• If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at [email protected] or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
  • Get in our Discord chat! Discord.gg/stararmy
  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP: YSS Senbu Ep 11 - Mission 3: Surprise Attack!

Status
Not open for further replies.

5tar

Active Member
ON: YSS Senbu




A full night passed on the YSS Senbu, the newer pilots had a chance to rest and for Kuriko, it was a time to allow the responsibilities to settle in. Shizuka had not spoken a word to Nicholas since supper, which was really good once he got to it later. Rin's interview was pushed back until a later time and a very busy shuttle was sent out sometime in the early morning hours to get the next group of Senbu recruits.

Yawning, Shin left his quarters, heading out on his early morning run. First, however, he would stop by the female enlisted corridor to see if anyone would want to join him.

An order was passed down from command to Kuriko, she was to wake up and get acquainted with her new pilots and go about sending her own orders when and where to meet them.

Hiroko, meanwhile, had crashed to sleep all the way back when she was changing into her gym clothes, and slept all the way to morning. Cursing her own tiredness, the indigo-haired girl went about getting back into uniform and headed out to get some breakfast, striding out into the hallway.

Another order beeped Nicholas' data pad, to greet him firstly in the morning. It was not from Shizuka, but from another member of administration. Apparently they needed his authority on what to do with Santô Hei, Nekki Shin. It seemed that the Shosa hadn't done anything on that subject yet, and now it became his responsibility.

Nicholas hadn’t slept very well and the message that accosted him when he woke didn’t help with the headache that he had. After a lengthy shower, where he spent less time contemplating his duties and more time zoning out, he simply sat around dressed in his towel for a while, tapping the data pad’s interface in and out of the personnel management menu. Deciding what to do with the troublesome Santô Hei didn’t seem to be the Shoi’s first priority that morning. If nothing else, the Geshrin was thinking about which path would present the least amount of resistance in the matter.

Hara rolled out of bed effortlessly, emerging out of his quarters shortly thereafter. It had paid to go straight to bed after his interview it seemed. He looked up and down the hallway, contemplating what he should do now.

Sakaki lay in bed staring at her lion plushy that she had unpacked. She was still attempting to sort her thoughts on what had just happened the other day, her assignment to the Pride Wings, and the very cute commander. She shook that all out of her head to instead think about this day, and began to dress.

Shin waited outside of Sakaki's room. “MEGAMI, could you inform Ushimo Hei of my arrival?”

"Inform?" asked Sakaki with the door opening. She was wearing her uniform with her faithful sword at her side with her black hair tied in top not style as usual. It seemed that she never did change day to day, even her expression seemed the same.

Shin saluted Sakaki, noting her sword. "Oh, Ushimo-Hei. I was wondering if you would like to spar with me today. I haven't been assigned to a squadron yet, so I have some free time."

Kuriko had a rough sleep the night before, a sleep mixed with nightmares which caused her to spend half of the night staring at the ceiling. Kuriko stared up at the ceiling and breathed in deep and controlled breaths, You're a wreck. the Neko thought to herself as she looked at the way she had handled the interview as well as her new found responsibilities. A few seconds late, the Neko chuckled quietly to herself, I've become my own patient. Kuriko smiled as this though crossed her mind, Oh physician, heal thyself. After a few seconds Kuriko sat up and mentally reviewed the order that she had received. Kuriko pulled out a data pad from a nearby night stand and began composing a message to the members of the Pride Wing.

From: Nitô Heisho Shifuda Kuriko
To: Pride Wing
Subject: (none)
All members of Pride Wing are to report to the recreation deck in 30 minutes.

Kuriko sighed and inwardly wondered if it was not enough warning before she went ahead and sent the message. Once it was sent she slipped into her uniform and pulled her new rank pin off the table. Kuriko paused before pinning the rank pin to the uniform, inwardly rearguing the discussion last night, before pinning it on and stepping out the door to head to Deck 28.

Sakaki nodded and walked away from the door to close. However, she suddenly looked distracted by an incoming telepathic message. She nodded to it, then turned to Shin and bowed, "I apologize, but it seems I am needed elsewhere."

Shin smiled to Sakaki. "I'm perfectly fine with that, your duty comes first after all." Shin bowed to Sakaki, turning around. "Oh, and by the way. I think your ears are cute."

Sakaki then involuntarily imagined herself with Shizuka's adorable little ears, which looked like they didn't any way make her any cuter. So, instead she gave a small bow as a thank you and walked on her way to the lift and to the area as ordered.

Shin chuckled to himself as Sakaki walked off, laughing to himself. Shrugging, he decided to go on his jog

Maya was still asleep in her quarters, clothes and uniforms were scattered about in the room leaving it quite a mess, when a message beeped on her HUD along with her internal chronometer ringing away to wake up. So far nothing happened; apparently the noise was not enough to wake the poor excuse of a Neko as she was still snoring away in a deep sleep, occasionally mumbling something in between beeps. "*Yawm* No mommy... I don't want to go to school today... *Snore* *ZZZ*." Soon the Neko was back to purring away.

Orders received, Hara proceeded towards the recreation deck as ordered, making his way down the hall towards the lift. Wonder what this is about? He mused.

Hiroko had just walked out into the hall and had even heard other people start to talk about it when... ping ping, she heard the notice. "...Right." And with that, she immediately stormed off to the recreation deck, really ignoring the others.

"Hey, Hiroko," Hara said quietly as he saw her coming towards the lift. "Where you headed?"

Hiroko paused very abruptly, nearly springing forward from the sudden stop in her motion, and weaved her body back to look at Hara. "Recreation deck. That's where all Pride Wing members have to go in..." She paused to look at her minicomputer, "26 minutes."

"What do you know," Hara replied, grinning. "Well, let's go. We[/] don't want to be late.” He stepped inside the lift, waiting for Hiroko to board as well.

Hiroko, of course, went into the lift as well, waiting to be taken down to the recreation level. She anticipated what sounded like her first real briefing...

Sakaki arrived early at the rec deck, in part because of no hesitation, and stepped out of the lift. She was impressed by the set up of the entire deck, which also included an indoor spa. She began to walk around and explore, as the message didn't indicate anywhere specific.

Hiroko, meanwhile, was busy tapping her foot as the loaded lift her and Hara were in cruised downwards. Thankfully, military ships weren't in the business of playing a lot of elevator music, though she softly hummed something that seemed to add an air of... something to the chamber. It wasn't long before the doors opened and they were allowed to get onto the rec deck, though... Hiroko of course went out in there straight away, looking for a comfortable place to wait, and finding it in a nice bench near some exercise equipment.

After some deliberation, Nicholas came up with a solution to the problem that he faced with Shin. He wasn’t sure whether or not Shizuka would like it, but it was the only plainly obvious thing for him to do. The Pride Wing was the only unit on the Senbu that had open billets, and although the Shosa hadn’t admitted Shin to her personal squadron, she had seen something in his record and invited him for an evaluation. “MEGAMI,” Nicholas said as he began to get dressed, “please assign Santô Hei, Nekki Shin to a training billet with the Pride Wing. He is not to be given access to the wing’s armor bay, however, will train with them and become integrated into the unit until such time that Endo-shosa wishes to re-evaluate his standing on the Senbu.

Within seconds after Nicholas gave the order, Shin would receive word from the MEGAMI of his new post. With the orders was included a backlog of recent orders to the Pride Wing, including Kuriko’s call for them to assemble on deck 28.

Shin thought over the message in his head, all the while rushing to get dressed in his uniform, and get to deck 28

Kuriko had just entered one of the lifts when she loudly slammed her hand on the 'door open' button and dashed out of the lift before it could leave the floor, much to the surprise of the occupants inside. Maya.... Kuriko thought as she realized that if her personality was any indication, the boisterous Neko would need to be woken up. After arriving at Maya's room Kuriko pushed the buzzer to Maya's room and waited for the Neko to answer her door.

For whatever the reason, Maya kept hearing the most horrible sound you can ever imagine as she struggled to get her beauty sleep, but when the noise just wouldn’t stop, Maya tried turning around and putting a pillow over her head. Instead, all she managed to do was roll off the side of the bed with a thud on the ground taking the bed sheets with her. "Yahhhh, damn it!" Maya got up from the fallen pile and crawled her half-naked self to the door and pressed the open button. She then looked up from the floor at the intruder and yelled in a fury. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!!!?”

Kuriko pulled back a little, "Unn... almost 0700, Maya. We have a meeting on the rec deck really soon..." Kuriko conveniently left out that it was her who had called for the meeting. "Are you ok?" Kuriko asked as she stared down at Maya.

Maya got up and scratched her head and flipped the dreads out from the front of her face. "As well as can be expected, but 0800 already? I must have been working out late then I thought." Maya then noticed the new rank pin on Kuriko's breast and was wide eyed in shock. "Hey! Wait a minute! Since when did you get promoted?"

Kuriko glanced away. "Actually....it was last night," Kuriko said as she stared at the ground. "We should probably hurry though; we don't want to be late," Kuriko said before looking back up toward Maya.

Maya was confused about the way Kuriko was acting but shrugged and would ask about it later, if only to not be late again. Maya quickly searched the scattered clothes laying around and put on a used uniform and quickly washed herself in the small bathroom sink and followed Kuriko’s lead.

Kuriko was silent the whole trip to Deck 28, just before the elevator would arrive, though, she turned to Maya. "Sumimasen, I know I must be acting kind of strange today... it's been a rough night," Kuriko said, her face softening from the worry covered look that had plagued it the whole way there. Just as Kuriko finished, however, the lift door opened and the Neko stepped out, waiting for Maya to follow her.

Hiroko smiled when she saw Kuriko come into the rec deck, even as she considered that it might not quite look profess- what was she thinking?! This was Pride Wing! Teamwork, unity, all that. She SHOULD be happy. Professionalism be damned if it breaks the bond of teamwork.

Maya just stared at Kuriko trying to use her own sense of psycho-whatever to try and figure out what's up with Kuriko, but failed miserably having no clue as to what to think. When they finally got off the lift, Maya decided to break the ice. "Kuriko-chan... Does "THIS" have anything to do with that meeting yesterday and the way your acting?" she asked pointing at the rank pin.

Sakaki walked about the rec deck and saw an open sparring area; she looked at the kendo swords and picked one up. She held up the blade like she would her katana and tested it out a little. She heard some voices from the lift and wondered if that was the other Pride members.

Shin walked onto the deck, still adjusting his uniform. “I should've taken my time. My new commander will think I’m a horrible soldier when she sees me. damn it!" Shin banged his head against his open palm, walking into the nearest sparring area to see if he could find something to do.

Kuriko looked down at the pin. "It does a little; maybe more of the problem is myself though," Kuriko said quietly before surveying what she could see on the deck. Kuriko turned just in time to catch Hiroko's smile. "Have you met Ishida-san yet?" Kuriko asked Maya as she started to approach Hiroko and sent a telepathic message to the rest of Pride Wing; "Everyone, meet near this location." Kuriko sent a mental image of the spot where they were supposed to meet near, just so there would be no confusion. "Ishida-san, how are you doing today?" Kuriko asked Hiroko as she approached.

Hiroko stood up and smiled. "I've been better. I was going to join you and the others here yesterday but I fell asleep... all the way until now. But at least I'm rested!"

Shin sighed. "So, that's where the meeting is supposed to be at." He shrugged, exiting the sparring room and trying to find the designated location.

Maya just stared at the newblood with a dumbfounded look to answer Kuriko's question. "Uhhhh.... What's going on?"

Sakaki received a message and looked around for the location, she remembered she passed by that area and moved to meet up with everyone. When she saw a few gathered, she entered and introduced herself. "Santô Hei: Ushimo Sakaki."

"Ishida-san is a new member of the Senbu crew," Kuriko said to Maya. “I met her yesterday before we went to exercise." Kuriko looked toward Hiroko again, "Ishida-san, this is Yoshihara Maya," Kuriko said motioning toward Maya. Suddenly, there were a lot of people gathering around. Kuriko didn't recognize Sakaki, but knew that she was part of the Wing, and Shin had just shown up as well. Kuriko breathed in, fighting against the overwhelming chaos inside her head.

Almost everyone... Kuriko thought as she looked around. Just take it slow, the Neko prepared to speak a little. "Well, I think this is almost everyone. I'd like to take this moment to welcome everyone here to the Pride Wing," Kuriko said. "I know this sounds silly, but if you could, introduce yourself without rank and one thing you love to do."

Maya just gave Ishida a wave of her hand. "Ummm... Hi." Then she turned to Kuriko when she began talking and listened then answered when she finished. "Kuri, is this another one of your psycho games? Fine, I'll play along! I'm Yoshihara Maya, your dear friend you've known since basic and I like to waste my time playing video games most of the time." Maya then leaned against a nearby wall, arms crossed and tapping her foot impatiently.

"Ushimo Sakaki," she repeated, then raised up the kendo sword that she forgot to put back as a sort of suggestion of what she liked to do. On top of that, she gave Shin a side glance, as well as Hiroko, to note that the three from the shuttle ride are now together in the same squad.

Hiroko briefly returned the glance, but after that remained more... generically focused. Briefing wasn't ready yet. Must wait, must wait.

"Santô Hei Nekki Shin, assigned to the Pride Wing for evaluation. My favorite hobby is practicing martial arts." Shin bowed to Kuriko, and smiled at Sakaki

"Saruwatari Hara. I like to doodle," Hara said simply, absentmindedly running a finger through his unkempt hair. It looked like he was the only one outside of everyone’s circle of acquaintances. Ah well.

"Shoi, Saiga your presence is required on the bridge." MEGAMI informed the officer in his quarters, her plain feminine voice breaking the silence in his room.

Nicholas had been lounging in his quarters going over administrative information on his data pad when the message came from the MEGAMI. “Acknowledged,” he stated, rising from his seat at the room’s desk. After quickly tidying his appearance, he set off towards the bridge, arriving minutes later.

The bridge was busy, as always, various officers working through their own duties, orders being handed out left and right, people monitoring displays of all sorts. The officer in charge at the moment, stood up from chair stood up at the Shoi's entrance and bowed to him professionally from her spot, one tier down from his. She waited his responding bow, and then quickly made her way up to his station. "Sir, we've encountered the Vampire vessel again, but scans are also showing another similar craft one AU from its location and apparently on its projected path," the gray paneled female Yamataian officer informed Nicholas as she brought up the information on his display.

“It looks like we’re in luck today, Shoi,” Nicholas replied with a nervous grin that he couldn’t hide. Has Shi-” he paused, stopping himself before he continued his choice of words, “Endo-shosa been of the informed of the situation yet?” He reviewed the related data on a volumetric display as he spoke. “How long until the second ship arrives?”

"Um, Sir. We're under direct orders not to wake her until after 1030; the only one with that authorization is you." The jet-black haired Shoi gave him a sort of half apologetic and half unsure smile.

Nicholas frowned. He didn’t want to wake Shizuka early after seeing her in the bad mood that she was in on the previous night. However, now, he felt it was necessary to do so. “Thank you, Shoi, please continue your duties here,” the Geshrin said as he set up a communications relay into Shizuka’s office. He opened the line for a few long moments before speaking. “Shi-shizuka,” he began, quietly at first, “Are you there, Shizuka?” As he continued, his voice rose to a more distinct tone. “Endo-shosa. We have found the Vampire-class vessel that we were tracking, and are detecting another inbound to its location. I will be calling for action stations in a moment. I thought that you should be kept informed,” he said before closing the link and setting the message to repeat until Shizuka deactivated the playback.

Shizuka slowly woke up from her spot on the floor, she had spent the night tossing and turning and for once in her life she had slept lightly. Her analog alarm clock was turned over on her desk, apparently she was planning on sleeping in. But Nick's voice broke her sleep; her name was what caught her attention. He said it; again, she woke up with a small smile. But then, his words following caused her to bury her face back into her pillow. "Damn it..." she said, in a low growl as she starred at her hand clutching the blankets tightly.

Back on deck 28, Pride Wing continued their gathering. It's not exactly a mind game. Kuriko thought as Maya spoke. "What do you like to doodle Saruwatari-san?" Kuriko asked almost forgetting her position.

Shin absentmindedly pushed up on his glasses. “Ah, Sakaki-Hei, it seems we're on the same squad. I hope you won't hold my earlier outburst against me,” he said telepathically.

"Ship's, power armor, giant robots... mechanical things, mostly." Hara replied.

"Heee, interesting!” Kuriko said with a genuine interest in what Hara drew. "Is there a sport that everyone enjoys?" Kuriko turned back to the group and asked.

Sakaki just raised her kendo sword still in hand, assuming Kendo was a sport, though she would rather just practice her own sword practice than participate with others.

Maya was starting to get impatient with all the stupid questions, what kind of a meeting is this that was worth getting up at 0800 for!?!? "I like to shoot things..." Maya said sarcastically.

Hiroko smirked at the comment about a sport everyone liked. "...A sport? Ah... Well... I'm going to imagine that dialectic argumentation is a no, right?"

"I believe what Sakaki-Hei is trying to say, is that she enjoys martial arts, as do I." Shin smiled, cracking his neck

Sakaki nodded toward Shin, then lowered the kendo sword, though she assumed martial arts wasn't a sport.

"I don't really have any sports I particularly like," Hara said, his finger now moving to his cheek.

This whole leadership thing isn't working out very well, Kuriko thought, depressed, before speaking again. "It's been said that you know a person best when you fight with them. As a squadron, we should intimately trust each other and to do that we need to know each other," Kuriko said before pausing momentarily, "Since it seems that there are many of us interested in martial arts, let's go spar for a little bit," Kuriko said to the small group.

Sakaki was the first to head for a mat; she removed her real sword, however, and placed it where she took the Kendo stick. She stood ready to spar with anyone; her speed was like she had wanted to do this for a while.

Shin smiled, following Sakaki. He opened up a telepathic communication channel with her, "I'm not gonna go easy on you."

Whaaaaaaaaat? Hara thought, looking at the group. How the hell... He frowned and headed off with everyone else.

Kuriko paired herself up with Hara, hoping that this wouldn't hurt too much. Kuriko picked up a kendo stick, and wielded it like someone who had never used one before. "Would you be my partner?" Kuriko asked Hara.

"O... kay?" Hara replied, picking up a stick. Of course, he had no clue how to use one either, and he was hoping his opponent wasn't a pro at this.

Maya was listening intently to Kuriko and after that bit about in a squadron and needing to know each other, Maya's eye widened and her jaw dropped. The promotion, Kuriko acting weird, taking a commanding stance, the pieces were all finally coming together at a startling realization... KURIKO!!! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!!! Maya couldn’t help but start to feel a little jealous as this new startling revelation. Maya then walked over to the mat Kuriko would spar in to watch her fight, her fists clenching.

Sakaki was silent and held the wooden stick with both hands in front of her. She watched for any sign of movement from Shin and prepared for a counter, unless of course he didn't move, then she would take the offensive. She was mentally calm and quiet, though she was a tad distracted at the sudden commotion from Maya.

Shin glared at Sakaki, the smile disappearing from his face as he glared intently at Sakaki, waiting for her to move as he dropped into his stance, both palms open and pointed lengthwise and the Neko. "Sakaki, you must be insecure about yourself," he told her telepathically.

Kuriko stood ready for Hara to fight with. "I'll let you strike first," Kuriko said shakily to the Yamataian. "Maya, you ok?" Kuriko asked Maya over their telepathic link after she noticed the Neko standing beside the mat.

Hiroko, at this point, was surveying the field around her with a bit of... subtle distaste. Sparring, huh? Her body was sharp but she would much rather keep to what training needed to be done. Too much daylight burnt not studying or mapmaking was not her opinion of worthy time usage... but with a sigh, she moved towards Maya, eying the blonde Neko – she was the only one that was very clearly not paired off yet. But... she kept her distance. Something seemed off.

Maya just stared at Kuriko and gave her a slight nod, her arms folded and her teeth clenched almost grinding against each other. "I'm fine..." she responded telepathically with a forced grin.

Sakaki would almost grin, but that would give away a weak point. She began to shift her sword to the side and said, telepathically to Shin, in reply, "If you won't come, I will." She then rushed her opponent with sword to the side and rose the sword up in the air near the last second to do a standard downward slash with a shout. All the while keeping an eye on her opponent, knowing this move would be easy to avoid being a very standard rush move.

Hara nodded, tensing up. He slowly began to circle Kuriko before moving in – a bit too sluggishly – and swinging his weapon like a baseball bat at her midsection.

Hiroko walked up to Maya, slowly, tentatively. "Ah... seeing as we have to... would you want to... do that with me then?" She idly peeked at a lock of her own hair, comparing it to the highlighted blond that Maya wore. Odd. Odd was Hiroko's clearest thought... but she dismissed it with a sigh.

Shin countered, rushing Sakaki as he rushed him, bringing up the hand opposite of Sakaki's sword to grab her wrist, and twisting around so his back was facing towards her, thrusting his elbow.

On a star base close to the YSS Senbu, the Santô Hei, Masako Sakiyurai was ordered to await a shuttle that would be meeting her there at 0700; she was not to be late because like it said in her orders. The shuttle would only wait a short while. The station was just as busy as the Senbu, one gate though only had the one person waiting by it. It was the gate scheduled for the YSS Senbu vessel, surrounded by various displays showing news and the current status of the flight, which was; on schedule and to arrive in the next few minutes.

Masako would arrive to the place where she was to meet the shuttle 15 minutes early, carrying her things with her, the meager amount of possessions she had. The only two things that weren't standard issue were a short sword that had been fastened to the standard belt on her hip and the little golden locket her sister had given her. They may have been rivals but she still valued the little item her twin gave her on their 7th birthday. Her stretch uniform was doing its job and was almost straining over her unusually large breasts as she approached the gate and looked at the person. "So it'll arrive soon?" she asked politely, brushing her honey blonde hair out of her blue eyes.

The youthful bright Neko who was manning the controls by the gate greeted Masako with a bright smile and a polite bow. "Yes ma'am, the shuttle from the Senbu will be arriving in the next few minutes. They're currently getting clearances to dock as we speak," The brunet Neko informed Masako pleasantly.

The tall NH-29H blinked at the bright little Neko and couldn't help but smile a bit at her. "That's good to know, at least I didn't get up early for nothing," she chuckled softly and looked around for a moment.

The display above the gate changed to show that the shuttle had finished docking. "Ah, there she is now," the youthful Neko said happily to the tall 29H. It was another few seconds, then the door opened up to a rather tall and just as busty older red head Yamataian woman in her 30s. She was at eye level with Masako, wore a Jôtô Hei rank and a pilot's uniform.

Masako stepped back and waited for a few moments, rocking on her heels some and looked up when the shuttle came down. When the door opened up she quirked a brow and bowed her head a bit and approached the ramp to get into the shuttle. "Hello there," she said politely enough as she got on in. She'd find a seat in a moment and relaxed into it. "Is there anyone else supposed to show up?"

"Pleasure to meet ya' da'lin!" the pleasant woman greeted Masako as she offered to take her bags. "I'm Jennifer Stararcher, I'll be your pilot this morning. Hop on in; you’re the only one today." She seemed to be a good-spirited woman with some sort of Nepleslian dependency, a bounce in her breaches and pleasant fox-like smile on her well-aged features.

"Nice to meet you too," Masako smiled in a friendly way, glad to meet a nice person for once today. "I'm Masako Sakiyurai," she said. "And I'll be your passenger today, how long will it take to get to the ship itself?" she asked as she adjusted her bodysuit and 'hmphed' at its stretchiness.

"I'm not all too good with Yamataian names sweetie, even after all my years in of service to the Empress. So I'll call ya’ Betsy. Busty Betsy," she said with a hearty laugh, leading the girl back to her T4 shuttle. "We'll get there faster then two shakes of a Neko's tail." Jennifer left that part hang there for a bit, waiting the obvious answer. The pilot settled into her seat, flipping switches and manipulating the controls to prepare for the trip back.

"Oh come on now. It's not that hard and I’m glad you noticed that. I'm proud of them." Masako grinned and bounced her rack a little. "And you can just call me... Lucy..." she said, blushing a bit, her eyes darkening a little as she used her sister's mantle. "And Neko's don’t' have tails... normally."

She waited a few moments, listening to Masako as she pulled out of the star base, a smile growing on her face. "Precisely, Betsy!" Jennifer exclaimed in response, as she punched in the coordinates to FTL close to the Senbu. They then bolted across the distance, making the time go by in a flash. After tearing across space, the shuttle came out of FTL a short distance from the large Anri filling their view.

Masako sighed at the name she'd given her and shook her head as she took a moment to try and straighten out her thick, layered hair. "Well that didn't take long at all," she said plainly as she looked ahead at the Anri looming in the gloom of space. "First time I've been in space..." she muttered.

"Like I said dar'lin, like two shakes of a Neko's nonexistan' tail," the shuttle pilot said happily as she cruised along the mammoth warship, exchanging identification signals and getting her clearance to dock in the starboard bay. "Well, Betsy, I hope ya’ enjoy yourself on our little 'ol ship, be sure to make yourself known to MEGAMI. I'm sure she has things for you to do," Stararcher finished, and then the pilot then set down her craft and flicked the passenger door open for Masako to hop out.

"She probably already knows I'm here, Jenny," Masako said in a teasing, singsong tone as she stepped off and into the ship when the shuttle docked and the airlock secured. "It's still huge-ass ship," she muttered and adjusted the pack she was carrying with her stuff in it that was over her shoulder. She would then address the ship's AI. "MEGAMI, could you please inform the CO that I, Santô Hei, Sakiyurai Masako have arrived?" she asked the computer nicely as she stepped into the ship-proper and looked left then right.

Masako would sigh and begin to meander through the ship a bit, having announced herself to the ship's AI for whatever it was going to do. For now, the busty blonde Neko would just explore a little bit but refrained from going anywhere serious.

"Welcome aboard Santô Hei; Masako Sakiyurai. I am the YSS Senbu's MEGAMI unit. Your interview has been scheduled for this afternoon, so please take this time to take your luggage to your room and enjoy our unrestricted facilities. You are assigned to room 19-10, if you need any farther help or directions please feel free to query me at anytime," The rather monotone, helpful feminine AI voice responded to Masako.

Masako paused for a moment and smiled a bit. "Could you be so kind as to point me toward the room then? I'm a little lost; it's my first time on a ship this big," she responded, telepathically, to the AI. "What kind of facilities are there?"

The Senbu’s intercom system sounded its alarm for attention before a voice came over the communications relay. “Attention, all personnel: This is the first officer speaking; please report to action stations immediately; this is not a drill. Repeat: report to action stations; this is not a drill,” Nicholas ordered the ship’s crew. He hoped that Shizuka would come to the rescue in short order. Although he had been in command of a ship before, the small YSS Adauchi, he felt totally unprepared to command a vessel on the scale of the Senbu.

"Huh?" Masako looked around confusedly for a moment and cursed her luck. "Just great, I get here for 2 minutes and this happens, I don't even know where I should be," she sighed.

Shin sighed when the order came through, letting go of Sakaki. "Well damn, just as this was getting good."

Hiroko blinked. "...Belay that." Then, a glance to Kuriko was shot out, as the indigo-haired Yamataian started dashing off towards the lift.

Sakaki reactively brought her knee right up to Shin's gut or lower region when the alarm sounded. She was surprised and looked around, It seems time for action has come at last. She then ran to pick up her katana and toward the lift, following the lead of the others.

Shin followed Sakaki, grinning. "Looks like we get to have some fun."

Hara stopped his swing, hearing the order. "Ye- er, that's too bad. Maybe next time." He rose up and headed off with the others.

Maya was still waiting for the match to begin when suddenly the thought of an exclamation mark appeared over her head with a loud noise when Hiroko sunk up to her and asked her query, but then a red alert then sounded at the same moment. "Sorry, sis, but it looks like were about to get some real action." Maya then turned to her "new" CO. “Awaiting orders Ma'am..." Maya said reluctantly.

Kuriko was waiting when suddenly she saw Hiroko dash off, and realized that she had just missed the scramble order. The Neko’s eyes widened suddenly, WAY TO GO, the Neko chided herself as she turned. "Pride Wing, assemble in our armor bay. You'll need to log into and identify yourself with your armors if you haven't already," Kuriko said telepathically before responding to Maya. "Maya...I'm sorry," Kuriko said in a quiet telepathic voice.

In the shuttle bay, Masako awaited instruction. "Senbu... what do I do?” I heard that order but I have no duty station as I just arrived..." Masako said following the holographic arrows pointing to room 10-19 so she could at least drop her things off before going to find out. Couldn’t just drop the stuff in the corridor now could she?

As Kuriko ran, an annoying popup blocked half of her field of vision informing her that Shin didn't have clearance to access the Pride Wing armor bay. "MEGAMI, can you let Nekki-Hei into our armor bay for this time until I can get his clearance issues sorted out?" Kuriko asked the AI.

"You are temporally assigned to the Vermilion Wing, please report to Jôtô Heisho Kawamori Shoji in the Starboard bay,"
MEGAMI ordered Masako, allowing her to join the Squad who was the replacement standby unit, where the Gold Wing was still out of commission without their leader. “As you command, the temporary access is granted to Santô Hei Nekki Shin," MEGMI simultaneously responded to Kuriko.

Masako nodded and hurried to her quarters and dropped off her belongings and then turned to head for the Starboard bay with Senbu's guiding holo-arrows pointing the way. Her obscenely long hair whipping about as she jogged through the corridor to the elevator to head for the bay in question with a noticeable... bounce in her step. It wouldn't take her long to reach there, seeing as the way was clear for the most part and came to a skidding stop in the bay and faced the Jotô Heisho in question and bowed to the non-commissioned officer. "I'm Santô Hei Sakiyurai, temporarily assigned to this unit," she said and looked over the armors for a moment.

Shin rushed ahead of the rest of the squad, anxious to get into his Daisy.

Seconds later the lifts carrying the members of the Pride Wing arrived on the deck where the wing was stationed, allowing them to quickly exit and head toward their awaiting armors. "Nekki-Hei, Saru-Hei, there are Daisy units available for you on deck. You can go ahead and use them," Kuriko said telepathically as she mentally viewed the inventory.

Hiroko meanwhile rushed in, her hair whipping to the side as she headed towards the Mindy that looked like it was ready for her and got closer, telepathically shooting out a rapid burst of login information as she drew near. Her mind was racing, trying to assess the situation and prepare tactical scenarios to use.

Shin grinned, telepathically conversing with Hara as he stripped and jogged to his Daisy. "I guess we're squadmates."

They were led her into the doors of the newly readjusted port bay. Inside, it was alive with a constant buzz of activity with engineers going about here and there fixing things. The ship's seal was adorned the walls and on the center of the floor and there seemed to be a large red circle where one could affix another insignia, but it seemed to be empty for now. There were armor racks; down a line of shiny new Mindy M2-2As that all had red shoulder pads with a gold stripe down the center, and various panels which were also painted in the same red. At this point Kanno-shoi’s words to Kuriko would echo in her head. "This is your armor, it's your responsibility that it comes back to us in one piece and it's also your responsibility to check its systems regularly and polish it after every repair," said Akira’s voice, so clear in her head at that moment. The screens displayed a request for her retinal scans, a quick mental scan so it could record the user’s telepathic signature and finally a hand scan. After that, a series of small boxes asked for input passwords and then allowed the user to code name the machine if they so desired.

Kuriko looked around frantically before looking over to the nearest tech, "I need two Daisies up here ASAP," Kuriko said, her voice sounding exasperated as she spoke. Then, Kuriko spoke to the new members of Pride Wing telepathically. "These armors are your life. Treat it better than your own body, wash it after every use, polish it, most importantly, bring it back in one piece," Kuriko said, wincing a little as she though of Akira. "Suit up and choose a handheld from the armory, Yoshihara-Hei will be able to show you where that is," Kuriko continued, telepathically, looking toward Maya.

MEGAMI responded only seconds after being ordered. "Understood, switching units. Please wait." Once MEGAMI went silent, two Mindy M2-2A units lowered into the floor and were shuffled into the floor armor container to be switched with Daisy M6-1B 'Spacy' units. All of them painted into uniform Mindy Blues to fit with the rest of the squad, and all had the same red shoulder pads with a gold stripe down the center, and of course the other panels colored the same red.

Shin moved to one of the Daisies, looking over it and starting up the login sequence.

Sakaki looked around at the various Mindies and picked one to her liking. She attempted to rapidly register and log in while taking off her blade, wedging it in another Mindy as she had little time to tape it on at the moment. Her mind was concentrated on getting out into space to begin her new life as a warrior.

Maya wasted no time and sprinted with the rest of the squad to the Wing's PA bay and ran towards her Mindy 2. It was the same one she been using since that last rescue operation equipped with the same standard load. There was no need to register it, but noticed it had been repainted in new Pride Wing colors. She also noticed that most of the carbon scoring had been partially restored. The Mindy 2 opened up and Maya stripped out of her uniform and tossed it aside and climbed inside as the Mindy 2 closed around her and made contact with her SPINE interface as the two became one. Maya then started the pre-diagnostics until all systems indicated that they were a go after putting on her helmet. Maya then turned towards the other rookies. "Alright! Suit up and follow me! Armory is this way!" Maya then ran for the PA armory and grabbed a LASR-SLAG.

Shin glared intently at his Daisy, trying to figure out its name. "You shall be Byakko. That is the name I shall give you. It is one of the four guardians." Smiling, he gave a little prayer before registering Byakko to him and climbing inside.

At this point, Hara was under the assumption that Kuriko was in charge of them. "Yes, ma'am!" he said, rushing over to 'his' Daisy. He ran through the registration process, before shedding his clothes and getting inside. After the insanely uncomfortable moment of having a catheter wriggle into his urethra, he was suited up. "Guess so. Let's show them what we can do, yeah?" he said to his armor.

Shin smiled at Hara, quickly getting used to the armor. "Hey, White-Hair, you should name your armor Suzaku." He took a few steps first, making sure the movement system was active, and followed Maya to the armory

Sakaki finished the registration process and jumped into the suit, with a kind of getting sucked in sort of feeling with the fleshy interior. Taking a moment to take everything in, she took steps toward the armory, not wanting to waste time she followed Maya to the weapons storage and picked up an Aether Beam Saber-Rifle.

Meanwhile, without even a further thought, Hiroko began suiting up, and when she was done, she mentally noted the code name for her armor. ...Should desire arise, I will press it down with the uncarved block of namelessness. You shall be my instrument - P'u, the Uncarved Block. At which point she finished integrating with the armor. Moving further, Hiroko strode to the armory, picking up an accelerated plasma rifle, musing that she already had the forearm weapons for bladed and ranged combat.

Kuriko found herself standing in front of Sigmund, staring at the armors unmovable face. "Sigmund..." Kuriko said telepathically to the AIES as she looked at the power armor. "Help me....I'm horrible at this, I don't want anyone to get hurt." As she finished speaking she ran her finger down the invisible seam that would open up the armor. After stripping down and sliding her clothes into a nearby locker, Kuriko slid into Sigmund. Once he was running she felt the expected relief from the AIES massaging her muscles. "Thank you, Sigmund," Kuriko said before stepping off of the rack and heading for the armory. "Sigmund, pull up that last handheld I used, we'll go with that one again for now," Kuriko said. Moments later, Kuriko had a LASR-SLAG in her hands.

Shin closes his eyes, thinking over the choice of weapons he had. Deciding that he would need a good balanced gun, he chose the KE-M6-W2901 Space Plasma rifle. "Santo-Hei Nekki Shin and Byakko are prepared for launch."

"Suzaku, huh? Sound's good!" Hara replied to Shin’s earlier comment, making his way to the armory as well. He grabbed an Accelerated Plasma Rifle before heading towards the others. "Good luck, everyone."

In Vermillion Wing’s bay, Masako would suit up in a balanced load out Mindy with a positron rifle, since it was the closest thing at hand. Probably to the dismay of the CO of the Vermillion unit, some newbie taking a hold of something like that? Well, she did have some credit being a planetary soldier and not just some greenhorn fresh from boot. She knew how to use advanced rifles and weaponry. "This armor is uncomfortable..." she sighed some as the AIES seemed to be trying to adjust the inside cushioning enough to make her at least a bit more comfortable in it.

The bridge began to fill up with more officers once the order was sent out, the Shoi who was holding the bridge before Nicholas quickly returned to her post at mission OPs. The executive officer's displays came alive with a dizzying array of information. It appeared that they had the surprise on the Vampire vessels who were side by side now with nothing deployed. They seemed to be exchanging cargo and using the nebula to obscure their ships.

As not only the ship’s XO, but the Pride Wing’s combat operations officer, Nicholas began consulting with the MEGAMI and other operations specialists in plotting the best tactical approach to the situation. Although the final call would have to be made by Shizuka when she arrived, Nick drafted quick contingency plans for a boarding action and a termination sortie, as well as retreat parameters for all of the Senbu’s wings that would be used in the coming engagement.




PAUSE
 
Unpause




The Pride Wing was now all set up and primed to get out there, the officers in charge of Intel suggested to the executive officer that they wait to see if the other ship will leave, and standby so they could get as much data about the cargo being transferred as possible. As for the Lioness, she was still laying in her pile of blankets going over the ship's status mentally. Then she noticed that there were interviews left to do. Well... he did do all the ones yesterday; I should really get back to my own duties. Shizuka sighed inwardly as she slowly got up, she wasn't too sure she wanted to deal with the combat. She'd leave that to the Geshrin, almost in a sort of personal protest to being called a tool for battle.

MEGAMI contacted Rin. "Santô Hei; Hoshitomo, the Shosa will see you now, please report to her office," it said to him telepathically. The AI unit then offered options for guiding the Hei to the appropriate deck and door.

Hearing the message loud and clear, Hoshitomo went back and double checked herself in the mirror. She definitely did her best to appear the picture of the fresh-faced yet capable Yamataian cadet. Her Type 30B uniform was cleaned and pressed, the top matching well with her choice of a matching medium length skirt and boots... having just been assigned to the ship they were still devoid of any specialized patches as of yet. Pushing her nervousness down into the corner of the mind, Rin didn't waste any time consulting the mapping assistance offered as she exited the enlisted rooms, and finding the lift to Deck 15 without too much trouble. She was already learning the layout of the Senbu thankfully, and hopefully would even make it to the Shosa's door early at the brisk rate she was moving.

The large door labeled Captain’s Office was unchanged from the stock setup; there was no nameplate with the Shosa's name, just the Yamataian characters boldly there from day one. "Come in," Shizuka’s voice beckoned as the door opened before the Hei knocked. From her long first glance over Shizuka, it was easy to notice she had a slender yet solid female frame with yellowish tanned skin. Young facial features were glancing over the desk directly at Rin; a cute small nose and rounder face gave off the misleading appearance that the commanding officer was a softer type. But the pair of sharp, big, slanted amber eyes with their feral stare showed much more truth to the persona of the Captain. Once Rin got a better look, it was obvious that the CO had unruly dark sandy blond hair that gave her a lion’s mane visage, and she liked it. All together, Shizuka's general appearance with her smaller Neko ears and almost primal posture gave her the appearance of a lion, which made the Red Lion moniker a little more obvious now.

Rin was a bit taken aback at how her arrival seemed altogether expected, the door opening on its own volition almost like a predator setting a trap for its prey for the day. Nevertheless, the soldier had no room for hesitations now, approaching further into the lion's den with a methodical step and rendering Shizuka a respectful salute. The commander's feral eyes locked with the new Hei's icy blue ones, as she introduced herself. "Hoshitomo-hei reporting as ordered, Shizuka-shosa."

Rin's bowing salute was returned with a much shorter and curt one, and then the Shosa offered a seat for the Yamataian with an upturned hand. "Please sit, Hoshitomo-Hei, and we'll get on with your interview," Shizuka said as she pulled out a data pad which seemed to be displaying the Santô Hei's bio.

Rin did as she was told, sitting where was indicated. There was little flair in her movements, they were polite and precise. She was maintaining a very neutral expression as well towards the superior, seeming like the business type in her mannerisms. Her eyes did give away some of her anxiety as could be expected with meeting a real field commander for the first time. Of course, deep down the Yamataian was also grappling with her issues. No matter how capable or famous this Nekovalkyrja was, there was still that uncertainty that would always linger.

"Firstly I'd like to welcome you aboard my vessel, Hoshitomo Rin. I run a tight ship, and it’s a little chaotic at times so you’ll have to have a good head about you. I hope we can find a nice placement for you that fits your skills. I have a few questions to be answered first, to let me know a little about yourself first, then I'll decide where I'd like to put you best. After that I'll be willing to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Sound good?" Shizuka finished waiting her answer as she shifted the data pad forward.

"Of course. I'll answer any questions you have. Though my record should speak for itself in a large majority," replied Rin, who seemed to at least have a cool confidence about her job qualifications that were appearing on the data pad, if nothing else. "I will do my best to adjust to the operational tempo here as well. A lowly Hei such as myself should endeavor to prevent unnecessary stresses for you, Shizuka-shosa."

"A lowly Hei?" Shizuka seemed rather stunned by this comment. "Well firstly, I'd like one thing to be known. Rin-san, aboard my ship everyone plays a part. It's a well maintained machine, one piece cannot function without the other, and I believe that the commanders are just as important as the personnel they are ordering. This is not slavery, this is a military. Those with rank earned it and thus have the experience to make sure the lower ranks grow and live to have that same experience themselves," Shizuka said, rather inspiringly but without losing her cool demeanor. "My first question then, how do you feel about working closely with others?" It was a simple, yet good opener that allowed a closer look into the person across the desk from her, that a bio couldn't tell her.

Rin listened to the lecture with the barest of nods, still trying to pin down where this Neko was coming from. Was she trying to present a facade of caring for the sake of the mission's completion, or was it more sincere? Still, she made a compelling argument... even if the recruit wasn't quite convinced from just this alone that she could be more than merely her commander. Hoshitomo-hei cleared her throat and decided to reply to the question at hand. "As you say, this ship is a well-maintained machine. It has many parts, which all have a purpose and must function together to accomplish the mission required of us by the Empire. I did not get to sit in this chair before you by being a loner - I will always support my team and unit that it will succeed above all others."

Shizuka took a moment to read Rin's body language as she spoke, sizing up the validity of her answer. After all, the girl sitting in front of her seemed to be the “motivated to reach the top kind.” Shizuka was three and a half years old in the ways of war and the people fighting in its militaries. Though she was conflicted to move on, Shizuka let the answer go by with a smile. "How about field combat, how familiar are you with the Mindy M2-2A?" she asked, seemingly a little lighter hearted now as she lowered her interlaced fingers to the desktop, displaying a more open sort of posture.

The Shosa's attempt at reading her attitudes was not incorrect, as it was obvious that the Santô Hei went to great lengths to cultivate the imagery and demeanor of one who is entirely focused upon her tasks. She had to live up to her parent's wishes, after all... it was her entire life. She blinked a moment, as the teal hair shading her gaze shifted slightly, then she responded once more in that direct, and perhaps chilly tone... it appeared she also did not smile easily in return to Shizuka. "I am fully trained in operations with power armors, among them the Mindy M2-2A, as well as its numerous accessories and requirements as part of my technical sentry qualifications," began Rin, before adding with a bit less enthusiasm, "I know that I am a bit on the tall side to utilize power armor in a combat environment, but I assure you I have the basic capabilities to fly.”

"I might have a position in mind for you then; I only have one last question." Shizuka then straightened her back and cleared her throat, this question meaning the most to her and she was always pleased to ask it. Not because she knew what they were going to answer, but because how they answered. She had become quite good at reading people with those piercing lioness eyes of her, like a huntress reading her prey, every twitch and tone read deeply. “Answer as truthfully as you can. If you were on a mission and you had the choice to either save a fellow crewmember and forfeit successful completion of your duty or to let them suffer their final death and complete your task, which would you choose?" The last question was now out on the table, Shizuka seemed to edge forward in her seat.

Hoshitomo-hei's rigid facade began to grow a crack, as this was not a line of questioning she had mentally prepared to face at all. Certainly not one being asked by the Shosa so directly! The mere fact the lioness had now got the new recruit to even hesitate in replying to actually think, rather than deliver another strategic or canned, dry answer likely delighted her. Rin could not avoid the question though; she had to deliver an answer to Shizuka. It came, eventually, in a much less confident tone. "If aborting the mission to save one comrade's life does not then result in the deaths of many others as a result... then that would be the proper choice."

"Then you are here to save lives, and not because you want an array of metals and awards to put on your mantel?" Shizuka asked, her soul piercing gaze almost shown that the Shosa may have been holding back a smile. She was being a true leader, leading the people she was responsible over come to their own conclusions but guiding them into the ones she believed would be best for them.

A slight sentimentality crossed across the pools of Rin's eyes, as she replied in a voice that seemed more like she was reciting something from the past. Her father had said it best: "A medal earned upon the bodies of anyone other than one's enemies is not a medal that I wish to display upon my breast."

"Then I welcome you to my ship, and I'd like to have you serve with my special unit, the Pride Wing. They are my lead wing and represent not only the Empire in battle, but the ship and myself." Shizuka stood up and offered the Hei a deeper bow then the one she greeted her with. "Report to Nitô Heisho Shifuda Kuriko as soon as you can, I'm sure she'll enjoy having you join her lead," Shizuka said rather happily, acting kinder and more like the soft side of the big lion that most of the members of the ship knew. "To earn those medals, and an officer's uniform, you must first have a better understanding of the people of which you command. I look forward to watching your career progress Rin-san, I'm glad to have you aboard."

Rin arose as well after making her affirmation and gave a deep bow. No career built on the backs of others was one she could sleep soundly with every night, that much was certain. But this Shosa of hers was truly a woman of ability and more wise than the older former Geshrin gave her credit for, she had earned her leadership just as much had been born into it... that much was apparent. But it seemed Rin had still managed a victory and earned her respect, which might be more than other prospective members had done. "Thank you, I will remember your words, Shizuka... -san." This last part came out a bit awkwardly, but the Santô Hei seemed to loosen up slightly afterwards.

On the bridge, working harmoniously, were a pair of oddities that Nicholas must have noticed before, but never really had the time to look at. Shoi Ayane Chouko and Shoi Ayano Chouko, NH-29 Series Nekovalkyrja made to be twin sisters. They were both a pair of senior Intel officers, both youthful looking who carried themselves in identical mannerisms. The only difference between the two was the color of their eyes and hair. One had hot pink hair and the other candy blue, then for their eyes it was the opposite, the one with pink hair had blue eyes and vice versa. They were working closely with the black haired Yamataian from before. But the reason for them catching his attention could perhaps be the conversation they were having openly about the XO. Apparently they must have thought he wasn't in earshot, or perhaps they were doing it in the interest of catching his attention. Either or, they seemed to be on the topic of the XO's relationship with the captain. "Apparently, what I heard is that he called the Captain a machine, to her face!" the pink haired one said, almost appalled. "Oh my, I don't think she would take that all too well..." the candy blue haired one said, with a glance tossed up towards the Geshrin.

“Excuse me?” Nicholas asked immediately upon hearing the strange pair of intelligence analysts gossiping openly about him. “What did you say?” he pressed, standing up from his station and walking towards where they were working. Although they were at action stations and he had half a mind to reprimand them for conduct unbecoming, he wasn’t sure if where this conversation would lead could cause the same charge to be leveled against him, so he restrained from any disciplinary comments for the time being. “Perhaps you could fill me in on this information that you’ve seemed to have gathered. I’m very skilled at analyzing intelligence information myself, and you seem to be in need of assistance in organizing your facts,” the Geshrin said in a cold, judging voice as he approached their position.

"Well, I've collected this intel from a very reliable source, that you, after the Shosa was finished with her epic tale of how she rose up from being a technical sentry, took control of a ship and protected the remainder of the crew, had told another crew member that it was because of her production line. The exact words I have collected, if you like a full report is that you said, and I quote: "You are a Nekovalkyrja, and you were created and programmed for battle.” Even though it's been apparent that many of our sisters are born and live civilian lives," the Pink one said, her tone professional and unafraid of the Geshrin. Where one stopped, the other picked up after her fluidly. "Speaking of the Neko race with the same ignorance that one would if they were talking about an NSP or Fox-class shuttle. With the Captain’s fondness over you, maybe she started to think you were thinking of her as a love doll? Perhaps we should look up how to solve the issue with NH-1’s social interaction sub-routines?" The blue haired one seemed to talk a little more loosely, but no less confident then her sister.

Nicholas simply stared at the pair for a few moments as his blood pressure rose and his breathing became less shallow. “The first error that the pair of you made was to openly disrespect our Shosa – my Shosa – the only person on this vessel who I report to as my superior,” he said, clearly agitated, but still in control over his voice and composure. “That you would disrespect her by openly spreading rumors concerned with her, be they true or not, in the presence of other officers of the Star Army and during a combat situation no less, devalues the ideals that we, as officers in the Star Army, stand for. You are both disgraces.”

The Shoi leaned into their console, opened a new window, and began entering a command line into the console. “I will not comment on the second error that you made, but I will refer you to this document,” he said plainly as he opened the document that he was searching for. “The NH-29 Technical Manual will inform you of the history of the Nekovalkyrja series of combat-oriented humanoid androids. If I ever find you disrespecting my Shosa again, I will have you detained and discharged under the final measure of Section 2, Article C of the Universal Code of Military Law. ” After he was done, he turned and made his way back to his console, deciding too much of his time, and no doubt the time of everyone on the bridge who was in earshot.

From that point, Nicholas did his best to look like he was still organizing the effort to make sure the upcoming sortie would happen without any problems, but even pretending to be useful proved difficult. Why would Shizuka have been insulted by what he’d said? It wasn’t necessarily untrue, what he’d said. The fact that it did hurt or insult her in some way weighed heavily on him; he was almost visibly cringing in his seat as he purposelessly flipped through star maps and unit statistics.

Simultaneously he received an, "as you decree sir," and a simple, and straightforward bow to keep into code. They silently returned to their chatter, avoiding his ears by communicating telepathically. It was better left that he didn't get to hear the mean things they were encoding to one another, but it was a reaction that they believed to have expected. After all, they too did their research on the Saigas. But the twins were pleased, at least in this action, their beloved Captain’s feelings got out, or so they assumed and she didn't have to lift a finger, they counted it as a win.




PAUSE
 
Unpause




The seconds ticked past, the bridge was alive with activity as the intel analysis were quickly going over all the scans given to them as they began piecing together a better picture of their enemy. The meeting with the Shosa had gone well and the Pride Wing was still on standby. It was a quiet calm before the storm aboard the Senbu, and they were without their Captain.

Withdrawing from her interesting interview, Hoshitomo-hei's mind was awash with many thoughts as she passed by the corridors and elevators leading back to her quarters on deck 19. It seemed she was going to have her feet held to the fire sooner than expected, but there was also a sense of excitement to be assigned to such a prestigious combat team. This could be Rin's big chance to make her first active duty station an example of later excellence! The path to the Shosa's level...

It was going to be long and hard, but it was what her parents had pushed Rin so hard to achieve. It was a heavy burden for her to bear, the child of a military family, but in the world she came from there was no higher honor. The burden would only become heavier from now on, but a foot was in the door. And so her actual boot strode into the bland room, eyes drifting down to the bed where a neatly folded uniform was patiently awaiting her return. The midnight blue panels upon the shoulders and chest was the final indicator of the duty expected of her.

A small, eight inch sprite was floating in the corner of her room, laying out the Hei's additional uniform among her things. She was pink haired and had a pair of bright pink eyes. "Oh, you’re back so soon!" she said in a shocked sort of manner, the small creature seemed to be caught off guard by the Hei's entrance.

The Yamataian had little time to muse further as she found what apparently was a housekeeping Neko sprite still in the process of performing its tasks. At first there was a slight resentful stare at the place being occupied by the computer-generated crewman, but this passed quickly as she realized that the maid was merely doing what she was created to do. Another cog in the machine, if a small and particularly cute one at that. "I tend to run early," commented the woman as she gave a slight nod in the sprite's direction.

"I'll make a note of that, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Senbu Momoiro, you can call me Momo-tan for short!" she said as she finished up and floated over to bow before the Yamataian woman pleasantly. She was as cute as ever with a spacey pixy cut in all sorts of pinks and a set of sparkles on her cheeks, which her sweet little voice complemented just perfectly. "If there's anything you need at all. Please be sure to ask, and I'll come running!" she said, making an over exaggerated pose with lots of enthusiasm.

Despite her hard-line attitude, Rin couldn't exactly resist the fact this little sprite was extremely cute. In fact, most every sprite seemed disposed to be this way in her experience, and it was a curiosity why they always ended up like that in comparison to Nekovalkyrja which were as vicious in combat as they come. Perhaps one day these questions would have answers, but for now she merely accepted this as a fact of life. "A pleasure to meet you, Momo-tan. Thank you for your help. I assume that you're then the housekeeper of these deck quarters?" queried Rin towards the sugary pink girl.

"Yep, I'm just one of the many!" Momo responded happily as she brought her head back up to smile brightly at Rin. "I hope you find everything to your liking, the Shosa always tells us to do our best for the new people on the ship so you have an easy time getting integrated. I hope I've helped. Now if you'd excuse me, I have plenty of girl's rooms to attend to!" The cute sprite bowed once more and then took her leave, exiting out the door quickly and heading off to continue her duties.

"MEGAMI," began Rin in a calm voice, appearing to talk to a mirror in front of her as she started to get changed into appropriate attire for her new pilot status. "What is the current location and status of Nitô Heisho; Shifuda Kuriko?"

"Nitô Heisho; Shifuda Kuriko is currently scrambled and located in the port bay awaiting launch orders," MEGAMI answered in her plainly helpful and empty computer generated tone.

On the bridge, the cacophony of activity still dominated the multi-deck command center. “Status update,” Nicholas asked in a commanding tone to nobody in particular for what was about the fifth time in the last twenty minutes. Two Vampire-class vessels. It was not my intention to hurt her. At worst, they carry thirty armors between them., he thought, continuously plotting for the upcoming battle as he picked up on new data every few moments through the bridge’s commotion. The Geshrin Shoi was still visibly bothered, but was getting more work done than he was earlier. Perhaps she’ll forgive me for whatever I’ve done. Three of our wings are operational and best estimates show a minimal nine percent casualty rate in a boarding action to capture both. These losses are acceptable to the Star Army but not to her.

"It appears that the cargo they are transferring are parts, simple parts and a heavily encased container we weren’t able to make a complete scan of. Engineering is on the job of figuring out what the parts could be for," one of the twins from before, the pink haired one, sitting one tier blow his, called back with a status report as she continued her work through the cascading displays.

"Sir, we have detected a series of two larger vessels on long range scans!" from a few tiers down, in sensors, another young officer called above the chatter. After his words rang out across the bridge, quite a buzz of commotion erupted on the command deck.

“Why isn’t Shizuka here yet,” Nicholas mumbled worriedly under his breath as he brought up the new information on his console, expanding more volumetric windows around him as he made more room for the data streams. “How big are the incoming objects?” he asked, simultaneously searching for the information himself. “Have the status of all available wings set from standby to highest combat readiness!” the Shoi barked as he worked furiously at his station.

"Sir, they are five thousand by twelve hundred meters in size. The ships' heights are measured at five hundred meters," the Pink haired senior intelligence officer called back. "That's the same dimensions as a Chiharu-class Flagship..." the blue haired sister said, out loud but in an inwardly sort of way.

"Sensors, have you checked for PSC Device resonance?" the pink haired Shoi questioned.

"No, we can do that now ma'am." the sensor's officer said as she quickly sat down and ordered her tram to readjust for the signal.

“If they are Chiharu, then they aren’t with the Star Army. Not only are they lacking an IFF signal, but we never send out two flagships, especially without significant escort,” Nicholas observed openly. It wasn’t in his nature to order a retreat, but all they had were three operational power armor wings and an Anri DSRV, and he was at a loss as what to do. The two new contacts, whatever they were, would arrive within a dangerous proximity before the Senbu could deal with the two Vampires. The Shoi opened a communications switchboard and used it to page Shizuka. He knew what honor demanded, but was at a total loss as to what he should do. It wasn’t his ship, after all.

"PSC resonance confirmed. It seems that there are no other connections to it though," the sensors operator called back up to the higher tier of command. "It's like you said, sir, I don't believe they're Star Army at all, that psionic controller would have numerous connections if it was one of ours," the black haired Yamataian Shoi said, staring at the data on her panel intently, looking over the reports coming in from engineering. "Sir, I think they're transferring peaces to a large Aether Generator, and what the engineering team says is an Integrated Electronics System, only they can't identify what from."




PAUSE
 
Unpause




Shizuka hadn’t responded to any of Nicholas' communications. The bridge was left to him, and everyone worked around his every word and command. As for the orders to have all the wings up and on standby, reports were coming in every second as it seemed the machine that was the Senbu was roaring to life, quickly filling its rapid launch bays with eager pilots who had yet to see combat and their experienced commanders. One of those very wings was the Pride Wing squadron, who was now waiting for the launch order with weapons hot.

"Sir, we're being targeted by the Vampire patrol craft. They've found us!" A sensor operator yelled back over the noise, which caused the bridge chatter to lower sharply in volume as they awaited Saiga-shoi's next command.

In the armor bay, Shin opened a comm channel with Sakaki. "Ushimo-hei. I’m in the slower armors, so we should work closely together, and with the rest of the squad for maximum efficiency. I am honored to be your wing mate today."

Hiroko solemnly motioned, getting used to her new vehicle as she moved its arms around, began to walk. She had gone through Mindy training, but this... was new. This was hers now. Her Uncarved Block. And then she sent the message, "I'm to imagine we have an action-plan?"

Sakaki waited in her machine in silence, waiting for the go order. She was thinking back to the naming of her Mindy, In the moon shines the princess, the pale moon guides her destiny. This princess was under the legend known as, Tsukihime. She then glanced over to Shin's larger and clunker armor and replied, "Today will be honor for us all, today we shall become warriors! To this I am honored to fight along side you as well, Nekki-Hei."

No sooner had the zipper of her bodysuit locked firmly in place... than call to battle stations went out with a surprising urgency. Rin's mind changed from its pensive state to one that was focused and without regrets. Muscles tensed, adrenaline started pumping, and finely honed instincts came to the forefront like a river. Her new wing and ship needed her... and she would answer the call to arms. The teal haired Yamataian thus took off running down the deck 19 corridor, becoming just another face in the crowd of infantry pilots hurrying to the armory.

A cheerful familiar feminine voice came over the telepathic communications directed towards Kuriko. "It's good to see your all ready Nitô Heisho, Shifuda Kuriko. I am Ittô Heisho Mitsuhime Yuki, code name; Navi, the communications officer from your precious sortie. If you could all line up on the deploy line, that'd be great, we're just waiting for the all clear to launch. I've already taken the time to place the markers and data collected by our sensor sweeps on your AIES. The communication officer went silent a moment as she started to pull up the necessary lists she'd need on her terminal screen for the mission.

“Mindies will launch without active camo. When you're ready, assemble on the launch line," Kuriko spoke rapidly as she paired the groups up visually. "Once you've all engaged, try to stay near your assigned buddy," Kuriko said to the group. A window popped up in each pilot's view that showed who their partner was: Maya and Hara, Hiroko and Sakaki, Kuriko and Shin. "Arigatou Navi-san." Kuriko telepathically replied to the Neko as she stepped up to the launch line.

Kuriko paused after issuing orders and grimaced internally. "Sorry, my bad. Ushimo-hei, stay back with the Daisy's with active camo on. You'll be playing cover and backup when you get here," Kuriko said as she realized that she had accidentally believed that Sakaki was in a Daisy.

"As ordered," Sakaki replied. She eased herself knowing combat will not go her way right away just yet.

Hiroko subconsciously nodded, confirming the plan. "Orders acknowledged at any rate. If you're willing to hear advice I'll probably have some." She then glanced over to the rest of the unit, thinking. So... she was supposed to work with the... the sword-user. Well, that seemed to fit, as Hiroko preferred long-range combat. She smiled, realizing that Kuriko at least had some sense on who to assign where. Not bad for a fresh promote!

Shin dialed up the optic-camo on his Daisy, grinning slightly. "Hey, Commander, just don't kill everything before we get there," he joked, chuckling under his breath

On the Senbu’s bridge, Nicholas shot a downward glance as the commotion of the bridge seemingly froze, awaiting what his next action with a hushed anticipation. Why isn’t she here? he asked himself, clenching his fists, She’s the leader, not me. After a moment, he rose from his seat, turning his back to the bridge and to face the corridor off of the deck. There he stood for what seemed to him like forever, wanting so badly to run and find Shizuka, but he couldn’t do that, not now. After those long moments, the Geshrin XO turned quickly on a heel, advancing to the edge of the bridge’s upper section. “Launch power armor wings one, three, and four!” he barked with a commanding arm outstretched towards the two Vampire-class ships displayed on the main screen. “And deploy half of our point defense pods now with the others on ready reserve in the even that the first wave is overwhelmed!”

In those long seconds, moments after the orders were given out, a sudden flash of multiple torpedoes detonating in their vicinity filled the display. It seemed both Vampire vessels were aiming to miss the Senbu completely. But their intention was clear once one of the bridge operators called over the chatter. "Countermeasure munitions have blinded sensors and made the area an FTL dead zone!"

"Obsidian Wing, deployed. Vermilion Wing is preparing for deployment," a combat operator called out, as the mission OPs were busily rushing the deployment of their available armor. Then, as the bright flashes cleared the screen, the point defense pods came alive and spread out to face the oncoming enemy. Who at this point was actually floating towards the Senbu. "Sir, I have on visuals what looks to be a shuttle that has launched from the second Vampire craft, the one who was receiving the cargo!" a male Yamataian with urgency on his voice called up to the Shoi, sending a copy of the magnified image to his panel.

“Redirect Pride Wing to intercept,” Nicholas responded quickly, knowing that the unit was currently the smallest, and thusly best suited to prevent the shuttle from doing whatever it was that it was trying to do. Although the amount of new combat factors was multiplying quickly, at least the FTL dead zone would delay the two larger ships from arriving as soon as originally expected.

"Kuriko-Heisho, both the Vermillion and Obsidian Wings are being deployed. I have special orders from the Shosa being sent to me now that you're to launch with only a single team, keep the rest of your pilots on auxiliary standby," Navi said telepathically, responding to a communication that was sent as top secret only moments before from the Red Lion herself.

"Understood," Kuriko responded over the mental link. "Sigmund, suggestions," Kuriko asked her armor privately. Instantly, the armor analyzed the optimal candidates based on the situation to be Maya and Hara, an experienced pilot and an inexperienced pilot. A Daisy and a Mindy. "Maya, Saruwatari-hei, you're on standby. Be ready to launch in case of emergency, we might need you but we've been given only one wing." Then, silently, Kuriko spoke to Maya, "Maya... I need you here in case something happens to me," the Neko said with a worried tone. "Consider your offer for advice accepted," Kuriko said as she prepared for launch. "Navi, Pride Wing requesting permission to launch," Kuriko said telepathically as she glanced around one last time.

"Yes Sir!" Yuki-heisho responded to the Nicholas’ order, being the Pride Wing's combat controller. She then returned to her link with Kuriko. "Shifuda-heisho, the Pride Wing's objective is to intercept the shuttle leaving the second Vampire craft, rout it before it's in protective attack range of the unidentified Chiharu-class Flagships. You are now cleared for launch, good luck out there!" Yuki-heisho seemed to be as serious as the rest of them, as on the bridge she was just as busy.

A sea of blue spilled out into the power armor launch area, but only a single figure was then running to the Mindies allocated to the elite Pride Wing squadron. Hoshitomo was breathing hard as she grabbed a spare Yamataian pilot helmet in a drive by of the equipment racks as she went deeper into the bay with a sense of urgency. "Nitô Heisho!" called out the woman to the pilots in the distance, both vocally and telepathically, hoping to get Kuriko's attention before they launched.

Inside, it was alive with a constant buzz of activity with engineers going about here and there fixing things. The ship's seal was adorned the walls and on the center of the floor and there seemed to be a large red circle where one could affix another insignia, but it seemed to be empty for now. There were armor racks; down a line of shiny new Mindy M2-2As that all had red shoulder pads with a gold stripe down the center and various panels which were also painted in the same red. But most of the racks were empty, the suits already with their pilots, standing on the deployment line.

Sigmund pulled up the Hei's file as soon as she communicated to Kuriko. "Pick an armor, go through the login process and give it a codename then suit up," Kuriko replied to the Hei telepathically. "Something you should know though, respect the armor. It is YOUR armor, YOUR responsibility. IF anything happens to it, it will be YOUR fault. Treat it like you'd treat your own body." Kuriko continued.

The screens by the armors displayed a request for her retinal scans, a quick mental scan so it could record the user’s telepathic signature and finally a hand scan. After that, a series of small boxes asked for input passwords and then allowed the user to code name the machine if they so desired.

Hoshitomo bowed quickly and curtly, still panting as she replied. "Understood, Shifuda-heisho! It is an honor to fly with you and the Pride Wing." She spared no more words and began to take her place in the Mindy's muscular casing, forcing it to stretch a bit to accommodate the slightly tall soldier. Recalling her training sessions, she began the process of configuring the interface and entering the authentication codes transmitted by the Shosa. She left the codename field blank for the moment, entering simply her given name after a second. In time, one would stick out in her mind - for right now she had to be combat worthy and it was a mere pleasantry at best.

Shin had on his optic-camo already, waiting for launch. "Understood Commander," he said.

Sakaki moved over to Shin's machine and placed a hand on his shoulder, indicating she was ready to go when he was ready. After all, she was going to have to go his speed and not hers. Her cloak then activated on anticipation for launch, and would launch alongside Shin. "Ushimo-Hei ready," she announced.

Hiroko stood at ready, and looked back once, before bracing for the team's launch. "...If there's a time, it is now."

There were another few moments of Rin going through ambulation and systems functions checks before walking carefully to a power armor rack and donning a LASR rifle to her free shoulder hardpoint. She was definitely all business, even for a green pilot. "Santô Hei, Hoshitomo Rin," directed the soldier through her comms team wide. "The battlefield will have to serve as my introduction for now."

Kuriko flew out of the armor bay, heading toward the target shuttle at top speed. "Let's hurry, we can't let it get away," Kuriko said to the wing.

Shin exited the armor bay, following the captain at full speed, letting Sakaki catch up to him, so he could grab on. "Understood captain.”

Sakaki ran off the bay and flew when she ran out of footing. While doing so she activated cameo and grabbed onto Shin's arm. She flew steadily, but not rushing so they could drag behind.

Then, her head turned, Hiroko made her move, rushing, and then leaping off of the deck. She would soar across the winds of the abyss like the sages. Metaphor or not, Hiroko moved on, activating drives and launching forward with the rest of the group.

Rin hesitated only until she was sure the Mindy was 100% prepared, and without any more talk or blather, began to pick up speed and make a break for the vastness of space. She was running a little late, and didn't want to hold up such a time sensitive operation.

On the ship’s nerve center in the bridge, the Senbu’s officers continued to coordinate the battle. "Vermilion Wing's primary teams are now deployed. Teams four and five are on standby. Pride Wing team is now deployed! That makes 40 deployed power armor units currently moving to intercept," the black haired intel officer called up to Nicholas to state the current battle capability of their deployed troops. "Both Vampire shuttle craft are deploying armor!" a sensors operator called up over the noise, who was relying now on visuals among the rest of the crew.

Nicholas didn’t respond to the Yamataian Shoi’s updates, but was thankful for them nonetheless. For now, he wasn’t prepared to change any of the tactical elements of the battle and would wait to see what happened before taking and drastic actions, such as directly engaging the enemy with the Senbu. Even with the pods and a fighter screen, that would be suicide at this point.

Outside in the vastness of the combat staging area the scene looked a little like this: Floating farthest from the Senbu, heading in five teams of five to intercept the two Vampire vessels was the black paneled obsidian wing. Their FOF indicators had their names displayed and data up on the visual HUD of any AIES to glance at them, which allowed members of the Senbu’s wings to identify each other in battle easily and effectively. Following closely in behind was the heavily armed teams of the Vermillion Wing, who at the moment only had three teams of five deployed. The PA corps were only half way towards their target at this point, meaning that the Pride Wing was a quick two minute fight to catch up to their target, and they had a battle field to cross, as it was about to get started with the Pirate craft deploying their own armor to intercept.

"We gotta move," Kuriko said to the Pride Wing. "Ushimo-hei, carry Shin-hei with you at full speed, we can't afford to go slowly across this. Hoshimoto-hei, catch up as fast as you can but don't use your teleporter," Kuriko said to the team before looking at their destination again. "Navi, what are our orders once we're within engagement range of the shuttle? Should we destroy it or capture it?" Kuriko asked telepathically as she flew.

Shin thought over the situation. "Commander, we should attempt to capture it alive?" He had nothing much to do, except be on the lookout for any surprises.

Santô Hei Masako Sakiyurai and her relatively large chest were waiting with the Vermillion Wing's fifth team. It seemed they were on standby for the time being in the large Starboard rapid launch bay. Alongside units of the Gold Wing, who were gearing up in the case they had to launch without their leader. The members of the fourth team, seemed to be gawking at the buxom Neko, most of them being male –Yamataian hei's who were soon to see their first combat.

Masako kept to herself, resting her positron rifle over her shoulder like an experienced planetary soldier would, her sensor net blind outside of the launch bay as she was going through the options. She would add in the optical visual field as well when she needed to, the system mimicking her natural "skin sight." She looked over at the Yamataians with her helmet on and her obscenely long hair pulled up and secured within it. "What're you looking at? Pay attention to what's going on..." she said, but thought to herself, Horny little bastards, this isn't the time to ogle me...

With Pride Wing, Hiroko cruised on further, considering what she needed to do. Sensors blind, enemy armors coming in hot and an escaping shuttle to catch. Immobilizing it would be the best tactical solution... then relying on suppressive fire to keep the enemy from recapturing it while it was being secured. Assuming nobody did anything stupidly hotheaded... but she put that aside as she watched from the view through P'u's helm.

"Understood, Shifuda-heisho," replied Rin as she activated the active camouflage units, seeing that nearby wingmates were also in that mode. Being a third wheel of sorts, she had to blend in as best as possible and follow the other's leads and cover them as best as she could, a task which she argued little with. Once the system had taken effect, she kicked in the armor's drives to full throttle to match speed and relative position with Sakaki.

"Saiga-shoi, what are Pride Wing's orders on the matter of the shuttle craft?" Yuki-heisho, the Pride Wing's eye in the sky, so to speak, asked the temporary CO. As this was going on, more torpedoes cleared the battle and expanded the FTL dead zone and its length before dying out. "FTL dead zone duration extended to approximately 45 minutes. Sensors are back up in thirty!" one of the sensors officers said aloud, as they made their analysis based on visuals.

“They are to capture the shuttle and whatever persons or contents that it is trying to escape with,” Nicholas said to Yuki. With the FTL dead zone’s duration increasing, he felt like they had a little more breathing room. “The only point at which they should destroy it is if the threat to their lives exceeds fifty percent,” he ordered, knowing that their armors’ IES units would inform them of that statistic. Whatever the shuttle was holding was important, and he wanted it as their prize, not for what it may be but for the clues that it would provide to who these pirates were.

At this time, the second Vampire patrol ship fired off all of its armaments at once at the approaching armor wings, and then while it was flying into short weapon's range, it began deploying more armor from every opening. Apparently, the second ship was stock full of older Lamia M1, and with the amount that came out it seemed like they even stuffed their bathrooms with armor. "Number of enemy units growing, approximately thirty five are deployed and climbing. The Vampire craft we followed here has yet to deploy armor!" the same black haired Yamataian Shoi updated yet again, making sure the XO was always on top of the situation.

“Understood,” Nick acknowledged. “Current operational orders stand; keep what we have in reserves where they are. We don’t want to get the Senbu and what assets remain aboard tied up just yet.”

The Obsidian Wing took a heavy beating from the blast; the damage was so severe to one team which had to drop immediately after the first attack, reporting that they lost two of their men, but that didn't stop the twenty others from rushing into close range combat with the Lamia units. With the support from the two deployed heavily armed Vermillion teams, they had a great upper advantage. The staging area came alive in blasts and crossfire, the view from the Senbu's main display was not far from stunning, the skirmish had begun.

Navi-heisho then returned to her console, getting back into contact with Kuriko. "Orders from the CO are that you are to capture the shuttle and whatever persons or contents that it is trying to escape with. The only point at which you should destroy it is if the threat to your lives exceeds fifty percent," the mission's operator quoted Nicholas perfectly, she then quickly put up a digital and simple version of these orders and issued them out the Pride Wing and made sure that all the other field commanders had the mission status so they could coordinate with the rest of the deployed PAs.




PAUSE
 
Unpause




The scene was playing out before the very eyes of the Senbu; this was her very first combat at these proportions. To the crew, it felt like the only time the ship had been in a situation where they could very well die. Adrenaline and tensions ran high, everyone working to their limit as solders were going full out against the enemy. The two sleek Vampire vessels were an imposing sight on the endless horizon, but nothing trumped the two Chiharu battle gods sitting off in the distance, watching and waiting thirty thousand kilometers from the Anri repair ship who by all means was its own battle deity. The Senbu’s brave and trusted men and women were now off in the field clashing for their beliefs, their honor and for the glory of the empire.

Monitoring a tactical map of the battlefield from his station, Nicholas had been working furiously to keep everything running smoothly on the bridge and thusly for all of the Senbu’s personnel – on the ship and off. “Operations – direct Vermillion teams one and three as well as Obsidian team four to engage on our right flank. I don’t want any of the enemy’s armor to engage with the Pride Wing armors that are currently out there,” he ordered as he watched the battle statistics, checking the kills and losses that each engaged unit had taken up to this point.

Kuriko watched the shuttle enemy fly. "Navi, if we keep traveling at this speed could we catch the shuttle before it reaches the safety of the Chiharu?" Kuriko asked Navi over their telepathic link. She had a plan, but it was last ditch and would leave people exposed. "Anyone have any suggestions?" Kuriko asked over the comms as she flew, just in case someone had a better plan.

Sakaki flew behind the rest of her wing at a steady speed while still holding onto Shin’s Daisy. She remained silent and noted to herself that battle tactics may be something she would need to learn in the future, for now she waited for the enemy, or incoming orders.

Shin surveyed the battle, his Daisy being held by Sakaki. "Commander, with the route we're taking now, it'd be best to cut straight through the battlefield instead of taking the long way."

Rin had now reached maximum velocity, still trailing the Mindy/Daisy pair by a small margin. The battle data was coming into her HUD though, prompting a small gasp of surprise. "LAMIAs...?" Then there was a realization and she spoke more forcefully to Kuriko. "Heisho, we have a speed advantage over the enemy. Let's make every use of it to reach the target."

"Orders received; relaying," a young Neko with an icy tone responded to Nicholas. Her various team members quickly went about updating their teams accordingly. This is when Kuriko's tactical displays also updated with the current path of the wings involved in blocking her path. Obsidian team 04 was the first to act, they engaged at full trust and bolted for the right flank, the Vermillion teams floated at half speed until Ob 04 was caught up. The updates were coming in at full now, almost all of the Vampire’s 03 team were destroyed by the Obsidian teams 01 and 02.

"You'll have a two minute window if you continue on the long path, if you have a quicker option Kuriko-heisho, I suggest you take it," Navi responded to Kuriko as she quickly went about her console calculation all the distances and options available.

Mizu panicked as the turbo lift finally began its descent to deck 24. Upon arrival and the doors opening, Mizu ran out of the lift and headed down the corridor to her armor, Morality, and her locker. Opening the locker door, she skillfully stripped herself of all her clothes, closing the door and turning to her Mindy, and drawing in a deep breath. "Morality… grant me your strength today." Closing her eyes, Mizu exhaled and telepathically ordered the AIMES in Morality to open up for her. When the Mindy fully opened, Mizu got herself situated inside of it and closed the Mindy manually. "Morality: diagnostics immediately! I'm taking the controls and grabbing a pack." Mizu powered up the Power Armor and rushed to the Armory to look over the packs, grabbing a Ke-M2-W2705 (GM-06) Accelerated Plasma Rifle with 50mm Grenade Launcher without hesitation, and then turned to head to the launching bay, watching to see anyone that may not have launched like her. Sorry Kuriko, the turbo lift stopped in the middle of its descent… I hope you're doing okay out there, Mizu thought to herself, continuing to the launch bay.

Maya was standing near the launch platform nervously playing with the LASR on a hair trigger and eager to get in the thick of it. I can't believe Kuriko is putting me on standby! What’s the point in holding me back! Maya then turned the com to the bridge, "Command, ready to deploy immediately and requesting deployment!"

That's when Maya and Mizu would run into one another in the large chaos of the Pride Wing bay. The engineers were quickly preparing the rest of the armors in case they would be needed to be used in an emergency counter boarding operation. "Yoshihara-hei, you are assigned to Pride Wing team 02, under the command of field officer Kisaragi Mizu. You are cleared to deploy on her orders," a male Yamataian voice, young and serious, came over the communications to answer Maya. This is when Mizu would receive an update, she was now leading her own fire team consisting of her and Maya, they were cleared to launch whenever she deemed they were ready. On Mizu's orders, there was a name from the person who issued them: Ittô Heisho Masahiro Kenji. He was her assigned operator for the mission, apparently.

Nicholas continued his duties on the bridge, glad that the battle seemed to be going their way for now. The quick covering attack made on the right flank seemed to do quite a bit of damage to the enemy’s formation and the units still remaining on the center and left were strong enough to be the anvil with which the pirates would be stricken upon. Still, he couldn’t feel comfortable in command with Shizuka missing in action. The Geshrin re-opened the communications line to his Shosa that he’d kept at ready, hoping that she’d answer this time. “Endo-shosa, where are you?” Nicholas questioned with the same urgency in his voice that was present every time he’d tried to hail her. “If you are able to, please come to the bridge.” He wasn’t worried enough to send personnel to go try and locate her yet, hoping that she’d reply so that he didn’t have to.

"Understood" Kuriko replied silently to Navi. "We're going to teleport to the shuttle. Nekki-hei, lose the heavy fusion pack. Sakaki-hei, you'll carry Nekki-hei with you when you teleport. I'll take Hoshitomo-hei. We're going to appear on the opposite side of the shuttle so that we hidden from the Vampire. We need to disable it as fast as possible." Kuriko wasn't sure this was a good idea, but it was the fastest plan she could think of. Please work well... the Hei thought before flying back to join up with Rin.

Sakaki confirmed with an "as you wish" in reply and begin to set herself for a teleport while calculating everything needed for a Mindy and a Daisy for the transport. When she was ready, she sent a message to Shin – a telepathic "ready," and would begin teleport right after Shin did his part.

Shin ejected his heavy thruster pack, moving his extra equipment to his Daisy's back, preparing for the teleport. "Ready," he replied telepathically.

"Roger that. Please use caution." replied Rin, as she aligned with the team leader's Mindy and prepared for the jump. It was a good plan, as keeping Hoshitomo's teleporter energy in reserve could make a quick getaway if they were walking into a trap.

Mizu received her update from the male Yamataian over the comm., quickly glancing to Maya's Mindy and nodding to her. "Yoshihara-hei, lets get a move on and launch. Once deployed, we'll meet up and rendezvous with Pride Wing Team 01 and provide aid until further orders are sent, are we clear?" Mizu said sternly and clearly to Maya as she moved her Mindy just to the right of Maya’s on the launching platform.

Maya looked at Mizu with some contempt, doubting she could see her expression under her helmet, and gave her the tongue. I hate having orders barked at me... "Understood, ma'am, will follow your lead..." Maya then stood next to Mizu on the launch platform.

"Alright, Vermillion. We're going to hop out and support our front liners. Team five, you’re going close quarters. My team – we're fire support!" the other leader of the auxiliary force called back to his units. He lifted his two accelerated plasma rifles with 50mm grenade launchers, one for each hand. Then he signaled for the others to follow him to the deployment line, this included Sakiyurai and her small little fan club.

Masako nodded and waited her turn on the launcher and sent a little message to the other members of the little squad. "Boooys! You better really be impressive out there or I'm going to be sad and regret my opinions that you were badass enough to see me topless," she said in a purring tone to them. "You wouldn't want li’l me disappointed, would you?" she said to the young male Yamataians shortly before launching after the leader. Hehe that should light a fire under their asses, she thought as she shot out into space and followed the leader to the battle, her positron rifle at the ready.

At this point, Obsidian team one and two had fought their way to the second Vampire craft, team one was working on the point defenses and fighting off the LAMIA that turned to intercept them. But this meant that team 02 could make their move, and they did. "Reports coming in, Obsidian Wing team zero-two has successfully boarded the second Vampire patrol craft!" the black-haired feminine Yamataian Shoi sitting in the middle of the pink and blue Neko twins called above the noise. There was a small commotion afterwards; it seemed everyone was excited to hear that.

Though during this whole time in the mess of things it was hard to notice, but now after moving for so long it was easy to spot that the first Vampire vessel, the one they chased all the way out here, was making its move in behind allied lines towards the transport heading for the two Chiharu. Two more LAMIA teams came out from various hatches under the armor of the second Vampire craft; it seemed they filled that ship to the brim, every nook and cranny. Obsidian team 03 wasn't as lucky as the rest of their wing, because of units Ob 01 and Ob 02, they were left behind in the advance and were sustaining heavy damage, however, their Vermillion supports were doing a great job of thinning the numbers.

Acceptable losses, Nicholas thought, weighing the blows they had taken with the strong advances that they were making. “Send all of the teams, save for one, which just launched to support the main battle line. Have the remaining team on standby and in position to support either the front or to support Pride Wing,” the Geshrin commanded. Vermillion team seems to be doing particularly well, he noticed, checking the kill records of the soldiers with Vermillion who had been in the melee since the beginning; there could be a exceptional pilot or two worthy of recommendation for the Pride Wing.

Kuriko grabbed Rin once she reached the Yamataian and initialized her teleportation modules. "Jump!" Kuriko said over the comms.

Then, on her orders, the Pride Wing leading team jumped, teleporting the whole of them. One after another they ported from one point to the next, coming meters away from the shuttle. "Well well, it seems the lions do come when they smell the meat," all of the telepathically able members of the Pride Wing heard a very cynical woman's voice slip into their telepathic communications, it was coming from the back of the transport shuttle. That's when the back opened up and the Ke-M2-1d from their intel briefing showed itself, now standing face to face with the pride wing. This was the same pilot that incapacitated Akira-shoi. "You didn't think I'd sell insurance with my product, now did you?" the voice asked once more, with an obvious snide tone to her telepathic voice.

She leapt out of the shuttle, her older Mindy adorned in blood reds, and a Neko version of the Jolly Roger with a cat’s skull instead of a human one, was plainly displayed on her helmet. The armor-clad nemesis was armed to the teeth, and the WickedArms GM-05 Advanced Aether Beam Rifle in her right hand looked like it was primed to tear into those shiny new Pride Wing power armors.

Kuriko released Rin before swinging around to face the enemy Neko. "Break formation!" Kuriko said as she prepared to use her forearm shields. "Nekki-hei, see if you can't disable the shuttle, everyone else focus on her!" Kuriko ordered as her gauss cannon swiveled into place and fired a three round burst at the enemy Neko.

Sakaki arrived with cargo intact; her blood was racing when they finally met with some resistance. She carefully moved herself behind Shin and gave him a shove in the right direction, and after doing so she moved to form up with her partner and pulled out her Saber Rifle. "When your ready Ishida-hei," she said to show she was ready and waiting for her move, and planned to sync along with her strategy.

Shin grumbled something about being the most likely to die, bringing up his shield and plasma rifle, keeping his optic camo up as he headed towards the shuttle, trying to stay undetected

Rin immediately scrambled, her pulse beginning to quicken rapidly as the true scale of what they were up against revealed itself. Gritting her teeth, she brought her forearm weapons systems to full readiness, deploying all Nodal bits she had in the chargers, and initiating evasive maneuvers while opening up with her LASR rifle on the enemy armor.

Hiroko felt her location change, and then... that voice. What a... what a bitch. She'd have to go down, that much was sure. At this point, she also noticed Sakaki getting into position, and... a plan came to light. Keeping her AP-rifle off to the side, Hiroko raised her arms at the enemy Mindy, calling back to first Sakaki, and then the entire wing. "Cover me in close combat, Ushimo-hei. I'm going to lay suppressing fire. Shifuda-heisho, Pride Wing, watch my firing pattern… trying to lure her." And, with that, the raised arms began firing, discharging rapid-fire aether bursts in a scatter pattern both right on target with, and to the right and above their target. She was trying to deny the enemy power armor an escape route – except the one she wanted her to have.

Morality took a few steps toward the launch bay’s shielding, leaping off the platform and into the vacuum of space. Immediately engaging the thrusters, Mizu headed in the direction of the last coordinates of Pride Wing Team 01, aptly assuming Maya wasn't straying too far behind her. Upon getting several meters away from the Senbu, Mizu opened a channel with the bridge. "Kisaragi-hei, leading Pride Wing Team 02, launched. Masahiro-heisho, Yoshihara-hei and I will rendezvous with Pride Wing Team 01. Over and out." Mizu would remain on course in the direction of Team 01 until Maya was either hot on her tail or to either side of her, before quickly going over some sort of battle plan.

Maya lit her thrusters at almost the same time as Mizu and proceeded to follow right beside her and giving her the "ok" gesture when she turned her way, scanning the horizon for hostiles and waiting for further orders from her "fearless" leader.

"Vermillion teams zero-four and zero-five are joining the combat; five is currently moving to support front lines, four situating to assist fire support," a bridge operator updated the bridge, as just then Sakiyurai and her team of hot blooded young males launched towards the combat. They had a short distance to cover, but it'd be a minute or two before they were in the fray, which looked spectacular off in the distance with all the ordnances colliding in a dazzling display of the space age conflict. "Keep the formations tight, and team five, that doesn't mean all over the girl!" the male Jôtô Heisho, with his group of heavily armed Neko, called back to the primarily male team.

"Hah!" Masako said and moved to aid, trying to get a level shot and let rip with a couple positron shots at LAMIA pilots, trying to take out a string of them. But that wasn't until she was within effective range for her weapon. She was bold with her shots, aiming for those that seemed to be coordinating or leading LAMIA squads to throw them into confusion.

"Pride Wing team zero-two, consisting of two units is moving to support team zero-one!" Ittô Heisho Masahiro Kenji called out making his status update. While leaning back in his chair and cracking out his fingers, he then leaned forward quickly as he noticed there was another member of the Pride Wing that could be contributing. "Santô Hei Hara Saruwatari: please launch immediately!" the officer said, contacting Hara so he could join up with Mizu and Maya before he gave them the orders to teleport.

Hara groaned as he ran for the launch line as fast as he could. He had hardly been on this ship for a day, and already he was making mistakes. "Understood!" he yelled. Launching from the Senbu, Hara closed the distance between him and his team as quickly as possible. "I'm sorry for being late, everyone! It won't happen again."

The shots fired on the blood red Mindy were dodged skillfully; one of the stray beams came into contact with the shuttle's shields, but it continued on. The Pirate Neko pilot took her speed advantage and charged Rin, the one who seemed the least protected. With her hands on her rifle, the blood red Mindy took hold of her wrist with a superior strength of an older Neko model and then went to chop down through her arm or arms with the engaged hot white aether blade of her rifle, all while moving to put Rin in between her and the rest of the wing. Though Rin's NSBs did get a few shots uncontested on the blood red Mindy, it seemed that its own NSBs were quickly released to deal with hers. Then, with their eyes diverted on the lone pilot, her SOSDs, which were hiding under the shuttle, came out to fire a barrage of mini-missiles at all the uncloaked Pride Wing members, hoping to scatter them.

"Shoi, Pride Wing 01 is under heavy fire from... a single Mindy; model ID number is Ke-M2-1d. Shoi… it's the one the Gold Wing ran into!" Navi, the mission operator called to Nick above the bridge buzz with urgency in her tone. With this, there followed reports of a single Lamia wing that made it through the lines, but there was two Vermillion fire teams coming on it. Those were 04 and 05, the ones Sakiyurai was with. They sized up their targets, and then the leader shouted over comms. "Break formation, destroy those targets!"

As Sakiyurai's rookie blasts screamed over the lead team, the leader and the wing ducked. "Watch your fire; those are heavy ordnances you’re using there! These are easy targets, don't use unnecessary force!"

"Bah! Unnecessary force is sometimes the only way to do things," Masako said and engaged her fire control, painting ally-enemy on her HUD. "But if you say so," she sighed and carefully picked out her targets before opening fire on them, aiming for kill shots, not disabling ones on the LAMIA she had clear shot on.

“Damn it!” Nicholas spat as the information was relayed to him that the battle was finally turning against them. His choices were becoming fewer and fewer with each passing moment; he had to make a battle-affecting decision and make it soon. “Send all available units to reinforce the front!” he ordered.

"Good news, Shoi, the second Vampire vessel is downed. Obsidian Team Zero-Two, has successfully disabled the vessel. They're reporting minimum damage and no losses!" the Yamataian Shoi from before, sitting one tier below Nick, reported the news with a rather excited tone.

The news was a small relief, but didn’t lift the weight of the situation from Nicholas’ shoulders. One Vampire may have been downed, orphaning all of its armor, but those armor still posed an immense threat, especially with the Chiharu looming a few tens of thousands of kilometers in the distance. “Send Obsidian team two to help Pride Wing’s first team,” he said immediately after the information was relayed to him. Although their foe was less tactically significant, he didn’t want Shizuka’s personal wing to be wiped out so soon after it was created.

Kuriko's flares launched to intercept the mini-missiles and her own NSBs deployed, half of them assisting in the destruction of the mini-missiles, the other half swinging around to get clear shots on the 1H. Sigmund informed Kuriko of the now active SOSD drones, leaving her with a rather large headache. "Nekki-hei, the shuttle, stop it ASAP. Careful of the SOSD thingies though." Kuriko's attention then returned to the 1H. The Neko could only watch in horror as it prepared to slice off Rin's arms. Kuriko's LASR and Gauss cannon lined up with the enemy, ready to shoot it once Rin was out of the way, but the rest of her body locked up with fear. "Surround her!" Kuriko said instinctively. At least that way someone might be able to get a firing solution.

Sakaki concentrated with her eyes closed, There is one way for my ally to escape, it might mean my sacrifice. She raised her saber rifle above her then turned it to a quarter circle, then gripped it like one would hold a katana pointed straight at one's enemy. She then opened her eyes and charged forward, right at the enemy. The Neko began to charge her left arm's shield to offer some protection during the charge. She then recalled the charge she did against Shin before the alarms went off and planned to compensate if the target moved, otherwise she might stab Rin's non important system in her armor to get at the enemy though her, or if lucky miss or stop before the enemy moved.

Shin focused on the rear of the shuttle, bringing up his shield and plasma rifle. Straining his Daisy's engines as he sped forward, going on a suicidal ramming charge, he fired his rifle at full burst, missiles streaming from his Daisy's launchers. He pulled his shield back and prepared to punch into the shuttle, arm and shield. His pulse energy weapons activated and also sprayed the target with fire.

Rin could not fend off the superior speed and strength of the opponent, and soon found herself in the iron grip of the pirate commander and being used like a human shield. She tasted fear for the first time this battle as the aether blade appeared and moved as in slow motion to remove her limbs. But seeing that blood-red Mindy and the Neko insignia it bore, a force greater than her fears arose. It was hatred, disdain... the words of her father instilled in her since birth. "I will NOT allow a Neko to best ME!" screamed the young woman as she made no move to stop the loss of her single arm... it would be a sacrifice for her vengeance. The other free one summoned her own aether saber and reached up to implant itself deep into the armor of the enemy's shoulder. Using this like a pivot, she flipped her Mindy up and over the back of the enemy power armor. The pain mixed with fury as she cocked both of the shoulder weapons and fired them at point blank range. The three 50mm gauss shells roared out like thunder in fully automatic mode, and were followed by an explosive finale of an incendiary SLAG round. The target became clear only in hindsight – this all or nothing blast was targeted at her Phase Transition Engines, the lifeblood of the enemy. If she could not defeat the Neko, then she would clip her wings!

Hiroko cursed as the red Mindy grabbed onto Rin, and angled to move, this time bringing the Plasma Rifle to bear. She was no sniper but she had trained better for ranged weapons than melee weapons, and similarly, a spray of shots was NOT the right option. As she sighted the shot, Hiroko was reminded of water... water reacted rather than acted, water stayed low, water... flowed around obstacles! Hiroko watched all the other fire around the red Mindy. She looked for where no fire passed – that is where the red Mindy, like water, would flow. And that would be where hot plasma would go when she made the pull of her weapon’s trigger.

Upon receiving Hara's beacon on the scanner, Mizu opened a channel to Hara's Daisy. "Saruwatari-Hei, fall into formation. Maya…" she said openly as she opened a multi-channel to Maya's Mindy, letting her voice calm a bit. "…Maya, I want both of you to grab hold of my power armor. Once done, I will initiate teleportation a short distance from the coordinates of Kuriko's team." Mizu paused a moment to take another breath before continuing. "Doing so will conserve our use of molecular relocation, thus allowing the two of you a chance to use yours at least once. Also, welcome to the team Saruw- I mean, Hara," Mizu said with a more calmed tone. “Maya, I'm sorry for seemingly barking orders. I can tell in your voice that you dislike it. I'll never ask anything of you but this; come out of this alive and with all members of the team,” Mizu said telepathically to Maya, waiting a daunting and silent moment before finishing. Please. Alright team, lets do this!" Mizu decelerated to get just between both of her teammates, extending both arms to Maya and Hara to grab onto. As soon as they had a firm grip, she would initiate Morality's teleportation to the coordinates of Pride Wing team 01, although a few meters from them.

"Forget about it." Maya was beginning to feel a little bad but quickly shook it off since, in a few seconds, they would be in the thick of it. "Copy that, linking up!" Maya then stowed her LASR and grabbed Mizu's free hand and braced herself for the teleport that was to come. Here goes nothing...

Because of the weight restrictions of teleportation with one teleportation pod, Mizu, Maya, and Hara were transported over the weight limit. The strange things that happen when going over the safe limit of a piece of equipment were obvious now as all three successfully teleported, but were without their equipment. Handhelds, leg pods, back additions, the whole lot. The Mindies, of course, still had their forearm weapons, but they were pretty naked in their armor. They were, however, a whole twenty meters from the combat, only in the wrong direction. Pride Wing team 02 was a short distance from their deaths, as their AIES warned them of their proximity to the two Chiharu, though there was some luck in this. They were in the direct path of the shuttle Shin was assaulting.

Masako would keep with the formation, falling in with the others and sniping at LAMIA targets for the time being. "Looks like this isn't going well…" she muttered to herself and tried to strafe and evade incoming shots and retaliated with her own. At least her fire control was preventing any possible friendly fire incidents.

As for the Vermillion teams 04 and 05, they were in close range contact with the six oncoming LAMIA. The fourth team did their part and paused in their advance to missile barrage the lot of enemy armors, while team 05, quick to gain the attention of the buxom bouncing Neko, rushed into melee range with their forearm weapons blazing in pulse fire. Masako’s own sniper shots led to a downed target that could have very well been a leader, but it seemed they were all fighting at even mechanical efficiency.

Hara had seen how a teleportation could backfire: a former crewmate of his lost her arm due to a faulty jump. Now, Hara was thinking that the loss of an arm was no where near as bad as this. He had become a sitting duck. He looked to Maya and Mizu; at least they were still in one piece. "Kisaragi-heisho, what are your orders?!" Hara semi-shouted, obviously distressed at this turn of events.

The forceful chop wasn't a happy feeling for Rin, but once her arm was free so was she. The young woman successfully got on top of the blood red Neko and her brilliant move left an open attack on the pirate. Sakaki's attack was dodged, but only by using the force of the blasts along with what thrusters the Mindy pilot had left after the assault. She looked pretty banged up, and this of course left Hiroko`s well intended shots on harder targets, a little too precise to get a large target, and with the movement after the blasts all of Hiroko`s fire missed, but luckily because of her thoughtfulness it also missed allies. But those mini-missiles did meet their targets, after the attack on the Blood Red pirate, Rin was caught by a missile. Two slammed into Kiroko. Then the missiles that clustered over the leader were met by Kuriko's quick thinking which saved her. Then, with what was left of her thrusters the Blood Red Pirate made for the Vampire ship that had been sneaking its way over this whole time. The SOSDs the pirate was using as aids floated into the cluster of the Pride Wing soldiers and deployed visual sensor flares. They worked in a flash bang matter, SMX tech to those who could recognize it.

Shin's attacks on the shuttle were admirable, yes, but even after the relentless attacks, the shuttle was still moving. It was shieldless now, and its rear armor was heavily compromised. The shuttle, however, was gaining ground on Shin, short ranged weapons were still good, but now the only thing standing in its way were the underpowered Pride Wing team 02.

"Sir, Pride Wing team zero-one has heavily damaged the shuttle, but it's still moving and Pride Wing team zero-two is the only thing in the way. They seem to be missing their additional equipment; they're out there with the bare minimum!" Navi shouted out as she switched the main view to a magnified image of what was happening.

Then as the Pride Wing was blinded, there was a familiar feminine voice projected through all of their communications. "Well Cubs, it's good to see you’re all alive!" Then a series of blasts moved their armors to where the Blood Red Pirate was. It was Shizuka, the Shosa herself. Their sensor blinding was lifting, the AIES compensated for the flares and then they all saw it, Obsidian Wing, one team of five lead by a M2-2A with the field commander pack, painted with a red lion insignia on the helm and a red lion head on the shoulder pads. It had the older Mindy in a grapple and they were quickly descending.

“They will stop it,” Nicholas said with a cold confidence. “They were ordered to stop that shuttle, and they will complete their task.” As the Obsidian team arrived on the scene, his confidence was boosted. Whoever was leading that team would receive his commendation on behalf of the Shosa. “Let them know that their orders to capture the shuttle still stand. The Mindy that was carried within it is also a priority,” he said. Turning to his tactical display, the Geshrin Shoi saw what still faced them. “Deploy the remaining point defense pods. Helm: move the Senbu into weapons range with the enemy armors,” he ordered, hoping to expedite the cleanup and prevent further loss of the ship’s forces. “Once we’ve mopped up, have all teams currently engaged at the front deploy to stop the other Vampire if it is still out of weapons range with the two Chiharu.”

Kuriko breathed a sigh of relief when Shizuka showed up, but it didn't take the Neko long to do a double take. "E-Endo-Shosa!?!" Kuriko stammered over the radio before she caught sight of Rin floating without one arm again. "Hoshitomo-hei, teleport back to the Senbu and get treatment immediately," Kuriko tried to mask her fear for the Yamataian as she ordered her to leave the battlefield. "The rest of us need to stop that shuttle before it gets away," Kuriko said before launching herself toward the shuttle.

Shin turned to follow the shuttle, his plasma rifle firing a near constant stream of plasma. "You won't get away from me!" he yelled, trying to catch up with the damaged shuttle.

Hoshitomo-Hei heard the orders to withdraw over the comm from her Heisho and the arrival of Shizuka, but it seemed as in a daze. Her Mindy was spinning out of control a moment, as it lost the stability of one arm, the backwards force and damage from her own grenade blast and then finally a scorch mark from a stray missile in her back. It was all Rin could do to bite back her own searing pain and stabilize the armor’s freefall, while all of the armor's power was diverted to the hemosynth system to seal the wound and her breached shell. A small trickle of blood fell into her eyes as the helmet also scratched her forehead. She however, was still very much alive.

Hiroko shook her head. She needed to stop behaving so seasoned – that shot, she missed that shot. The captain of the ship had to bail them out! But... there was still one last problem to handle. Shunting herself off to the side after the missile attack, Hiroko raised the plasma rifle again. This time, she was going to finish what Shin had started. She aimed, waiting for that point where her rangefinder and the targeting prediction lined up for a perfected shot. Then... pull, and plasma was on its way to the engine block. At least they could succeed at the mission.

After the teleport, Maya realized that she now lost all her weapons except her forearm blasters! Well, this sucks! When Maya let go of Mizu she armed the blasters and prepared to contact the damaged shuttle. "On it!" Maya then opened a telepathic and subspace message on all frequencies. "Pirate Vessel! You are violation of piracy and hostilities against the Yamatai Star Empire! Lower your shields and power down your ships engine and weapon systems and prepare to be boarded! If you do not comply, you will be destroyed! SURRENDER OR DIE!!! Those are your options!"

Masako just kept her shots up, taking aim at the enemies' vital points like the head or abdominal areas then firing. "You're doing great boys! Keep it up!" she sent to the Vermillion members to keep their morale up. "Whoever scores the most kills gets a kiss," she purred to them all, letting rip with shot after shot when she got the chance to.

A fury of telepathic communications went back and forth between Shizuka and the Blood Pirate, but none of it was able to be heard, all of it encrypted. They were in a grapple of wills and strength, as the Red Lion with an upper hand forced her aether blade in though the very same arm she claimed off of Rin. Another fury of communications went on between the two and then... Shizuka tore into to her, literally. Her wings were clipped so the Pirate had nowhere to go and the furious animal bottled up inside Shizuka let loose on the pirate, which soon became scraps of a pirate. With the armor in separate pieces, it burned itself, inside out to make sure there was no evidence of her left.

Did the shuttle stop? Well it showed signs of it, but that was because a blast of plasma hit the already damaged portion of the ship that Shin had been working on. Then, in a blast that no one expected the rear of the ship blew itself off and the cargo containers held within floated out. The ship itself slowly came to a halt, right in front of the second Pride Wing team. You could swear it bumped off someone’s armor as it came to a complete stop. From what they could see, the insides were empty. No pilots, nothing other then the cargo. It seemed like everything was coming to an end, far back in the operation field the Senbu was coming into the battle and cleaning up the remnants of the combat, recovering their damaged personnel, and launching the Gold Wing teams that were able.

The Vampire vessel they had been chasing this whole time had taken quite a loss. They had seen their leader killed brutally, and without her there wasn't much they could do. The secondary in charge of the ship forced the crew to go make their exit. "Remember this, Senbu. We'll be out there, and we'll get our revenge... I'll make you pay for my sister's death," a young Neko's voice came over telepathic communications, full of held back fury and emotion. Then the Vampire joined the pair of Chiharu, who escorted the patrol craft in the opposite direction.

As the two Chiharu made their exit with the pirate ship that they’d been tracking since the beginning of the ordeal that began at Nataria, Nicholas was able to relax. Even though the Vampire had eluded their capture, the Senbu’s first real, threatening battle was over. “Well done, all of you,” the Shoi acknowledged as congratulations were passed around the large bridge chamber. “Recall all wings that are currently out except for Gold. Have them run a combat patrol until the Shosa, wherever she is, makes an overriding order.” He stood, moving closer to the black haired Yamataian female who’d directly updated him throughout the engagement. “You have the bridge, Shoi. Please have Obsidian zero-two make its landing with Pride Wing. I will be going down there to greet them,” he said before turning towards the turbolift to make his way down to the power armor bays.

"Yes, Shoi," the black haired Yamataian Shoi turned back to her console with a smile and sank in her chair. "Oh, Shoi, before you leave..." one of the Neko twins spoke up. "Permission to celebrate?" the other one asked with a sweetened toothy Neko smile.

“Permission denied. There will be plenty of time for that later,” Nicholas called as he stepped into the lift. “We still don’t know if the enemy lurks beyond our sensors’ range,” he said as the lift’s blast doors closed before him.

That's when the Pride Wing, as well as all the combat deployed wings, were ordered to return. The Gold Wing took up their duties and patrolled the ship, feeling sorry for their allies that they weren’t out there with them, but did their part no less. A few moments later, Nicholas arrived at the port side armor bay, and there was the beat up looking Pride Wing standing alongside the requested Obsidian 02 team, who all but the leader who was covered in scorch marks and blast residue, which hid that pilot’s insignias and markings. As for Masako and the boys of Vermillion 05, well... they were there, waiting for her to get out of her armor. One was even brave enough to ask her if she needed help out.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Thanks," Masako said as she removed the helmet, her obscenely long honey blonde hair spilling down her back and swishing around for a moment. "Phew," she said and looked at them all and sighed some and began to strip down and got out of her armor. But as she did, Masako would use her personal holographic ability to generate clothing or the appearance of it. "UGH! That's so much better,." she moaned, her large bust bouncing as they came free. "Nothing more to see here boys..." she said and went to change into the clothing she'd come onto the Senbu in. Once she was done, she'd head for the door to exit.

Masako paused for a moment and glanced at the wing. "Oh, and I did mean it, once it gets sorted out who got the most kills among us..." she said and winked to them all and stretched herself out, pulling her hair into a high ponytail.

The guys of Vermillion 05, who looked pretty bummed out over their situation, quickly turned towards their field commander, asking for that very number. He only answered with an eye roll and a promise to tell them later. But for the moment he was more worried about his combat report.

"Well, I suppose we'll find out later," Masako said and looked to the commander. "Am I free to go, sir, considering I'm only temporarily assigned to this wing and probably won't be in it again?" she asked politely and nitpicked a bit at the stretch bodysuit uniform and hmphed at it. "Or is there anything else that needs to be done?"

"You’re a crazy pilot, but you have potential, I think we'll be seeing a lot more of you, but I think you'll be sporting red and gold. You are free to leave," the superior officer told Masako as he went about doing up the top of his uniform. The rest of the bay was insane with activity, seeing how the Port Bay was reserved for the Pride Wing Squadron; the entire Starboard bay housed the rest of the ship’s armor and shuttles, which still left a lot of room, keeping into consideration just how large the vessel was.

"Actually... that was my first use of a Mindy. I'm a ground forces soldier by training," Masako said a bit and saluted him and turned on her heel and headed out of the bay. Once outside and a good distance away from the bay she leaned against the wall and sighed. "Ughhh that was too intense... I’m not used to that at all..." she complained to herself and just rested there for a moment. "What should I do now...? I know I should go greet the commander of the vessel or at least that XO but is that proper?" the blonde Neko wondered to herself for a moment as she pushed off the wall and began to meander a bit but would inevitably find her way to the port armor bay and just waited outside, trying to get her nerves under control.

In the Pride Wing’s bay, Shin exited his armor, moving to where he stored his clothes. Putting them on, he looked at his relatively unscathed Daisy. "At least we didn’t get blown to bits, Byakko."

Standing alongside her teammates, it was obvious who had taken the brunt of the battle with the mysterious Blood Red Pirate and her elite Mindy. Rin's power armor was entirely missing its left arm, with synthetic flesh sealing the lost appendage where an aether sword cut through it like butter. The once spotless blue machine was now covered both front and back in scorch marks and blast residues. But despite these damages, the pilot managed to remain at a prideful attention, at least until the suit opened up. At that point, a heavily wounded, teal haired Rin stumbled out of the suit.

Kuriko rushed over to Rin while telepathically querying MEGAMI for help. "MEGAMI get a medical unit down here ASAP. We've got someone missing an arm," Kuriko ordered the ship's computer as she tried to help Rin to the ground. "Are you okay Hoshitomo-hei?" Kuriko's voice cracked with worry as she spoke.

At this point a young black haired Santô Hei up on the medical deck was alerted to the situation in the Port Side Armor bay. Fuse Mai was given her first real job outside of the deck itself, and updated on the situation.

Shin strode over to Rin, saluting her, not bowing. "Hoshitomo-hei. I apologize for your injuries. I should've been the one to take the brunt of her attacks. I am a dishonorable man for running from combat like that."

Hoshitomo shook the HUD helmet off her slightly-red colored head then spoke with a pained dignity to her commander. "Forgive me, Heisho... I… couldn't keep the promise about the armor."

If Kuriko weren't in her armor at that time, Rin would have been able to see the hurt across Kuriko's face. "It's okay, just don't do it again," Kuriko said softly as she tried to support the Yamataian. "We'll have a medical team here in no time; they'll take care of this." Kuriko felt like she might have been comforting herself more than Rin at this point.

Rin steadied herself with Kuriko's help and focused on recovery. Though she was still getting used to it, the Yamataian body's healing powers certainly were much better than her old Geshrin form. If not for the hemosynthesis, the condition might have been much more serious an affair. Though she was definitely in pain, the young soldier was taking the whole ordeal remarkably well, and was obviously trying not to look weak in front of her team members.

"Nekki-hei, you fought well. No regrets," murmured Rin to the Daisy pilot.

Shin snerked. "I didn’t fight good enough to protect my teammates."

Maya returned to the hangar and docked before gleefully getting out of her armor and getting her clothes back on. "HA! HA! YEAH! NOW THAT’S WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT! Did you see how those ships were just BLOWN AWAY!!!" Maya then made a gesture with arms of something exploding. "That’s what we should be doing to anyone who defies us!" Maya was still reeling from the adrenaline rush the battle gave her.

Nicholas approached Pride Wing as they stood there with Obsidian team two, both units still in their full armor. As he stepped up to the two units, a few of the members of Pride Wing over Rin’s damaged form, Mai Fuse-hei arrived on the scene to take care of the injured pilot. “The First Officer has arrived,” announced MEGAMI in her soothing electronic voice as Nicholas came within close proximity of the pilots.

A small team of other Neko from the medical deck grabbed a small gravimetric sled that was used as a stretcher and ran for the emergency lifts that linked the decks together for this purpose. Mai knew that the patient was missing an arm and was a Yamataian; this meant that blood loss would be higher due to the lower hemosynthetic abilities of the Yamataian. Less than a minute later the team burst onto the deck at a gallop, arriving just after Mai. As they approached where the patient was supposed to be, Mai broke off from the group suddenly. She had never seen a limb severed like this and was trying not to have dry heaves where she stood. "Swallow it; we've got to move Hei," one of the other medics told her. Seconds later the medics arrived in front of Rin. "Ma'am we need you to lay down now," Mai said as she moved to grab Rin's feet while another medic grabbed her shoulders to lift her onto the sled.

It seemed about that time that her pride gave out a bit and Rin allowed herself to be set down on the medical team's transport without further arguments. There was no need to make a scene worse than it already was.

"Wait. My commanding officer got hit with a missile. You might need to look at her." Shin said to the medics as he motioned to Kuriko.

"Go ahead, it got crazy but I'm fine. Get her down there as fast as you can," Kuriko said to the medical team.

Rin was quickly strapped down to the sled so that she couldn't hurt herself, nor could she accidentally fall out of the sled. The team sprinted back across the armor bay, as they ran Mai spoke to Rin telepathically. "Sorry... you must be in a lot of pain right now. Can you tell me where it hurts?" Mai asked. Simple question, obvious answer, but there could be other complications that the team couldn't necessarily from the outside.

Rin looked like a part of her wanted to put up more of a struggle as they tightened the strap and indeed the pain was enough to make her start to squirm as her adrenaline levels were coming down. She replied in a broken telepathy to the medic. “Isn't... it obvious? Do what it is... that you do best.”

Masako blinked, seeing the medevac team sweeping out of the bay and hurrying to the lift. "Ouch, that looked like it hurt," she muttered, watching them hustle then disappear into the elevator. Her fingers fondling a small golden locket she was wearing around her neck, having put it back on after dressing again. "Must be one hardcore wing in there."

In seconds the medical team reached the elevator and was jetting down to the medbay. As the descended, Mai offered her hand to the Yamataian before her in case she needed something to squeeze. Once out of the elevator, though, the doctors’ silence was broken by loud noises. "We need a tank set up stat, she's gonna need full immersion," a male doctor could be heard. "I don't know if she wants – ask her while I set it up!" the voice said as it moved away. "Sumimasen... I know this hurts... but do you want sedatives or anesthesia while you're in the hemosynthetic tank?" Mai asked Rin telepathically, feeling horrible for asking this question. If it were up to her, the woman would have received sedatives long ago, but she didn't dictate protocol.

As soon as Hoshitomo-Hei was definitely out of earshot and sight of the Pride Wing, she allowed herself to finally let out one very long suppressed yell of pain and squeezed the hand offered like a metal vice. There was no longer any reason to keep up the charade and her brave face, that much became obvious to the medical attendants. “Permission granted!” came a telepathic response, assaulting Mai's mind like a torrent over and over, the request echoing.

Mai's hand was in pain after being gripped so tightly, With her other free hand, Mai took a syringe from another nearby doctor and stabbed it into Rin. The drug was a strong sedative that would put Rin to sleep in no time. "Just relax, Santô Hei. The pain will be gone soon." Mai said telepathically as she stared gently into the Hei's eyes, fighting her own inner desires to scream in pain at the pain that Rin's vice grip-like hands had been causing.

Rin’s blue eyes, which were a flood of emotions, slowly started to ebb away as the drug entered the bloodstream, and the lids grew heavy. The hand gripping the medic's in a white-knuckled grasp lost its fearful power and her head hit the surface of the gurney with a dull thump. It seemed, at last, the battle was now really over for the wounded Santô Hei.

Shin looked over his Byakko. Talking to himself, he sighed. "Hey, maybe we did horrible. Maybe we can get reassigned to a ground position?" He smiled, giving thumbs up to his armor

All the pilots of the Obsidian 02 team fell into a line formation and stood at attention as Nicholas approached. They all stood with their heads bowed, in salute to the superior officer, including the team’s valiant leader.

Maya stood at attention when she saw XO enter the hanger and stood at attention, trying not to screw up in front of another one of the senior staff and waited to see if he would address her.

Nicholas stood for a few long moments, waiting for everybody present to acknowledge his presence. He was able to excuse those involved with the medical treatment of Rin, and did his best to ignore those who didn’t find proper military protocol a prudent exercise, allowing them to continue working on whatever they were doing as he spoke. “On behalf of Endo-shosa, the service of those assembled here is especially appreciated, above and beyond that of what normal soldiers provide. To Pride Wing: hopefully, the evidence recovered from the shuttle will assist us in rooting out the cursed enemies of the Empire that we have faced over these past few days. Thank you for performing in the capacity that the Shosa knew you were capable of,” the Geshrin said. “And to Obsidian team two, your extraordinary actions prove you to be amongst the warriors in the Star Army today.” He nodded to the pilot who he assumed was their leader, the woman in the battle-scarred armor, before continuing, “Your leadership in the field is like none that I have ever seen, and I have served with many prestigious units. Thank you.”

The leader stepped forward and bowed her head sharply, making it seem as if she was greatly honored. Then as she rose, so did her hand. She had quickly slapped the Geshrin across the face, enough to leave a red mark but not enough to damage him. Then, the visor stared long and hard at him, waiting for him to open his mouth. Then, just as he'd be riled up to do his normal speech, the pilot tossed off her helmet and kissed the Shoi, rather deeply at that. That's when it was obvious to everyone, with the helmet cast aside the Lion's mane fluffed out. She brought a hand up to his face and pulled him in at the waist, not letting go of him for a good while. It seemed she was fired up, and adrenaline still pumped in her battle ready veins. She eventually did pull away, but not until he had to gasp for air. Then while she let him go, she turned to the crowd in the bay and pointed at the personnel about. "This is classified and top-secret! No one talks, got it!?" she said with that glare that you could almost assume was on her face when she was looking at the Blood Red Mindy.

The initial rage and shock from what Shizuka had done didn’t subdue as other emotions rose up in the Geshrin Shoi, combining to flood his senses for those moments. After she released him, he stood there for a moment at a total loss for words. “Yes, Shosa. Thank you, Shosa,” he said after a length, bowing deeply. His Shosa’s aggressive actions and demeanor didn’t bother him, just the opposite, he liked them. Her strength of spirit left him intoxicated and dumbfounded. Yes, Nicholas was angry that Shizuka had abandoned him without warning to go out and fight the enemy head-on, and even more enraged that she’d made such a public display with him – something that was strictly taboo within his family’s social norms – he wasn’t able to direct his frustrations towards her. “Perhaps we should ah… retire to review the engagement, Shosa,” he finally said with coldly eager voice, his words only partly sincere to their intent.

With a big, toothy lioness grin, she agreed with a nod and walked out of the bay in her armor. She was the Shosa after all, she could take the equipment where ever she wanted. Besides, she decided it'd be better to strip if off in her room where she could take advantage of her private time with Nicholas and her private shower. She was still pumping with a battle high, and well... Nicholas was the only one on the ship she could express her true feelings to, whatever they may be.

Seeing as how it seemed that she was no longer needed, Maya decided to leave the carnage of the bay and return to her quarters to start writing her report on the battle and submitted it to the CO for review in a future debriefing no doubt.

Kuriko was overwhelmed at this point as everything finally sunk in. Up until that point Kuriko had almost just been reflexively reacting. Once it was clear that she was allowed to leave, Kuriko headed over to the armor racks and loaded Sigmund back onto his rack. "Nekki-hei, you're dismissed for now," Kuriko said to the Hei, unsure of what else to say to him. "MEGAMI, keep me updated on the status of Hoshitomo-hei please," Kuriko asked silently as she slid out of Sigmund and began to towel herself off before dressing. All of the Neko’s movements were stiff and lethargic, she felt out of synch and the combat had drained her in a myriad of ways.

Shin looked over at Kuriko. "K – Ku- No – Commander. I think you should go get some rest. I’ll handle writing the report for you. Right now, you just need some rest," Shin bowed to her, smiling.

A half-dressed Kuriko turned to face Shin. "It's alright Nekki-hei," Kuriko said as she slid the blue panels over her flat bust. "I should fill out the paperwork myself; I need to learn to do it anyway." Kuriko slid the darker part of the bodysuit up from the ground and placed her arms through the arm holes before speaking again. "Could I get with you sometime, Nekki-hei?" Kuriko asked Shin.

Shin smiled to Kuriko. "If it's an order, yes. If it's not, then still yes." He smiled, petting her before walking out to leave the hangar.

Kuriko wasn't quite sure how to take being petted, but regardless, the Heisho decided it was time for her to go get some work done or sleep. Unable to decide between the two Kuriko started toward her room, though she paused to watch Shizuka and Nicholas for a little bit, before continuing on her trek back to her room.

I wonder what's going on in there... Masako thought and would try to open the door to at least just look in. "Senbu... what's going on in the port armor bay?" she asked the AI curiously.

"That is classified information," the MEGAMI responded telepathically to Masako as the AI took the order more seriously than the people in the bay.

"Oh, well... I suppose I'll just go and get something to eat until my presence is requested somewhere...could you guide me to the wardroom please?" Masako telepathically asked the AI politely enough, her stomach grumbling a bit.

"Deck five is the main enlisted mess facilities," the Senbu's MEGAMI responded silently as it offered Masako many options of directions, but offering her an internal volumetric map to lead the way.

Masako thought for a moment and just went with the volumetric map display. "Thank you, Senbu," she said and headed on out to go enjoy a little something to eat.




END
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
RPG-D RPGfix
Back
Top