RP: YSS Miharu Mission 1 "REAR GUARD", Day 5

Though Leutre knew his own provocation hasn't helped the situation and that Nyton obviously wasn't going to fire, he couldn't help but still feel slightly annoyed. He was safe for now, at least. "No worries, Taii. There's really nothing wrong with a healthy dose of paranoia; it keeps you cautious and attentive at all times. However, it's only healthy so long as you have the sense of mind to avoid turning into a basket case or a trigger-happy ninnyhammer," Leutre glanced at Nyton warily for a moment, giving him a sour look.

"Anywho, I have no intention of cleaning out that charred piece of scrap," he motioned toward the ST backup system. "At the very least, not on an empty stomach. I'm famished! Taii, if the fuses in your brain done blowing themselves out would you care to join me? Miyo, whats say you?"

"I'll survive. You two can go." Kotori thumbed the way of Leutre and Miyoko. "Nyton stays here; we need to have a chat."

Miyoko nodded uncertainly. Leaving so shortly after the incident didn't feel quite right to her, but on the other hand, she was hungry... and unraveling conspiracy theories wasn't her strong point, either. Giving a worried glance to Kotori, she said, "Okay... but don't hesitate to call on me if you don't start feeling better soon."

Nyton nodded to the other two as they were dismissed for meals. "I can handle things from here. If there's anything I cannot handle then I shall certainly call you back."

I'm in for it now. Then again it's been some time since I've had a good ass chewing. Let's see what Kotori is like when she's mad. he thought quietly.

"Pish posh Miyo, she'll be fine. It's me I'm worried about." He stole a wary glance in the direction of Nyton and Kotori. Though he knew Nyton probably wouldn't try and shoot him, Leutre still couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy in his presence.

Leutre turned his attention back to Miyoko, and grasped the sleeve of her unform. With a small tug he motioned towards the doors of the medical bay. "C'mon, let's go eat."

After silently eating for a while, Masako decided she had enough of silence. Finishing off her final sandwich, the young warrant officer took a sip of water before looking over to Mara. "I think I'll help you outfit the suits once we're done eating, Mara-san," Masako spoke up suddenly before turning towards Takuma.

"Kimura-Hei, you're free to relax while we have the chance. I believe we've thought of everything we could have for our bridge assault," she said to the enlisted man with a small, confidence smile.

"Mm." Miyoko nodded her consent and headed out the door with Leutre. Once it had closed, she remarked, a slight grin on her face, "One day... the two of you are going to snap and go at it. When that day comes, I call exclusive rights to sell tickets."

Once the two others left by the door Kotori turned her yellow eyes on Nyton. "Back on the Sakura, I had to deal with a samurai bodyguard of Hanako-hime whom went by the name of Chisou. She had the diplomatic sense of a rabid badger and as executive officer I had altercations with her several times over because she seemed utterly incapable of working well with the rest of the Sakura's crew."

The neko swung her legs down the bed. "She went her merry way making enemies of about everyone; especially figures of authority. We weren't there to make her life harder - we just wanted her to work well with us and she just refused to do that. She died well but she was not fondly remembered."

Kotori sighed. "Let's not repeat the Chisou scenario and make sure not to let antagonism reach that level... I'd like to think we are better than that and even if Veressis-san makes for a poor soldier we can still try to provide incentive for him to work well alongside us - after all, we are all on the same side."

Nyton stood back a little bit and bowed to Kotori after she had finished. "I apologize for my indiscretion. It was my own fault for having let my emotions cloud my judgement." he said.

When he raised himself back up he then stood at attention and looked back into Kotori's eyes. "While I will keep such things in check towards Leutre in the future, I have been trying to keep things running smoothly in regards to the others. I don't know if I appear personable enough but I hope I am at least regarded with the competence to be approachable." Nyton then clenched his jaw slightly as he continued. "The subject of Veressis however frustrates me. He arrived here without any training and quite frankly that makes me nervous. While I'm sure he can handle himself in the bar brawls and pirate raids he's accustomed to, I question his abilities in the face of real combat. I don't want a soldier like that covering my six, especially if I feel he'll either put a bullet in my back or take one in his own should he break and run. I know he is no front line soldier but his lack of discipline, questionable motivations, and rather half-cocked attitude make him untrustworthy and in turn makes me not like him."

Nyton let out a breath and eased himself so as not to be so tense. "On the other hand I feel as though the system has failed him. He wasn't trained but they sent him here to risk his life regardless. As his superior officer I feel it is my responsibility to try and correct this issue given that he is already considered a 'sensitive asset' and cannot simply be tossed back into the gears of the system. Unfortunately our current combat status does not exactly give us the amount of time I would like to block for such things and therefore I am at a bit of an impasse. Like I said, he's not a front line soldier and I'm not trying to make him one but he still needs the basic skills of knowing how a soldier acts, some first aid, weapons familiarity, some combat training, and at least some sort of survival training. For his sake as well as our own."

"I understand that. I am not taking measures to rebuke you so much as trying to make you understand what I am going for so you can work with me." Kotori smiled back to the taller Nepleslian. "Once I get enough time to go over some paperwork, I'm very likely to file an evaluation of him and then change his status from a soldier to a hired consultant; just like Yukisato-san. This might solve a lot of things as far as protocol goes... I was actually planning to talk to him about it later on, since his commission as a soldier is temporary anyways and that I can't promote him either."

Nyton's eyes hit upon understanding and he raised his eyebrows as he nodded. "Ah ha, I see. That's actually.... a really good idea. Never thought I would see the species restriction act work in our favor like this." he replied.

"Seeing Veressis is just a Santô Hei and doesn't seem to be very keen on his current career path, I don't think he'll mind it overmuch," Kotori pointed out as she slid off the bed and made a few tentative steps. "However, it doesn't applies as satisfactorily on people like you."

The black-haired neko leapt up, gathering her limbs and spinning around in a whiplash sound of hair before landing in a crouch on the ceiling - the settling hair on her shoulders and back confirming she had reversed her own center of gravity.

Kotori looked up (or down) at Nyton. "For someone whom made it to warrant officer rank, studied for officer training at the Kyoto War College and whom still has most of his adulthood to look forward to, I don't see how being made a hired consultant would be of appeal to you."

Leutre laughed nervously. "There's really no personal problem that can't be solved by the careful application of toxins or shaped explosive charges. I still have Lady Luck, bless her bottom, on my side as well." Leutre glanced upward for a moment, as if acknowledging his patron deity.

"Well, enough of him. Whats say we head down to the kitchen and indulge ourselves until Tom himself grows weary of our presence, neh?" Leutre motion towards the main passageway, then paused for a moment. "Say, I've been meaning to ask -- what's the story behind that collar? I was curious since I saw it, but between leering officers and getting my head bashed in it simply slipped my mind."

"Like I said before..." Miyoko rubbed the engraving idly, a hint of a smile playing across her face, "it's my nickname, a stupid pun. Or was my nickname, rather."

She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "One of the few times I've stayed in one place for more than a few days, I was on a station between assignments for a week or so, long enough to actually get to know some of the personnel. During that week, I managed to pry enough currency out of them, one way or another, to earn the nickname. They got me the collar as a going-away present on the grounds that I promised never to come back." She chuckled sardonically, glancing at him. "Just count yourself lucky that you bet the rights to pick your next body instead of your cash. When there's money on the line, I don't lose."

Nyton crossed his arms as he watched Kotori's display of mobility. "For someone who just suffered near cerebral hemorrhage you're showing off quite well." he said dryly once she 'landed' on the ceiling.

I wonder if I could do that with a Yamataian body. It would be like having the best of both worlds in cybernetics and genetics. he thought.

With a wry grin he looked at her and walked to stand directly underneath. "You're right though. I think I would want a little more out of my career then just being a contracted consultant. But there is always the possibility for change. Things never stay the same forever." Nyton said cooly.

Kotori uncurled from her position to half-crawl, half-somersault toward the wall where she 'sat' in the corner and let the ship's gravity gradually resume its pull on her, causing her to slide down to reach Nyton's footing with the whispering sound of her uniform sliding against the floor and the thump of her boots on the flooring.

"I have to admit," she began as she straightened up, "that I find the species restriction order peculiar. The wars against the Elysians, the Hive Wars, the Sentinels, the Jaaq'tah and the early battles against the Mishhuvurthyar... all of those had been won with Nepleslians serving in the Star Army of Yamatai and being able to make their own contributions." She began smoothing her black hair to straighten it up from her small anti-gravity escapade. "It sounds like politics."

The spectacle was almost humerous as Kotori maneuvered about the room. Nyton almost thought it to be childlike but not immature. More like an adult who was still enjoying the thrill of a really cool thing they could do. I think she's teasing me. That or showing me the benefits of taking a Yamataian body. She must think highly of my future to put forth a rather good effort to try and convince me if that is what she is doing.

"I think it has more than merely politics behind this motive. I think it has more to do with control. A sort of consolidation of power. Not only is the top of the line soldier put forth to ensure maximum combat potential, but the majority of the Nekovalkyrja are perceived as loyal. While PNUgen is under the Empire's control, they will receive the best and most loyal soldiers available. This move pushes PNUgen to continue creating and in essence forwarding their research to create better soldiers to fill all the spots now made vacant by the restriction." Nyton replied.

"It also makes me think that there is some sort of change going on." he then added while he assumed his thinking pose.

Mara, having devoured her meal, nodded along to Masako's offer as she swallowed the last bit of her sandwich. The sprite stood up, picked up her tray and went to the kitchen to wash up her things.

Hinoto watched Mara go and then turned to the two other sprites. "You'll be going back to help Freeman-Heisho, right? How is your work coming along?"

"We're nearly done fixing the fold drive and readjusting the Combined Field Systems," Ichigo replied. "Much of the rest of the damage the ship sustained will require extra-vehicular activity to fix or a return to a drydock."

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"But PNUgen was knocked out of the market by the Star Army for their involvement in creating the Mishhuvurthyar and their possible ties with Black Spiral," Kotori noted. "The ones creating new nekovalkyrja now are the Ketsurui. Remember how the restriction order also made the NH-17 switch for NH-29 bodies?"

Picking up her plate and standing up, Masako looked toward the sprites still seated and Takuma. Smiling cutely and politely, she nodded her head towards them before heading towards the kitchen, following Mara to put her plate and glass away.

She absent-mindedly listened to Ichigo's description of what was going on with the repair team and winced slightly. There's a possibility for a dry dock? That doesn't sound good, the raven-haired neko thought.

"Just because PNUgen ceased to be a corporation does not mean it no longer exists. Remember their ties go a lot deeper than mere profit margins and boards of directors. It was probably just a matter of time before the Ketsurui clan took a more openly direct reign of control." Nyton replied.

He bit his lower lip for a second before he continued. "It's just more speculation but if I were to approach this from a scientific researcher's point of view this looks like another phase in their experiment. By forcing the conversion of the 17's to 29, Geshrin to Yamataian, and removing the Nepleslians from the equation, I get the impression that they are creating a control group. True there are 'special allowances' made since they know to remove all Nepleslians would appear insanely illogical but it does do a good job of trimming down as many 'unknown' variables as possible."

Nyton released his thinking pose and shook his head. "But again, at this point it's all just more speculation by the crazy conspiracy theorist which is what I'm certain everyone has referred to me by now."

"All guessing aside, what would you do in this situation? You call it peculiar but what are your thoughts on this forced change and the fate of Nepleslians? You seemed rather disheartened when you had to inform me that I would have to be passed up for promotion." he asked.