RP: YSS Jade [Hoshi no Iori] Henry's Report

[Yangfan]

ON> Hoshi no Iori

Henry sat in his office onboard the Jade. A battlefield was projected holographically on his desk, where a human cavalry clashed with a strange-looking mechanical monster. Henry smiled. A few days of playing computer games, along with the fact that he was surrounded by countless gorgeous women, had fully restored his mood. The bad memories of the last few weeks were all washed away.

Shina sat at a comfortable couch in his office, asleep. She looked peaceful and angelic.

A familiar ship and its companion pulled alongside the Jade. It had the same fleet logo and an IRN only one number off from Henry's ship. It was the YSS Rave, YD-523. The other ship was the YSS Hellkitten (YD-238). Several other ships from the First and Third Expeditionary Fleets were arriving and taking orbit around the sun that Hoshi no Iori surrounded. It wasn't long before shuttles were dispatched from the scout ships and heading to the station's shuttle bays.

A small message appeared on the battlefield in front of Henry, informing him of his CO's arrival. Henry waved his hand, and the battlefield disappeared. He stood up, and walked over to Shina. "Come on," he said as he shook her gently. "We are going to greet the Taisa."

Taisas Yuuko and Minato arrived on the ring at about the same time and made there way through the crowded arrival terminal to greet one another in person. Minato gave a little bow and Yuuko returned it and the two gave each other kisses on the cheek. "Any plans?" Minato inquired.

"No," Yuuko shook her head.

Minato nodded. "Me neither. I think I'm just going to go exploring for a while. I hear there's a spa around here for officers."

Shina slowly nodded as she stood up, and followed Henry out of the door.

The Jade was docked quite close to the arrival terminal. Soon, Henry and Shina could be seen walking up to the crowd that had materialized there a few minutes ago. Henry searched the crowd for Yuuko. Shina still looked half-asleep.

Yuuko looked around the terminal for Henry's face, but didn't see him yet. Minato bowed and smiled to a tall Nekovalkyrja with jet-black hair and stone gray skin. The vampiric-looking woman invited the mascot girl to an evening of dining with the Mistress Taisho. Yuuko made a hilariously confused face at this, because the woman didn't bother to say anything to Yuuko, despite her being a Kessaku.

"Help me look for Taisa Kessaku, Shina," asked Henry. Shina yawned, and rubbed her eyes before nodding.

Minato waved goodbye to Yuuko and went off with the tall, black-haired neko, while Yuuko stood there scratching her head. Shina could see her by a statue of Chiharu.

"There she is, sir," said Shina as she pointed out Yuuko to Henry, smiling a bit at her success. She seemed to be perking up again. Henry, with Shina in tow, walked up to the Taisa and bowed. "It's good to see you again, ma'am," he said.

"Ah, Henry!" Yuuko smiled, and gave Henry a big hug, her arms stretching around his neck and her bosom pushing into his chest. He could smell the soft fruity shampoo she used in her hair.

Henry, maintaining his breathing with a slight effort under Yuuko's crushing hug, considered commenting that Yuuko's hair smelled nice, but thought better of it. Instead, he gently placed his arms around her and patted her on the back.

"Group hug!" Shina suddenly yelled as she grabbed Henry from behind.

Yuuko giggled, hugging Henry a little longer than she would have, so the Shina could get the full group hug effect.

Henry waited patiently for the girls to let go of him, hoping that his ribcage would not collapse in the meantime. Several male Geshrin engineers nearby looked on with a mixture of envy and sympathy at Henry.

Yuuko finally pulled away, giving Henry a big grin. "I missed you!" she cooed.

"Thank you, ma'am. I, err, missed you too. And I must thank you for letting me borrow the Jade," said Henry.

"It's okay. How was Nepleslia?" Yuuko asked curiously.

"Everything went well. I managed to rescue my grandparents," replied Henry. "He got shot!" exclaimed Shina as she clutched his arm, as though afraid that he would disappear into thin air.

"Rescue?" Yuuko started to ask, then changed the question to, "Um, would you like to go find some place we can sit down and talk about it?"

"Of course, ma'am," replied Shina before Henry could say anything. "I know a great little café near here."

Yuuko gave a big white smile, "Please lead the way!"

Soon, the group was sitting down inside a café near the docking bay area. The patrons were mostly nekos who have just arrived at the station, eager for the chance to roam outside of their ships. A waitress, who was also a neko, came to the new customers to take their orders.

"What'll it be?" she asked.

Henry looked at Yuuko expectantly, waiting for his superior officer to order first.

"Mocha Frappe with scotch," Yuuko ordered.

"I'll have the red tea," said Henry. "Hi!" Shina chirped at the waitress, and then leaned forward to read her nametag. "...Clarice. How are you doing this fine, beautiful day?"

The waitress frowned, obviously not comfortable with this level of interaction with the customers. "I'm fine... Your order, please?"

"Hmm," mumbled Shina as she carefully consulted the menu. "I think I'll have the pancake combo again."

"Coming right up," said the waitress as she walked away, looking somewhat drained.

Yuuko fingered her rank pin, "You could use a promotion, Henry."

"Why, thank you ma'am," replied Henry with a smile. "It's nice to hear that, even though..." "Yeah!" said Shina loudly, cutting him off. "Taii Chen should have gotten a promotion a long time ago." Henry looked embarrassed.

"I'll see what I can do, okay?" Yuuko assured him. "I'm an acting Taisho, since there's no one in the Third Expeditionary higher than I am at the moment."

Henry nodded. "I appreciate that, ma'am, even though I'm not sure if I deserve any promotions."

"So..." said Shina as course of the conversation stalled, "What did you want to talk about, ma'am?"

Yuuko looked over Henry's shoulder for a second, watching the waitress make her frappe. She then looked to Shina as the girl addressed her. "I was hoping to hear Henry's story about Nepleslia. I've actually never been there."

"I don't know much about the planet myself, ma'am, even though I grew up there. I guess I had a pretty sheltered childhood," said Henry.

Meanwhile, the waitress returned with the frappe, the tea, and Shina's pancakes. She set them on the table and fled before Shina could strike up another conversation with her.

"You said you had to rescue your parents," Yuuko prompted Henry, curious.

"I had to rescue my grandparents, ma'am," said Henry, politely waiting for his superior officer to touch her drink first. Shina, however, would have nothing to do with such decorum, as she immediately began feasting upon her pancakes. "Mmm, breakfast..." she mumbled with her mouth full. Henry considered commenting to her that, considering the time of the day, her meal should have been called lunch, perhaps even dinner. An instinct, an ancestral memory, perhaps, prompted him to keep his mouth shut.

Yuuko took a sip of her drink, smiling to herself at the taste. "Were they in danger or something?"

"Yes," said Henry with a sigh. "My grandfather used to be the local police captain. His orders sent a lot of criminals and gang members to their deaths. The gangs were still after him, even though he had retired decades ago."

"I hear there's a lot of violence on that world."

"And what you heard were probably correct," said Henry before sipping his tea. His cybernetic parts were, of course, a direct result of that violence, but Henry felt that he shouldn't bore Yuuko with too much detail.

"Anyway," he continued, "one of the gangs found out where he was hiding. So I had to help him and my grandmother get off the planet."

"I'm glad you made it back safely," Yuuko said, putting her hand on top of his. "James left me...he went to Ralfaris just before it was destroyed..." she said weakly, fighting back tears. "He never came back."

Henry put down his teacup, and placed his freed hand on put of Yuuko's. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Shina's mouth was too full to give similar words of condolences. So she offered the Taisa a slice of her pancakes with her fork.

Yuuko took the pancakes with a sniffle. "I've just been roaming around ever since. I didn't really have anyone to talk to..."

"Well, I'm here now, ma'am," said Henry supportively. "And... I have been wondering what our next orders would be."

PAUSED>

JP by: Wes (Yuuko, Minato), Yangfan (Henry, Shina)

To be continued...

 

[Yangfan]

[Hoshi no Iori] Straight from the Top

ON> Hoshi no Iori

Yuuko looked up as if something had suddenly caught her attention. "Actually, I just received mine!" she exclaimed, as her ship relayed the text message to her mind. "Hmm, I've been transferred."

Almost at the same moment, one of Henry's data pads began beeping in his pocket. Henry took it out and read the message. "Well, that's strange. So have I," he said quietly. "Woo! You got a promotion!" Yelled Shina as she peeked over his shoulder. "Henry's made Taisa," she said to Yuuko excitedly.

"I didn't get a promotion," Yuuko mumbled quietly to herself, a little disappointed. She ate the pancake that Shina had given her. "2nd Division, 1st Expeditionary Fleet."

"You should get one soon," said Henry, trying to comfort her. He didn't really place that much importance in gaining ranks. That was why he neglected to mention his promotion when he saw it. "I have been transferred there, also... Perhaps it's not a coincidence after all." "Wow, you're a captain now," murmured Shina as she gave Henry a hug.

"I wonder when we're expected to leave?" Yuuko wondered. "I think the First Expeditionary Fleet is around here at the moment... Henry, will you miss being in the 3rd XF?"

Henry pondered upon the question for a while. "Well, I guess it all depends on what kind of assignments we would be assigned in the 1st XF. I mean, I don't condone everything that we did during our expeditions... but the 1st XF is really a war fleet, isn't it?"

"The 1st XF has its hands in everything, Henry," Yuuko said, sipping her mocha frappe. "It does a lot more combat than the 3rd, I know."

Henry nodded with a heavy heart. "I guess that's all right. Perhaps it's what I've unconsciously wanted all along, to walk the path of a warrior, like my grandfather."

Yuuko gave Henry an odd look, "Henry! I mean, I just never saw you as that sort of man."

Meanwhile, Shina had polished off what remained of her pancakes. She was examining Henry's orders carefully. "I never saw myself as that sort of man, either," Henry replied with a smile.

Yuuko grinned widely and gave Henry a big hug, "Good! Because I don't want anything to happen to you!"

"Henry... sir," Shina suddenly asked, "You are bringing the Jade and her crew with you... right?" Henry smiled as Yuuko hugged him. "Of course, Shina. You are not the only one with friends on that ship, you know."

"What about you, ma'am?" said Henry as he turned to Yuuko. "Will you be bringing the Rave to the 1st XF?"

"I think so, but..." Yuuko looked thoughtful.

"But?" asked Shina, as her head peeked out from behind Henry's shoulder.

"But, given the new fleet command structure, as Taisa, we should have battleships. Yuumi-class."

"We can always just transfer the crew and the avatars into new ships," Henry suggested. "The ship itself is just a shell for the avatar, after all."

"I didn't think the Avatars could move. I'm sure they come with their own?"

"Hmm, you are right..." said Henry. "What do you think, ma'am? Should we trade in our ships for Yuumi class ones?"

"Well, we could do it like Irim and Yui have done, and command more than one ship at once, using the battleship as our main ship, and the scout ships as our yachts," Yuuko suggested. She finished the last of her coffee.

Henry nodded with approval. "That's a good compromise. The avatars won't think that we've abandoned them. Plus, the Yuis would still make good scouts for us."

Yuuko's eyes lit up for a second. "Would you like to meet my sister, Anri?"

"Of course," Henry answered before finishing off the rest of his tea.

"She's got a palace near here," Yuuko grinned. "It's as beautiful as the one on Yamatai."

"Really?" said Henry as he got up to pay the waitress for their drinks and food. "I never got the opportunity to see the ones on Yamatai."

"No? You really should go. I've been in the Empress' Palace while it was being constructed. It's quite extravagant."

Henry chuckled. "But you are a Kessaku, ma'am. I'm sure Her Majesty wouldn't approve of people like me wondering her home."

"You'd be surprised. Didn't your orders come from Yui herself, too?" She stood, readying to lead the way.

Henry paused. Shina held out his data pad with the screen toward him, so that he could go over the message again. "Once again, ma'am, you are correct," said Henry with a smile. "But I'm sure it's just an automated message, or something along that line. Her Majesty probably approves of a dozen such promotions each day. She has better things to do than personally writing each message."

"I get the feeling she does more than she has to, Henry," Yuuko said as she led the way out into the giant corridor and to an elevator hall. One of the sets of chrome gold doors opened for their group to enter.

Henry considered those words as he and Shina followed Yuuko through the doors.

The lift swiftly carried them through miles and miles of tubing, using an inertial dampening field to keep them comfortable while it sped around the ring at very high speeds. There were windows on two sides of the car, and sometimes Yuuko, Shina, and Henry could catch glimpses of giant lakes and forests, snowy mountaintops, and little pagodas on grand hills, rice paddies, and then in contrast mecha bays full of Mindy M2 power armors, shipyards, and dark, cavernous service tunnels.

"This is a lot more convenient than the rail system," Shina commented. Henry smiled at the comment. High ranks did have their perks.

PAUSED>

JP by: Wes (Yuuko), Yangfan (Henry, Shina)

To be continued…