RP: YSS Celia [Anisa] Driving Mr. Eschve

[Yangfan]

The supply ship YSS Ellen Richards silently docked with the Imperial military outpost, which was situated on one of the larger planets in the Anisa system. Within seconds, Nekos began efficiently unloading the supplies and munitions onboard the ship.

Plans have been discussed to transfer the current designation of the supply ship to another ship more worthy of her deceased namesake, a Yuumi-class battleship, perhaps. For the moment, however, the humble supply ship remained YSS Ellen Richards.

The few passengers aboard the ship began filing out as well. Most of them were new recruits, and were reporting for duty at the desolate, lonely military outpost on the fringe of Imperial territory.

One of them, however, had been given a slightly more interesting assignment.

A Neko in a security sentry uniform stood a few yards away from the hatch from which the passengers emerged. She was holding up a piece of cardboard she found somewhere. Two words were scrawled across the cardboard with a pink lipstick: "MAZDA ESCHVE".

 

[Mokuren]

A tall man emerged from the hatch amongst other passengers, a tall, white haired man in technical sentry uniform, somewhat modified to fit with his purple-gray feathery wings.

Amongst the other passengers and recruits and aside from his looks, it was his expression that made him stand out a bit, the expression of a recruit that was just moved from one side of the empire to the other.

... Where we have arranged for a shuttle to carry you the rest of the way

The Elysian looked around on his way out of the ship, being a military outpost there had to be plenty of shuttles.

Do not attempt to pilot a shuttle to the ship yourself, as we currently have a full complement of shuttles already

The Elysian sighed silently, letting the air in and then out. Being moved again. Left without clues as to his next move, he decided to, simply, wait for whoever was supposed to bring him to his hopefully final destination.

 

[Yangfan]

It seemed that most of the other passengers knew where they were supposed to report to, as they quickly dispersed. One IDSOL, a genetically engineered Geshrin soldier, lingered at about a dozen yards away, and was examining a large flat screen monitor that displayed a map of the outpost. His large, 7-feet-tall frame made it impossible for anyone else to see the map.

Besides him, the only two people that remained near the hatch were the Neko and the Elysian.

The Neko wore a red-and-blue technical sentry uniform like Mazda's. A Nitô Hei rank pin rested on her bosom. She had a far-away look in her eyes, and was tapping her feet impatiently, but she soon noticed that the Elysian was the only passenger who still remained near the hatch, and that he was looking very much confused.

She stared at the name on the cardboard she was holding, at the Elysian, and at the cardboard again.

"Mazda Eschve?" she asked the Elysian. There was the slightest hint of disdain in her voice.

 

[Mokuren]

Mazda Eschve? Sounds like your name

The Elysian turned promptly and fluidly, without signs of hurry, <<Yes s...>>, no, a second look at the neko's pin and uniform made him pull back the 'sir'.

<<Yes, that would be me, Mazda Eschve, reporting for duty>> he concluded with a nod, more in tune with the situation, <<I'll take the gamble of assuming you are the shuttle driver?>>.

A Nekovalkyrie, so many of them in the empire. The Elysian didn't appear as lost as before now that he had some sort of hook, hopefully this meant he would have reached his assigned ship soon.

 

[Yangfan]

The Neko sighed. "Unfortunately, yes, I'm on shuttle duty. I've been ordered to deliver you to the Celia. One of her own shuttles was supposed to pick you up, but most of the ship's grunts are on an away mission or something screwed up like that." It was obvious that the Neko was not enjoying herself.

"So come on," the Neko began walking down one of the corridors that led away from the hatch, gesturing for Mazda to follow him. "The shuttle bay is just around the corner. Let's get this over with."

 

[Mokuren]

Mazda nodded, just the hint of a curve on the left side on his lip. So, he wasn't the only one pissed off with how his transfer operations were going, only vaguely comforting.

<<I'm right behind you>>, he stated as he followed the neko just around the corner. Wonder how the YSS Celia looks from the outside? If I'm lucky, I should at least get a glimpse, he thought as he followed his driver, sending casual glances at the outpost.

 

[Yangfan]

As Mazda turned the corner, he saw an opened hatch, and beyond it, the shuttle bay. The shuttle bay was fairly spacious, and had about a dozen shuttles parked inside. The Neko was quickly walking toward one of them.

Before Mazda could even reach the shuttle, the Neko had already opened the rear hatch of the shuttle and stepped inside.

"Let's go, let's go, Mr. Eschve," said the Neko from inside the shuttle. "I didn't dodge energy bolts from Seraphs and Elysians all those months just so I could drive them around all day. The sooner I drop you off, the sooner I get the rest of the day to myself."

 

[Mokuren]

Mazda sighed lightly at the unarguable logic of his Neko driver, and while he was in a hurry but not in the mood to run, her temper made him turn his walk to a light trot.

<<I'm boarding, I'm boarding>>, he said as if to reassure her; not that he thought she'd leave without him. Well, she probably would have if it depended on her, good thing the orders were coming from somewhere higher.

 

[Yangfan]

The shuttle's engines powered up even as Mazda got inside. The hatch closed behind him with a light hiss of air. As soon as he had sat down on one of the seats and buckled up, the shuttle lifted off of the ground, with the Neko at the controls.

"This is Junko to flight control. The shuttle's secure. Requesting depressurization," said the Neko.

"The bay is secure. Depressurization in five," a male voice replied from the shuttle's comm. system.

Within seconds, the air was pumped out of the shuttle bay, and the main bay doors opened to the cold, dead space outside. The barren, lifeless planet surface could be seen not very far below. The shuttle flew outside, and began its ascent out of the planet's gravity well.

Within minutes, the shuttle had achieved high orbit. A white, teardrop-shaped, Yui-class scout ship was lurking nearby. Through a small porthole near his seat, Mazda could barely make out the writing on the ship's hull: "YSS Jade - Third Expeditionary Fleet."

"This is Jade. Did someone order a hyperspace fold?" A female voice came over the comm. system.

"Yes... And no offense, ma'am, but wouldn't it be faster for you to have picked him up in the first place?"

"We need him on the Celia, not me. Trust me, it's more efficient this way," Jade replied reassuringly. "My sensors tell me that you're close enough. I'm gonna jump, okay?"

"Yeah. It's either that or spending two days in subspace with Mr. Eschve over here. Hit me."

Before Mazda could question about what's going on, a hyperspace drive aboard the Jade was engaged. The Jade and the shuttle blinked out of existence in normal space, and entered hyperspace.

Within a matter of minutes, the two spacecrafts reappeared in normal space, in medium orbit around the main planet of the Ohara system.

"Welcome to Ohara. That's what the natives call it, anyway," said Jade cheerfully over the comm. system.

Through the various portholes onboard the shuttle, Mazda could see the ships in the Celia battlegroup. The ships were all painted white, instead of the navy blue and blood red color scheme usually seen on Star Army ships. All of the ships were teardrop shaped, but were of various sizes. The smallest ones were the Ketsueki-class escort corvettes, while the somewhat larger ones were the Yui-class scout destroyers. These ships held a defensive position around the largest ship: the Ayame-class cruiser, YSS Celia.

The shuttle swiftly carried Mazda toward the Celia's shuttle bay.

"I guess they must really be desperate for more people over there at the Celia," said the Neko to Mazda. "The standard procedure is to have new recruits wait for the next time the ship gets re-supplied, which is not very often, mind you. I wonder just how thin the Empire's human resources are stretched... Well, it's really not my place to speculate. You'll be aboard the Celia shortly, Mr. Eschve." The Neko's mood seemed to have improved slightly, now that her guest was close to departing.

 

[Mokuren]

Indeed, everything seemed a bit off procedures as Mazda arrived, he couldn't fail to notice the Neko herself wasn't very prepared as to who she was supposed to drive away when he first arrived in Anisa.

<<If the ships don't resupply very often, it probably means they have to circumvent standard procedures to better organize the human resources. It seems you are more familiar than I am with this sort of situation, has the YSS Celia had other particular issues that you know of?>>

Nothing more than small chat, really, Mr. Eschve too was somewhat relieved from being so close to his destination. Yet, if what the Neko said was true (and he saw no reason for a lie) his assignment looked a bit out of the ordinary... Unless his ideas were right.

Either way, it wouldn't have been much longer before he finally received a relatively stable assignment.

 

[Yangfan]

"Hey, don't ask me," replied the Neko. "I'm just a grunt. They don't tell me anything, either. All I know is that you expeditionary types have it made. You guys get all the excitement of space travel, and none of the danger of the front lines..."

The shuttle silently landed on an empty spot inside the Celia's shuttle bay.

"Now get out of here, Ms. Eschve," said the Neko as the shuttle's hatch opened. "I want to get back to the outpost in time for Movie Night." Mazda could detect a slight hint of jealousy in her voice.

Two Geshrins, one male and one female, were waiting outside the shuttle. Both wore green medic uniforms.

"Oh hello," said the male Geshrin to Mazda. He seemed quite surprised that the shuttle was carrying a passenger.

"What can I do for you, sir?" asked the Neko. Mazda could see that both of the medics were wearing Chui rank pins. It was quite natural for medics to carry the equivalent ranks of junior officers, of course.

"Celes and I are transferring off the Celia. Chusa Megami Celia said that you would give us a ride over to the outpost at Anisa," replied the male Geshrin. His female companion waved.

"Yeah, okay. People have been using this thing like a taxi anyways," answered the Neko, pointing a thumb at Mazda with a smile. "If I may ask, sir, ma'am, were are you transferring to?"

"We're going to help out at the front lines," replied Celes enthusiastically. The male Geshrin nodded.

"What? Are you guys cra... Oh, never mind. Forget I said anything," said the Neko. "Come aboard, sir, ma'am."

"We'll let the Nitô Hei disembark first," Celes politely replied.

 

[Mokuren]

Mazda nodded, <<Thanks for the kindness, Chui>>; he then quickly disembarked but without showing any hurry.

One Nitô Hei more and two Chui less... Not much of a gain for the Celia in term of ranks, but if the neko was right, the expeditionaries didn't really need too many ranks to work.

<<Good luck Nitô Hei, and have a nice evening>> he said before leaving, not that the neko would probably thank him or anything, but he simply had to tell her something nice.

<<... And good luck to you too>> he added a second later to the two Chui. Now, they really were going to need it.

But he didn't turn back anymore, from that moment on he set on to his next objective: report. He didn't cross half the galaxy to hesitate at the last moment, so the elysian went on his way to report to Chusa Megami Celia. Five more minutes and he finally would have a ship and an assignment, seemed like an odissey even if in small scale.

 

[Yangfan]

"Thank you," answered Celes to the Elysian as he walked away. The two Chuis got into the shuttle. Its hatch began to close as the Neko touched a button on the controls.

"So," the male Geshrin asked the Neko, "what's this I hear about Movie Night?"

As soon as Mazda left the shuttle bay, its air was quickly evacuated again. Within a minute, the shuttle lifted off and sailed into the darkness of space.

(OOC: Stefano, let's continue this on another thread. It will be labeled [YSS Celia, Ohara].)