Star Army Headquarters, Kyoto, Yamatai
Towering high above the city of Kyoto, the Star Army's spire provided an epic overlook of the city and the forests and suburbs beyond, at least when they weren't covered by clouds. Raindrops ran down the windows of Taisho Yui's office near the 500th floor. The office was clean, ornate, new, and mostly unused since she spent most of her time on her flagship these days. A large curved desk with a little Yamataian Flag on it and a matching Star Army of Yamatai flag sat on the desk while Yui leaned back into a comfortable leather chair. Two samurai stood near the door, motionless.
Leaving the entourage behind at Motoyoshi-jo, Katsuko made her way into the heart of the Empire. Flags of her fleet marked the corners of the hoods of the cars in her motorcade. The second they arrived, she was out of the car and headed into the Spire. Credentials and security checks were rapid for Flag officers, so it was only a few minutes before she was riding the lift up towards the top of the spire. Wearing the new Type 35 Duty Uniform, she proudly showed off the command whites which seemed radiant as her curly blue threads tumbled down over her shoulders. It was hard to believe that it had been so long, nearly four years had past since she had seen Yui. It was the longest the two had gone without at least a brief in-person meeting, something that Katsuko considered paramount to the continuation of the Star Army's mission. Her fleet had returned with a few victories under its belt, and with that she held in confidence that this would be a good time to solidify old ties.
The veteran Taisho emerged from the lift, nodding respectfully to the two samurai as she disappeared behind the double doors of Yui's office. "Mistress-Taisho..." she said warmly, happy to see the steadfast woman she had idolized her entire career.
"Welcome back to Kyoto," Yui greeted Katsuko, turning her chair away from the window and rising from her chair to go give her adopted family member a hug.
Katsuko hugged Yui back tightly, "It is good to be home. Hope I'm not intruding, I know you are busy." she said politely, looking around the office briefly. Katsuko had not been there since the Spire was built, despite having an office herself that she never occupied. She had three Chujo as the representatives of her fleet on the homeworld.
"It is alright, come in!" Yui smiled. "Can I get you some tea?"
"Sure." Katsuko smiled warmly, "You look well. You plan on staying planetside long?" Katsuko was curious at how long her old friend was going to be on the Capital Planet, most of the older generations preferred the frontiers.
Yui went to the comfort module on the side of the room and poured some hot water into mugs and added some peach-flavored green tea bags to it. "I am here for the moment, but I rarely know where I will be the next day," Yui said. "The Empire has many interests to protect and I stay on the move. But Kyoto is always a good and pleasant place to be. Especially when friends drop in."
Katsuko nodded, sitting down in one of the chairs. "It is a good place to be, but I suppose I am just stubborn. I don't know if I could live here, I would miss my fleet. It is nice to come back and see you though." The Taisho briefly glanced towards the raindrop covered window that looked out over the city. "We have many interests to protect, the war has went on for too long. It looks like we are starting to change the tide though." Katsuko wanted to see the NMX out of the remainder of the systems they had annexed.
"It is going to keep going for a long time, I think," Yui said. "We have disrupted them but not destroyed them. My focus right now is to prevent them from safety withdrawing assets they can use to raid us with later. When they are beyond our sight they will likely attempt to rebuild."
"They have become more destructive in some ways. No longer having actual assets to protect like systems. It frees their entire force for raids." Katsuko knew this to be true, as the Taisho of the Empire's only mobile fleet not to have a home system. "With all due respect, I wish to help drive the tip of our blade through the heart of their twisted organization." She turned her head, looking back towards Yui. "I have always tried to follow your teachings and direction, even through the most troubling of times. However I can be of service to you and the Empire." Katsuko relished the respect her mentor held for their nation, for there within Yui's words existed the still beating Imperial epicenter of Yamatai.
"We need to stablize our space, clean up the NMX leftovers, and modernize our forces to be prepared for future invasions," Yui said. "At the same time, we are going to need the expeditionary fleets to hunt the Mishhuvurthyar whereever they go."
"I think it should be a priority as well to ensure our space-lanes and access to KMS is secure." Katsuko said in suggestion, "I presented to you in my report about this Mishhuvurthyar who identifies herself as Angelica..I suspect that she is operating in the southwestern frontier as that it correlates with where the Yuurei disappeared."
"Perhaps you can make Angelica disappear," Yui said,handing Katsuko her fresh tea.
Katsuko nodded, "Her reoccurring appearances seem to mark disaster." Katsuko accepted the tea greatfully, "Arigatou gozaimasu.." she clasped the mug securely and took a sip. "If I head in that direction, is there any other objectives I can accomplish in that region?" She asked, wanting to make her and her fleet as useful as possible.
"Clear out that sector," Yui said.
Katsuko nodded in affirmation. "I will make it my priority." Kat coudln't help but smile, it felt for the first time since she returned to Yamatai that she was at home. "This new generation of politicians are something else.." she said, offhandedly refering to the short trips she had made to the Senate Chambers. "Tough crowd to us old Imperialists..."
"Look, the only time they were any better was when it was a council of Taishos running the country," Yui laughed. "Don't let nostalgia get the best of you. The new constitution is pretty solid and built to make us a greater nation than most. And it still gives us some room, particularly for the military."
Katsuko had not considered things in that light, after a sip of tea she said in agreement, "You're right, and wise. My place is among the Taisho and the military. The frontier has always offered the spoils I seek, and bringing victory to Yamatai." Katsuko figured it was best to leave it there, dismissing from her mind the fact that one of their own had accused her of sabotaging intergalactic relations. "Is there anything occurring in the KMS region, or the southwest that I should be aware of?" She returned to the business at hand seamlessly.
"The First Expeditionary Fleet's Seventh Gunships Squadron is currently engaged in operations in the Higaflan system," Yui told Katsuko.
"That is close to where we will be headed, Bufarks is where the Yuurei disappeared. That region from what I heard still has a heavy infestation." Katsuko noted, "Perhaps the Seventh can aide the Squadron, while conducting our own operation."
Taisho Yui nodded.
Katsuko was satisifed with that and asked, "What else has been keeping you busy?"
"Lor."
Katsuko's jaw tightened a little bit, "A long time ago, I knew a farmer on Taiie. He constantly complained about the locusts that ate his crop. They kept coming and coming." Katsuko took a breath and let it out slowly, "The Lorath are much like locust. They go wherever the crop is good..Use whoever they can use to advance their war machine and they devour everything they touch. One I'm certain they will one day turn upon us, more than they already have." Katsuko looked back on her once very different views of things, "Even when their good 'friends' the UOC fell, from what I've seen they have scavanged for anything worth there. Between the Lorath, and the traitors of those colonies I believe the Empire should be cautious with any interaction."
"That they are still so powerful after the NMX demolished the UOC is hard to explain. I would not be surprised if we found out the Lorath sold the UOC out and made a deal with the Mishhuvurthyar," Yui frowned.
Katsuko could understand the grounds that Yui had to see things that way, "The deal could of even been the other way. That spiteful 'daughter' of mine that betrayed us all had Mishhuvurthyar ships with her at the Great Lighthouse. Hopefully the Ascendancy is not a tool that will come back to bite us. I put so much into that, I could not imagine it being used against the Empire." Katsuko said then, "I would not of put it past Kiyoko or the Tange to of sold out their entire population for some promise of power."
"After you are done at Bufarks, why not see if you can find Tio and the Akuro III?" Yui suggested. "We could use some closure...some justice."
Katsuko almost blushed with gratitude. "I will do that, Thank You..."
"It should be you," Yui told Katsuko.
Katsuko nodded in agreement. "It should have been me, to begin with."
Yui smiled a little. "Go get 'em."
Katsuko stood up, bowed once and then headed out the way she had come.
Towering high above the city of Kyoto, the Star Army's spire provided an epic overlook of the city and the forests and suburbs beyond, at least when they weren't covered by clouds. Raindrops ran down the windows of Taisho Yui's office near the 500th floor. The office was clean, ornate, new, and mostly unused since she spent most of her time on her flagship these days. A large curved desk with a little Yamataian Flag on it and a matching Star Army of Yamatai flag sat on the desk while Yui leaned back into a comfortable leather chair. Two samurai stood near the door, motionless.
Leaving the entourage behind at Motoyoshi-jo, Katsuko made her way into the heart of the Empire. Flags of her fleet marked the corners of the hoods of the cars in her motorcade. The second they arrived, she was out of the car and headed into the Spire. Credentials and security checks were rapid for Flag officers, so it was only a few minutes before she was riding the lift up towards the top of the spire. Wearing the new Type 35 Duty Uniform, she proudly showed off the command whites which seemed radiant as her curly blue threads tumbled down over her shoulders. It was hard to believe that it had been so long, nearly four years had past since she had seen Yui. It was the longest the two had gone without at least a brief in-person meeting, something that Katsuko considered paramount to the continuation of the Star Army's mission. Her fleet had returned with a few victories under its belt, and with that she held in confidence that this would be a good time to solidify old ties.
The veteran Taisho emerged from the lift, nodding respectfully to the two samurai as she disappeared behind the double doors of Yui's office. "Mistress-Taisho..." she said warmly, happy to see the steadfast woman she had idolized her entire career.
"Welcome back to Kyoto," Yui greeted Katsuko, turning her chair away from the window and rising from her chair to go give her adopted family member a hug.
Katsuko hugged Yui back tightly, "It is good to be home. Hope I'm not intruding, I know you are busy." she said politely, looking around the office briefly. Katsuko had not been there since the Spire was built, despite having an office herself that she never occupied. She had three Chujo as the representatives of her fleet on the homeworld.
"It is alright, come in!" Yui smiled. "Can I get you some tea?"
"Sure." Katsuko smiled warmly, "You look well. You plan on staying planetside long?" Katsuko was curious at how long her old friend was going to be on the Capital Planet, most of the older generations preferred the frontiers.
Yui went to the comfort module on the side of the room and poured some hot water into mugs and added some peach-flavored green tea bags to it. "I am here for the moment, but I rarely know where I will be the next day," Yui said. "The Empire has many interests to protect and I stay on the move. But Kyoto is always a good and pleasant place to be. Especially when friends drop in."
Katsuko nodded, sitting down in one of the chairs. "It is a good place to be, but I suppose I am just stubborn. I don't know if I could live here, I would miss my fleet. It is nice to come back and see you though." The Taisho briefly glanced towards the raindrop covered window that looked out over the city. "We have many interests to protect, the war has went on for too long. It looks like we are starting to change the tide though." Katsuko wanted to see the NMX out of the remainder of the systems they had annexed.
"It is going to keep going for a long time, I think," Yui said. "We have disrupted them but not destroyed them. My focus right now is to prevent them from safety withdrawing assets they can use to raid us with later. When they are beyond our sight they will likely attempt to rebuild."
"They have become more destructive in some ways. No longer having actual assets to protect like systems. It frees their entire force for raids." Katsuko knew this to be true, as the Taisho of the Empire's only mobile fleet not to have a home system. "With all due respect, I wish to help drive the tip of our blade through the heart of their twisted organization." She turned her head, looking back towards Yui. "I have always tried to follow your teachings and direction, even through the most troubling of times. However I can be of service to you and the Empire." Katsuko relished the respect her mentor held for their nation, for there within Yui's words existed the still beating Imperial epicenter of Yamatai.
"We need to stablize our space, clean up the NMX leftovers, and modernize our forces to be prepared for future invasions," Yui said. "At the same time, we are going to need the expeditionary fleets to hunt the Mishhuvurthyar whereever they go."
"I think it should be a priority as well to ensure our space-lanes and access to KMS is secure." Katsuko said in suggestion, "I presented to you in my report about this Mishhuvurthyar who identifies herself as Angelica..I suspect that she is operating in the southwestern frontier as that it correlates with where the Yuurei disappeared."
"Perhaps you can make Angelica disappear," Yui said,handing Katsuko her fresh tea.
Katsuko nodded, "Her reoccurring appearances seem to mark disaster." Katsuko accepted the tea greatfully, "Arigatou gozaimasu.." she clasped the mug securely and took a sip. "If I head in that direction, is there any other objectives I can accomplish in that region?" She asked, wanting to make her and her fleet as useful as possible.
"Clear out that sector," Yui said.
Katsuko nodded in affirmation. "I will make it my priority." Kat coudln't help but smile, it felt for the first time since she returned to Yamatai that she was at home. "This new generation of politicians are something else.." she said, offhandedly refering to the short trips she had made to the Senate Chambers. "Tough crowd to us old Imperialists..."
"Look, the only time they were any better was when it was a council of Taishos running the country," Yui laughed. "Don't let nostalgia get the best of you. The new constitution is pretty solid and built to make us a greater nation than most. And it still gives us some room, particularly for the military."
Katsuko had not considered things in that light, after a sip of tea she said in agreement, "You're right, and wise. My place is among the Taisho and the military. The frontier has always offered the spoils I seek, and bringing victory to Yamatai." Katsuko figured it was best to leave it there, dismissing from her mind the fact that one of their own had accused her of sabotaging intergalactic relations. "Is there anything occurring in the KMS region, or the southwest that I should be aware of?" She returned to the business at hand seamlessly.
"The First Expeditionary Fleet's Seventh Gunships Squadron is currently engaged in operations in the Higaflan system," Yui told Katsuko.
"That is close to where we will be headed, Bufarks is where the Yuurei disappeared. That region from what I heard still has a heavy infestation." Katsuko noted, "Perhaps the Seventh can aide the Squadron, while conducting our own operation."
Taisho Yui nodded.
Katsuko was satisifed with that and asked, "What else has been keeping you busy?"
"Lor."
Katsuko's jaw tightened a little bit, "A long time ago, I knew a farmer on Taiie. He constantly complained about the locusts that ate his crop. They kept coming and coming." Katsuko took a breath and let it out slowly, "The Lorath are much like locust. They go wherever the crop is good..Use whoever they can use to advance their war machine and they devour everything they touch. One I'm certain they will one day turn upon us, more than they already have." Katsuko looked back on her once very different views of things, "Even when their good 'friends' the UOC fell, from what I've seen they have scavanged for anything worth there. Between the Lorath, and the traitors of those colonies I believe the Empire should be cautious with any interaction."
"That they are still so powerful after the NMX demolished the UOC is hard to explain. I would not be surprised if we found out the Lorath sold the UOC out and made a deal with the Mishhuvurthyar," Yui frowned.
Katsuko could understand the grounds that Yui had to see things that way, "The deal could of even been the other way. That spiteful 'daughter' of mine that betrayed us all had Mishhuvurthyar ships with her at the Great Lighthouse. Hopefully the Ascendancy is not a tool that will come back to bite us. I put so much into that, I could not imagine it being used against the Empire." Katsuko said then, "I would not of put it past Kiyoko or the Tange to of sold out their entire population for some promise of power."
"After you are done at Bufarks, why not see if you can find Tio and the Akuro III?" Yui suggested. "We could use some closure...some justice."
Katsuko almost blushed with gratitude. "I will do that, Thank You..."
"It should be you," Yui told Katsuko.
Katsuko nodded in agreement. "It should have been me, to begin with."
Yui smiled a little. "Go get 'em."
Katsuko stood up, bowed once and then headed out the way she had come.