RP: Pisces Episode 01 - 'Under A Blind God'

None

Marina was about to respond to Nozomi when Caine called; she flipped open her comm and responded "That's unlikely, however, your suggestion is prudent. Get to it."

Returning her attention to her XO, Marina sighed. "They've brought in a civilian systems expert; the Information Systems team leader. The fleet's resources are stretched, and there are very few people who can supervise the installation of an IES unit; apparently, he's the only qualified person they could get here within a reasonable amount of time. And the KAMI hasn't arrived yet, anyway...remember that these systems are extremely complex. They're only one step removed from PANTHEON."

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Chief pondered her next move. "I guess that it would have to be, to serve an entire space station. I'll talk to one of my civilian friends, see if she can't get me a deal from a private contractor, loan us out a system until we get KAMI up and running."

She regarded Marina deadpan, already weary despite only having been on the station for less than a week. "Said she knew someone with a highly advanced starship AI, but not who, or where. We're probably better off just installing old-style mainframe services and terminals for the time being. Heaven knows there are plenty of scrapped computers lying in storage all over the galaxy." If there were still any left that is, and if they could be delivered before KAMI got up and running.

"What I really need is an estimate of the current level of the system's completion. If I had that, you can be damned sure that I'd arrange for it to be finished within ten days."

Although not a technician, not really, she still understood the basics well enough that she could help the experts and also accomodate them so they would get their job done fast. "Forget soldiers. They need to send us technicians."

Rob Dougan - Drinking Song

Anzalez Dastravi, in all his black-haired, tinted-aviator wearing glory, was asleep when he heard the instructions from one of his subordinates. Waking up with a start, he sighed. "They want me to what?" Being one of the senior staff of Kessaku, reporting directly to Kessaku Anri herself, Dastravi had quite a bit of experience with all sorts of computer systems - but you would hardly know it, from the way he acted.

He fumbled around for his communicator and called up the officer who gave the order. "Monitor all outgoing communications? I don't have the manpower for that! I'd need at least twice the number I have now, and the time to install the equipment!"

Camellia thought about what Anzalez Dastravi said. This wasn't new, the entire station's understaffed, herself included. But, this was also a serious case.

"That is not my concern, Mr Dastravi." She stated simply as she stroked her chin, "I have my orders, and now you have yours. See that you try and carry them out."

Rob Dougan - Drinking Song

"Shimatta," Dastravi said as he closed the comm. "Well, we may be able to finish the groundwork on time, while still monitoring communications, if we get the help of another team. Who do we have?"

A violet-haired neko repiled to the programmer. "There's the weapons team. They won't have heavy workload for at least a few days, and from what I hear, the leader is...talented." Surrepetitiously, the supordinate licked her fang. Dastravi didn't notice; his gaze was firmly locked on the Neko's chest; evidently, that's what the aviators were for.

"All right then. Contact them and tell them we need their help with the KAMI groundwork; our team is to focus on the communications tap. And no sex in the maitenance corridors this time!" The assistant nodded, sending the message to the weapons team...

<center>* * *</center>
Marina shook her head. "Ketsururi Fleet Yards regulates its systems very carefully. We can try, but I doubt they would allow you to install such systems...although this is an irregular case."

She turned, looking out towards the window and the cosmic blue beyond. "As for terminal systems, that's part of the IES system, but luckily, that's one of the earliest steps. They should be up and running within the week. And security...Sarri-chui and Caine-shoi should be able to handle it, and if not, I'll arrange the transfers personally."

A sigh followed, and Marina softened; even turned away, one could see the difference in her actions. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected my first command to go smoothly, huh?"

Yaichiro and his team were getting some of the hardpoints for the secondary weapons ready ahead of time, and making good progress, even finishing the power and control pathway routing, when Yaichiro's communicator went off...

He read the message, and pointed to Kokoro-Heisho, and held up one finger....she was Number One until he got back. He left, to meet in the requested location with Dastravi.

Not satisfied with slapping furniture Chief got up and began pacing, scrawling on her clipboard furiously. "A week? A whole week before we have minimal operational capacity as far as networking goes? Why must this outfit be so forsakenly irregular?!"

After a moment she showed her clipboard to the captain; it now contained a rough diagram of a basic network structure as well as sketches of the terminals she had in mind. Boxy things, self-contained mainframes with interfaces, linking them together would provide enough processing power to load a rudimentary AI.

Terry ducked through an airlock and looked around him at the corridors. They really didn't give an impression of quite how large the station was. None the less Terry was smiling a little and whistling a dainty little tune as he ruffled through his bag for his communicator. Taking it out and flipping it open he contacted Marina, "Arisa-Taisa, Somoza-Shosa has arrived and is reporting for duty.â€

Rob Dougan - Drinking Song

SCENE >> Information Systems Office

Yaichiro was greeted by the one who called him immediately. "Greetings! Call me Dastravi. Anzalez Dastravi. Weird name, I know. Anyway, I'm one of the foremost experts on the IES system." From his appearance, and what he was wearing - a plaid shirt and somewhat old jeans - one wouldn't place him as an IES expert (although certainly a huge fucking nerd).

Yaichiro knew better, however, than to criticize dress on a station where the Taisa wore civilian clothing, and expected some of the experts to be civilians...he bowed, electing to treat the man as a superior officer, and introduced himself. "I am Santo Juni Kage Yaichiro, Head of the Weapons Team. Is there a way I can assist you, Sir?"

"Yeah, some officer with hair covering her face said I have to monitor communications, but I can't do that without pushing back my schedule too much. What I need you to do is lay groundwork for the KAMI - essentially, build its eyes and ears." Dastravi brushed some hair out of his face - to Yaichiro, it much be strange to see someone who wears sunglasses inside. "I can't order you to do that, of course, but I'd really appreciate it. Kessaku sure did a number on me when they sent me here...they expect me to install all the MEGAMI systems on the ships here, too! I haven't stepped foot on a warship before in my life!" And now he was rambling.

Yaichiro smiled ever so slightly, before answering the man. "My team is ahead of schedule, and we currently lack the materials to go much further until the weapons actually arrive. As for assisting on the KAMI's groundwork, that will not be a problem. I'll push it to the top of our to-do list. We may also be able to help you on the ships' groundwork as well, or at least I will. I have experience with both Sakura and Nozomi-class vessels."

"Oh? What did you serve on? An old friend is serving on a Sakura-class." Dastravi seemed interested in casual conversation now that the deals were made, and a violet-haired neko offered the two of them drinks, of which Dastravi requested a rum and coke.

Yaichiro orders, oddly enough, a water and ...Onion Juice. "I served on THE Sakura. NG-X1-360, under Taisa Ketsurui Hanako, as a Technical Sentry, and later as Chief Engineer." Yaichiro didn't always engage in small talk, but it couldn't hurt...he hadn't spoken to a civilian in a little while, after all...

"Ah...I heard they were just captured, you know. But they got out all right. Damn if they aren't the luckiest ship I've ever seen." Dastravi didn't seem to notice Yaichiro's choice in drink.

Yaichiro seemed pleased. "Yes...of course, there's skill involved too. There has to be, if anyone on that ship hopes to live long...They're likely one of the finest crews there are." Yaichiro took a sip of the Onion juice, enjoying the fluid immensely. "They certainly use their hemosynthesis tanks a lot...even I lost my left arm while on a mission once...I know someone who was completely decapitated, too, and lived."

"...how does that work?" The strange adventures of the Star Army were nothing short of confusing and utterly fantastical for civilians, and Dastravi showed that well.

Yaichiro smiled just a hair more as he drank the Onion Juice. "Well, the NH-28 has the ability to connect tendrils to the severed head through the neck and sustain it for a short time...though the person isn't conscious, of course. Get them to a Hemosynthesis tank within ten minutes or so, and they can be sustained and connected to a freshly generated body. The person who was decapitated wasn't even a Neko. She was a Yamataian."

"...that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Not exactly the most subtle man in the universe.

Yaichiro shrugged, not irritated or insulted in any way. "Well, it's still true, none the less. She's alive because of it. I wouldn't have believed it either, had I not been out there with them...so, what kinds of odd things have you run into, installing IES systems?"

"I don't usually install them like this - I was just the only one available, so Anri sent me." Dastravi sighed briefly. "She's so delightful..."

Yaichiro blinked upon hearing the well-known name. "You know Kessaku Anri personally? Impressive..."

"Indeed...and she can do some things with her legs that would amaze you, kid. I gotta tell ya, it's good to be in her personal staff." A perverted grin.

Yaichiro blinked, before understanding. "...I see the Sakura isn't the only place that allows...closeness...between their superiors and personnel..." He was a bit surprised. He hadn't heard that particular detail about Kessaku Anri...

"Hah! You kidding? What are you, some kind of coast-dweller?" Being a native Yamataian, and raised in the kind of debauchery Yaichiro described, he found it quaint that Yaichiro was so surprised.

Yaichiro shook his head. "I was sheltered as a kid, and after some...stuff happened, I joined the YSA. The Sakura was my very first assignment."

"Well, that explains it." Dastravi grinned. "So who took your virginity, then, kid? Nekos are notorious virgin killers. I should know."

Yaichiro blushed. "Actually, it was a Yamataian woman I served with...I was able to evade the Nekos until then." He gave a small smile.

"Well, I know a few virgin killers myself. Ah well...some friendly advice. If you see a girl you like, take her right away! Otherwise the nekos will keep chasing you into your old age." Dastravi adjusted his aviators briefly. "You're a nice kid, if a little naive. Good to meet you."

Yaichiro nodded. "Yeah, nice to meet you too. I've always been interested in the software side of things to a degree, but I've only been on the hardware side. I've become of some worth though, but you're likely even more valuable than I am. IES professionals are hard to come by, or so I hear."

"There's only a handful in known space, and almost all of them work directly for Anri. I suppose if we had some spare time, I could show you the basics." Dastravi smiled - a good kid, and maybe a good friend, if things worked out. "But for now, you should get started."

Yaichiro nodded. "Yes, Sir. I'll have my Crew start work right away. Should we follow the data in the standard Zodiac Star Fortress Schematic, or do you have custom instructions?"

"Nope. Just do it by the book...I do have some tricks in programming to do, but the hardware is all standard." A grin. "I am a genius, after all."

Yaichiro gave a small laugh. "Well, we'll get to work then!" He finished his drinks and popped a mint in his mouth... "I guess I'll see you when you make your check on the installation bases?"

"Mmhmm. Feel free to contact my assistant if you have any questions." Dastravi stood and shook Yaichiro's hand. "Pleasure drinking with you."

Yaichiro nodded. "Same here. See you, Sir!"

END

Caine looked around a bit and went to go find Cam to talk about security. Thinking he should give her ahead notice he flipped the communicator open once more. "Hey Cam, do we have any security officers to spare? the CO wants all incoming deliveries monitored so we dont' have anymore unpleasant surprises."

Yaichiro stepped back into the room, and walked over to Kokoro-Heisho, handing her a datapad with the reoutines for KAMI groundwork installation and associated Scorpio-class schematics.
"We've been ordered to assist in the KAMI groundwork installation...report to the locations specified, and consider this top priority."

The woman blinked, a bit confused...
"Sir...what has this to do with the Weapon Systems? Are we aborting the Weapon Installations?"

Yaichiro shook his head, indicating the negative.
"Our Weapon Systems simply haven't arrived yet, and we're ahead of schedule, so we haven't anything else to do but assist other teams. KAMI needs to be up and running as soon as possible. You have your orders, Kokoro-Heisho..."

The woman nodded, and yelled to the team...they went off to the Server Room, to begin working on the KAMI Groundwork and Interface Hardware.

"That won't be possible," came her reply. "I only have two staff with me and we have to moniter the station as is." The voice sighed, "I should have known better when the Taisa told us to get here on Tusday."

Caine sighed, thinking a bit about how screwed they were. "Dammit, they should've assigned more personel to the station, especitally during this critical time!" He grumbled to himself and spoke to Cam again. "Hmm Didn't we get a shipment of Custodians?"

Oh well, back to her office the chief went, there was still work to do and she wouldn't be caught with her pants down. Although it would probably be a pleasant sight if she were, it would only cause delays, slip-ups and most of all shortcomings in the available supplies.

A space station didn't run on cupcakes and tea parties, after all. It was a cold hunk of metal floating in the middle of vacuum with a bunch of people inside, and only enough thruster power to keep it in the same place relative to the planet it orbited.

Yaichiro sighed as he stepped into the bathing area, his night clothes in his arm...he stripped and stepped into the shower, sighing as the hot water sprayed over his body...it had been a LONG day...

He'd meshed out a schedule with Kokoro-Heisho, plannign all eighteen hours of the Yamataian day. There would be two shifts, one with ten people, one with eleven, and Kokoro-Heisho and Yaichiro were the Team Leaders. They would sleep for six hours, and work for nine, though a lunch hour meant they only worked eight, four on either side...and given the fact that Kami's sensors had to be installed all over the station, they'd be running this way for a while...eighteen hours simply wasn't enough in the day sometimes...

He opened his eyes and reached for the soap, beginning to apply it to his skin...showering wasn't something you usually took time out to do, especially when you only had four hours a day to yourself, minus eating and planning, but with the nodal system largely disabled due to the lack of an IES, its functionality was drastically limited...people who hadn't realized the nodal system wasn't cleaning them constantly were beginning to smell, and their uniforms began to look stained...especially the team of Engineers who had been roaming around the ship's nether-areas all day. He'd ordered every last one of them to bathe once a day...he bathed after his shift merely so there wouldn't be as much of a rush tomorrow morning...

The young officer lathered the shampoo and began to work it into his unruly, yet shiny hair and sighed...the hot water felt good...he stood there for what seemed like several minutes after his hair had been washed of the lathered shampoo, and finally turned off the water, drying himself with a towel, before putting on his briefs and shirt, and the Yukata over it. He then went toward his quarters, to rest up for tomorrow's shift.

Marina replied to the communication in short order. "Sozoma-shosa...then you're the one meant to be in charge of construction. Meet me in my office in an hour...and ask the XO about our current situation."

Then, she paused a bit. She had heard that name before...a friend of hers, at Kyoto. A very good friend...almost too good, but that never came to fruition. "Sozoma-kun? Is that you?"

"Why yes Arisa-Taisa, it is I, Terry Somoza-Shosa." Terry grinned despite her inability to see him; it had been too long since he had heard her voice. Or seen her face for that matter, "It was certainly a pleasant surprise to be assigned to you Arisa-Taisa, and I shall try my utmost to be at your office in an hour for a debriefing. It will be good to catch up."

Kitten's Theme: QUEEN - Killer Queen

[Kitty's Theme]

Malt liquor and active duty weren't things often stitched together in Star Army. Indeed, as a rule, being drunk on duty was a terribly bad idea. Especially on what would be your first face-to-face meeting with your future superiors. However, if Yuki ever got the memo about not drinking on the job, she was quite good at wilfully ignoring it.

The trouble had begun that morning. Friends from Kyoto - single-serving friends, the sort one never grows very attached to, particularly in a line of work like Koyama's - had insisted on throwing her a grand sendoff. At first, Kitty had been quite reticent, insisting she needed to rest these last four hours that she could before dashing off to the Star Fortress. She had quickly changed her tune, however, when the words 'alcohol' and 'vanilla' and 'pretty blonde guys' entered the conversation.

And so Yuki's last four hours before transit had been spent, instead of in quiet contemplation, in a much more fun realm of deviant debauchery, laden with liquor, making-outs, and eating too much sugar for one's own good. That, and the promise of pretty blonde guys had been made up in full, with not one but four lavishing her with attentions! For a moment the girl had, so enjoying those questing hands, pondered on deserting entirely her assignment.

But ah, one does not pledge a life to Nairan lightly; and Kitten lifted herself away (regretfully) from her bed of sins, makinh for the transport. She was a little late... ten minutes late, all told, and worth every minute of it - could all men do that to her nipples? - regardless of what chastising it might get her from Marina.

Not that ingratiating herself with Marina was terribly high on Kitten's list. Indeed, so long as she could fill her objectives, getting along with any of them ranked remarkably low on her 'list'.

So here resides Yuki Koyama, planted freshly on the Pisces. Her direction was purposeful - she did not know Pisces particular quirks, but there was logic to it - and direct: she would seek out Marina, establish presence, and at first opportunity settle herself in her quarters and give her next few month's residence a bit of personality.

The Pisces needed more red.

(Post officially reinstated. :3)

Yaichiro, in full uniform, went out to start his shift...he finished the onion in his hand, and popped a mint in his mouth...he glanced to his datapad, at a design for a new Nozomi Main Gun he'd been working on...he saved and closed it, to present to the Taisa later...

He and ten others began working in the Upper Concourse, installing sensors for KAMI...

No one from the Sakura has responded to my message, and it's been a while...I wonder if they're just busy, or if I'm just another passing face to them...

The Chief kept careful note of all the work being done on the station; her mind was able to keep track of it all through a feat of micromanagement she'd learned early on. That, and having her clipboard helped quite a bit in that respect as well.

She'd be practically lost without it, unable to manage anything except maybe herself and a few other people, not an entire space station under construction...Briefly she opened an image file, a man with striking dark skin, a thin beard, bald but still young-looking. Vibrant eyes stared back at hers above a jaunty smile, and a set of perfect pearly whites...

Her inspiration.