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

"Mara, settle down please," the short neko warned calmly as she noticed the sprites apparent frustration over Sigurd. "The pods themselves wouldn't be a problem if they were just used for the initial insertion into the rapid launch bay," Masako said frowned in thought. "If we can use it for the initial attack, we could probably force our way through with enough concentrated fire...or if we are not worried about taking the lives of agents in the launch bays, we could always launch a volley of anti-armor missiles into the bay itself," she suggested as her face suddenly became taunt.

"That should take care of anyone or anything not an NIWS in the bay, but then we would still have to deal with the interior forces from there. That still only has a slim chance of working though, considering once we're inside it just leaves the Miharu defenseless. Unless the crew left behind on the Miharu dons powered armor themselves, but that just worries me," Masako replied with a frown. "No matter how prepared they were, a Mindy teleporting in could spell disaster for them. So I would like to propose a plan combining our ideas." Masako said as she brought up the holographic projection of a Nozomi.

"We have one team consisting of one Mindy and Daisies with drone pods to start off. Using anti-armor and anti-personnel missiles, they will make a strike in one of the launch bays dedicated to Mindies.," Masako explain, although she personally didn't like the fact she was suggesting a missile attack on a launch bay, the young neko was thinking of anything that could increase the survivability of her crewmates. "The second team, or rather, a lone Mindy II with teleportation unit will then make a short hop into the Monitor Room to disable the Megami while the missile strike is occurring. Hopefully these two simultaneous attacks will throw the crew into chaos," she commented before zooming in on the launch bay. "After the initial attack, Team One will deploy the drone pods directly inside the launch bay to provide supressive fire on anyone who would enter before making there way throughout the ship, clearing it out. At the same time, the lone Mindy will enter the bridge with a Type 28 SMG set to stun and neutralize the entire bridge crew. The Mindy should then hold that position, which would be easy considering the focal point of the bridge entrance will create a choke point. At anytime a Mindy encounters an NIWS, they will use their teleportation unit to take both NIWS and Mindy approximately a few hundred thousand or so kilometers away from the Miharu and Nozomi. There, they will either have to take it out, or stall it long enough for the Miharu to get a lock on it with its weaponry and take it out with a pinpoint strike." the young neko explained before pausing to look at her own plan.

It was risky in the long run. The lone Mindy II against NIWS would probably die while executing this plan. The team had the best chance of survival but would still be in great danger throughout the assault. But who would the most likely target be by the NIWS? Would it be the greatest threat on the bridge or the most numerous threat cleaning out the ship? Pondering that thought, the young Kurohoshi looked up at group. "There are certainly risks involving this plan," she commented. "But Team One should have a better chance of surviving," she said, purposely leaving the lone Mindy II out of her discussion until someone spoke up about it.

Mara had taken a deep steadying breath on Masako's order and the sandy-haired sprite listened to the dark haired Juni as she elaborated on her proposition. "What about the second launch bay? A Nozomi has two rapid launch bays from which it can launch Mindy power armors."

"There are always risks associated with any plan. But yours has very good bearing." Nyton said warmly. "I would like to add a few things though. While the first team is assaulting the ship the pods could also create another choke point here." he said and pointed to one of the main hallways of the Nozomi. "If we send a couple pods to jam the hall and shoot everything that moves, the defenders would be forced to use the other hallway."

Nyton then pointed to the other Mindy bay. "We should also send a couple pods to lay down suppressive fire on the other bay to make it difficult for their forces to flank us."

He then looked over to Masako. "The survival chances of the single Mindy can be increased if we establish a predetermined jump point where we have weapons already trained to fire on the NIWS as soon as it materializes." Nyton brought up another holowindow that showed the Miharu's forward fore. "If the Mindy could teleport to right about here, we could use the Miharu's main weapon on beam mode. With a little care and a pinpoint beam ready, the NIWS would be destroyed before it even realizes what happened."

"A small quantum computer will afford the NIWS nearly perfect situational awareness," Sigurd declared. "You will not surprise it, but you will put it in a seriously disadvantageous posture. However, attacks from the ship itself will be difficult seeing the current condition of our targeting sensors."

The custodian crossed his arms. "It remains my observation that you are taking the Mindy bays too lightly. Our complement of power armors could concentrate and prevail on one group, but the other would be able to move around while you take down their comrades. A few attack bits will not keep them away from you for long. Furthermore, you must remember that they too should have the teleporters. If you do not successfully pin them down early, they could attack the Miharu and thus risk putting our own chain of command into jeopardy."

"Sigurd-san is correct about the NIWS, you will not surprise it," Masako replied as she rethought her original plan. "Though I agree pre-determined coordinates are a nice touch, the Mindy would still have to forcefully pin the NIWS in place while the Miharu fired...no matter what, the lone Mindy still have low odds of surviving." Masako answered before moving away from the lone Mindy for a moment.

"I also believe the pods could be used better than that Claymere-Kuni," Masako went on as she directed her attention to the second launch bay. "I want our equipment to survive long enough to be effective. With in the halls, our drones will be picked off easily." the raven-haired neko paused a moment before moving on. "Therefore, I have a strange request. We'll keep our drones covering our primary insertion point, but for the second launch bay...I'd suggest using the Miharu's Variable Weapons Pods to make sure no one enters the launch bay alive or unscathed. Basically, we'll be using the drones and the pods to make sure no one exits via those methods. This means we can keep the same plan while covering the second launch bay," Masako explained before frowning.

"Sigurd," she abruptly said as she looked over at the giant. "You are equipped with two HEX and a sound weapon, correct? In defense of the Miharu, in case any enemy Mindy were to teleport in, I'd like to have all available personnel in powered armor and you placed in a key location to help in the defense. Removing the technicians, Ketsurui-Taii, and Suzuka-Chui, from our list of available pool of pilots, who does that leave us with for the mission?" she asked before going on. "That would be Claymere-Juni, myself, Westwood-Hei, Saito-Hei, and...." she paused to look over at Mara. "Am I missing anyone?"

"Claymere-Juni, Kurohoshi-Juni, Westwood-Hei, Hinoto, Ichigo, Nimura, myself and the two mission specialists the Chui brought in, those are probably the core of our assault team," Mara answered, her own listing slightly different from Masako's. "However, considering how we'd end up facing sixteen enemy pilots, we might want to add Saito-Hei, Veressis-Hei and Suzuka-Chui to this assault - we even could use the Taii in this attack and leave the fire support to the MEGAMI. We'd leave Amagasaki-Hei, Dige-Hei, Freeman-Heisho, Yukisato-san and Nishimura-Hei behind to guard the ship along with the NovaCorp android."

"Though I understand our fellow crewmembers might be reticent to risk their commanding officers, having them on the offensive might not only be an asset to the mission itself, but having them attack would insure that they would not be vulnerable inside the ship proper," Sigurd told Mara and the others. "However, I must point out that my capability to oppose a Mindy power armor or a NIWS are limited - both units should outperform me; I would only slow them down even if I fought in circumstances favoring myself under a five meter range."

"Veressis-Hei would be no good if it should come to a power armor battle," Masako replied as she crossed her arms under her breasts and frowned. "Not only has he repeatedly talked about not having any experience in an armor, but I haven't had the time to put him through training, he would more likely be an liability in the assault than of any help," the warrant officer stated the facts. "He is, on the other hand, a fair technician and would be better at helping Freeman-Heisho," she said before thinking of the others.

"We seem to have plenty of NH-29s, but we were only planning on using two Mindies." Masako frowned before quickly pondering. "We can have Ketsurui-Taii in a Mindy with Team One with everyone else in Daisies," the raven-eyed Neko suggested before getting down to the point. "I'll take the lone Mindy in this case."

Sigurd's eyes settled on Masako. "And what if the Taii decides to confront the NIWS herself?"

Masako's pitch black eyes looked up at Sigurd for a moment before the young neko allowed herself to speak. "Well then, she'd have to make it an order," Masako spoke calmly. "Because as Armor Wing Leader, I do not want the Taii to take any unnecessary risks. She is the commanding officer of the Miharu, though I can see the need and the positive aspects for having her on the insertion team, I will not have her endanger herself when there is someone else who can do it just as well as she can," the warrant officer explained quite seriously.

"Would your chances of surviving then not increase if there was more than one Mindy involved in the destruction of the NIWS?" Sigurd persisted. The Custodian apparently wasn't blind to the risk Masako seemed so (fatalistically) willing to put herself into over the others.

"Yes it would, but as I've said before, we have a finite amount of Mindy II's that we need to regulate properly," Masako replied to the Custodian. "I am also taking responsibility for the plan and running as the lone Mindy, the only people with the experience in a Mindy and the most combat time over all are the Taii, the Chui, and myself. Since I won't have either our commanding officer or executive officer flying the lone mission, the only logical person for the job is me," the raven-eyed neko tried to explain in terms the Android could understand.

"No matter what plan we come up with there is going to be a danger to someone. Unless we know a way to hack into their MEGAMI and make it shut down or turn against its own crew, someone is going to have to go in there and neutralize them. Hell, maybe we could just have every battle capable ship point their guns right at the enemy ship, lock them in with our tractor beams, and force a surrender out of them." Nyton told Sigurd with a shrug. His guardian programming seemed to be really kicking in the concern for personnel but it could not be helped. That was just how he was programmed to be.

"We're trying to do the best we can with what we have. Perhaps we could ask for a few Kylie wings to provide support from the Fifth. We could have two wings place suppressive fire on the other launch bay while our team infiltrates from the other. A third wing could be waiting at the pre-determined jump point to support the Mindy along with the rest of the battle group's main weapons." Nyton looked at the screens again. "It may not be perfect but Kurohoshi's plan looks good. A few nodal bits may not be able to hold down the other Mindy bay but if we let the Kylie's handle that side while we enter from another they will be forced to divide their forces. The Kylie's don't even need to press the attack, so long as they keep them off balance."

Nyton looked over to Mara. "Can we send a message to the surviving Fifth and ask for three Kylie wings to provide some support?"

"Oh, getting help from other power armors isn't the problem," Mara replied as she chaffed her fingers. "It's wether or not the Taii will be willing to drag the Kinkou Carrier Group further in this business. Consider that the 5th XF ships will have to stand by and watch two SAINT ships go at each other's throats. The Taii can't really ask Tsutomu Chinatsu-Taisa to choose a side without them really knowing what's going on."

"That is true," Masako commented as her pitch black eyes focused on the Nozomi diagram once again. "Our mission is supposed to be on a need to know basis after all. Though it would definitely be easier with the remaining 5th XF forces, it's not necessarily the correct choice to make either. Even just telling the Taisa about our mission would put us and the mission itself in danger."

The sigh Yukari let out was quiet, but it was still audible. She shook her head at Hinoto when she received a questioning look from her.

"I am fine," she said. "I have not rested well. Nothing more."

The Chui's words seemed accentuated by a stray lock of hair sweeping in front of her face. She blew gently at the wavy bit of hair, but it came back. She undid the bun of her hair and shook her hair some, letting it fall around her head and show itself to be quite the voluminous mess.

She knew Tom was having a harder time than her. Everyone seemed to; the only pain she was experiencing was from staring at the screens monitoring the chibi-MEGAMI sensor screen network, calibrating here and there to help mask specific ships more effectively, as the probes were taken with the task of simply maintaining the screen. There was also the matter of continuing the work previously set on her, though technically it was done -- digging through the personnel data of the 5th XF, to determine who was best suited for the Miharu's needs.

She'd come up with four backups, or two pairs, that could replace the recently arrived technical crew. During the off-points between Tom's calling for help on the fold drive, she also managed to scrounge a casualty list, complete with personnel files, for the 5th XF Taisa. The communication officer aboard the Sheridan had been grateful; the grim work was not something she had looked forward to.

Yukari had not either, she thought as she put her hair back in a loose bun. She had wanted Tom, of course, but it was not to be.

Patience, she reminded herself. Turn your mind to things productive.

The executive officer had caught wisps of the deeply tactical conversation going on between much of the crew. It did not lighten her any, but it did remind her of something Kotori said ... something that would keep her out of a power armor, which was good for the whole crew.

A quick scour of her memory brought up the appropriate terminal locations of the makers of her transport, Hrist. She had to consider what would work best ... but she did not know. She knew energy weapons were not her specialty; Nyton's armor training had made that clear enough. So she set the parameters to be something that didn't fire "beams." Something solid would work best ... but the damage those would do be negligible.

She frowned. Something ... she shook her head. It would not come to her right now. The technicians hopefully could discover something. The letter was tapped out and stored; the moment the Miharu was in "safe waters," the message would be sent. A copy was forwarded to Kotori, so she could approve it.

Back to work. Tom did not need anything, so she returned to the sensor screen net. Her thin lips were just a little dry; she should have taken some water from the galley.

After some time observing Yukari from the corner of the eyes, Hinoto gracefully stood up and came around Yukari's seat to bend over the right armrest and look at the brown-haired woman in the eyes.

The next eyeblink Hinoto pressed herself closer and brushed her lips against Yukari's - a little peck.

Yukari's eyes glanced up from an image panel she was looking at. She didn't move her head as her eyes locked onto the strange, ethereal silvery-grey of Hinoto's irises.

A question was just on the edge of her lips, a question resembling, "Yes, Hinoto-san? Is there something you require?" That question only managed to tickle her tongue before Hinoto leaned in and gave her a gentle, breathless kiss. It almost didn't make a sound ... except into the headset Yukari was still wearing. A quite-audible chu went through.

The Chui's eyes seemed to stare off into space, into nowhere. Then she blinked, once, twice, green emeralds suddenly refixating themselves on Hinoto. About 10 questions swirled toward Hinoto's cloud-colored eyes, yet Yukari could only grasp the one she'd had before.

"Y-yes?" she said, somewhat of a squeek, cheeks slightly red. Her question had suffered some shortening. Hopefully Tom wasn't listening.

"Genki?" Seeing confusion still shining in Yukari's eyes, Hinoto smiled back kindly and said: "Hoshi observed kisses made you feel more spirited. Do you feel less tired now?"

"Well if we can't use the personnel at our disposal perhaps we can use the environment." Nyton stated. "If we can find an asteroid just the right size we could use the tractor beam to jam it into the other rapid launch bay. This would not only cut off the other bay, but it would spare our own forces from having to split off and keep it covered. Even though it won't stop the Mindy's from teleporting out they would not be able to flank us easily. If they teleport outside we could keep them busy with the weapon pods while our units enter the ship. Since the teleportation system requires some time to recharge that would give us a window of opportunity to press our attack into the ship before they can properly concentrate their forces. By then our Mindy could have already disabled the MEGAMI and taken out the bridge crew while the rest push in and neutralize the crew. With the ship keeping the Mindys occupied their crew will be wiped out before they can return and then we can focus and surround them. Even with a NIWS, if we have at least one Mindy with the Daisy team that NIWS will be dispatched and we'll have them rolled up."

Yukari wanted to cry. The cuteness, the caring of Hinoto's actions and words; it was overwhelming -- even if they lacked context. She returned the sprite's warm smile.

"I do feel more spirited," Yukari said, gaze firmly locked within Hinoto's. "But such kisses are very powerful, Hinoto-san. Please be careful with them." She brought her gloved hand to touch the sprite's snowy hair, a little embarassed, but still appreciative.

"Will you tell me what else Hoshi-san has observed? I am curious now." Yukari tapped a couple image panels without looking at them, setting up a heuristic pattern to monitor the sensor net.