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

Cargo Bay

Natsumi had gone with Ramiro to the cargo bay to help set up the base when Hanako had ordered them off the bridge. She could only wonder what was going on outside and hoped everyone would be alright. There was always the risk of an ambush attack, they were all trained to deal with it, but that did little to comfort her as she thought about the others out in the shuttle.

Pushing those thoughts out of her mind and focusing on the task at hand.

Engineering

Takeyu glanced at the sides when he felt the slight rumble in the deck. Weapons fire.. he muttered and turned back toward the backup reactor he was inspecting.

"How are things Heisho?" he asked, having not heard from Cherry in awhile and pondering whether she was just busy or something else was going on that he hadn't yet been alerted to.

Snow bluff near cave entrance

Misato pulled herself as close to the ground as possible and waited till the bombardment was over. Once the explosions died down she stood and looked around allowing her armors systems to scan the area around, she was making sure the rippers were all gone. As far as she could tell they were. She turned to check on the rest of the party. "Bors, Darksky still with me? How about you two? Murakami, Kurita?" As she spoke she saw a cave entrance. "What do you think Bors," She pointed, "Think that is what we are suppose to be looking for?"

Snow bluff near cave entrance

Bors made his way over to Misato, scanning the area in case something wasn't obliterated by the weapons strike. When he was satisfied that anything that could harm them was incapacitated he put his rifle over his shoulder, before speaking, "Well, was well hidden and defended, so I guess then again it could be where their hiding something of value they they don't want us to find."

Bors glanced over his shoulder, checking to see how everyone else back at the downed shuttle was fairing before continuing. "Either way I say we go blow it up, whatever it is."

Snow bluff near cave entrance

The pair were soon joined by the armored form of DarkSky's Mindy. The gauss cannon was at the ready over his right shoulder, just in case more hostiles presented themselves as unexpectedly as the original cohort had.

"I am operational," he reported. His systems indicated the supplies he'd mounted to the inside of his shield were still safely intact, for which he was profoundly grateful. "My sensors show the Rippers are down. However, I advise caution. As this is a hidden facility, logic suggests that there will be considerable defense in depth."

Cargo Bay

Ramiro began the process of moving the separate pieces of the base out of the cargo bay and setting them up outside the ship. At one point he stopped to observe the orbital laser fire that barraged what he assumed to be the enemy. He put it out of his mind though as he continued to piece the base together.

Star Army Ether Base / YSS Eucharis

Once the crew had unloaded the base contents (with Ramiro doing most of the work), the crew was recalled and Hanako closed the rear door ramp, shivering from the extreme cold outside. After that, she returned to the bridge. "To space, please," she ordered, pointed a finger skyward.

Cave Entrance

Hundreds of kilometers away, the 5-man away team was able to get closer to mouth of the cave. It was wind-worn and draped with sheets of icicles. Inside, jagged layers of volcanic rock and slippery ice lined a twisty little passage just big enough for a medium cargo container to pass though. The bottom of the cave was lined with concrete and went down at an angle to a chamber of some sort. There were lights on the ceiling but they weren't turned on.

Bridge

Having returned to the bridge, and thankfully to the warmth of the ships interior, Natsumi looked at Ramiro, who had entered the bridge beside her.

"You want to fly this time, and I'll watch the guns?" she asked the senior operator.

YSS Eucharis

During the time which Ramiro and Natsumi were out, Helen remained at the operations station, as she politely declined the Gartagen offer of additional air-support, considering that Hanako was already irate that the Gartagens were put out as far as providing an orbital strike. Beyond the task of sensor and communication monitoring, Helen made sure to follow up on Hanako's previous mention in regard to taking the ship back up into space once the base modules were unloaded. Thanks to that heads-up, Helen was able to plot an ascent course, pre-set a lift-off routine, calculate optimal angles for turret coverage against possible ground-to-air fire, and call back the Eucharis' weapon pods to cling to the hull for take-off. As Helen left the seat, she made sure to place indication displays of already prepared tasks in plain sight, so Ramiro could instantly know what he still needed to do, though, she heard the chatter between Natsumi and Ramiro, which she addressed as soon as she got up.

"Stations are assigned for a reason you two, stick with them, and get to your seats." Helen ordered, as she stood up from the station, and stepped away so Ramiro could assume his station once more. "Besides, the guns will only be part of what is interesting. We're going to be conducting an ascent through atmosphere to climb above an area which is still held by an enemy, an enemy which should be keenly aware that they should be on the look-out for a Star Army ship." Helen spoke in experienced warning as she once-again assumed her standing position with a number of volumetric windows around her person.

Cave Entrance

"Ok guys I think the best plan is for the pilots to wait here at the entrance with DarkSky. Got to make sure our exit is still going to be here." Misato looked around, "The only other option I can think of is we all go together to destroy this place." She looked over at Bors and opened a private comm link with him, "Whatcha think, I rather them stay here at the mouth, but I don't want to leave Darksky behind, he could use some front-line experience."

Cave Entrance - Ether

Once she was satisfied that the coast was clear, Mitsuko quickly exited the wrecked shuttle. Zipping slightly above the snowy ground, she soon joined the others inside the cave. She slumped against the wall, sighing in relief. "...th-that actually went better than I expected..."

She nodded while listening to her roommate's suggestion. "We're not really...um...equipped to accompany you. Not if there's...more resistance." Murakami glanced back across the snow, at the unnamed shuttle. "...I don't think I'll be taking us back home in that. Perhaps we should call for a new ride? Or see about finding another way back to the Eucharis?"

Cave Entrance

"I almost think that we should bring them with us" Bors said to Misato via private com link, "I mean the shuttle isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but then again their not as well armed as we are which could make a mess of things If we get caught in a firefight."

Bors took a moment to think about their situation, if they hadn't been detected earlier this would of been a breeze and he would pry be halfway to the objective by now not worrying about this mess. "...the best laid plans" he mumbled to himself before he started making his way into the cave entrance. "I'd say for now Misato and I should scout ahead and we'll radio the rest of you when we think its safe enough."

Bors switched back to the private channel with Misato as soon as he was in the mouth of the cave, "This way if we need them to stay back they'll be there, and we still have the option of calling them forward to join us."

Bridge

Natsumi settled herself back into the pilots chair, refrained from showing she was a little bit put out by the response from the Intelligence operative. She put that aside and went to work. Quickly she checked over the ships readouts and status of the propulsion systems and saw that a course to take the ship back into orbit had already been calculated and input into the computer. There was little to do than push a button and the Eucharis would put herself back into space.

"Ready to maneuver" she reported and engaged the pre programmed course.

YSS Eucharis

As the gunship rose through the atmosphere, there was a slight shift in gravity towards the aft of the ship as well as some vibration from the turbulent atmosphere. Down below, the world seemed to be all white, gray, and blue, and partially obscured by clouds. In a few minutes, Eucharis was back in space.

Bridge

"Ramiro, conduct a long-range scan for ships similar to Star Army vessels of the First Mishhuvurthyar War era, and Qel'noran types," the Shosho ordered. "Or any ships of Lorath design. Natsumi, see if you can get an update on the away team's status." Hanako spun her chair to face Helen. "Tell me your suggestions for finding the Lorath Occhestians."

Bridge

"Of course!" Ramiro replied excitedly when he entered the bridge. He was about the take a seat at the Starship Operations seat when Helen scolded them, something he believed to be wrongly done. Taking a seat at the Science Station, he had a clearly upset look on his face. I don't know if she pays attention anymore, but there have never been assigned stations. And even if there were, the Intelligence Officer should be smart enough to figure out that the Senior Operator should be operating the vessel and that the Weapons Specialist should be on weapons.

Once he got the orders for scans he replied with a quick, "Done and done." With a few quick keystrokes he had entered in the necessary values and sent the results to the main screen, where a readout popped up and began slowly updating as the scans completed. Once he was done he leaned back in his seat and folded his arms. His expression showed that he was still upset, but thankfully for him his back was to Helen.

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

Helen quirked her brow, as she found herself posed with a question about playing hide-and-seek while they had a team down on the planet, though, who was she to argue? She had to do her job, even if their ducks were in a row, but out of order. "Normally, I would consider asking someone who would know, but with all due respect Shosho, I do not think that would be of much help, considering Lorath public opinion." Helen spoke, her tone carried absolutely no sarcasm, not a hint of disrespect. Though, there was something that was spoken without being verbalized, it was simple, it was common knowledge that the Lorath simply did not like Hanako, and likely the 1st XF as a whole.

A soft sigh left Helen as she mulled over the matter; "I don't know about the Occhestians, but I do know that the Lorath Self Defense Force does not employ much in the line of stealth systems. At most, they use stealth coatings similar to our own on their hulls, even then, when they use their subspace drive systems, it produces a notable signature." Helen explained, frowning slightly; "Assuming the readings can even be trusted if we do detect a drive signature, those same drives are engineered to put out false signals that can possibly fool our sensors into detecting inaccurate quantities of ships, but, it would give us a direction."

A thoughtful expression lingered upon Helen's features, as she consulted a star-map of the charted portions of space in the area. "Well, considering the speeds which we could attain with our hyperfold, it is not entirely out of the question just to fold into each system and look. It would not take long. Though, it would advertise our presence... however, I imagine regardless of how we arrive, they'll see us, and they likely won't be happy to see this ship."

"Mmm... Shosho, one other thing." Helen started, as she eyed a map of Ether. "How are we going to proceed here in regard to our deployed team and our objective?"

Cave Entrance

Tomomi took off for the hidden cave at a more cautious pace then Mitsuko. Even with the massive display of firepower, she was not taking any chances. She finally arrived a few minutes after the others.

"If staying back is what you think is best. Though if you run into computer issues I can be of help." Tomomi responded as she heard Misato's comment. She then looked over towards Jonathan's Mindy. "I guess I can use this time get to know my new roommate."

Bridge

"Are you suggesting we leave the away team?" Hanako asked Helen. "Hmm. If we want to move, the away team can continue their mission, with or without us, and can wait for us at the base we set up," Hanako told Helen. "I would like to avoid invading Lorath territory but your method sounds useful, and would allow us to better chart the nearby stars. Besides, the Lorath are in no position to complain about territory encroachment considering the situation in the former outer colonies."

Cave

The ambient light became dim and blue as Bors descended down the ramp. At the bottom there was an elevator platform and an open area to the side. He couldn't see into it because it was around a corner. Bors could make out mounted cameras and somehow spotted a number of invisible laser tripmines hidden in the walls that were spaced around the cave walls between him and the elevator area.

Engineering

Cherry returned to engineering. "Those base modules are going to need a lot of patching up. I feel sorry for the sentry we left," she commented to Takeyu.

YSS Eucharis

"No Shosho, I was not suggesting we leave the team. I was just wondering what we're doing up here, while they're down there." Helen explained, as she gave a casual shrug. "We could just tell the team to evacuate and conduct orbital bombardment of the NMX held facility. It is lazy, but it works. I do not feel entirely comfortable with the Gartagens getting their hands on a cloning facility once the dust settles if we take it gently."

"As for territory." Helen frowned a bit. "They're entirely able to complain. They've yet to open fire on Task Force Lantern from my understanding, and have been keeping to themselves. If we barge into Lorath territory unannounced, it is very likely they would take offense, or perhaps, they may hope to keep their location secret and attempt to silence us before we can let the cat out of the bag." Helen spoke on the matter, as she gave a soft nod. "Though, it is not exactly in our character as soldiers of our Empire to tip-toe, is it?"

Engineering

Takeyu nodded. "Next time we're in port, remind me to request that all of our modules be replaced with brand new ones..." he said and read a message about the shuttle encountering fire and rubbed his chin.