To:
Ketsurui Hanako-Taisa
CO, YSS Eucharis
CC:
Jalen Sune-Chui
XO, YSS Eucharis
Report
I must start with the fact that the Shosa ordered us all to use “close quarters combat ordinance, engineering kit, and demolitions ordinance”, as this is quite relevant at the very end of the report. We were never told the scope of the mission before suiting up and therefore only a few of us thought to equip Teleportation Units independently. Our unknown objective was to disable or completely destroy the station, and I can speculate on the problems we would have had to excess, but I will address how events actually unfolded at the end of the report and maintain a chronological order.
When I contacted the Taisa in surprise at the action of entering the jamming station’s perimeter, it was not merely an unprofessional outburst of disagreement. The fact that she surprised me completely with her actions indicated to me my complete failure as an Advisor. I should not be a position where I am so completely surprised by the orders of the Taisa, and would have tried to aid in coming up with an alternative had I known her intentions.
When we deployed, I was uninformed and uncertain as to the scope of the mission and details, and even just how much authority the Shosa had by extension. When the first shots were fired by Micheal at the turrets aiming for the Eucharis, I worried that the actions of the station were within the bounds of self defense and that if the NMX weren’t in control, that we were conducting an attack on a sovereign nation against which we were not at war. Regardless, we proceeded inside via the hole made by a blown apart turret, and soon encountered Black Coat infantry forces waiting to attack, but had time to plan because we detected them by drones we had deployed.
In case it is not known; Black Coats are those loyal to the Tange clan in the UOC, and as of my information, are the most paranoid and are most likely to shoot first and ask questions later. Their paranoia and intelligence gathering make them an analogue to SAINT in their nation, at least as of the time I left when the UOC attained independence. After telling this to Klein-Shosa, she ordered us to deploy NSD drones for stun-level Scalar Pulses and not to hesitate to kill, while I and Nayacesen-Heisho were instructed to stay in the middle of the formation as essential personnel.
It was at this point which we came to the most morally questionable part of the mission, and the act with which Klein-Shosa lost Micheal’s respect and notably shook the faith of others in the group. We came to a group of crew cabins, and Helen fired into each one with her forearm weapons, sending her NSDs to supplement her efforts. She also ordered Inoue-Hei and Harris-Hei to inspect the rooms and kill anyone who survived her attack. Fortunately for my conscience, they seem to have found nothing, but I couldn’t help but feel that her actions in that regard were excessive. When I recommended she use an alternative course of action if that situation came up again, I was flatly ignored.
After that, there was chatter amongst the team regarding Klein-Shosa’s conduct, especially from Papadopoulos-Hei, who found her actions and conduct wholly criminal and amoral in his mind. I admit to being quite displeased with her conduct, though I attempted to remind him that we were in no position to stop mid-mission in a hostile situation and argue on the matter and that if wrongdoing was done, it would have to be addressed later. Papadopoulos-Hei was not satisfied and declared his intention to the team to solidly disobey Klien-Shosa and attempt to clarify the situation with the UOC so as to prevent war; and though the word “mutiny” was not used in this message, it would have been considered such if he acted upon it. Nayacesen-Heisho promptly quoted the Laws of the Yamatai Star Empire, section six, subsection eleven and gave an impressive and sound reply, given the situation. Papadopoulos-Hei, if he were to reply or act on his decision anyway, did not get the chance to reply before we were attacked by Mantus Power Armors, and Helen was not privy to the chatter.
The Power Armor team was fitted for light combat, and was not equipped optimally for Power Armor combat, so he were forced to use our Forearm Projectors and LASRs to fight while they used Antimatter Missiles. We attempted to use drones to fire scalar pulses and generally cause a further distraction, but Mantus units are well shielded against scalar weaponry. Papadopoulos-Hei went in and started attacking with his blade at melee range, and was ordered to withdraw by Klein-Shosa, Nayacesen-Hei, as well as multiple times by me. He obstructed our attacks initially, though he tried to lie down and allow our attacks to go through eventually. His wings unavoidably took damage, and though he dealt damage, it left the reat of the team unable to fight back with SLAGs or explosives for fear of striking him. Klein-Shosa was eventually forced to tell us to disregard him and fire without restraint. This still was not fully followed, however, and we were fortunate enough to find an evacuation hatch near us.
While Nayacesen-Hei informed Klein-Shosa and she was telling him why we shouldn’t use it, I was firing my LASR with one hand and setting Type 31 Explosives in place above the frame of the door with the other. Once communications were restored and we were ordered to withdraw, she changed her mind and we traveled through the hatch to withdraw, and I planned to detonate the hatch once we were clear and past a bend in the tunnel below…but Papadopoulos-Hei continued to refuse to disengage and Klein-Shosa ordered us to leave him behind and escape.
When the station was in the process of being destroyed, we had too much mass to teleport everyone due to the aforementioned lack of Teleportation Units to manage our total mass. Papadopoulos-Hei’s insubordination did not truly reflect on this, as if he had been fully obedient, that would not have changed the amount of mass we had to leave behind. If anything, I returned the mass to its original level when I disobeyed Klein-Shosa’s order to leave him behind by seizing control of his Power Armor with my rank and dragging him to my location for teleport when he wished to continue fighting the Mantus armors.
I willfully lost my limbs in evacuating Inoue-Hei and Papadopoulos-Hei, preventing either from injury, while Nayacesen-Heisho also lost his legs in the teleportation, preventing injury to Harris-Hei.
Recommendations and Possible Consequences:
The fact that I had to contribute remotely on the earlier discussion in the medical bay and the fact I was so surprised by our actions on the jamming station indicate that my current station in Engineering is not suitable for my role as an advisor, in that I cannot hear conversations unless she actively sends them to me. Either the station in Engineering will have to be modified to listen in on her discussions, I will have to be removed as Advisor in possible favor of Klien-Shosa(who seems to have taken up the defacto role already), or I will have to relocate my regular duty station to the Engineering console on the bridge. The current arrangement has proven ineffective, and I feel a degree of guilt for the way things have unfolded because of my failure in this role as a result.
I do not hold Micheal accountable for my loss of limbs as limbs would have been lost regardless of if he was fully compliant or not. I could have chosen to remove his limbs in the teleport instead, but chose to lose my own. The purpose of this is because though he is not truly at fault specifically for the teleportation incident, his actions complicated the matter, and he seems the type to be more receptive to a comrade being harmed than himself. I felt that if limbs had to be lost, I could provide that in a controlled and managed way, and have him reflect on his insubordinate actions before someone else was more seriously harmed on a future mission. While I do not hold him accountable, I admit to manipulating the situation in a controlled way that will hopefully make him reevaluate his priorities and make him a better soldier; should his notable insubordination itself not be sufficient to end his service.
Helen’s conduct may or may not be deemed criminal or outside the bounds of the authority which you granted her, and I certainly do not know where I stand in regard to commanding her when she holds said authority. Regardless, her actions were enough to cause serious moral concerns among the team she commanded, myself included. She seems to have lost respect in varying degrees among the team, and her actions are ill-suited to politically sensitive operations. Assuming she is not held accountable, I recommend that this be carefully considered when she is considered for commanding an operation.
While I do not feel that I am guilty of Crime 12 in Star Army Regulations for willfully losing my limbs due to the fact that I was shielding others from an otherwise unavoidable harm, and while I feel that disobeying Klein-Shosa’s orders in this instance was not merely prudent but required since would have been guilty of Crimes 5, 6, and 9 in the Star Army Regulations had I not disobeyed her order, the final decision does not rest with me.
Nayacesen-Heisho’s conduct and actions, in my opinion, both contributed in maintaining the team’s cohesion through to the mission’s conclusion and selflessly protected a subordinate from harm. I have been consistently pleased with his actions and performance since coming aboard, and feel that his actions exceed those of a soldier and may justify consideration for promotion to one of the Warrant Officer ranks.
Kage Yaichiro-Chusa
Engineer/Advisor, YSS Eucharis, NG-X1-408
