reorganization, a few more distracting thoughts began to creep in, mostly wondering if they might be returning to more liberty time after the meeting, since their ship still needed repairs. She'd been enjoying her time off so far, even if it had been a bit lonely. Mitsuko had finally stopped by the store on base to purchase the new Type 30C Uniform to replace the 30B she'd lost years ago. While she had worn the Type 35 since then (and was wearing it now, due to the heat on the tropical planet) she had always fondly remembered the cozy 30B. She was looking forward to returning to the long skirt once the Eucharis was back in the sky again.

 

[Gunsight1]

Hangar - Fort Hanako

Yamashiro Natsumi had enjoyed her time off, spending much of it at the beaches. This was shown by the impressive golden tan she had aquired, replacing her usual very pale pink.

She now sat with her shipmates, her mind still partially wandering back to the fun she'd had on leave. She was in her Type 35 uniform with her new peaked cap afforded her officer in training rank set atop her head at a jaunty angle.

"I have to agree. It would be prudent to find the people who are behind this and deal with them directly rather than just continue with the Rixxicore." she said. "If we don't deal with the source of the problem it will just continue and get worse"

 

[Blizzard]

Hangar, Fort Hanako

Jax was seated towards the rear of the group and to the side, with his arms folded over his chest and his feet leisurely propped up on one of the desks, one leg over the other. He was dressed in a pair of dark green coveralls with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a YSS Eucharis baseball cap he'd bought while window shopping to keep his hair out of the way while he was working, which had two self-made slits for his ears to poke through. His tail drooped lazily off to the side, swishing absent-mindedly.

Unbeknownst to them, he was deep in thought. The past couple weeks were replaying constantly in his mind. He hadn't done much, truth be told. He'd called his family, hung out on the beach despite his loathing of sand, occasionally swung by the Eucharis to try and help the other engineers in their work, studied and dismantled the alien pistol, nearly blew his head off trying, drank a whole bottle of Lorath wine with Umeshu, drunkenly kissed her, and enjoyed the hell out of it, and tried his hand at saltwater fly fishing.

Umeshu...

Jax made sure that no one was looking, before casting a glance over at the purple-skinned woman, whom he'd purposefully sat as far away from as possible. He shivered a little. They hadn't spoken since the morning after when he stumbled, hungover, out of her hotel room.

Jesus, that came out wrong.

To clarify, nothing happened. The end. Done. He slept on the couch, and she in her bed.

Anyways...

For now, it seemed they were just pretending nothing happened- which nothing did!- until further notice. It had all been a blur, so spur-of-the-moment. She had been crying, then there was the drunken William Tell dare that he'd put her up to- not going into detail!- after which he'd gone to the bathroom to clean the apple out of his hair, and finally, he- or she, it was still up for debate- began moving ever so closer...

Jax snapped back to reality at the sound of Hanako's voice, and listened to the crew's responses.

"I second Suites' motion," he piped up. "I'd rather fight a squid than a cockroach, honestly. But, hey, maybe we should nuke Higaflan from orbit just to be sure...?" he asked jokingly/not really. He still hated bugs. His flip flops had been his best friends over these past few weeks when he spotted an unwelcome guest in his hotel room.

 

[paladinrpg]

Hangar, Fort Hanako

Hashimoto-shoi was indeed at the polar opposite of the briefing room table from Jax, closer to Hanako. She appeared to be her usual proper samurai self on the surface, sitting there quietly in the chair before a desk and awaiting the leader to speak, her Type 35 uniform and cap looking all fresh and cleaned. Something was a little different about her though. Surely, her gentle wisteria-colored countenance had darkened a bit from some sun from time spent at the beach, practicing her martial arts in nature, one of the best dojos. And her plum purple hair was tied back in a paper tie that had a tropical bamboo orchid flower woven into it. But it wasn't any of those things exactly...

Her sage green eyes every once in a while drifted Jax's way, and she then moved them back the opposite way. A warm blush came to her cheeks for a nanosecond before she stifled it so that none should see. Samurai were not supposed to show public affection, after all... but still, her digital mind kept inadvertently replaying the night before in her hotel room over and over. What started off as keeping a promise to the Santo Hei to save a bit of the Lorath wine for them to share as simple shipmates and new friends, and also blow off some tension, seemed to turn into more than that.

First, there was the innocent discovery of the Jax's penchant for purring, and chasing him around the place to get a scratch of his ear to trigger it and make him turn a nice shade of red at the same time. Then, the mood-altering effects kicked in... and suddenly she opened her heart to the technician about how she envied her clone sister's success as Samurai so very much. It brought Umeshu to tears, actually, even though her body was supposed to have good emotional control circuits, and she wept out some of the hidden pain onto his shoulder. Jax had tried to console her, making himself out to be the black sheep of his family, too. More importantly, in his own endearing, boyish way... Jax tried to take her mind off of it by making a dare! Noone had ever dared the samurai trainee to do something so silly before... shooting an apple off his head while drunk and looking in a mirror. It was like some kind of crazy trust exercise... but being the kyuudo archery master she was, Umeshu fired her arrow true and managed to hit the target despite the handicaps (though in truth she slightly grazed the fur of his ear). After he cleaned the applesauce out of his blonde hair, the two of them shared a good laugh on the couch and then...

As the purple-skinned officer remembered 'it' again, her heart rate got a little faster. Having not really experienced such a romantic thing as a first kiss due to her previously cloistered lifestyle before the war college, Umeshu wasn't sure what to do now. Jax's lips didn't feel shameful meeting hers -- on the contrary, what her body recalled in the haze was like the finest wine melting in her mouth, warm and sweet at the same time. Was it the liquor that did it, though, or did Umeshu really want to kiss him and the Lorath wine merely reduced her inhibitions? Either way, the Nekovalkyrja was now left with this unusual, awkward feeling akin to when one has nocked an arrow in their yumi but has no target in front of them to aim at.

When the Princess finally spoke about making plans for action, it jarred Umeshu back into mindfulness of the moment. Ruminations on her "date night" would have to wait. Hashimoto cleared her throat and spoke in that usual calm and respectful tone, "Shosho, I'm in agreement with the others when I say this Kuvexian menace is something we must take very seriously. Have the interrogations of the prisoner yielded anything, though? And were our sensor networks able to track the fleeing capital ship's fold trajectory after our ill-fated battle? There are many other poorly defended border worlds like Higaflan that could have suspicious activity on them tied to this broader plot that deserve looking into..."

 

[Rizzo]

Hangar, Fort Hanako
"I second Suites' motion," he piped up. "I'd rather fight a squid than a cockroach, honestly. But, hey, maybe we should nuke Higaflan from orbit just to be sure...?" he asked jokingly/not really.

A look of excitement washed over Candon's face.
"Hey, that's not a bad idea! Hell, I can do that in an hour!" He exclaimed as he removed his smartphone.

Higaflan, SSS Station
The freshly cleaned station still lay dormant as no one had needed its use as of yet. Out of the darkness came the sound of a fax machine as the computer terminals came to life...

 

[Wes]

Fort Hanako - Eucharis Hangar

Hanako listened carefully to her crew's thoughts."It looks like we agree that the Kuvexians need to be investigated as soon as possible," she said. "I also agree with Mitsuko that this may be too big for us to handle alone, particularly in a direct confrontation. I think I may be able to assemble a task force to assist us. Our sensor were not able to see where the Kuvexian military ships went to, but we also may be able to find the Kuvexians by finding more Rixxikor colony ships and analyzing their navigational computers to see where they have been," she speculated. "It shouldn't be difficult, as our sensor networks are finding two to five new Rixxikor colony ships appearing every day. They are really spreading out. Also, it's possible that we may find other Kuvexian military starships escorting their Rixxikor colonists like we did with Higaflan. As for the prisoner..." Hanako frowned, "...unfortunately he poisoned himself with a concealed nano-machine injector in one of his teeth as soon as he regained consciousness. The security cameras recorded him saying something about seeing us again in the next life, which may indicate he was a clone of some sort. At that point his body dissolved into a sludge."

 

[Samanthia]

Fort Hanako - Eucharis Hangar

Aikiko sat there listening to the others and when Hanako spoke. After careful thought with the information given and experienced, she spoke softly. "Sounds like an invasion. Instead of open warfare. Kuv's just send out a vast armada of fast breeding gluten buglike species with some intelligence to be a menace to the exiting populated planets. Infesting the planets with no regards to the natives. When there is interference, Kuv's show up to do a quick kamikaze strikes to throw everything in chaos, giving the Rix a chance to infest their new home. Or crash their ships onto a planet, knowing that just enough will survive to scatter, breed like crazy and consume food sources at a rapid rate to starve out those already there. When they encounter hostilities, they can meet the threat with overwhelming numbers. Once the planet has no food, Kuv's load the Rix on ships again to redo the tactic over again on a fresh planet, while they come and develop the recently vacated planet."

Aikiko shrugged "That's what I'd do against an established sector of space with an organized military to defend it." She then fell quiet again as this was the most she ever said at one time in a group environment.

 

[Blizzard]

Hangar, Fort Hanako

Jax glanced over at Candon, and his eyes widened a little. He raised his hand.

"Shoshoooooooo," Jax called like a first grade tattle-tail. "Spooky's trying to blow up a planet again!"

Jax chuckled a small bit. Candon was a bit broody sometimes, maybe a little serious, and sociopathic, but he had a brand of crazy that Jax loved to be around, and a knack for machines that garaunteed interesting conversations. Jax loved to give him a little shit sometimes, even if he knew that Candon could snap his neck like a toothpick. "Spooky" was his new favorite nickname, because of the black uniform.

 

[Yoshi]

Fort Hanako

Leaning against a wall at the back of the briefing area, Tony yawned. She was a little darker then her normal pale self, a side effect of the beaches about, but more then that she was hungover and tired. She just couldn't keep up with the bubbly energy a neko can put out. Most of the briefing washed over her and a bit over her head. Though she payed enough attention to put the concerns of these two new races in her next report to the home office. IT was something she knew her people should know about. Though there was a slowly growing feeling of betrayal she felt for the crew of the Eucharis. She had started feeling like she was spying on them. She knew Hanako knew about it, hell it was part of the deal, Tony was to report back with what she had been involved with. But she still felt it. Maybe the crew was growing on her?

 

[paladinrpg]

Fort Hanako - Eucharis Hangar

Umeshu listened to the report of the bugmen's colony ship movements from their leader's mouth, painting a rapidly increasing threat. She swallowed for a moment and let a "Yappari..." escape her lips, for she knew it was the truth. "They really were serious when it was spoken that there existed a quadrillion or more Rixxikor out there in space. If left unchecked, their rate of expansion could blanket the sector in months rather than years, and who is to say they stop at former NMX worlds? The bugmen will soon start to drain our already strained resources closer to home, and by then it will be too late to do anything." When Akiko spoke up about what she would do in the Kuvexian's shoes, it was met by a approving nod from the Shoi, the flower in her hairtie following the movement. "That's a very possible scenario you paint, Akiashiro-hei. They have little respect for life, and nothing to lose either by trying such tactics we might find extreme."

The young officer tried to project confidence about the situation, and prepared to offer her suggestions when Jax spoke up about Candon's actions. The manner he delivered it in an overdone, immature way made it so Hashimoto-shoi couldn't help but feel another little twinge in her heart for the Minkan engineer that interrupted her thoughts and sent another slightly pink streak across her wisteria-colored cheeks.

The ex-samurai Nekovalkyrja brought her emotion under control again, stammering a little bit as she did so and fixed her sage green eyes on the Captain. "H...Hanako-shosho, I don't doubt you can amass a task force of reasonable size in a short amount of time considering your reputation as a Ketsurui-hime..." She spoke these last two words with an inflection of great reverence. "With that do you think it would be possible to interdict one or more of these colony ships on the premise of some type of inspection being required to use our spacelanes? This would give cover to get our espionage team aboard, where Suites-hei and other SAINT Agents could hack into and download their ship AI's navigational records. If we could do this for several colony vessels, we may be able to trace them all back to certain key shared sources."

 

[Rizzo]

Fort Hanako
As Candon was preparing the station to become an enormous aether bomb he kept listening to the conversation until an idea formed in his head. Here he was getting ready to wipe the Rixxicor off the planet they invaded but that was only one colony. The real enemy was sending more colonies to other planets. He couldn't nuke them all. The real enemy were the Kuvexians. He needed to break them on a very deep level in order to claim victory.

"Assuming they would submit to a search we could pull off an old-school espionage job though I doubt they'll simply allow us to board. In the end, the Rixxicor species are a threat to our nation. SAINT cannot allow that colony ship to accomplish its mission but at the same time we don't want the enemy to know we're on to them. Right now SAINT is pushing for a no-survivor policy regarding those ships seeing as the Rixxicor are not immigrants because they allow themselves to be used as weapons against our economy. To make matters worse those colony ships appeared to be escorted by some sort of frigate. Not only will we have to get operatives the board their ship but odds are we'll have to do it in the heat of battle," Suites paused to think as what he was about to say would only in a bad light though he knew it had to be said.

"By now I'm sure it's obvious that I'm not a good guy. I've even been called a 'Yamataian terrorist' due to a classified mission I had the honor of running," his voice was gravely serious, "that pilot killed himself with the religious beliefs in an afterlife. Call it nirvana or reincarnation, our enemies religion has created both weakness and strength in their military. They will go to extremes that our soldiers will not. They will fight harder than most of our fighting force. It also doesn't help that since the end of the last war our military has experienced an alarming breakdown in military aggression, that's one of the reasons why I was assigned to Eucharis instead of a SAINT veteran. The truth of the matter is that if we want to beat the Kuvexians we need to hit them where it hurts.. Their religion. If we don't kill their God we'll have to kill every last one of them. We either fight dirty or commit genocide. The real trick is to find what it is that makes them believe in this 'next life' and make them watch it being destroyed."

 

[Reynolds]

Fort Hanako - Eucharis Hangar

Murakami perked up as she heard her name. She'd been startled, as 'I also agree with Mitsuko' wasn't something she heard very often, especially from their captain. Even the other Logistics Neko on the Eucharis disagreed with her rather frequently. She honestly had no problem with wiping out the Rixxikor they'd dealt with, although it seemed almost pointless to deal with the ones that were already entrenched. Better to destroy these colony ships before they could land. "If we're gathering a task force, hopefully of sufficient size, we should concentrate on pushing the Kuvexians and Rixxikor back. Destroy the guards and colony ships, follow them back to the source, or cause high enough losses for them to discontinue this type of approach."

She seemed a bit worried about the idea of infiltrating ships or going on a religious crusade. "...contact on an individual or social level seems ill advised, judging by their tactics and avoidance of capture. Force should meet force."

 

[Wes]

Fort Hanako - Eucharis Hangar

Shosho Hanako pulled up a starmap of known space on the viewscreen. "Speaking from an ethical and perhaps a legal standpoint, I am not sure we actually have the right to attack the Rixxikor colonists when they are outside of Yamatai Star Empire space. Setting aside the matter that starting wars is supposed to be approved in advance by the other nations of the Defense Alliance, the issue is that the ships are mostly outside our borders and, although some are escorted by the Kuvexian military, they seem to be filled with Rixxikor civilians, who are hostile to us because of Kuvexian propaganda and the fact that this crew recently has already destroyed one of their colony ships when we were in the Splorfin system. I get the impression that the Rixxikor are more desperate and manipulable than anything. The point is...this is not an invading military force in the traditional sense. Neither is it the type of threat the Star Army is used to facing. And the last time the Star Army had me go in and slaughter millions of civilians, it was a political disaster."

Hanako highlighted a large path on the screen. "According to SAINT's estimates, this scarcely-occupied region of Western space North of Daichi seems to be a likely path for them. Then they enter former Mishhuvurthyar/Nepelslian territory like where Higaflan is and settle there or snake into areas like Splorfin." Dozens of little markers shaped like little yellow Rixxikor heads appeared on the map, marking their ships as neutral targets. "As you can see, the former Mishhuvurthyar worlds seem to be the main zones for Rixxikor colonization for now but we can also see colony ships headed into the Yamataian Southeast Frontier, where the Star Army will inevitably have to confront them and make them move elsewhere, probably by force. But we learned from talking to them that there are quadrillions of other Rixxikor out there, and if that is true, I suspect we will never get rid of them. If they are easy to use as a sort of weapon, I say we go after their users. This is our neighborhood they are in, and it is here we can keep the Kuvexians from asserting control of the Rixxikor. To do this we keep the Kuvexian military from being able to fulfill its escort mission. At that point we position ourselves as leaders for the Rixxikor to follow, and command them to settle someplace where they bother us the least. While this is happening we get the alliance to sign off on the war, trace their ships back to Kuvexian space, and send in a massive fleet to eliminate the threat at the source. Does that sound like a good plan?"

 

[Blizzard]

Hangar, Fort Hanako

Jax silently groaned. It wasn't the danger of the mission that made him do so, or getting shot at. It was the fact that they'd probably bang up the ship and once again leave him and Cherry to run overtime trying to keep it from falling apart on the way home. He'd gotten to the point where not having a caffeine rush felt weird to him.

None the less, he saluted and grinned.

"Yes ma'am!" he replied. "Let's try not to lose a wing this time, though..."

He once more glanced at Umeshu, and inwardly winced. They'd be sealed in a metal tube in the middle of freakin' nowhere for what could possibly be the next couple of months. They were going to run into each other, just the two of them, at some point. They'd have to talk, something he was absolutely dreading. But, he reminded himself, they needed to.

Jax was no stranger to the idea of romance, a little more experienced. So unlike Umeshu, he wasn't having such overwhelming feelings about... whatever this was. But it was definitely there.

That could wait, though. It was time to call his family and start packing!

 

[Samanthia]

Fort Hanako - Eucharis Hangar

Aikiko studied everything that was presented on display as she listened to the others speak. Leaving an intact ship that held possible enemies after infiltrating, was just plain wrong as she remembered her time with the UOCPF and afterwards dealing with the pirates that preyed on stranded ship left by both sides of the war. Even dealing with ships that was suppose to be innocent turned out a trap for the unwary.

"If we are going to infiltrate these colony ship that suppose to be carrying the Rix..." Already depersonalizing them as she spoke in her soft manner. "... We need to be alert for Kuv Infiltrators riding along to create havoc and sabotage to gain more information about us. Even to the point of hiding smaller troop transports of the Kuvs. Even the outer worlds of Yamatai, have stored news feeds of battles with the Mishies to learn SAoY Strategies and tactics. And of our Allies," giving a brief glance at Stark as she continued to speak. "Also what about Repair Facilities and Supplies Depots that store weapons, fuel, even a few fighter crafts that may be outdated, but still effective in the hands of a skilled pilot. Even for intelligence data on some of the systems we still use today on SAoY Ships?"

She lowered her hands below the table top as she fell quiet to think and let her words sink in. Suddenly wishing she took the option of remaining a civilian or becoming a Mercenary.

 

[Zack]

Star Army Research Outpost "Ether Base"
Planet Ether, Ether System - YE 37
---
A brief gust of frigid air and the sound of howling winds hit Wazu as Jôtô Heisho Tokuhichi Erika entered the lab. She was one of the two Nekovalkyrja living with Wazu on the ice planet for the last two years. "Visitors!" she shouted in her familiar, powerful voice. "One shuttle."

"I'll put a pot of coffee on..." Wazu offered, pulling his jacket tightly closed now that the harsh ice outside of the base was very much inside of the base. "Did you invite anyone over? Or is this not a social call?" He had been hunched over a blood sample kit and a pair of data pads... though he currently lacked any blood to go in said kit. Both ended up being put away in a duffel bag under the work-bench as he headed toward the coffee pot he had setup in the lab.

"It's been a while since we got a supply run from logistics, so it is probably that. I also put in for a transfer to someplace warmer, but I have not seen any orders on the Star Army Communications network for me. I hope you are not offended I want to leave, but this place is depressing and our relationship was purely physical. I need to go somewhere where there are more people before I go crazy. And it's not like I'm stuck here as a punishment like Arnbjorg-Hei is. But it feels like it sometimes."

"Sometimes brief is nice... but I understand. I have not felt warm in years... you know my home world's average temperature hovers around 100... Besides, Ether is a place to leave things on ice." He said, pouring out the beans into the grinder, preparing the hot water, there wasn't much to do on this planet besides studying the natives, preparing food, and sleeping. Wazu seemed have gotten at least one of these tasks down. "I wish you luck in wherever you end up... you might want to consider bringing Arnbjorg with you,"

"Only if the Army permits it," Erika replied.

Outside, the shape of a T7 "Raccoon" cargo shuttle appeared in the snow, slowly coming to rest on an icy concrete landing pad. The rear door let out a groan as it opened and from the cargo area, a lone Nekovalkyrja emerged, dressed a black peacoat and sailor cap. She put her gloves hands up to her mouth and shouted an audible "Hello?" that was also accompanied by its encrypted telepathic equivalent.

Erika returned to the door and waved the visitor over to come into the portable outpost module that housed the lab and infirmary.

The Nekovalkyrja ducked inside quickly and removed her coat and cap, to reveal she was a green-haired, pale-skinned neko in a duty uniform. As Erika had expected, it was orange for logistics and supply. But something caught her eye. Instead of the usual STAR ARMY on the cap's ribbon, there was a name of a ship she recognized. The same ship that had rescued her from the clutches of the Mishhuvurthyar at Sbuhfaba years earlier. YSS EUCHARIS.

"Nitô Heisho Victory Kuroki," the visitor introduced herself, giving a little bow.

"Jôtô Heisho Tokuhichi Erika," Erika nodded respectfully.

"Heram Wazu," he said, waiting for the military introductions to finish before giving a little wave, "Can I offer you something warm? We've got a coffee pot in here, and I think there is still some tea in the kitchen module."

"Thank you," Victory said. "That sounds good. I usually prefer tea but if choosing the coffee means not leaving this shelter, I will take that."

"I apologize for not having it on hand, normally we have some warning before visitors arrive." He replied, waiting for the first cup worth to seep through into the pot. "I would offer cream and sugar, but those are both in the kitchen area as well." Once the first cup worth was ready, it ended up in a small cup, and brought over to Victory, Wazu careful to stay out from between the two Neko's and the military business he presumed them to be on.

"Mr. Wazu," Victory said, pausing to sip her coffee. "I have been sent on behalf of Shosho Ketsurui Hanako to request your services," she revealed.

Erika raised her eyebrows. When a Ketsurui was asking for you, it was usually important. They were essentially royalty.

Wazu looked frightened for a moment before turning back towards the coffee pot. "I see..." The Ketsurui family was very close, and a call from Hanako could mean any number of things. "After traveling so far it would be rude to refuse... Did she say what she wanted?"

"I am only allowed to say that is a matter of national security. Also she said to tell you that the threat to national security is not you, for clarification purposes. Your scientific and political expertise would be helpful to us as we develop a special task force to address a recently-developed situation," Victory told Wazu.

Wazu could remember when a statement like that would have brought a flood of thoughts to his head, but that part of him just seemed to be missing. He knew he could stay on Ether until he had frozen completely, or ask, "So when do we leave? Is she still commanding the Eucharis?" The question would feel weird in his mouth, Hanako was practically a warrior-celebrity, and not knowing what ship she was on reminded him of just how isolated Ether was.

"We can leave immediately," Victory replied. "Hanako is still commander of the Eucharis. The ship is on Hanako's World so it will be a long trip. Take everything you need and I can brief you on the way."

"Very well," He said before turning towards Erika with his best poker face, "I hope you find some place warmer."

"And I hope you don't screw up whatever galaxy-saving mission they put you on," Erika snarked. "But seriously, take care of yourself."

Wazu went in for a hug, though with the heavy jacket on it felt more like being enveloped in a pillow, "You too, let me know when they put you in charge of some warm beach-fortress somewhere." He would then quickly head for the door, feeling the sting of an awkward goodbye as he made his way towards the sleeper module to get his gear, and then towards the shuttle waiting outside.

 

[paladinrpg]

The purple-skinned officer thought about the proposal from their Captain and nodded. "So desu ka... As much as many of us may want to wipe them all out indiscriminately, we simply can't resort to such tactics. The Rixxikor -- though crude and uncouth as they may be to our lofty standards -- still are sentient beings functioning a lot like a wave of refugees into the edges of the Empire, albiet ones that are just a chaotic mass of useful idiots for their Kuvexian masters unless we can manage their future expansion instead. Seeing what happened at Higaflan, only direct military actions against the ships and other assets of the Kuvexians themselves are politically tenable at this point, as a justifiable act of self-defense after their escort's unprovoked attack on the Eucharis."

At this point Umeshu's softer features began to harden, as many definitely felt similarly that the SAoY needed to restore their face after such a disgraceful surprise attack. "Though, we must be cautious, too. Not only do we have to be careful of the civilians who may be unfriendly, but the enemy we face is not a rag-tag group of pirates but a well-equipped force with at least ships of cruiser size or perhaps larger, with starfighter escorts. And they utilize aether weaponry similar to our own... along with unknown biological technology, such as the unusual grenade that debilitated and eventually destroyed Suites-hei's Mindy."

The young Nekovalkyrja then paused, feeling Jax's eyes on her again. She met them with her own dark green ones for a brief moment, the two cat-like pupils quivering noticeably with hidden emotion, before she seemingly found a bit of battle data to occupy her on the display screen before her. Umeshu didn't want to keep rudely avoiding him like this forever, and a meeting of the two somewhere on duty was inevitable... but would it end up with another kiss was the question.