YE 32 (after the events of Mission 8.4)

It was a quiet morning so far. Hanako looked over her messages...
The golden-eyed Taisa went to rouse First Officer Hamada.

Iella sighed and swivled her head around in both directions, not really sure where to go. After a moment's consideration, she decided it was best to go left, and even if she was wrong, she would beggin to learn the layout of the place she was to call home.

If worse came to worse she was surely bound to just stumble into somebody who could point her in the direction of Captain Hanako. A deep breath, and she was off, wandering the ship.

Sune upon waking went to the gymnaisum on the Dock. He warmed up with his standard kata and then got onto one of the treadmills. He selected a standard program that would vary speed and angle to give him a good workout.

As he settled into his jog, he considered methods he could employ to investigate. I could conduct a query of Yamatai Security Agency records. See what was the last location they had for the Bouken. But such a query would take time, and its not important enough to use the Eucharis' authorization to expedite. I will send another message and see if I get a response.

The treadmill signalled the end of the program. Sune then returned to his quarters took a shower, put on a clean uniform and sent a message to Raia, and another to the Bouken.

Okay, now that I have taken care of that, I think I will get some breakfast. he thought as he left the cabin.

Kumiko yawned, and rolled over, debating if it was worth get up just then to continue work on her latest design. She'd kinda hit a kind of writers block in it, and wasn't sure if continuing work would help at all. Deciding that she might as well get up now that she was awake, she quickly got her stuff together and went to go get a shower, being sneaky so as not to wake Junko up, in case she wasn't already up.

Ramiro woke, and immediately slammed his eyes back shut. Ugh, my head, now I remember why I don't like drinking. He waited a couple minutes and slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the light as they opened. Once he was convinced that he was ready enough to roll himself out of bed, he slowly got up and grabbed his clothing. On his way to the shower he quickly drafted a message



When Ramiro was satisfied with the message he sent it off and then continued on to his shower.

First Officer Hamada was already up, and mostly dressed, when the Captain came to call.

Of course, mostly dressed meant that she was not, at this point in time, completely naked. Her general appearance was that of someone who had in actuality only woken up several minutes before and had taken the time to put on most of the uniform, but who had not, as of yet, fixed her hair, donned her long skirt, or splashed water on her face.

When the door was answered, the face that greeted Hanako had several bobby-pins in its mouth. Hamada plucked them out to speak.

"Good morning, Captain. Do you know what they have for breakfast, this morning?"

ON: YSS Eucharis

"This morning we have waffles."

"Just waffles?" Hamada asked, taking one of the bobby pins and pulling her hair back away from her face. She fixed the dark green strands back on one side, and then began on the other.

"There is also bacon, eggs, and fruit salad," the Taisa added. "I need you to make sure everyone gets up and has their breakfast. We have a mission today."

The Taii tossed the rest of her hair back over her shoulder.

"Alright, I'll pass something over the ship's intercom, and have someone go around and make sure everyone is out of their rooms. Are we going to brief after breakfast?"

"Yes," Hanako nodded. She looked Hamada in the eyes for a moment. "This will be a dangerous one."

Hamada returned the look. Silver eyes met gold - the two locked for a few moments, before Hamada simply nodded. "I'll be ready in a few minutes. May I see the orders, or are they classified, this time?"

The golden-eyed captain nodded. "Something like that," she said. "It is a stealth mission to prepare a target for our main force's attack. We will have limited, if any, communication with home and will need to be stealthy. As you probably suspect, we will be tremendously outnumbered."

"Will the rest of the squadron deploy with us, or are we alone this time?"

"In the interest of stealh, it will be just us," Hanako said very seriously.

"Ah." Hamada put a hand on the doorframe, leaning, and considered in detail the bulkhead behind Hanako, her eyes distant. "So it's one of those. Would it be out of line to ask what you think of it, Taisa?"

"I am uneasy and apprehensive."

With a faint smile, Hamada returned her attention to Hanako. "You could say something a little more motivational, Taisa. But, I think I understand. We'll live, but it will hurt. Right?"

Taisa Hanako nodded reassuringly despite being totally unsure. "I will see you in the wardroom when you are doing getting everyone out of...hangover mode."

Hamada nodded, then, her expression searching and her light-gray eyes still seeming to gaze into some place far off; "If you do not mind me saying, Taisa, you should perhaps see to yourself as well. Right now, I can feel how worried you are, and if you stand in front of the crew like that, I think they might also worry."

The captain's unease was replaced by irritation. "Perhaps I should be angry instead," Hanako growled, hurriedly leaving the room.

END

Takeyu yelped as he smacked the top of his head on the bed above him; he always had a dislike for cabins, but more so if he was on the bottom bunk.

Rubbing his head, he got out of bed and let out a yawn; he had only been assigned this bunk not that long ago and wanted to get some quick z's before doing anything. "Shortest nap I've had," he commented and grabbed everything he needed for a shower.

He opened his locker and retrieved his uniform and draped it over his shoulder, then he popped his neck a few times and stretched his arms up into the air to relieve his tired body. "Guess I'll go take that shower, doubt the Taisa wants a smelly tech on duty," he said and walked out of the cabin. "So, I wonder what our next mission is going to be.... should be interesting," he smiled nervously.

Sune entered the wardroom surveyed the breakfast offerings and selected for himself some eggs, bacon, toast. He added a glass of juice to his tray and walked over to the main table. I wonder what state the other crew members will be when they arrive? I suspect a few of them will be a bit worse for the wear with the alcohol being freely consumed.

He proceeded to start eating his breakfast. "Charisma, what is the status of the repairs on the Eucharis?" He hoped that the ship would be ready to get underway soon as he was looking forward to being on the bridge.

As Iella wandered, the smell of breakfast wafted down the halls. Having still seen no-one, she figured her nose was most likely the best thing to follow at the moment.

As she turned the corner, she found herself in the wardroom, and it was almost completely empty except for the man (Sune) she saw sitting at a table. She approached him.

"Excuse me, do you know where I can find Captain Hanako? My name is Iella Remi; I'm a new recruit." She said easily, walking around the table to see him better.