RP: 21st Fighter Sq [Mission 1.3] Letting off Steam

Nobutora decided to assign the Shoi Kohosei’s rudeness to the odd sense of humor of a Nepleslian formerly of, as he recalled, the UOC rather than to some social dysfunction. Commensurately, he took the officer’s hand, returning the shake with a firm grip. “An honor, sir,” he said, face stoic. He had already filed away his first impression of Ramirez for future reference, subcategorizing it under idiosyncrasies. Turning toward the younger Yamataian, he nodded. “Kobayashi-san,” he acknowledged, noting, in her case, the scratching of the ear. There was no immediately foreseeable reason to memorize minutiae about his shipmates, but failure due to lack of possible preparation was not something he ever intended to encounter.

He watched the Hei for a moment longer and then dropped his gaze, turning to gesture for a bar attendant. “Water. Still. No ice. And a round of whatever everyone here is drinking, on me, if you please.” The intervening time since his last operational assignment had taught him a thing or two about working with a team. He couldn’t change his demeanor, but buying a round of drinks only required opening his wallet a little.

Ren's shuttle docked with the YSS Heitan and she despondently stepped out, glancing around tiredly. She trudged through the halls, uncertain about what was going on, as she had been out of touch until recently after her group had split off from the main. "Annno..." she muttered to herself, looking around "Where is everyone?"

"Greetings Tsukino-Santô Hei, can you please rephrase your query." Hiromi's female synthesized voice said coming from the speakers. "Unless you wish me to provide you with the locations of every soldier aboard the Heitan."

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"Take a chair Yamamoto-San, we are just about done with this hand, so you can join in the next." Atsui said. "I've got three of a kind." she said showing her hand to the other players. She took a large sip of her drink.

Ren thought a moment, then said "Iunno..." she popped her pacifier into her mouth and started to chew on it thoughfuly "I suppose I should ask to be guided to the recreation facilities" she said, shaking her head to herself. She had not been on this ship particularly long, and was still learning it's layout. "Could you please show me the way to the recreation facilities? I forgot it." Her voice was a an octive or so lower then it should be, and she kept inspecting the floor with a ferocious glare, not quite looking up. It was pretty clear she was upset about something. "N...No... Actually, recent that... The pilot who got shot down... how badly injured? Could you direct me to this pilot please?"

Hiromi replied, "Certainly Tsukino-Hei. There are currently two pilots listed in the medical center. Silic Vas-Hei was shot down. He is currently in the critical care section of the medical center. Downloading the directions to your communicator for convenience."

Saori looked up from the card game at Nobutora's introduction. The black-haired neko nodded in greeting, "Kuwashima Saori." She said by means of introduction, her eyes lingering for a second longer than proper before turning back to watching the unfolding poker game and waiting for the next hand.

Nobutora returned the Neko's look with a slight narrowing of his brow, sliding into his seat as she broke off her stare. This most certainly is a collection of interesting sorts, he thought to himself, reaching back to accept the glass of water from the bar attendant. At the very least they do not appear to be actively hostile to my presence. He sat silent for a moment, idly calculating the odds of anyone besting the Chui's hand while sipping at his drink. “Might I ask, ma'am, what poker rule-set is being utilized here?” he asked, waving vaguely toward the CO's hand.

"It appears we have intruders aboard, Ma'am." Hachirou's voice said.

He had strode quietly across the room to place himself at the Squadron's table. Now that he was there, he cast his eyes around at the newcomers.

"Though, they may not be strangers for long. They look like a good enough bunch." He said with a joking smile. "How're the hands moving along?" He indicated the cards on the table.

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Lynn Yagami looked up from her idle work at a bench, beginning to be bored by the problems given her by the busy engineers of the Heitan. She noticed Binky -- she shook her head. Tsukino Ren she corrected herself -- standing outside of the shuttle.

It wasn't in her nature to go to strangers to speak, but she had seen Hayachi-Shoi on the runway after the surprise attack. Besides, the other Nekovalkyrja seemed safe enough. Not the yelling type at all.

Pushing aside her work, and waving at the curious technician who looked over, Lynn made her way to Ren.

"Ohayo." She said. Morning. "How are you, Tsukino-San?" She asked quietly, a bit scared.

Atsui looked up at the latest arrivals. "The poker is just straight up poker, just like how I prefer my drinks. Its a hundred KS to enter the game. We are wrapping up the first hand. At least we will once the others show their hands." She said looking at Kayo.

"I fold ma'am, I just have two pair. How about you Sekai-San?" Kayou inquired.

Hiromi's voice came across the speakers in the bar, "Numa-Chui, please report to the Captian's office."

Sekai looked at Atsui, "I fold too ma'am." placing her cards down.

"Damn, looks like I am out of the game." Atsui said taking the pot and her stake off the table. "Hayachi-San, I guess you can deal. I must see to what the Captain requires."

She walked over to the bar, depositing the chips. She gave them to the bartender to cover the tab thus far.

"Right then." Hayachi said, taking Atsui's empty seat.

"If you want in, take a seat and get the entry fee." He said shuffling. Once finished, he began dealing the cards.

Nobutora started to rise from his seat as the Chui left but stopped halfway, noting a lack of reaction on the part of the rest of crew. He settled back down, a little uncomfortable with the informality that was apparently part and parcel of the bar. Considering for a second whether he should introduce himself again to the new officer, he pushed his glass aside and fished his communicator from its pouch. He could talk to the officer, one Hayachi Hachirou-Shoi if he recalled aright, at a more appropriate time; right now, he wanted into the poker game. Hitting the key confirming the transaction, Nobutora put away the communicator, the entry fee electronically transferred to the Shoi. “If you would deal me in, sir.”

Konpeki walked into the Safety Valve, she was in her off-duty mode so her brilliant dark blue hair was flowing. She was a bit uncertain if she should enter, since this was supposed to be Aerospace crew only. But she did fly a Teisatsu so in her mind even though she wore black panels being here would be fine.

Surveying the room as she had been taught, she spotted a familiar face, her fellow crew mate Nobutora. Should I go over and greet him, best not too. He seems to be sitting with his squadron. So having an extra SAINT operative come over would probably sour the mood.

Spying an empty table along the wall she glided across the room. As she passed within Nobutora's view she made the discrete hand gesture while smoothing her hair that said she saw him, and would talk to him later. Konpeki sat at her table with her back towards the wall so she could view the room.

An attendant approached her, "Ma'am, you should not be here, this is for aerospace crew only." Konpeki pulled out her orders, and laid them on the table she fixed the young man in her gaze.. "If you look at these you will see that I am assigned to the Heitan, and that in addition to being in SAINT, that I am assigned as a Teisatsu driver. So kindly get me two shots of Yamatain Brandy, or we can have a private conversation where I will pull up you're complete service and preservice record. And if you are lucky, you might pass as being trustworthy." she said

The attendant blanched, "I'm sorry ma'am, no need for that, any driver is welcome here. I'll be right back with your brand." he turned and practically ran away. Konpeki smirked as he left. This was one of the times she enjoyed the reaction most people seemed to have to her black panels. She never had any intention of following through on her threat, she just felt it was the best way to establish herself as a force to be reckoned with. Within twenty-four hours no one would question her right to be here again.

When the attendant came back with her drink she took it and smiled warmly. "Thank you, In about 20 minutes please bring me a second." she said handing him 10 KS.

"You're welcome ma'am, enjoy your time here in the Safety Valve." he said and walked away.

SSharp said:

Lynn Yagami looked up from her idle work at a bench, beginning to be bored by the problems given her by the busy engineers of the Heitan. She noticed Binky -- she shook her head. Tsukino Ren she corrected herself -- standing outside of the shuttle.

It wasn't in her nature to go to strangers to speak, but she had seen Hayachi-Shoi on the runway after the surprise attack. Besides, the other Nekovalkyrja seemed safe enough. Not the yelling type at all.

Pushing aside her work, and waving at the curious technician who looked over, Lynn made her way to Ren.

"Ohayo." She said. Morning. "How are you, Tsukino-San?" She asked quietly, a bit scared.

Click to expand...

Ren blinked at Lynn. "Ah... hello" she said "I... I think I acidentaly caused someone to be hurt..." she murmered, then she shoot herself. "Ah, how are you?" she asked gently, trying to deflect the questions away from herself.

She was hurting, and had decided that focusing on someone else was a good way to relive that. She smiled gently at the rabbit-like woman.

Saori drained her drink, set the mug down and watched as the last hand resolved itself. Once the formalities of chips exchanging hands finished, she chipped in for the next hand.

Tai sipped her drink, enjoying the taste as she continued to watch. "I'll sit out, thanks. Never really been good at cards." she said, leaning back a bit as she took another sip. "Looked like a good hand though."

In a corner of one of the Heitan's cavernous hanger bays sat the fighters of the 21st squadron, ferried up here by the pilots from Fort Shotou planet-side. Most of them were in various states of dis-assembly and , the maintainance crews having been pouring over them to fix them back up to battle readiness. Tuning engines, re-adjusting various reactor settings, cleaning the filters of the contaminants one invariably picked up in atmosphere, patching holes in the hull.

A couple of the fighters stood apart, however. Their paint fresh and still exuding a "straight from the factory" smell. One of them was a replacement for the Kawarime that had been destroyed in the last mission. The other two were brand new "Teisatsu" Recon fighters. The C variant idled alone, its pilot likely somewhere else inside the massive carrier. Conversely, the canopy of the D variant fighter was wide open, a pair of legs sticking up against the headrest.

Minoru muttered to himself as he undid a panel under the console. He had been notified of his newly assigned fighter as soon as he had disembarked aboard the Heitan. After overseeing the transfer of Cutter and Vas-Hei to Medical, he had come to the hangar to see how he could adjust the fighter to better suit his role. Easy.

Or perhaps not. Most of the fighter's subsystems were geared towards intelligence gathering, and the consoles reflected that. The improved sensor package they had put on this thing probably massed more than the aether cannons they took out. And unfortunately that did little to help relay medical data. The Teisatsu simply wasnt wired for combat squadron work, it was a picket ship. A scout. Communication silence was the order of the day for what it was built for. Not something the good doctor could live with. He needed detailed medical analysis on squadron members, real time. And he needed a better ability to relay that information.

And unfortunately he had to start from the wires up. This was going to be fun. He looked at the dataslate he had propped up by his head, showing the wiring schematic for what he needed, keeping most of the sensor console functionality while diverting some of it towards increased communication bandwidth to handle the medical data he would need. Then he looked back into the open panel at the mess of wires and circuitry that looked nothing like what was on the slate. Oh yeah...this was going to be very fun. He reached out with one hand, groping for one of his tools in the pilot's seat that was just out of reach. Good thing he had an assistant, if a rather unorthodox one.

"Hiromi-san, can you please pass me that screwdriver? The flat-headed one."

Nobutora could feel the tension in his body, a state of war between the impulse to stand and greet his old shipmate and the desire just to keep an eye on her. Thankfully, he managed to beat down both instincts for the moment, preventing a dreadful breach of tradecraft. That he even had such impulses told him all he needed to know about having been out of the field for too long: he was rusty. Indeed, it was Konpeki's artful execution of a basic hand signal, a basic staple of their shared craft, that had given him the necessary reminder of his own duty. Paranoid it might be to avoid contact with a friend aboard a Star Army vessel, but then again he was paid to be paranoid. Dragging his mental focus back to join his physical appearance in concentrating on the card game, he glanced up at the Shoi. “Who is the Big Blind, sir?”

Hachirou began passing the cards to those who dealt in.

"The name escapes me." He admitted to Nobutora.

"Alright, this'll be my only hand, friends. Let's make it count." He said, checking his own cards when all was finished.

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Lynn Yagami played with her fingers in front of her. Pulling, and pushing, and rubbing. It was a nervous gesture that had quickly gone down in Hayachi-Shoi's presence.

"I'm fine. But... ano... I know Hayachi-Shoi yelled at you. I wanted to say... uhm... That you should listen to what he had to say, and improve, but don't work yourself up over it. I've been grilled too, and I felt horrible. But he'll act like it never happened unless someone else brings it up." She shifted her bright yellow eyes to the floor, and then flicked them up to the cieling, and finally laid them to rest again on Ren.

"Tsukino-san, do you want some company over to Medical if you're heading there?"

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In all the excitement of the table, Sekai had slipped away toward her beloved hangar. Quietly moving in behind Lynn toward Hayachi-Shoi's fighter, she began to work.

Kayo accepted the cards she was dealt and picked them up. She then carefully sorted them, by suit and value. Once done she looked to see what kind of hand she had and moved the important cards to one side.

She carefully closed her hand, and took a sip from her glass. She then tried to read the faces of those around her. "Yamamoto-San so what was your last ship you served on?" then noticing his black panels she added, "Or can't you tell us."

Saori shifted a few cards over in her hand and bit her lower lip in thought. She stared at her hand with unwavering intensity and only after a long moment lost in thought, she looked up at the other players and tried her best to get a read on them.