RP: YSS Aeon [YSS Aeon] - Reboot

[Nashoba]

Katae stepped off the shuttle that had brought her back to the Gemini station. The remainder of the crew was scheduled to return tomorrow. She had an interview with the person from the SSS that she had requested, and she wanted to check out the Aeon. Katae was feeling rejuvenated after several days of relaxation. Looking around she quickly got the sense of something building was still present aboard the Gemini. Everyone is moving with a sense of purpose. But does anyone really know what that purpose is. Obviously someone is expecting something big, and dangerous. After all they would not pull us off exploration for no good reason. She slung her bag over her shoulder and started down the concourse to the where the Aeon was waiting.

"Ise Taii, I took the liberty of scheduling your interview with Gustav-San in one hour." Eternity the Aeon’s AI sent telepathically. That’s fine Eternity I should be there in a few minutes. she replied. As she moved along the concourse she spotted a bookstore. Stepping off the moving sidewalk she glided into the shop. No sense not taking advantage of the opportunity. Adding a few new books will ensure that I have plenty to read. Three books heavier, and 25 KS lighter, she resumed her travel to the ship. When she approached the bay, Katae stepped off the walkway and approached the entrance. She stepped in and looked at her ship. All of the external damage had been repaired, and the Aeon was bristling with additional weapons. There were other enhancements that she could see; additional atmospheric control surfaces that would improve maneuverability and other hull changes. But the most striking difference was the color. No longer the traditional service blue, the Aeon’s fuselage was now a light grey and the pylons and other control surfaces were a dark green. Looks good, but it is almost like painting a target on her. The distinctive markings will make her stand out from the rest of the squadron. She thought. Then she crossed the bay and entered by the vehicle bay.

Josea walked along the concourse, he chose not to use the moving sidewalk as the walking would help him burn off some excess energy. This was to be his first assignment about a Star Army vessel, and as a representative of the SSS he wanted to make a good impression. He had read the information provided on Ise-Taii. He stepped off the moving sidewalk and walked towards the bay. He paused for a moment at the entrance to check the registration number because the ship did not look like the image he has been given. After confirming that this was the correct vessel, he walked over to it and walked up the vehicle ramp. “Gustav Josea reporting for interview.” He said in a loud voice. “Welcome aboard. Eternity will guide you to my cabin.” Katae replied using the bay’s speakers.

 

[Nashoba]

Josea followed the AI’s directions moving easily through the passageways until he was standing outside of the Taii’s quarters. He was about to press the door chime when the door opened. “Please come in Gustav-San.” The same female voice he heard earlier called. He walked in and turned towards the Nekovalkyrja sitting behind the desk. He couldn’t help but notice her green eyes. She had a folder on the desk, and appeared to be sizing him up. She motioned to the chair in front of the desk. “Please have a seat Gustav-San this will not be a typical interview. After all you have the position. I just wanted to spend a few minutes to go over a few things.” He took the proffered chair. “On the behalf of the SSS I want to thank you for requesting a Liaison person. I understood that the Aeon was on exploration assignment. But when I arrived here at Gemini I was informed that you have been reassigned. Does that mean you will not need my services?” Josea asked. “While it is true that we have been reassigned, I still want you onboard when we leave tomorrow. I value having perspectives, and having a civilian scientist onboard gives me another perspective to consider. And I am sure that we will find enough things to keep you busy. I understand that you are familiar with Star Army procedures, so I will expect you to participate in our shipboard drills.” Katae answered. “That is fine ma’am. I look forward to meeting the rest of the crew and getting started.” “Well, they will arrive tomorrow morning. You can stow your gear in cabin six. Why don’t we go there, and I’ll give you a brief tour of the Aeon.” Katae said standing up. “Thank you ma’am that would be appreciated, that way I will not be wandering around lost when the others arrive.” Josea said with a slight chuckle.

The following morning the crew of the Aeon reported at 08:00, Katae was waiting for the crew in the vehicle bay. When Ruiko spotted Katae called out “Aeon crew fall in.” and the crew scrambled into line and assumed attention. Once all the crew was positioned Ruiko turned to the Taii. “Ma’am Aeon crew reporting for duty.” He noticed a male standing next to the Taii in an unfamiliar uniform. “Its good to see all of you, as the original crew of the Aeon will notice there are a lot more of us here. We have an infantry squad assigned to the ship, Starns-Ittô Juni is in charge of them. This means there have been some cabin reassignments since we are running will all bunks full. Also I am sure you are wondering about who this gentleman is standing next to me. His name is Gustav Josea, he is from the Scientific Studies Service, and though a civilian he carries the honorary rank of Santô Juni. He is to be treated as that rank indicates and will be a crew member in all ways aboard the ship. Take your place Gustav-Juni.” She said pointing to the line. Ruiko watched the young man move smartly across the bay and fall in. He also noticed that once again there was a sizable amount of equipment and provisions stacked outside the ship. “Ma’am I presume that after all hands have stowed their personal gear in their rooms they should report back here for cargo detail?” He inquired. “Yes, Tso-Chui we have a lot of replacement equipment and some new stuff as well. Unfortunately unlike last time I will not be able to take everyone out to dinner. Once the equipment is loaded and secured, we will be departing. Dismiss the crew.” Katae said as she turned and left the bay. “All hands, you have 10 minutes to take your bags to your billet, and report back here for cargo detail. Fall out.” The crew gave a simultaneous “Aye Aye” and grabbed their bags and moved out.

 

[Nashoba]

The Aeon and her new squadron was en-route thru East Gate Defense Network on their way to their patrol point which just happened to be the space around UX-26. “Ise-Taii we are receiving an emergency communications.” Ruiko called. “What is the message Ruiko?” Katae asked. “It is from Scorpio Star Fortress. Ma’am they are reporting that they under attack.” “Unci well we wanted to know what was up.” Katae replied, she hit the squadron communication channel, "All Ships go to Battle Stations, Scorpio Star Fortress is under attack. All ships accelerate to maximum CDD. Assume diamond formation.” Around her she watched as her crew scrambled to their battle stations. “Ma’am there must be some sort of mistake; it sounded like they said they were being attacked by Nekovalkyrja and some unknown enemy vessels.” Ruiko provided as an update. At maximum speed the 7th Squadron was only minutes away from the stricken station. “Starn-Juni, report to the bridge.” Katae sent out over the speakers. Don’t know what we are flying into but I want our infantry to be informed. Katae monitored the ship’s status, as the weapons started cycling up. Until they dropped out of FTL they would not be available. “Ise-Taii all ships report Battle Stations ready to engage on your command.” Eternity said through the speakers. A moment later Jens came up onto the bridge in his Daisy armor he turned to Katae and asked; “What is the situation Ise-Taii” “Scorpio Star Fortress is reporting it’s under attack. We are uncertain as to who exactly is attacking it, we will be arriving shortly. I wanted you here so you would know as much as the rest of us.”

 

[Nashoba]

As the 7th Squadron rushed through space to help the stricken Star Fortress they received the transmission from the Taisho. Fleet Missive. After reading the transmission Katae called down to the medbay. “Hoshi we just received a missive from the Taisho. Get those new fangled medical scanners you were so keen about and check Yani-Hei, Ture-Heisho and you. According to the message the crew may have been exposed to a biological weapon. After clearing yourself get the rest of the crew checked ASAP.” The squadron was approaching the battle scene and would be dropping back to STL. “Across the squadron channel, Integrity, Succubus, Ouroboros prepare to drop out and engage STL engines.” She sent the signal, and the 7th Squadron dropped out and beheld the battle front. The Starfortress was surrounding in a aura of energy from the shear amount of fire power being cast out. But it was sheer numbers of the enemy. She saw numerous enemy capital ships. But the space around the station was a sea of small craft. Literally thousands of them filled the sky, and among them Star Army ships and power armor valiantly fought to defend the station. Well, we did not come here to sight see. Let’s see if we can’t take some of the heat off the defenders. she thought. She selected a target, “All ships, this is our target, diamond configuration. Let’s blast these bastards out of our sky.”

The 7th Squadron quickly accelerated to attack speed and closed on the Destroyer. As soon as they were in main weapon range. Katae fired the cannons and the other ships followed suit, as they closed on the ship she cut loose with the next ranged weapons. Gi was handling the new weapons installed as part of the refit. The enemy ship expanded into a exploding mass of plasma and metal as the squadron hit it with everything they had. As the squadron moved in an arc to find another target, noticed that a large group of fighter craft were now pursuing the squadron. “Looks like we got their attention, Integrity and Succubus, break left, Ouroboros and Aeon will break right and we’ll catch them in a cross fire.” Katae knew that the first kill was easy due to the element of surprise the 7th would have to work the next kill. She turned to Starns, “Starns-Juni I think you’ve seen enough, report to medical so Dai-Shoi can check you out, and then get your squad ready to repel anything that tries to get on board.” Starns bowed acknowledged her orders and left the bridge promptly.

 

[Nashoba]

The Aeon and Ouroboros arced back towards the first swarm of unidentified small craft. Katae was surprised at how easily the squadron was able to destroy them. A quick look at the scans showed that these craft had no shields. But a second glance at the sensors showed that they more than made up for it with sheer numbers. As she checked the sensors she saw that a group of Irim class ships were heading towards 7th with weapon systems targeting. “What is going on? Why are Star Army ships targeting us? Wait, there aren’t any Irim in the 1X fleet.” A further check showed that a good number of the ships that appeared to be running with the Mishhu were old Star Army designs. While it went against her nature, “All ships prepare to engage that group of Irim closing on us.” She sent to the squadron. Thank goodness for those weapon upgrades, because this is going to get ugly fast. Katae thought. “Ruiko, Eternity use our ECM system, its superior to the system on the Irims. Start projecting a one degree error in position for the squadron, coordinate with the other ships. At maximum range that 1 degree will ensure they do not even get close with their first volley. While our first volley should hit home it may only buy us a few shots, but that’s all we need to turn the table.” She watched as Ruiko worked at his station to make the necessary programming for the ECM system. “Ise-Taii, all ships are ready to begin the ECM maneuver, we’ve programmed for the shift to happen gradually so that it will simply appear that we are maneuvering.” “Make it happen, Ruiko. Gi standby to fire those secondary guns.”

The squadron continued towards the approaching Irim, after a few tense moments the Aeon’s sensors showed that they were no longer being targeted. When they reached maximum range for the Main Array, the 7th Squadron opened fire at the Irims. They got in two volleys before the Irim were able to correct their targeting. The Aeon and her squadron charged into the middle of the Irim formation. At that range, the secondary weapons had a devastating effect on the enemy. Katae swore mentally as she did her best to avoid what she could, but the ship shuddered and recoiled from the impacts on the hull when the Aeon shields finally collapsed. As they pulled away from the enemy ships she cut loose with the two A7 AS-7-1-TA torpedoes. The Integrity fired as well, and they watched as the enemy ships were engulfed in the explosion and then added themselves to it. Katae moved the group to a position to give them a few moments to assess their condition. “Ruiko, get me a condition report on all ships.”

 

[Nashoba]

The Aeon and the other ships in the squadron took only a moment to assess damage, and reinitialize shields. Another group of enemy ships was heading towards them. A second group of Irim Gunships were heading towards them as well as an NMX Destroyer. Ruiko reported “All ships battle ready Taii, shields are reinitialized. We have three Irim’s closing on our position, and one Mishhu destroyer…” He paused as the image on the sensor shifted, “Correction make that two destroyers ma’am” Ruiko set the Type 31 EWS to jam all enemy communications. That will hinder their communications, I can’t say for sure about these new Mishhu ships, but the Irim shouldn’t be able to coordinate. Ruiko signaled the other ships in the squadron and together. They started a blanket jamming of sensors in the direction of the Irim, at the same time started producing volumetric images of additional Plumeria gun-ships. He hoped that it would prove to be enough to give the Taii the advantage she needed to take out the first group of ships. Next he had to start thinking how to deal with the destroyers.

Katae headed the Aeon and the other ships of the 7th squadron towards the Irim-Gunships. The tactical systems showed that the Irim were not locking on effectively. She wasn’t sure how long Ruiko’s electronic warfare tactics would work, but she wasn’t going to waste any of the time they had. Once the squadron was in range of the main cannons the squadron fired at the closest of the Irim. The Integrity took direct hit from one of the Irim ships main guns. Two of the Irim launched torpedoes towards the 7th, two of the missiles streaked towards the Aeon. Katae sounded collision, as Gi tried to knock the missiles out of the sky. She got the second one, just as the first slammed into the Aeon’s shields. The bridge lights flickered as the internal systems compensated for the impact. The squadron continued to pound at the Irim ships with the main cannon and the anti-matter cannons. The Irim gunships continued to fire at the 7th Squadron and the phantoms. Finally the last of them exploded, but not before scoring numerous hits on the squadron. “Status report Ruiko.” “All ships report shields are down, engineering is working on re-energizing them. Our starboard anti-matter cannon is offline, and starboard sublight engine is operating at 60%. Ruri is working to get us more power out of it. Starns-Juni and his squad are performing damage control. Dai-Shoi reports casualties, Usaga and Shina, he’s treating them. The Integrity is venting plasma, and their main cannon is down, attempting to make repairs. Succubus and Ouroboros have sustained heavy damage, and casualties. The destroyers have launched their battlepods and are closing.”

 

[Nashoba]

Katae started issuing new orders to the crew as she sought a way to save her ship and squadron. “Ruiko grab as many of the Irim weapon pods as possible to augment our screen. Ruri what is the status of our shields.” “Shield reinitialization is not complete, I can activate them, but we’ll barely have half strength.” The engineer’s voice replied over the speakers a hint of frustration in her tone. “Understood Ruri, but we can not wait. Ruiko raise our shields.” She looked back at the screen and watched as the swarm of battlebods obscured the destroyers from sight. Even with the limited weapons of the pods, the sheer number of them was enough to endanger the squadron. The extra weapon pods would by them time, and right now that was really all Katae could hope for. Every minute that the squadron engaged the enemy, was another minute for reinforcements to arrive. Every minute of battle meant that many less Mishhu for them to face. Ise was not about to give up hope yet, but if she had anything to do with it, she would go down fighting. “All ships engage the pods.”

Gi was fully immersed in the SPINE interface to give her maximum effectiveness of the weapons. She grouped the weapon pods under her control into clusters and coordinated their attacks. She narrowed her thoughts to a single task, target, and destroy. There was not time for anything else. If her ship was to survive she had to make every shot count. But even with the added fire power, she could feel the constant onslaught taking its toll on the Aeon already weakened shields. At the moment the electronic warfare actions that Ruiko and Eternity were taking was making it difficult for the pods to keep target lock. But even firing by visual the pods were scoring hits.

 

[Nashoba]

Ruri hit a bulkhead with her fist in frustration. This was her ship damn it, and whoever was trying to tear it apart was going to be sorry. She continued to make her way down the maintenance conduit towards the main starboard STL engine. She found what she was looking for, a power junction that had failed when the engine was hit. Fixing this will get us a bit more power out of it, but not a lot, at least we have the new engines for boosting, because the main STL won’t handle it. she thought. She pulled out her spanner and started working to fix the junction. She new it was only a matter of minutes, at best before the Aeon was charging forward again. Usaga, how are you doing? she sent telepathically to her fellow engineer. I am fine Ruri, Dai-Shoi has treated my injuries, and I am on my way back to engineering. Ruri smiled as she removed the damaged power junction, and deftly installed the replacement. “Things will be easier now that Usaga is back in engineering.” She said softly. She moved a bit further into the conduit and disconnected the power couplings to the damaged cannon. After that it would be a simple matter of switching the replacement junction on, and exit from the conduit. She was barely out of the conduit when she heard the Taii order the squadron to engage the enemy again. She quickly made her way back to the main engineering room. Usaga was monitoring the power distribution, so Ruri took the shield monitoring station.

Ruiko monitored the sensors, watching as the enemy vessels closed on them. He continued to adjust the jamming patterns; he had been successful with the older Yamatai vessels, and the battlepods. So he hoped to continue to buy breathing room for Katae to fight. He added a new pattern to the interference. A new wave of ships was approaching the energy signature of this group was different. As they got closer, the first group started firing torpedoes. “Taii the new group of Mishhu battle pods appear are torpedo bombers. Keiko-Juni, concentrate your weapons and the extra pods on those incoming torpedoes.” The Mishhu destroyers were holding back apparently waiting to see how effective their bombers were, but Ruiko knew they would not stay that way for long. After the first wave of bombers was destroyed, the destroyers started moving in their shield strength was low, they would not hold up for long.

 

[Nashoba]

Gi started tracking the new targets identified by Ruiko. Before the craft were in range though many of them started firing torpedoes. She diverted a portion of the extra weapon pods to targeting the torpedoes, while she started opening fire on bombers. Damn, they are fast. she thought as several of the dodged her fire. One group that had managed to get around the protective screen of weapon pods opened fire on the Aeon. Gi sensed rather than felt the ship shake when the weapons impacted the hull. Damn. Damn. The shields are down again. She focused more of her weapons to defensive, protecting the Aeon from the torpedoes was more important than destroying the fighters. She trusted the Taii to focus her attention on destroying the ships while she protected the ship. The situation was starting to look hopeless; it seemed that no matter how many of the enemy ships they destroyed, more just kept coming.

Katae trained the main array on the bombers with it set to wide spread, it allowed her to hit more of the damned Mishhu fighters, and combined with the aether pods she was doing her best to sweep the sky clear. She knew it was only a matter of minutes before the destroyers would be in weapon range.Deal with the immediate situation first, then try to figure out how to deal with the next. she thought. She picked up four large objects closing on the squadron from behind. “Ruiko, what are those ship’s closing from our six?” She watched as Ruiko’s hands flew across his console. “Ma’am, they are civilian vessels, Tansaku-Class it would appear.” “Well hail them and tell them to get out of the area.” She fired at several more of the fighters, and destroyed a few, but another explosion rocked the Aeon. “Taii, I’m unable to hail them. Explosion in the cargo bay, fire suppression is not responding. Damage control team report to the cargo bay.”

Damn it, I do not know how much more the ship can take. Suddenly the next group of fighters approaching the squadron were blasted from space by the civilian ships, which cut across their bow. The white hull flashed across the view screen, and then vanished as the large ship maneuvered to a position below. Katae trained the turrets toward the closest ship; and brought it up on the screen. “Ise-Taii, the civilian ships are extending their shields, they are protecting our ships.” She looked at the screen, watching the Tansaku running lights blink. There was something about the way they blinked. It triggered a memory, from back when she was younger, emergency communications technique for power armor when comm. Systems were down. “Tso-Chui, they are using their running lights to signal. Their communications system is not working. Someone aboard that ship used to be Star Army; our EWS is jamming their communications. Clear a channel and get me someone on that ship, I what to know what maniac brought a bunch of civilian ships into a war zone.”

 

[Nashoba]

Ruiko worked to clear a channel, finally he got a channel cleared and the ship replied. . “YSS Aeon, this is the YSS Tansaku with the Scientific Studies Service; Captain Derek Sturm commanding.” A voice called out. “Ise-Taii, I’ve gotten the commander on the line, a Captain Derek Sturm.” He patched the channel to the Katae’s station. “Patching you in ma’am” . He watched as the Taii spoke. “Captain Sturm, This is Ise-Taii commander of the Aeon that was pretty dangerous stunt, what the hell are you doing here?” He listened as the commander of the YSS Tansaku explained the circumstances that brought them here. “Tso-Chui patch the SSS ships into the squadron channel so they can maneuver with us.” Ise-Taii instructed. He relayed the necessary data to the other ships in the squadron as well as to the civilian ships. This was irregular, but given the dire situation they were in, he could see the wisdom in the Taii’s decision. Once all ships had established the necessary data links for operating together he reported to Katae. “Ma’am, we’re ready to move out. The two destroyers are closing on our position.” From his station he monitored the situation of their group of ships charging towards the Mishhu vessels. He instructed the group to augment the forward shields. Once they were within range of the main arrays the Plumeria started firing with the main array. The Mishhu returned fire, and as the 7th Squadron continued to close they brought the other weapons to bear. He watched as the shields from the Tansaku took the brunt of the force, and how the engineers aboard the civilian ship reinforced them quickly. A blast from the first destroy pierced the hull on the starboard side. “Ise-Taii, fire in the Medbay, suppression systems engaged.”

Hoshi was knocked across the Medbay when the starboard wall exploded. He felt momentary atmospheric pressure change in ears, as the ships systems sealed the breach. He picked himself up, took a quick assessment of himself. Determining that now of his injuries were lift threatening, he quickly returned to his patient, “Nami get Yutaka out of here, we’ll use the Wardroom as a fallback.” Hoshi helped Shina Kin off the floor, and helped her out of the medbay. He glanced back into the medbay as the flames spread, engulfing the bodies of the three deceased. He shut and secured the hatch. Tso-Chui, Medbay out of commission, Nami and I are taking Shina and Kisho to the wardroom. he sent to the First Officer. Once in the medbay he returned to tending the wounded. The injuries were grievous but thankfully not immediately fatal. Burns sustained while performing damage control. I don’t know how much more of this the Aeon can take, but I won’t loose anymore people if I have anything to do with it. he swore mentally. Once Nami and he had taken care of the others, he looked at the young Neko. She was holding up quite well all things considered, a gash on her forehead seeped freely. “Nami, let me take care of the head wound.” He said walking over to her. He pulled out some gauze and cleaned the wound. She hissed when the antiseptic hit the open wound. “Sorry about that.” Hoshi said with a sympathetic look. He applied some liquid bandage to the wound. “That will take care of things until your body repairs itself.” If it has time. he thought silently.

Katae monitored the Aeon’s internal systems while engaging the enemy. When the Tansaku shields threatened to collapse she instructed Ruiko to activate their shields and extend them over the both ship. The first Mishhu destroyer was an expanding ball of debris and plasma and they were hammering the second. However, the battle with the first had taken its toll. The Squadron vessels brought what functioning weapons they had, and then the weapon pods when in range. The Integrity took several direct hits from the destroyers main weapon. Once the Mishhu vessel was destroyed Katae directed the squadron to a point to regroup. The wounded ships made their way, and she surveyed the situation. All of the ships were heavily wounded; another forte into the battle would probably be their end. Even the brave Tansaku had not come through unscathed. Damn it, the only thing for us to do now is withdraw. Katae thought as she hit her desk with a fist. “Ise-Taii I’m detecting numerous Star Army vessels coming through the East Gate.” Ruiko's voice interjected. Katae looked up at the main screen at the image of squadrons of Plumeria and other ships of the Ketsurui Military Sector defense force arriving. Hundreds of ships streaked into the area. “Taii, the Mishhu ships are changing arrangement, the battlepods are heading towards the reinforcements, while the large ships are…. withdrawing. The anti-FTL field is lowering.” “Ruiko, send our tactical data on the fighters and bombers to the reinforcements. This is very strange, why would they leave?” Sure enough on the screen the image of the Mishhu warships moving away from Scorpio and accelerating to FTL could be seen.

Katae had Ruri prepare a VCMAD-S for launch and sent it streaking after the Mishhu, she wanted to know why they were leaving, what their plans were. She opened a channel to the SSS group, “Captain Sturm, looks like we are in the eye of the storm, best you and your people take advantage of this and head in to Gemini station. Thanks again for your assistance.” “Glad to be of service. What about yourselves? You look rather beat up.” Sturms voice asked over the speaker. “We are going to finish our assessment and then make a determination. Ise-Taii Out.” She watched as the Tansaku vessels maneuvered clear of the squadron and then accelerated to FTL. “Keiko take us in closer, I want to see what Scorpio station’s situation is.” She ordered.

 

[Nashoba]

The Aeon and the rest of the squadron moved cautiously towards Scorpio to assess the station. Katae brought the squadron to a stop just outside the debris cloud that surrounded it. The Zodiac-Class Star Fortress survived. But, it was by no means going to be operational. Katae even from this distance could see great rents torn in the hull of the station. The amount of fire power required to wreak this kind of damage was hard to imagine. Every one of the radial arms had suffered catastrophic damage and was missing one or more sections. Venting plasma could be seen as flares of light from all over the station. The station itself was in a slow tumble as its station keeping systems were clearly overwhelmed by the damage to the systems. Debris from both the station and destroyed ships alike created a deadly cloud that the station rotated within occasionally causing more damage. If the station was salvageable Katae was certain it would be months before it would be operating at any semblance of normal.

 

[Nashoba]

“Ma’am, we’re getting telemetry from the drone we sent after Mishhu.” Ruiko said as he put the images on the screen. The screen showed the entrance to the Ketsurui Military Sector just north of Scorpio. The drone was registering hundreds of ships spreading out across the entrance. And they were spreading out. “It’s a blockade they want to bottle us up in here. The attack on Scorpio was most likely a feint to distract us from the larger group moving into position.” Katae said. “Ruiko, hail the Tansaku, we need to move quickly if we are to avoid being trapped.” Ruiko started calling the Tansaku, and noticed that the Taii had signaled for the Ikoi to rendezvous with the squadron. “I’ve got Captain Sturm on the horn Taii.” “Sturm, Ise here, I need to ask a favor of you and your ships. Rendezvous with us at the following coordinates, and we are under a time constraint so hurry. Ruiko, signal the squadron to ready all casualties for transfer. We are going to send all the serious injuries back to Gemini aboard the Tansaku ships. Then with the Ikoi with us, we are going to make a run at the blockade, if we are lucky we will be able to operate out of Virgo until the fleet can break out of the blockade. Recall our weapon pods.” Ruiko watched the Katae exit the bridge. “Aye ma’am” he replied just before she stepped through the doorway.

Katae went to her cabin, and sat at her desk. She quickly prepared a message for headquarters outlining what she had discovered, and more importantly her plans to run the blockade and operate from Virgo behind the enemy lines. Katae reviewed the crew status for each of the ships in the squadron. The Integrity was severely undermanned at the moment. She made a decision regarding transferring some of her people to help bring her up to force. Just as she was about to leave she received a communiqué from headquarters. Katae scanned it and told Eternity to acknowledge it. She then made her way down to the Wardroom, she saw too many of her crew members on floor in various stages of injury. “Hoshi, can I have a moment of your time.” Hoshi turned to “Nami, bandage the burn, and get him ready for transfer.” He walked over to Katae, “Ise-Taii what can I do for you?” “Hoshi, you and Mariko need to pack your bags, you will be heading back to Gemini with the injured.” “Ma’am, why? Sure I got few bruises but nothing that will keep me from my duties.” He asked. “That’s the reason, your duties. You and Mariko have been transferred to a task force on Gemini that is looking into this bio-weapon the Mishhu are using. They need all the experienced medics and scientists they can get, especially after the devastation of Scorpio.” “Understood Katae, what are your plans?” “War is thrust upon us once again old friend.” She said placing her hand on his shoulder, “So once you and the wounded are all safely offloaded, I’m going take the squadron out before the blockade is complete. I plan to operate out of Virgo we’ll make repairs and replace crew members, and we’ll be working effectively behind enemy lines.” “I understand Katae, I will not say that I like it, but I understand it.”

 

[Nashoba]

Ruiko was sitting at his station watching as the squadron made its way to the rendezvous point. “Tso-Chui, Ruri-Hei, please report to the Captain’s cabin.” Eternity chimed in. He secured his station and walked out of the bridge. Why would the Taii want to see me in her quarters? He wondered as he walked down the short hallway from the bridge to her cabin. He pressed the door chime, when the door opened he walked in. “Hello Ruiko. This will not take long.” Katae said standing in front of her desk. “Is something wrong ma’am?” “You might well think so by the time I’m through. You know that we will soon be shipping the wounded back to Gemini. The Integrity’s officers are going to be shipped back due to their condition. So I wanted you to take command of her temporarily so that we could leave. Well, it seems that command has decided that they liked my idea as well. Effective immediately, you are promoted to the rank of Taii and will be in command of the Integrity. Congratulations.” “Yes ma’am, I… thank you. Of course I accept, given recent events, my earlier reticence about command is foolish.” “Well at least you will still be with the squadron, and you will have at least one person onboard that you know. Ruri is transferring to take over engineering.” Katae walked over and shook his hand, “You better go get some of your stuff packed, and you can transfer the rest of your stuff when we get to Virgo.” Ruiko nodded to Katae, “I will take care of that immediately.” He said and then left the cabin. Once in the hallway he paused briefly to consider what just happened. This war with the Mishhu was changing a lot of things; Ruiko knew one thing for certain. He would not let Katae down.

Katae was at her station watching the Tansaku leaving for the second time. The Ikoi was along side of the squadron. A quick glance around the bridge showed how much things had changed. When the Aeon left Gemini she was at full strength. Now she barely a third of the crew, and it showed on the bridge. “Kahen-Juni, signal the squadron to assume a box formation around the Ikoi. And get me a update from the VCMAD that we have watching the north entrance.” She watched as the Valkyjra operated the Mission Ops station. “I’m on it Taii.” Yani replied. “All ships are moving into position. The telemetry from the VCMAD shows that we still have a sufficient window to escape through at present.” Katae picked up the handset and hit the squadron channel. “Attention all personnel; I know we’ve been through a lot, and none of our ships are exactly in fighting trim. But you need to continue to do your duty. The Mishhu are trying to bottle up the 1XF in the KMS, but we’re going to punch out and make our way to Virgo Station. And then once our ships are repaired, we will see about giving them some payback. All ships engage CDD.”

The 7th Squadron accelerated smoothly to FTL and streaked towards the entrance and the blockade. Katae’s plan was simple, rush the blockade as fast as possible and not stop. To engage the enemy would mean certain death for the damaged Plumeria. The VCMAD showed them an area where there were no Mishhu ships present that should be large enough for them to escape. Katae watched as they headed towards it, expecting some sort of sinister trap to be sprung. For that reason she was poised to bring the weapons up should they be forced out of FTL. But at least this one time today fortune smiled on the 7th Squadron, and they streaked out into open space. Katae watched on the main screen as the entrance to the KMS faded into the distance and could not help but wonder when they would return this way. Once Katae was certain that they were not being pursued she set the course for Virgo. It was roughly eighty light-years to the Star Fortress, and at the best speed of the Ikoi, that gave them just under fifty-six hours of travel time.

 

[Nashoba]

When the 7th Squadron entered the Plumeria Gap, they were met by forces from the Samurai sector. The squadron was escorted to the proximity of Virgo station, and required to undergo a quarantine period while the crews and ships were screened for any signs of infection. Once the crew and ships were cleared they were allowed to approach Virgo and dock.


This concludes the YSS Aeon time as an Exploration ship on the SARP. From this point forward she is a plot ship.

See YSS Aeon Wiki Page for more information.