YE 46.2
Taisho Kessaku Irim stepped out onto the shuttle bay deck of the YSS Kaiyo II, her overcoat flying off her shoulders into the hands of her Shirovakten Nekovalkyrja yeoman to reveal a resplendent Type 35 duty uniform covered in medals and awards, in the white color of command. The Admiral's red eyes looked around the interior for a moment before she fixed them and her ghostly pale face on the ship captain in front of Taiyou Hoshi.
Shadowed as she was in the presence of these monolithic women as they spoke to one another then about her, Hoshi smoothed her own Type 35 jacket as she thought on their words. They had made up her hopes and dreams for many years, setting the precedent for what she wanted to do and how to do so. But, as Hoshi had become more intimate with those in command, she had learned that the fantastic heroes in her mind were sometimes more glorious within those confines rather than the larger scope of reality.
From Yui, though, she had recently been given a mission and had found the business of receiving an assignment from her not only straightforward, but inspiring. Something about Yui felt familiar to the pink captain, perhaps because she had served on board the YSS Kaiyō II with Yui’s biological daughter, Aiko, all these years. Regardless, the comfort she felt around the Ketsurui clan head always danced on the blade’s edge and could be replaced with a turbulent nervousness at a moment’s notice. Adding Irim into the Hoshi’s presence meant that the captain was anything but unceremonious as she bowed and greeted her ship’s guests.
"Yui says you're doing important work down here," the older Nekovalkyrja began.
"That's right," Taisho Yui said, stepping off the shuttle behind Irim. "She's been making great progress in cooperation with the Uesureyan Star Empire."
"I hear they're making your sister, Yuumi, a Taisho again," Kessaku Irim said.
"I have mixed feelings about that," Yui replied. "Something for another time. Anyway, it's Hoshi's hour. Hoshi, we've come to give your ship a bit of an inspection and to catch up with you. Normally it would just be your admiral Irim but I snuck down here with her to take a look as well."
"Believe it or not, this is my first time on a Fuji-class gunship," Taisho Irim told Hoshi. "I spend most of my time at the star fortress or on large battleships and dreadnaughts. I was just on the YSS Battle of Yamatai, which is larger than my star fortress! We had quite a battle with the NMX in the Concordia Sector. One of the Kaiyo's sister ships, the YSS Resurgence had to dock afterwards for the hospital because so many of their crew were injured. Try to do better than that," Irim said with an amused chuckle.
When conversation turned to her and the other Fuji-class, whose crew she had met before, Hoshi pondered aloud, "When we have that many injuries, we simply reroute hemosynth fluid to the onsen's bath and get in together. Nothing better after a battle."
"Brilliant," Yui said, impressed. "I'll have to share that idea," she said. "So, what have you and the Kaiyo crew been up to lately?" Taisho Yui asked.
"How's that Mishhu kill count?" Irim added with a fanged smile.
"Killing Mishhu, to answer your question, Mistress. For yours, Irim-taisho, depends." Hoshi said. As she spoke, she led them out of the shuttle bay and through the fifth deck's hall, hovering as she did. She stopped in to the power armor bay where Aiko's Kirie sat next to Sarah armors, typical Mindy armors, and a trio of out-of-place Nepleslian Cyclops.
"If you're asking about the Advanced or the Enhanced and Next Generation of Mishhuvurthyar, Taisho. I'd need my whole crew here to count the number of dead Mishhuvurthyar on their fingers, but sadly they are absent. If you're asking solely about these next generation Mishhu, it takes our all. I could count that number on one hand." Hoshi's voice had lost the proud edge she had begun with as she floated towards a Mindy near the armory, set on a table but pierced and crumpled in the torso.
"This was our medic's armor, she was liquified inside of it and dead before we could even react." Hoshi said, still somber but resolute.
"We've encountered the Enhanced Type in the Concordia Sector as well. It seems they've become increasingly widespread. We've also had reports of a new type that can liquify itself and has mind-control powers. One of our fleet's ships, the YSS Dragon Sword, was completely taken over by as few as one Mishhuvurthyar, who was using it as a factory to make supplies for the NMX war effort, such as bazookas and beam rifles. As a result, I've asked captains not to use teleporter modules because they could fall into enemy hands and the more they get, the closer they could be to gaining that technology," Irim told Hoshi, looking at the dead crew member's Mindy armor with a determined expression.
"Interesting, within Uesureyan space—where we encountered our first Enhanced—we faced off against a new sort of Nightmare who used mind control tactics, as well. It's no good affair having to fight your own people." Hoshi said.
Yui nodded. "We think that the Mishhu have turned increasingly to mind control, parasite use, viral warfare, and any way they can to force others to serve their cause and make their forces bigger, in an attempt to outproduce us and to seize control of different parts of the galaxy they're reaching through wormholes and long-range missions."
"That's something I wanted to mention, too," Hoshi said. She patted the armor on its shoulder respectfully, then turned to lead the Taisho out of the power armor bay. "Where we just were, the system's head of office had been controlled with a parasite and their terraforming project had been swept out of the people's control. A sole Enhanced with only five Mishhuvurthyar starships was able to make a whole planet into its factory. It's not too dissimilar to what happened to the Dragon Sword, if you ask me."
"It's certainly a force multiplier. We can't allow them to just continually grow out there, which is why we had to declare the Third Mishhuvurthyar War and start hunting them where they're at. Unfortunately they're already quite spread out and I expect this war to go on for a long time unless we can find a way to stop them," Yui said.
"It feels like they certainly have an edge where we're forced to reactively strike what they've been building for years right now," Hoshi said as she stepped into the zero gravity passageway. She put a hand over her command white hat to keep it from floating up even as her blue and white hair splayed out around it.
"Right, which means we are going to be more spread out; therefore, we have to rely on smaller Star Army units like exploration teams and lone starships like the Kaiyo to come up with creative solutions and effective attacks," Yui said. "We don't have the fleets to just send a fleet at everything anymore, and when we have, the Mishhu have managed to come up with equally large fleets."
"And there's no plausible chance of peaceful coexistence," Irim nodded. "It's kill or be killed. We'll never give up this war until the galaxy is safe from them. It's time to show them the Nekovalkyrja is still the apex predator."
"They are are species that shouldn't exist in the first place, a corrupted science project from the labs that made me. They are a failure and a mistake that needs to be expunged from the universe forever. By us," Yui scoffed.
"If it's down to battle tactics and thoughtfully laid plans, we have the advantage and always will," Hoshi replied, head swimming with what Yui had initially said about creative solutions and effective attacks. Her mind went back to Kessica, then back to the Concordia Sector and then what Irim had said about the sole Mishhu able to take over a ship. Coming to hear all else that was said, her jaw set in a rigid look of determination not unlike the one Irim had looked on at the broken armor with earlier. The captain led them to her bridge and the starboard door opened for them.
Yui and Irim, plus their two shadows, followed Hoshi in and gave all the bridge crew members warm handshakes and gold coins as souvenirs of their visit. "Keep up the good work," Yui told them. "Make First Fleet proud," Irim encouraged them. After spreading some love they stood on either side of Hoshi. Someone snapped a photo of the occasion with a data pad.
Once things calmed down Yui turned to Hoshi and said, "Alright, you want to show me what this ship can do?"
Irim flashed a big grin, her catlike fangs showing once more. "Oh, I have an order for you. Don't let these Star Army of Uesureya ships outdo you while you're down here. You keep the Star Army of Yamatai on top," she said, giving Hoshi a fatherly pat on the back. "I have, and not without reason, great expectations."
"As Yui said, they're to be expunged by us." Hoshi said. Having been beaming ear to ear, Hoshi heard Irim's words and it made her dark blue eyes grow serious as she looked into Irim's pale face. "I will be sure not to let you down."
= = =
JP by Wes and Ametheliana
Taisho Kessaku Irim stepped out onto the shuttle bay deck of the YSS Kaiyo II, her overcoat flying off her shoulders into the hands of her Shirovakten Nekovalkyrja yeoman to reveal a resplendent Type 35 duty uniform covered in medals and awards, in the white color of command. The Admiral's red eyes looked around the interior for a moment before she fixed them and her ghostly pale face on the ship captain in front of Taiyou Hoshi.
Shadowed as she was in the presence of these monolithic women as they spoke to one another then about her, Hoshi smoothed her own Type 35 jacket as she thought on their words. They had made up her hopes and dreams for many years, setting the precedent for what she wanted to do and how to do so. But, as Hoshi had become more intimate with those in command, she had learned that the fantastic heroes in her mind were sometimes more glorious within those confines rather than the larger scope of reality.
From Yui, though, she had recently been given a mission and had found the business of receiving an assignment from her not only straightforward, but inspiring. Something about Yui felt familiar to the pink captain, perhaps because she had served on board the YSS Kaiyō II with Yui’s biological daughter, Aiko, all these years. Regardless, the comfort she felt around the Ketsurui clan head always danced on the blade’s edge and could be replaced with a turbulent nervousness at a moment’s notice. Adding Irim into the Hoshi’s presence meant that the captain was anything but unceremonious as she bowed and greeted her ship’s guests.
"Yui says you're doing important work down here," the older Nekovalkyrja began.
"That's right," Taisho Yui said, stepping off the shuttle behind Irim. "She's been making great progress in cooperation with the Uesureyan Star Empire."
"I hear they're making your sister, Yuumi, a Taisho again," Kessaku Irim said.
"I have mixed feelings about that," Yui replied. "Something for another time. Anyway, it's Hoshi's hour. Hoshi, we've come to give your ship a bit of an inspection and to catch up with you. Normally it would just be your admiral Irim but I snuck down here with her to take a look as well."
"Believe it or not, this is my first time on a Fuji-class gunship," Taisho Irim told Hoshi. "I spend most of my time at the star fortress or on large battleships and dreadnaughts. I was just on the YSS Battle of Yamatai, which is larger than my star fortress! We had quite a battle with the NMX in the Concordia Sector. One of the Kaiyo's sister ships, the YSS Resurgence had to dock afterwards for the hospital because so many of their crew were injured. Try to do better than that," Irim said with an amused chuckle.
When conversation turned to her and the other Fuji-class, whose crew she had met before, Hoshi pondered aloud, "When we have that many injuries, we simply reroute hemosynth fluid to the onsen's bath and get in together. Nothing better after a battle."
"Brilliant," Yui said, impressed. "I'll have to share that idea," she said. "So, what have you and the Kaiyo crew been up to lately?" Taisho Yui asked.
"How's that Mishhu kill count?" Irim added with a fanged smile.
"Killing Mishhu, to answer your question, Mistress. For yours, Irim-taisho, depends." Hoshi said. As she spoke, she led them out of the shuttle bay and through the fifth deck's hall, hovering as she did. She stopped in to the power armor bay where Aiko's Kirie sat next to Sarah armors, typical Mindy armors, and a trio of out-of-place Nepleslian Cyclops.
"If you're asking about the Advanced or the Enhanced and Next Generation of Mishhuvurthyar, Taisho. I'd need my whole crew here to count the number of dead Mishhuvurthyar on their fingers, but sadly they are absent. If you're asking solely about these next generation Mishhu, it takes our all. I could count that number on one hand." Hoshi's voice had lost the proud edge she had begun with as she floated towards a Mindy near the armory, set on a table but pierced and crumpled in the torso.
"This was our medic's armor, she was liquified inside of it and dead before we could even react." Hoshi said, still somber but resolute.
"We've encountered the Enhanced Type in the Concordia Sector as well. It seems they've become increasingly widespread. We've also had reports of a new type that can liquify itself and has mind-control powers. One of our fleet's ships, the YSS Dragon Sword, was completely taken over by as few as one Mishhuvurthyar, who was using it as a factory to make supplies for the NMX war effort, such as bazookas and beam rifles. As a result, I've asked captains not to use teleporter modules because they could fall into enemy hands and the more they get, the closer they could be to gaining that technology," Irim told Hoshi, looking at the dead crew member's Mindy armor with a determined expression.
"Interesting, within Uesureyan space—where we encountered our first Enhanced—we faced off against a new sort of Nightmare who used mind control tactics, as well. It's no good affair having to fight your own people." Hoshi said.
Yui nodded. "We think that the Mishhu have turned increasingly to mind control, parasite use, viral warfare, and any way they can to force others to serve their cause and make their forces bigger, in an attempt to outproduce us and to seize control of different parts of the galaxy they're reaching through wormholes and long-range missions."
"That's something I wanted to mention, too," Hoshi said. She patted the armor on its shoulder respectfully, then turned to lead the Taisho out of the power armor bay. "Where we just were, the system's head of office had been controlled with a parasite and their terraforming project had been swept out of the people's control. A sole Enhanced with only five Mishhuvurthyar starships was able to make a whole planet into its factory. It's not too dissimilar to what happened to the Dragon Sword, if you ask me."
"It's certainly a force multiplier. We can't allow them to just continually grow out there, which is why we had to declare the Third Mishhuvurthyar War and start hunting them where they're at. Unfortunately they're already quite spread out and I expect this war to go on for a long time unless we can find a way to stop them," Yui said.
"It feels like they certainly have an edge where we're forced to reactively strike what they've been building for years right now," Hoshi said as she stepped into the zero gravity passageway. She put a hand over her command white hat to keep it from floating up even as her blue and white hair splayed out around it.
"Right, which means we are going to be more spread out; therefore, we have to rely on smaller Star Army units like exploration teams and lone starships like the Kaiyo to come up with creative solutions and effective attacks," Yui said. "We don't have the fleets to just send a fleet at everything anymore, and when we have, the Mishhu have managed to come up with equally large fleets."
"And there's no plausible chance of peaceful coexistence," Irim nodded. "It's kill or be killed. We'll never give up this war until the galaxy is safe from them. It's time to show them the Nekovalkyrja is still the apex predator."
"They are are species that shouldn't exist in the first place, a corrupted science project from the labs that made me. They are a failure and a mistake that needs to be expunged from the universe forever. By us," Yui scoffed.
"If it's down to battle tactics and thoughtfully laid plans, we have the advantage and always will," Hoshi replied, head swimming with what Yui had initially said about creative solutions and effective attacks. Her mind went back to Kessica, then back to the Concordia Sector and then what Irim had said about the sole Mishhu able to take over a ship. Coming to hear all else that was said, her jaw set in a rigid look of determination not unlike the one Irim had looked on at the broken armor with earlier. The captain led them to her bridge and the starboard door opened for them.
Yui and Irim, plus their two shadows, followed Hoshi in and gave all the bridge crew members warm handshakes and gold coins as souvenirs of their visit. "Keep up the good work," Yui told them. "Make First Fleet proud," Irim encouraged them. After spreading some love they stood on either side of Hoshi. Someone snapped a photo of the occasion with a data pad.
Once things calmed down Yui turned to Hoshi and said, "Alright, you want to show me what this ship can do?"
Irim flashed a big grin, her catlike fangs showing once more. "Oh, I have an order for you. Don't let these Star Army of Uesureya ships outdo you while you're down here. You keep the Star Army of Yamatai on top," she said, giving Hoshi a fatherly pat on the back. "I have, and not without reason, great expectations."
"As Yui said, they're to be expunged by us." Hoshi said. Having been beaming ear to ear, Hoshi heard Irim's words and it made her dark blue eyes grow serious as she looked into Irim's pale face. "I will be sure not to let you down."
= = =
JP by Wes and Ametheliana
