RP: 5th Fleet [Chapter Four] Refuge

[Kai]

It had been several hours since the end of the battle at the tunnel, since they had defeated the Render, and since they had been whisked away from the battlefield. Aya's wounds had been completely healed, and Damien's had been reduced to a few pinkish gashes on his arm, which were vanishing quickly- he would be completely healed by the next morning, when their leave ran out.

Everyone had showered, and changed into clean clothes. they had gotten hot food and cool drink, and had been taken to their rooms where they could either sleep or while away the hours watching things like the SANDRA news, or tv shows like Ori-V-Frame, Kamen Sentai Nekoranger, Magical Girl Aeternalis, and even Yami NekoNeko. Beyond the news and the cartoons, however, there wasn't much available, and all of it was reruns, even the news.

The squad had, however, received a message from their CO requesting their presence in one of the meeting rooms available in the hotel. The message had said something about upgrades and whatnot, but nobody really paid too much attention to what it actually said. Instead, they were left with a couple of options: stick to their rooms, and boredom, or meet up with Nakamura Juni and maybe get something out of it.

The location of the room where the meeting was held was only a short walk down the dingy hallways from most of the squad, so, why not?

 

[Reynolds]

Anzu had eventually given up and retrieved her weapons and helmet, doing her best to ignore Aya and Fieke after they held her back. She wasn't mad at them for doing what they did, but she was irritated in general. Leaving her Daisy behind for a hot shower and a new uniform had done her some good. Warm food and bed had improved her attitude even further. She was finally compelled back out of hiding for this meeting, though. She wasn't incredibly interested, but if they were altering her equipment in some way she'd want to know about it. Their crazy platoon commander probably wanted to strap explosives to them and turn them into expendable walking grenades or something.

She yawned as she wandered in, stretching. If it got too boring, she could always just go back to sleep. The Neko was basically silent when she napped, so whoever else showed up might not even notice.

 

[Kyoshiro9]

James walked off of the ramp of the drop ship and looked out at the broken city. Some of the buildings looked fine if not a little neglected but others were broken and or covered in scorched marks with pieces missing. Many of the windows were broken and a fine layer of dirt and dust seemed to cover everything. The sky was over cast and the wind was really blowing today, kicking all that dirt and dust into the eyes of the unsuspecting. It looked like a desolate war torn place were hope came to die. All in all planet Lkihujngfv II was turning out to be quite a charming place to be.

James adjusted the strap of his vest on his Type 31 Field Uniform before stepping out onto the planet. Unfortunately for James his eyes were among some of the unsuspecting since he didn't have his goggles on nor his helmet. Cursing he began to wipe at them as he walked forward. He had a brief idea were to go but to him everything in this shitty city looked the same. He saw a couple of soldiers walking by and he tried to call out to them for directions.

"Hey excuse me I'm trying to find out were Fourth Company, Second Platoon is at. Can you guys point it out.....?"

The soldiers kept on walking, ignoring James's question.

"Wow thank you! *grumble grumble* Assholes."

James called out to them and then muttered to himself as he kept going. Finally after another couple of minutes he found a neko who pointed him in the right direction. He stood in front of the hotel that his squad was supposed to be staying at. It looked nicer than most of the city but that wasn't saying much. Rubbing the back of his head he murmured to himself.

"Well I guess this is it...."

After walking through the front doors and getting another set of directions from another soldier inside James found himself in front of a door to a meeting room that his new CO as well as the rest of his squad was supposedly in. Being instructed to just knock on the door and walk James did just that. He stepped inside and looked around at who was there.

 

[Gryal]

Brandon sighed as he walked off his shuttle, looking at the devastated city around him with a grimace. People had lived here at some point, with friends and families and their daily routines. There was barely enough of that left to give him a sense of loss now that he was down on the streets, but as his shuttle had approached the view had been devastating. Planetary conditions didn't seem to be encouraging of any joyful mood either, as the wind buffeted wave after wave of dust on his up-to-now clean uniform. A frown marked his features as he wondered about the effect that would have on the sidearm on his hip, even if the manuals said that there was no reason to worry.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of the shuttle closing up and leaving, realizing he'd been standing still at the bottom of the ramp like a fool for maybe a minute. He looked down at the floor, embarrassed to have so clearly been impressed by the sight in front of him - he was a rookie, yes, but it hadn't taken him more than a minute on the planet to make it obvious, he thought angrily to himself as he raised his head again and paced forward, following the directions he'd been given.

They weren't entirely accurate, so he wandered for a couple of minutes, glad that he had been brought with time to spare for the meeting - while he had the choice of asking any of the nearby soldiers where the hotel was, he preferred to find it on his own. Fortunately for him, the instructions weren't that far off that he was in risk of being late, so he got to burn some of the extra time doing less awkward things than standing still in front of the door.

But the closer Brandon got to it, the more nervous he became. Questions and doubts started popping up in his mind - what if he was late? What if that wasn't the right room? What if he didn't find them? The nagging doubts in the back of his mind became less and less rational. He stopped in front of the door, sighed again, passing a hand through his oddly-coloured hair, checking and fixing his uniform as much as he could - no getting rid of the dust he'd gathered on the way.

And when he finaly couldn't find any reason to delay it anymore, he knocked on the door, entering and saluting briefly - someone, probably everyone, had to be higher rank than him - before heading to the nearest corner, standing silently and in almost perfect stillness with his head bowed slightly down, waiting for the briefing to begin.

 

[Gwathdraug]

Fieke having peeled herself out of her armour and then her, by this point, irritably itchy uniform had first taken a shower and then done a few simple sets of stretches while wishing she had kept her sword on her so she could have really relaxed. Still, despite not being drills that she was completely familiar with, the base routineness of the actions helped loosen up her body and calm her down – it helped that the set of black fatigues the Fifth had loaned her fit rather well considering that she had been provided with what had been laying around at hand.


Sighing and running her hands through her damp black hair the Abwehran went to the corner of the room where she had set up her powered armour – her weapons she had handed over to a Star Army tech after a quick discussion and a bit of digital tagging, but her Impulse was her own property and not Origins so it had stayed with her. Looking the armour up and down and running her hand along the – thankfully – still smooth armoured plates Fieke grinned and then rolled her shoulders before she busied herself with reequipping her armour.


Pulling on her helmet last Fieke's visor's HUD came alive and her AI – a type S and therefore having to mentally imprint off her every time she wore the suit – quipped that while it couldn't remember anything since it had last been on that it knew that it would quickly find a situation in which it could laugh at her.


It also let her know she had had a new message wired to her inbox.


Reading the message and finding it odd that the Juni had still included her in the squad wide message. That aside, Fieke still nodded at the short notes contents and decided she would still need to talk with the Squad Leader in order to get a proper debriefing and recontact her boss.


Pulling off her helmet so that no one would think combat was being reengaged – and to also escape from the AI's constant probing observations – the OriSec Corporal walked out of the room she had been assigned and made her way towards the designated meeting spot.


Opening the door slightly and poking her head inside the Abwehran noted that things hadn't seem to have started yet. Deciding she might as well try to catch a few words with some of others as they arrived Fieke closed the door and leaned against the wall to wait.

 

[CadetNewb]

Dingy hallways were only dingy due to the occasional, sporadic lack of light and boot shaped prints of dirt on once clean carpet.

Like the majority of hotels, this one was nice. Past tense of course. The fighting in the city had put holes in the building, even going so far as to blow out a few walls here and there to reveal comfy rooms very recently riddled with fragments and fire. In spots, its wiring was damaged due to this, but overall, the carbon reinforced concrete held - the hotel was in good shape. Otherwise, why would Yamatai's Star Army have gathered there? Even though power was out in the city, the backup generators had more than enough energy in them to keep the refrigerators working. This meant that, like many executive meetings held in a rented hotel room, there was food. Good food all set up in a small buffet, in fact. The only thing however, was that the atmosphere more closely resembled a convention panel where several fans gathered to listen to a presentation of the latest anime, comic, manga or videogame.

All despite being filled with military men and women, all gathered here to listen.

The ground campaign was going well after all., and everyone liked good food. Like the final day of a week long convention, people were tired, but feeling content or even hopeful. It was all the way to the side and off towards a corner of this whole thing that Brandon stood as cookie crumbs fell onto the top of his head. Up above him, the cookie crumb trail lead to a young woman sitting on the light fixture that hung over the young military man. Of course, that wasn't the end of it. Far from it - from his angle directly below her, he wouldn't be able to see much of her at all, but could still tell by her dress that she was Star Army. But the thing that stood out the most? The cookie was the size of a car tire in her hands.

Also, she was 7-inches tall.

 

[Gryal]

Brandon's hand went to his head quickly as he felt something falling on it, and a quick brush with it revealed it was some sort of... bread, crumbs of some kind. He stepped aside quicky, worried that it might have something to do with the roof falling, but when his eyes rose to check he just blinked in surprise. Was that a... really small model of Nekovalkyrja? Some unknown species he didn't know? Probably the former given the place he was in, he thought while stepping back again to get a better angle. And she was eating a normal sized cookie, which in her hands looked like a three-course meal, and he could see now was the source of the crumbs.

A couple of seconds later, he noticed he was staring, and the neko had probably noticed by now as well. The slight awkwardness of the situation would only get worse if he just sat there saying nothing, so he decided to explain before any misunderstandings could arise.

"Ah, excuse me, I couldn't help but notice..." Well, the cookie crumbs on his head, but he really couldn't say that. "I'm afraid I'm still very green. Are you by any chance a Nekovalkyrja?" He asked with a mixture of curiosity and respect as he tried to remember what heights the smaller nekos were supposed to be.

 

[cyborgakadjmoose]

Try as she might, Rin had lost her appetite; the mere thought of food brought a feeling of nausea back to her stomach. The sight of Geiger's remains had shaken her, and so Rin did everything in her power to take her mind off that particular mental image. After finding herself a room and ensuring her Daisy and weapons were squared away, Rin passed some of the time by performing calisthenics. Physical activity was something she found enjoyable and she often tried to push her body to its very limits.

After a shower and a fresh uniform, Rin was in much better spirits. She made her way to the meeting that the Juni had called, curious as to what the upgrades he mentioned would be. Upon entering the meeting room, Rin bowed respectifully to all present and then smoothly found a place near her other squadmates. Her black hair was in its usual spiky form and her amber eyes glanced around the room, taking in the faces of her squadmates that had gone unseen until now.

 

[Warriorx1]

Damien was recovering nicely from his wounds. The thoughts of almost being sliced in half weren't comforting though. The near death experience and how he had continually embarrassed himself in front of the squad haunted his dreams. He hadn't gotten much rest, but he was gifted with a new, zen like determination to do better. He wasn't sure if the rest of the squad would write off his mistakes as being rookie ones, or if they would bust his chops about it. Either that it didn't really matter. He would take his licks however they came but at least he didn't end up like Geiger... That poor bastard never stood a chance...

As Damien finished his treatment, he got himself cleaned up and some food from the makeshift mess hall. He wasn't sure hungry but he forced himself to eat. He had noticed a few new faces walking around but he wasn't sure if they were replacements for the unluckies or another squad. Perhaps he would find out in the ad-hoc meeting the Juni had called for. It had to be more interesting than laying in medical all day.

Leaving the mess area, Damien found his way to the meeting area. He gave a head nod to Fieke and walked into the room. Damien still didn't like the Cpl for ruining his maneveur back at the trench. It was something about having a non-star army person with him that rubbed him the wrong way. Still they were squadmates and they would have to work together. Maybe Fieke would do something to earn some redemption in Damien's eyes.

Passing through the door Damien took at seat next to Rin. Rubbing his leg in the process. While it was mostly healed, it still hurt a bit as the sensation returned to it. Damien hoped that this would pass as it would suck to be bothered by it in combat.

 

[CadetNewb]

The figurine-sized woman's eyes slowly came to briefly settle on Brandon before drifting away in disinterest, but she continued to eat her cookie.

It wasn't until another bite or two later, where she got an entire mouthful of warm, sweet chocolate, that the cookie was tossed away with a deft snap of her wrist. Though it was the size of a tire for her, it flew, flew, flew - right until it hit the trashcan's rim and landed on the floor. One of The Doll's feline ears flicked in annoyance. "Yes, I am," she replied indifferently, still staring at the missed shot. Amazingly, her voice came to him as though she were of proper height - not small and squeaky like a mouse. "I'm still not well yet," the Mini-Neko observed. Moving from her seat above him, the tiny woman stood on the light fixture and brushed mini-crumbs off of her miniature uniform's skirt. Looking down at him, her green eyes traced their way across his body as she looked him over. Idly placing a single hand at her hips, the Mini Neko asked him, "What is it that you want?", a faint hint of something in her flat, dispassionate voice. "And you as well," the Mini-Neko quickly added with a snap, pointing one of her tiny fingers at James. "Stop loitering."

Whatever hint was there, perhaps amusement, curiosity or annoyance, one thing was absolutely certain. She was looking down her nose at both of them quite literally.

 

[Reynolds]

Anzu had commandeered two chairs for herself, boots propped up on the second. She had gotten as comfortable as she could, hat pulled down low over her eyes. Her fuzzy ears twitched as she listened to the others entering, chatting, milling about. The Neko wasn't letting herself drift off just yet, though. There was still a slim chance something interesting would happen during this little meeting. Maybe they were getting new guns! Besides, she'd already taken a catnap after settling in. There was a difference between sleeping all day and enjoying a good nap when the time was right.

 

[Kai]

Kai Idly observed the room, watching as people drifted in and out. Some of the individuals in the room had served in squads with Kai, April, or Sif before, and he recognized most of them. However, he had called a meeting for Squad XIII and Squad XIII only, so, apparently someone Sif had spoken to about the food had let it slip. Those that were not part of the squad needed to leave, especially since they were making quite a bit of noise and milling about, taking up space or seats that his squad would need.

"Sif," the Juni addressed his second in command. "While I appreciate the food, it seems your method of communication is not properly secure. It is nice to see the old faces, but I called a meeting for Squad XIII, not our old units." The Juni's words seemed to be the only indication that he was less than pleased about the crowd, as otherwise he remained calm in his position, seated on the edge of a small table at the front of the room.

The blonde-Haired Jackson Heisho made her way into the room, yawning and waving at Fieke as the Abwehran stood next to the door. She stopped, suddenly realizing that the woman was still in her Power Armor, though the helmet was not on. Backtracking, April looked Fieke up and down and shook her head, tutting. "Ya know, Sug, We're in a safe zone, and tha' rest a tha' Fifth's army is doin' purdy well. Ah don't think Ya need that on. B'sides... Shouldn' someone be watchin' you, or are we still s'posed ta be doin' that?"

 

[CadetNewb]

Again, Nishizaki Sif's ears flicked - this time, turning towards Kai himself as he spoke. Nodding to the young man, the Mini-Neko took her attention away from the two rookies and turned it onto the congregation of helpers and old friends turned moochers. A single voice spoke over the entirety of their chatter and partying,

"Everyone. Out....Now."

The silence was deafening as everyone stopped and turned to look at Sif. Some people stopped mid-step, others, mid-bite. A single man, joking atop a table, was stuck balanced perilously on his fingers, head upturned to stare at the Mini-Neko. One in particular stopped mid-pour, the sweet gold overflowing the glass and spilling onto the floor, wasted. This silence was priceless in its perfection - the moment Sif's stern expression changed, the moment she licked her lips, the room burst into chaos! The hardened military men and women rushed out of every nearest exit they could find, flowing around the members of Squad 13 like a stampeding herd of water buffalo around a lone tree. And, in an instant, it was quiet again, the only evidence of their previous presence being the plates and glasses of half eaten food. Eerily, it looked as though the room belonged to a Ghost Hotel, as it seemed that everyone had simply vanished while going about their lives.

It was here that Sif nodded to Nakamura Kai before turning her attention back to the two newcomers to the squad.

"So."

The words, spoken flat, hung in the air.

 

[Gryal]

Brandon was about to answer to the small neko when her attention was taken away by someone who, judging by the patches... well, was higher rank than him, and he'd hopefully remember what rank corresponded to those patches in time to address him, otherwise he'd be in trouble. The smaller one's method of vacating the room had Brandon almost out as well - after all, she had said everyone - but in the end the written instructions prevailed, and while he was maybe a step closer to the door by the time the stampede had finished, he was still in it.

It would seem that after that, him and another Nepleslian who had found a reason to stay were the center of all attention. Just wonderful. With a large mental sigh and an even larger mental cringe, he replied to the mini-neko's demand for information, beginning with a bow because, as he'd been told in boot by other neplesians: "When ya dunno whatta do, bow."

"Santo Hei Brandon Starks." He held the bow for a moment and raised his head, perfectly aware that he'd butchered the Yamataian title with his accent. "I have been assigned to Squad Thirteen as a medic, and I was ordered to report to this room." He held back from adding a questioning tone, the situation raising doubts in him. Weren't they supposed to know he was coming? What if he'd entered the wrong room? His doubts made him more nervous which, in turn, led to more doubting - he shouldn't have mentioned he was a medic, they already knew, they could see the teal patches. And the rank. But he was supposed to name the rank, right? So maybe the occupation wasn't wrong either... Well, it was done now, no way to fix it. Would make a wonderful start to be reprimanded even before he joined the squad. If this even was the right squad, of course.

 

[Kyoshiro9]

James had been looking around, taking in the colorful assortment of people in the room. He had barely noticed the few that came in behind him from the door, his mind trying to deduce something. Either Squad XIII was a lot bigger than any squad he had ever seen or he was in the wrong room. He saw another guy near him, a short dude who looked Nepleslian like himself. He was just getting ready to ask him if he knew if he was in the right place when he was interrupted by Sif and her cookie crumbs. He watched as they fell on the guy's head, in his mind he thought.

What the hell is that....?

He and the other Nepleslian both seemed to look up at the mini neko at the same time. James's mind was still trying to cope with what he was seeing while Brandon began asking 'her' questions. In James's mind he couldn't help but relate her to the 'Freddie' movies (the Nepleslian equivalent of Chucky). When it/she pointed at James that broke the spell. His mind went from 'what' to 'are you serious' in that moment. He was just getting ready to tell her off when a man from one of tables talked to the little neko. James was able to place the stripes on his uniform to the way the Sif cleared the room that this was his new CO. He took a good look at who was left, quite an...eclectic bunch to say the least. He let his eyes once again fall on Sif before diverting them and stepping forward to the man who was sitting down at the table. Coming from within three paces of the table he came to attention and made an appropriate bow.

"Sir I'm Alken James-Nitô Hei. I just got transferred to the thirteenth, reporting as ordered sir."

He then rose smartly from his bow and handed Kai a data pad that contained his orders.

 

[CadetNewb]

"Jôtô Heisho Nishizaki Sif. Armor Destroyer, and your Co-Officer," she replied to him curtly.

Staring at him for a moment more, she spoke again. "Take your left hand, and hold it out with your palm turned upwards," she ordered the young man about. It was a confusing order, completely nonsensical - the kind that instantly gave people the impulse of a 5 year old child and the horrifically strong urge to ask "Why?" But, in all likelyhood, she wasn't the kind of person one asked "Why" of. The quiet emptiness of the room was evidence of this. But it was hard not to, wasn't it? Especially because she was tiny, tiny, tiny! In fact, she could practically put a saddle on a kitten and tell it to run like the wind.

It was very, very hard not to ask why.

 

[Gryal]

Brandon had to hold back a sigh of relief as Sif spoke - no reprimands, and it even was the right place. Everything was going better than expected! The other Nepleslian introduce himself as well, seemingly another rookie. He started getting the feeling that they were replacing someone who'd fallen in combat... though it might've just been a transfer or someone getting retired.

And then the tiny neko gave him a pretty odd order. Even fresh out of bootcamp as he was, Brandon's immediate reaction was not to follow orders, but rather to blink a moment and go over the order again in case he'd heard wrong. But he hadn't, and orders were to be followed - and so he did, standing with his arm stretched perpendicular to his body, palm upwards, and feeling completely silly a moment after completing the order. He bit back the urge to ask what exactly that was required for - maybe it was just a test to see if he'd follow orders or whatever - but he didn't even try to hide his confusion caused by the command, feeling more and more awkward every passing second. What was that about? Did she... want to jump on his hand or something? He definitely hoped not, she was probably incredibly dense.

Whatever the case, there he stood, a confused look on his face as he followed the order, biting back any questions and just waiting for the odd neko to hopefully explain.

"Is this... alright?"

 

[Kyoshiro9]

James let an incredulous look cross his face as Sif introduced herself. Did he hear her right? He looked down for a moment, then to Sif and then back to Kai. Looking at the him he asked.

"Did the talking Misaki Doll (Yamatai equivalent of Barbie) just say she was the XO? THE XO? Of the squad?"

He looked back up at Sif as he continued. His own incredulousness over shadowing the order that was directed at him or the fact that Brandon was following it and not him. He was prepared to fight Mishhu or whatever else the Empire needed him to. He wasn't however prepared nor forewarned about the possibility of taking orders from a Chatty Tokki doll.

"You have got to be shitting me. Do they even make Power Armors that small? And I don't mean for action figures. I mean fully functional combat equipment. This is....this has to be some kind of a joke."

James looked back at Kai. One eye brow arched and his turquoise eyes seemed to wait for the CO to say 'sike!' and that it was some kind of a welcome to the squad prank.

"Tell me it's a joke. Sir it has to be. She can't be the XO! You shouldn't have to worry about accidentally stepping on your XO!"

 

[Kai]

The CO seemed to be mildly amused by all this, taking a moment before answering in his usual, even tone. "Nishizaki Heisho is more than capable of handling herself, and her position. She has more combat experience than the rest of the squad combined, Barring Jackson- Heisho and myself." Kai took the offered datapad, and looked it over, confirming the information that this James Alken was indeed one of the two Nepleslians joining the squad at this time.

"As for what she pilots in combat, She Utilizes the Sylph armor, which is more than capable of fulfilling her title." The Juni seemed content with that and stood up from the table, Stretching a bit, and causing some of his joints to pop and crack as tension was released from them. "You would do well to listen to her."

 

[Brett M]

Aya felt much better now that her wounds had been treated, and she silently counted herself lucky for the miracles of modern medical technology. A hot meal and a shower had also done wonders for her mood, though in the back of the Neko's mind the dark cloud of Anzu's behaviour earlier still hung around in an unwelcome manner.

When she had received the message from the Juni, she had been sold from the moment he had mentioned upgrades. Images of highly modified powered armour - her powered armour - flashed through her mind's eye, and it certainly beat the alternative of near-apocalyptic levels of dullness. After all, what was the worst that could happen? Perhaps the promised upgrades wouldn't be as impressive as she hoped, but that would be a minor setback at best!

Aya slipped into the meeting room just prior to Sif's (admittedly rather impressive) clearing out of the unexpected visitors. She took a seat with the rest of the squad, though she tried not to sit too closely to Anzu. What if she was annoyed with her for restraining her? The last thing Aya wanted was to sour what she thought might have been a budding friendship. Her eyes were drawn to Damien - who appeared to be holding up well, thankfully - and then the unfamiliar faces. Two Nepleslians? She wasn't sure how common they were in the Star Army, but she couldn't help but wonder if Squad XIII had an unusually high representation of Nepleslians amongst the larger force.

It didn't bother her for long, though - the Nekovalkyrja was more interested in whether they were friendly and effective contributors to the squad. And anyway, it was always nice to make new acquaintences!