RP [YSS Azalea II] Episode 1: Fresh Water

[Immortal Cyan]

RP Date

44.7

RP Location

Aquarius Star Fortress

Hangar Bay Two, Tentacle Three, Aquarius Star Fortress
In Proximity of YSS Azalea II

After a few wonderful days of swimming in the aquarium, it was finally time to work.

Within a few hours, the newly-christened YSS Azalea II would launch and set off for its venture into Kuvexian space. It went without saying that Hotaru Sasaki was nervous, since the Azalea II was her first command and she had been given what had the potential to be a challenging assignment as well. The latter fact which had consumed much of her attention over the last few days, even as she sought to de-stress in advance of the launch. Nevertheless, Sasaki hoped to present an approachable, outgoing demeanor to her crew.

Standing next to her mint-paneled Clerk, who silently worked to verify and register the crew as they came aboard, Sasaki offered a smile and the necessary courtesies to them as they did. For her part, the Chui didn’t intend to waste the opportunity to see them directly, if only for a few moments before they got settled in and pulled off to their duty stations.

Of course, the first to arrive were the pair of lumbering Tröll twins, Ingrid and Bjorn Wikkedson, descendents of the legendary berserker Pansarkedja Wikkedson. Both were great fighters who she was sure would prove their worth in the power armor teams. Next, contrasting the lumbering bulk of the Trölls came a gaggle of Mini-Nekos, led by Jôtô Hei Nishizaki Nozomi. Most were Sprites from Aquarius Star Fortress who had requested a posting on the Azalea II in hopes of adventure, but Nozomi herself had voluntarily transferred to a Mini-Neko body in order to work more closely with machines. Regardless of their numbers, Sasaki offered a series of quick bows and smiles for each individual Mini-Neko, her Nekovalkyrja body allowing her to do so without fear of throwing out her back!

From there came the others, including more of those she had picked personally for the Azalea II, after reviewing their records. Of course, Sasaki was excited to see all of her crew, but she was particularly excited to meet a few in particular!

 

[hyralt]

A pale neko with off-white chin-length hair crouched by the side of one of Aquarius' many aquariums. Her uniform had a medical teal panel and a matching patch before it shimmered and disappeared to be replaced with a simple white bathing suit. Her short-haired white tail curled around her feet and its tip flicked with annoyance as she stared at the water. Though she had a perfectly neutral expression on her face, each time she thought about jumping in, the fur on her tail poofed out and took a minute or so to smooth back down again.

Who is in control here, Kari thought to herself. You or your fears? If the Empress hadn't meant nekos to swim, she wouldn't have saw fit to build such a place.

Kari closed her eyes and leaned forward until she passed the point of no return and started to fall. There was a moment of sheer panic when the water touched her naked skin and her holographic swimsuit did nothing to protect her from the wet. But after the moment had passed, she relaxed and began swimming almost as well as the miniature nekos in underwater gear, who were watching her with amusement. She used all four of her limbs to propel herself forward, then simply twisted her tail to steer. In the end, she decided it wasn't very different from hovering, and after a few minutes she surfaced and floated back up to where she'd fallen in.

As she towelled off, her swimsuit shimmered again and reverted to her uniform looking just as crisp and dry as it ever had, though the hair on her head and tail were still wet. She grabbed the standard-issue pack containing her standard-issue equipment and precisely zero personal effects and made her way to Hangar Bay Two, Tentacle Three where she knew the Azalea would be waiting. When she arrived, she gave Hotaru Sasaki-Chui a crisp salute.

"Kari Sunde," she announced herself in her monotone contralto voice. "Reporting for duty, Captain."

 

[Immortal Cyan]

Hangar Bay Two, Tentacle Three, Aquarius Star Fortress
In Proximity of YSS Azalea II

“Welcome to the Azalea II, Sunde-Hei.” Sasaki replied, returning the blonde-haired Nekovalkrja’s salute as she did. “Get settled in and make yourself comfortable, there’s a bit of a trip ahead.” She added with a soft smile, her intuition keying her into the Medic’s somewhat tense, serious disposition. This was a crewmember who she wouldn’t have to motivate, but rather, one who she would need to tell to relax whenever she was working too hard.

“There’s food waiting in the wardroom when you’re ready.” She finished.

 

[hyralt]

"Hai, Captain," Kari replied along with another salute. "Right away, Captain."

With that, she double-timed it onboard, spending several full cycles of her digital brain's compute time pulling up her cabin assignment along with the deck plan of a standard Plumeria and plotting the most efficient route from her current location. Once at her cabin, she was happy to find that it had a neko nest rather than bunk beds, though she was disappointed to learn that nobody else had been assigned to her cabin. She deposited her pack in one of the lockers at the back of the room, then left again with every intention of visiting the wardroom.

Along the way, she couldn't help but notice that her path led right past one of the Med Bays, so she stopped in for a quick look. She noted how the positions of the cabinets and hemosynth tubes were reversed from the YSS Wakaba, a Sharie-class on which she had previously served that used the standard Sakura medbay layout. This will be adequate, she thought to herself, but how will I manage three medbays by myself? Perhaps the Captain is expecting more medical crew not yet on the roster.

It would have to wait for later, she decided as she raced out of the room. Captain needs me in the wardroom. When she arrived, she spent a cycle taking in the contents of the room before she walked over to inspect the food, at which point she sent Sasuki the following message, which took full advantage of text as a more expressive medium than speech.

Wardroom secured, Captain.

 

[Locked_0ut]

It had been a classic case of “hurry up and wait.” The process of putting in to become an observer on the Azalea II and shipping out from the Ukmirt system, had passed in a heady blur of progress. Since arriving on Aquarius Station, however, Pierre had spent the bulk of their time either in holographic conferences with other members of the NGFP working group or concluding reports and projects with the 1st Rikugun Test and Eval Battalion. Still, as an officer with the 1st RTE Bn, they still had duties to fulfill.

Finally, the Azalea II would cast off soon enough and Pierre wouldn’t feel like he was sitting on his hands anymore. He’d miss the folksy little tavern they’d found with its own in-house fiddler. Maybe they’d come back through here once their study was complete. Duffle over their shoulder, Pierre hurried to the dock and fell in with their new crew. They felt like people were giving them odd looks. It was probably thanks to their RUIKPAT in a sea of Star Army Type 42s, definitely not the hooves or stubby antlers.

Approaching the captain after a white haired Neko passed, Pierre gave a crisp salute. “Chui Pierre Ruike, 1st Rikugun Test and Eval Battalion,” they said in their soft lilting voice, “requesting permission to board. I’m here to take notes on the Mamushi’s combat performance. Beyond that, I can stay out of the way or offer my help in other aspects should you desire, ma’am.”

 

[Damaske]

The week or so beforehand was interesting the party was more than he expected, then the days of nothing to do but swimming, or busy work to help pass the time. Here they are hanger 2, Tentacle 3 of the great Aquarius Star Fortress. Yujin found it kinda funny that the arms of the star fortress were named after a part of one of the enemies they fought in the past.

Now standing here part of the crew as they board the YSS Azalea II, his long hair pulled back into two brads, his fu manchu and beard were trimmed up and much neater than was at the party. soon it was his turn to board letting out a nervous sigh, he steps forward up to the captain setting his things down so as to not have anything in his hands, and salutes saying "Santô Hei Toyoda, reporting as ordered!" in his typical soft voice.

 

[Immortal Cyan]

Hangar Bay Two, Tentacle Three, Aquarius Star Fortress
In Proximity of YSS Azalea II

“Chui.” Sasaki responded to the Rikugun officer as she gave a salute of her own. It went without saying that it was strange that he was the same rank as she was, but in this context as captain, she ultimately held superiority over him. “We may or may not require use of your skills for the duration of your stay. I imagine our infantry complement could use the experience of a Rikgun officer.” She began with a soft smile. “However, I will work to ensure that your study takes precedence over any duties you may be assigned.” Sasaki clarified.

“There’s food in the wardroom, once you’re settled in. Welcome aboard.” She finished.

After the Rikgun officer came Toyoda Yujin, an ex-civilian pilot whose experience she hoped would translate to him being a capable starfighter pilot.

“Welcome aboard, Toyoda-Hei. When you get settled in, there’s food in the wardroom. Also, if you’d like to be assigned a particular craft from the complement, make sure to let the technicians know. They’ll be going over the pilot assignments and doing seat fittings later.”

 

[Damaske]

Yujin would nod and smiled as he moves to gather his things once more and then says "Thank you Ma'am, and yes I have a certain craft in mind and will let the techs know." Taking note there was food in the wardroom as he stepped onboard he pulls up the ship's cabin assignments seeing he was assigned to cabin 3 on deck 2, seeing noone else there he frowns some and then plans the route to take him there so he could get settled.

 

[Locked_0ut]

The weeks since the Azalea crew’s little mixer had been a little awkward and a little wonderful. Nas spent most of her time with Asami exploring Aquarius Star Fortress. They occupied their days swimming or shopping and their evenings checking out the various entertainment offerings on the station. Their nights together weren’t as wild as their first one together. Partially because seemed to be making himself scarce, and partially because something deep in the back of Nas’s mind urged her to take things slow. There were things she felt she needed to discuss with both of them, but for the moment she wanted to enjoy the brief respite before they had to cast off and put on their war faces.

All too soon, they were moving out of their love nest and reporting the Azalea’s birth in Tentacle 3 Bay 2. She presented herself to the ship’s captain, a Chui surprisingly, “Nasrin Naceri Santô Hei, reporting as ordered and ready to fly, Ma’am!” She saluted, nose wrinkling as she failed to keep an eager grin off of her face.

 

[ajax228]

The last two weeks where a blur of fun but now it was time to deploy and Asami had her stealth fighter to work on. She watched Nas as the other woman walked in front of her but the thoughts that filled her mind would have to wait for later.

"Joto Hei Asami Sakurai reporting for duty ma'am." Asami saluted as well almost in unison with Nasrin. "If i may ask a question was my fighter brought on board? I am eager to test it out."

 

[Soban]

The blue and red twins were confident as they walked, and the pair introduced themselves with Akane starting out. The two of them smiled at Nas and Asami. "Looks like we will be bunking together." Akane enthused and Aoi wore a smile that was perhaps a bit mischievous.

 

[Locked_0ut]

Nasrin
“Should be fun,” Nas said, recognizing the distinctive “twins” from the mixer two weeks back. “Y’all girls’re in the two seater right?”


Pierre
Pierre caught part of the conversation as they headed deeper into the ship. The only two seater in the Azalea’s inventory was a B variant Mamushi. Glancing back over their shoulder, they took note of the red and blue Nekovalkyrja. Pierre hoped they wouldn’t mind some Rikugun officer staring over their shoulder for their own pet project.

 

[hyralt]

"Medic's log," Kari said out loud to herself as she paced back and forth in the Azalea's wardroom. It was an affectation she'd picked up from a movie she'd seen between assignments. She didn't need to say anything aloud for her digital brain to record notes to be recalled later, but after trying it she had found that she made better notes when she went to the effort of speaking.

"I have met my new Captain. She told me to make myself comfortable and told me there was food waiting in the wardroom. Clearly she is taking pity on me after seeing the embarrassment that is my service record for the last year. Fully half of my life wasted without being an extension of the Empress' will, as is my purpose.

"I will have to step up if I want to convince her to take me seriously. At least I was able to read between the lines when she told me that food was waiting in the wardroom."

At this point, Kari pulled out a sealed packet that she tore open and from which she retrieved a pair of sterile gloves, which she put on. Suitably gloved, she began picking up randomly selected pieces of food laid out before her, painstakingly dissecting them, and tossing out the pieces.

"The Captain's clear implication was to be the vanguard for the crew's health and verify that the food is prepared to a rigorous standard of safety. My final judgement is: acceptable. I will report in to the Captain."

To Hotaru Sasaki: Captain,

 

[Locked_0ut]

Brain abuzz with thoughts of fighters, Pierre made his way toward the Wardroom. Springing off of their powerful legs, they launched themselves up through the zero-g passage. Thoughts of their SYNC conversation with Maya or what the Sr-VX or XX-VX, Pierre wasn’t quite sure what the proper prototype name should be, would look like fled as they entered the Wardroom. There was a nice spread, the kitchen staff had outdone themselves with a wide variety of finger foods. Though lavish by Rikugun standards, that wasn’t what caught Pierre’s attention. A tall Neko medic was hunched over doing surgery on what looked like a slider, or the remains of one. Sliding up next to the medic, Pierre looked up at her with a slight smile, “You know, Doc, if you wanted it without lettuce, you could’ve just asked.”

 

[hyralt]

Kari continued to separate the slider into its constituent pieces, arranging them on a grid with similar items next to each other. The two sides of the bun on one side, the patty next to the lower section of bun and above it she arranged three slices of pickle and two of tomato, then lettuce next to those, and finally diced onions below that arranged according to size.

"I wanted one that any of the crew might have chosen for themselves," Kari said as she stared at the smear of ketchup and mustard still remaining on the bun with a cold hatred, since it couldn't easily be separated and organized. "Once the ingredients have been properly knolled, I can tell if any have been excluded and if each piece has been safely prepared within a reasonable margin of error."

Finally satisfied, Kari removed her gloves, tossed them on top of the slider remnants, and dumped them all into a nearby trash bin. Only then did she look up and see the unique person who was talking to her. Kari was obviously studying Pierre's distinctive features for what felt to her like an eternity as she split her brain cycles between the tasks of analyzing this interesting specimen and trying to generate a comment that wouldn't offend.

"I find your appearance to be of tremendous interest," she began. Good start, she thought to herself. The socialization trainers were always encouraging me to start with irrelevant statements of interest. I have clearly made tremendous progress. With a self-satisfied smile, she continued. "I would like to perform the same operation on you, if you are willing."

 

[Locked_0ut]

Pierre’s cheeks flushed slightly, hand drifting to a short antler at the Medic’s words. She was an odd duck but… WHAT? The little officer choked on their own slider, eyes bugging out as they fixated on the carefully disassembled sandwich. No she couldn’t mean.

“N-no, need,” Pierre choked out, “This is just a minkan body with some minor, mostly cosmetic, modifications. I’m sure you can get the base tech stats without cutting me up.” A slight smile came to their lips however. “I think I get you though, I see a gun and ask how many rounds can I put through it before it explodes, or how much mud until it stops firing. Oh, and the end user stuff like ergonomics; some people think that’s the boring stuff, but it’s not. You’d think some engineers’ve never seen a person.”

 

[hyralt]

"Minkan? Understood. No need for a dissection in that case," Kari gave Pierre a curt nod before she squinted her eyes and spent a moment dissecting Pierre's words in her mind. "This is an apt metaphor. The gun is an instrument of your will as you are an instrument of the Empress' will. I would like to know how many rounds I can put through you before you explode."

Kari gave them a bow now that their pleasantries had concluded. "I am Kari Sunde-Hei, sir. I am a medic and not a doctor, so the doc colloquialism need not apply. I am not one to sit idly by shipside during away missions. If you see my Mindy on the battlefield, then rejoice - for you will not have the Empress' blessing to retire that day."

 

[Locked_0ut]

Pierre’s smile slipped a fraction. This woman sounded like a street preacher. A street preacher who was… flirting? they thought to themselves. Maybe not flirting. This seemed to be her way of saying that she wanted to get to know them better. Definitely an odd duck.

“I like to think I’m an instrument of my own will most days, but there’s a reason they call us government issued,” the statement came out a little more wistful than they intended, but they forged on. “Either way, I guess I want to see how much mud you can traverse before you bog down.” The last part was almost a question, but Pierre hoped they’d managed to crack the code.

 

[hyralt]

Kari put on her dissection face again as she tried to work out what Pierre meant. She could tell they were using some kind of metaphor and it seemed similar but not quite the same as the earlier metaphor about the gun and the bullets. Was there meaning in the difference? Or were they simply reiterating their point as a rhetorical device? Regardless, Kari decided she had spent too many cycles thinking about it and chose the most obvious reply.

"Negative, sir," Kari shook her head sharply. "Traversing mud would block the optical tracking system. I would instead fly over the mud to maintain optimal combat and rescue effectiveness. And avoid getting bogged down."

 

[Locked_0ut]

Pierre’s eye twitched slightly. “Good thing we aren’t armored vehicles then,” they said, turning to load their plate with another slider and a couple of pieces of nigiri. This conversation had long since gone off the rails, but they were enjoying it, despite themself.

Once more into the breach. “So, got any hobbies that aren’t the Empress and dissecting sliders? Or dissecting innocent Rikugun officers.” Pierre flashed a quick smile, hoping that didn’t sound like an accusation.