RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 8] That Sinking Feeling

Rather than taking a seat in the shuttle, Method paced up and down the center aisle, her eyes narrowed as she listened to Cassefin, Purina, and the rest of the squad talk.

"Vincrank Yu-Whatner?" she asked in a pause in her steps, her eyes sweeping over everyone's faces.

Kokuten looked back at Stovaa with a face that seemed to say, 'Quit Encouraging Her'. Though, he did not expect such an ornate and successful-sounding plan to come from the man. He would take note to consult the ID-SOL's opinion on matters more often. As he thought on this, he heard questioning comments of his fellow squadmates, some of the newer people who hadn't been there that fateful day.

"Vinross Yu-Cranker Materials is a company that trades in materials inside Nepleslian Space. They are an influential and affluent company, as they hold over half of the entire Nepleslian resource market." Kokuten explained, his head staying forward as he spoke, taking interest at whatever was there. His tone darkened as he went on. "Recently, they came for a little business meeting on the Cirrus. What should have been a peaceful negotiation of commercial ties, turned out to be an underhanded plot on the part of Vinross and Yu-Cranker. With a 'convenient' pirate attack, the Uniques, a special security group with the company, took advantage of the situation."

Kokuten sighed, his head dipping a bit.

"Several innocent people died." The Captain's darkened tone hitting a low, but then, his face uplifted again. "But that story isn't the concern for the day, our main concern. Has everyone gathered themselves?" He looked over at Claire, who was noticeably quiet. "Winters?"

"Oh my... that doesn't sound like what I had heard..." Purina said in response to Kokuten's morbid explanation, shrinking back into her seat a little.

Cassefin, on the other hand, was quick to turn her head around in her chair, casting a staggering glare towards Kokuten. "What the captain meant to say," she spat out, loud enough for every in the shuttle to hear clearly. "Was that there was an unfortunate accident during the time Laj Vinross Yu and Marrisa Cranker were making a personal and very risky venture to secure relations with the Cirrus Station. A group of pirates capitalized on their efforts and as a result several people died."

"Laj Vinross Yu was injured by one of the pirates but does not blame us for his injury. They've been very compliant with both the authorities and myself in sorting out what had occurred during the attack," Cassefin continued, naming off all of the points she could remember from the ordeal. From her cross tone, one would think she had mulled over these facts several times over already. More than once, Cassefin shot her glance over to Purina, taking special note of the pink-haired Administrator as she seemed to relax a bit with Cassefin's less-terrifying explanation. "I've read your reports, and let me just inform you that none of you could provide the evidence that suggested Vinross Yu-Cranker's involvement, while they have several, including a report that one or two of their Uniques might have been working with the pirates as moles. They've already started looking into rooting out these individuals."

"So I suggest you take a look at what you have on your hands before you start throwing out wild accusations, especially when you consider how it will reflect the Cirrus, and myself."

The Captain sighed, and silently turned his head away for a second. Kokuten knew that answer was coming, he knew they would get that answer ever since he saw that first Unique they killed burn away into nothing. He could respect her decision to be ignorant of their information, the fact would always remain that they had no evidence. The Marine in him told him to fuck this job and punch that stuck-up bitch in the face. The Doctor in him told him to pursue the topic carefully, and surgically dismantle her argument. Though, the Chiaki in him, the wisest of all three thought processes, told him to comply, as it would be pointless to argue with someone more stubborn than they are smart.

"The Head Administrator is correct." Kokuten said with a weak smile, he turned to the rest of them, not daring to look any who had actually been there in the eyes. "I apologize, I must be just suffering a bit of trauma from recalling such an event..."

<secondary scan initiated>
Search Terms: "Unique" "Vinross" "You" "Cranker"
<searching... ... ...>

Tweak cringed as the results scrolled by. Not just a transcription of her written record, but an abbreviated and compressed version of what her brain had recorded. A highlights reel, so to speak. Tweak considered showing it to someone, but then the question would come up wondering where she got it, or at worst someone would recognize the code style as coming from a nekowalkyrja system.

As the record was going by, she mentally agreed with Stovaa. These 'replacement' uniforms could not be a mistake. Cassefin wanted them with her (despite her stand-offish attitude), but she also did not appear to want to aggravate whoever it was who may be there that might also be implicated in the attack. So Cassefin must have her own suspicions...but at the same time, what was she planning on doing about it? Was she planning to do anything?

Tweak looked around the shuttlecraft at her teammates. It was a small team. They were going to be on the Uniques' home turf. But would the danger really be to the Head Administrator and Popjoy? No, Tweak decided. Montreal had said it herself: They wanted to discredit her. Not kill her.

Frowning to herself, the 'Spacer neko sat down next to Kokuten and cracked her visor just enough to speak through. "They aren't in danger, are they?" she whispered, nodding discreetly at Cassefin and Popjoy. "She doesn't need so many of us, not for formality."

Even Method was able to tell that there was something going on, and the eclectic Freespacer knew better than to poke at a reactor that was already going critical. She grimaced at the administrators and squad, her organic hand and claw wringing together anxiously.

Kokuten smiled at Tweak as she sat down next to him, but straightened his expression when she posed her question.

"It would be unusual for us to just grab half, or two people from the squad. I consider it a safety precaution. If she took anything seriously from our reports, it's that Vinross Yu-Cranker is capable of many things." The Captain kept his eyes square on Tweak, not bothering to look elsewhere to see if anyone else was listening in. "Why take the same squad down that went through that mess in the first place? The likely answer? Because we survived. If they try anything... unexpected... I think Cassefin trusts us to be the ones to handle in with the most effective results... Despite her nay-sayings."

"Or..." Kokuten placed his face in his palm for a moment as he thought of a different option, then looked back at Tweak again. "Or... we're apart of some clever scheme, or intelligence mission to gather dirt on our new-found enemies, as Stovaa cleverly suggested."

Blake nodded to Kokuten and also to the Administrator before saying, "To me, it doesn't matter what happened before. I was simply curious as to the Squad's reaction to the event. I think the Captain's reaction and the Administrator's response to it explains it to me plainly enough. I think it would be best for everyone involved if I kept my mouth shut about it from this point forward. So... did anyone watch the Elysian Distante that was broadcast last night? I did, and it was spectacular."

"Maybe," Tweak murmured. "I thought it was simply so she could bring us without the trouble. But that is a possibility too." She looked over at the Admin, the case that she carried in particular. "What's in the case?" she asked, still whispering to Kokuten.

"I don't know, and perhaps it's best if we don't." Kokuten decided with a nod of his head to the Freespacer. "We accomplish our tasks on a need-to-know bases anyways. If you don't remember, we always pull through with nearly zero Intel, and minor assistance, at least, that's how it's been since I joined along. As frustrating as it is, we've been successful with that method."

The Captain dipped his head and leaned in even closer to Tweak, whispering in as a hushed tone as possible.

"Besides, asking questions rarely gets you answers around here, only mean-spirited answers."

Claire was rocking back and forth lightly in her seat as she listened to the exchange. And there was a short muffled sound like a laugh when Cassefin gave her explanation. Either she was going crazy or she was seeing something that obviously wasn't going to be shared with everyone present.

After Cassefin was done with her biting story about what 'officially' happened, she turned to the scientist once more. "Don't worry, Montreal. We'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe." If there was an addition to that statement at all, she wasn't going to say it. Perhaps she was looking dangerously close to snapping, but she had felt that way before.... and only one person truly saw it.

'And she's not here...' Claire's rocking stopped, relaxing her tensed up shoulders and posture.

Kokuten said:

"I don't know, and perhaps it's best if we don't." Kokuten decided with a nod of his head to the Freespacer. "We accomplish our tasks on a need-to-know bases anyways. If you don't remember, we always pull through with nearly zero Intel, and minor assistance, at least, that's how it's been since I joined along. As frustrating as it is, we've been successful with that method."

The Captain dipped his head and leaned in even closer to Tweak, whispering in as a hushed tone as possible.

"Besides, asking questions rarely gets you answers around here, only mean-spirited answers."

Click to expand...

The rise in individual stress levels made it easy to spot who had been on the team when the "pirate" invasion had occurred. It was almost contagious, though; even Method was quiet.

Tweak felt herself becoming tense as she looked around the shuttle. No intell, little support, no clue what we're supposed to be doing...we always work like this? she thought, an edge of bitterness creeping in. Every entry that she reviewed supported the notion that this was business as usual when Squad 35 left the station or was assigned anything by Cassefin. Either she had it out for them...

...or she trusts us to get through it, no matter what. What if she doesn't know what is coming either? Tweak took a calming breath and closed her eyes. Her gun was in ready condition but, after relaxing herself, Tweak checked it again as close as she could without field-stripping the weapon.

"Ready, sir."

"Like the Administrator and Captain both said, something happened. It was an unfortunate incident, and lives were lost." The id-sol paused for a second, looking across at Claire. "...but it's all done with now."

He shifted in his seat, twisting as much as he could. "You ok, hot stuff? You don't look too great."

Claire's neck twisted ever so slightly to just look at Stovaa out of the corner of her eye. Her expression was as neutral as she could possibly make it, responding only with a 'Sure.' before returning her stare to the empty seat directly across from her. Whatever her thoughts were, she didn't seem overly keen on sharing. Before long she closed the helmet's face plate, only her bluish eyes staring out through the bulletproof glass.

Serra kept quiet during the two different explanations of the events, and then remembered the brief moment she saw the Real Cassifin Mountreal. Dipping her head slightly, she remembered the haggard look the administrator gave her when Serra correctly deduced that Cassifin couldn't hold the Yu-Cracker party, and the anger she held in her eyes when the shuttle holding the murderers of her staff left.

Taking a second to add the variables from the day's events together, she realized that the 101st unit, they were 'incorrectly' dressed in were fabricated, which explained the Elysian and the Konohanian uniforms. Giving Cassifin a smile through her faceplate, Serra had to congratulate The Head Administrator somehow in her planning.

"Administrator Mountreal." Serra said, raising her helmet's faceplate. "We are at your service, anything you need done, we will accomplish to the best of our abilities." She finished, hoping the infliction on the proper part relayed her acceptance to whatever plan Cassifin has dreamed up.

The instant Noboru heard "Vinross-Yu Cranker Materials", his entire body went on full alert. The mention of the mining company immediately allowed his thoughts to drift back to that point in time where the station had been sealed. He thought briefly of Scarlet, who had gone on seeking her quest for "karma" after the mission. He thought of his own personal wounds - his damaged pride for letting such a thing slip past him.

So it came as no surprise when Noboru immediately began checking his .45 service pistol, not saying anything but instead carefully inspecting the handgun, and shutting out the rest of the world.

Seeing that no one aboard the shuttle seemed to care for the arts; or the most obvious alternative: No one aboard the shuttle could care about the arts with the words 'Vinross-Yu Cranker' hovering above their heads, Blake decided to remove his helmet and return to etching a floral pattern into the arm-plates of his armor. His head gleamed with sweat, and there was an obvious shadow on his head where he hadn't shaved the top or sides since the previous morning. When the nameplate he was using snapped in twain from stress; Blake sighed and was left to just tracing over where he wanted the rest with his fingernail.

"It seems stupid," the lowly private moaned, "that everyone's getting so worked up. I know that everyone's got this big beef and human death is nothing to just blow off; But I just can't help but feel like we're going to mess up doing a fabulous job because we're letting each other's personal feelings get in the way of our duty to protect the Administrators. Obviously, we were given this assignment for a reason. Not too mention that it's apparent that Administrator Montreal is as intelligent and she is rumored to be throughout Nepleslia."

"With her special brand of 'planning' we can be here, and in helpful disguises. And let's not forget we're still armed to the teeth; in true Nepleslian fashion," he raised his HHG for emphasis, "So why be so glum and jittery? We've got best in scientific minds in Nepleslia and the best tactical minds in the galaxy packed tight into a tiny shuttle and it is burning up in here and I really wanna get this whole getting attacked by a publicly traded company thing over with so I can go back to the baths as soon as we get back because I forgot to shave the top and sides of my head this morning and now my entire head is covered in little blonde stubble that itches inside my helmet!"

Blake started to blush at the thought of his terrible outburst, but left himself content to cross his arms and emit a single, effeminate, "Humph."

Lam said:

"It seems stupid," the lowly private moaned, "that everyone's getting so worked up. I know that everyone's got this big beef and human death is nothing to just blow off; But I just can't help but feel like we're going to mess up doing a fabulous job because we're letting each other's personal feelings get in the way of our duty to protect the Administrators. Obviously, we were given this assignment for a reason. Not too mention that it's apparent that Administrator Montreal is as intelligent and she is rumored to be throughout Nepleslia."

"With her special brand of 'planning' we can be here, and in helpful disguises. And let's not forget we're still armed to the teeth; in true Nepleslian fashion," he raised his HHG for emphasis, "So why be so glum and jittery? We've got best in scientific minds in Nepleslia and the best tactical minds in the galaxy packed tight into a tiny shuttle and-

Click to expand...

Claire looked up from her isolated murmuring and glared daggers at Blake. In an instant she raised her CSS rifle in his direction. Not aiming at his head, but his chestplate actually. "You don't know. You weren't there. You have NO right to tell us what we should and should not get worked up about." There was a very brief pause before she continued. "Armed to the teeth? You seem to forget what kind of weapon you have. This thing? If I pulled the trigger, it would not even pierce your armor. It's only use is for stopping completely unarmored targets."

Her glare turned into a scowl. "What we faced then was armored head to toe, you ignorant jackass. Take your 'suggestions' and keep them to yourself." With that, she lowered her weapon back down and sat back in her seat, looking towards the front intently.

"These guns are designed to not damage even the paint on the walls of the station, Dude. Shoot for exposed flesh, or get up close and personal." The Id-Sol leant forwards in his seat to make sure he could be seen. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"But we're not talking about this. We need to look at this mission and give it our full attention. Something is gonna happen, mark my words, brothers and sisters. The Church of Montreal decrees that nothing described as "simple" is ever that." Stovaa smirked and put a hand on Claire's shoulder supportively, trying to calm her down.

"And hey, there might be some booze floating around."

"Alright, that's enough." Kokuten stood from his seat and looked out to the rest of the squad. His chest heaved in a harsh sigh, not wanting this subject to go any further. The color of his eyes darkened to a thick, forest green.

"There are some of you here who know what happened that day, and there are some that don't. I would like those who don't," He looked at Blake, "To those who weren't there, leave the subject as is, it is sensitive to those who experienced it. Despite whatever good intentions you all may have, no more." After that, his gaze rested on Claire, a bit of pain noticeable on his face. "To those who were, are asked to control their actions for now on. What happened was tragic, but there are matters at hand and when the time comes I want to be able to rely on my allies."

The Doctor scanned over the rest of his squad as a whole, and straightened himself. He wished he did not have to seem so forceful, but it was necessary.

"This subject is closed to discussion, and is not to be spoke of again. As Stovaa has stated, we are on duty, and the likelihood of some sort of situation rearing it's head is very likely." His expression lightened a little as he continued on, "Have a made myself clear?"