RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 16] The Nest

[Just before lift off]


Santo Hei Yamashiro Natsumi looked out upon the sleek grey and red hull of the YSS Eucharis, admiring her new assignments deadly elegance. This was her first billet after completion of training and she was eager to get aboard and get started with her duties.

"Ma'am, you better get aboard, the Eucharis is about to take off"

"Thank you" Natsumi replied with a bright smile to the dock technician, then started off, shouldering her duffel and jogging to the boarding hatch at a brisk pace.

Once she had displayed her credentials to the security trooper at the hatch she was admitted and the hatch sealed behind her. She could already feel the slight vibration of the ships engines and drive spinning up under her feet as she made her way deeper into the ship.

Finding the Deck Officer, Natsumi reported in and received her cabin assignment. She deposited her duffel there and took a moment to make sure her appearance was clean and crisp. Once the Eucharis completed it's lift off she would report to the bridge to begin her assignment properly.

Vehicle Storage

"Can't be sure till you see it yourself"

Bors said to himself as he scooted himself underneath the Light Utility Truck that was in storage. Not having been assigned any specific duty, Bors had kept himself busy over the past two days tending to the ships armory and had decided that he pay the Vehicle Storage bay a visit.

With flashlight in hand, Bors did an once-over of the underside, studying the layout for damage or anything that seemed out of place. Satisfied with how things looked Bors pulled himself out from under the Light Utility Truck, and went to get a look under the hood.

"Well this is going to require some coffee and a manual..." Bors said scratching his head. Closing up the hood Bors mumbled to himself in Nepleslian as he made his way to the Wardroom.

"Aye ma'am," Ramiro responded, chipper and alert having gotten an excellent nights rest. Taking the helm controls and putting on his headset, he cleared their takeoff with the starport control tower and lifted the ship off. Once it was clear of the starport, he adjusted his trajectory to a good ascent angle and throttled the engines as the ship shot out of the atmosphere.

Engineering

Takeyu stood in engineering, just a few feet from the ships reactor monitoring the power flow and system outputs. He had wanted to talk to Shosho before they had a chance to leave, but he didn't get the chance, he'd try again later on.

His arms were folded over his chest, he had a volumetric display off to his left and another to his right, all to keep track of things.

YSS Eucharis Ship Corridor
Konoka was walking to the MedBay when she saw Natsumi. She smiled. A new person! she thought. She skipped over and introduced herself, "Hi! I'm Konoka Miyazawa, Itto Hei...the ship's medic. You must be a new recruit! What's your name? Can I help you find anything? Is this your first assignment? Welcome aboard!"

She was grinning ear to ear. A new mission AND a potential new friend? This was her lucky day!

Bridge

Sune sat at the mission ops station, and had slaved the science controls to it. There was nothing in their immediate flight path, and until Hanako gave them coordinates for their destination he was content to sit and monitor.

Bridge

Tomomi in her neatly pressed duty uniform sat looking towards Hanako from her station. She had contemplated requesting a transfer over to the YSS Vesper since she was sure they could someone such as herself for a little while. But she was curious to see how this operation to go and the best seats to the show were on board this vessel.

YSS Eucharis, Ship Corridor


"Itto Hei, pleased to meet you!" Natsumi saluted the pink haired Medic crisply and respectfully. "I am Yamashiro Natsumi, Santô Hei. Newly assigned to the YSS Eucharis Starship Operations department" she smiled. "Yes, this is my first assignment since I completed training. I was just on my way to the Bridge to report to my duty station"

Konoka Miyazawa seemed a friendly enough first acquaintance. It would be good to start off on the right foot with the people she would be living with and serving with for who knew how long. She new little to no one outside her instructors and classmates from training.

Engineering

Takeyu rubbed the back of his neck, he felt a kink back there that just wouldn't go away. He walked around the ships reactor, keeping his eyes on it, then went over to his station and made a minor system's correction that he caught when he sat down.

Leaning over the displays, he was thinking of contacting Akemi but he wasn't entirely certain what he could teach her right now as the ship had been repaired in dock, so there was pretty much nothing he could do except just wait and see how things went. With the mission they were, he was certain they'd get 'some' damage.

But then he was worried about other things, such as the radiation that Sune had told him about. "Charisma," he spoke up as she leaned back in his chair. "Those areas of the ship that I had listed radiation in, run scans in those areas again please and let me know if they get up to dangerous levels, also, I wanna know if the radiation has expanded any since the last scan," then he folded his arms over his chest and sat there in thought.

Bridge

A new day, a new adventure... well, that was how some saw it, but not for Helen. She was dressed in her standard SAINT attire, as she strode onto the bridge, with an AMES suit tucked under her arm, with a touch of respect, which included a bow, Helen approached the Shosho then spoke; "Shosho, ma'am, I would like to know, what capacity would you wish for me to serve for this mission?"

YSS Eucharis, Ship Corridor

Akemi stepped forward from behind Konoka. She likewise had just happened to be passing by and overheard her and the new crew member. The soldier gave Natsumi a slight bow and a bright smile. "Good morning Yamashiro-hei. Welcome to the Eucharis. I am Koga Akemi, Ittô Hei. I hope you enjoy your time here."

Bridge

"We are getting reports from the scout force now," Hanako told Helen. "Of the 7 star systems in the group to the Galactic South of the HX-22 star system, all of them are inhabited. All are highly industrialized except for this one, which seems to be be breadbasket of the NMX forces. The center system has the most non-military traffic and seems to be the center of their communications. It is likely their capital. The Northeast one here has over a thousand NMX warships and appears to be their fleet hub. We need to decide what to attack. Should we attack their military, their government, their manufacturing, or their food supply?"

YSS Eucharis, Ship Corridor

Natsumi smiled, saluting Akemi as well. "Pleased to meet you as well" she said. "Thank you, I think I will if everyone on the ship is as friendly as you two are!"

Bridge

Sune swiveled his chair to face Hanako. "Attacking their forces and their food would have minimal long term effects upon the enemy.

Government and Manufacturing are vital to their war effort. I would recommend that we strike at their government first. The NMX command structure is comprised of many power hungry individuals of both the SMX and NMX strains. Destroy their government and a power struggle will ensue while they fight for dominance.

Then while they are busy fighting among themselves for dominance we destroy their manufacturing because their resources will be diverted elsewhere."

There was a soft sigh from Helen, as Sune chimed in before she could even do her job. It was slightly annoying, but she was not about to let that matter become a hindrance as she spoke, and spoke firmly and decisively on the matter. "Shosho, while I respect Sune's position, I must disagree. Their government is centralized in a system in which there is minimal military traffic. This implies that it is a civilian center, if we are to follow current operating procedure of the Empire, it would be contradictory to current policy to endanger the civilian populace, even if it is the civilian populace of an opposing nation." Helen spoke, her statement better suiting an officer clad in midnight blue, than her SAINT black.

"More so, it would be inadvisable to destabilize their government, we have seen throughout our conflicts with the SMX and NMX, that there is an abundance of warlords within their ranks, many of them far more blood thirsty than their superiors, we could inadvertently bring a tyrant to power, furthermore, it would destroy any chance of settling this conflict in a diplomatic manner, Shosho." Helen explained, as she moved on to the meat of the matter; "We should instead neutralize their manufacturing capabilities. Neutralize their ability to produce equipment and ships, and that would effectively cut off their food supplies due to lack of sufficient supply coordination, their munitions supplies, and their ability to recover from a long-term confrontation. It would force them to exercise a new degree of caution, which can provide our forces precious time to coordinate and seize systems which would be severely impacted by the disrupted supply chain." Helen spoke, then further added; "Assuming, that we also neutralize as many of their freight transport ships as we can set in our sights."

"I must disagree with Shosa Klein. Unless she and SAINT have been withholding information. There is no civilian population. Destroying their government will send those very warlords into a power struggle.

That very state of confusion gives the Empire time to attack. Destroy the manufacturing second means they can not replace the ships they lost in their recent gamble, nor the ones they will lose fighting each other.

Leaving their command and control intact and attacking their manufacturing capacity means they will be able to mount an effective counter attack. Which would reduce the effectiveness of or strike, and allow them to rebuild and regroup." Sune replied.

Bridge

"We will have to deal with their military forces at some point anyway, and it would be better to attack them in their docks rather than when they are ready and coming for us. Without their fleets to defend them, it would be easier to us to attack the other targets. What do you think?" Hanako asked Helen and Sune. "Also, we could split our forces and attack multiple targets."

There was a small frown on Helen's lips at the notion of splitting their forces. "Shosho, I am unsure of our ability to divide well between the targets. However, I do suspect that it would be satisfactory to perform a long-range low risk barrage upon their industrial assets. Perhaps from a distance of 2,000 AU. Our attacks will arrive on target in about a week and a half. An optimal point in time to interrupt their recovery procedures after an assault on their military assets." Helen suggested, looking at the big picture, instead of a fleeting moment. "What it really comes down to though, Shosho, is our timetable, and how you find fit to use the time before the NMX would be able to perform a proper defense, which would likely be a maximum of ten to fifteen minutes due to time required for ships to traverse a given distance at hyperfold speeds."

Bridge

"We could split the crew into teams and quietly insert them into the NMX shipyards to sabotage them while the 3rd Fleet ambushes their docked military forces at their military headquarters. With the defenses disabled, we should be able to take them down. At the same time, the First Expeditionary Fleet could do a widespread 'gun and run' raid on their manufacturing worlds. Thoughts?"

"Ketsurui-Shosho, if I may," Ramiro started as he stood at attention. He knew he was out of line by butting into their discussion, so he figured he would be as formal as possible when he did it.

"I would like to propose an alternative to the suggested courses of action. It is my belief that an attack on their food source would be detrimental to their society. While I do not believe that we would be able to do enough damage to cause anything more than a jump in starvation, I believe an attack such as this would have a more mental affect than physical. We have all seen first-hand from the reports from the home-land what a food scare can do to the populace.

And if, as Jalen-Shosa states, the most effective method to destabilize the region would be to cause a power struggle, I believe a food scare would be enough to cause such a power struggle, encouraging the warlords to attempt to overthrow the government themselves. A government destroyed by its enemies is nowhere near is terrifying as a government destroyed by its own people. Propaganda on the part of the Empire would also increase the severity of the power struggle. Plus, this method would also maintain a destabilized standing government, so we could force a surrender while the government is in a weakened state."

When had finished saying what he needed to say he respectfully bowed and took his seat, turning back to pilot the ship.