UES Ayame II
27日 8月 YE 46
It felt strange to have her ship docked on the huge Uesureyan ship once more. It had been nearly two years since the last time the Kaiyō had been tucked against the monolithic starship during planning for retaking Kessica. Since then she had met with Uesu planetside more than in what was the Emperor's home.
Meeting with the Kitsurugi samurai sent for her, Hoshi stood with her hands in front of where her soft-looking sweater met her long pleated skirt. Tucked under a felt beret, her pink face held a smile equal in warmth to her cozy late fall outfit.
Empreror Ketsurui Uesu was in his office, a fancy, deceptively old-looking den of ornate wooden shelves of leather-bound books glittering with gold stamped labels, a gargantuan desk, bearskin rugs, and dozens of legendary-quality paintings of space battles, alien worlds, and attractive Nekovalkyrja in resplendent Star Army uniforms. One of the walls had a huge screen that took up most of it, and it had a map of the re-established Uesureyan Star Empire, where one could recognize stars like Kessica, Atlantica, Sarah, and Chessie - hub systems of the USE.
Uesu looked a little older than the last time Hoshi had seen him, with a tinge of gray in his hair. He was dressed in a teal military uniform but the jacket was slung over the back of his large chair so he had a crisp white shirt on instead. The place smelled like coffee but he had tea as well.
"Ah, come in," Uesu invited Hoshi as his helpers showed her to his office. "First, I want to thank you for you and your crew's help with taking the wormhole from the Mishhuvurthyar," he told her. "With the distance between Yamatai and Uesureya shortened, so to speak, we can help each other in ways never possible before, and make both of our empires safer against the Mishhuvurthyar threat, which is unfortunately continuing to spread."
"Instead of a long journey here, the wormhole made it pretty quick," Hoshi acknowleged as she took a step further into his office. The warm aroma of coffee and the gilded, leather books tucked into their wooden shelves brought a wider smile to her face as she looked about at the aesthetics which Uesu chose to surround himself with.
"Which means I can get back to the Kikyo Sector sooner as we have a mission to stop some of that spread pretty soon. It's I who should be thanking you for reaching out to the Star Army to help you with Kawa no Uesu. Or are we sticking with calling it Venushhurl?" Hoshi asked.
"Are you implying I would name something after myself?" Uesu chuckled. He stood up and gave Hoshi a bow of respect before they continued. "Venushhurl will do. I like to remember the history. It's nice to...show that we took it from them, if that makes sense? I remember that Nepleslia wanted to rename the captured Mishhuvurthyar systems after the First Mishhuvurthyar War ended and it never really sat right with me and I don't want to do what they did. Besides, as far as Mishhuvurthyar names go, it's actually one of the more easily pronounced," he said, his voice laced with amusement. "How about a hot drink?" he offered Hoshi.
"I'll have a coffee with milk or black if you don't have it," Hoshi said, pondering his words. "It always struck me that the Mishhuvurthyar worlds weren't renamed, but the reasoning is sound. Maybe even subconsciously I was able to attribute the past hardships to take them because of that. Rather than painting over history, you've left them for posterity. Thanks for helping me understand that bit of history in a way the books wouldn't have laid out so plainly."
The Taisa seemed happy to stand, meandering a step or two to take in the finer details of Uesu's office. "You have quite a collection of old books. I've heard Hanako has an affinity for such as well. I'd ask if you think you passed down that trait to her, but I don't think I fully understand your relationship with Yui and Hanako, familial or not. Strange, isn't it, how family structures seem to work amongst us Ningyo Heiki once another species is brought into the mix."
She looked up at Uesu, deep blue eyes gauging his reaction as she realized some of her inner quandaries had found their way out of her mouth without much of a filter.
"She's so soft, yet became so incredibly strong. Who knew the servant girl who used to bring me tea would become a leader of the Empire? That's the power of the Star Army to forge leaders out of followers, and something I hope to have in my empire's Star Army as well. Hanako is also a hard worker. Between her government office and her role as Director of Star Army Personnel, I wonder when she has time to sleep. I can only hope she has great assistants. As far as family, I have Yuumi here now, and she's been great company as she has a skilled mind for design, planning, and leadership, plus all the manners Yui lacks," Uesu told Hoshi.
Her wide-eyed uncertainty faded as Uesu spoke and the captain remembered how easy the Emperor was to talk to in that moment. Feeling at ease, she shared a somewhat shameful insight.
"You've mentioned how much having Yuumi here means to you before. Embarrassingly, I don't know a lot about Yuumi, truly, except for her workout routine. Something like two hundred squats every morning. I should know more, honestly."
Moving on, Hoshi said, "But I have met Hanako's assistants, they're everything they need to be. As for Yui's manners, she's direct and honest. Two things—well one attribute, really—that I appreciate above all. Even when I sat in during your meeting on Kessica, you two have a good rapport. It was enlightening and gave me hope to see an Emperor Uesu able to return to Yamatai. After your help at Glimmergold and the way our joint forces have worked together against the Mishhuvurthyar, it feels more likely than not."
Uesu inhaled deeply, "Oh, I don't know about that, it's a new era, a new Yamatai. I left Yamatai the best leader I could create, in Himiko, and she seems like she's doing a good job. I can't just go back, it would great questions and instability, divided loyalties. She might even try to give the throne back to me out of a sense of obligation. I don't want to do that to her. It wasn't supposed to be temporary. Also I said, back in YE 30, that I wouldn't be back until YE 60," he explained. "That said, I think it's in our interest to work together. For one, Yamatai has a lot more civilians and we're mostly a military trying to hang on and build a country, which is backwards from the way nations normally work. Second, we have a common enemy and shared culture."
"There are other ways of being in Yamatai without such things," Hoshi said as she tried to push down a smile. "But it does seem like something they like to do, give you the throne. Yui did it when you were married, right? I honestly think that's very sweet, but you could always come back with some precautions in place. Boundaries, if you will. I feel like there was a moment in time, a part of history, that will never be replicated. But we are in a new era where history doesn't have to repeat itself. Perhaps these are all idle wants of an officer that's been around a long time, but not long enough."
"I think Yui served as Empress because she had to. But the was raised as a soldier and being a soldier is what she does best. If she wanted power she could take it by force, but she doesn't. She's therefore exactly where she wants to me, leading wars and defending the Empire. One thing is for sure: If you want success in Yamatai, it's best to stay on Yui's good side. She has a lot of loyal soldiers and an intense unwillingness to back down from a fight," Uesu said. "If I returned to Yamatai I think I would have to give up all I've been building here and go as a retiree rather than a leader. But it's thrilling to build something out of nothing. Look at what these Nekovalkyrja and I are accomplishing."
"You must know more than me," Hoshi said. "But I just can't believe that's the only option after the ways we've worked together. But I've been wrong before and I'm still learning that." Her hand went to the back of her neck to massage it as she admitted, "Last time I met with Yui we were reporting some discord amongst Mishhuvurthyar warlords. I feel that in the call to understand the enemy, I almost overstepped into not being on her good side. But like with you, I have a respect for and like Yui enough to trust her over myself. She still granted me permission to investigate, so I think I'm in the right to assume I didn't stray from that good side you speak of."
"But back to my point..." Hoshi looked to the large screen that had all of the stars of the re-established Uesureyan Empire. She looked from the one she knew, Kessica, to Chessie and Atlantica. "I suppose I wouldn't want to risk leaving what I had built here either. I'm glad to have helped protect it and wouldn't want to see anything more happen to what you've accomplished."
"In the early days, before Yamatai, Uesureya was part of an alliance called the United Empire Forces, consisting of Uesureya, Tymia, and the Tre Empire. Their space military, the UE Spacy, was the direct predecessor of the Star Army we know today, and their planetary forces were the greens, which eventually became the faction that rules Nepleslia to this day. Maybe some day soon we can do something similar, and have a shared Star Army that serves all our empires...Yamatai, Nepleslia, Uesureya, Elysia, and so on..."
"Seems like overkill just to have a daytrip back to Yamatai," Hoshi said, eyes wide as she turned her attention back to him. "But in all seriousness, if that's something you want and something Himiko and Yui want. Aiko-chusa has been working with Nepleslia and relations with them are better than it feels like they have been my entire lifetime. I can see it being something a lot of Neko like me would find comforting. It's hard not knowing if your progenitors get along, honestly. I feel lucky to have this inside perspective that you do—that we do— but more beside me deserve it."
"When you said go back, I was thinking 'back' back, not just a visit. Sorry for the confusion," Uesu apologized. "Also I think the first thing we would have to settle is the structure and leadership of a merged Kitsurugi clan. It's already confusing on the Yamatai side where Yui is the clan leader, but Himiko is her Empress despite being lower on the Ketsurui totem pole."
"I'm half joking anyway," Hoshi said. "But now that you're getting into the minutiae, I'm realizing just how little of substance I can contribute. I like the concept as a whole, but maybe diplomats like Aiko or Hanako are better suited to those parts of a discussion. I'm just excited to see you thinking of reconnecting clans or nations seriously. It's healing, in a way."
"I think so too," Uesu nodded. He handed her a warm cup of coffee and sat in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace drinking a mug of his own that had a little picture of Hanako on it in the style of a coffee-shop logo. He raised it in a mock toast. "To cooperation, now and in the future."
Finding herself in one of the plush seats, Hoshi raised her cup with a smile that made one of her eyes pinch closed and she repeated his words. She wanted to ask him next about one of the spectacularly painted space battles on the wall and perhaps another anecdote from history she always wanted to hear from him. But in the moment, she soaked in the coffee alongside the warm atmosphere and was happy with what they had discussed already and for the cooperation to come.
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OOC: JP by Wes and Ame
27日 8月 YE 46
It felt strange to have her ship docked on the huge Uesureyan ship once more. It had been nearly two years since the last time the Kaiyō had been tucked against the monolithic starship during planning for retaking Kessica. Since then she had met with Uesu planetside more than in what was the Emperor's home.
Meeting with the Kitsurugi samurai sent for her, Hoshi stood with her hands in front of where her soft-looking sweater met her long pleated skirt. Tucked under a felt beret, her pink face held a smile equal in warmth to her cozy late fall outfit.
Empreror Ketsurui Uesu was in his office, a fancy, deceptively old-looking den of ornate wooden shelves of leather-bound books glittering with gold stamped labels, a gargantuan desk, bearskin rugs, and dozens of legendary-quality paintings of space battles, alien worlds, and attractive Nekovalkyrja in resplendent Star Army uniforms. One of the walls had a huge screen that took up most of it, and it had a map of the re-established Uesureyan Star Empire, where one could recognize stars like Kessica, Atlantica, Sarah, and Chessie - hub systems of the USE.
Uesu looked a little older than the last time Hoshi had seen him, with a tinge of gray in his hair. He was dressed in a teal military uniform but the jacket was slung over the back of his large chair so he had a crisp white shirt on instead. The place smelled like coffee but he had tea as well.
"Ah, come in," Uesu invited Hoshi as his helpers showed her to his office. "First, I want to thank you for you and your crew's help with taking the wormhole from the Mishhuvurthyar," he told her. "With the distance between Yamatai and Uesureya shortened, so to speak, we can help each other in ways never possible before, and make both of our empires safer against the Mishhuvurthyar threat, which is unfortunately continuing to spread."
"Instead of a long journey here, the wormhole made it pretty quick," Hoshi acknowleged as she took a step further into his office. The warm aroma of coffee and the gilded, leather books tucked into their wooden shelves brought a wider smile to her face as she looked about at the aesthetics which Uesu chose to surround himself with.
"Which means I can get back to the Kikyo Sector sooner as we have a mission to stop some of that spread pretty soon. It's I who should be thanking you for reaching out to the Star Army to help you with Kawa no Uesu. Or are we sticking with calling it Venushhurl?" Hoshi asked.
"Are you implying I would name something after myself?" Uesu chuckled. He stood up and gave Hoshi a bow of respect before they continued. "Venushhurl will do. I like to remember the history. It's nice to...show that we took it from them, if that makes sense? I remember that Nepleslia wanted to rename the captured Mishhuvurthyar systems after the First Mishhuvurthyar War ended and it never really sat right with me and I don't want to do what they did. Besides, as far as Mishhuvurthyar names go, it's actually one of the more easily pronounced," he said, his voice laced with amusement. "How about a hot drink?" he offered Hoshi.
"I'll have a coffee with milk or black if you don't have it," Hoshi said, pondering his words. "It always struck me that the Mishhuvurthyar worlds weren't renamed, but the reasoning is sound. Maybe even subconsciously I was able to attribute the past hardships to take them because of that. Rather than painting over history, you've left them for posterity. Thanks for helping me understand that bit of history in a way the books wouldn't have laid out so plainly."
The Taisa seemed happy to stand, meandering a step or two to take in the finer details of Uesu's office. "You have quite a collection of old books. I've heard Hanako has an affinity for such as well. I'd ask if you think you passed down that trait to her, but I don't think I fully understand your relationship with Yui and Hanako, familial or not. Strange, isn't it, how family structures seem to work amongst us Ningyo Heiki once another species is brought into the mix."
She looked up at Uesu, deep blue eyes gauging his reaction as she realized some of her inner quandaries had found their way out of her mouth without much of a filter.
"She's so soft, yet became so incredibly strong. Who knew the servant girl who used to bring me tea would become a leader of the Empire? That's the power of the Star Army to forge leaders out of followers, and something I hope to have in my empire's Star Army as well. Hanako is also a hard worker. Between her government office and her role as Director of Star Army Personnel, I wonder when she has time to sleep. I can only hope she has great assistants. As far as family, I have Yuumi here now, and she's been great company as she has a skilled mind for design, planning, and leadership, plus all the manners Yui lacks," Uesu told Hoshi.
Her wide-eyed uncertainty faded as Uesu spoke and the captain remembered how easy the Emperor was to talk to in that moment. Feeling at ease, she shared a somewhat shameful insight.
"You've mentioned how much having Yuumi here means to you before. Embarrassingly, I don't know a lot about Yuumi, truly, except for her workout routine. Something like two hundred squats every morning. I should know more, honestly."
Moving on, Hoshi said, "But I have met Hanako's assistants, they're everything they need to be. As for Yui's manners, she's direct and honest. Two things—well one attribute, really—that I appreciate above all. Even when I sat in during your meeting on Kessica, you two have a good rapport. It was enlightening and gave me hope to see an Emperor Uesu able to return to Yamatai. After your help at Glimmergold and the way our joint forces have worked together against the Mishhuvurthyar, it feels more likely than not."
Uesu inhaled deeply, "Oh, I don't know about that, it's a new era, a new Yamatai. I left Yamatai the best leader I could create, in Himiko, and she seems like she's doing a good job. I can't just go back, it would great questions and instability, divided loyalties. She might even try to give the throne back to me out of a sense of obligation. I don't want to do that to her. It wasn't supposed to be temporary. Also I said, back in YE 30, that I wouldn't be back until YE 60," he explained. "That said, I think it's in our interest to work together. For one, Yamatai has a lot more civilians and we're mostly a military trying to hang on and build a country, which is backwards from the way nations normally work. Second, we have a common enemy and shared culture."
"There are other ways of being in Yamatai without such things," Hoshi said as she tried to push down a smile. "But it does seem like something they like to do, give you the throne. Yui did it when you were married, right? I honestly think that's very sweet, but you could always come back with some precautions in place. Boundaries, if you will. I feel like there was a moment in time, a part of history, that will never be replicated. But we are in a new era where history doesn't have to repeat itself. Perhaps these are all idle wants of an officer that's been around a long time, but not long enough."
"I think Yui served as Empress because she had to. But the was raised as a soldier and being a soldier is what she does best. If she wanted power she could take it by force, but she doesn't. She's therefore exactly where she wants to me, leading wars and defending the Empire. One thing is for sure: If you want success in Yamatai, it's best to stay on Yui's good side. She has a lot of loyal soldiers and an intense unwillingness to back down from a fight," Uesu said. "If I returned to Yamatai I think I would have to give up all I've been building here and go as a retiree rather than a leader. But it's thrilling to build something out of nothing. Look at what these Nekovalkyrja and I are accomplishing."
"You must know more than me," Hoshi said. "But I just can't believe that's the only option after the ways we've worked together. But I've been wrong before and I'm still learning that." Her hand went to the back of her neck to massage it as she admitted, "Last time I met with Yui we were reporting some discord amongst Mishhuvurthyar warlords. I feel that in the call to understand the enemy, I almost overstepped into not being on her good side. But like with you, I have a respect for and like Yui enough to trust her over myself. She still granted me permission to investigate, so I think I'm in the right to assume I didn't stray from that good side you speak of."
"But back to my point..." Hoshi looked to the large screen that had all of the stars of the re-established Uesureyan Empire. She looked from the one she knew, Kessica, to Chessie and Atlantica. "I suppose I wouldn't want to risk leaving what I had built here either. I'm glad to have helped protect it and wouldn't want to see anything more happen to what you've accomplished."
"In the early days, before Yamatai, Uesureya was part of an alliance called the United Empire Forces, consisting of Uesureya, Tymia, and the Tre Empire. Their space military, the UE Spacy, was the direct predecessor of the Star Army we know today, and their planetary forces were the greens, which eventually became the faction that rules Nepleslia to this day. Maybe some day soon we can do something similar, and have a shared Star Army that serves all our empires...Yamatai, Nepleslia, Uesureya, Elysia, and so on..."
"Seems like overkill just to have a daytrip back to Yamatai," Hoshi said, eyes wide as she turned her attention back to him. "But in all seriousness, if that's something you want and something Himiko and Yui want. Aiko-chusa has been working with Nepleslia and relations with them are better than it feels like they have been my entire lifetime. I can see it being something a lot of Neko like me would find comforting. It's hard not knowing if your progenitors get along, honestly. I feel lucky to have this inside perspective that you do—that we do— but more beside me deserve it."
"When you said go back, I was thinking 'back' back, not just a visit. Sorry for the confusion," Uesu apologized. "Also I think the first thing we would have to settle is the structure and leadership of a merged Kitsurugi clan. It's already confusing on the Yamatai side where Yui is the clan leader, but Himiko is her Empress despite being lower on the Ketsurui totem pole."
"I'm half joking anyway," Hoshi said. "But now that you're getting into the minutiae, I'm realizing just how little of substance I can contribute. I like the concept as a whole, but maybe diplomats like Aiko or Hanako are better suited to those parts of a discussion. I'm just excited to see you thinking of reconnecting clans or nations seriously. It's healing, in a way."
"I think so too," Uesu nodded. He handed her a warm cup of coffee and sat in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace drinking a mug of his own that had a little picture of Hanako on it in the style of a coffee-shop logo. He raised it in a mock toast. "To cooperation, now and in the future."
Finding herself in one of the plush seats, Hoshi raised her cup with a smile that made one of her eyes pinch closed and she repeated his words. She wanted to ask him next about one of the spectacularly painted space battles on the wall and perhaps another anecdote from history she always wanted to hear from him. But in the moment, she soaked in the coffee alongside the warm atmosphere and was happy with what they had discussed already and for the cooperation to come.
- - -
OOC: JP by Wes and Ame
