RP: YSS Goban Episode 03: The Reflex

[Doshii Jun]

Kyosuke didn't respond. He wasn't about to, either. For, perhaps 30 meters ahead, was what had to be the end of the ship. And at the end was a passage, one that probably went somewhere else, but theoretically could be a passage that led to a shuttle bay or something.

He was going to be free, or he was going to die. Those were the options and only one sounded worthwhile.

So Kyosuke ran. Fists pumping, legs blurring, bullies-are-going-to-beat-you-dead sprint. He was not going to stop for the crew, which could take care of itself, nor would he take care of anything else but getting home to his family.

Imagine his surprise, then, as the light carried off of something as he was still running. Carried off something about three inches from him. As he was about five meters away from making it. From getting to that passage. From reaching his goal of escape.

That surprise was a plastic wall. Luca, Galar, Lucas, Roken and Nick could see it clear as day, especially Luca. He was closest to Kyosuke when the Shoi's face smashed into it at about 40 kph, and the blood from Kyosuke's broken nose and chewed collarbone were very visible on its transparent surface.

Ma'at, on the other hand, had her own surprise. As she carefully walked the corridor everyone else had already cleared, she witnessed something both confusing and grotesque.

Where there had been a Mishhu splashed with alcohol, there was now a Nekovalkyrja, in a Star Army uniform, with a band around one arm that said "MP." She was clawing at her eyes, her pain receptors turned off so she could remove the burned, damaged top layer of flesh to speed the healing.

 

[Luca]

Luca, sprinting at full blast tried to skid on his heels when he discovered the plastic wall. However, he tripped on something as he was stopping and flew into the wall, smashing into it with his right shoulder. Luca slid down the plastic next to Kyosuke.

"Ouch, that's one for the injury log..." Luca told Kyosuke tried to stand up, his left arm worked fine, but his right arm... kinda flailed about, "That too... Shit. I've dislocated my arm..."

Luca managed to pull himself up and attempted to get his right arm back into shape with a few teeth grinding cracks and a loud pop.

Then he focused his attention to the wall. He tapped it a few times in curiosity, "How the hell did this happen?" Luca asked those around him, "Just... how did that happen?" Luca was very confused.

 

[Blackdragon]

Roken had stopped behind Luca. He winced a little when he saw him put his arm back into place when Luca had asked about the wall Roken shrugged, "might have been here the whole time,' Roken said.

When he saw what happened to the commander he did not bother to help him, he figured he was better off where he was "either way it's an obstacle and were going to have to find a way past it,â€

 

[Luca]

Luca choked for a moment upon hearing those words, "One moment please." He began to run back through the halls, back towards ruin and a squealing Mishhu.

"Ma'at! Ma'aaat!!" The dashing (not figuratively), shirtless Luca yelled out, "Where are you?!"
What he didn't find was Ms. Bolverk, but the "MP Neko", attempting to take out the Mishhu Luca had just jumped over... and then he saw Ma'at nearby.

Things were getting more and more confusing for Luca, first a fake wall, now this? Any more and he'd seriously wonder about his career choices.

"Who, the, hell, are..." Luca said as he pointed a limp finger at the Neko with a clearly surprised expression on his face, "...YOU?"

 

[TensaiDreamer]

Ma'at had just kept running, trying to get back to everyone. She couldn't stand being by hersself in a place like this anymore. But as she turned the corner, knowing that she was going in the right direction, Ma'at came to a full stop at what she saw infront of her.

She didn't know what to do. She saw Neko in pain and the doctor in her wanted to go to her and help her. But as much as Ma'at wanted t move forward and help, her body just couldn't respond. How could someone want to do that to themselves.

Ma'at didn't notice that she was just staring at the the scene in front of her with a blank stare, her face becoming even more pale at the amount of blood that the Neko was losing. It wasn't until she heard steps coming towards them that she looked up and saw Luca.

 

[Doshii Jun]

The Neko wasn't really able to respond. She was too busy trying, somewhat in vain, to rehabilitate her eyes. She growled and cursed at her lot.

However, the two Mishhu that had been chasing Lucas and Nick -- who were also Nekovalkyrja, apparently, as well as military police -- were able to intercede and answer the question Luca had so desperately asked.

The answer was not satisfying, though. "Don't move," one of them barked, holding up her SMG. The other one was pointing her weapon down toward Nick and Lucas, frowning. She wore a Juni rank pin, as did the other one.

From the part of the corridor no one ran down -- the part where Kyosuke had veered right, not left -- another Neko MP approached, along with a Neko in grey panels. She did not appear amused either.

 

[Luca]

Luca held his hands up, with the SMG pointing to him, he needed to cooperate, or the chances are that his head would be splattered across the walls.

"Well... damn," Luca said to himself as he rolled his eyes, "I'm seriously beginning to wonder why I got out of bed this morning, y'know."
He just began to mutter to himself aimlessly.
"First there's the custodian, then the NH-X, then the stolen Goban, then the Adauchi, then the Alphas, then being caught, then escaping, then a plastic wall... now this? I'm seriously beginning to re-think my career choices."

 

[Doshii Jun]

"You didn't," the Nekovalkyrja officer in grey panels said as she approached them. All the action had stopped at this point, and there was a Yamataian medic attending to Kyosuke, albeit slowly.

The officer stopped at the "T" juncture of the corridor and looked down at her boots, which were gently sticking to the floor. "I always hated this simulation area ... too real." The MP next to her nodded. Sighing, the officer leveled her gaze at Luca. She wore a Taii rank pin of the 1st Standard War Fleet.

"As I was saying, you did not 'wake up' this morning. You technically woke up two days ago, which was after about 10 hours after you had been captured by the Mishhuvurthyar. Your MEGAMI was infinitely smarter than your fool commander and also sent its encoded location to Kyoto. You can thank the 1st SF for your rescue."

 

[Luca]

Luca gasped for a moment, fell down on his backside and looked at the floor, breathing heavily, he felt very belittled by what was just said. He felt like he was a rat in an experiment, and he doubted that he'd get a debriefing of sorts or something to eat. He was very hungry not only for food, but answers.

"Well..." Luca started once his gaze averted from the ground to the Officer's face, "I guess the crew buddies and I, save the captain should thank you..." Luca told the officer, then his tone shifted from thankful to questioning, "But first, where exactly are we? I've been confused from the moment I stepped on the Goban from that shuttle," Then he stood up and folded his arms aggressively and with visible annoyance in his face, "And be square with me, I think the crew wants answers!"

 

[zephyrite]

Galar was dumbfounded; he certainly didn't expect this new turn of events. For that matter, he did not expect any of this. My mind literally is not working right, he supposed. I must be dreaming.

He slapped himself a couple of times to make sure, but when he concluded that he was indeed fully awake he decided that he needed answers.

"What kind of fucked up situation is this?! I agree with Luca-Hei, we need answers. Now.

 

[Blackdragon]

Roken was observing the neko treating the commander would have been nice if they just stepped in sooner, this all could have been avoided, Roken thought.

"I still don't like it,â€

 

[TensaiDreamer]

Ma'at wasn't sure what was happening. All of a sudden they were surrounded by Nekos and being told that this wasn't happening. How could all that have not been true? It felt so real. She closed her eyes, her mind in a whirlwind of confusion. Not noticing what she was doing, Ma'at leaned against the wall and just slumped all the way to the floor.

Holding her head in her hands, Ma'at just shook it. This was beynd what she expected. To think that she was going through all this just too look for her brother. It was getting to be too much for her.

 

[Doshii Jun]

The officer looked past Luca at Kyosuke, to see him still being tended to. "Answers ... I suppose you deserve those. If everyone will follow me."

Not at all flustered by the bedazzled and dazed looks of the Goban crew, she began walking down the hall where she came from. Luca was in earshot, but she didn't seem to talk toward him.

"You were prisoners aboard a Mishhu vessel for 10 hours, as I said. However, when we retrieved you, everyone was in a catatonic state in some form of interrogation room. No damage had been done to any of you, but information had been placed inside of your brains -- we could tell that by analyzing the Yamataians of your group, such as your captain. That information, as the simulation proved well enough, was a kind of emotional enhancer. A digital representation of fear, or some such thing."

Luca was having to keep up now. At the end of the corridor she'd come from, a door opened to the standard white-and-grey tones of standard Star Army panelwork. It continued down, but the officer turned right, her Neko guard following.

"It is something for the technicians to pin down. Nonetheless, we could decipher some of the information. Once we knew that, the technicians suggested putting you lot in a more traditional POW setting. When it became clear the information was not being used, we attempted other methods."

Another right -- Neko guards were following the back of the group too. "Unfortunately, none of the specific cues worked, except on your commander. It seems the Nepleslian among you was unaffected, and Geshrin members also had a better time rejecting the information. The Nekovalkyrja similarly was able to reject it, although much more quickly. Which leads us to wonder if you regular crew were not as thoroughly abused as the commander. At least we know what the basic reflex is to stimuli."

The officer stopped a door, which opened for them. Luca was able to see inside and briefly caught a corner of a scaled holographic simulation of where they had been -- the clear "h" shape of where they had been, the color of the walls, the holding chamber ... all of it, right there.

 

[Luca]

Luca was thrown into confusion even more by what was just said. He looked at the cell he was recently thrown in from a distance, he could see the parts where he put his bootprint and where he put his fists.
Heh heh heh, I hope they don't mind about repair bills. I smashed that place up pretty rough!

"So... we've had thoughts planted into our heads by the Mishhu..." Luca replied to the officer as he put his hands through his hair and sideburns, "Have you gotten rid of them or have you just been playing around with them to see what happens?"

 

[Doshii Jun]

The officer paid him no attention immediately, as she watched the holographic simulation in front of her. MPs were now assisting everyone else out of the recreated Mishhu destroyer, while medics were standing by. One wished to approach Luca, but held back at the officer's bidding.

"They have not been removed, obviously, or there would be no point in testing them. The code has, for the most part, been isolated. It will be easy enough to enter your brains and remove the pertinent data, and that will be done upon you transferring or being discharged. Whichever you prefer at this point; you have all served the Empire well enough to deserve that option."

Kyosuke was being hauled off in a different direction than everyone else.

 

[zephyrite]

As Galar heard this, he sighed and even allowed himself a small smile, for however horrible the situation had been, it still was nothing more than an illusion. He had had a lot of interesting times aboard the YSS Goban and, he decided, he was here to stay. He hoped the rest of the crew were taking the same route as he was; he liked that bunch of fools, himself included. Galar turned to Luca and shot him a smile and a look that said something along the lines of, "You in?"

 

[Luca]

Luca looked at Galar, then looked away, he was thinking about the impact of his next actions would be.
"Well..." Luca started, he was visibly uncomfortable, "I... I..."
Luca felt a lump in his throat form, he was looking away from Galar or anyone else, considering the impact of what he'd say on his friends.

 

[raz]

After the confusion and the seething anger came and went as the Nekovalkyrja officer explained what had happened, Nick was able to rationalize what had happened. He didn't like it, what the 1st SF had done – of course he appreciated their swift rescue – but putting them all through that nightmare seemed a little unnecessary, considering the capability of Yamataian technology. However, the Geshrin bit his tongue, remembering that one's superiors always knew best, even if they did not. Hopefully, he and his comrades would be debriefed quickly and sent back to the 3rd XF, bringing this whole ordeal to an end soon.

"... upon you transferring or being discharged. Whichever you prefer at this point; you have all served the Empire well enough to deserve that option."

Nick gave a slight bow, addressing the officer who was acting as their liaison, "I have only served the Empire well enough to be rewarded with more service, Taii-sama.â€

 

[Doshii Jun]

The 1st SF officer turned at hearing "Taii-sama." That was something she rarely heard from an enlisted's mouth. She grinned.

"Pretty words will not garner you a better position -- Heicho," she said, having to examine his rank pin. "But I can assure you the Goban will be put in the hands of a capable commander, after she is repaired. Ozaki-Shoi will be put back at a desk, where he belongs."

"It might interest you to know," the officer said with a small smile, replacing the volumetric projection of the simulation with one of Shimada-Chusa, "that your primary superviosr has also been handled." The officer's voice deadpanned, looking straight at Nick, as he was the most senior crewman.

"It seems that Shimada-san was living two lives.," the officer said, gesturing to the image. Shimada was in her standard uniform, a small scowl crushing her eyes from sight. "One life, she was Shimada Chisato-Chusa, instrumental member of the 3rd XF's logistics division. She had a soldier ID, paid for her meals, and she ... helped our young Shoi here." The image divided -- now Shimada's uniform was all in black, her scowl now an ugly, spiteful grin. "The other life was lived through SAINT, where she went by the alias 'Turtleback' and was guilty of breaking virtually every code of conduct we have. One of those lives had a future ... the other one did not. A pity."

The images closed. "As for your assignments: if you wish to remain with the Star Army, you will most likely be transfered out of the 3rd XF. We require soldiers on the front lines now more than ever. If you wish to leave, you can do so with our blessing as soon as we remove the information from your brains. Your appropriate awards and medals will be given to you by the end of today, regardless. Your service will not go unrecognized."

 

[TensaiDreamer]

Ma'at looked up from her hands when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. She saw that a Neko was standing infront of her. She couldn't stop the small flinch that went through all of her body. Ma'at couldn't stand being touched at the moment. Pushing away the hands, she stood up slowly, her legs shaking.

She almost fell over when she felt the Neko wrap an arm around her waist, helping her walk. This time she didn't push him away for the fact that she needed the help.

Ma'at hadn't really been paying attention to what had been said. But she did catch the fact that they had been purposely put into this situation for the fact that they had information in their minds. Feeling eve more overwhelmed, she didn't fight it when she was handed off to a medic. She knew that she should be helping out, looking after her crew. But first she had to get over the shock. And it seemed that that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

But the one thing that she did hear clearly was the fact that they had a choice between staying in the army or leaving. A part of Ma'at wanted to leave. This wasn't exactly what she had thought that she would go through. But at the same time, she joined on her own. She had something that she had to do. And she wasn't going to quit until she found him. Her brother.

Looking up at Luca and the others, she gave them a small smile, nodding a bit. "I'm in , too. I can't quit now."