5tar
Inactive 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.
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
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.
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
