Tasuki Uso
10/2/03 19:40

[GSS Seigi] Caring 

ON> GSS Seigi

Kai just got done sending the intelligence report to Taisho Wolf and the analysis to Wazu. He finished his burger and threw the saran wrap into the disposal system; he walked out of the Intel office and saw Uso in the hallway. "Uso, I have something I want to talk to you about." He said.

Uso stopped walking towards the galley. "Ya?" Uso asked as she turned around and raised an eyebrow at Kai.

"I don't appreciate your uncaring attitude. Don't you care about anyone?" Kai asked with serious on his face.

Uso thought about it for a moment, "No... Not really."

"And why is that?" Kai asked, walking up to her and looking at her closely.

Uso chuckled slightly, "I gave up on that long ago," she said as she turned away from Kai and resumed walking back down the hallway.

Kai pretty much already knew why, but he wanted to see if she'd admit it. Though he wasn't expecting one.

Kai grasped her by the shoulder. "Not so fast young lady." He said, sounding like a parent. "It's because you're scared, scared that if you care, the object of your affection will be torn away from you...like that family was." Kai said knowingly.

"Something like that," Uso said without turning around.

"You know, holding it in and bottling it up will only make it worse." Kai said. "I know you feel like you can trust me. So please tell me." He said.

"I don't have any reason to care." Uso said, "If I care, the people I care about will die, Eventually.. I just gave up, I live just for myself now.,” she said as she put a hand over Kai's and gently lifted it off of her.

Kai kept his hand where it was. "But you feel empty inside. Deep down inside, you want someone to care for you, you want to care about someone." He said. "Just because you care about someone doesn't condemn them to die." 

"I don't need you to tell me what to think." Uso said, "I just don't care... that’s all there is to it," 

"You may try to portray that illusion to others..." Kai shook his head and chuckled a bit. "But it doesn't work on me."

"It isn't an illusion." Uso said, "I don't see why I should care." 

Kai shrugged. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say Uso." He said with an ever so slight chuckle.

Uso brushed his hand off her shoulder and continued walking, "And I suppose the next thing your going to say is that I should care?" she asked sarcastically.

Kai sighed as she went. "You have to realize that, I can't do it for you." He said.

"If you say so Kai!" she yelled out behind her as she reached the door of the galley.

Kai sighed, shook his head and turned to leave. ~She'll come around.... Eventually. ~ He thought as he did.


Lavinia Taiensho
10/3/03 9:21

[GSS Seigi] Time after 

After the Minion carrying the three seraphs had been blown to pieces, Lavinia walked to her room where a feisty Siaga awaited her, she laughed and knelt down as he jumped up and pawed at her trying to get her attention. As she knelt down, Siaga leap tackled her onto her back, onto her bed and ran up her slender body and licked her face gratuitously, making her giggle and laugh in delight. After a thorough round of grooming by the puppy, Lavinia eventually sat up and stroked the young wolf's soft fur as he curled up and fell asleep on her lap. "I always did have a thing for puppies." She said as she sat there petting the little beast.

Siaga couldn't be happier, he was getting a temporary relief from his ADD (inside joke, let's see if you get it). He rolled onto his back, asking for her to rub his belly. Contented groans issued from the puppy as Lavinia smiled and scratched and tickled the furry underside gently.

Lav looked up and around her room and noticed how...sparse it looked. She gently set Siaga aside and picked up a duffle bag and rummaged through it. Siaga jolted awake and ran out the door and onto the bridge. Lavinia giggled and let him sniff around the ship. She pulled out a few well-read books and placed them in a small box near her bed, afterward she withdrew an old antique wakazashi Ritsu had given her years ago, it wasn't sharp, but it wasn't an energy weapon either, for some reason, it held sentimental value to her. She carefully placed it on its stand then set it on a nearby desk. Fastening it to the desk with high powered magnets that activated in anti-gravity situations.

She spend a bit of time arranging her room how she wanted it then laid back on her bed for a moment to relax...and fell into a light sleep.

---Meanwhile---

After Siaga had escaped Lavinia's room, he pawed at Wazu's leg asking for attention, but when he didn't get it he wandered out of the bridge and began sniffing around the ship, detecting faint, residual seraphim scents that made him growl softly. He mentally shrugged when the scent didn't get stronger, and continued on his merry way through the halls of the Seigi. He smelled something...something vaguely familiar... Siaga grew excited and ran off in the direction down the air vents toward the hangar bay, following Ritsu's scent. Ritsu decloaked and sat down to rest for a moment. Siaga's small, yet intelligent mind alerted him. ~Alpha Male!~ he exalted and ran his little puppy self up to Ritsu and jumped into his lap and up on his chest knocking him over in surprise. 

"Ooph! ahhhh I'm being attacked by a friendly puppy!" Ritsu laughed out loud as Siaga licked him happily. Siaga was overjoyed to see the one whom he shared a kinship with, as a pack leader. Ritsu laughed and played with the playful puppy, making low growling sounds and playing in a thoroughly wolf-like fashion, but being careful not to hurt the young one. Siaga played right back until he was tired out and climbed into the now sitting Ritsu's lap and fell asleep.

Ritsu smiled a warm, friendly grin and carefully picked the puppy up and carried him gently as he walked through the halls, the only civilians on the ship. He petted Siaga who was again making contented groaning sounds.

--Back in Lav's room--

Lavinia had dozed off into a light slumber, experiencing pleasant dreams as her memories of Ritsu came back fresh and clear, without the panic and fear of starship battles. She found herself walking along the halls gently leaning on him affectionately as they headed for class in the academy so many years ago...


Acara
10/3/03 10:24

[GSS Seigi] Emotional confusion 

After the battle, and most of the repairs were finished Acara hurried toward the minion bay. He had heard that there had been fighting in there, and that was were Tomoyo was. ~Please say there is nothing wrong.~ he thought as he hurried down the passages. 

Tomoyo appraised the damage dealt to the little vessels she was in charge of maintaining in the minion bay. ~ No.. this won't do at all...~ She frowned, not at all happy that they had lost ships and others damaged. But she was simply grateful that they still had some as well as the Seigi.

Acara came rushing up to the door. When He got there he realized how stupid he would look if he burst in. He opened the door and looked around. After a second he spotted Tomoyo and move over to here. "Glad to see you came through it all ok." Acara had a look of relief on his face as he approached. 

Tomoyo's expression didn't change as she gave the minion she was standing in front of a visual scan. "It's easy to hemosynch me.. but the minions didn't fair as well.."

Acara's face took on a look of shock at her comment. "You mean you don't care if you die?" He asked in an addled voice.

"I do care if I die." Tomoyo paused her appraisal and looked at Acara. "I'm sorry that I scared you. I'm just frustrated that the Seraphs disabled our minions so early in our mission. I do care, I really do." She tried to offer him a consoling smile.

Acara lower his head for a second. It was not that easy for him to shake off her last comment. "There are new ones being transposed here now. We should be back at full capacity soon. By the way I sent Hikari to help in the med bay. It is less dangerous there"

"That's good. Hikari's adapting well to this new ship and her new body. She's happier now that the trial is over. I trust that you faired okay?" Tomoyo appraised her friend's overall condition for a moment, like she would a ship.

Acara nodded. "We had some sabotage. My crew and I took care of it but the saboteurs went in right back after us. All the major repairs are done, and they are just working on the minor stuff." Acara pushed those troubled emotions into the back of his mind.

"That's good, but what about you personally? I'm sorry that my comment upset.. I wasn't really thinking when I said it..." Tomoyo frowned, concerned about Acara's body language and the saddened look in his eyes.

"I'm doing good. The Chief tech thing is a bit of a hassle, but I guess they put me here for a reason........I just hope I don't get any special room or anything." Acara laughed a bit. Then he moved to look at the minion she had been looking at. "Do you know what is wrong with it?"

"I don't think Wazu is as concerned with crew quarters as Taisho Ketsurui was. But.." Tomoyo looked back at the minion, refocusing her attention to it. "Right now it just appears to be some outer hull damage and the weapons' systems might have sustained some damage as well but I'd have to open her up and take a good look to make an accurate judgment."

"I meant a room for the rank." He moved even closer to the ship. "Mind if I take a look?"

"Sure. I don't think you'd do anything to hurt her." Tomoyo smiled softly. "I haven't seen much of Wazu since we moved onto the ship.."

Acara slid out of his uniform and into the minion. "Ya, He has been rather busy with the attack and all." Acara's voice echoed out of the minion interior. "Ah this weapons system got a heavy jolt.......I think its computer is fried." He slid back out and into his shirt. 

"We might be able to bring her back still. It'd be a waste to have to give up on her." Tomoyo sighed softly, it was going to be a long night to try to get these ships repaired. "I want to get an idea of how much we can do before assigning anyone to start repair work. If it is a total loss then we don't need to waste the time on repairing it. But hopefully, there won't be too many that fit that diagnosis..."

Acara nodded. "I can spare some extra people, if you need them. They'll be in here anyway repairing the damage to the ship. Well at least we don't need to many rebirths." 

"The Seraphs were targeting our hands and not our heart this time. Thank you, I guess I'll give you a heads up once I figure out what exactly needs to be done here... how are handling having full command and responsibility of your own crew?" Tomoyo asked, her eyes scanning the scarred hull of the minion again before looking back to Acara.

Acara smiled. "It is a bit of a hassle, but to see them do well, and be proud of their job is one of the greatest rewards." He turned and looked in Tomoyo's eyes. At that moment he stopped not knowing what to say.

Tomoyo tilted her head to one side, looking at Acara curiously in the strange silence that seemed to fill the room. Her eyes shined in the light, as she wondered why Acara had stopped speaking. She didn't want to ask because she feared that she might disrupt his train of thought.

Acara shook his head and looked away. "I wonder how Hikari is doing." He said as a way to change the subject

Tomoyo blinked a bit, confused by the change of subject. ~What was that about?~ "I guess she's okay. Inari would've told us if anything had happened to her... I wonder how everyone else faired.."
Acara did not look back. He seemed to be examining a piece of the damaged hull. "I don't really know, This ship is way bigger than the Yui, but I guess we will learn in time." Acara was feeling rather strange and he was doing his best to cover it.

"Yeah.. I guess... did I do something to offend you Acara? You’re not really saying anything to me?" Tomoyo frowned, not sure why he wasn't looking at her as he talked to her like he normally did. 

Acara stopped and looked back at her. "I don't know I just feel ..........." He was at a lose for words, and just stood there. 

"I’m sorry.. I'll just go do my work then." Tomoyo turned and walked toward the far end of the bay to look over the minions on that end. She softly bit her lower lip unsure of why Acara was acting strangely but she thought it was something that she had said. 

Acara crossed the bay and moved up behind her. There he placed on hand on her shoulder. "It's not you, ok. I just don't know what it is. I do know that it is not your fault. Please believe me." Acara's shoulders fell a little as he turned to leave.

Tomoyo didn't say anything as Acara left, she looked towards the nearest minion, not quite sure what exactly was really going on here. She was just confused by it all, why was her friend acting so funny?

In the corridor Acara sighed. "I guess I'll see how the repairs are coming." And he headed off toward his crew.

She looked towards the bay door when she heard the door shut once more. Things felt off for some reason, Tomoyo just didn't understand what to make of it. "I wonder what that was really about.."

When Acara got back to his crew he immersed himself in his work to keep his mind of the horrible way he felt. ~I guess that’s how life roles. I just don't understand it. Maybe I'll talk to Keenara later about it.~


Aeriyon Elisias
10/2/03 14:14

[GSA Frontier Refuelling Station] Meeting people 

Lucia walked out of the docking area and headed into the city, looking for someone who would be willing to exchange an Elysian shuttle for a Ki-TI shuttle. She sighed inwardly, this could take quite a while. She started down a street, on either side of the road sat a few taverns and bars full of people of various races. She walked into one, asked around, and walked out having found nobody who was willing to trade. Lucia sighed and continued on looking around in the various taverns, only encountering cat calls and frustration. She walked out of the last tavern on the right side of the street, and headed down a lonely alley, and when she was sure that she was alone, she shifted into Riyon's angel body.

~I might get more attention...and respect if I'm a guy for this~ He thought. Magnus walked out of the alley a few moments later, his solid blue eyes swept around the street. He walked into the tavern that Lucia had just come out of and walked up to the counter.

"Give me something hard." He said in a surprisingly authoritative voice to the bartender, who quickly got out a mug and poured a brown beer into it. Magnus accepted the beverage and paid the man a few KS. The tender looked a bit suspicious, but accepted the money anyway. Magnus took a drink and restrained himself from making a face at the strong taste. He looked around, and spotted another Elysian sitting not too far away, he stood up and walked over. 

The angel looked up at Magnus as he approached, he had a mug, but it looked as if it wasn't drunk out of. "What do you want?" He asked in tired voice, he was dressed in what seemed to be mechanic's clothing; loose fitting and torn in several places.

"Just to ask you a question, do you mind sir?" Magnus asked respectfully.

"I suppose not, there's nothing else happening in here." The angel said loftily.

Magnus pulled up a chair and sat down across the table from him. "I'm looking to trade a brand new Ki-TI for a decent Elysian shuttle." Magnus said bluntly.

"And? Why do you want to do that?" The angel asked warily.

"Those shuttles are hard for me to pilot, I prefer the shuttles made by the Elysian Celestial Navy." Magnus said. "I was hoping that you could tell me where someone would be willing to exchange it." 

The angel eyed Magnus up, "I could tell you where to find someone to trade, but I'd have to see what you're offering first." 

Magnus's eyes lit up, "You could eh? Well, come along with me and I'll show you what I have to offer." He said hopefully, the angel looked fairly young, maybe 18-20 years old. "I'm Magnus Tieriel." He said in a friendly fashion.

"I'm Gabriel Narien." The young angel said standing up. "Let's go have a look at this shuttle of yours." He said and started for the door. Magnus was quick to follow.

It didn't take more than a few moments to reach the area where the Ki-T1 was docked. Magnus lead Gabriel right up to it. "Hmm..." Gabriel said, looking around the external features of the shuttle. "I'm surprised, when most people bring things in they want to trade, the item is usually quite beaten up and in need of repair. Are you the person who maintains it? Or did you steal it from a starship?" Gabriel asked with a sardonic grin.

"I maintain it, she still runs perfectly, if not a little hard to handle at times." Magnus said as he watched Gabriel inspect the shuttle.

"Well, for a shuttle in this good a shape, I'm sure you'll get her to trade for it. I have a friend living not too far from here who's into remodelling all sorts of shuttles and other mechanical things, she might want to use some of these parts." Gabriel said approvingly. He walked away from the shuttle. "Come on, I'll show you where you can find her."

Magnus walked after Gabriel and soon walked beside him. "Who is this friend of yours? May I ask." He asked in polite, respectful tone.

"Her name is Arianna, you might like her." Gabriel said as they walked past a couple bars heading down a well-lit street.

"I might just, if she'll take that thing off my hands." Magnus laughed good-naturedly.

They continued on in silence for a bit until Gabriel spoke up again. "Where are you from Magnus?" He asked complacently.

In his mind Riyon sweated for a moment, trying to remember the name of the Elysian home planet. "I'm from Elysia Novus." He said after a moment. "I like to travel quite a bit, that's how I ended up with the shuttle back there." He replied.

"Ahh, Arianna does that a lot too, I suppose that's why she likes to tweak mechanical things. I'm not much into it myself, but I'd love to get off this boring rock." Gabriel chuckled. "I was stranded here after a ship I was on got destroyed." 

Magnus winced. "That is quite unfortunate."

Gabriel nodded in agreement it didn't seem too long before they reached the place where Arianna lived. They walked inside the main building, it was littered with random parts to various ships and other things. Magnus whistled loudly at the...mess. Gabriel laughed at Magnus's whistle and looked around, "HEY! ARIANNA! There's someone here to see you about something." He called up into the room.

Magnus looked around the garage-like room. There were all sorts of mechanical parts laying on various shelves and bins. He could tell that this person really liked playing with machines. Gabriel noticed Magnus looking around and grinned "Ever seen a mess like this?" He asked with a chuckle.

Magnus perked an eyebrow; "Never have." He said.

"Just give me a second, will you?" Came a voice from under an Elysian style car. After a few seconds, a blonde angel slid out from under the vehicle on a board on wheels. "You always were a pushy one." She said in a light voice. As she stood up Magnus noticed that she was tall and had beautiful blue-gray eyes. "So, who is your friend Gabriel?" Arianna asked as she extended her hand to Magnus.

Magnus blushed very slightly and grasped her hand lightly and shook it. Gabriel snickered and elbowed him in the side. "She's cute isn't she?" He asked in a voice he hoped she wouldn't hear. Magnus didn't answer, just reddened his blush slightly.

"I'm Magnus, I was looking to exchange a Ki-T1 for a decent Elysian shuttle. And Gabriel here said you might be interested in what I have." Magnus said, absently blowing his bang out of his eyes.

Arianna smiled and wiped some grease from her cheek, she then looked at Gabriel, annoyed. "I told you to stop trying to hook me up a long time ago." She turned to Magnus, her smile returned. "Well, well, well, I've been looking for something like that for a long time now, and I think I have just what you're looking for. Come over this way." She led them over to what appeared to be an Elysian fighter. It appeared to be in good condition, but only had room for a pilot and a small amount of cargo. "When I bought it from the military, they had disabled all the weaponry." She coughed slightly. "But they work now."

Magnus smiled. "I believe that should work, what kind of weapons does it have?; and how fast can she fly?" He asked, still giving her the handsome smile.

Arianna smiled, "Well it has two minor beam cannons on the port and starboard sides, with 6 beam eyes along the hull, and a large pulse cannon on the main body. Plus the organic regeneration system I enhanced, along with a stable shield system. What did you have to trade for it?" She said proudly.

Magnus continued to grin, this was getting better and better. "I have a fully functioning Ki-T1, perfect condition." He said.

"He's telling the truth, I examined it for myself, it's still in the docks." Gabriel said.

"Why don't you bring it here so I can see it?" Arianna asked nicely.

"Got an area to park it?" Magnus asked.

"Of course she does, do you really think she'd have all this without having a scrap yard of sorts? It's out back." Gabriel explained. Magnus nodded and walked out of the building, he spread his pure white wings and took to the air and flew back to the docks.


Gabriel grinned and looked at Arianna, "What do you think of him?" He asked, grinning slyly "Is he your type?"

Arianna gave him a flatfaced glare. "You never give up do you?" She proceeded to grill him a while then sent him out after Magnus.

Gabriel walked out laughing, he took to the air after Magnus, he was a bit faster and caught up with him as he walked into the docks area. "Hey, wait up, you need someone to show you where to land it." He said.

Magnus turned and looked a bit sheepish. "I suppose so." He said. Magnus headed for his small shuttle, unlocked it and hopped in and got into the pilot's chair. Gabriel followed, awed by the niceness of the interior and stood behind the pilot's seat. I was a matter of minutes before they were in the air, and a few more before they landed on a pad in Arianna's backyard. Magnus and Gabriel got out and looked for her.

She came walking out a side door, her eyes widened slightly and she ran over to Magnus's craft. "WOW, this is nice, where'd you get it in such good condition?" Arianna jumped in and begun looking around, "Yes this is what I've been looking for. You see, each nation goes about a different way of the same technology.. I am studying GSA style now, I hope to make one with the best of both ideas of each. Well, enough about me. This is a good deal." She extended her hand to finish the deal.

Magnus smiled and took her hand sealing the deal. "You know, I have a group of friend's somewhere that would love to use your talents." Magnus said, looking into her eyes.

Arianna walked him back to the Elysian fighter. "Well, here's your ship." she handed him a cardkey. "this is a lock I installed." She said proudly.

Magnus nodded in acquiescence, he felt himself starting to like this angel, she was beautiful, kind, tomboyish... "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it." He said.

Gabriel laughed and walked off, seeing his expression.

She laughed. "It's no problem, you brought me a good trade, I'm glad to have met you." She said, she then turned and threw a bolt at Gabriel as he walked away. Then put her new shuttle into the bay.

Gabriel staggered and turned around and glared at her as she walked to pull the shuttle in then walked off. Magnus walked to his fighter and took a moment to become familiar with the controls, he pulled it out of the hangar. He sent one last communication. "I'll see you again, after I've done my job." He sent to Arianna.

He pulled the fighter around. "You owe me a bit more than this shuttle, Come back here after you've done what you have to do and we'll talk about it." the response came over the system. He smiled and rocketed off into dangerous elysian space...


Kai Ashigari
10/3/03 17:17

[GSS Seigi] Having a look around 

After his little chat with Uso, he decided to go for a walk around the Seigi to try and get a better feel for her. He closed his eyes and swept the ship for anything out of the normal. He hit a reading somewhere in the fighter bay, but didn't think to go have a look. He instead strolled around the top deck, looking into the various recreation rooms and other assorted amenities on the Seigi. Kai was pleased to note that this ship was absolutely huge.

He went to the bridge to have a look around, and not finding anything he could help with, he continued his walk around the ship. He felt the empathic feelings again. ~Hmm...someone's experiencing a powerful sense of disappointment mixed with frustration.~ He considered. He decided to walk down there to try and help the poor person. 

Kai walked down the hallway, through the air vent to the hangar bay and whistled loudly, these were more fighters than he'd ever seen in one place. Kai walked through the hangar following the trail that the feelings were giving off until he reached a small ship. "Hello?" He called.


Alexis Jaren
10/3/03 19:04

[GSS Seigi] Letter to a Friend and other things 

Dear Chiharu,
Hi, it's Alexis. I'm back from leave...I know it wasn't authorized, but no one has put up much of a fuss about it so I think just that once it was alright. If you want, I'll tell you what I had to leave for later. 
Heard you got transferred to a ship with your name on it, congratulations! Is Nanashi still with you? Has PNUgen found out about her being taken off of quarantine? She and Sai seemed to be getting along well when I left. I hope you three are alright.
The Seigi just came out of a fairly large skirmish...the ship performed well, though, as did her crew. It's strange, most of the crew I have seen around the Seigi have been AI constructs...I doubt we even have half the crew needed to run this place, fighter and corvette pilots aside. It's not at all like the Yui.
Well, I hope to hear from you sometime soon.
Signed,

Taisa Alexis Jaren
Second-in-Command, GSS Seigi





Alexis sent the message to the GSS Ketsurui Chiharu then sent another message, a highly-encrypted burst transmission through the Cat's Claw comm system. After that was done, he sat back and sighed softly. How long was he planning on staying here, anyway? Alexis stared at the ceiling a bit, then left his quarters. Walking through the bridge he noticed that Wazu was STILL interfaced with the Seigi and some of the bridge crew had left. He exited the bridge and walked to Engineering. Now he knew why this ship carried four AM/M reactors...it needed them. He didn't know of any other ship that could create black holes like that. The shifter stopped a passing Neko and inquired as to the whereabouts of the Chief Engineer and learned that Acara had left to the shuttlebay. "Okay then...I guess I'll try again later. Thanks," Alexis said, then left Engineering. 


Ketsurui Chiharu
10/4/03 1:46

[GSS Ketsurui Chiharu] Kaigishin 

The Ketsurui's voyage so far was rather uneventful, they had been lucky that they had not encountered any enemy vessels.
Taisho Ketsurui herself, sat in her chair as Taii Aya maintained their speed as she remained interfaced to the ship. 

The importance of their new mission weighed heavily on Chi's mind, she was to search out and destroy Elysia Novus to neutralize the Elysian threat. Chi frowned, the words tasted bitter when she had briefed the crew on the mission. She did not like the idea of taking out an entire planet to save their own because, even though Elysia Novus is probably military bases and encampments- there were still going to be a lot of civilians around. On every military base or surrounding the base is always housing for the family of the soldiers or the civilians that help maintain the base. Did those innocent people deserve death as well? 

The war had been bitter in the past and already, many had died for both causes. But, did it really need to come down to this- take out the planet before they take out ours? There had to be another way to end this war without a bloodbath. Chi didn't want to kill anymore innocents like she had supposedly done during the Heavenly Wars. Killing this generation of Elysians would do nothing but fan the flame of hatred and war for another 20 and there would be no turning back. Maybe, just maybe if she could just get a hold of an Elysian in power who felt the same... 

"Would I be able to pull it off without meeting a fateful end?" Chiharu suddenly spoke a loud and startled the bridge crew. The ship jumped a bit as Aya jumped herself hearing Chi's voice suddenly break the silence that had settled over the bridge for the past few hours.

"Pull off, what, Ketsurui-dono?" Izumi asked curiously from behind the Communications console as it started to come to life itself. "Oh.." Izumi was startled by the change in the console but she checked it anyway. "Ketsurui-dono, you have a letter from Taisa Jaren."

Chi smiled softly at this, something to preoccupy her troubled mind. "Thank you Izumi, please send the message over to my data pad."

Izumi did as she was asked and Chiharu quickly read over the message, the smile remaining on her face. The Taisho was relieved that Alexis was back again and that the Seigi had faired well in their first battle with the Elysians. She would have to send him a reply when she could figure out what exactly she wanted to tell him. Her mind wandered back over to the subject of the war and a possible way to reach a peaceful resolution before both species were annihilated in the war. She knew that deep down, that there were others that felt the same way- Elysians and Geshrins alike that wanted peace but were too afraid to speak up. She decided that she would find a way to end this war, even if she died in the progress of trying to obtain peace.

Lavinia Taiensho

[GSS Seigi] Time to wake up 

Lavinia had been napping in her room, experiencing pleasant dreams of things that had happened in the past, before she got assigned to any starship. Her dreams had begun at the beginning so to speak.

--Dream-- (From her point of view)

I had been born in the PNUgen main building, I had beautiful dark green hair and lustrous blue eyes. To be able to carry out my duty, I was sent to the Imperial Academy to gain more knowledge. 

I was supposed to be a medical officer aboard some starship, but...something happened to change my mind...for the more dangerous. I was on my way to my human physiology 'class' when I crossed paths with the one I'd grow to love.

He was rough-looking and tough, but when our eyes met, I saw a hidden pain, a deep feeling of loneliness, and a strange gentleness that did not match with the rough-and-tumble appearance. I didn't know where he was going, but I did hope to see him again, I didn't think too much more of it, I just continued on with my day as was expected of me.

I was sitting under a tree reading a textbook of all things, I saw him walking by, heading toward the dormitories. He looked beaten up and quite tired, but he saw me and came over. An electric jolt went through me when he first spoke...he said; "Hello there." I was glad he had come by to talk, I was hoping that he would, we engaged in small discussion. 

After which, he came by every now and then just to see me...at first I didn't know why, but it soon became apparent that he had feelings for me. I found myself becoming more and more attracted to this dog-eared male. After a while, we started walking through the halls to classes, it became harder to separate us, when we weren't together, I found myself thinking about him; a comforting feeling of warmth washed over me every time I did. I knew inside myself that he was thinking about me as well. 

He had somehow gotten hurt in one of the more intense physical training classes, I saw him after that, he carried a pained look. I decided to try and cheer him up, so I went over and hugged him gently and laid my head on his shoulder, I could tell by doing that he was feeling better.

--Back in Reality--

Lavinia smiled in her sleep as the pleasant dreams ended, she awoke feeling happy and refreshed, she had been sleeping for only an hour or so. She got up and walked toward the door, it slid open as it usually did, she was feeling a bit hungry so she headed down to the galley to get something to eat.


Tasuki Uso
10/5/03 10:51

[GSS Seigi] flight school 

ON> GSS Seigi

Ritsu was wandering around the hallways of the Seigi, carrying the sleeping puppy. "This place is absolutely huge."

Two A.I. neko's were walking down the hallway carrying GP-12's and wearing flak vests

Ritsu looked at them curiously. "Where are you ladies going? Making sure nothing else is on the ship?" He asked, as he stroked the sleeping puppy.

"Wazu had asked for secondary scans of the ship." One of the neko's responded.

Ritsu chuckled. "That’s just like him." He said.

"How so?" One of the neko's asked as the other walked down the hallway, She had short white hair and looked fairly plain although she was still attractive.

"Well, from what I remember, Wazu was always a bit paranoid and very thorough." Ritsurin said stopping for look at her. Siaga woke up and jumped out of his arms and proceeded to sniff at the neko.

The neko nodded in acknowledgement and paused for a moment, "You have yet to be assigned to a position Mr. Ritsurin." The neko said

"I know, I know, Nobody seems to know where I should be put." Ritsu said. Siaga pawed at the neko wanting her to pet him.

"So, I'm just looking around while I have a chance to." He added.

The neko looked down at the dog, "What do you want?" she asked as she did not having any programs to deal with animals.

Ritsu laughed. "He's just a puppy, he wants you to pet him." 

The neko nodded and bent down to pet the animal.

Siaga looked up at her and sat down on his little haunches and wagged his tail as she pet him.

"Do you have a position you would prefer?" Seigi asked

"I did want to be a fighter pilot, but I'm not so sure now, since I'm Ms. Taiensho's twin." Ritsurin said.

"And I don't really want to have to leave her when she needs me.." He said quietly.

"There are 5 openings for fighter pilot left," she said, "perhaps you would prefer assistant cook or tech?" she asked

Ritsu made a pained face. "I can't cook to save my life..." He laughed. "I know only a little bit about electronics and the duties of the technician. Maybe I should try to be a pilot..." He said. Siaga walked back over to him and sat down.

The neko stood up again, "Very well." Seigi said, "please follow me" 

Ritsu walked after the neko with a curious expression on his face. "Where are we going? To something like a virtual simulator as a test or something?" He asked.

"You are being taken to your ship," The neko said as she led him out into the main deck, there was only a single shuttle out and the two cranes were locked into their position on the sides of the bay.

Ritsu looked around at the other fighters in the bay. "I always thought that there was a competency test for these things."

The current flight control officer was notified by another AI neko and one of the cranes unlocked as the internal latches between the hull and the crane unbuckled. The crane swung up to the roof and clamped down onto one of the Samurai fighters then brought it back down onto the flight deck. The crane released then went back to a waiting position by the side of the bay.

"Whoa." Ritsu said as he took a step back. "That's nice."

The cover over the cockpit opened by sliding forward, "please get inside Mr. Ritsurin,” The AI neko said

Ritsurin perked an eyebrow and looked at the neko. "Um...ok." He said a bit apprehensively. He jumped up and got inside and looked around.

There was a single joystick and a few buttons here and there around the cockpit, to his left was a leaver with a series of buttons that controlled thrust. Behind him was a robotic tendril of sorts and a helmet in front of him and on the ground.

Ritsu looked over the complicated controls, wondering what they did. He made an expression of confusion, this wasn't at all what he expected, but then again, he didn't know what he expected. "Let me guess, the helmet allows me to see what the sensors on the fighter do? This lever is clearly for thrust, but what are the rest of these buttons for?" He asked.

Please put on the helmet Mr. Ritsurin" The AI instructed him.

Ritsu nodded and put the helmet on, it was a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't like helmets to start with. But put it on anyway. "What now?"

He felt the cord press against his right shoulder and establish a link. The helmet displayed an image of the flight deck and what the Seigi saw with her own sensors. "You will start a training simulation Mr. Ritsurin,” she said.

"I figured as much." Ritsu said. "Alright, let's try it out." He said.

The fighter automatically left the flight bay and was placed out in space, or at least that is what the helmet told him. It was just a sim and he was still inside of the bay.

Ritsu tensed up and took a firm hold of the main joystick. Just out of mundane curiosity it pulled on it slightly toward him. "The real systems are shut off correct Seigi?"

"Correct" Seigi, said, the fighter rotated upwards.

Ritsu gently pulled the joystick in the cardinal directions. "How do I perform tight turns or corkscrews and barrel rolls?" Ritsu asked the Seigi.

The fighter rotated but didn't move, "The joystick controls facing, your joystick controls forward and reverse thrust. Pressing the button on the side deactivates the auto inertia correction system, this controls sensors, weapons..." The AI pointed out the buttons as she explained them

As ritsu looked around the targeting cursor moved to where he looked.

Ritsu absorbed the knowledge she imparted. He took hold of the lever and pulled it away from him, "Is it reverse? Like when I push it forward, the fighter moves forward, and vice versa?" He asked Seigi.

"Affirmative Mr. Ritsurin" The AI said

Ritsurin grinned and pushed the lever forward and pushed the joystick forward.

The fighter moved in an upward arc

Ritsu let the joystick stay in neutral and pushed the lever forward. "I take it that this is forward without any other movement." He said.

The fighter moved forward as he thought

"I wonder if I can use telekinetics to manoeuvre the fighter." Ritsu said, as he pulled back hard on the joystick used his mind to pull the lever back.

"Question Seigi: I know this is the manual way, is there a way to interface with the fighter like Lavinia does with you?"

The fighter started to move in an upward arc but backwards, "No," Sieigi said, "Fighters do not have an AI to interface with."

"You can send instructions directly to the fighter via the cord in your shoulder Mr. Ritsurin"

"Hmm? Do I have to tell it aloud or just think it?" He asked.

"Think it Mr. Ritsurin" She said

Ritsu thought about a corkscrew back flip then a barrel roll to the left.

He let his hands off the manual controls to see if it'd do it on its own.

The fighter continued to move backwards

Seigi registered his actions, "You cannot interface in the same way with the fighter as people do with me" Seigi reminded him, "You cannot give entire actions only use specific systems Mr. Ritsurin"

"So there is some manual control needed." Ritsurin figured, he thought about moving the fighter forward and pulled the joystick to the right.

The fighter rotated to the right and continued to move backwards, "You cannot interface with the fighter the same way as people interface with me" She said again, "You must activate the drives directly Mr. Ritsurin."

"That makes thing much more difficult, you know." He said and let the joystick in front of him stand at neutral and pushed the lever forward. "Ok, this will be easier if I go through the basics first."

The drive system in the back fired and the fighter slowed to a stop then started moving forward.

Ritsu stopped pushing the lever forward, then pushed it to the left.

The drives on the right of the fighter fired and it started moving to the left while the front drives fired and slowed it to a stop so it was only moving left.

Ritsu went through the cardinal directions then through the diagonals.

Each time the fighter only moved in those directions, automatically compensating for any inertia that pushed it in a different direction.

Ritsu combined the lever's drive system control with the joystick to turn it in a different direction.

As he moved the joystick the inertia system compensated so that he was drifting in the same direction, as he was earlier relative to which way he was facing.

Ritsu started to grow frustrated and pushed the lever diagonal right and the joystick in a matching direction.

The fighter barrel rolled right and tiled down as it was pushed both forward and to the right relative to the direction that the nose of the craft was pointed.

Growing more and more frustrated with his inability to get this hunk of metal to do what he wanted. He let off both controls. Then pointed the nose to his diagonal right, then stopped when it reached the place he wanted, then pushed the lever forward slightly, then to the right at the same time.

Again the fighter moved forward and to the right slightly.

Gratified by the response, Ritsu tried pulling up on the lever and pulling back on the joystick.

The fighter tilted up and moved upwards at the same time relative to where the nose was pointed.

Ritsu then pulled back on the lever and pushed it down slowly. Then pushed the joystick forward slowly.

The fighter tiled downward and moved backward while at the same time directly down all relative to where the nose was pointed.

Ritsu was beginning to become more and more frustrated with this, it was all so complicated! He had gotten down the general movements; he had been trying to get fancy. Ritsu realized that it should come naturally; the fighter was going to follow its nose. He grinned and pulled the joystick to the right, but before the nose pointed in that way, he pushed the lever to the flat right.

"Man, Lav has it easy compared to this, she can fly this whole big ship with her mind." Ritsu chuckled.

The fighter rolled to the right and moved to the right at the same time pushing the fighter in a circle like flight path

Ritsu snarled under his breath, this damn fighter was a total pain in the ass. He let off again and tried the move again, this time stopping all movement after a certain point.

The fighter automatically corrected its inertia to a stop after he let off although it let some forward momentum remain from early manoeuvres. 

Ritsurin was thoroughly frustrated and starting to get angry now. He tried to maintain himself and went back to the basics; he wasn't going to get it all at one time. He pushed the lever forward to engage the rear thrusters to push the fight forward then slowly moved the joystick to the left while maintaining his forward momentum.

The ship rolled to the left as it moved forward

He let off the joystick, figuring it'd only roll him again and moved the lever to the diagonal left. Then to the left.

The fighter moved forward and to the left then more towards the left

Ritsu pulled the lever to left again, as if to turn around then pushed it forward without any other direction.

The fighter moved to the left then forward as it automatically stopped all movement to the left as he left off the control for left movement

Ritsu stopped all movement of the fighter. "Seigi, let's end this simulation, I'm becoming irate at my lack of ability, maybe I should find another job." He said, pulling the helmet off.

"Very well Mr. Ritsurin" Seigi said as the cord retracted and the crane swung back around to pick up the fighter, "You are cleared to work as a tech or a chef." Seigi reminded him.

Ritsu jumped out of the fighter and landed in a crouch. "Perhaps I can be of more use as a technician, I just wish I could be up on the bridge with Lavinia though." He said as he stood up.


Lavinia Taiensho
10/5/03 10:52

[GSS Seigi] Breakfast 

ON> GSS Seigi
Wazu was busy inside of the Seigi's computer system when his stomach started to growl. He regretted having to disconnect but he did so, letting Seigi retract the cords in his shoulders. He stood up and rubbed his legs before walking out of the nearly vacant bridge and into the hallway. Meanwhile Uso was inside of the fridge rummaging around, completely oblivious to what was going on behind her. 

Ritsu was standing in the hangar bay. "Seigi, what's the quickest way to the galley? I'm starving." He asked as he stomach growled.
Lavinia had noticed Wazu leave shortly after she did, she caught him in the hallway. "Hi Wazu." She said cheerfully.

"Please follow the orange line." The A.I. neko said before walking off into one of the side doors of the maintenance bay.
Wazu blinked and rubbed his eyes, "Oh hello Lav." He said with a smile.

Lavinia giggled a bit. "You really like being interfaced with the Seigi don't you, you crazy man." She chuckled.
Ritsu nodded and followed the orange line. "Wow this is convenient, better than remembering a map." He mused as he walked down the halls with a playful Siaga running after him.

Wazu smiled warmly, "Ya. Can you blame me though? Seigi is an amazing computer," He said as he reached the door of the galley. The sounds of the crane could be heard as it picked up the fighter and stored it in one of the overhead racks. The orange line led him to one of the lifts near the rear of the ship and then past the bridge to the galley.

Ritsu jogged a bit to mess with the frisky puppy that was running along. Laughing, Ritsu headed for the Galley. Lavinia looked at him a bit funny, "You need a girlfriend, you know that Wazu?" She said with a giggle. Ritsu soon caught up with Wazu and Lav in the hallway. Lav waved hello in the cheerful way she always did, and Siaga jumped at Wazu looking for attention. Ritsurin couldn't help but to chuckle boyishly as he watched the puppy bounce up and down along Wazu's leg.

Wazu shook his head with a slight laugh while he bent down to scratch behind the dog's ears. He walked in. The Galley was partially filled with people. Almost half of the Minion crews were eating at this time and they took up a lot of space on the two long tables in the center of the galley. Wazu headed to the kitchen and snuck up behind Uso and playfully poked her in the sides and extracting an "eep!" from her, "What did you do that for!?" she turned around and yelled at him. Wazu chuckled "You're my cook. I want you to pay attention"

Lavinia walked up to Ritsu and gave him a gentle hug. "Where have you been while I was sleeping?" She asked. Ritsu laughed a bit, "you were asleep? I thought as much, I sensed a peace over you while you did." He said with a smile as he gently hugged her back. Lav smiled and snuggled her head into his chest warmly "Carry me like you used to." She said in a tiny voice.
Ritsurin shook his head and turned around, letting Lav jump onto his back and laid her head on his shoulder as he stood up. She nestled into his shoulder, slightly under his hair as he walked into the galley. He looked around at the minion crews eating, He also noticed Uso cooking in the back, he walked over. "You're the cook?" Ritsu laughed "oh boy, better watch out for poisoned food." He teased her gently, his joke extracting a giggle from Lavinia.

Uso was to busy scowling at Wazu to pay attention, "I would like pancakes and bacon please." Wazu said as he turned and walked away from Uso. She scowled and reluctantly went to fix the food by having an AI neko do it.

Ritsu looked at Wazu. "Um... Isn't she supposed to be doing that herself?" He asked.

"As long as the job gets done." He said as he walked over to one of the empty round tables on the sides of the galley and sat down. Uso went back to the fridge and grabbed her sandwich and energy drink

Ritsu shrugged a bit. Lavinia looked up at Uso from under Ritsu's hair. "I want some bacon, eggs, and pancakes." She said. Ritsu grinned, "I'll take the same thing." He said, wondering if Uso remembered him.

Uso said something to one of the AI neko's and she started to get the stuff together for the food. Uso then walked out of the kitchen and look for a place to sit, not really paying attention to Ritsu or Lav.

Ritsu sighed and walked over to where Wazu was sitting. "Mind if we join you?" He asked as Lav slid off his back.

"Go ahead" He said. Uso sat down across from Wazu at the table as she took a bite out of her sandwich.

Ritsu nodded and took a seat to the left of Wazu, Lav took a seat off to his right. "This ship is huge." Ritsu said. Laivinia nodded, "I told you it was."

"Ritsu?" Uso asked as she glanced over at him and Lav.

Ritsu looked over at Uso. "Yeah?"

Uso smiled, "Welcome back" She said as one of the AI neko's walked over with several plate loads of food.

"Hmm?" Ritsu asked with a cock of his head. Lavinia looked at him with a serious look on her face, that told him not to go into too much detail of how he got there.

Uso gave him an odd look, "Do you remember me?" she asked

Lavinia turned her attention to the plateload of food in front of her and smiled, she was quite hungry and politely took a couple bites. "Mmmmm." She said. Ritsu looked at Lav for a minute, looking for recognition..."Yeah, you're Ms. Uso aren't you?" He asked with a grin. "I don't remember too much, but I remember you."

"Oh." Uso said sounding a bit disappointed. She took one long drink and the crumpled the can into her hand, the jagged metal cut her slightly and she let the blood seep out and dissolve the metal. She then stood up and walked off

Ritsu looked up after her, then to Lav, then to Wazu. "What's wrong with her?" He asked.

"I can never tell" He said as he took a bit of his pancake.

Ritsu sighed and took a bite of his pancake, Lavinia giggled and stole a piece of his pancake after she finished her. "Hey!" He laughed, but let her take it.

Wazu continued eating but more or less kept to himself.

Lav looked over at Wazu. "So, Wazu...where are you going to assign him?" She asked pointing at Ritsu with a fork.

"I don't know" He said, "I was going to let Seigi do that for me."

Ritsu looked up and ate a piece of bacon. "Seigi said I could either be a tech or a...cook..." He said. "I wanted to be up on the bridge with Lavinia." He said, making her blush a bit.

"Well we don't really need anymore people on the bridge." Wazu said, "But the closest thing to Lav would be a cook. The galley isn't that far from the bridge."

Ritsu flatfaced. "I ...can't really cook.." He said with an ashamed look on his face. He looked at Lav. "I wonder... nah." He said. Lavinia finished her meal and looked at him, "You can too cook, you're good at it. I have had your cooking." She said, trying to cheer him up.

"In all fairness I don't think Uso can cook either." Wazu said with a chuckle, "But she managed to make head cook"

Lavinia giggled. "only because she screwed up and got punished. Now that Kai person has taken her position." 
Ritsu laughed. "Then all in all, it's a good thing the AI nekos are doing it for her." He chuckled.

Wazu sighed and finished up his food.

Ritsu and Lav quickly finished up their food. "Wazu, what could I do when people aren't in here looking to eat?" Ritsu asked.. "I'd prefer a technician position if there's one available. honestly."

"Well then you should talk to Acara." He said, "Ask him to give you a position."

Lavinia looked at him, then smiled. "Go ahead and do what you want to. I'll always be close to you." She said

Ritsu stood up... "I think I'll do that." He grinned. Lavinia also stood up, "Wazu, um.." She blushed slightly. "Would you mind if I and he share quarters?"

"I don't mind" he said as he stood, "Excuse me" He said as he walked out into the hallway.

Lavinia smiled and hugged Ritsu gently and leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "You'd better go talk to Acara. I have to get a bath. I feel dirty." She said and started toward the baths. Ritsu walked out into the hall and watched her go, then turned and looked around. "Seigi, where is Mr. Acara?" He asked.

Acara is currently inside of Minion quarters number 6 Mr. Ritsurin" Seigi's disembodied voice said

"Thank you Seigi." Ritsu said and headed for the Minion quarters, following the map Lav gave him.


Lavinia Taiensho
10/5/03 12:22

[GSS Seigi] Trying out the Recreation 

ON> GSS Seigi
Lavinia just finished breakfast and a nice chat about things with Wazu, Uso and Ritsurin. After which she began to feel a bit dirty, she had been since the Angel attack so she made her way to the baths. While she walked she voiced a few contemplations. "I wonder... if I can get any privacy in these baths?" She asked nobody in particular.

The baths nearest to the officers quarters was fairly simple, A large pool with folding Japanese-like doors that could be used to close off sections so that one could have privacy if they so wanted. Inside was a single Neko bathing off to one side.

Lavinia walked in and sat down leaning against the wall and pulled off her boots and walked over and dipped her foot into the water to test its temperature.

The water was warm but not hot. "Hello there" the neko said"

Lavinia looked up. "Oh Hi there." She said with a cheerful smile. "I'm Lavinia, who are you?" She asked.

The neko smiled, "My name is Taiki" she said, "you’re the pilot aren't you?" 

Lavinia smiled. "Yes, I am." She said as she pulled off her uniform and folded it up neatly, exposing her slender figure as she slid into the water slowly, purring at the comfortable temperature. "oooo, this feels good." She said. as she settled sitting in the shallow water. 

Taiki was just finishing washing her hair and she pinned it above her head with a colored stick. So does the Seigi fly like I think it does?" she asked trying to make small talk.

Lavinia looked around for the soap and shampoo. "It depends on what you think it does." She said, still looking around.

"I hear it is so advanced a dog could fly it" She said as she tossed Lav the soap.

Lavinia caught the soap and looked at the neko's features to determine what model she was. "I don't know about that, Siaga hasn't tried that one yet." She laughed, as she started washing her body. "What do you do on this ship?" Lavinia asked out of curiosity.

Taiki had her long blue hair tied up above her. She seemed to be a NH-17 in appearance. "I am a tech on two of the Minion's... well one now." She said seeming a bit sad.

Lavinia finished soaping up and dunked herself into the water, rinsing it off. "What happened to the other one?" she asked as she saw Taiki's sad look.

"My other body was blown up on the other Minion" She said with a frown, "OH well I'm still here!" She smiled to cover her frown.

"Ouch, you know you can have her respawned." Lavinia said cheerfully.
Lavinia was busy shampooing her long dark green hair as she spoke.

"I know but I have to wait until the other are brought back. and it hurts to lose half of yourself." She said as she washed her legs.

Lavinia looked at bit sad then brightened up. "I think I know how that feels, but what I went through was slightly different." She said as she dunked her hair. She carefully washed her chest, giggling slightly as the sponge she was using tickled her sensitive breasts.

"Well I am going to check out the rec rooms." Taiki said as she got out of the bath. She walked onto the dryer and pressed a button, letting the hot air dry her 
body. She then pressed a second button and Seigi created a tech uniform for her. She slid into it, "You should come too" she said as she pulled the stick out of her hair and let it fall down to her sides.

Lavinia rinsed herself and got out of the water and walked into the dryer and pushed the same button causing the hot air to blow over her body, drying it. She then pushed another button to get a clean pilot's uniform for herself which she slid into and gathered up her other one and put it into the disposal system to be recycled. "Why is that?" She asked as she adjusted her rank pin.

"Why not?" she asked with a smile as she rolled her hair up and used two colored sticks to pin it above her head.

Lavinia grinned brightly. "I suppose I could." She laughed as Siaga bounded into the baths and jumped at Taiki playfully.

He caught Taiki full in the side and knocked her into the baths. she reached out to try and grab something and only got Siaga's paw, pulling him in too.

Siaga went into to and puppy paddled back and climbed out and wagged his tail and hopped around. And barked at Taiki. Lavinia just laughed. "Sneak attacked by the puppy!" She giggled. The puppy shook off and Lav towelled him off still giggling

Taiki laughed and climbed back out of the bath, using the dryer again. 

"Sorry about that, he's supposed to be in my 'brother's' care. I guess he got away like always." Lavinia said, setting the puppy back down after getting licked.

"Well I'll see you in the Rec rooms" Taiki said with a smile as she walked out, "Seigi please highlight the path to the recrooms for me" Taiki said. Almost immediately a dark red line appeared on the wall leading to the rec rooms.

Lavinia smiled and followed the same line, with Siaga running out in front, sniffing around.

Taiki reached the hallway with the rec rooms and looked around. To her left was a club and to her right was a media center. In front of her was the exercise area of sorts. 

Lavinia looked in the various rooms, wondering where she should go. She liked clubbing, but never really felt safe while doing it. "Maybe I'll try out the media center." She said and headed for the door. Siaga started sniffing around, Lavinia noticed it. "Seigi, is there somewhere where the puppy can um... pee?" She asked quickly

"The closest restrooms are at the rear of the club Ms. Taiensho." Seigi responded.

Lavinia gathered up the puppy and walked into the club heading straight for the back, taking a bit to look around.

The club was well lit, loud music was playing and the beat could be felt and even see as a few of the glasses in the bar rattled from it. The door opened to the rear of the club with a stage for the DJ towards the front of the ship. A bar was located at the back and on the sides were restrooms.

Lavinia quickly went into the restroom and set Siaga on the toilet seat. "Now, do it Siaga." She said, The puppy immediately peed long and hard into the toilet, and when he was finished he turned around and jumped up and flushed it then jumped down with a satisfied look on his puppy face. Lavinia praised him and slid him a doggy treat, which he ate quickly. They left the restroom and had a look around to see if anyone else was in here.

A large crowd of people was dancing, a few of them had on interesting outfits but most stayed in their GSA uniforms. mostly they looked to be pilots.

Lavinia looked around. "Are they holograms or real beings?" She asked Seigi.

"They are real Ms. Taiensho" Seigi said

Lavinia looked around and took a seat and watched what was going on, trying to sit alone.

"Would you like something to drink?" the bartender asked.

Lav was a natural dancer, but she didn't want to get out there and dance, it would feel a bit too awkward since she wouldn't have her trusty sabre. "Oh? Cola please." She said. "And some water for the puppy here."

The bartender nodded and came back with a coke and bowl of water.

Lavinia took it and set the water on the floor for Siaga who casually drank it. "How much?" She asked.

"It's free Ms. Seigi doesn’t charge for things like this" She said

Lav chuckled " I suppose not, it really is a trivial thing isn't it?" She asked, trying to make small talk.

"I guess not" she said, "by the way my name is Koh"

"I'm Lavinia." She said and extended her hand to shake.

Koh shook her hand, "pleasure to meet you"

Lavinia smiled and looked around at the various people who were dancing. "Maybe I should try it, I haven't danced in a long time." She mused.

"Go ahead I'm sure you’re good at it" Koh prodded.

Lavinia blushed. "I'm not that good." she said modestly.

"Neither are most of the pilots. Most of them are only a few weeks old."

Lavinia had to giggle at that. "Keep an eye on this one. he's a handful." she said as she stood up and handed the puppy to her. "Just keep him behind the counter and he'll behave." Lav said and went out on the dance floor and waited for a moment to catch the beat of the music then started to dance quite gracefully. It was something of a blade dance, just without the weapon.

Koh put Siaga behind the counter and watched the dancing

Lav started to dance even more fluidly as she felt Ritsu's prodding in her mind, as they were so closely linked
She danced much better than most of the younger pilots, just from years of practice.
Lavinia stopped dancing after a while when she got tired and got Siaga back from Koh and sat at her table and drank her drink as she relaxed.


Alexis Jaren
10/5/03 20:02

[GSS Seigi] A Meeting of Shifters & Ritsu's New Position 

ON>> GSS Seigi

Alexis waited a few minutes for Acara before leaving Engineering. He'd catch him later. The boy walked out into the hallway on the lower Engineering deck, wandering past the Minion quarters that he had been by earlier. The one damaged by the Seraphs seemed to be already under repair, and Alexis guessed the airlock and hull rupture had already been fixed.

Acara was just leaving the Minion bay as Alexis walked by. He seemed very depressed and did not even notice Alexis as he slid by. 

Alexis paused as he saw Acara pass him. "Hey, wait...you're Acara, right?" he said, turning to walk next to the dejected shapeshifter.

Acara seemed to pull out of his daze when Alexis called to him. He looked around, then turned. "I'm sorry, did you want to talk to me?" As he looked at the shifter he realized that he was speaking to Alexis. "You're from back in the Yui aren't you." Acara seemed to push his troubled thought to the back of his mind. 

Alexis smiled. "Finally I get to meet the person who kept the Yui running!," he said with a bit of excitement. "Yeah, I was on the Yui when you were, but I never got the chance to meet you. Never got to tell you what a good job you did..." The smile thinned as Alexis noticed Acara's slouch. "Something wrong? You look a little down," he said, absently realizing the pun. Acara seemed a bit closer to the ground when he was depressed.

Acara smiled a little at the compliments. "Oh, it was nothing...I just have something to think through." He straightened and stretched until he was Alexis' height. "Was there something you wanted to ask me?" 

Alexis thought a second. "Mmm...oh, yeah, that's right...I was wondering about the damage report...heard a rumour of a sabotage attempt," the energy shifter said. "I thought I saw some Seraph signs going through the hemo-transfer conduits too...How much damage did they do?" He kept walking with Acara, not really caring where they were going.

Acara was headed back to the Tech quarters, and was not moving all that fast. "Well, all the minor damage was regenerated, and most of the large-scale damage is already repaired. I have all the rest of my people concentrating on the small craft and looking for any quirks in the regeneration." Acara spoke in such a mature manner when talking about his work that few realized how young he was. "We should be up to full capacity very soon." 

"Sounds like you've got it well under control...good job." He walked a little, then tilted his head and glanced curiously at Acara. "Out of curiosity, what species are you? I can't place it..."

Acara laughed at this. "I'd have been surprised if you had. We are so rare that we don't even have a name. Actually, I have never even seen another like me." They reached the Tech quarters and Acara looked puzzled, then laughed again. "You know what, I don't even know which is my room."

Alexis shrugged and smiled a bit. "I wouldn't know yet either...you could ask the Seigi for one. I think that being Chief you have your choice, though."

Meanwhile Ritsurin had followed the line provided by the Seigi down to the second deck to see Juni Acara. He wandered by the tech quarters area and spotted Alexis. "Hello. I'm looking for Juni Acara..." he said.

"Eh, he's over here," Alexis said, stepping to the side a bit so Ritsu could see Acara. Which he should have been able to anyway, but whose nitpicking?

Acara moved to one of the rooms. "I guess this one is mine now." He opened the door and stepped in. Inside there was a large room with ten nests placed around the room with a table in the center. "I guess I'll also have company."

"Oh, hello Juni, Wazu told me to come down here and ask you about a position as a technician," Ritsurin said to Acara. He took a step forward as to be seen.

Acara turned and looked Ritsurin over carefully. "You might do well, if nothing else you look like you know how to handle a weapon." Suddenly two things clicked in Acara's mind. "You Ritsu aren’t you? Yes, you'll do very good with a bit of discipline. But how'd you get here?"

Ritsurin shrugged. "I was told not to go about talking about where I came from, only a few people need to know about that. Anyway, I'm ready to work whenever I'm needed," he said.

Acara nodded. "Yes I quite understand. Find yourself a weapon and go to the Minion bay. There make sure there are no more Seraph pieces there to hurt the rest of the tech. I doubt there are, and any should be small."

Ritsurin grinned slightly. "Yes...um, Sir...I guess," he said, at a loss what to say since Acara didn't look male or female. He started to looked around for a good, powerful weapon.

Alexis stepped off to the side. Oh, so the new guy WAS Ritsurin...that was one thing put to rest. Or resurrected, depending on the point of view. It was slightly odd how Ritsu was here when the guy had been blown up without a backup, but that didn't concern Alexis at the moment.

He stopped, then asked the Seigi to hemosynth a nice GP-12b before turning back to Acara. "Which Minion bay? There are several, Acara," he said.

Acara looked back at Alexis. "Was there anything else sir?" He glanced at Ritsu. ~Well, I hope his enthusiasm does not cause problems again.~

~I heard that, sir. Don't worry, I'm not about to do anything rash, I'm not alone in here anymore, really.~ Ritsu thought back to Acara and turned to leave to go have a look for Seraph pieces.

Alexis shook his head. "Nothing important. I'll leave you to get settled in if ya want, but I'd like to talk again sometime...you and I seem to have a bit in common with each other."

"Oh, Ristu," Acara called after him. "One more thing. I don't know if you know it but, before you died, you hurt a friend of mine rather badly...lets not have a repeat performance, ok?" 

Ritsu turned back to Acara. "Who was that?" He looked confused.

"Hikari, one of the techs," said Alexis, his eyes narrowing...hmm. Ritsu didn't have any recent memories, did he?

"Who?" Ritsu asked.

"Don't worry about that, just don't get carried away," Acara called back as returned back to Alexis. "That we do. Hope to talk to you later too."

Ritsurin shrugged and walked off with the weapon slung over his back with the safety on and had a look around the Minion bay.

The shifter turned away from Ritsu and nodded at Acara. "I'll see ya around then. Adios, Acara," Alexis said with a slight wave as he left the tech quarters.

Acara slid into his new home, flopped into a nest, and sunk to the bottom. His mind returned to his troubles again.


Tasuki Uso
10/5/03 21:05

[GSS Seigi] On the road again 

Wazu sat down in the chair once more and let Seigi attach the cords to his shoulders. Once again he felt the ship around him. With the CDD repairs complete it was time to head out, ~Seigi please recall the recon squadron. ~ Wazu asked. The doors to the flight deck opened soon afterward to allow the returning fighters to dock. It only took less than a minute to dock all the fighters and load them up. A message was also sent the crew encouraging them to run urban war sims in the electronic media center. ~They aren’t ready~ Wazu thought to himself sadly as the CDD kicked in and the ship was once again headed for Nepilesia.


Kai Ashigari
10/6/03 8:24

[GSS Seigi] Wanderings, then training 

Having gotten no response, Kai shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the area, and continued his wanderings around the Seigi. He eventually reached the recreation areas, there was a massive exercise area, a nightclub...of sorts, and a media center as well. "Hmmm, perhaps I should check out what these areas have to offer?" He asked himself silently.

~No, I really don't have to time to waste on petty amusements. I should be training my mind as well as my body.~ He thought as he turned to the exercise area. Kai turned and walked through the door into the area, he found that the room was huge, with smaller rooms off to the sides.

Kai spotted an open private dojo-like room and walked in, he sat down on the floor crossing his legs and arms and meditated for quite a while, after he finished; Kai stood up, mind cleared. He pulled the rose whip off its place on the special holder on his belt and held it in one hand, the thorns of the rose grew slightly longer and looked vastly sharper than they had before. He took a moment and pulled off the grey intel officer's jacket and put it in an out-of-the-way corner. In a matter of minutes, loud cracking sounds echoed through the empty room as he picked up his old sense of finesse with such a weapon. 

To any spectator, the movements of the whip seem to be animated on their own, following the movements Kai lead it through easily, but to Kai, this took an exceptional amount of awareness. Though he had been a master of this particular whip for years, the thorns would still cut his flesh and leave him bleeding, just like it'd do to anyone else. He expected nothing less of a weapon grown to make vicious open wounds.

He put his training and practice to the test as he began to use the whip defensively, using his powerful telekinetic ability to hurl objects he had placed on the other side of the room at him. Every time an object came within reach of his whip, it cracked out and neatly split the object into two harmless pieces, after a few moments of this, he mentally threw heavier objects at himself like chairs and even a 50 pound weight. The rose whip cracked out and lassoed a flying chair, he flicked his hand, making the whip unravel from around the leg of the chair sending it flying into another chair resulting in a shattering of both of them, raining Kai in wooden splinters. Then the 50 lb weight came flying at him, Kai deftly lassoed the weight through the hole in the center, stepped off to the side and slung it past him, the force of his turn and the weight of the object combining in a tremendous force.

Kai held out his hand and mentally reached out and gently lowered the weight to the floor. The rose thorns shrank back and became dull in appearance as he carefully coiled it up and set it back into its holder. He repaired the chairs he could and set them off to the side, picked up his jacket and started for the door.


Alexis Jaren
10/7/03 2:56

[GSS Seigi] Culture Shock 

ON>> GSS Siegi

Tomoyo had decided to take a break from repairing the damage dealt by the recent attacks when she walked out into the corridor outside the Minion crew quarters. She leaned against the corridor wall beside the door, still very confused as to what had happened earlier between herself and Acara. 

Alexis headed back to the main hallway from the Tech quarters. He stopped by the Minion area to take a closer look at the repairs on the rupture, but more to pick up the force field generator if they still had it and didn't recycle it. He was kind of glad to have found the other changeling on board; it had surprised him to find that Acara, too, was one of few others. "I wonder what Acara's life has been like compared with mine," he murmured to himself as he passed Tomoyo, who was standing outside the Minion quarters.

Tomoyo sighed softly to herself as she stared blankly down at the deck beneath her feet, her long hair had half tumbled out of its bun that had sat neatly at the nape of her neck earlier on in the day, and rested messily over her right shoulder. She almost didn't notice the Taisa as he walked past. "Sir." The girl said quickly and respectfully as she drew herself up to attention and saluted the ship's second in command.

Alexis smiled and saluted in return, then let his hand down. "Hello..." he paused, then looked like he was trying to remember something. "I don't think I know your name yet, Miss...?" he let the sentence hang. He hadn't met any of the techs from the Yui, there hadn't really been time...either for him or them.

Tomoyo visibly relaxed as Alexis smiled and she returned the smile. "My name is Tomoyo, sir. It's nice to finally met you."

It was? Apparently he was getting a reputation...Inside he became a bit uneasy, but outwardly Alexis smiled. "Miss Tomoyo, the pleasure is mine. What's your post here?" He noted her uniform color after the words left and shrugged. Okay, she was a tech...but what division? There were a lot of things that needed fixing around a ship this big.

"I'm the Chief Technician for the Minions and the drive core officer." She had a disappointed look in her eyes that the Taisa had no idea who she was or what she did, but there were a lot of people on this ship and it wasn't fair for her to expect him to know everyone by name and face.

"I'm sorry if I offended you; but I haven't looked over the crew manifest yet," Alexis said when he noticed her disappointment. "I wanted to meet everyone in person. Match a personality with the face. I have met people face to face most of my life, so I didn't want to stop that habit now." He smiled apologetically. "I'm still not familiar with the Geshrin and Neko cultures yet. Is it rude to not read up on someone before meeting them?"

"No, you didn't offend me Sir! It's not really quite fair to expect anyone to remember every crew member by name and face on the first meeting." Tomoyo looked embarrassed for a moment. "No, it's not rude to not read up on someone before meeting them. I guess I had just hoped that you might've remembered seeing me when we were on the Yui. I guess it's just a bit vain to think that everyone might know me somehow.." She smiled weakly as she tried to readjust her hair. "You've probably been very busy with getting acquainted with the Seigi and then the recent attack from the Elysians.."

Alexis thought a bit, then brightened. "Wait, I did see you on the Yui...you were helping try to fix Megami, I saw you when I checked up on the team after the first Seraph attack." The shifter nodded a bit. "It has been busy, but I was getting kind of bored before the Elysian attack," he said with a shrug. "How do you like the Siegi so far?"

"It's bigger and I really don't see much of anyone anymore because of it. I still kinda miss working with Juni Kuru but I heard she was assigned to the Ketsurui with Taisho Ketsurui." Tomoyo smiled a bit. "I guess this must be a bit of a culture shock to you because you don't know much about the GSE aside from our military?"

"Yeah. I kinda had my head in the ground when I was on the Yui, not doing anything outside of my duties. But now I'm learning a bit more about your people, meeting some of the old and new crew," Alexis said. "Hmm...Maybe this'll kick me out of my boredom..."

"Well, what is it that you are really curious about learning? There's a lot to our culture that you could probably learn from literature opposed to interaction." Tomoyo looked at Alexis curiously, wanting to be helpful in some way if she could. She hoped that it'd take her mind off trying to figure out what's wrong with Acara.

"Mmm...well, I've already tried to get access to Neko research data, but no one's giving that to me..." the shifter mused, looking past Tomoyo as he thought, then he refocused on her. "What can you tell me about the Geshrin?"

"Well, there really is no fear of death because, well, so long as we have our memory backed up we will never really die the final death. So when the Seraph took out the Yui's Megami.. it scared the wits out of many of us because we had a fear that we might die and be lost to the flow of time for once in our lives." Tomoyo frowned a bit at the memory of losing Kei, Lyn and Mika to the Seraph. "It wasn't a pleasant thing to have an overwhelming sense of mortality...
"We do value knowledge like the Nekos do and it's not hard to get reassigned to another job because we can just have the data directly placed into our minds if we need to. Many of us just like to learn things the hard way through actual on the job training and experience." She smiled softly, she was quite proud of the fact that she had come this far with just her own efforts.

Alexis listened, noting the mention of memory backups...he had heard Chi order everyone to back their memories up, but didn't really understand what it meant, at least not until Wazu was respawned. He was curious what technology was used to perform the respawning...surely it wasn't @#%$. Alexis hadn't seen a lick of @#%$ since he arrived here. "Sounds like you would have quite a library then," he ventured. "Is it accessible here?"

"You can access it from the computer data banks, I believe. Anything on the actual development of the nekos is classified information though. What is your culture like?" Tomoyo asked, curious as to where Alexis had come from himself.

The shifter shrugged. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen any others like me since I can remember. All I know is that my kind were quite widespread among several universes...it was like they were watchers of other races." He tilted his head. "Who has access to Neko information?"

"I think only the PNU scientists and the prototype Nekos has access to that information but I don't really know. So, your people are multiversial travellers and watchers? That must be really neat, to see other universes.." Tomoyo smiled softly, it was just neat to think about the possibilities if you could go to whatever universe you wanted and interacted with the people there. "But doesn't it get lonely since you are out here by yourself and you haven't seen anyone else for such a long time, sir?"

Alexis smiled and shrugged. "It can be lonely sometimes...but I had a companion for a while, a creature named Timdri. And sometimes I interact with the locals, get to meet some of them, so it's not all lonely. The travelling can get tiresome, but I'm somewhat used to it." He shrugged again. "Where are you from? Were you born on Geshrintall?"

"I was born on Geshrintall.. Pagoda no Uesureya, I think. I never really knew my parents but I guess PNU could be considered my parents. For as long as I can remember I have been a part of the GSA. Training to be a technician was what I had decided to do and so all of my life I have been a technician, I guess." Tomoyo thought on the parent comment she had just made and it sparked a question in her mind. "Do you remember your parents, sir?"

"No, I don't," Alexis said, shaking his head slowly. "What do you remember about yours?"

"I think I remember that they were almost always gone and then one day, they just never came back and I grew up under the care of a neighbour who suggested that I join the GSA and go look for them one day. So I did and I just gave up on looking for them though, I wouldn't know them if I saw them. So, my only real family has been the crew of each ship I've been on.. Hikari and Kei were the closest things I had to sisters..." Tomoyo sighed.

"Oh..." Alexis remembered Hikari from the last Seraph invasion of the Yui, and Kai had been killed before then..."Do you know where Hikari is now?"

"Hikari is here on the Seigi. Acara suggested that she help Inari and Trouble and.. that nice neko lady in the med Bay when the ultimatum was given. She's safe and sound. We were lucky that the Seraphs only decided to try to destroy our hands and not our heart this time." Tomoyo smiled softly again, relieved that the Seraphs had only tried to do physical harm to the Seigi and not psychological harm to the crew.

"Yeah...It was easier to take care of them this time, but they still got in a good amount of damage. And I'm glad to hear that more of the Yui crew made it here," Alexis said with a smile. Maybe there wouldn't be as many unfamiliar faces as he had thought. "You know Acara made Chief Engineer? He's doing quite well at it too."

"Yes, I do know that he made Chief.. I was talking to him a little while ago and.." Tomoyo stopped herself and shook her head. "I think I offended him somehow. He's acting strangely."

"He was? He looked a little distracted when I met him just a while ago...what do you mean by 'strange'?" the shifter inquired.

"He was talking to me and then he just looked at me and stopped.. He was saying things but not really saying anything- he was just picking random things to talk about but there really was no real content to the discussion. He really wasn't looking at me as we talked either.. I apologized for offending him and he said that something was wrong but he didn't know what.." She frowned, not sure what it all meant.

"Maybe he was just distracted by something he was thinking about at the time," Alexis suggested. But he wondered why Acara would keep picking new things to talk about if he was busy? 

"I don't know. I just get the feeling that whatever is bothering him is my fault because he was okay up until that point." Tomoyo looked up at Alexis's face for the first time since they had started talking, she hadn't been focusing on Alexis's face before. 

Alexis returned her look; he had been watching her face on and off throughout the discussion. His appearance hadn't changed at all since the Yui, he still had the same fifteen-year-old face and metallic orange eyes. "Don't worry about it for now, but if he keeps this up, tell me." What was he going to do about it though? After a moment of thought Alexis decided to cross that bridge when he came to it. He'd think of something. Maybe it wasn't a serious problem, but he was curious why Acara was acting that way.

Tomoyo was a bit surprised by the metallic coloring of his eyes, she had never seen metallic coloring to someone's eyes before. "I will. Do you think that it's going to affect his ability to function as Chief Engineer?" She frowned at the thought, she couldn't imagine Acara letting anything affect his work.

"I don't know, but that's why I want to talk with him about it if it continues, so it won't get to that point. I doubt he'll get in trouble over it though," Alexis said. "It's probably nothing." He studied Tomoyo's face briefly...he wanted to be able to recognize her quickly next time he saw her. Sometimes faces blended together for him.

Tomoyo blushed softly, not sure why the Taisa was staring. "I hope so. How come you want to know about the neko research?"

Alexis' head tilted, like it always did when he was either curious or studying something...he stopped staring when she spoke. "Mmm? Oh, just curious. I noticed that the ships and the Nekos use the same blood-based synth system, and I was wondering how their blood does what it does."

"It's one of those mysteries of the PNUgen I guess. I think I heard something about some of the newer Nekos not being able to heal as fast or hemo-synth things like the older ones can. I don't really know for sure though." Tomoyo felt self-conscious and pushed her hair back away from her face for a moment. 

"Oh...hmm." Alexis looked down, then back up at Tomoyo again.

"I think those capabilities might be public knowledge since the newer bodies are available now." Tomoyo added, trying to think of something else to say. 

"Oh, okay. I'll try the public libraries then." Alexis dug for something to say too, but didn't get anything. He sighed. "Well, I guess I'll let you get back to your work...thank you for your help and it was a pleasure to meet you. Have a good day, Miss Tomoyo," he said finally, smiling and extended a hand.

Tomoyo took his hand and smiled. "You’re welcome Taisa Jaren. I was glad that I could help out and the pleasure is all mine." She looked him in the eyes as she spoke, still amazed by those eyes.

Alexis shook her hand and nodded, then ducked into the crew quarters, looking for the generator he had come for in the first place...it wasn't there, so he left the room and turned toward the main hallway once more. Maybe he would check in at the bridge before heading to the rec rooms. He had heard a rumor there was a club on the ship, a rumor that puzzled him. What was a dance venue doing on a battleship?


Tobias Geminasu
10/8/03 13:43

[Silvershot] Racing Ahead To The Future 

Zeph sat at the main console of the Silvershot's Guidance system. He had a strained look on his face, he first missed getting everyone back to the Yui, but was able to find a crewmember that didn't even know he was one. Then to find that a new crew assignment and that the ship had already left. And to make things worse, something had gone wrong on the Silvershot's navigational control system. But thanks to the Elysian he found on Geshrinhall they got it back up and running. Zeph knew he had to do what he hadn't wanted to do, but he was gonna have to leave the ship in his nephew's hands.

"Rassafrasm... mumble mumble..." Zeph mumbled to himself. 

"Sir? About the..." MOCH started to speak, but Zeph intervened.

"Yes, yes, the android body you wanted to use so you could follow me around. Yeah go ahead and use it, It’s in the storage bay were Gem's gone to check his things." Zeph said.

"Thank you sir," MOCH's hologram vanished from site.

Meanwhile Arch sat back reading a file neowalkyrie data, and had his face rather close to the screen. ~Fascinating! The creator of nekos must be an absolute genius! Much more interesting than half the things I've read back at home.~

Zeph thought to himself, ~Oh man I hope this thing will still be in one piece, the kid flies like psychotic acrobat on sugar.~ They were coming up on the Seigi's current location on the planet Nepleslia.

-Meanwhile-

Gem stood over his chest of stuff. Organizing it all once again. For so odd reason he couldn't get it to stay neat while it was on the GSS Yui. Trouble sat not far away watching Geminasu's worried look on his face as he checked his stuff. She thought to herself, ~Toby's always so funny when he's either frustrated or annoyed.~


Kai Ashigari
10/8/03 10:57

[GSS Seigi] Getting help 

ON> GSS Seigi
Yuuko, after spending the day in her shuttle, was aimlessly wandering the halls, dreading going back through the bridge. Passing by the exercise area, she paused, seeing two more of those Seigi-nekos. This ship had way too many of them for her liking, and Wazu might be watching her though one. Ducking out of sight, around a corner, she bumped her bottom into Kai accidentally.

Kai looked at the little neko that had bumped into him. He grinned at little bit and spoke in a soft tone of voice. "Excuse me ma'am.." He said a bit surprised. "Hiding from something?" He asked, as it was a logical assumption under the circumstances.

"I'm sorry." Yuuko looked at him; her eyes seemed big, sad, and hurt. She didn't answer the second question.

He looked at her with soft emerald green eyes. "Oh." He said, looking at her own eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked, he could feel signs of her melancholy, but it wasn't polite to barge in on someone's mind, so he didn't. He had always thought it was...better to talk with someone, telepathy seemed so...impersonal sometimes. He smiled at her warmly. "It's ok if you do not wish to answer my second question." He said.

"Eh..." the little neko seemed like she was almost in a daze. "I...I'm not happy here."

Kai looked sympathetic. "And why is that?" He asked.

Like a floodgate had been opened, words and feelings began pouring out. "I met Chujo Wazu back at Central Uesureya. It was at my favorite club, the Sweet Spot. He seemed okay, and I figured we could be together, as friends, and I wanted to move to a big starship...I made sure to get on the Seigi. Now, though, he just did something very senselessly, without thinking, which may cost thousands of neko lives! I don't know if I can ever think of him the way I did before. I think I may want to transfer."

Kai looked a bit shocked, but quickly regained his professionalism. "Nobody, not even I, can predict the future. His actions were indeed hasty, but I believe he thought it was the best course of action. I personally, do not agree with it. But in troubled times, you have to stay close to those you know, it's the only form of safety there really is in this troubled times." He said. Kai drew in a deep breath and brushed a hair out of his eye. "Tell me more about why you want to transfer, and I'll try and help you the best I can." Kai said, maintaining eye contact, as if he was looking for signs of what she felt in her face.

"Well, I don't think he'll treat me well. I called him stupid. You CAN'T have a bad relationship with a ship captain. I mean, he might lock me up for the rest of my life or something horrible!"

"Wazu's actually quite patient with things like that, small insults aren't too much of a big deal to him. But if we want to talk privately, we should get out of the corridor, will you follow me back to my office? We can talk there." Kai said.

Sheepishly, she nodded. Her big black eyes and cute ears made her look like a curious kitten.

He smiled and started back toward the intel office. "Follow me please." He said as he turned.

Yuuko scooted along behind him, her purple hair bouncing lightly.

After a few minutes, they reached Kai's office he moved close to the door for it to slid open and stepped off to the side, but still keeping it open. "Ladies first." He said with a smile and a gesture into the room. Through the door she could that there were plush chairs in front of a small desk, with little pots of full of roses on it.

Yuuko pointed at the flowers. "Red plants!" she pointed, glad to see there was some vegetation on the Seigi. The girlish neko plopped down in one of the chairs, shifting around in it until perfectly comfortable. Her squirming looked like some sort of erotic dance...maybe it was just the tight uniform that clung to her nearly-flat chest. Or, more likely, her hobby of dancing resurfacing through her body language.

Kai smiled and entered the room and sat down behind the desk. And noticed her admiring the plants. "You like them? I grew them myself." He said a bit sheepishly.

Yuuko nodded. She didn't seem to want to start talking about Wazu again without a prompt.

"Now, please, tell me again why you feel you should transfer?" He asked nicely.

"I'm scared. I don't Wazu to dislike me...but I can't help feeling angry at him for what he did."

"Being scared is natural. Wazu isn't going to imprison you or do other things." Kai said. "And I understand that you can't help being angry at him, but being angry at someone only breeds hate, and that only leads to trouble." He said sagely.

"How can I forgive him?" the girl asked.

"I can't tell you exactly, that is for you to figure out, but I can help you reach a decision." Kai said.

"Unnhh" Yuuko hung her head. She didn't feel like this was helping her slow down the thoughts bouncing around in her head.

"Tell me what you're thinking, you can be open in here, anything you tell me will not leave this room, I promise you." Kai said sincerely

"I thought Wazu and I...had something."

Kai perked an eyebrow. "Oh?" He asked tentatively.

"Now, I realize we don't...and I'm afraid I made a mistake by transferring here."

"You do not need to be afraid, you and Wazu can still be friends. You transferred here to be here with him, that's admirable, and I'm sure he'll see it that way too. But, if he doesn't, you will always have someone you can talk to on this ship. Sometimes things may seem hard like they are now, but you can't let it get you down." He said. Kai took a breath, "Just be confident in what you do, and you'll always get somewhere." Kai said, trying to be reassuring.

Yuuko nodded. She was still settling into what she did, learning the new job of communications officer. It was difficult not to be able to get in the fight when the intruder were aboard. "I guess so." She hadn't felt like dancing since she'd arrived here... 

"You're a good person, in here." Kai said, putting his hand over his heart. "I can see that, and I'm sure most others can as well." He smiled. "Tell me, what do you do to relieve your stress? It may help at this point in time." Kai said....then remembered something. "I'm sorry, my name's Kai." He said, blushing a bit at his own forgetfulness, and extended his hand to shake hers.

"Yuuko." she responded, pressing her small, warm little fingers around his palm. 

Kai smiled and shook her tiny hand. "Pleasure to meet you Ms. Yuuko." He said.

"I love to dance," she added.

Kai made a rueful face. "I'm afraid I can't do that too well." He said with a slight chuckle. "But doing that may help you forget your problems for the time being."

"I don't know. Maybe. I don't want it to feel fake." she tried to explain.

"It'll feel fake at first, but as the music washes over you, it won't." He said with a smile. "Maybe this will brighten you up some, would you like to see it?" He asked.

Yuuko wasn't sure what he meant. She asked him, curiously, "See what, Taii?"

Kai laughed. "Here, wait a second." He said pulling the whip off his belt with a practiced grace. He pulled out a pan of water and set it into the pan. The whip began to lengthen and look softer. Kai then pulled out a sac of specially made fertilizer and poured it over the whip. The plant responded by growing out like a normal rose vine would and wrapped itself around his desk quickly, then slowly bloomed into beautiful white and red roses.

"Whoa."

Kai smiled. "You like it? I grew this myself in a time when I needed something of a friend." He said.

"The plant is very unusual. I mean, special." She reached out to touch one of the white flowers.

The flower was as delicate as she was, and probably just as soft. Kai smiled, he liked it when someone appreciated his work, the flowers gave off a gentle smell of roses, as that is what they were.

Yuuko, taking a deep breath of the rosy scent, let out an unexpected yawn. "I'm sorry...I haven't slept lately. I have to go through the bridge to get to them! Maybe I should get some rest. I do feel a bit better, if only for being able to say what I had in my head."

Kai smiled. "I'm glad to have helped." He said and stood up. "I'll walk back there with you, if you think you need it." 

"That'd be fine with me!" Yuuko cheerily giggled, her warmth returning. Clearly she was regaining her emotional ground.

Kai walked over and opened the door for her. And as before. "Ladies first Ms. Yuuko." He said in a gentleman like manner.

"Aww!" she cooed, not used to such treatment. If anyone got perks where she was from, it was usually the rarer males.

He waited for her standing there

"Oh!" Yuuko snapped out of her daze and walked out of the room, into the hall. "Sorry" she whispered.

He followed behind her. "It's ok." He reassured her as they walked.

Yuuko walked down the hall for a while and then stopped. "Um...I'm not sure where we are going."

"Didn't you want to take a rest? So, naturally you'd go back to your own room right?" Kai said with a chuckle

"I was going to find another nest, or use my shuttle...but," Yuuko whispered, "I'm lost!"

"Oh?" Kai laughed. "Then follow me, I'll show you back to the bridge. " He said and continued down the hallway, They got there fairly quickly. "Go ahead and take a rest, I'll clear things up with Wazu if he makes a big deal out of it." Kai smiled at her.

Inside her neko brain, the memories rattled around, searching until her TOS mapped the route she had come from. "Hmm," she pondered, not sure where the path was in relation to them. Eventually, she gave up on it. Stealthing herself, she scuttled behind Kai, clinging to his chest from behind.

Kai just smiled and lead her to the rooms. ~Where is yours?~ He thought to her, knowing she wanted to hide.

Yuuko pressed her chest against his back and led him to her door. "Thank you." she whispered, slipping into her quarters, but not before leaving him with a big wet kiss on the cheek. "I'm so happy to find a new friend. I'll call you!"

Kai just smiled and turned to head back.


Tasuki Uso
10/8/03 16:43

[GSS Seigi] short stories 

ON> GSS Seigi
Lavinia was sitting in the club, relaxing, looking around, and sipping her drink. The music was kind of loud she thought, but that was the danger of a club.

Koh was listening to one of the other neko's talking about her past adventures. The music stopped for a moment and changed to something a little softer but still as loud.

Lavinia looked over at Koh as the music changed. "How long have you um...been doing this type of work?" She asked curiously

Koh walked back over to lav, "Not to long. I'm actually only a few weeks old myself,” she said with a smile.” And how old are you?"

Lav shrugged innocently. "I'm about 4 years old." She smiled. "Halfway until I can choose what I want to do."

"Wow 4" Koh said, "What have you done in that time?" she asked.

Lavinia pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Hmmm...Mostly I was a security sentry until they phased it out. I died once, got respawned, though I don't remember how." Lav said noncommittally.

"I just recently became a pilot." She added.

Koh nodded and ran a hand through her long blue hair. She had it in a ponytail at that time as she listened to Lav speak.

Lavinia noticed her blue hair. "Where are the rest of you?" She asked curiously

"On duty" Koh said, "well... on standby more like it." 

"In here somewhere then?" Lav smiled.

"No. I am the 2nd recon squadron" Koh said, "The rest of me is in the ready room next to the flight deck.

"Oh, so this is most like a part time job for you huh?" Lav smiled, and combed back her long dark green bang out of her face, only to have it float back over.

"ya" Koh said, "I like being able to see people and hear their stories" 

She had a cute smile on her plan face

"Then this is the perfect job for you then." Lavinia smiled back cheerily.

Koh had to excuse herself to bring a drink to a different neko

Lavinia sighed and decided to get up and dance a bit more, she began her graceful dancing once again. 

Siaga tried to follow her into the crowd, Lavinia stopped for a second and knelt down and swept the puppy into her arms and continued.

A few of the neko's giggled after seeing her dance with the puppy.

"What?" Lavinia asked as the danced by. 

They just smiled and continued on

Lavinia smiled and dropped Siaga, who sprinted out the door and down the hall. She danced easily, wondering what Ritsu would say if he saw her like this.


Tasuki Uso
10/8/03 17:40

[GSS Seigi] About Yuuko... 

ON> GSS Seigi

Kai started to walk for the exit to the bridge and glanced over his shoulder at Wazu, wondering if he was still plugged in. He leaned back and stretched his back.

Wazu was still plugged into the Seigi's computer, not really paying attention to what was going on in the bridge.

Kai rolled his eyes and walked over to Wazu. And nudged him in the shoulder, "Are you ever going to disconnect from that thing?" He asked. "You'll start forgetting that there are other living beings on this ship."

"I am aware of the other organics." Wazu said as if his mind was distant from his body, "And I will disconnect soon. My new body is almost ready"

"Oh, getting back your male form?" Kai asked curiously.

"Correct" He said

"You're even starting to sound like the Seigi." Kai frowned, slightly disturbed by this.

Wazu chuckled a bit, "If you say so."

"How much longer will it take for you to get your old form back?" Kai asked, brushing his hair back.

"About 12 minutes give or take" Wazu said, "and it isn't exactly my old form."

"After that, could you please make a bit of time? There is something I wish to speak with you about." Kai said firmly.

"If you wish. I have time why not talk now?" He asked.

"If you say so." Kai said. "It's about a crewmember, she thinks that you're mad with her." Kai said, being careful not to reveal whom.

"I am not mad at anyone." Wazu said more as a statement of fact than as a response to Kai's statement

"She seems to believe that because she...called you stupid, that you'll punish her." Kai said, wondering if Wazu was paying attention or just responding.

"Oh Yuuko…She has made it clear that she doesn’t like me but I'm not mad at her for it." Wazu said with a sigh.

Kai winced a bit, but figured that Wazu would eventually figure it out. "She's just having a bit of trouble adjusting to being the communications officer, and she's under a lot of stress. She's resting in her quarters now, as per my professional accession of her condition. Please allow her to relax for a while before you give her any big orders." Kai said professionally.

".... Alright that is fine." Wazu said as the cords started retracting from his shoulders and retracting into the floor. He sat up in the chair and blinked a few times. He looked at Kai and smiled, "If she needs to relax perhaps you should have her check out the club onboard. The pilots seem to like it."

"I asked her to check it out, she did not wish to do that at this point in time" Kai said.

"Oh..." Wazu said, "Well then forget I said anything. If you'll excuse me I should head down to the medbay."

Kai looked at Wazu. "Do you mind if I accompany you?" He asked. "I've always wanted to see how the ST worked."

Wazu stood up and popped the bones in his neck as he rolled his head around, "um.... I guess so." He said sounding a little uncomfortable about it, Wazu then headed out the door.

Kai immediately picked up on the feeling. "On second thought, I'd rather not intrude." He said pleasantly.

"Thanks" Wazu said. He'd rather not let people see him nude immediately after the ST.

Wazu left the bridge and sighed, “oh well” he said out loud as he headed to the medbay.

Kai nodded and had a look around the bridge, over the stations.

There were no stations per say on the bridge. Around the walls were various screens and data readouts while the center of the room held several chairs, all of them could be adjusted to lean back, like how Wazu had it, or remain upright. The top of the chairs had several ports where various types of mind machine interface cables could be connected and off to the side were odd-looking control panels for emergency use more than anything else. The padded chairs also came with cup holders.

"Seigi, does this ship have an ADN system?" Kai asked curiously.

"An ADN system has not be installed Mr. Ashigari." Seigi responded

Kai sighed, relieved. "Then you're weak against Psionics, or lack defence against it." He said. "They should have given you one."

" it was decided that an ADN was not necessary Mr. Ashigari" Seigi said. 

"Oh? And why is that?" Kai asked, his desire to know new things flaring.

"I am not supposed to engage in direct combat and an ADN would be more of a hindrance to the crew than a benefit Mr. Ashigari" Seigi's disembodied voice said. 

Kai smiled. "You could say that." 

"Wazu wished to minimize psychological problems amongst the crew." Seigi added.

"And to let those who rely on said power survive." Kai stated.

"Please clarify" Seigi said

"Well I am fairly competent on my own psionic regard, in fact, I came to rely on them." Kai said, a bit abashed.

"Affirmative" Seigi said in acknowledgement

"Oh and Seigi, I am sorry about breaking those chairs in the dojo." Kai said, embarrassed.

"They have already been replaced Mr. Ashigari" Seigi said


Tasuki Uso
10/10/03 18:04

[GSS Seigi] Wanderings 

ON> GSS Seigi

Alexis made his way to the upper deck of the Seigi and walked to the rec rooms. He paused in the doorway of the dance club, unsure what to expect...he had never been in one of those places before.

A loud slow beat was playing over the speakers as a group of pilots and Minion crewmembers danced to it or sat at the bar to have a drink. Koh, the bartender, was hunched over the counter listening to one of the older crewmembers talk about her time on Greshintall.

: The club was fairly big although not very full, More people were coming in almost all the time while they were on break during the trip to Nepleslia.

The shifter's eyes quickly adjusted to the dimmed lighting as he walked toward the drink station. He slowly took a seat and swivelled it to face the back of the bar. It had been a while since he was last at one of these; before the Yui, for sure. Alexis looked up at the drink selection and pricing.

Koh walked over and brushed her long blue hair back behind her shoulders, "Hello. What would you like to drink?" She asked with a soft smile across her face

: "What do you have?" asked Alexis.

"We have almost everything from alcohol to coffee." Koh said, "And if we don't have it I'm sure that I can have Seigi synth it for you." 

"OJ will be fine..." Alexis paused. "...With extra cautions if you can?" he added with a slight smile.

Koh nodded and turned around. After skimming through the bottles on the wall she picked out a clear one with an orange liquid inside and then grabbed a glass. She placed the glass in front of him and filled the cup halfway, leaving the bottle next to the glass, "Your Alexis right?" She asked.

He nodded and sipped the juice. Hmm. The liquid seemed to glow slightly as he added the positive ions, but anyone watching would probably attribute the glow to the lighting. While his eye color was orange for originality, Alexis liked orange juice for the taste and texture. Adding cautions was something he just ordered to see the look on a tender's face as they tried to figure out what he just said. "I am...and your name is...?" Downside to being second...everyone knows your name. 'Course, not looking like everyone else is also a catalyst to that.

"My name is Koh" She said with a smile, "so what brings you here?"

Alexis set down his glass and looked up at Koh's face with a smile. "Nice to make you're acquaintance, Miss Koh. I'm just checking the place out." He shrugged. "Kinda wondering why a battleship has a club."

"For entertainment of course!" Koh said with a slight laugh. The music stopped and a few of the people dancing stopped to come get drinks. Koh attended to them came back over to Alexis as the music started up again. The beat was a lot faster this time although just as loud.

Alexis's fingers tapped with the beat on his glass, sometimes to his own variations. He watched the dancers a while, half-analyzing their movements. Dancing in the manner they were was a foreign thing to him; he had only done formal dancing before. The music was wonderfully mechanical, though. On one world, he had been introduced to something that had sounded to him like static. Noise on a piercing and useless scale. Noise with a beat, and redeemable by the singer's voice and the integration of actual music on occasion, but still noise. Techno and instrumental music was more to his preference.

Koh seemed a bit board with his lack of conversation and went to go talk with another person who was having a drink. The dancers continued although a group of 6 blue haired neko's soon left to head down to the flight deck.

Finishing off the rest of the juice, the shifter left the club and headed toward the dojo. That was an area he might be putting to good use...looking around, Alexis smiled at the size of the room as he remembered his first spar in this universe...it was with Wazu, in a cramped shuttlebay. "This would have been much better," he thought aloud to himself.

The room was fairly large. In one corner was a set of weightlifting equipment closed off by a single glass wall to make the room look bigger. In the center was a large padded dojo floor surrounded by a small track. In the last corner was a small three lane pool for doing laps also blocked off by a glass wall. A single neko with her blue hair pinned above her head was stretching beside the track while a man in a white GSA officers uniform was practicing on the dojo part with slow deliberate moves that seemed more like meditation than a fighting style or dance.

Alexis walked around the outer wall of the dojo toward the weight room, looking alternately between the Neko at the pool and the, he assumed, Geshrin in the center. 

The neko by the track walked onto it and started to run a few warm up laps. The man in the center started to finish up and walked to the corner of the dojo to pick up a towel that was lying on the floor revealing the red robe underneath.

Alexis stopped by the pool and started stretching. Hands over his head, hold. Arm behind the neck, hold. Repeat on other side, hold...Maybe he could work out some kinks in his fighting style. He seemed to fight the way he played chess sometimes, and that wasn't always a good thing.

The man towelled the sweat off his face and then put the red with white trim robe on over his uniform, "Hello Alexis." The man said without looking over at him.

Alexis narrowed his eyes. He hadn't made any sound aside from the doors opening. And certainly none that would identify him. But he easily recognized the voice. "Hya, Wazu. Moved into a new place, I see?" He continued with the stretches.

"HA! I got it right!" he said triumphantly as he turned to face Alexis for the first time. His eyes were gray and his right arm was slightly discolored, tinted slightly gray instead of the normal fleshy color. His robe covered the rest of his body concealing any other modifications.

"Lookin' good..." Alexis stood from the leg stretches and circled Wazu, eyes shifting modes to take in all of the changes. Electrical signals were unusually high...cybernetic enhancements, he thought, a lot of them too.

"'Wazu, version 2.0'," he added with a smirk. "What're the upgrades?"

A large part of his body was mechanical rather than flesh although his nervous system, skin, and brain remained human, "Lots of things. I think I got my sensors working properly now. I have added memory, supplementary ram, nano-enhanced muscles,” Wazu went on sounding like a nerd with a new computer.

Alexis smiled. "Nice, nice...think you could beat me now?" he said with a smirk.

"I don't recall losing the first time." Wazu said as he smirked back.

"Oh, right...I let you win," the shifter grinned. "It wouldn't have been fair to you if I got out of the hold you had me in. Any human couldn't have escaped, so why should I have?"

"So you let me then?" He asked with a chuckle

A chagrined look. "Oh...darn slip of the tongue. Yes, I did. Remember how easily I stepped out of the hold after I conceded? Can't believe you didn't suspect something." Alexis continued his scans, noting the accessories on the CO's back. "Got your merchandises back, I see?"

"I seem to remember something about my Kama's against your neck" He said with a smile, "And yes they are"

"I seem to remember knowing more about my body than you, so don't assume because you could have killed any other being that way that everyone can be dealt with in the same way," came the terse reply. "If you want to cleave my head from my shoulders than go ahead, try that again." Alexis closed his eyes and seemed to gather himself. "I apologize. That was uncalled for, but I'm getting tired of people assuming they know me."

Wazu merely shrugged, "I've gotten used to that kind of thing" Wazu said, "But remember I was using blunted weapons in a spar. Real combat would be a lot different."

Alexis narrowed his eyes a bit, and then stepped into the sparring area. He seemed to stare into the air in front of him, ignoring Wazu and the Neko. A shadowy shape formed in front of the shifter, something that looked like a bubble in the shape of a person. The shape took a stance, Alexis just stood there in front of it. Suddenly the thing lashed out, throwing punches at a moderate speed; Alexis blocked most of them, sliding into a sideways stance before deflecting the last one to upset the shape's balance. It tumbled to the mat, and then rolled to its feet again.

~One of them again?!~ Wazu thought to himself briefly, ~Nah... Couldn’t be~ Wazu simply stood and watched as Alexis fought with the creature.

Another attack was launched, aiming mainly at Alexis' gut. The shadow was blocked once more, but then it spun around in a right-side roundhouse kick at his neck. The shifter brought his arm up to block, but the kick spun him over in a cartwheel and he landed hard on his right arm. The roundhouse came down into a sweep, but Alexis shoved himself vertical and was already up in the air as the leg breezed below him.

He twisted and brought his feet under him, landing on the still-outstretched leg. There was a dull snap, the thigh in the shadow-leg breaking in half and hanging limply as Alexis rebounded off and landed a couple yards back.

He looked down and shook his head. The creature vanished.

"To easy for ya?" Wazu asked

"Sorta." There was a little moisture evident on Alexis' forehead as he straightened his uniform.

Wazu smirked walked over to the weight lifting area to grab a chair.

Alexis sat down in a half-cross-legged position on the middle of the mat watching Wazu. A ripple formed in the air five feet from the scientist and slowly approached him. A blunt bulge formed at the end of what could have been an arm and rose over the CO's head.

"And this is?" Wazu asked as his internal sensors scanned what was going on, his legs tensed up to jump out of the way.

As close as the thing was, unless Wazu saw the edges of the creature, he wouldn't notice anything...the blunt form came down, hard. A cream pie exploded over Wazu's head! White whipped topping flew everywhere, the fresh-made crust crumbling over the white uniform, the invisible form vanished.

Wazu gave Alexis an odd look as he wiped the pie off of him with the towel, "ok... that was different." 

Alexis didn't budge, just raising an eyebrow at Wazu. "Where did that come from?" he asked with a slight smile.

Wazu shook his head and finished towelling off

Alexis shrugged and stood up. "How many crew are on this ship?" he asked.

"Enough. We have about 50% of the recommended amount I think

Which is more than enough actually..." Wazu said.

"Fifty percent is more than enough? How does that work?" How could half be more than the whole?

"Well most of the ship can be run by the A.I." Wazu said, "Not everyone is needed to run the ship effectively"

"Thought so." Alexis started to the door. "Well, let me know when the AI can't do something. I guess I'll go meet more of the crew," he said.

"Alright then" Wazu said as he also turned to leave.


Spacy Fleet Command
10/8/03 14:43

The Phoenix Speaks 

Nepleslia 
N.S.S. Saiyshu (DN-20 Suzaku-class Dreadnought)
2nd Battle Group, 1st Task Force, 8th NDI Spacy Fleet

Space distorted and began to warp as the fold bubble containing the mammoth Confederate dreadnought, Saiyshu emerged from the dimension known as hyperspace. It was a brilliant vessel not only in terms of its fighting capabilities (which were quite extensive, to say the least) but in its looks. It was seventeen and a half kilometres in length and had a mass nearly one-fourth that of Earth's moon. The Saiyshu was the newest ship of its class and had many integral differences that set it apart from its older sister ships. Many of these differences were lost upon the crew, but the brand-new D series (DEFENDER) and their improvements had made the dreadnought a frightening weapons system.

Flanking the ship were six smaller vessels, which GSA sensors would quickly identify as versions of the NDI's more powerful escort-class vessels: The Otomo class and Kasen class. 

The combined firepower of the seven vessels was enough to lay waste to entire star systems, but that wasn't the goal here at all. The GSA would have to know that if the NDI were indeed coming for them, they would come for them en masse. Besides, the Confederates had bigger fish to fry. 

Rear Admiral Tobias Reeves' battle group powered down their hyperspace drives and switched to system mode, TSAs and Damper Field Generators going online now that their power wasn't being drained by the hungry fold drives. The communications array immediately began broadcasting a standard message to any and all non-hostile military vessels in the area that their arrival was indeed a peaceful one. Nevertheless, Admiral Reeves expected GSA vessels to move in on them soon, but he wasn't worried in the least. This was a business call. If he had come to fight, he'd have more than six destroyers and a dreadnought with him.

"We missed you at Cryslon," said Reeves over the channel he ordered his communications officers to open up. "But it's of no consequence. But we need to know where your forces stand -- now."


Tasuki Uso
10/13/03 18:45

[GSS Seigi] Arrival Part One 

ON> GSS Seigi

Wazu had just made it back to the bridge when the Seigi reached Nepleslia. The CDD cut off and almost immediately after the second recon squadron was launched. Each of the six fighters began a patrol of the surrounding area as the Seigi moved into orbit around the planet.

The Sixth Fleet was still around, but they appeared to be ready to leave. The mass of Yui-class ships had left orbit and were in position for TDD to Ayenee.

Alexis had stopped by the fighter bay and was sitting in his ship, thinking. He looked out the front portal as he felt the patrols leaving, and realized that they were at their destination. "Nepleslia...hmm. Better get to the bridge." He exited his craft and it was returned to the rafters as he took the nearest lift to the bridge.

Wazu sat down in his chair and let the cords come up and plug themselves into his body. He was able to see the ships of the sixth fleet through the sensors and the idea of staying over Nepleslia without their help was a little unsettling but orders were orders and the Seigi soon moved itself into geosynchronous orbit over funky city.

Yuuko, finally back on the bridge, reported, "Nepleslian defence network sends its greetings, sir. Sixth fleet advises us to keep clear of their formation. No hostile activities reported by SAINT-6's garrison detachment."

Alexis arrived at the bridge and stood in the doorway. "Orders, sir?"

Hundreds of spacecraft zoomed below, darted to and fro in the bustle of the immense mega-city. The air around the place was hazy with smog and smoke from fires on the ground. The lights of windows and occasional explosions lit the night terrain.

Wazu nodded and thought about it for a moment, "We need to Asses the situation on the ground, Yuuko ask SAINT-6's garrison for their Intel on the current status of the city."

"And what do I do?" asked the shifter. Hopefully he wasn't just supposed to stand there.

"I'll give you an assignment once I sort out exactly what needs to be done here" Wazu said to the shifter, not really knowing what the Seigi was doing here in the first place ~after all there were better choices for a occupation mission right? ~ He thought to himself.

"Alright. I'll...just stand here until then..." replied Alexis.

Changing his mind, the shifter went to a chair and allowed the wires to hook up. Modifying the interface to a mere visual overlay of his normal vision, he went through the sensor data on what was going on around the ship.

Wazu ran over different plans of action in his head. The Seigi didn't nearly have enough neko's to occupy the entire city so perhaps they could focus on specific trouble makers or simply wipe out areas from above that were to far gone. Or perhaps the city was secure and all they were going to do is just wait for something to happen.

Lavinia had finished her time in the club on the ship and was going up to the bridge, figuring that it was time to get back. She walked through the halls and noticed the Seigi nekos preparing for something and sped up her pace. In a matter of seconds she appeared in the door to the bridge. She inhaled deeply. "Sorry for being late. What's going on?" She asked as she walked over to the pilot's seat and sat down. The connecting cables snaked out and plugged into the ports on her back, and her vision was dominated by the information relayed by the sensors.

Yuuko turned around from her station. She wished the bridge had desks or something. "Chujo Wazu," she alerted him, "You have a call from SARA-X1"

Wazu nodded and started watching the transmission from his connection with the Seigi A.I. 

Yuuko frowned, and answered the call. "Taii Sakai Yuuko, how can I help you?"

Wazu winced slightly. he had forgot that they were back in an area where real time communications were possible. He decided to let Yuuko handle the introductions before he would start talking.

"Hello, Taii Sakai. This is Taisho Kitsurugi. Where is Chujo Wazu?" Yui asked.

"Here, Mistress." Yuuko responded. "He will be with you in a moment."

"Hello Taisho Kitsurugi." Wazu responded, trying to be polite as possible, "What is it that you want?"


Tasuki Uso
10/14/03 16:49

[GSS Seigi] A face without a name 

ON>GSS Seigi

Ritsu had been showering the lower deck looking for signs of seraphim leftovers. He didn't find much; it appeared that the seraphs had made a clean break. He literally heard his stomach growl. ~Ugh, maybe I should go get something to eat~ He thought and rode the lift up to the main floor and headed for the dining hall. He noticed that things seemed rather busy on this floor. He shrugged and entered the hall and looked around.

Several techs were floating large boxes toward the Minion quarters, The sounds of the club from down the hall weren’t as loud as they had been earlier now that most of the neko's were busy working on their Minion's. The Dinning hall was empty except for a single neko with short green hair filling a box full of food and Uso helping her find items in the fridge. 

Ritsu looked over at the short haired neko and wondered whom she was, he hadn't seen her before. ~Hello. ~ He said to both of them.

He walked over and took a seat at one of the empty tables.

Uso either didn't hear him or didn't care, "Hello" The short haired neko said with a quick wave before she stuffed two loves of bread into the box.

He walked right up to Uso and put a hand on her shoulder. "Boo." He said with a laugh. 

Uso looked over her shoulder at Ritsu, "oh it's you,” She said as she grabbed a bunch of packaged lunchmeats and tossed them into the box

"Getting ready for something or just putting stuff away?" He grinned.

The short haired neko picked up the box and toppled backwards. Uso shook her head, "She was getting food for the crew on one of the Minion's" Uso said. The short haired neko quickly sprung to her feet and dusted herself off, "I'm ok!" she said as she started putting the food back into the box.

Ritsu laughed and walked over to lend a hand. "Need a bit of help?" He asked.

"Um… ya! I would like that," She said cheerily 

He grinned and picked up the box. "So where are you taking all this? Back to the Minion crews?" He asked, trying to make small talk.

She nodded, “well at least the crew on the ship I am assigned to,” and put the last of the food back into it.

He looked at her closely. "I haven't seen you here before. What's your name?" He asked cheerily. "Mine's Ritsurin"

"Um... I don't know I can't decide on one" She said a bit sheepishly, "It's nice to meet you Mr. Ritsurin."

He looked at her curiously... "You mean you don't have one?" He asked incredulously, he thought everyone had a name.

"It’s not that I don't have one,” she said putting her hands on her hips, "it's just that I can't decide on one." Uso was holding back a laugh as she watched this scene unfold.

Ritsu chuckled a bit, as the cute neko looked adorable standing like that. "Well, little miss you should decide on one, your friend can't always call you 'hey you' can they?" He teased.

"Actually they just call me you,” she said as she put her hands on the side of the box and waited for him to let go.

He let her have the box with a grin. "You still need a name, it signifies who you are." He said.

"Well I'll have one when I find one I like." she said as she took the box. She was shorted than most neko's so the box covered up her face.

Ritsurin found this nameless neko amusing. "You look like you could be named Seline or something along those lines." He teased lightly.

"Hmm... Seline that is a nice name." she said, ironically liking it.

Ritsu laughed. "I'm glad you think so." He mused.

"Well I should get going," she said as she turned around and walked straight into a wall. She moved to the side a bit then stepped through the door and made her way down the hall.

Ritsu laughed as she left then turned to Uso. "How have you been doing working in the galley?" he asked, still chuckling

"I'm doing fine" she said as she walked over to one of the circular tables on the sides of the galley and sat down, using her feet to balance her as she leaned back in the chair.

He walked over to her and looked her over. "Haven't poisoned anyone have you?" He teased.

"You could be the first if you really want." Was her curt reply.

"Nah, I think I'll pass." He said, sitting back down. "Just how good a cook are you Uso?" 

"I have Seigi do most of the work.,” she said

"You lazy bum" came the sharp reply. "You don't take pride in doing things yourself do you/"

"Why would I?" she asked with a curious look.

"Because it's required." He said, taking up an aggressive posture.

Uso chuckled slightly

He then laughed good-naturedly and looked at her. "Because you should Uso." He said.

"I still don't see why I should do anything." Uso said.

"Would you rather be dead Uso?" He asked pointedly.

To be continued…


Ketsuri Chiharu
10/15/03 2:18

[GSS Ketsurui Chiharu] Angels not Angles.. 

ON>>GSS Ketsurui Chiharu

On the bridge, Taisho Ketsurui prepared a message to send to her friend who had just returned from parts unknown: 

" Welcome Back Alexis, it's glad to know that you were able to return from attending your journey unharmed. 

Nashi and Sai are still with me and Sai's still alive amazingly enough. I'm pretty sure that PNUgen knows about Nashi being taken off quarantine but they have yet to make a move to reprimand me- they might agree with my concerns with trying to make her a functional member of the crew and not let her become another Eve by limiting her involvement and personal growth by isolating her from the other crew. At the moment, she is still primarily working with Sai because much work is still needed to develop her personality to the point where she will not try to harm the others. 

I'm glad that you and the rest of the Seigi crew made it through your most recent encounter with the enemy and I monitor your progress from afar and I have confidence that you all will perform well. 

Presently, I'm trying to fulfil my current mission to seek out and destroy Elysia Novas but.. I think that there might be another way to avoid such an action and cause more senseless killing in the name of the Gods of War. But if it comes down to it... I hope it won't come down to that. I have yet to develop a plan and my thoughts are my own- my primary concern will always be for the well-being of the Grand Star Empire and its people. 

But.. I can take no actions to accomplish this at this point in time. 
I'll keep you updated as things take shape...

Take care out there, the skies will never be safe.. 
Sincerely, 
Taisho Ketsurui Chiharu 
GSS Ketsurui Chiharu (GB-07)"

Chiharu paused for a moment as she scanned over her letter, quite surprised at the length. ~Didn't realise I had written that much. Oh well.~ She shrugged as she forwarded the message through the Ketsurui's communications' line to the GSS Seigi.

Elsewhere on the Ship...

Nanashi stood in the middle of the armory, staring at the array of weapons before her. A large grin was on her face as she ran over what each one was used for and how the weapons worked. She knew all of them. Now, what should she use? Nashi lifted a GP-12 and synthed a shoulder strap, then slung it over her shoulder, the strap going diagonally over her chest. There was a quick-release catch on the strap, if she needed it off quickly. The ruby-eyed Neko scanned the rest of the weapons, selected her side-arm (as she hadn't been issued one yet), and a small knife that she strapped to the outside of her ankle.

Sai had entered the armory, looking for Nashi since this was the neko's favourite place to be. "Having fun Nashi?" The small girl looked at the taller neko curiously, taking in the neko and the surroundings with those piercing green eyes of hers.

The black-skinned catgirl looked up at Sai after the knife was secured. Her eyes were bright as she nodded. "Yes! This is even better than the pretend place Daddy made me!" She stood up from kneeling and walked over to her friend. Nashi's smile faltered as she remembered her daddy...Alexis hadn't returned yet. But he said he would! So he would. She nodded to herself firmly and looked questioningly at Sai. "What do I do now? Is there going to be something to play with?" Her definition hadn't wavered in the time Sai spent with her. Hunting and Law were two things she still didn't get. Play was play was play...and she ALWAYS won. And she was happy with that.

Sai smiled genuinely at Nashi. "There will be something to play with soon enough, but your Mommy wanted me to work with you on the other game I talked to you about." She looked over Nashi curiously, trying to remember what the Taisho had requested and how she was supposed to accomplish this considering the neko's concept of play was still unchanged.. it might have helped if Sai herself understood the concept of how a child's mind developed into adulthood.. 

"Oh yeah...that game. 'Search and Destroy', but without the fun part," Nashi said with slight disappointment. Mommy had told her that she was going to be the "Security Tech", but she didn't fully know what that meant. "Search and Destroy" was as close as she could come to it.

"I know you want the fun part but we have to find the person you have to play with- the person you're looking for." Sai paused for a moment. "Do you remember the people that looked like they had wings?"

The Neko nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Ok.. Do you remember what they are called?" Sai knew how much Nashi hated reviewing this stuff but it had to be done just to reconfirm the neko's knowledge so that Sai knew that Nashi understood it. 

Nashi nodded again. "Angles, right?" she asked in a little-girl voice. With her adult body, sometimes it was easy to forget she was only a kid inside. It was odd to watch her and Sai interact if one knew that one was a mature person in a 10-year-old body and the other was a 5-year-old mind in a mature body.

"You almost got it. They're called An-gels. Now, what about the other people that are usually sent to play when the Angels are around?" Sai smiled again happy that Nashi was slowing understanding but not quite, but it still was progress.

"Ain-jels...Angels..." Nashi repeated a couple of times, then she nodded again. "'Team-based' playing...the people who look like me are helping me to win." She frowned. "Why do I need help? I won when I played with 9 An-gels..."

Sai thought over the question and tried to phrase it so that Nashi might understand. "Because, the more people there are to play alongside you the more different Angels you can play with. If you try to play with too many Angels at once, you get slowed down so you can't play with any new ones and that wouldn't be any fun, right?"

That didn't make much sense to Nashi at first. It didn't make sense...she didn't play with the Angels all at once, she took them out one at a time. It was more fun to pick them off; even in a group they were vulnerable. But after a little thought, she got it. "Faster winning time!" Nashi said suddenly. Now she had a new thing to keep track of! Her brain buzzed as she added another factor to her playing...time-trial.

Sai nodded, feeling Nashi's excitement at this new concept flowing all around her. It was almost dizzying but Sai couldn't help but smile again. "That's right! Now the Angels have friends of their own that like to win fast, they look very different than the Angels.. they are large white human looking beings with sharp teeth and no eyes." 

"Serfs?" She had played with those things too, in the pretend world. The gooey guys...it was odd, she never beat them...they kept disappearing on her. And once, when she had stabbed one, her fist had just gone into the thing with no effect...then the simulation had shut down.

"Close again but they are called: Seraphs. They are tougher to beat than an Angel. Those are the ones you really need friends to help you beat." Sai remembered what had happened to Amy and Harume in that incident with the Seraph, it was strange, she almost felt like she missed them.. but she had no real connection with them. 

"Sar-afs. Seraphs." Nanashi nodded. "So I can win if I let someone else play with the Seraphs?" Maybe she could learn how to win if she watched someone else do it...

"Sometimes. Seraphs are tricky because it takes a lot to beat them. Your mommy and daddy had to get help from several other people to beat just one Seraph.." Sai felt like she should feel some remorse for watching her "sisters" die that day, but that would mean that she was really human after all, wouldn't it?

"Oh." The Neko looked down at the floor. She was getting bored of the review...but this wasn't playtime, at least not until Mommy said so. But she wanted to play! She had never gone this long without playing in her whole two+ years of life...not even when she was in trouble. "When are they coming over?" she asked, looking back at Sai, focusing on the Geshrin girl's throat. Sai's eyes still made her nervous, but getting to know the girl had made Nashi a bit more comfortable around her.

"Hopefully... we'll be going over and playing with them soon.. But we have to make a playdate. Your mommy is working on that right now." It was rather sadistic that Sai had to phrase the idea of going over to an Elysian ship and killing everyone onboard as a "playdate" but it was the only thing that Nashi could understand right now.. It was her job to condition Nashi out of this as best as she could so that the Neko could run the ship's security department on her own power... Sai decided that she might ask the Taisho to discuss the matter of allowing Nashi's mind to progress with PNUgen so that the Neko could function as an adult without having to remain trapped in this childish mindset.

Nashi sighed, but seemed content for now. As long as she was going to play sometime, she would be okay. But there was still the matter of finding something to keep her time occupied.

"Hmm... if you want we can practice? Just remember how your daddy asked you to play with me and your mommy?" Sai knew she had to help Nashi out but this was going to be painful, but as long as Nashi remembered..

"He told me not to play with anyone without Mommy's permission," Nashi replied sternly. "Mommy hasn't said I can play with you." She remembered the rest of the instructions too: Play with the crew like she would with Daddy, non-lethal force only.

"We can go ask Mommy. Do you want to ask Mommy?" Sai asked curiously.

"Sure!" Nashi eagerly started to the door, then paused. "Where _is_ Mommy?"

"She should be on the bridge. I know the way if you want to follow me?" Sai offered her hand to Nashi as she walked after her.

Taking Sai's hand, Nashi followed the girl. On the way, her mind sub-consciously created a map of the route so she could follow it later. She already knew the way from the shuttlebay to her room and from her room to the armory. A picture of the Ketsurui was forming in her head, but it would be a long time before it was complete.

The corridors were fairly clear as Sai walked with Nashi in hand towards the bridge. When they came to the door, it slid open with a soft whoosh and revealed that the bridge was still fully staffed with all the present bridge crew and the Taisho was sitting in her chair, staring at something in a datapad. 

For a second, Nashi was too engrossed in looking around the bridge to notice that her mommy was there. So many panels and people...The information on the screens and displays was incomprehensible to her, but she was busy with something else. Within half a minute Nanashi had mentally already found ways to kill everyone on the bridge. Smiling softly, her mind returned to the purpose for the journey and she started looking for Chiharu.

Chiharu looked up as she heard footsteps entering the bridge. "Nashi, Sai.. Hello. So, what are you two up too?" She looked at the pair almost suspiciously in her motherly way. It was a rarity to see them both make an appearance on the bridge. "Nashi, have you been good?" 

Nashi nodded and smiled. "Sai wants to play with me...can she, mommy?" Her hands were clasped eagerly in front of her. Play was play...Sparring was just a step down from what she wanted, that was all.

Chi looked at the Geshrin girl curiously. Sai returned the gaze with a soft and reaffirming nod, to let her captain know she knew what she was getting into. 

Chi shrugged, accepting the look as her answer and nodded to Nashi. "You and Sai can play, just remember what your Daddy said, okay? And Sai, when you two are done playing.. come back and let me know how it went." 

Sai nodded again before she spoke. "Yes, Taisho Ketsurui."

"Okay, Mommy!" Nashi smiled and grabbed Sai's hand again. "Let's go!" she said, half-dragging Sai after her before realizing she didn't know where she was headed. Her room was too small, and the arms room was not "safe" enough..."Where do you want to play, Sai?" the ruby-eyed catgirl asked as she slowed to a slow walk.

"I think there's an empty room down by the Shuttlebay." Sai thought over the ship's floor plan, ruling out the large shuttlebay because of the high number of shuttles there. And if they were 'playing' something might get broken or Nashi might put Sai through a shuttle on accident.

Nashi nodded and started to improvise a path through the ship toward the shuttle bay. She'd look for the room from there. "What do you want to play?" she asked along the way. She knew several games, but most of them involved hunter-killer methods. There was a 'demo' mode, what she had used on Alexis...she decided on that one, if Sai didn't pick something else.

Sai paused for a moment, unsure of what to play and shrugged. "I guess I can let you pick one.. It's this room." She indicated a room the was only a door away and across from the shuttlebay.

"Hmm..." Nashi thought about it, but just re-picked her first choice. "You hide and I'll find you. Then you try to stop me before I stop you." It was merely a shortened form of Search and Destroy, but it sounded like what she would be using when she met her new playmates...and Sai did say this was supposed to be practice. Anyway, it was better than that pretend place. She closed her eyes and put her fingers in her ears, sitting down on the floor.

Sai darted off to hide once Nashi sat down. This was going to be a challenge considering nekos had a stronger sense of hearing than a Geshrin did.. but Sai found a place to hide and she wiggled into a space behind a heavy crate and a wall and waited. She closed her eyes and just tried to... sense where Nashi's energy was being projected. She could feel the Neko's excitement rebounding off the walls of the room and just filling the air with that emotional energy. Sai had to fight the urge to follow through with that energy as it slowly touched her skin.

Nashi waited for a while, well enough time for Sai to hide. She felt the footsteps through the floor, but refused to follow where they went...instead, she waited half a minute after they disappeared before she got up and opened her eyes. Taking her fingers out of her ears, Nashi smiled. This was going to be fun!


Alexis Jaren
10/15/03 16:17

[GSS Seigi] Slow times... 

ON>> GSS Seigi (GB-08)

The planet was relatively quiet, and after fifteen minutes of watching data float by Alexis disconnected and sat up. "So what are we here for, Wazu?" he asked, tilting his head at the Vice-admiral. "It all seems pretty quiet to me."

Wazu let the cords retract from his body and sat up in the chair, "We are here to occupy the planet. That means just keeping an eye on things for now." He said

"Guard duty then." The shifter leaned back in his chair again, not connecting, but instead crossed his legs at the ankles and folded his hands behind his head. "Isn't it uncomfortable laying back with those extra appendages behind you?" he asked, referring to Wazu's merchandises.

"You get used to them," Wazu said, "But these can fold flat against my back" To demonstrate his point they folded back into his robes through small openings in the back.

"Interesting." After another minute of laying there, Alexis got up again, standing and walking around the bridge. "How long do we have this job?" he asked, looking at one of the few displays.

"Until we get assigned somewhere else," Wazu sighed, "Perhaps I should ask the Tashio for a new assignment?" He thought out loud 

"If that doesn't work, maybe we could have a potluck in the shuttlebay," Alexis replied with half-hearted sarcasm. "Because nothing's going on here." He sighed and shook his head. "What are things like planet-side? How are the locals taking our presence?"

"I am still waiting on a report from SAINT before make any real judgments but from what I heard of this place there is a lot of crime and corruption." Wazu said, He looked over at one of the screens on the walls of the bridge then looked back over at Alexis, "That is a good idea. You’re in charge of organising anything needed for the potluck. Excluding the food of course" 

"You're serious? I was just joking, but alright. Maybe it'll give everyone something to look forward to..." Alexis smirked. "It's funny, Uso may be head cook but she certainly isn't going to degrade herself to preparing food if she can help it." An alert popped up on the screen nearest the shifter, flashing that there was a message for him. Alexis sent the message to his computer pad and opened it. A smile grew as he read the reply from Chiharu.

Wazu let Alexis read the message and leaned back in the chair to attend to other things around the ship, the first of which was to send a message to QnS for more Minion craft and a few of the new atmospheric fighters for use over the planet if it came to that.

Alexis returned the computer pad to his pants' cargo pocket after saving the message as a reminder to write again. He looked at the displays again, then looked back at Wazu, then at the bridge door. "Well...call me if I'm needed. I'm going to go scrub the bathroom floors with a toothbrush..." the shifter said as he left to go plan the event. If the crew was interested in a social event that was great.

"OK have fun!" Wazu called out after him jokingly. "Why is Alexis going to clean the", ."That was sarcasm Seigi," Wazu interrupted with a chuckle.