Episode 0: [YSS Mazu] - Chōyō Maru 朝陽

The Itto Hei wished she was a Joto Hei. But sadly she knew all to well her military was largely over. She was just riding out the current surprise tour to figure out if she will get discharged or go into the reserves.

"Nice to meet you Himawari-hei, I am Itto Hei Kurita Tomomi, ship operator trained IT specialist." She said with a smile trying to hide her inner feelings regarding that. "Starship Systems Tech?"

Hiroki

The cold shoulder he should have expected, sighing looking back around the crowd. Seeing so many new faces, Hiroki decided to make his way towards the other pilots. The sting from his sister's cold shoulder beginning to thaw." Good evening to the both of you. I am Shōi kōhōusei Motoyoshi-Yoshitsune Hiroki. I couldn't help but stop by and say hello, considering we will be working together." His words came softly, in a playful manner. As he bowed again, noting the higher rank of one of the pilots he had come into contact with.

She felt... so wrong still. She hated the feeling of the clothing that wrapped around her body, the medals that had been pinned to her chest like some showy cat at a parade or something, she couldn't even make a good analogy in her head she hated this so much. It seemed that those who had arrived avoided her, including her sister whom Tenshi eventually spotted, and for good reason probably. She more than likely looked miserable, and she felt it. The playful jab at her through the closed communication in her mind made inky black eyes find their source for a moment before she spoke back in the same way. "I feel like a fucking cat on display right now. I hate this... I wore REAL clothes for this... Real clothes. This isn't a volumetric display, this is real, and you made me do this..." The last bit was a playful jab at Kaoru, a way to try and make herself feel a little better in her seemingly terrible situation in her mind. She let out a sigh and snuck over to the bar as she tried to avoid the others to grab another drink, something weak so she didn't make herself look like a complete ass, and prayed she could sneak back away just as she had come once she had bounty in hand. Again she spoke to Kaoru in her mind.

"There are way to many damn white panels on this ship, I don't know who I can screw with and who I have to be extra good around. Most blues I could at least hip bump out of my way but sweet fucking Yui there are to many white panels here..."

Kaoru found herself at the epicenter of a new crew; the formal setting she had chosen had forced a distant form from that unhinged party on the Tokyo. She picked up the drink that Hinomaru-Hei had prepared for her and stirred it with the short black straw for a moment as she took in the room. The siblings present was something political beyond the usual Motoyoshi collective connection, with her mother's plans the more of them that were together and under the right set of eyes the fewer chances of an incident. It was at least comforting that the set of eyes that were apparently were the right ones were hers; maybe even Kazumi's, Kaoru oddly wasn't jealous of her more she somewhat resented the fact that she seemed to avoid her at every turn. Hiroki was late, the only thing that saved him from a whirlwind of shit was the fact that Tio had gone as far as to schedule a shift during the mixer.

"I know the feeling, and look where I am," Kaoru responded to Datenshi, "Forget the damn panel colors, we've been through enough together now. I doubt it will be the last time we find out bloodstains show on all panel colors," she adjusted her uniform skirt as she spoke through wireless, "Have a drink, chat a few up and then excuse yourself to the armor bay. I'm sure Namika is down there."

Kaoru took a long sip of her drink, gave a forced smile to Mazumi, and then turned to face whatever came next. It was time to take care of that little irk, she walked towards Kazumi and asked, "Did you get any time to review the information from Gemini on the transmissions they picked up from the system we are headed to?" While she had asked that aloud, she wirelessly addressed the situation finally, "Imouto, why do you seem so ...uptight around me?" she asked awkwardly through the privacy of minds. It was almost a matter of amusement that she chose to speak with Kazumi rather than give her iron foot to Hiroki's ass. Her back was to him, her awareness though didn't exclude him she was tempted to tell him what a prick he was for always being absent or off with some whore.

As a Taisa, her attention always had to be split with the task at hand and the countless other things that had to be done. She made eye contact with Yukio as he slowly started across the room, she made a gentle lift of her hand and privately whispered over wireless, "Come over here when you have a second, " she summoned. Her lithe movements settled back into stillness as she returned her steel eye contact with Kazumi. Naoko seemed to avoid socialization, Kaoru observed her younger sister briefly but not with her eyes, rather through her connection with MEGAMI. That was not going to last long she would be next.

-

Minato moved towards the little gathering between the Technician and Information Technology Officer; she figured this short-lived event was the perfect chance to give some of the meddlers some attention. She certainly stood out, a platinum blonde with icy blue eyes she had a presence that was certainly only enhanced by her attitude. "Can't wait to get your hands up under my panel and your eyes in my coding? Already conspiring together I see," she said as she joined Kenta and Tomomi. That was her greeting, the ice breaker; hopefully, they would get the same level of amusement out of her words as she did.

-

Main Bridge

Tio sat at the Communications station on the bridge, he wasn't in a mood for another party or another set of memories to go with the ones from the End of Year festivities. He noted Blues' presence but didn't say anything. The two of them shared some things in common, unfortunately, they were the types of things that people just didn't talk about - like the fact they had both been held and tortured on the Akuro III by his insane, traitor of a sister. Tio took a drink from his tumbler, the logo of the YSS Mazu engraved on the front of it, he wished he had stopped in at the Warm and Sweet for something else as his green tea had gone cold since he had left his quarters.

He would let Blues go first if he chooses to, in the meantime, he silently reviewed the transmission analysis of the strange computer-driven messages that Gemini had intercepted.

The YSS Mazu continued to transit through hyperspace towards the E-6 System.

Kazumi held a collins glass filled with a vivid mixture of light to dark violets so dark they were all but black near the bottom. The evidence of some clear base was there that in some areas had begun to intermingle with almost inky depths at the bottom of the glass. The analyst had been quietly observing the others, her painted lips suckling at her drink with a straw so helpfully provided. This rare, lurking opportunity had come to a rather abrupt, startling, and suddenly nerve-wracking halt. Mid suck, the tart yet berry sweet liquid hit her tongue with an assault of flavor backed with the fizzing delight of the ginger ale as its base.

Kazumi coughed, the drink had threatened to go up her nose, but instead had ended up 'going down the wrong pipe.' Wheezing from her clenched airway, her creaky sucking in of air began to gradually relax as she exerted control over the muscles. With a rattling breath and slight massaging of the throat, Kaoru's youngest sister suddenly remembered to backpedal just a few steps. Her breathing still held a slight wheeze as she ran a hand across her chin which came away with a few droplets of drink.

"W-What?" she began, the stammer kept to a minimum as at the moment Kaoru was acting the Taisa, and as such adopted her more professional demeanor. "I was in the process of r-r-r-reviewing it before..." she spread her arms wide to indicate this little shindig. But she was quick to add that she'd returned to doing so. Even off-duty she'd often still work on her own time. A digital brain was a beautiful thing with a PANTHEON connection and a now MEGAMI system to assist. She was no KAMI like the Tokyo, but the MEGAMI was still quite the potent computational suite.

Further reporting would've come out as incomprehensible when the second question just seemed to come out of the left field. It was like being sucker punched. A swirling of a complex mixture of thoughts and feelings tore at the desperate hold she had on them.

"I-I-I," stammering having begun again across the mind to mind link between the two, Kazumi found herself sucking upon that straw with a fury. The glass went down by a third. It was a poor, stupid stalling tactic.

Turning back, Kazumi tried staring her sister in the eye. There was a heavy exhale from her nose as trembling lips parted to spin their reasons. A tiny squeak came out first, cough and then clearing of the throat. "Y-You're so... so...standoffish towards me." her mental voice stammered near the beginning, took another long pull on her drink, and continued. "So distant." murmuring the last little bit so it came and went as an echo in their shared contact.

"Fr-Frankly it worries me t-t-to the point of being scared." amongst other things, "If I s-say the wrong thing. Or do the wrong thing." a healthy scowl marred her once trembling lips, the urge to just speak verbally was overwhelming. She'd always preferred to use the verbal word. Yet she persisted with this mental conversation, "A-And every time I've ever had t-to walkthrough an aftermath of one of your 'nights'," the last was so low and in such a way it was as if Kazumi were right there whispering it into her sister's ear instead of such telepathic means. That simple thought of closeness caused gooseflesh to prickle on her skin along with a subtle tightening of the muscles, "I have f-f-f-flashbacks of walking in on mom and dad auntie Eri more than once while growing up." she finished by draining the glass down to the ice. Oh if it were alcohol she'd have let it rock her system at this point. At the very least she hadn't shuddered at such mind scarring thoughts.

Her free hand came up, the abject shock, fear, guilt, and roiling gut full of possible certain death warred from within. There was more of course. But that right there were two key points for her. Especially from the last party. Turning fully around, her shoulders slumped, and the sound of a ragged breath sprouted in the air about them. "Fuck my life," she muttered under her breath then.

Mazumi busied herself with making drinks and passing them out, while also making sure that he wasn’t giving a drink to one who had already had one. Alyx was soon spotted and important Separa’shan info was brought up in her hot” Hai, I do!” She said in acknowledgment to Alyx’s words as she moved over to grab the Sake for her, and the proper cup too. She set that up for the Separa’shan and handed it to her. “Here you go, Ma’am. I’m sorry I am ordered to only give one alcoholic drink.

Koaru’s forced smile had been noted, but she chose not to react since she felt it much more important to prepare drinks. Mazumi glanced around to monitor things when she specifically looked at Minato, her elder sister. Kazumi caught her attention next, and she found herself concerned over her, but she remained.

Rubbing the back of her head as Miyu softly smiled at Reiko "Don't worry about it, it was quite a ride back at Tokyo. The battle was savage and we lost a lot of pilots in that battle, but we pulled through eventually as we succeeded in our mission" Miyu spoke and sighs at that last few words "Thought I do wonder if it was worth it, we stopped the war but knowing the economical drive of the Kuvexians...how long until they recover from this battle?" Thinking about it made her look back outside seeing that the ship was still in transit.

"So how was your assignment at Tange so far? I mean there was quite some work to be done there?" Miyu spoke softly and looked back at her. He then notices Hiroki standing there as she rose an eyebrow and looked slightly not impressed "Hello, are you the waiter?"

Naoko watched the people interact around here for a moment longer catching some oh the introductions. She could see another person who looked about as uncomfortable as she felt and sighed for a moment. She lifted her data pad opening her messages and began to lay out her thoughts. She was entirely enveloped in her own little bubble as if she were back in her room or even her lab. She attacked a photo of her an Nikkusu to the message but held off on sending it. She started to look threw the rest of the messages in the chain little pops of color from photos she had sent. Maybe a reply here or there but nothing much. She sighed sending the message before looking back up at the people around her.

Standing up straight, the smile becoming slightly smaller. Hiroki's eyebrow raised in annoyance."Excuse me? I cannot say I am the Waiter Jōtō Heishōu, I apologize if you did not hear me. My name is Motoyoshi-Yoshitsune Hiroki, I was assigned as a pilot and Shōi kōhōusei for this ship. Since we will be working together, I wanted to properly introduce myself. Can I get either of you a drink? I would very much like to get to know my comrades, especially ones so decorated."

The sheer inner agitation from being ignored once again,never showed on his face after the raise of his eyebrow. Though the grip on the pommel of his Kyu-Guntō tightened, the leather of the glove straining slightly. Putting on his usual mask, the man looked out to the view of the void." At least we are never without a beautiful view, both the endless stars and the beauty before me."

Kenta nodded proudly when Tomomi mentioned starship systems. "Yep, that's my job here it looks like! Working with my hands, fixing broke things. Thought about trying IT once, but when I saw the curriculum at academy then I said nah... I'll leave that to the big brain types out there. And, heh, well, I'm sure you have a wonderful one under that nice purple hair, Tomomi-hei." He gave a little grin to the fellow techie, trying to impress the senior soldier.

It was right then he immediately felt the all-encompassing, grey-blue eyed presence of the MEGAMI's avatar right on top of the duo and he froze up a little. That sure wasn't an ordinary crewmember behind the bar like he thought -- if only he had read a little bit more of the primer before boarding the YSS Mazu. "M-Minato-sama," he stammered once in an overly honorific way to the rather busty goddess of the ship, before eventually nervously laughing at the attempt at an icebreaker. "H-hey now," the red-panel recovered, waving his hands innocently front of him to ward off her apparent suspicions. "I dunno about your previous crew but I'm an honest guy... only necessary scheduled maintenance, I promise!"

Tomomi was not used to the subtle flirting or complements for that matter. She just put her hand in front of her mouth and nervously laugh as she tried to come up with a response beyond the simple thank you she said.

But her body language changed when the ship avatar slid her way over to them. The nervousness quickly was replaced with excitement. After Kenta's response, she simply overrode her natural social awkwardness and places her arm over his shoulder and pulled him in a bit. She didn't seem to care he was rubbing into her chest now.

"Oh don't be like that. This is the perfect time to get to know one of the most advanced AIs out there. I have been dying to meet one in person that prefers having a physical form." Tomomi said with a smile, thinking about all the practical experience she could get being on board.

Sseeing Minato with the pair of enlisted and his CO whispering over to him, he adjusted his course to immediately make his way over to her. Upon reaching his destination, he gave the required depth of a bow for someone of her position and he turned to look at the rest of the crew interact with each other.

"You rang Captain?" Yukio responded with a bit of casualness people keep telling him to have. It felt off to him.

"Thank you." Alyx said, accepting the Sake. She took a long sip of it, and felt the warmth spread out and form a ball in her gut. It made her feel much better.

Then she joined the small circle with Miyu and Reiko, "I don't think the Kuvexians will bother us for a long time. They were so centralized that they had five whole planets of bankers in one system. I'm not sure that all of our bankers together would fill even one planet."

Datenshi let out a small sigh as she eyed Kaoru for a moment but downed her drink and eventually began to drift around the room. She eavesdropped on a few conversations with the others, but never really pushed herself into the conversation itself. She made it at least seem like she was mingling, but everywhere she looked it just seemed to... stiff. She shivered a little and eventually drifted back over to the bar and tried to get the attention of the one manning the bar with a little wave before she mimed the motion of drinking. Again, she prayed she could sneak by, yet still look as if she was there socializing. She was sure she was going to get caught this time as she drifted over by the group that stood by the view holes to look outside and nearly spit out her drink at the terrible pick-up line the guy tried to lay down.

Thankfully she clamped a hand over her mouth just in time, but the redhead spun to put her back to the group of Miyu, Reiko and Hiroki. While she at least felt as if she had hidden the laughter on her face, the shake of her shoulders and body belied her amusement at the situation as she did her best not to break out in laughter at what he had just said. After a moment or two to compose herself, she stood a few paces away from the group with a smile and sipped at her drink, listening but not saying anything, which frankly was weird for the redhead.

"Nothing big. Mostly supply drops. Lots of supply drops." said Reiko with a sheepish smile. As she saw the Shõ approach and listened to his pick up lines, the Neko snorted with a sweatdrop. Poking Miyu with her elbow she sent a telepathic message, "I think he's talking about you."

Noticing Datenshi's smirk, Reiko decided to give her a show. Gasping dramatically, Reiko turned her hear towards the window asking, "A great beauty? Where?!"

Her sister was a terrible influence.

Main Bridge

Blues noted Tio and acknowledged his presence with a nod. After a few moments of studying the instruments, the man decided to speak to his adopted nephew.

"...Tio, I usually don't question things above my station...but maybe you can satisfy my curiosity. There's a phrase called 'don't put all of your eggs in one basket'..." Blues had a slightly irritated tone as he decided to just go ahead and ask the question, "...so what the hell was the logic behind putting you and your sisters all on the same ship? Did the Taisho have a reason or did someone in personnel just make a colossal screw-up?"

Kaoru downed her drink quicker than she had expected, driven by the words of her little sister she drank as the words tumbled and Kazumi's reactions mounted. Had she been standoffish? Was that the reason why Naoko was at a distance as well? Kaoru had grown up with a weight on her; she was made to replace a child that had become a traitor and dishonored her family in a way that had left wounds now that had been open for decades. Had she inadvertently used her superior rank? her place as heir as a shield to push these other siblings away? Kaoru frowned and she didn't know how to respond. The private wireless conversation obviously had an effect on her, her cheeks flushed and she had actually struck a bit of unease with her own emotional state. This was the Star Army, but Clan was important too. Kaoru looked at her first officer, " Hold on a second," she said, then stepped forwards and wrapped her arms snugly around Kazumi's frame.

"Imouto..." she continued in the privacy of her and Kazumi's conversation, "I love you...I love you and all of our siblings so very much. I'm sorry I was standoffish, and I'm sorry if I made you afraid. We can fix this...I can fix this," she whispered. The hug didn't last long but there was no need for a bigger scene than there already was. She was embarrassed herself, cheeks tinged pink as she looked towards her first officer. 'Fuck...' she thought to herself as she uncoiled from her sister. That was some bad timing, calling him over just in time to see the facade of her best command face shatter like a mirror. At least there wouldn't be some illusion of who she was or was not.

There was only one way to go from there. She tucked a strand of her dark purple hair back behind her ear, which caused it to twitch and she looked to Yukio with a smile as she corrected her posture, "Ryu-Mizumitsu Chusa, this is my sister, Motoyoshi Kazumi. She's going to be our Intelligence Analyst..." she introduced her XO to her sister. "Did you enjoy the Victory Day celebrations before you came on board?" she asked. Was command really about diversions? It was not what she asked him over for but this strategy would lead to it soon enough.

"Stop hiding, Naoko. Come over here?" she whispered to Naoko by wireless.

MEGAMI played a pleasant instrumental selection; the flute, and harpsichord blended with the chimes and light percussion of a classical Yamataian tune.

-

Minato gave a playful smile as she looked at Kenta, leaned slightly forwards, and said quietly, "We will see how honest you are, once your hands are on my critical subsystems, until though you're all talk." She straightened and looked towards the IT officer and added in, "I prefer no attitude adjustments either, I get cranky when people mess with me. You don't want to see me cranky." Minato was kidding of course, but she wanted to make them squirm a little.

She was a little shocked at Tomomi's desire to get to know her, "Well, there is no better time than the present, Kurita-Hei. What would you like to know about me?" She looked at Kenta after she asked, and playfully said, "I'd ask you questions too, but pretty soon I'm going to know what pajamas you wear." She paused, a look of concern crossed her face as her systems communicated.

-

Main Bridge

Tio quirked a brow at the question Blues asked, he had not considered that when he had accepted his orders. The former Prince paused the analysis he had been involved in and turned in his chair slightly as he replied, "Frankly speaking, I doubt they would tell me either way. I figured I was sent here to keep me out of my mother's business. I guess she is retiring and planning to leap back into the pit with the bureaucrats. We all have backups so I guess they consider it an acceptable risk. Plus, I think it was Motoyoshi-Yamada Chujo that made the call, I'm pretty sure the public appearance at Victory Day was my mother's last gig in the Star Army." He was being honest, he really didn't know anything. "What about you? How did you get assigned here - or was it a Kaoru thing?" he asked.

He was going to say more but MEGAMI interrupted him, "Hmm..," he said as he looked at the screen. "There is another communication coming from the E-6 system." A volumetric screen opened and information scrolled on it. "What the... I think we better call the XO," he said to Blues, "This communication has a massive amount of information compressed in its quantum signature, like....so much that MEGAMI can't even accept it, it has engaged her safeties." He was going to wait for Blues, after all, he was the ranking officer on the bridge, but his orders were to report anything out of the ordinary to the senior staff. "Motoyoshi Tio-Shoi to Ryu-Mizumitsu Chusa, I'm sorry to interrupt but we're getting another signal from E-6. This one isn't pointed at the Yugumo Cluster it is actually specified for us and it is massive," he said over the communications channel, he could hear the sound of the music in the Wardroom as he spoke to the first officer.

Tio seemed perplexed, as he thought about his own report he couldn't help but question how whatever it was knew that they were on their way there. Was it watching them? How did it know the Star Army dispatched them? He checked their location, they were inside the passage between the Akuro and Katsuko Nebulae, they would soon be entering the Motoyoshi Colonial Sector on a common course that was used by a lot of the military traffic that went near E-6 but not through it. He looked to Blues, uncertain of his own analysis. The system chimed, and the communication attempt ceased.

Kenta felt the tug around his broad shoulders as they suddenly met with the softness of Tomomi's chest briefly. His fellow crewmate's call to look on the bright side of this unique situation he had found himself in wasn't a bad one... and man it sure was feeling better already, at least with the warm, close camaraderie. Of course, he also had to tuck his hands at his side and stop the temptation to continue this line of thinking to the next logical step and be a gentleman to the fellow techie. "Yeah... you do have a point there! This is the first time I've seen a MEGAMI so direct. They don't teach you this kind of stuff in academy, so it's going to take some getting used to."

The avatar's coy smiles and subsequent quips made the Jiyuuian get a little nervous again, though this time he stood his ground and tried to counter with an attempt to wit. "Minato-sama, don't judge a book by it's cover. Would I be here on this ship if I wasn't good with my hands?" Kenta then snapped a finger and gave a short laugh. "Though something tells me you might be the type of AI to want to see my sleepwear choices a little closer than through a nodal sensor network."

"Nice to meet you Motoyoshi-Shoi Kohosei" Yukio smiled in a very practiced manner you would only get from years upon years of nobility etiquette education. He then bowed to her due to her status with the Motoyoshi Clan, ignoring her rank. He was about to continue speaking when he stopped.

"Directed at us?" he said calmly before looking at Kaoru. He kept the mental communication open as he spoke out loud so Tio can hear her response. "Captain, a communication from E-6 is being directed at us now instead of in general. It is a massive amount of information compressed within it. MEGAMI has engaged safeties as it cannot handle it. Considering we still do not know what we are dealing with, should we cut the transmission or attempt copying a part of it before cutting it?" Yukio asked, providing as much information and suggestions as he could.

He would have simply said to cut it after copying something to analyze, they had no idea what they were still dealing with. That information could just as likely be a virus as it could be cultural information of some lost alien. But quantum communications were not his expertise and his CO was right next to him. It would be improper for him to act at the moment.

Totomi, on the other hand, was blissfully unburdened with the weight of command. She could continue to be as carefree as she is as usual. Not letting go of Kenta yet. "I'm pretty sure SAINT has my choice of pajamas in my file, but usually it is nothing. I only wear the bottoms and top of the PT uniform so I can move about the ship. Though with those new upgrades Minkans got last year, I can walk around like most Nekovalkyjra now." she just said, being a completely different person when in the presence of AIs.

She then finally let go of Kenta, but remain close as she thought of questions to ask Minato. "What do you like and dislike? Hold on, are you alright?" she asked, not wanting to ask something the technical manual can simply answer. But then she saw the change in her face.

As Mazumi looked around, she heard Tomomi and heard she was interested in meeting AIs with a physical form, and that would technically include her. She almost wished she hadn’t had duties to perform. She smiled at Alyx as she was thanked before she turned her attention to the one that appeared to want to sneak around. {Tenshi} She mixed her a drink that she hoped to allow her to calm herself before handing it to her wordlessly.

She mixed another drink and handed it out as another had ordered it.

Seeing the person stand there throwing name and rank at her face didn't impress her at all and it was seeable in her facial expression. Miyu sighs a bit and looked at Reiko "I can see that he is talking to me, I tried to wave it off" She whispered softly to her and looked back at him "I am provided with a drink of my sanity, I am trying to recover from the last battle. Where you there or doing something else...useful?" Miyu replied a bit sassy and annoyed.

Looking at how the group got attention seeing another one joining the circle, Miyu tried to distract herself as the attitude level was getting quite high for her. She looked at Alyx and smiled softly "I can only hope so, the bombers and fighters have put many lives on the line to create a path for our ships to take out those planets. We only have to deal with the remains that are still out there feasting on the remains of their naval ships" A the same time she notices Datenshi there as well, it made her scratch the back of her head and blink "I didn't expect that this was the fun corner of the formality party, Datenshi you look... out of phase" She winks at her.