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

"Hai, Taisho." Honoka took her assigned station, a bit worried. "Ano, I'll think about officer training after we're not fighting for our lives."

She looked over her station immediately feeling a lot of pressure. Yes, she'd helped with bridge operations before, but only on a single ship. She hadn't done anything with a fleet before and especially not right in front of a Taisho. She tried desperately to calm down as she waited.

Arkase stood near the door, watching the holo-table with a small bit of awe. With so many ships, how can we stand to lose? Was the first thought to run through his head.

But then, he thought of the Misshu. They would have just as many, or more. He decided to bet on the latter -- the Taisho probably had to leave quite a few forces behind.

He noticed the Aide looking uncomfortable, but couldn't say anything to Honoka. How could he, when he was just as nervous?

Arkase said something anyway -- and surprised himself in saying it. "This reminds me about an old action movie. Didn't have very good acting or anything... but it had a happy ending. After this sudden, and big battle the good guys went out and beat the villain and his army. It was really cheesy, but I liked the ending... They all went home with smiles."

He threw out a grin trying to do his best to look like he meant it only to surprise himself again when he realized he did mean it. Every word. Arkase wanted to go home with a smile -- or at least, very much alive.

One screen dominated the area over the table. There was a timer counting down to their battlegroup breaking from their FTL drives, when the battle would start.

ETA: 10:00
ETA: 09:59
ETA: 09:58

"I wish it were like that, Arkase-kun. The truth is we're outnumbered. If I move the rest of the fleet from their posts, I risk losing planets, and giving them a foothold. If we can't stop them from taking the southern gate, I'm going to detonate the Iori, and take as many of them with us as I can." There was a pause on the bridge from several officers, but only for a moment. Most of them had served with Akina long enough to know how far she would go to hold the line or give the rest of the fleet a chance.

"We know what happened at Nataria. This is not an option here. At the very least, if the gate falls we can give time for the colonists to evacuate the expanse." The Taisho's voice piqued again after several moments of silence, and the formation on the screen as it closed like a web around Spirit City several adjustments.

"On the other hand, I do not want to die either. A cheesy movie is better than a horrific death, hmn? Fleet-com, I want the ships to fire to their assigned targets when we enter the system as soon as they're in range. Don't give them time, they'll know we're coming, that's why we're coming from more than one direction. Make the enemy thin their defense some, at least, even if it's thicker than offense I intend to use any power armours left."

Arkase nodded. Now everything was sliding into place.

No more time to talk, then. He thought, holding back a sigh.

I just hope the Taisho doesn't decide to sacrifice the Nadare -- I know I won't remember how I died, if I do. But I really don't want to have that hanging over my shoulders.

Arkase winced. What if they never pick me up? the thought chilled him. If they lost South Gate, and Nadare was nothing but debris, how would he be resurrected?

As good as dead. And that would apply to everyone else as well... Who would what was left of the Fleet without Shimizu-Taisho? An experienced leader. A political figure. The Empire stood to lose much without her as an asset.

The Aide? Probably would develop over time, and Arkase felt at that moment as if the Neko were his only friend. Obviously competent, and pretty soon officers might become thin on the ground.

Arkase Oshiro? Well... He had nothing to lose. Everything to give. And I will. Arkase thought. I'll kick both of their asses into a lifepod if I have to, and have the chance.

"Ma'am? May I go get into a Power Armour? It might be needed in the coming battle." And the biggest rifle I can find as well.

Honoka nervously watched the countdown. There wasn't much she could do about it. Just 10 minutes... now less... now even less... until she, and the others, were in a fight for their lives, against a more numerous force. On top of that, now she had a real responsibility at her station. She was helping people decide whether they would live or die.

She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. "Oshiro-hei," the aide started a response, "I would think, since you are the Taisho's personal bodyguard, that you should take what lengths are necessary to protect her."

"Hai." Arkase said out loud.

"Leaving without dismissal can get you in trouble, isn't that right?" He sent to the Aide.

"I had planned to."

ETA: 07:36
ETA: 07:15
ETA: 07:02


"You may. Though, you are about to see more power armours in action than you might ever again for the rest of the war. At least..I hope so." The Taisho nodded, sending a message to the Nadare's mainframe. She would bring the new Engineer up. Better he was there than waiting as the ship was torn apart, or whatever grisly things that passed through the Princess' mind at that moment.

Silic realised he was most definitely lost, he was standing at a T-junction in the corridors trying to decide which way to turn, looking left then right he brought up the map he’d drawn on the skin of his natural hand. “Alright, if I’m here, then...” his eyes traced the route up the side his palm and to the back of his hand before it turned sideways and lead up his forearm “...then the power armour bay should be...” he pointed to a small square next a tiny sunspot halfway to his elbow “...there.”

With around five hundred square kilometres of deck a Chimaru was not the easiest thing for a rookie to navigate, especially since he’d been rushed into service straight out of Fort Ready. When he found out he’s been posted to a battleship, and a flagship at that, Sil had practically cartwheeled in glee, thinking it would be a cushy job, that was until he’d learned the ship was going straight into combat against the Mishu, that had been a bit of a buzz kill to say the least.

Silic sighed and scratched his head before turning right, hoping this was the right way “Gonna have to find a better map.” he muttered darkly as he paced down the corridor towards his destination.

Arkase had made his way through the ship as quickly as possible -- with MEGAMI guiding his way.

As a side-thought, brewing from a new paranoia he had also mapped the three fastest routes from the fleet command deck to escape pods.

He stopped in front of the Power-Armour Bay when he noticed an unfamiliar face. No surprises there, He thought, Crew of over twenty thousand -- but this guy is wearing glasses.

"...You look a bit lost." He started. "May I help you?"

With the question asked, he searched MEGAMI to check if things were in order with the man. Arkase assumed he had the access to check the man's file.

Arkase would find nothing particularly classified in Silics record, although he did have a few minor offences from his teenage years, he was also noticeably older than most other recruits and had a record for strange accidents. He looked up from a close scrutiny of his arm, which was half blue from the ink of his improvised map “That obvious, eh?” an embarrassed smile on his face “I think I’m meant to be in the armour bay, not sure but it seems as good a place as any.”

"Well, You're right in front of it." Arkase said dryly.

"You're an engineer, though aren't you? What business do you have in the Power Armour Bay?"

Solves that problem thought Silic, mentally smacking himself on the forehead and began taking note of the surroundings in case there was a later. He shrugged at Arkase “I fix things, sorta comes with the job.” laughing nervously at the end “Silic Vas, by the way, only know I’m meant to be on the ship, they didn’t tell me much else.”

He didn't mention his secondary reason for heading to the armour bay, if push came to shove the Mishu were more likely to think of filled escape pods as giant cans of meat with "Come Eat Me" signs all over them, probably safer leaping out in a Daisy. Silic wasn't exactly a coward, but he'd seen the numbers before he left, and had decided it was prudent to keep to worst case scenario planning.

"Newly assigned?" Arkase shook his head. "You can always query MEGAMI."

"Well, you check out. So, unless you have any questions I have to get outfitted."

Arkase left the new engineer, it might have seemed rude... but he was in a hurry. Why hover over glasses? They wouldn't hurt anybody.

He went into the Power Armour bay, picked out the suit he had used in training before the conference, and began the process of getting in. The Plasma Rifle would give him adequate firepower...

He liked the Daisy better than the Mindy, even if the latter was better in space.

Silic watched the young mans back as he walked away, raising his glasses to get a better view, causing a nearby armour pilot to jerk back in surprise, his eyes weren’t exactly a pretty sight. “Hmm, could have at least left his name.” he thought to himself, following Arkase into the armour bay and wandering over to a nearby tool locker.

Taking a look inside to see what he had to work with he looked sideways at the younger man, and quickly looked away as the clothes started coming off as he got ready to enter his machine. Grabbing a small diagnostic kit, and a few other bits and pieces, “So my nameless friend, want a quick check-up before you leave?” he called over to the man.

Arkase didn't respond until he was about to have the Helmet put on.

"Eh... It couldn't hurt. Just don't screw with anything before telling me."

Back at the training exercise, he had run a diagnostic just like everyone else -- and then, likely someone had run new diagnostics and maintenance on the returning PA's. It was how things worked.

Arkase put his helmet on, and quietly ran another on his end.

"By the way, my name is Arkase Oshiro-Nitô Hei."

“Nice to meet you Arkase-nitô” said Silic, walking over with a small screen-like device in his hand, stopping next to the suited pilot he peered down into the screen before looking the suit up and down. “Your right knee joint is slightly out of alignment, hold on.” before the other man could react Silic did a quick kick against the side of the right knee, there was no visible change but Silic nodded his approval “You’ll see another six months from that joint at least, performance should also improve by about half a percent.”

"Err... Right, Silic-Hei." Arkase said.

The kick wouldn't have hurt the armor, but at the same time Arkase didn't see anything wrong on his end to explain the 'why'. He's the engineer... The pilot thought, shaking his head slightly.

"Well... I must return to my post. Nice meeting you, and you really should ask MEGAMI where you need to be."

A shimmering window opened, with a serene looking young Nekovalkyrja with long white hair that featured glacier blue highlights, and matching blue eyes. In the frame of the window, scrawled in brush was the word "FREYA", "Silic Vas. You are to report to the Fleet Bridge, Princess Taisho Shimizu. Please follow the lighted projections to reach this destination." Blip. The window was gone. There was, however, a path projected on the floor for the newly minted Engineer.

Freya was the helpful sort, after all.

Honoka kept staring at her console, still in her own thoughts. She was so distracted that she hardly noticed the telepathic message sent to her.

A quick check to the time. 7 minutes....

“Some of us don’t need a supercomputer to talk to machines,” replied Silic absent mindedly, looking into the small screen in his hand, quickly using his thumb to turn it off he looked back up at the armour pilot “besides, I doubt I’m important en-“ he was cut off by the announcement calling him out to the bridge. Swallowing whatever he’d been about to say a small “Ugh.” escaped Silics throat as he stared at where the projection had been. Pausing for a second Sil’s brain recovered enough to farewell the other man, managing an almost whispered “Yeah, see ya.”

Finally, Silics feet decided they’d had enough of that and carried him towards command deck, he turned back to Arkase “Be sure to come back, you hear.” I’m not done with that suit yet he thought to himself.