RP: YSS Heartbreaker [Mission 1] Promises Better Left Unsaid

[Reynolds]

8/37 - Juggler System - Heartbreaker Bridge - 0800 hours

The YSS Heartbreaker had exited Hyperdrive roughly three hours earlier, just before most of the crew had woken up to begin their day. Resetting instruments to local 'real' time and scanning the immediate area for threats had occupied the night shift's attention, and some of the others had been involved as well. It surprised none of them by this point that Tsukisaki had been on the Bridge, wide awake, when this leg of their journey ended. Now they had all been summoned to the Wardroom for breakfast and a briefing.

There had already been a bit of chatter about the system Ochiko had led them to. There was at least one habitable planet, with a large jungle, was the rumor. Kiwi had been spreading the word as she handed out breakfast. Today it was pancakes and bacon, although it didn't seem likely to be pork. Anything was better than the steady stream of oatmeal and rice they'd been suffering through every day for almost two weeks now, during the jump. Apparently the Captain was allowing them to celebrate just a little. The Cook swore she'd heard Usagi mentioning something about the jungle and a distress beacon when she brought her coffee (the other Neko was stuck manning the Bridge while Rin and the Captain were away, of course).

After returning a few crew members to the Seisenkyo on their way back to known space, the soldiers that remained had become closer over the past weeks. They were the ones that could handle not only their jobs, their duties, but the mission itself. The isolation. The Captain had yet to appear, as the others gathered in the Wardroom, returning to favored spots and mingling with now familiar faces.

 

[Semjax]

Wardroom

Yumi wandered into the ward room, keeping a straight face, though inwardly gladdened by the idea that soon they would be back to the grind. While downtime was good, it always made her nervous to sit around and do nothing, even when she was not part of the SAoY. She took her place near the front of the wardroom where she normally sat, and leaned back propping her feet up and closing her eyes. She simply listened for the most part unless approached, her ears twitching ever so slightly as she ran her fingers through her now tiny bit longer hair then before. She muttered lightly underneath her breath: “Just another day on the heartbreaker…” Then slowly grinned.

 

[paladinrpg]

Wardroom

Hoshitomo Rin was seated in her usual place at the table, and, despite the meal being a bit more interesting than the usual fare served aboard for the long journey, the chronic workaholic still managed to have her Datapad in her hand scrolling through menus as she finished up what passed for bacon today and followed it with a strong coffee, with a nod of thanks to Kiwi. The teal-haired XO was finishing up a report on the results of their recent drills she had been conducting to keep the skeleton crew sharp and prepared for action, noting where the discrepancies still were. The crew would note conspicuously that Hoshitomo-shoi was not all about management though, as she put on her working uniform and got dirty just as much as the rest of them, assisting Heisho Sunny Linn's engineering team with repairs and maintenance taskings. She knew every inch of the Yui-7 retrofit, after all, and this knowledge came in very handy when several small, nagging issues kept coming up during the trip. Hopefully they had seen the last of such things now.

Overall the results of these two weeks of training and preparing were encouraging, however, and the Minkan was satisfied that operations today would go smoothly. It was a big day, after all, as they had finally arrived at UX-HB-1, and notion of the unexplored jungle planet beckoned to them all like a tropical atoll in the open sea...

 

[FrostJaeger]

YSS Heartbreaker, Wardroom

The only indication of Inukai Sayoko's admittance into the room was the faint swish of the doors; besides that, the SAINT operative was soundless as saluted the two superiors already present, took a seat at the far end of the table (away from the aforementioned higher-ups), and proceeded to engage herself in performing some trivial task on her bracelet.

Over the past two weeks, the scarlet-haired Neko had for the most part kept to herself, frequenting exactly two locations on the ship: her quarters and the Armory, the latter in which she could have been found practicing her combat skills, both ranged and melee. The only real oddity in her behavior had been at breakfast earlier, during which Sayoko - normally one to eat every last scrap of food provided to her (for wasting any of the Star Army's valuable resources was in her opinion a dreadful sin) - had politely refused to be served any bacon.

 

[Moogle]

Miho supped on tiny flecks of pancake aided with narrow crumbles of bacon as a side next to Rin. Needless to say, it was as dainty-looking as Miho herself. She had spent the time up until now properly locating and cataloging the few snapshots of personnel tags and matching them to soldier entries. Now that the task was done, Miho felt pride in knowing that she helped bring closure to. . . somebody. out there. Otherwise, she brushed up on her Sylph skills in simulators, just for the sake of continuing to be useful on the field.

 

[paladinrpg]

Hoshitomo-shoi looked up from her datapad and placed it on the table as she then took a long sip of her still steaming mug, awaiting the Captain to make her presence known. The teal-haired officer also shot a brief glance towards the other side of the wardroom as Inukai-hei chose to forgo the bacon from her meal. This red-haired Neko in particular had held Rin's attention for a large portion of the trip, performing her duties with a zeal that was rarely seen in this day and age. It was somewhat ironic, too, as it seemed that the XO was staring into a mirror at her younger self when she first enlisted in the SAoY. She spoke nothing across the table, though, but the SAINT operative was probably well aware of this and the many times that the Minkan had shot her silent yet knowing glances before.

Rin then shifted a bit aside to the mini-Neko that was nibbling away at her breakfast, to pose an honest question. "Nakamaru-hei, I must say you were very thorough with the database of the Uesu survivors you compiled. Do you think it is worthwhile to continue to do so, as we encounter more?"

 

[Moogle]

Miho took a tiny napkin and dabbed her lips with it. Wait, was that a gauze cutout?

"Well, our objective is to eventually find out what happened to the old emperor. Cataloguing everything that we can put a serial number or name to will aid us in that objective by helping to paint a picture of that progression. Also, it helps lay certain stories to rest. In essence, it's a win-win situation for all involved."

 

[Reynolds]

Wardroom

Disappointingly, Miho had found more serial numbers than names. Almost every identifying mark taken from the base or the debris floating through the Vagabond system had corresponded to a nameless Sprite. That fact might have been unsettling for several of the younger Neko on board the Heartbreaker. The few fully independent Neko that had been confirmed on the site thanks to ID signals from PA wreckage or uniform tags all shared the same 'family' name: Uesu. All of one batch, it seemed, and the creator was obvious.

The Cook was trying not to be too obvious as she stole glances at the Mini from across the room, giggling even as she collected syrupy plates from those who were finished. Kiwi seemed to find the tiny soldier distractingly precious, a situation that Miho was likely uncomfortably familiar with. Even though most of the crew were finishing up, Pecan just now rushed inside, hurrying to fasten her uniform jacket properly. Her sister appeared nearby to try assisting, but the Cargomaster slapped her messy, syrup-covered fingers away before she could make things any worse.

Cosima, sitting next to Yumi, sighed at her comment. "Tell me about it..." The Captain had yet to appear, although Ochiko pinged Rin with an update. A little window that looked like traditional calligraphy paper butted into the middle of her datapad, a message appearing in brushed strokes to let the First Officer know she should monitor the crew's current mood and prepare them for the Captain's eventual appearance.

 

[Semjax]

Wardroom

During their transition, Yumi had gotten to know a few of the crew members, Cosima was one of them. Beyond the fact they were both Warrant Officers, she was also Medical someone that Yumi could rely on. “I wonder what the captain is up to.” She stated, looking towards Cosima. “Usually she’s here before the rest of us, on point…” She shrugged her shoulders a bit and sighed as she closed her eyes drumming her fingers across her own thigh.

 

[paladinrpg]

Wardroom

Rin acknowledged the little message on her datapad from Ochiko, the traditional brushed strokes catching her eye immediately. The MEGAMI had done this several times before, likely knowing that it would always trigger memories of her mother's fine Yamataigo calligraphy in the First Officer and thusly command her attention. It seemed the Taii was indeed taking her time today, and the Minkan typed silently back through the interface so others would not hear or see: Ochiko, location of the Taii, please?

While she awaited the response to have a good explanation ready for the crew getting restless, Hoshitomo-shoi considered Miho's justifications against the data she had a chance to inspect. "If what we've seen at 'Vagabond' is any indication, I am not sure how many loose ends may exist. The majority of Nekovalkyrja were very uniform creations of either their warships or Uesu's master batch likely mass-cloned for the express purpose of the Emperor's aggressive exile. This was the way of things back then. That is not to say there isn't a larger story to discover, but that it reads more like an exercise in faceless statistics so far." She frowned slightly at this, knowing well her upbringing to treat Neko as being largely disposable soldiers of the Empire. Yet the laws changed since then, and there was now that command that such lives were valuable, even if they had little more than an equipment serial number to identify them.

Then Pecan came running in, all disheveled. But this wasn't a surprise. If it wasn't for the Captain's conspicuous tardiness today, she would usually be the last one to the briefing room and Rin would admonish her for her lateness. The Star Army needs to run like a well-tuned machine, with its personnel as well as its equipment. However, this time it seems all that Hoshitomo-shoi could take a swipe at was her jacket not being entirely fastened when she arrived at the wardroom. "Pecan-hei, I'm glad you finally joined us. But, proper wear of the Type 35 uniform is also just as important," the XO spoke as she handed her finished plate to Kiwi-hei with a nod for her attempt to at least help her sister.

In a corner, a dainty Neko with long pink hair was yawning at the wardroom table. This was Itto hei Kayoko Shii, an experienced Neko pilot the ship had taken on to replace the Nepleslian Skirnir Josva when his performance in the Teisatsu was deemed underwhelming by the Captain. Rin was a little disappointed too, after having given him the benefit of the doubt. Needless to say, though, the new addition was a good fit and although quiet, seemed to make friends easily and knew her job well. Her ability as a vehicle technician made her all the more valuable, too.

 

[Moogle]

Miho, true to her professional nature, ignored Kiwi's stolen glances and giggles. Though, she still was a bit disgruntled by it. She simply nodded at Rin's mention of faceless statistics.

"Information is value. Knowledge is power. I don't expect you to compile the meaning of the the data - that's why I'm here. To do that for you. The more information we have, the better off we are in the long run. That is all there really is to say on the matter."

 

[Reynolds]

Wardroom

Cosima began chewing at her lower lip, one hand stroking the tip of the braid draped over her shoulder. "Maybe she has really bad news for us..." After running off her sticky-fingered sister, Pecan flushed as the First Officer once again commented on the state of her uniform. Once everything was settled she jerked several quick bows towards Rin. "S-sorry, I was getting ready for our arrival...a-and then a box fell over...and my shoe got stuck on..." Her voice got progressively quieter as she spoke, until she just trailed off, poking the tips of her pointer fingers together several times before starting to move again, hurrying to a seat. With most of the other plates and tables cleaned off, Kiwi soon joined her with a fresh plate full of pancakes, comforting the disheveled Neko.

Rin's datapad pinged a location on a small map of the ship, the layout more than familiar to the Shoi by now. The Captained appeared to be in her quarters, likely preparing for the briefing. Poor Usagi had been left on the Bridge all alone, after all. After being pressed for more information, Ochiko helpfully provided an estimated time of arrival for the Taii, giving the others a few more minutes to converse before she made her entrance.

 

[paladinrpg]

Wardroom

The teal-haired Minkan accepted Pecan-hei's apology about her uniform without further ado, the squirming of the junior crewman enough to show that the guilt instilled was sufficient enough. That one was always disorganized in general, yet somehow managed to keep up when it came down to brass tacks, thought Rin to herself, so the small slip ups in decorum were an acceptable downside to an otherwise satisfactory job performance (though perhaps on a bigger ship the logistics load would not be as forgiving).

The First officer returned to a neutral expression after Miho spoke, sipping her coffee once more. Thankfully, unlike the Cook, her glances at Nakamaru-hei were professional and not stares to revel at her cute, diminutive form. "This is true. Be that as it may, you are doing a good job of it. There will no doubt be another piece of the puzzle before us today to keep you on your toes."

The idea of having a mini-Neko assistant to handle such organizational tasks was one she did not even fathom before, but after the long trip together Rin definitely had reevaluated her initial views on their worth. She also spent a short time looking up their history back during the Draconian Wars, wondering why her father the retired admiral Hoshitomo Yoshi never really mentioned their use in his tales of Uesu's Grand Star Army told to her when she was a girl. Perhaps he had a bad experience with the kawaii exterior of the living weapons during the Draconian War era, contributing to his eventual distrust of Nekovalkyrja in general he invariably passed along to his daughter...

Seeing the update from Ochiko, she wordlessly thanked the MEGAMI and turned to the rest of the crew, hearing Cosima and Yumi's murmurings from across the table. "Ochiko has informed me the Captain will be joining us momentarily. I am sure Tsukisaki-taii has her reasons for taking her time to prepare our briefing; she would never do anything unnecessarily," replied Hoshitomo-shoi, musing about their leader's well-known disposition to never waste a moment that could be used for practical matters, a quality that at least her and Rin shared.

 

[Semjax]

Wardroom

Yumi looked at Cosima for a moment, and seemed to mull over that thought. "...Perhaps, I didn't think the captain was one to be nervous about bad news." She leaned her head back, her short black hair shifting across her shoulders, as her red skin was more apparent in that pose. "...Well at least I remembered my back up a few days ago, so if we're gonna die, at least I have that." She sighed dejectedly and looked at Cosima, then laughed. "But we're probably not gonna die, so there's always that!" She almost forgot that some people couldn't handle strenuous circumstances like her, so she attempted to base what she said as humor.

 

[Acewing13]

Hallway

Dang it, Skade! the Nekovalkyrja thought as she hurried to the wardroom, self-consciously tugging at her uniform. You go get all distracted messing around working in the bowels of Engineering while listening to Aethersperm and you forget about the breakfast/briefing with the Captain and the rest crew?!? Ahh! They’re going to have your tail for this! She groaned, absent-mindedly stroking the aforementioned appendage.

Before long, she stood before the doors to the wardroom. Doing a last second check of her hair and uniform, she took a deep breath, let it out slowly and walked deliberately into the wardroom.

Wardroom

As expected, the entire room turned to look at her when Skade walked into the room. She was used to the attention. Being born with blue skin covered with nearly black polka dots and pure white hair had made her a head turner to begin with. That had only gotten worse after she had her tail grown. Of course, she usually enjoyed the attention. But today, she wished she didn’t stand out as much as she did.

Wait…where is the Captain? She couldn’t believe her eyes. The seat next to the teal-haired XO that was the Captain’s seat was empty. I’m not late! All the built up tension in her body was released instantly and she breathed easy again. Then she noticed the XO was looking at her funny, raising an eyebrow. Ahh!! Sit down, Skade! Sit down! The Nekovalkyrja quickly looked around, found an empty seat, and scrambled towards it. She nearly tripped as she made her way to her seat, but eventually she made it, lowering herself with all the decorum of a Nepleslian Private.

Well, Skade… she thought, gathering herself and trying to make herself look dignified again, that could have been worse. Right?

 

[Reynolds]

Wardroom

Cosima turned a bit more pale than usual as Yumi spoke so cavalierly about their possible deaths, swallowing loudly. "Y-yes, everyone has reported for their scheduled backups, per the Captain's orders..." The Medic picked only the most hopeful part of that conversation to respond to, obviously trying to keep her cool. Skade's late arrival was a helpful distraction from her worries as she turned to watch the Neko scamper in, most of the other crew members twisting to do the same.

"What happened sugar, get your tail caught in a hatch again? Or was it some wirin' this time?" Sunny leaned towards the junior Engineer, face beaming with a playful smile as bright as her hair. "You should thank your lucky stars there's no rockin' chairs on this ship." She snorted out a laugh as she slapped Skade on the back in a friendly yet rather forceful manner. Thankfully her giggles died down before the Wardroom door opened again. Although Pecan had rushed to clean her plate, it didn't look like Masahiga would get breakfast today.

The Captain walked with purpose as she entered the room, Ochiko's warning giving Rin just enough time to prepare to rise and announce her arrival. Tsukisaki nodded to her First Officer and the rest of the crew as she approached her traditional spot at the head of the table. "As you were." She gestured towards the scattered chairs before moving her hand over the table, images beginning to project into the air above it. A system with two stars, one larger and brighter than the other, and two planets. One all lush blues and greens, and the other further away, cold and brown.

"As I'm sure you are all well aware, we have exited Hyperspace in the Juggler system, formally registered as UX-HB-1. The Heartbreaker is currently settling into orbit around this planet, Owan to Tama." A nametag appeared next to the blue and green orb, a red blip plotting their course towards it. It seemed strange that the Captain had come to this meeting with a name already chosen for the planet, as she didn't seem the type to bother with something like that. In fact, she'd announced the names of both systems before they'd even left the Vagabond base behind. Strange.

"Scans have shown this planet to be not only capable of supporting life, but currently host to a thriving ecosystem. The surface appears to be almost entirely covered in dense, canopy-style vegetation. Thick enough for scans to be difficult..." She paused for a moment, likely waiting for further information now that the red blip had reached the glowing orb. "...even at this range." She tilted her head, frown deepening as the internal conversation continued. "...however, several structures featuring prominent right angles have been detected, along with other signs of possible sentient life noticeable even from orbit." There was another pause, as Valesti locked eyes with her First Officer. "...a distress signal has also been detected. Standard Star Army of Yamatai protocols, broadcast and frequency approximately five years old."

A black dot appeared above the green surface of the planet, beeping in time with the red dot moving slowly closer to it. "There appears to be a break in the vegetation near the signal's point of origin. We are currently en route, although the clearing is far too small to accommodate landing the Heartbreaker itself. Ittou, prepare the Kourui to transport your Away Team to the planet's surface." With that she stood up straight and swept her gaze across the room, returning her eyes to Rin once more, pausing for any questions or concerns to be voiced.

 

[Semjax]

Wardroom

Yumi's attention was taken from her thoughts, and attempt at cheering Cosima up, to twist and take a look towards Skade who stumbled in. She couldn't help but grin a bit at the engineer, she turned back towards the front before speaking; "Eh, Who cares about the future at the moment, we shouldn't worry about the future we should worry about the now, and enjoy it." She stated with more confidence to Cosima. She had just finished saying that when the door opened a second time, this time with the captain strutting in with purpose. As the first officer roused to call out the arrival of the captain, her feet hit the ground and she stood up quickly, and within one movement turned and saluted the captain until she stated to return to how they were, she plopped back down onto the chair, feet up on the table.

Now that the captain was there, and the briefing had begun Yumi's smile fades and what remains is a strong neutral face, showing that she had entered her focused mode. She listened to the captain, and the briefing quietly until the very end where she gently stroked her chin. Her dull eyes looking over all of the information, before she slowly raised her hand towards the captain. "I couldn't help, captain, but notice that you named both the system and the planet... I can't really say that I'm not surprised, is there any particular reason as to why this has been named already?" She paused for just a second; "And secondly, is there any information on what we might be expecting in terms of resistance at this time? Considering the thriving ecosystem, I would suspect that there will be unknown territorial animals..." She questioned, she felt it better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Acewing13]

Wardroom

Skade grunted when her boss hit her back. I hate it when she does that. She gave the Minkan the most poisonous glare she could muster, but couldn’t keep a straight face and joined in the giggling. I’m never going to live that down, am I? She was going to explain what she had been up to, but she quieted when the Captain walked in, glad she had made it to the wardroom before punishment would have been required.

When the Captain mentioned the distress beacon, Skade's fingers rapped the table in anxiety. I really hope I’m not left behind like I was during the last mission. If there was a Star Army ship down there that could send out a distress call, then it would need an Engineer to get it up and running again. Though jungle beasts don’t sound very good… The Nekovalkyrjashrugged at the thought. Nothing a good volley of laser fire can’t fix.

Otherwise, she decided to stay silent until the Captain gave more information about the situation.

 

[FrostJaeger]

YSS Heartbreaker, Wardroom

Sayoko's expression, for a moment, was that of pure shock as she caught sight of a Nekovalkyja whose....unique coloration made Katsumi's look positively standard in comparison. Polka-dots and a tail? That's...not something one would typically expect in a Type 33 Nekovalkyja created by the Star Army. As she began drafting a report to her superiors about the occurrence - sighing at the less-then-professional antics of her fellow crewmates in the background - the SAINT Neko's work on the aforementioned report came to an abrupt interrupted by the arrival of the Taii.

After resuming her seat, however, all thoughts of her crewmate's unusual appearance were pushed to the wayside as Tsukisaki-Taii began the briefing in earnest. As she took note of both the system the Heartbreaker was in and the planet it was approaching, a faint smile graced Sayoko's expression as she recalled memories of her time in the Xiulurian Rainforest Training Reserve - though said smile quickly vanished, for two anomalies had occurred to the SAINT operative as she pondered the cause for the beacon's activation.

Although Matonaka-Heisho had voiced the first - namely, why the supposedly-unexplored system and planet had already been named - the second (and far more important) of the two discrepancies hadn't.

According to the highly-classified SAINT dossier that Sayoko had memorized prior to embarkation, Uesu's fleet had (in theory) passed through the system seven years ago in YE 30 - meaning that the five-year-old beacon shouldn't have been there.

Despite this rather critical revelation, however, the Santô Hei had no intention of informing the Taii, for her handler in Intelligence (her true "commanding officer," regardless of whatever the rest of the Star Army believed) had been crystal-clear in her orders that Sayoko was forbidden from disclosing the dossier's contents to anyone, no matter what the situation - and if there was one thing that the young Neko could do, it was following orders.

Even if those orders led herself and her crewmates into an ambush...

 

[paladinrpg]

Wardroom

Hoshitomo-shoi was indeed raising an eyebrow as the new Santo Hei in engineering walked into the room casually. For a Nekovalkyrja like her, there was simply no way of avoiding being noticed. She was indeed very fortunate that the Captain was not here yet, or else she would have gotten even more attention of a very unfavorable kind from both of the officers in charge of the ship.

For now the knowing look was all that Skade received, as the Taii soon entered the room and her First Officer snapped up and called the room to attention, before sitting back down into her seat as the briefing formally began. Rin was leaning forward, elbows on the table and chin resting on her hands as the volumetric images flickered into existence before her. Her blue eyes reflected the artificial light as they were drawn to the fact that Tsukisaki had apparently already given the system a designation and a proper name. This was highly unusual, but not altogether improbable -- there was indeed the real possibility that the MEGAMI Ochiko herself had provided such information to the leader of this mission ahead of time. If true, it only stoked the Minkan's suspicions about the AI's evasive behaviors considered as 'eccentricities' being something more akin to a higher, guarded subroutine in place than what the current Star Army put in for operational purposes. Could part of Ochiko still be programmed for an aborted secret communication mission? If so, she would keep quiet about many Uesu things unless certain conditions (or people, or triggers, etc) are met... and could Tsukisaki know some of these things that her XO did not?

These theories definitely warranted further investigation, however, now was not the time nor the place to pursue them. The lush jungle world spun around as the red dot orbited it, a dance that beckoned to the First Officer eager to find answers beneath its dense foliage, even as her wisdom told her to be cautious as some things were not entirely sitting well with her. And from the responses of Rin's crew mates, it was not just her. Eventually she voiced these concerns: "Senchou, I also must express some concern that a name was selected for this planet so swiftly. Is this in fact pulled from Ochiko's database? It is a... fitting, albeit curious name... a reference to an old Yamataian slight-of-hand trick and dance routine, isn't it?" Using the moniker of the 'Turning of the Bowls', as it was known, seemed to imply that something about this mission was definitely not as it seemed, and the MEGAMI may be trying to send that message somehow encoded in her unusual fashion to them.

Then the stern Neko's eyes locked with Rin's icy blue ones as she divulged the additional details about a distress signal being detected. She gave a thin smile for a moment in return. "So, there is our silk ball," commented Rin as she completed the metaphorical objective of the game and silently wondered if Ochiko also was listening, "There is a good chance it is a survivor of the Fleet. Considering the abundance of plant and animal life indicated, one could sustain themselves here for years with little effort. However, there is always the distinct possibility it is a lame duck ploy by the Mishhu instead, as is their standard tactics often involved mimicking older distress beacons from Uesu's ships in the Second war." She had direct experience with the latter scenario when leading her Mindy attack squad years ago, walking into at least one NMX ambush that inflicted great losses.

Hoshitomo-shoi paused a moment and put her hands down firmly on the tabletop, picking up on some unspoken concern from across the table. Sayoko would note the astuteness of the XO, as what the Intelligence operative was worriedly ruminating on silently was given voice directly. "I have suspicions of the latter, considering there is a significant gap in the timeline if this beacon is only a mere five years old instead of seven."