RP: YSS Takamagahara YSS Takamagahara - Prologue - Hoisting the Colors

[SirSPT]

YSS Takamagahara - Starboard lower level passage
Silently cursing herself, Yoshimi wiped some of the slime off her hands as soon as the parasite was fully out of her hands. She'll handle the violations for dirtying it up later, now was time for killing things.

With the parasite barreling right back towards her, Yoshimi had just enough time whip out her Type 35 NML, set it to heavy mode, and get a shot off from the hip right at the toothy mouth of the parasite. If she was going down to this literally slippery bastard, she was at least going to leave one heck of a mark on it to remember her.

 

[FrostJaeger]

YSS Kishin Maru, Passage

Hitomi frowned, glaring at the Parasite-Type as she annihilated it with a flick of her wrist. Begone, you disgustingly vile thi-

"We have more company" one of the infantry with her reported, pointing at a shambling mass making their way slowly towards them from farther down the passage.

The Taii began to reply to the soldier in question - "I've......" - only to let her voice trail off as it dawned on her that she was no longer on the Kishi Maru. Instead, she was surrounded by what appeared to be a black, infinite void - and to her ever-growing panic, she couldn't move her body.



??????

"Relax, my princess. I would never let anyone hurt you, my lovely Hitomi-chan."

Hitomi's eyes widened in terror as a silky, alluring voice whispered into her ear. N-N-No......

"But why not? I always keep my promises......especially when they involve a certain little warrior princess."

Hitomi's eyes closed, a sensuous moan escaping her as the "voice" began caressing some of the Mini-Neko's more......"sensitive" areas with warm, delicate hands. Hhhngh...... "P-Please......s-stop..."

With a sigh of disappointment, the "voice" complied. "And you were such a feisty little one when we first met......but, alas, I digress. Watch, my sweet, sweet Hitomi - and listen."

A wave of strangely-familiar vertigo, and then......



YSS Loki, Bridge Access Corridor - Five Years Earlier

♫♫ NemesisTheory - Rose At Twilight ♫♫

We have more company, Chui!

......Hitomi blinked in confusion; although she was back inside the comforting embrace of a Sylph, her surroundings were quite different - and she was a Taii, not a Chui!

I see them, Matsuda. <pause> Everyone, heads up! Ogawa right, Sugiyama left, Matsuda...keep down until your barriers recharge, then take the leftovers! I'll-" <a pause, as the individual activated the energy projectors of two very familiar-looking swords > "-hold them off as long as I can. Kōun! (Good luck!)"

The XO's jaw dropped - for it was her voice that was speaking - N-N-Nani? - and on the verge of leaping over what seemed to be a hastily-constructed barricade when a youthful-sounding voice interrupted her.

Matsu (Wait), Hitomi-chan! What if we hit you by accident? What if......y-you d-d-die?

Such impertinence! How dare someone refer to me with that degrading title and ask such trivial questions?

The "other" Hitomi didn't seem to mind, however, for she laughed, replied...

<laugh> "Don't worry, Fumina-chan. I'll keep some of them in between us, and if I die, well......at least I can die happy, knowing what color your panties are!

EHHHHHH?!?!?!? I...I...I never would utter such an indecent thing!

...and charged headlong down the corridor into the aforementioned company, a veritable horde of Reapers and Rippers.

Baka! Only a fool would......would......how.......no, that's impossible, I-I-I'm not that talented...


Hitomi could do nothing but watch in awe as "she" survived that initial charge into melee range (via weaving her way through the enemy's frantically-placed shots) and proceeded to dance.


The Taii didn't know of any other way to describe it, as she watched a sword impale a Reaper, using it as a shield against fire from an unseen opponent - then send said Reaper flying into another with a grav-assisted kick (smashing both into the nearby bulkhead with enough force to render both of their pilots unconscious) while simultaneously engaging, no, dominating a Ripper in sword-to-sword combat. The unfortunate Ripper tried to counter with a multi-angled attack, only to fail as the Chui parried it effortlessly, rending the far-larger PA from head to toe in the process...a spray of hemosynthetic fluid announcing the demise of its pilot...

"So powerful."

...a spray of hemosynthetic fluid announcing the demise of its pilot, while Hitomi bisected two more Reapers...

"So regal."

...and went flying, a flash of light (in reality, the after-image of a NMX Line Battleship's primary "Anti-Fleet Weapon") the only warning provided to the Loki's XO before a gigantic pressure shockwave smashed her through several walls and into an adjacent corridor, knocking the Mini-Neko unconscious in the process.

"Remember, Hitomi-chan...only I can restore your true potential. And, besides......"

Hitomi let out a scream of pure, unfiltered primal terror (and......pleasure?) as the monster came into view, along with that sickening feeling of vertigo.

...only I can make us one again.



YSS Kishin Maru, Passage - Two Seconds Later

With a gasp, the XO returned to reality, shaking her head a few times in order to clear it - and doing her best to ignore the peculiar sense of déjà vu she felt. "...I've noticed. Don't......don't just stand there, Hei, engage them!"


Bloody hell...why did I almost say "Don't worry," and more importantly, why did I of all people allow myself to become distracted? Random thoughts and equally-random bouts of inattentive-ness aside, the Mini-Neko charged at the oncoming horde, wondering why she felt as if she'd done this before.


After all, this was the very first time she, Taii Nakadai Hitomi, had ever been in combat.

 

[Eistheid]

YSS Kishi Maru - Damage Control

There was no time to be wasted and for the moment it seemed like the Amaterasu sisters were out of comission, Emi was likely trying to keep her quieter sister together. After all Aki had suffered on her first day on the Takamagahara, it was probably the last thing that she wanted to see. With the appearance of parasite infested Nekovalkyrja, Miiko raised her LASR once again and sent rounds tearing through the encroaching bodies, a brief moment taken to engage her CFS and punt the one who reached Aki's foot, the distortion shielding tearing the shielded flesh of the zombie apart while the LASR's rounds continued to chew through its companions.

Over the comms Miiko inquired hopefully, "Taii, could you please re-engage the Megami's self defence protocols? You're the only member of our away team with command clearance. Also how are things going at the airlock? What is the status of Charlie? If this continues for much longer we're going to need to withdraw."

Sighing Miiko reloaded her LASR before returning her attention to the doorway keeping a careful eye out for anything that hadn't stopped moving after her initial attempt at stemming the tide of newly awoken parasites.

 

[Gunsight1]

The Takamagahara's heavy cannons fired, blasts of lethal energy burning across the space between the battleship and the hostile gunship. Atago's targeting walked fire up the length of the gunship, blasting and melting away armor plate and hull, rending open the ship's innards. There was a tremendous explosion from somewhere in the middle of the ship as the aether generator containment vessel was punctured and all of the energy within liberated. With one blinding flash, the gunship was no more, only small chunks of molten wreckage tumbling away from where it had once been indicated that it had even existed.

"Good shooting" Momoe said to Atago and floated off of her command chair. "The entire fleet may be infected. Prepare to take out all remaining vessels on my command. Blast any that make a move against us" she said, then opened a comm channel to the away team.

"Landing party, come in? Whats your situation?"



Takamagahara - Passage

Yoshimi's snapshot burned into the parasite's mouth. The blue-white pulse vaporized the creatures vital organs as it burned it's way into the soft tissues, killing it. Despite this, the laws of momentum carried the now dead thing forward and it's smoking carcass impacted with the infantry neko, sending her tumbling back a few feet across the polished deck.



Kishi Maru - Passage

There were so many of them. So many cold lifeless eyes behind the pale hands that clawed at her power armor, trying vainly to break their way into the suit and get at the mini neko inside. Aether blade slashed through them, removing limbs, bisecting torsos and cutting down the already dead. Several parasites latched onto Hitomi's armor, trying to chew their way through the thick plating on her left torso and back.

One of the other infantry blasted one of the worm like creatures off, the one on her back, but the other was up to her.

As she looked ahead, she could see the oncoming swarm. They were coming by the hundreds. It looked like the entire crew was taken over by the vile parasites.



Kishi Maru - Damage Control

Even as Miiko send her comments to the XO, more of the parasite infected crew were working their way through the hatch into the damage control compartment. Half a dozen of them. Then Miiko felt something hit her back, making her stumble forward. Her suit's alarm went off, signalling damage to the back armor plate, sensors detecting a parasite trying to force it's way into her SYLPH!

 

[SirSPT]

YSS Takamagahara - Starboard lower level passage

Twirling her gun with a grin, Yoshimi marveled her handiwork long enough for it to impact and send her skidding across the deck. After marveling at the polished deck for a few moments, she picked herslef up and holstered her Type 35 NML before hurrying to find some help and maybe commend whoever was in charge of cleaning the decks, kicking the parasite corpse as she passed.

 

[FrostJaeger]

YSS Kishi Maru, Passage

♫♫ Demetori - 少女さとり　～ Innumerable Eyes ♫♫

Taii, could you please re-engage the Megami's self defence protocols? You're the only member of our away team with command clearance. Also how are things going at the airlock? What is the status of Charlie? If this continues for much longer we're going to need to withdraw."

The Taii in question scowled as she bisected yet another pair of zombies, the twin shafts of white-blue light effortlessly melting their way through flesh with a sizzle. Such incompetence! Did it never occur to you that, instead of having the nerve to question my tactical... - a pause as the XO carved a vertical, groin-to-hairline slash into one foe while simultaneously separating the head of another from its shoulders - ...advice, you could contact them yourself? "MEGAMI, designate all non-armored units as hostile and reactivate internal defenses!"


With that taken care of, Hitomi - after diagonally carving her way through an especially-eager zombie - opened a private channel to Miiko, the former fully intent on tearing a bloody strip or two off of the latter. "Uehara-Heisho, have you forgotten that I am in comma-"


Two muffled thumps - along with two accompanying warnings of minor structural damage - interrupted the XO's frosty tirade. Na-?


Someone then chose at that moment to shoot her - in the back, no less. YOU...YOU BAKA!


After recovering from her shot-induced stumble and taking a CFS-assisted leap backwards, Hitomi took a moment to glance at her left side (which, strangely enough, was still reporting progressive amounts of damage) - then frowned at the Parasite-Type she saw clinging there. Begone.


One delicately-placed slash (performed by a power-blade-less Valkyrie) was all it took to lethally dislodge the aforementioned Parasite-Type; with that particular threat to her life removed, the Taii thus returned to her two interrupted tasks - slicing the undead into smaller pieces of undead and lecturing her subordinates about their (perceived) shortcomings. "You bloody idiots! Shoot at the enemy, not at your superior offic-!"


Yet again, the Takamagahara's decidedly irate Executive Officer found herself interrupted.

"Landing party, come in? Whats your situation?"

Unacceptable! It's simply unacceptable for the incompetent baka manning Communications to outright ignore my earlier message! Hitomi sent a response back to the Takamagahara...

TO: TAKAMAGAHARA
FROM: ALPHA[ACTUAL]

***BEGIN MESSAGE***

TAKAMAGAHARA,

AS EARLIER MESSAGE STATES, UNDER ATTACK BY NMX PARASITES CONTROLLING BODIES OF KISHI MARU CREW. NO CASUALTIES THUS FAR.

***END MESSAGE***

...and (out of equal parts frustration and......something else?) proceeded to impale one of the Kishi Maru's crew, instinctively using it as a shield against the attacks of another zombie - then sent said zombie flying backwards into another with a grav-assisted kick, smashing both hostiles into the nearby bulkhead with enough force to render them unconscious while the Mini-Neko simultaneously engaged another one of their fellows, rending it from head to toe in the process as a crimson-hued spray of hemosynthetic fluid announced said fellow's demise.


Moments later, the XO bisected two more of the things - and, as she cleft a flying Parasite-Type with a mighty slash of energy-encased Yama-Dura steel, froze - for the wriggling death throes of the latter (having since fallen to the cold, unforgiving deckplate) were just like the doubt that was worming its way through the mind of the former.


The doubt, which insisted that the Taii had done the same exact thing once before.


The doubt, which insisted that the Taii wasn't being told the entire truth about her forgotten past.


The doubt, which whispered that utterly unknown - yet intimately familiar - phrase:


"Remember me, my little warrior princess?"

 

[Eistheid]

YSS Kishi Maru - Damage Control

No time was wasted as the alarm went off, Miiko launched her suit's winglet drones and set one of them to fire upon the parasite that was trying to burrow into her suit while the other three covered her reload. The engineer mini-Neko was hardly enjoying the prospect of continuing this fight and she hoped that they'd be allowed to pull out sooner than later. Though with the XO being who she was, Miiko honestly wasn't confident that any of them would be making it out of this alive, half expecting the XO in a crazed fit of pride to barricade them all in the ship. For the moment Miiko focused on keeping herself, and the twins in one piece holding back the tide of parasites.

 

[Gunsight1]

Conclusion.

It was fact now that this task group had been taken by the Misshu, beaten down, boarded, destroyed, the neko crews killed off and the wrecks of the ships and bodies of the dead left behind as a parasite infested trap for anyone who might stumble on it in the future. This was all plainly obvious, now that the landing party was fighting off hoards of zombies and the battleship Takamagahara fending off what was left of the task groups sluggishly reanimated ships.

Eventually the call to withdraw had been given. The landing party made it back to their shuttle in a run and gun battle for every inch of the way there, and had blasted off just before the Takamagahara had turned it's main guns towards the troop ship and disabled it with a fatal blast from it's main cannon array.

At the same time, shipboard security had figured out what was going on below decks and sent troops to support driving off the enemy that had manage to breach the Takamagahara and board the battleship. Within half an hour it was all over. The ship was clear, the landing party recovered and the reanimated derelict ships neutralized. At that point, Momoe had send word to Tenth Fleet command and in doing so summoned Battleship Squadron 2, which had rushed out in full force to help contain the derelict task group and make sure no parasites got out of the area.

As well as the containment operation that followed, teams were send aboard each remaining ship to recover as many of the ships SSP's as they could. In the end they got three. One from the troop ship, the other two from a pair of gunships. No more. The rest had been wrecked by the Misshu in their rampage through the task group. These recovered pods were safely stowed aboard the Takamagahara to be taken home, where hopefully some of the fallen crews would finally be able to be brought back.

Near the completion of the recovery, Tenth Fleet's flagship, the Glorious Shimakaze had arrived with the Taisho Atago aboard to oversee the final phase.

The final act that signaled the end of containment and recovery was to ensure that no one else would ever stumble across the wrecked task group. To that end, as BATRON2 and the flagship pulled away from the shattered task group, the large warships paused, turned and regarded their fallen fellows, before opening fire with their aether batteries, cleansing this part of space of any hint of Mishhu infestation. When the fleet exited into hyperspace, nothing remained of the task group but atomized dust...



Post Script.

With their impromptu first mission complete, there were more than a few questions for the crew of the Takamagahara once they returned to Leo Star Fortress. Due to the nature of the event, the official debriefing had been handled by the local admiralty and SAINT. Not that there was ever any question in how the battleships crew had handled the discovery. They had done their best all considered and come out well enough. In the end, the matter was sealed up under official secrecy and the Takamagahara crew was given one more task before being allowed a break, to take the recovered Soul Savior Pods back to Yamatai.