RP: 4th Fleet [Mission 1] The Battle of South Gate

The Mindy clad soldier did not lower his weapon, "I would be careful making threats Santô Hei. I am Tatsuya-Nitô Juni and four Mindy's against one, you would not last very long." Toshio said lower is weapons, "Stand down boys." the rest of Alpha team lowered their weapons. "I will give you this Oshiro-Hei, you have moxie, I like a man with moxie. We would have gotten here sooner but we ran into a friend of that." he said pointing to the body. "What is the status of the bridge? Any casualties?"

"Taisa! There is a fire and the auto-suppression systems are unresponsive. It's spreading towards the magazine!" Honoka telepathically sent, a bit wide-eyed at what this meant. She almost neglected to mention the other, less important part. "The NMX vessels are also in retreat.... Only a few small stragglers are left that don't pose much of a threat."

"No." Arkase said coolly. "One of the Bridge Staff in here shot the unarmored traitor. I tied the Kylie up in hand-to-hand. No casualties."

After a moment, Arkase relaxed as the adrenaline left him. "We're all a bit tense. Sorry to bring it out on your Team."

For half a second Silic could only watch the wall of flame roar towards him, his face painted in disbelief “No way.” he breathed silently. Hitting the release button on his seatbelt and exploding through the open door of the cab, he sprinted straight towards the corridor before anyone could react. Already feeling the heat from the flames, he pushed with a final burst and leaped towards the door control panel, his feet sailing forward in a fly kick, he reached desperately.

As Silic was in full flight the adrenaline hitting his system made time appear to slow down. A hot wind blew past him as the flames rushed ever closer.

The first of the flames shot past him into the magazine he felt the searing heat scorch the side of his uniform. His boot at that moment slammed into the emergency door control; the blast shutter closed with a slam. The flames that entered the room cut off from the rest of the fire vanished with a whoosh at the same moment that Silic landed on the floor with thud.

One of the Neko who had been repairing the mechanism came over to offer Silic a hand. "Are you okay? You seem to be slightly charred." she asked.

Silic opened one eye, which had been scrunched closed in fear, it focused on the Neko standing over him, his shades having been knocked off by the sudden stop. “Are we still alive?” he asked breathlessly, not quite ready to move yet.

The Neko smiled warmly at Silic, "It would appear to be the case, unless the afterlife has been sadly misrepresented." she said with a grin. "After a day like this I believe I need a drink. By the way, weren't you assigned as part of the Taisho's staff?"

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Outside the Flag bridge

Toshio opened his helmet, "Understood Oshiro-Hei, in the heat of battle its easy to get caught up. In my book, no harm, no foul. It looks like we are through the worst of it."

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Meanwhile on the Flag bridge.

Kiyoshi surveyed the Flag bridge, the damage was light all things considered. She walked over to a function terminal and pulled up the tactical situation, Heavy losses, but we held them. Not what I would call a great victory. But it will do. she thought.

She turned to Honoka, "Hakumei-Nitô Juni, notify all ships to stand down unless they are attacked. The fleet should make way to the Gate. Have the commanders relay their ship status to Spirit City for scheduling repairs. " she sent telepathically.

Freya informed Honoka, "Hakumei-Nitô Juni, the fire has been contained and is being extinguished by lack of oxygen. The last of the NMX vessels have left the combat area."

Silic finally mustered the will to grip the offered hand, although the Neko had to do a lot of the pulling. Silic had to lean against her for support as he scooped down to pick up his glasses, self-consciously putting them back in place to cover his scarred eyes. “I think I got fired.” he admitted, before sighing “That was more Awesome than I ever want to do again.” still using the other engineer as a crutch.

"Indeed." Arkase said. "I never want go through something like this again. A bit over a simple -Hei's head, don't you think?"

The young man looked over at the Kylie, and the crumpled body laying against the wall. He thought of the people who died under his command, and thought of what he had almost died to defend.

He took off his helmet, and grimaced at the sudden blast of smell. Ozone and burnt flesh mingled with blood and sweat. Arkase suddenly thought what a very fine thing it would be, to stop defending against the Misshu. To stop waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Hey. Does anyone else think that it's just about time we took the fight to those bastards?" He growled, and tightened the grip on his helmet.

The Neko lead Silic to a place where he could sit, "By the way my name is Kiku. Have a seat and I will tend to your injuries. From what we heard the medical center is overworked at the moment."

Kiku then crossed the room and grabbed a first aid kit and returned. "If you like later I can check and see if Freya caught your flight, I could download it for you if she did. If nothing else it would make a great conversation in a bar, and the video would be proof." she said with a wink. "So, where are you injured?"

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Toshio noticed the younger soldiers brief grimace, "You never quite get used to the smell, but after awhile you learn to handle it. Besides if you are smelling it then you are still alive. You did okay for your first time out Oshiro-Hei, I'd take you on my squad."

Kiyoshi meanwhile had walked up to the door to the Flag bridge, "Oshiro-Hei, I can assure you that Yamatai will take the fight to the Mishhu in time. But for the moment the Fourth Fleet needs to heal its people, repair its ships and build up our forces. Trust me though, the Mishhu will rue the day they decided to move against us. Just not today. Besides we beat them, which is better than most of the other engagements have gone. Perhaps our stance here will help solidify, or better yet rally our forces."

By the time Kiku returned Silic was quickly recovering his usual demeanour “Ah, not much to closing a door.” he shrugged, “The rumor-mill must be at max rpm if I suddenly owe the whole ship drinks.” He raised his hands in front of him, and flipped them over in inspection, the mechanical one clicking from a faulty gear somewhere. “I dunno about injuries, I feel pretty good, kiku-san.” he said, not noticing his charred side, obviously not having registered it yet, or the brusing on his shoulder, or the wrenched neck.

Kiku looked at Silic, "The side of your uniform is fairly burnt. Probably best to proceed with caution and make sure you haven't been burned underneath."

"Hai," Honoka replied to Kiyoshi, giving a nod as she returned to her work. "Etto, the fire has burned itself out and the last of the NMX vessels have left the combat zone."

"Attention all Fourth Standard Fleet vessels, you are to stand down unless attacked and make your way to the gate. Commanders should start relaying the status of their ships to Spirit City to beging scheduling of repairs."

Silic looked down at his side and paled “Uh, yeah. Uh, better-better get tha-yeah...” said Silic lamely, his eyebrows climbing. He gulped nervously “Closer than I thought.”

Kiku set about to helping Silic remove his uniform tunic. There were a few places on his upper left arm that had second degree burns. She quickly applied a burn cream to them and covered them with a bandage. She took a quick look at his side and back; finding no injuries she examined his lower arm. Well your cybernetic replacement appears to be in order, of course I am no expert in cybernetics.

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Kiyoshi turned back to Honoka, Well done Hakumei-Nitô Juni Hakumei, you can secure your station and stand easy.

Kiyoshi took a seat at one of the consoles and activated the screen, she ran the ship rosters of the fleet, making note of the status of each one. Surprise had served the NMX well in this engagement. While in the end the 4th Fleet had persevered, more than half the fleet was either destroyed or heavily damaged. But if it was one thing that Kiyoshi knew that Yamatai was good as was rebuilding. She was certain Shimizu-Taisho would soon put in orders to Spirit City for construction to begin as well as repairs. But that was a task for another day. Today it was just good to be alive.

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End.