YSS Eucharis

The battered gunship had returned to Yamatai and was now safely landed at a starport on Yamatai, surrounded by cranes and repair equipment. The crew was now rested and healed and their leave on "ship repair leave" was just about to begin. In the early morning, Hanako entered Helen's room, dressed in her exercise uniform.

"I wanted to catch you before you left," Hanako quietly told the Shosa.

"Mm..." Helen sounded as she held her finger to her lips, climbing out of the bed which she shared with Yaichiro, quietly closing the distance with Hanako, as she spoke in a whisper. "He is sleeping, he has been busy aiding in repairs, could we continue in your cabin?" She asked, as she stood before Hanako clad in merely a bra and her SAINT-logo adorned PJ bottoms... and interestingly enough, a pair of fuzzy purple slippers.

"Of course," Hanako nodded, retreating from the small cabin. As she waited for Helen, she could hear the sounds of water and could smell a bit of humidity from the nearby shower room, as well as the clanking of dishes and the hum of fans from the wardroom up the stairs.

A nod came from Helen as she scooped up the top to her PJs, pulling it over her arms, and placing it on just enough to button one of the buttons in the front of the garment. As she stepped from her quarters, she looked to Hanako with an expression of passive curiousity, as she let the Taisa lead her along to the rebuilt quarters.

After passing through the empty bridge, they arrived at Hanako's cabin. It was very clean yet dim inside and smelled faintly of the woman's scent. Hanako took a seat on her bed. "We have a lot of changes. Yaichiro has probably told you he has accepted an offer from Seventh Fleet to serve on their flagship. I have been promoted to Shosho, and you...well, I wanted to ask where you were headed next."

Upon entering Hanako's cabin, she peered around the quarters, soaking in the sights as she also noticed the scent. It smelled like the quarters of a woman, not like the girl that Helen thought of Hanako as. Though, once Hanako began to speak, she paid mind to the words, nodding to the thing she knew in regard to Yaichiro, but when the mention of the promotion came along a sign of her shock was able to break through her well trained face; her brow furrowed for but a moment before once again becoming neutral. Her guts churned, she wanted to ask 'why', but she knew better as she went about dredging up a response to the question that was posed.

"Ma'am, congratulations on your promotion, I am glad that you have received it, and I am sure Taisho Yui must be proud." Helen said, stalling for the benefit of her thoughts, as she bowed in respect to the news, then continued as she spouted off the first thoughts that came to mind; "As for my current fate, I figure that I would likely wait for orders from SAINT, or the 1st. With Yaichiro's transfer, the purpose of my assignment is moot, in combination with the findings I was able to gather, simply that he is a good officer."

"You could request a transfer to follow him," Hanako pointed out. "I mean...you two are already sleeping together," she smiled.

"It was for the job." Helen interjected, quite simply, and directly.

"Ahh," the newly-minted Shosho grimaced. "Well...I do have another question for you."

"Oh? What would that be, ma'am?" Helen asked as she passively mused on the matter of sleeping with Yaichiro, which admittedly was a better part of her assignment to the Eucharis.

"What can you tell be about Hakujou Hakushi?" Hanako asked. "She was one of your crew on your cruiser. She has recently applied to the Eucharis."

"Oh... Haku-Haku." Helen could not help but to laugh upon thinking of the 'scientist'. "If you thought I was a blood thirsty ruthless monster, you haven't seen anything. Hakujou is vicious in regard to her methodology. For the benefit of her work, she would violate every facet of what our Empire deems 'ethical'. However, I am unsure of her current behavior since the implimentation of the Empress' current policies. Though, none the less, I would keep an eye on her if I were you, and keep track of discarded bodies and samples."

"I see," Hanako nodded grimly. "That sounds bad."

"Bad? Bad is truly a relative term. What we call 'Bad' was once the norm for our Empire." Helen stated, looking back upon her career. "Though, for her, perhaps she enjoys her job with a little too much zeal, even more than I have ever displayed in an interrogation."

"Speaking of interrogations, what do you think of these NMX nekos?" the golden-eyed captain asked. "I get the impression that they have not been able to...mature...into hardened soldiers. It is like they are normal nekos, thrown directly from the cloning chambers into the battlefield."

Helen welcomed the conversation straying back in the direction of talking shop, and on a subject which she would know a thing or two about. "Mmm, you are right. There is no sign that the Mishhu in proper have chosen to outfit their personnel with worthwhile supplies, equipment, or even training beyond what could be implanted during manufacturing. Honestly, I would think that if we were to carry out some morale damaging attacks upon their forces, they'd crumble simply because they have not learned to cope. They are frightened girls in the skins of warriors."

"We have seen firsthand that sometimes their will to live can outweigh their will to fight, especially when they are isolated," Hanako agreed. "Poor training is a weakness to any military."

"What hurts them above all else is that they do not seem to have superiors that they could look up to for enlightenment. They are commanded through fear, and by the simple fact that they are serving those which chose to create them. That is no way to promote professional and effective performance. Even I know to coddle a bit when personnel are green." Helen stated as she reflected on the matter of training, it was one of the more enjoyable jobs which she had the pleasure of being assigned during her service. "Though, the more the NMX hammer us into a corner, that produces more veteran personnel, which can learn from the conflict."

"I anticipate they will create some sort of mental super-soldier program where they select their best Nekovalkyrja and use their minds as the template for the newborns. They do not have laws that prevent mind duplication like that," Hanako conjectured. "If they do, over time we could see all NMX nekos born as seasoned zealots."

Helen let out a little chuckle; "Well, in that case, what would we do?" she asked before she drove her point to the next matter which she had to make clear; "With your new rank, it may end up being your job to make that decision, ma'am."

"We will keep fighting until we win," Hanako frowned. "Anyway, I was going to visit the onsen with the crew today. Are you interested in coming?"

A smile formed on Helen's lips at the words from Hanako, she mused on the Princess' tenacity, if only war was all about tenacity, then she would certainly be victorious. With Hanako's question, Helen decided that a little bit of R&R could possibly give her the time to reflect on her future, so, she spoke her reply; "Certainly, I would enjoy coming along."

"Alright," Hanako grinned. "We will depart after breakfast." With that, Hanako sent a message to all the crew offering them a trip to the hot springs.

After her meeting with Helen, Hanako went to the wardroom for breakfast. Mango had made thick and fluffy blueberry pancakes, ham and cheese omelets, a bowl of strawberry and banana slices, and steamed rice sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Hanako took a bit of everything and sat down with a glass of hot cocoa.

A volumetric display was showing the local news' weather report:

Outside Eucharis

Takeyu was up and out of the Eucharis, standing on the deck with his arms leaning up against the rails. He watched as a set of cranes removed parts of the ships hull, exposing damaged wiring and systems underneath for repairs. He had gotten up several hours ago, got some exercise in and did some repairs of his own before coming outside for a breather.

He wasn't tired anymore and was just observing the work being done. Thinking to himself, he was still in disbelief over his new rank, "A Warrant Officer now..." he muttered in a low tone while rubbing his chin curiously to himself. He had joined the Eucharis only two years ago, and had remembered the day he had meet the Shosho. I made a complete fool of myself that day, he smirked at his own thoughts. "Two years.. still can't believe it's been two years.." he shook his head before receiving the message from the Taisa.

Reading it over, his smirk shifted into a faint smile. "A hot spring eh? Sound's like a good time to just relax," with that he pushed off the rails and began to head back inside of the Eucharis.

Though, before he forgot, he decided to send a request to the Shosho.



Glancing at the gangway that lead into the ship, he stuffed his hands into his pocket and pondered a few things silently to himself. Though he was shocked when he suddenly got a response back from the Shosho.



"That was quick," he blinked and continued on into the Eucharis.

Sune had gotten up early and went to the rec room to exercise. While his body was fully recovered from the radiation poisoning, he wanted to see how it performed.

After his workout he showered while trying to adjust to the latest round of promotions. Hanako as something other than a Taisa just seemed strange. For most of his career that was the rank her knew her as. He did not doubt that her record for getting difficult jobs done was a factor. But he could not help but wonder if there were some political reasons for it as well.

Since he was off duty, Sune chose to wear civilian attire. He chose a pair of black slacks, and a burgundy long sleeve button up shirt. A black belt and black dress shoes finished the wardrobe, though looking in the mirror he chose to unbutton the sleeves and rolled them up neatly so they rested just above the elbow.

Grabbing his communicator and side arm he left his cabin and made his way to the Wardroom for breakfast.

Once in the wardroom he checked the morning fare, he selected the pancakes and a glass of orange juice. He crossed over to where Hanako was seated. "Good morning Ma'am, may I join you?"

"Of course," Hanako nodded. She quietly and politely began eating her food. After a while, she stopped and told Sune, "I have finally been able to promote you to full First Officer now that you have the rank. As for other personnel, we lost Helen, Yaichiro, and Armundo to transfers. Michael is still here, somehow. Overall the crew is a little short now. I have a medic coming for an interview this morning but Helen says she is demented."

Kyoto Military Starport, Morning

The Eucharis sat perched on the huge, flat starport landing pad like a resting bird of prey, her mutilated patchwork hull plates slowly being removed by cranes as the light rain fell all around.

A local Nekovalkyrja soldier with a Light Utility Truck ferried Hakujou to the ship. "Here she is," the young blonde said.

Hakujou looked up at the damaged ship from her seat in the back of the LUT. "My, my. The princess sure is given rough work it seems," she said with a soft whistle.

"The roughest," the neko said. "I'm heading back to the terminal. Good luck on your new assignment!" Once Hakujou was clear, she turned the vehicle around and headed off towards the buildings in the distance.

Hakujou waved goodbye to the neko, before glancing at her hand and the errant hair she managed to entwine. Pulling a small baggie out of her satchel, she placed the hair inside and then returned the baggie to her satchel.

The ship's rear cargo ramp was open, with two green-haired Nekovalkyrja standing in the doorway watching cargo movers unload standard starship cargo containers.

Hakujou randomly wandered over to the Nekovalkyrja loitering around the cargo ramp. "Hello, hello, I am looking for Princess Hanako, have you seen her?"

"Shôshô Hanako should be in the wardroom," the brown-eyed one of the two supply nekos replied after a quick identification check. "I am Victory Kuroki. This is Pineapple."

Hakujou smiled. "Can you give me some rough directions to the wardroom?" she asked.

"On the other end of the cargo bay is the Fabrication area. Pass through it and you will see the zero-G passage. The wardroom entrance is on deck one at the top," Victory explained, speaking loudly so she could be heard over the sound of the container handling vehicles.

Hakujou smiled and bowed deeply to Victory, before turning towards the ship and following said directions to the wardroom, while directly outside the wardroom, Hakujou cleared her throat and generally tried to make herself look more presentable, checking to see if she's got any loose hair. After a second to collect her thoughts, she opened the door.

Hanako could be found sitting with her XO, an attractive brown-haired, blue-eyed man with Taii rank on. They had just finished their breakfast.

"Good morning." Hakujou said in a polite tone of voice accompanied by a deep bow, "how is the princess doing today?"

"Hello," Hanako replied, a slight frown on her face for a moment. "I am well," she said, nodding her head. "You must be Hakujou Hakushi, here to apply for the ship's medic position." She offered Haku a polite smile.

"I'm quite honored you remembered me Shôshô-sama." Hakujou said. "If it pleases you, may we commence with the interview right now?"

"Of course," Hanako said, getting up from the table and excusing herself. She took Hakujou through the kitchen and down the cargo elevator to the medical lab.

Hakujou followed Hanako quietly, fascinated with the princess' new body design. "I must say Shosho-sama, your new body is quite beautiful."

The blue-haired admiral wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but she said, "Thank you." The medical lab still smelled faintly of blood and the cleaning chemicals used to clean up the gory scene recently in it.

Hakujou took a moment to breath in and taste the air from the medical lab, the smell of spilled blood and fluids, and the pungent aroma of the chemical cleaners used to mask and remove them, it was so familiar and comforting to the mad doctor. This was truly her home, and not Yamatai proper. "Ah, this smell, I assume that you had several casualties from your last mission."

"Yes. There were a number of crew members shot with particle beam rifles, in addition to one being trapped inside his fused-shut armor with his legs cut off. The biggest problem was the radiation poisoning we all suffered after Shosa Klein detonated an anti-matter warhead in our vicinity," Hanako explained. "During the mission I was attacked by parasites and mildly affected by their sedatives. One also bit my thumbs off while I was holding it back from chewing its way into me. It was a dangerous mission."

Hakujou turned to Hanako, an errant look of curiosity plainly visible on her face. "Radiation poisoning and- Wait, Klein did that?" Hakujou crossed her arms and looked up, a slight pout puckering her lips, "figures Helen'd do something that weird," she said.

"Speaking of her, she warned me about you," Hanako told Hakujou.

"Oh?" Hakujou looked at Hanako with honest surprise, or a very well choreographed faxsimile of surprise. "What about?"

"You tell me," Hanako replied, offering Hakujou a chance to explain herself.

"Well," she said, sitting in an open and not smelly chair. "What do you want to know about me?"

"Helen saiid you have ethics issues and something about discarded bodies and samples, and that your were vicious," Hanako elaborated.

Hakujou smiled at that, of course some if it was true, but Helen was an embellisher. "Shosho-sama, you need not worry, I am a strict adherent to the oath of medicine I swore when I completed my training, I never compromise my ethics regarding healing the sick, wounded or dying to the best of my abilities." She paused for a second to consider an answer to the second charge. "I admit I am a scientist as well as a doctor, my primary practiced field in that regard is genetics, so I do sometimes take samples of interesting people or species to examine and catalouge." She again paused to think of a proper response. "Now, as to the charge of being vicious, I was a member of a S.A.I.N.T. operation, and Helen had intended me to be an interrogator... Well, to be proper, she wanted me to be a torturer, they tend to be vicious. But, I assure you, I am not some mad dog that will snap at any hand that pets me." She said with a smile.

YSS Eucharis, Cabin 5

Michael Papadopoulos, now demoted two ranks to Yonto Hei, was bored. He didn't mind the demotion, because it was deserved, although the constant dirty looks he received from the rest of the crew did sting a bit. Just a bit, though. Michael was an elysian, proud and strong, and he would bounce back from this, like his people always did. Without many duties onboard the ship due to his position as infantry, Michael occupied most of his time helping with repairs and medical when he could. Despite this, he still had a considerable amount of free time, free time that he spent reading.


Michael was reading a romance novel, apparently of nepleslian origin, when he received the message from the Shoso. Not having anything better to do that day, and figuring that it couldn't hurt his relations with the rest of the crew, he decided to go.

Eucharis

Takeyu made his way slowly through the corridors of the ship, it took him only a short while to find the wardroom. When he arrived he looked inside and saw only Sune, not Hanako like he had expected. With a curious glance about the room he bowed respectfully. "Good morning Taii," he waited for a moment then raised his head.

Then he walked over and picked himself some pancakes with two omelets before pouring himself a glass of milk before taking a seat at the table.

Eucharis Corridor

After waking and getting some early exercise -- working out the remaining kinks in her previously injured knee -- Reika casually made her way through the interior of the Eucharis after receiving the Shôshô's message in order to acquire some much needed breakfast.

Wardroom

Upon arriving in the wardroom, the SAINT operative noted the presence of Hanako, Takeyu, Sune and prospective new crew member Hakujou Hakushi. She also noted the absences of Helen Klein, Kage Yaichiro, Armundo Soichiro and Michael Papadopoulos -- all of whom except Michael had transferred out once the Eucharis had set down upon Yamatai. The Elysian was probably still somewhere aboard ship.

"Good morning Hanako-Shôshô, Sune-Tai, Takeyu-Juni." the young neko said, addressing the assembled officers in a soft, respectful voice -- and paying extra attention to make sure she addressed them correctly by their new ranks.

Reika's attention turned towards the new crew woman and noting the rank insignia upon the medical officers uniform, she greeted her as well. "Good morning, Ittô Juni. Welcome aboard."

After acquiring for herself some of the remaining pancakes and a glass of orange juice, Reika took a seat with the others at the table.

"Good Morning Nayacesen-Nitô Juni, Tachihara-Nitô Hei. Congratulations on your promotions. They are well deserved. However, since we are on leave. There is no need to use my rank. San is sufficient." He replied with a smile.

He ate a piece of his pancake, and considered what Hanako had said. With the other officers departing, and his official appointment as First Officer Cabin One was now his. I will have to see about moving my personal affects to the cabin later. He thought, and then sent a message telepathically to Charisma.


"So are you two planning on going to be joining us at the hot springs later?" he asked as he picked up his glass of juice to drink.