RP: 21st Fighter Sq [Mission 1.0] Christening of Blood

Hachirou held his silence, instead shooting a stony glare at the far wall. If questions weren't what the Chui wanted, then she could handle it. He just hoped the briefing would continue soon.

The new appearance at the back listened stoically while quickly surveying his team mates behind his sunglasses, taking in the cocky young Shin, Ren with her pacifier and the collection of other misfits. He muttered quietly so the officers at the front couldn't hear “It's going to be a long tour.”

Yaeko sat forward and shot Shin a dirty glare. "So your attitude gets you in trouble and almost gets you killed, and you still act like a maniacal ass and smart off to your superiors!" Then she looked forward to the Chui, "With all do respect ma'am."

"Cut the chatter. No one gave either of you permission to speak." Hachirou growled from his place near the door, losing patience.

He didn't care for random outbursts -- even if they had a history, Hachirou made a mental note to talk to them both. He had to kill the problem before it started.

Minoru went over the information. Sitting straight up in his seat he could easilly see over the heads of the other pilots in attendance. He flicked his wrist where it lay, keeping his eyes on the front. A circular chit appeared between his fingers, appearing and disappearing with motions of his hand. The practiced routine served to calm and focus his mind. Frankly he would have preferred more time in the simulator before his first combat flight. Even if it was going to be a simple system patrol. But...if wishes were fishes as the saying went.

Shin and Yaeko's outbursts caught his attention. Obviously they had a history, but honestly he didnt want to be involved in it. Grateful as it was crushed in no uncertain terms by the Shoi, he waited for Numa-Chui to continue.

Atsui looked at Shin and frowned, "All of you pipe down or else." she said in firm tone. "Nekki-Nitô Hei, I don't know how they did briefings on the Illustrious. But here in my squadron, interrupting me when I am still doing the briefing is bad form. Further more, you are in a briefing, not lounging in a bar so sit up. And when you address me, it had better start or end with Chui, Solitaire or ma'am. Is that clear? There will be time for questions after I finish providing the specifics."

"During our patrol, I am sure Hayashi-Shoi and I will find ways to keep you from being bored on patrol. We will be assigning temporary wingmen for the patrol, and plan on using some mock engagements to see which pairings work best." Atsui paused to look at the roster, "The following are the pilot, EWO, assignments...." Atsui stopped in midsentence when her eyes fell upon Ren, or more to the point at what was in Ren's mouth. "Tsukino-Hei, you are a soldier, not a child, get rid of that thing in your mouth. If I see you with it again on duty you willbe pulling extra duty in the galley." she said her voice going up by several decibels.

"As I was saying. Pilot/EWO pairs areas follows:

• Kail-Juni is flying with Akechi-Hei aka Doc
• Nekki-Hei aka Ryusei is flying with Tsukino-Hei
• Munkata-Hei is flying with Vas-Hei
• Ramirez-Kohosei is flying solo.

Several of you do not have call signs, so after the patrol we will see about giving you them." Atsui paused briefly and continued.

"Wingman assignment to start are; Kail-Nekki, Ramirez-Munkata, Raikou is with me. Now at this time if there are any meaningful questions?" she said ending her briefing.

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Meanwhile a pair old loaned Odori-Freighters out of KMS dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the SX-04 system. The freighters were preparing to enter the system and were plotting their course through the new star system when a group of NMX Warships dropped out and fired upon them.

The NMX Warships were originally bound to help with the blockade of the KMS, when they happened to spot two SAoY vessels travelling on an irregular trajectory. Blatgroflp the commander of the group saw this as an opportunity to gain some glory. He was certain that they had stumbled about some stragglers as part of a pitiful attempt by the Star Army of Yamatai to launch a counter attack. There was no way he was going to let a senior officer steal his glory so under his orders, the group flew without notifying command as to their location or purpose.

When the ships they had been trailing dropped out of hyperspace, he ordered his group to jam all communications, and engage anti-FTL protocol, he did not want these two little fish to alert the rest of the school. The Odori caught unaware were easily dispatched and Commander Blatgroflp grinned when they were reduced to expanding balls of debris and plasma. His junior officer reported they were picking up more chatter on the SAoY frequencies, but nothing to indicate they had been detected. He ordered the group into stealth mode, and all ships to make ready for battle. "This will be the start of my glorious rise in the NMX."

“Yeah, Atsui-Chui.” Said the man at the back “How do I get out of this Troll dung outfit?” his voice tired and weary, it was obvious the man hadn't volunteered for this.

"You stow that crap, Hei." Hachirou growled furiously. "In fact, come here. I'll have a word with you outside."

Sitting up straight, Shin's smile only broadened at Sillic's remark, the cocky pilot finding it amusing. "Worth it!" At worst, Shin would probably get punched in the face or slapped, so it wasn't that bad, really?

Tsukano Ren blinked softly, then removed the pacifier on a string from her mouth, and wiped it off on her sleeve when ordered. Then she waited for Atsui to fall silent after the briefing. When Ren finaly had a chance to speak without being rude she spoke.

"Sorry ma'am" she said with a respectful bow "It just increases my comfort level to have something to chew on... May I have permission to chew on a toothpick or some gum, ma'am? And may I use the pacifier when off duty ma'am?"

Gum and toothpicks were less durable then a pacifier and required more frequent replacement, which is why she had originally chosen the pacifier. Ren was not so impertinent to give her full explanation aloud. She stood at attention, awaiting her answer.

Atsui looked at Ren, "Chew on a toothpick, a pen or a pencil, I just don't want to see a soldier of mine on duty with a pacifier. What you do offduty is your concern. However most ships do not allow gum chewing so I would suggest if you are going to do that you do it while off ship."

She considered have a few words with Silic, but decided to let her XO handle it.

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Meanwhile the NMX Commander Blatgroflp ordered two of his ships to lower their cloaking. The weak Yamatai were expecting two ships to arrive. Allowing two of his ships to be seen on radar would give the illusion that they were the Odori until the NMX was in a better range to spring the trap.

Minoru halted his hands for the moment as a question of his own came to mind, hopefully one a little more respectful than those voiced so far.. He raised a free hand to call attention to himself for the moment.

"Numa-Chui, if I may? I take it then that I will be performing the squadron's physicals after this sortie?"

Atsui looked at 'Doc', Finally someone asking a good question. she thought. "Akechi-Santô Hei, as our Flight Surgeon, you should be able to access the medical records for everyone except for Ramirez-Kohosei. You will have to do the physicals after this mission. In the meantime, I would recommend that you download them to a datacube. Then you can review them during some of the quiet time during our patrol. You can also see about working out a schedule for the physicals upon our return."

She looked across the room, at the crew members, "Anyone have a question, or something meaningful to add to the briefing?" she asked.


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Meanwhile onboard the bridge of the Heitan a female Yamataian Santô Hei was monitoring the ship's sensors. She detected two inbound objects coming from the south quadrant of the star system. She turned to the officer on watch, "Sir, I am currently tracking two inbound ships. Shall I instruct the patrol to investigate?" she asked.

Keiji looked up from his computer screen. Damn it, why couldn't we have gone with the other ships for the war games. It's not like there is anything going to happen here. No one knows we are out here. he thought. He looked over at Aimi, "What is their trajectory Santô Hei?"

"They are coming in from the south Sir."

Keiji took a moment to check the inbound logs. There was not a lot of scheduled inbound traffic. Most of the traffic bringing the Fleet to Daichi had arrived, and the majority of the loaned ships returned to their units. But the screen did show two ships scheduled to arrive from KMS. "There is no need to divert the Blood Rubies. We have two Odori due in from the Ketsurui Military Sector. Just be sure to hail them when they are .1 AU out, and ready to make their orbital insertion approach."

"Aye, sir contact them at the .1 AU threshold." she then went back to her screen.

Ren thinks a moment, then asks another question "Atsui-chui... On our patrol I know we are not expecting any opposition, but if opposition were to occur who do you feel would be the faction or group most likely to try something, ma'am?" She asks, her meek voice barely carrying in the silence. She was worried that this may have been covered earlier, and that she was asking a stupid quiestion.

Atsui took a moment to consider Ren, Seems there might be a soldier there after all. she thought.

"So far none of the previous patrols have detected anything, not even a stray EM field. But we do know that the Mishhu are out there about 40 light years to the east. And a few days ago Hayashi-Shoi and I encountered a probe of unknown origin. SAINT says the metallurgy does not match any known species. But that is to be expected. We are situated beyond where most of the known species operate. That is why even though this is to be just a patrol, I will not tolerate anyone not taking it seriously."

“I wish it was a joke.” Silic muttered to himself, shaking his downcast head. Being assigned to a fighter had pulled him into a rather poisonous mood he had yet to get over, a night on the tiles hadn't helped. His loose tongue had already earned him a talking to by the Shoi, this time he kept his comments to a muttered gallows humour.

Tsukino ren pondered for a moment, rolling the answer over in her head. "Atsui-Chui may I request a review of both the hostile, and the non-hostile first contact procedures, ma'am?" She asked "I would like to make sure they are fresh in my head so that I don't do something foolish through lack of information."

She realized that, for the most part, the procedures were common sense. Still she wanted to be reassured that there were procedures in place, as the thought of loose but established procedures made her somewhat more comfortable.

Yaeko returned to her shy little bubble and just listened to the rest of the conversation going on, choosing not to partake anymore or ask questions. She took mental note of several different important questions being asked, and also of her wing-mate who's name she recognized for some reason, although she couldn't figure out why.

"Hayashi-Shoi, would you be so kind as to refresh the squadron's memories regarding first contact protocols, hostile and otherwise. I am heading to grab my helmet from the ESTV." Atsui said.

Shin smiled at his co-pilot, Ren, almost visibly fidgeting in his seat, ready to get out of this chair and into his fighter. "Yeah, I got a question that goes with that. If we run into something that is obviously hostile, I won't have to wait for orders to shoot it down, right?"