Cannonball
Inactive Member
Light streamed past her face – on, off, on, off as the lift descended from the bridge. Eriko stared blankly at the wall in front of her. She wasn' tired or exhausted; she was painfully awake, and vividly aware of what had happened over the past hour. It had hurt her. Deeply. And there were only a few thing she could think of doing that might possibly put her mind at rest.
Lost in thought, habit took her first to the medbay. Amidst the stark, white walls and the bustle of doctor and injured alike she seated herself almost casually and updated her ST backup. “Over here…” “Out of the way…” “He’s done, get him out of the tank…” “Get me some blood!” So loud. Compared to the urgency of all around, the vice-admiral seemed possessed of a strange, focused calm that almost betrayed a purpose that went beyond her current actions. She inserted a drive into the ST machine and set it to download before pushing her way through the crowd. The storage cabinets opened to her touch and the neko quickly pulled what she needed from the alcove before retrieving the drive and leaving the bay.
Eriko mused to herself as she returned to her room. Really, if anything this was a horrible security flaw. Their systems were impossible to crack; no unauthorised personnel could do anything without due process. But if you were authorised some things were just a little too easy. Normally, that wasn’t a problem, but if today was any indication then there was something obviously wrong. Somewhere, somewhen the Fifth had succumbed to the same problems that plagued the other fleets….greed, pride, fear. Her lips suddenly dry, she licked them.
She smelt a rat and something told her this tunnel went further than she knew.
The door to her quarters closed silently behind her. She stared for a moment at her cosy apartment; the leaves on her bonsai rushed imperceptibly in the breeze of the air-circulation. A beanbag sat in one corner of the room by the window – book still open on the floor and turned to chapter 3, page 57…the first kiss. It was her room, all clean and almost impersonal but it had some touches here and there. It always felt so peaceful, so comfortable onboard the Hotaru. More than any other ship she knew…
Eriko stripped out of her dress uniform and into the bathroom: checked her teeth, splashed water over her face, looked into her own eyes. The vice-admiral cocked her head to one side and watched the green pigment turn to blue; her brown hair turn to blonde. A quick makeover. Eriko went out and got dressed: spacesuit underneath, trench coat on top, belt around the waist and boots on the feet. She clipped her dagger to the belt, stowed her sword and passed the drive from hand to hand before stuffing it in a pocket.
Grabbing her pistol, Eri slung the bag she’d gotten in medical over her shoulder and left.
---
The shosho stepped out and into the Hotaru’s construction bay; floating across its massive berth. Around her ships materialised out of nothingness. She streaked over the steel-grey hulk of a Irim, its armour still half finished and its insides nothing but empty space; she ran her fingers along its frame, almost stroking it before jumping across the gap to the next ship.
Eriko pulled the Sakura-class’s door open. Shadows danced at her feet, the shine behind her from the bay wreathing the vice-admiral in a halo of light as she stepped inside. The door was pulled shut, the light retreated, and Eriko’s face slid slowly into darkness…winking out as the portal locked with a heavy clang. It was half finished, of course, but it would do. After all, it had a completed medical bay. No power. But it was finished, and that’s all that really mattered…
Portable aether unit to the hemosynth-tank...insert the drive and prepare…for…the…upload. Ok, ready. Eriko stood and looked up. After what had happened, this was something of an evil path to tread. Nonetheless, she gave her order. “Hotaru, from this point on, nothing has happened in this ship. As far as you’re concerned, I’m inspecting the vessels due for completion….but if Katsuko asks, tell her the truth for me.”
She flicked the switch and tossed a SPINE locking unit into the tank. The room was bathed in a flickering green radiance; bubbles rising from the depths as flesh and bone began to form anew. Eriko watched, wide-eyed and emotionless…her face ghoulish in the glow as the ST data began to raise a familiar figure from the dead.
“…hello, Miho.”
Lost in thought, habit took her first to the medbay. Amidst the stark, white walls and the bustle of doctor and injured alike she seated herself almost casually and updated her ST backup. “Over here…” “Out of the way…” “He’s done, get him out of the tank…” “Get me some blood!” So loud. Compared to the urgency of all around, the vice-admiral seemed possessed of a strange, focused calm that almost betrayed a purpose that went beyond her current actions. She inserted a drive into the ST machine and set it to download before pushing her way through the crowd. The storage cabinets opened to her touch and the neko quickly pulled what she needed from the alcove before retrieving the drive and leaving the bay.
Eriko mused to herself as she returned to her room. Really, if anything this was a horrible security flaw. Their systems were impossible to crack; no unauthorised personnel could do anything without due process. But if you were authorised some things were just a little too easy. Normally, that wasn’t a problem, but if today was any indication then there was something obviously wrong. Somewhere, somewhen the Fifth had succumbed to the same problems that plagued the other fleets….greed, pride, fear. Her lips suddenly dry, she licked them.
She smelt a rat and something told her this tunnel went further than she knew.
The door to her quarters closed silently behind her. She stared for a moment at her cosy apartment; the leaves on her bonsai rushed imperceptibly in the breeze of the air-circulation. A beanbag sat in one corner of the room by the window – book still open on the floor and turned to chapter 3, page 57…the first kiss. It was her room, all clean and almost impersonal but it had some touches here and there. It always felt so peaceful, so comfortable onboard the Hotaru. More than any other ship she knew…
Eriko stripped out of her dress uniform and into the bathroom: checked her teeth, splashed water over her face, looked into her own eyes. The vice-admiral cocked her head to one side and watched the green pigment turn to blue; her brown hair turn to blonde. A quick makeover. Eriko went out and got dressed: spacesuit underneath, trench coat on top, belt around the waist and boots on the feet. She clipped her dagger to the belt, stowed her sword and passed the drive from hand to hand before stuffing it in a pocket.
Grabbing her pistol, Eri slung the bag she’d gotten in medical over her shoulder and left.
---
The shosho stepped out and into the Hotaru’s construction bay; floating across its massive berth. Around her ships materialised out of nothingness. She streaked over the steel-grey hulk of a Irim, its armour still half finished and its insides nothing but empty space; she ran her fingers along its frame, almost stroking it before jumping across the gap to the next ship.
Eriko pulled the Sakura-class’s door open. Shadows danced at her feet, the shine behind her from the bay wreathing the vice-admiral in a halo of light as she stepped inside. The door was pulled shut, the light retreated, and Eriko’s face slid slowly into darkness…winking out as the portal locked with a heavy clang. It was half finished, of course, but it would do. After all, it had a completed medical bay. No power. But it was finished, and that’s all that really mattered…
Portable aether unit to the hemosynth-tank...insert the drive and prepare…for…the…upload. Ok, ready. Eriko stood and looked up. After what had happened, this was something of an evil path to tread. Nonetheless, she gave her order. “Hotaru, from this point on, nothing has happened in this ship. As far as you’re concerned, I’m inspecting the vessels due for completion….but if Katsuko asks, tell her the truth for me.”
She flicked the switch and tossed a SPINE locking unit into the tank. The room was bathed in a flickering green radiance; bubbles rising from the depths as flesh and bone began to form anew. Eriko watched, wide-eyed and emotionless…her face ghoulish in the glow as the ST data began to raise a familiar figure from the dead.
“…hello, Miho.”