Yamamoo Trowa
The transport that Trowa secured passage on was crowded with other soldiers. The majority of these were Santô Hei's like him most likely newly out of basic training. When the shuttle arrived at the Depot at Virginia, Trowa's communicator chirped indicating a text message had arrived.
To: Santô Hei Yamamoo
Subject: Transport to YSS Henry Chen
A Kuma T8 Multi-role Shuttle; Vigilant NG-X1-409-1 is preparing to depart from Virginia Depot to the Chen in 20 minutes. Present yourself to the pilot and they will transport.
The pilot will provide you with instructions as to where to find me.
Ise Katae, Taii
Commander, 1XF 7th Squadron
Trowa read the message and then stood up on his tip toes to see above the crowd. He finally spotted the Kuma T8 shuttle, picked up his bag, and headed over. He spotted the pilot and began to raise his hand in a salute but checked himself. You bowed to superiors in the Star army of Yamatai. Setting his bag on the floor, Trowa bowed to the pilot and identified himself. "Santô Hei Yamamoo, reporting as ordered by Taii Ise Katae."
The brown haired Nekovalkyrja who was pre-flighting the shuttle turned to Trowa. She took a moment to take stock of the new crew member. She smiled warmly and returned his bow although not as deep.
"I am pleased to meet you Yamamoo-Hei. I am Nami Sachi-Ittô Hei, the
Aeon's cook and errand person. Stow your bags in one of the overhead compartments and take a seat. I have one last item on my checklist and it should be here shortly. We do not want to keep Ise-Taii waiting." Sachi then turned and made her way to the rear of the shuttle and opened the doors.
After stowing the four rear seats she took a seat and next to Trawoo and turned the chair to face him. "So where are you from?" she asked.
Trowa straped himself in, then looked up at the brown haired Nekovalkyrja. "Yamatai is where I was born, but I've lived on Nepleslia for almost ten years growing up." As they lifted off, Trowa asked, "Your the cook? How is the chow on the
Aeon?"
Sachi smiled, "I do my best to provide a variety of high-quality meals. I also make it a point to get to know the crew and find out what kind of foods they like so that the menu has different things for people to try."
The sound of a forklift approaching interrupted the conversation, and Sachi walked out to inspect the pallet. Once she was satisfied the operator deposited the load in the shuttle.
Sachii then entered the shuttle and closed the hatch. "Well Yamomoo-Hei, we are all set for departure. My friend Shina-Hei is going to be so jealous, this is a new shuttle for the
Aeon and I get to fly it before her." With that said she ducked into the cockpit, and completed her final preflight. Within minutes the shuttle was proceeding smoothly into the atmosphere, "If you like I can do a flyby over the
Aeon so you can see her before we dock on the
Chen." She called out from the cockpit.
"Yea I would love too. I love these big star ships. Child-like maybe, but I never let that stop me." Trowa leaned in his seat as far as he could so he could see through the cockpit. "But I'm not sure we should keep Katae-Taii waiting."
"There is no need to worry, the
Aeon is close enough to the
Henry Chen that we will not add more than a minute or so. You should get a chance to see the ship you are hoping to serve aboard. Oh, and I would definitely not refer to the Taii by her first name. Ise-Taii, Taii or ma'am, unless you want to end your career at that start." She adjusted the shuttle’s speed and trajectory. "You will get a better view of the ship from up here, take the other seat."
Trowa winched as he unstrapped and moved forward for a better view. "I definitely spent too much time on Nepleslia." He said as he sat down. "Thanks for pointing that out. I hate making bad first impressions." He looked at the
Aeon in awe. At 254 meters, she was an impressive ship. "I really hope the good Taii finds me acceptable." He said mostly to himself. "I'd give anything to serve aboard her."
"Ise-Taii is one to usually forgive an honest mistake like that. But you are right, best to avoid it just the same." Sachi rotated the shuttle to afford them a better view. "I hardly recognize her; she looks very different from what I came aboard a year ago. She was a 1C variant and just the basic hull coloration. Now as a 1D and with the Taii's squadron leader colors she's very distinctive and packs a bigger punch."
After bringing the shuttle around the
Aeon she headed over to the
Henry Chen. The biggest challenge was not being hit by any of the trainees but she brought the shuttle into the bay without incident. After shutting down the shuttle, she turned to Trowa.
"Well, good luck Yamamoo-Hei, the Taii says you’re to meet her in the Lounge on Deck 8. May as well keep your bags onboard." Sachi said.
"Thanks for the view of the Aeon, and the advice." He flashed his lopsided grin at her and added, "I hope to be sampling your fine cooking in the near future."
Trowa had little trouble finding the Lounge. Before entering he check himself to make sure he was presentable. Out of habit, Trowa checked to make sure that his boot knife was secure in its scabbard, that his pipe was still in his pocket, that his "pencil sharpener" wasn't showing out of the back of his shirt collar, and that his eye patch was completely covering his cybernetic eye. Taking a steadying breath, Trowa knocked on the door.
Katae was seated in the lounge monitoring the team’s progress in the simulation. Her comrades were definitely throwing a few curves into the scenario. Before her was a print out of the recruit’s service record, and a cup of coffee.
One good thing about conducting the interview here is they have good coffee. She took a long sip from the cup savoring the aromatic fragrance as she did.
The door chime indicated that the recruit had arrived. She placed her cup back on the table, picked up the folder and signaled for the door to open. Katae then scanned the folder, and pushed her errant brown strand back into place. She looked at the open doorway and scanned the soldier’s appearance from a distance.
Trowa stepped inside as the door opened and did a quick scan of the room as he approached, making mental notes of the layout of the room. "Santô Hei Trowa Yamamoo reporting as ordered." said as he bowed to the Taii.
Katae watched how Twowa entered the room.
Well he knew better than to salute. That is a point for him. she thought.
“Have a seat Santô Hei, I am sure this will not take long. I just have a few questions I want to ask before making my final decision regarding your placement on my ship.” She said pointing to the chair opposite her.
Trowa nodded and sat down in the indicated seat. Again, he quickly took in his surroundings and then turned his one dark blue eye to study the Taii.
Katae looked at him, and took note of the eye patch. “Why are you wearing that eye patch? Your record says you have a cybernetic eye, which is not an uncommon thing among Nepleslians. In fact most I have known seem to be proud of them. You can not operate effectively with only one eye; your depth perception will be impaired.”
Trowa smiled slightly. "Most Nepleslians are proud of them. But I've found that some Yamataians are uncomfortable with one cybernetic glowing red eye looking at them. I wear this so that I don't distract others from their work. As for being able to see, this patch is similar to those one way windows. I can see through it just fine, but unless you look very closely, you can't see my eye." He reached up and removed the eye patch, revealing a glowing red eye. "If you have any objections to it, then I won't wear it."
“If you can see through it and it does not impair your ability to operate, I do not care one way or another.” She paused to look at his dossier, “Here are my next two questions: Why did you choose to enlist in the Star Army? What do you think is your greatest asset that you bring?” Katae asked.
Trowa's mouth turned into his lop sided, rouge grin. "Because the ladies love a man in uniform." He quickly became serous again. "No, I joined the Star Army because I wished to serve. My father served the Star Army for many years. He taught the way of a solder, to serve, unfailing and loyally. That is why I joined."
Again, Trowa grinned as he prepared to answer. "My greatest asset? Morale. I like to see that everyone is in good spirits. As an old Chusa I had in basic training like to put it," Trowa switched to an old British accent, "'No exercise means flabby bodies, which means flabby minds which means are enemies knows he's got us. But even with exercise if you've got no moral it makes for a bad show all round.'" Trowa went on in his normal voice. "I took his words to heart and made sure that my squad never was low on moral."
"But I take my responsibilities and jobs very seriously. I'm a man who follows orders and will do all by jobs to the best of my ability. I will not avoid volunteering for any 'grunt' work. I'm not after personal glory. I just want to serve.”
Katae kept herself from smirking as Trowa started his response.
Well he certainly has some of the Nepleslian bravado. she thought. “Morale is important, and in the days to come will be a matter of concern. Overall I must say I like your attitude. I fully expect all my crew to lend a hand when needed. Everyone helps with housekeeping, and resupply. My rules are simple; I expect the same from my crew as I do from myself. I want and demand that all my crew give their best effort.” She said.
Katae reached down and picked up her cup of coffee to take a sip and collect her thoughts. Looking over her cup with her green eyes fixed on Trowa she asked, “When you enlisted in the Star Army of Yamatai, why did you not take advantage of a body upgrade?”
Trowa found himself already liking the Taii. She was business, but at the same time, Trowa could tell that she cared about those she commanded. He smiled at her question; it was one that he himself had planned on asking. "Well Ma'am, when I first got this light bulb, I didn't think much of it. It wasn't until basic training that I learned all about all the new software and upgrades you can get with cybernetic implants. I just never got around to getting an upgrade. This is a question I actually had. I wanted to get an upgraded cybernetic implant. But I wanted to get something that would be of use to my new assignment. Aside from getting an eye that can see in lowlight, infrared, or at distances, I've been looking at some computer interface upgrades that will allow me to function more effectively in power armor or with a star ships computer. But I wasn't sure if that would be acceptable."
Katae pondered Trowa’s response.
Its not exactly what I meant… She placed her cup back down. “I am not an expert on cybernetics. What I was referring to a complete body upgrade to a Yamataian body. For the time being I am willing to entertain the idea of letting you augment yourself to better perform your duties. It is your ability to perform that truly matters; if that becomes an issue we can always pursue the body transfer. I have decided to take you on Yamamoo-Santô Hei. I will notify
Eternity to add you to the roster. Once we get back on the ship you can select one of the free bunks. Meanwhile, I am going to throw you into a simulation with the rest of the new members.”
Trowa stood and snapped to attention. "Thank you, Taii. I will see to it that you will not regret your decision."
Katae picked up a data pad and keyed it to provide directions to the training area. She handed the pad to Trowa. “You are to report to the simulator facility. You will be temporarily issued a Mindy 2-2A power armor for the exercise. You will have to worry about getting to know the others after the simulation.”
Trowa took the data pad and bowed. "Aye, aye Ma'am."
