RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 17.3] Peoples of the North

Ether - Cave

Three things happened at about the same time. First, Misato charged the rippers. Second, Takeyu let rip his own fire on the rippers. Third, Jonathan lept back from the fray, rolling to cover Bors body with his own undamaged backside facing the impending Holocaust of destruction!

Ether

Apparently Mitsuko wasn't going to be able to stall for any time. She didn't have any choice, stepping out of the way as the group boarded their shuttle. She glanced about, not able to see the tiny drones, but looking for them anyway. At least the Neko hadn't disarmed her or Tomomi.

Murakami was now well aware of the location of the shuttle's engines, especially the damaged one. Their hasty repairs - done within minutes, considering the length of the nearby firefight Mitsuko was largely unaware of - weren't meant to hold up under anything more stressful than a quick hop, most likely with a checkup from the actual engineer before testing them even this far. She didn't think their novice repair work, especially to the panels shielding the engine, would hold up under concentrated fire.

She raised one pistol and drew the other, taking aim. Mitsuko wasn't the best shot, but she'd passed her training easily enough. "U-unload one magazine, then let's get to that cave!" As the drones began firing on their own, she was at least reassured that her decision was the right one. She did just as she'd instructed Tomomi, firing both pistols on the heaviest setting, only getting a few moments of burst fire from each. Then she scooped up one of the white jackets for camouflage, holding it around her body as she shot straight for the cave entrance, flying just inches off the ground, not bothering to look back. Even if the ship exploded or crashed, she didn't want to stick around for any return fire.

Of course, it seemed like her fate had already been decided, making this effort pointless.

Bridge

"I know, I am just preparing the tactical systems in case we need them" Natsumi replied to Ramiro. "Weaponry remaining powered down. For now" she glanced back at him, giving a quick reassuring smile, before turning her attention back to her station.

Cave

Under the combined fire of Takeyu, Johnathan, and Misato, the last of the Rippers fell, leaving the cave and tunnel in smoke, rubble, and silence.

Bors would need more HS blood, although what he really needed was a dive in an HS tank.

Bridge

"Perhaps we have the wrong Occhestians?" Hanako asked. "If, as you say, the...prisoners...create complications, we will spare you from them. Where can we find real Occhestians, who are not content to be lapdogs for the Turlista?"

Hanako messaged silently the bridge crew: "Prepare for space fold, to the Butulonzen system, stopping briefly at both of the star systems en route."

Occhestia System

"Shosho Hanako, you wound us so." Came the response from the Occhestian on the other end of the line. This tone was dripping with sarcasm. It was clear why the Matriarchy really did consider the Occhestians as some of the biggest assholes ever. Though, his words were soon added to; "Complications for the prisoners would come in the form of the squabble which is inevitably going to take place as the Matriarchy demands them, while we review their backgrounds and determine if they are legitimately our compatriots, and figure out just what to do with them." Explained the Occhestian, making it clear that they were not planning to simply toss the 'prisoners' to the wolves, or the vultures in this case.

"As for lapdogs, no, that is the role of the Fyunnen. We have a higher degree of freedom than what you imply, Shosho." With those words from the Occhestian, a series of orders and commands traveled through the Occhestian chain of command. Eventually resulting in a group of knock-off Occhestian manufactured ships dropping out of high-CDD speeds. Their arrival made something quite clear, they were fast, faster than the Matriarchy manufactured ships that were in system, and their positioning was clear; they were set between the Eucharis and the approaching Lorath Self Defense Force ships.

"Since you are opposed to the Matriarchy reassuming custody over the prisoners, our senate has decided to claim custody of the prisoners, for the duration of the investigation which would determine their extradition or pardon." Spoke the Occhestian representative. It seemed, that the Occhestian Republic had a distinctive degree of freedom, and guts, to where they were willing to make a stand with the Matriarchy if it came down to it. Though, the approaching signals of additional Occhestian Navy ships made it clear, they were not going to be pushovers for a demanding Shosho either. "You can work with us and deliver the prisoners, or, we can start off on ill terms, and you will end up alienating the whole of the Lorath species."

Eucharis - Bridge

"Shosho," Helen spoke in a silent message; "I recommend caution be exercised. Traditionally, the Occhestians have been known as the more ruthless component of the Lorath species, in the past, dealings with the Lorath could be taken at face value due to the conduct of the Tur'lista. However, Occhestians have never been known to do much of anything for what it is at face value." A frown formed at Helen's lips as she eyed the sensor display. "Honestly though, that is an assumption based off of historical observation, and not current fact."

Ether - Cave

Jonathan picked himself up off of the prone form of Bors battered suit. He looked at his shield, shaking his head while surveying the inner surface. Fortunately, the supplies he had loaded onto the inner surface were still intact. Ejecting the ammo cylinder with 2 rounds from his gauss rifle, Jonathan reached back and loaded the fresh, 18 round cylinder into it's place. The two spare rounds he offered to Misato.

Looking down at Bors, he pondered. "If this is a cloning facility, do you think they'll have tanks of HS blood, or another similar healing alternative inside?"

Surface of the hellish level known as Ether

Tomomi looked dumb foundedwith her NSP still pointed towards the empty sky in a futile attempt to take out the engines. First she was congratulating herself for figuring out there was a tech manual on such things deep within her mind. But then those squad cat girls came out of no where and she made the mistake of letting Mitsuko try diplomacy. Now the two were going to have answer to a most likely irate Sho-i and then a Shosho that will likely shove her our of a airlock naked.

And I was just getting to my promotion... Tomomi thought to herself sighing loudly as she holstered her weapon. She was about to talk to Mitsuko about the futility of diplomacy from a position of weakness. But she had her own new problems to deal with. She finally looked at her.

"Well....that could have gone better...the Sho-i should know of our failure vocally." Tomomi said before a serious of curses flew out of her mouth as she thrust-ed her fists violently at the sky. "You and your insulting to injury feigned mercy!!!"

Caveish like place

Misato looked at the carnage that laid around her. Taking a deep breath and looking at the rest of the group, she moved over to them. "Sir, I would like to thank you for coming and helping when you did, I... Sir...," she stopped and accepted the two rounds from Darksky. Before she could think of something better to say to Nayacesen, he moved over to Bors, and pulled out her med kit. "Hey buddy, Did I ask you if you wanted to live forever, what is this bullshit? getting hit? Tisk tisk," She used the limited knowledge she learned in basic programing, and injected some more HS blood into Bors' arm. Once she was done she turned back to the Tai, awaiting his judgement.

Cave

"Risky move, but it worked," he glanced down the cave and looked at the bodies of the fallen Rippers. "Sadly though, we've lost our shuttle, so we are without a means of getting off this planet unless we contact the Garts for support...."

"Tomomi-hei, Mitsuki-hei, please report to our location, if there is any equipment still out there please pick it up and bring it along, also bring my bag please provided it's still there," Takeyu sighed although he didn't appear to be frustrated, he looked almost like this was expected to happen.

Without much relay, he turned toward Bor's and knelt down beside the soldier. "How you holding out Riko?" he asked and noticed that he had already been injected with some HS Blood.

Bridge

What is she doing? I may not know a lot about the Lorath, but is it right for her to insult them like that?

Ramiro quickly plugged in the necessary coordinates, as Hanako had asked. He made sure to include the two stops along the way as well. Once that was finished he set the hyperspace fold drive to standby mode, at which point the drive began charging in preparation for the fold.

Shit, he thought as he noticed the other ships beginning to enter the area. If they decide to take the prisoners by force, I don't know if we can handle that many ships. Even if they are knock-offs, there are enough of them to pose a serious threat.

Ether - Cave Entrance

Mitsuko slowed to a stop once inside the cave, dropping back to the ground. She was panting, needing a moment to catch her breath after that tense situation. Once she had regained a bit of composure, she swapped out the empty magazine on her pistol for the spare. After checking the coat she'd snagged for any surprises - like explosives, bugs or tracking devices - she put it on and stowed Takeyu's loaned, now empty weapon in a pocket.

"I...I think we don't need to bother..." She responded to Tomomi, before Takeyu sent them that message. She sent a reply after taking a moment to get everything straight. "Yes, Sir. The way downstairs is clear? Unfortunately, Sir, there's nothing left. We...I made sure to keep all the tools and supplies inside the ship. It was snowing um...r-rather heavily." Murakami glanced at the other Neko, then looked toward that first turn the infantry had taken. "...heading your way, Taii."

Occhestia System

"What is this, Shosho?" Came the Occhestian male voice over the communications line. "Our sensors detect a build-up of energy in your fold drive system. Are you preparing to cut and run? Here we bothered to even open a dialog with you, and you insult us and prepare to leave with what does not belong to you?" It was clear at that point that something had to be done to defuse the situation, most especially since the ships of the Lorath Matriarchy closed in, separated from the Eucharis by the Occhestian Navy.

Another thing was clearly notable by the Eucharis' sensors... communication traffic was increasingly dense. It seemed, the Occhestian Republic, the Lorath Matriarchy, and their respective military forces were passing notes between each-other, most especially though, the comm-traffic was heavy coming from the LSDF ships.

Bridge

"They do not belong to you either. Yamatai regrets to have inconvenienced you by intruding on your territory. We will mark this system as Lorath on our star charts so that it does not happen again, and will exit your space immediately. I will consult with my Occhestan guests regarding arrangement of their possible return by civilian transport at a later time. End transmission," Hanako said. "Execute fold operation."

Cave

Bors shifted himself into a sitting position, resting his back on the large boulder/ceiling part that had provided him and Takeyu with cover.

"Aside from having a gaping hole in my chest and nearly dying I'm holding in there Taii, 'fraid I wont be of any good use for awhile, but it doesn't mean i wont try so can I have my gun back?"

Taking a quick breath Bors gritted his teeth as he pulled himself up to his feet, using the rock as a support while covering his wound with the other.

"I'm not sure Jonathan," Bors said after he managed to pull himself up and lean against the boulder/ceiling thing, "I barely understand how these clones are made in the first place, but one thing I do know is that sitting in tub of healing goo in the middle of an enemy base is not a very wise decision. I'll just keep with the injections until we can get to a relatively safe place, don't worry yourself kid ill be good for awhile." Bors paused for a moment before turning to Takeyu, "That is unless you think otherwise sir.

Bridge

"Done!" Ramiro called out. He didn't have to be told twice, so the moment the order was given, the ship was immersed in the teal sphere of hyperspace fold and was speeding off towards its destination. He then pulled up the star map so Hanako could monitor the ship's progress to the next system.

He then turned around to face the officers. "So what just happened there? Because I'm confused as hell."

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

Helen's brow raised as she wondered for a fleeting moment if the Occhestians or the Lorath Self Defense Force would put a stop to their fold with a well timed torpedo or graviton beam, thankfully, neither of which happened as the Eucharis skipped out on the system and made way to the next.

"What happened, Ramiro, was a reminder why in basic they need to teach you guys a little more about recent history." Helen stated, as she shook her head softly. "Occhestians loathe us, the Lorath Matriarchy loathes us, and there is distinctive bad blood between our Empire and them. Often, the individual who has frequently been involved in incidents which has led to the current political environment has been Shosho Hanako. A nasty habit of all Lorath is that they tend to hold onto grudges." Helen explained, as something nagged at the back of her mind as she looked at the star-chart. There should be no way for them to catch up, there is enough of a distance to easily give us ten minutes lead-time ahead of the bulk of their assets. We'd be able to easily detect the fold if they bothered. she thought, as she felt a little more at ease. Though, distances of roughly ten light years between nearby systems to their destination system left her wondering if the Lorath had other settlements in the area.

Bridge

Natsumi let out the breath she hadn't noticed she had been holding as soon as Ramiro sent the Eucharis into hyperspace. That had been a bit to tense for comfort. She was all for getting a chance to shoot the ship's guns, but not when they were outnumbered ten to one.

She listened as Helen gave a rundown of why things were the way they were between Yamatai, Lorath and the Occhestians and settled back into her chair a bit more comfortably.

Looking over at the star map that now dominated the main viewer, Natsumi watched the Eucharis chug along at multiple times the speed of light. She had the same thought that Helen had, Eucharis had made a clean enough getaway. That thought aside, she decided it was best to keep all the tactical interface up and ready, just in case.

Cave

Takeyu just nodded and sighed; then glanced down at Riko before picking up the soldiers nearby weapon and handing it off to him. "Even if the tanks would heal Bors, I wouldn't allow a soldier to use enemy hardware out of risk that it might do him more harm than good."

"We'll wait for the others to get here, then continue our mission," he glanced in the direction that they would need to go.

LM-NE-01 Star System

The Eucharis appeared in a shimmer of teal in the next star system over.

Bridge

"Natsumi, scan the system and Ramiro prepare for the next jump," Hanako ordered. A timer appeared on the main screen, counting down from 59 seconds. "If the Lorath follow, evade them and stay out of their range until we can jump again."

Ether - Cave

"By Your Command." Despite the fact that it had holes in it, Jonathan declined to discard his forearm shield. It still had some use left in it, though not terribly much. Marching back to the facility airlock entrance, he examined the scattered ripper remains for a brief moment of time, trying to identify which version they had been facing.

Following the inspection, Jonathan took up a guard position at the entrance to the airlock. He would remain there, ever vigilant, while the remainder of the team returned from the shuttle's initial landing site. His own drones had been returned to their bays save for two; this pair he sent a bit deeper into the facility than his guard post sat. Their purpose was to conduct initial recon and survey of the area ahead of them, returning to the range of his CFS field as needed to recharge before resuming the patrol.