RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 18.4] Back on the Ship

[Reynolds]

Wardroom

Mitsuko couldn't help but feel a bit anxious, with two giants now wedged into the dining area. She had her worries about the first, but if he was a fellow soldier, she had to trust that he'd been properly trained and disciplined, to get this far. She didn't have any of that confidence in the newer arrival, though. Murakami would just do her best to keep a safe distance from either of them while keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. The ship and other crew members would likely be keeping tabs on them as well.

Sienna, however, made her openly suspicious. A helpful, attractive woman, out of place in an inhospitable area, showing up just in time to lend a hand and catch a ride? Mitsuko had seen this type of character in far too many of the books she'd been reading. She could be here to spy on them, or sabotage the ship, or a number of other nasty things. The Neko peered at her while she was distracted with her meal, imagination already working up several wild scenarios she could be involved in.

Murakami was pulled back to reality as several crew members began shouting at each other, causing her to cringe and shrink into her seat reflexively. Her eyes were wide behind her glasses, darting back and forth between the owners of the raised voices. Finally Hanako seemed to calm things down, letting Mitsuko relax slightly, but she was still noticeably tense.

 

[Gabriel]

Ramiro's eyes flicked over towards Sune's so he could gauge some sort of reaction to Hanako's response.

"You did what needed to be done, old friend, nothing more."

He definitely though that Hanako was undermining Sune's authority, but it was not his place to vocalize such opinions. The entire situation reminded him of the Elysian that used to be on the crew, although the name didn't seem to come to mind, however what did come to mind were the images of the Shosho pummeling the poor cur in front of the onsen in the pouring rain when they were on leave. It almost seemed hypocritical to him, but again, it would be stupid of him to say so, especially after he had just yelled at Conrad for doing generally the same thing.

His eyes flicked towards Hanako's next. A sort of 'maybe you shouldn't have done that' expression flashed across his face for a couples seconds before he hardened his expression again and fixed his eyes on Conrad.

 

[Yoshi]

Wardroom

Misato watched the drama roll across the table. She had mixed feelings over the whole situation. On one had she was trying not to laugh at the whole out burst from the two, on the other she felt very guilty that she didn't go with them and helped out. She settled for a neutral look on her face.

She looked at her roommate, she saw that Mitsuko was tense. She opened a private link with her, What's binding you up? it isn't the giant still, you know I could take him in a second. She doubted she really could but a little white lie to calm her roomie would hurt anything.

 

[Reynolds]

Wardroom

Mitsuko leaned up against Misato's side, wanting to make sure their conversation couldn't somehow be overheard. Well, two new people we know nothing about is enough to make you worry. Especially with where they came from. But when someone that should be a trustworthy crew member is causing all of this tension...

 

[Yoshi]

Wardroom

Misato understood excatly what Mitsuko was worrying over. they are all overly stressed cause of what happened planet side, your seeing the cracks, Not that I'm condoning their actions. I can't wait for this to be over myself I want a real shower and then maybe some time in the quite of the cabin.

 

[Wes]

Wardroom

The large ID-SOL Six Four raised his hand and butted into the conversation. "Hey, I know you guys are doing a debriefing, but I'm out of the Star Army now and would really like to head home to Nepleslia. Can I get a ride out of here before I hear something classified?"

Meanwhile, the hints of an amused grin appeared on Cherry's lips as she watched Sune's gun flash catch the captain's ire. She stood up and walked out to take over the night shift in engineering so Takeyu and the others could get to work on the banged-up shuttle.

Not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, Blackberry gave Hanako a respectful bow and headed to the bridge to commence her night shift duties.

 

[Floodwaters]

Wardroom - Corner Booth

Sienna sat alone in the corner with her back to the wall in the booth, intermittently watching the debriefing with obviously little interest and shoveling the hearty meal in front of her into her mouth. She had no words to describe how heavenly the food was, not that she'd have a chance to around mouthfuls of aromatic vegetables and spicy meats that she didn't even know the names of. She'd picked up one of the utensils from the buffet, but when it didn't prove effective enough, she'd resorted to alternating between using it and scooping more with her free hand. She'd heard that Yamataians were prim and proper folk, big on table manners and the like, but since she didn't have the faintest clue what was considered polite in their society, first off, and secondly figured that they were too wrapped up in their little meeting to care whether she was behaving in line with what they thought one should do at the dinner table, she just kept on eating. She felt like she wouldn't be able to move for days, but by the love of anything holy in the universe, this food was good.

When the hulking Conrad rose to his full towering height and started raising his voice, Sienna slowed her pace, idly wiping a glob of some kind of dressing off of her chin as she stayed hunched over her plate. Her eyes turned to the conference table in the center of the room. Things were getting heated, it seemed. A few tense words about what had happened in Urtullan, no doubt.

Then Sune lost his temper, and out came the pistols again. Sienna raised her eyebrows, her expression a smeared mix of surprise, concern, and abject amusement. What was with these people? These were supposed to be the self-proclaimed avatars of galactic civility and harmony. Yet they pulled weapons on strangers and even each other at the slightest provocation. She couldn't help but smirk a bit at the irony.

The tiny blue-haired lady interjected now. Tempers were flaring and people were getting hot. Sienna slowly took another bite of her dinner, not taking her eyes off of her entertainment now, still with the faint grin tugging at one corner of her mouth. She didn't really know what she'd expected; perhaps at least some feigned camaraderie after returning home from a difficult mission. This was far more entertaining.

 

[Kyle]

Takeyu had remained surprisingly silent, even when Conrad had acted stupidly and addressed Sune in such a disrespectful manner - such a manner that would've resulted in punishment.

Even though it was a debriefing, he felt that the soldiers actions and what the soldier had gone through weren't justified in the treatment he had given to Sune. When things had settled down a bit, Takeyu looked over at Conrad for a brief moment.

Inwardly, Takeyu should his head in disappointment.

 

[Nashoba]

Sune gave Ramiro a brief nod of his head as a silent thank you for his actions.

He turned his head briefly as if he wanted to say something to Hanako. He chose to say nothing, as usual Hanako had chosen to criticize his actions rather than support him. So it is okay for her to get into a knock down fight in public with a crew member in an attempt to discipline him, which instead resulted in her discharging him. But me verbally telling our Nepleslian to accord himself appropriately is wrong.

After a moment's pause, he said to Hanako. "I believe my point had nothing to do with what the Santô Hei said. But the manner in which he said it. I seem to recall a time when the Shôshô felt it was necessary to physically chastise a crew member." he pushed his plate aside no longer having an appetite.

In a calm voice Sune continued, "Ma'am, as for your alternative solution of appealing to the nobles parents. We had no information regarding who their parents were, nor a means to contact them. As we proceeded into the settlement to try to get to Grullyvushhgari. The assassin opened fire and nearly killed one of our members. Then while we were preparing to move out from the clinic, he attacked again and almost killed another member. There was never any chance to do so.

As for lessons learned, and I quote from my original debrief, If we are to go into another situation like that I would recommend that we acquire some other sort of protective gear. Which is in line with what the Santo Hei was ranting about."

Sune then proceeded to fold up his napkin, pick up his plate and dispose of his food.

 

[Riko]

Wardroom

"Well this is something you don't see everyday' Bors said to himself as emotions were launched across the table like AA fire. Sune suprised him the most out of all of it, and nearly caused him to draw his own pistol when he drew his and put it on the table.

"I personally agree with the XO on this one," Bors churped up after taking a sip from his drink, "Better armor and something a bit more powerful than an NSP would have been something good to have, though granted this is all in hindsight so I really cant say much. As for the the injuries we sustained, that boils down to how we, well more so I, reacted to those basta- errr young nobles. If they were dealt with more tactfully we would have avoided the assassin problem all together, but things went as they did and now were here." Bors remained calm as he spoke, trying not to step on anyone's toes and set off another round of emotional confrontation. "Saying that the Captian's point of using things other than weapons to solve things, as much as I hate to say it, is something that needs to be worked on and I also take responsibility for not using that method and nearly getting myself killed as well as putting the away team in danger."

Finishing his small speech Bors picked up his dishes and followed suit with Sune,

"Thats all I have to add to this debriefing so with your permission Ma'am I have a few things to fix from this mission and I'd like to get started on that as soon as possible."

 

[Krious]

Wardroom

Egil silently watched the discussion unfold around him while he finished his dinner. He had things to add, but unlike Conrad he chose not to do so. He was still fresh and new and not about to go against the chain of command or further degrade their first impression on the crew. He agreed with a few things that were said though and was glad someone had the guts to at least speak up. Most of his concerns were a little more personal however.

The Chusa’s reaction only furthered these concerns, even if they weren’t uncalled for. If he wanted the giant’s respect than he should act like an officer and not pull out a gun every time someone disagreed with him. He was surprised when Ramiro fiercely defended his fellow officer, as he hadn’t pictured them being close. Thankfully the captain stepped in and explained her thoughts, which made a little sense in the end. Bringing weapons would’ve only served to agitate the locals more and what they had lacked down there was a little self-control and firm leadership. Sune did a good job but some of the crew had been treated far too lenient in his opinion. He agreed with the rest, a weapons or armor cache of some sort in the shuttle would be a good start.

“A bigger weapon doesn’t necessarily mean more bloodshed and a pistol is hardly a solid primary weapon.” He butted in after Bors in a calm manner from his silent corner of the table. “With more equipment we would’ve had an easier job, but that is not the cause of our failure. We lacked cohesion in our team and thanks to that we all had our solo-moment down there rather than relying on the team and our superior. Perhaps under more normal circumstances things will go better as this time half the team was filled with people everyone was unfamiliar with.”

Hell… Even his squad back at the academy would’ve handled this mission better, even if it was only because they knew what to expect from each other. Right now he had only seen a few glimpses of his new crew members and he didn’t particularly like all of it. Not that they weren't good people, on the contrary. Egil would have to wait and see how the next mission would go before forming a final opinion. Hopefully everyone would calm down now that the debriefing was nearing its end and could go and get a well-deserved night’s rest.

 

[Floodwaters]

By now, Sienna's pace of eating had slowed to a crawl, and she was leaning her cheek on a closed fist, propped up by an elbow on her table. The amused grin on her face had spread, and as a few of the crew members gathered up their dishes and started to file out in frustration, she started to shake her head slightly, trying not to laugh at the spectacle.

Maybe she'd heard all the wrong things about the Star Army. For being a trained fighting force, they sure weren't handling the emotional backlash of a little violence very well. She had already deduced that at least two of the soldiers were fresh recruits from their misplaced anger, not to mention the way they were addressed when they got out of line. But Sune losing control like that? That was something of a surprise to her. She had him figured for a coolheaded, emotionally flat type. Of course, she'd figured Egil for that type as well, until the incident on the shuttle when she'd seen how he bristled in defense of his friend. Perhaps everyone on this ship had their hot buttons, and it didn't seem like many of them were very hard to push.

She'd thought they were just crazy when they repeatedly put themselves back in danger back on the world, first in bringing Conrad aboard the shuttle with a parasite attached to him, then again to save Bors. She didn't understand what was so difficult about the choice - sacrifice one, save many, including yourself. It was simple. She was thankful it had worked out in the end with no body bags, but it was a stupid gamble nonetheless in her mind.

But now after this fiasco, she was forming an entirely new opinion of this crew. They weren't crazy; they were weak. Emotionally fragile, coddled, and weak. She knew that life was about choices, and the hard ones were what tested what one was made of. And she also knew that sometimes another person's choice put you in a position you didn't want to be in. It was the cold reality of the universe, and there was not much anyone could do about it. These people seemed hell bent on relying on others, ignorant of the fact that other people will always fail them. And when the natural order reared its ugly head, they simply didn't know how to handle it. They were completely incapable of dealing with harsh reality.

It was entertaining to her, but also somewhat disillusioning and disappointing. With a shrug, she shook her head again and turned back to her dinner. As long as they didn't kill each other while she was still aboard their ship, it wasn't her problem.

 

[Emblem]

Whilst Conrad had expected some form of punishment and some verbal response, he did not expect this. It made a whole lot clear to him. He refrained from any motion or any tension in his voice, seeing how easy it seemed to get a violent reaction.

''Interesting. A new guy speaks up and the old dogs bark in unison. Talk about emotions, raised voices...My point of view on the mission gets responded by none other then my own senior...with a peashooter conveniently dropped. I mean, really? Someone who is ought to be my better, brings out the same gun we all have.''

Conrad had lost interest in the conversation or the following discussion. If they were to take it seriously, they wouldn't have threatened one of their own with a gun. It showed a rigid and stoic chain of command with no option for improvement of function or an open mind that reacts to the vision of the new. Conrad kicked back and leaned backwards, the indifference coming back full circle.

''Fine. Fair enough. Go ahead with this...''debrief''. I'll shut up, god forbid I recall something about a mission again.''

 

[Kyle]

Takeyu let out a visible sigh of frustration and rubbed the bridge of his nose for a few moments before he had to speak up. This is getting pathetic.. Takeyu thought, referring to Conrads blatant disrespect for rank.

"Santô Hei, might I suggest you curb that attitude of yours," the Taii spoke calmly as he turned toward the soldier who had kicked back. "When this briefing is over, you and I will have a talking to, no soldier who serves in my department shall disrespect another officer on this ship."

 

[Reynolds]

Wardroom

Mitsuko silently nodded to Misato's suggestion, chewing her lip as the tense conversation continued. You still have your new uniform to try on, too.

She had her doubts about the officers sometimes as well, but this definitely wasn't the way to bring them up. Then again, she'd been created, programmed and trained to be a faithful soldier, where Conrad had likely had an interesting life before joining up. Still, her opinion of him continued to rapidly sink downward, right into the hole he was digging himself.

As the arguing continued, she glanced over at Sienna again, and caught her...smiling? Murakami frowned. I don't trust her, Suzume-chan. She looks like she's...plotting something.

 

[Wes]

Wardroom

After Conrad again disrespected Sune for a second time in less than five minutes, Hanako gave him a frustrated look and then turned to Takeyu. "Yes, please take address your subordinate's insolent behavior and ensure it does not happen again," she directed Takeyu. "Do not worry, it is not just you," she assured Conrad. She wanted to talk to Sune afterward too.

"It may have been useful to ask the Mishhuvurthyar doctor to contact Grullyvushhgari They were probably in contact," Hanako noted, trying to get the debriefing back on track. "Or you could have bought Gravedigger off with some of the supplies on the ship. I would have gladly sacrificed some cheese wheels or water or whatever was needed to keep you from being hurt. I think once the bullets began flying the team got tunnel vision and all you saw was yourselves and the attacker, rather than the whole situation. I hear several suggestions that more equipment was needed but this was a peaceful mission where no equipment other than breathing masks should have been required. I have already explained the other reason for the lack of gear." Hanako gave out a sigh. "At the end of the day we need to act as a more cohesive team in an environment of mutual respect. Work towards that. This concludes our briefing."

Hanako turned in her tray to the new robot scullery maid before continuing. "You all should try to some recovery time, although we need to get the shuttle repaired tonight so they technicians will have to put in extra hours. The next mission starts tomorrow morning."

"X-Ray, there is a transport Tenba arriving for you tomorrow morning. For tonight, you can sleep on a bedroll in the lounge and Sienna can sleep in the open crew cabin. Are you going on the transport to Nepleslia, too, Sienna?"

 

[Floodwaters]

Not having expected being addressed, Sienna looked up with raised eyebrows, peering down over the railing where Hanako sat, one of her cheeks still full of the last remnants of her dinner. She sat quietly for a moment, unsure if she'd misheard her name or not. Several sets of eyes on her indicated she hadn't.

"Ain't got nothin' to go back to," she replied, her words muffled by the wad of food stuffed in her mouth. She took a second to finish chewing and swallowed hard. "Besides, I ain't in a hurry to bail out on this kind of hospitality. Hot showers, hot meals, and damn good dinner entertainment," she continued dryly. "If I hadn't lost count of how many times your folk pointed guns at me planetside I'd actually think someone was gonna get shot dead just now."

Shoving her empty plate a few inches away from her, she leaned back in her seat with a satisfied sigh, placing her hand on her tummy, and shook her head. "You want me off your boat, all you gotta do is say so and I'll be off at the quickest chance, no hard feelings. I don't much care where y'all drop me, long as it's far from back there," she added, indicating a vague direction behind her with a thumb over her shoulder. She smirked again, and shrugged once. "I'm just along for the ride, ma'am."

 

[Gunsight1]

Wardroom

Natsumi decided it was best she keep her mouth shut as the debriefing got suddenly heated. She didn't like how Conrad was being blatantly disrespectful to his superior. She understood as well as everyone else that the mission had gone sour, but that was no ground to take it out on Sune.

At the same time, Sune's own reaction, drawing his pistol left her just as uneasy. Would he really shoot one of them, however warrented? Maybe she did not understand him as well as she thought she did.

The continued arguments made her tired and caused her thoughts to drift more and more to that of her soft warm bunk back in her cabin and how much she would rather be there. Finally things began to calm down, though she could tell tensions were still high.

"Shosho, I can get Sienna settled in to the empty cabin" she offered, wanting to help their guest and also make her escape from the wardroom. She wasn't sure if Sienna would stsy with them long, but she wanted to show some better hospitality than they had been. She could imagin the oppinion the woman was generating of them, seeing them argue and pull guns on eachother.

 

[Emblem]

Wardroom

Holding his facial expression, Conrad tried not to smirk. Sienna was the funny note here. He hadn't imagined how it must have looked from her point. Dinner entertainment, ha! He could understand though. The little daffodil had nothing to with all of this, and there was probably nothing wrong with the showers...although he hadn't taken one yet. He could speak for the food though. It was great, and he could hardly wait to cook himself.

In hindsight to his actions earlier, his talking might not have been a good idea. However, Conrad expected proper debriefs, he wanted to get better. If this scenario was going to repeat in cycles, mimicking his first ever mission on his first ever day, he would either die or get sick of the 'Same Shit Different Day' routine. However, he would have to apologize to the Chusa at some point. A small mental note was made to do that at a more proper time. He'd talk it out, although there was a problem..

What seemed to have angered them more was his choice of words, which was surprising to Conrad. In part with where he came from, all the other construction workers talked like that when they were agitated. The figurative bigger man had the biggest words and the biggest wit, as well as the sharpest tongue. Things were talked out, shouted...and then work continued as if nothing happened. Yet here, raising one's spikes was deemed not done....Although that one guy that called him 'boy' was kind of funny.

''Understood. I'll have a talk with the Taii. I'll also have a look at the shuttle. Think now would be a good idea as any. Permission to repair the shuttle, Shosho?''

Conrad stood up, disposed of his empty plate, and only waited for confirmation of the Shosho. He reckoned this was better. He could use some of his skills in repairs and not make things worse for himself. The midnight oil was his favorite kind as well. That and he had not seen the condition of the shuttle, so it must have been quite grave when he went to take a parasite induced nap. He wanted to see for himself and get it fixed.

 

[Nashoba]

From where Sune was standing the overall series of events clicked into a pattern. Especially considering the final insult the parasite attack.

He crossed over to the table and remained standing.

"Shôshô,
After reviewing the facts, I realize there is one unmistakeable conclusion.

If Grullyvushhgari truly wanted us to see that this was a 'civilian' settlement. He would have met us at the landing site, or sent a subordinate. It would have been in his best interest to see us safely around, obviously showing us only the aspects of the settlement that would paint a favorable image.

Instead he did the opposite. He made no arrangements to assist us, and I would not be at all surprised if the encounter with the young noblemen was one of his machinations. Gravedigger being a pawn, one that was expendable. After all why was he on the surface when he was obviously in good health and had skills and equipment.

It was better for Grullyvushhgari for us to die at the hands of an assassin than seeing what was going on. The final clue however was when it appeared we were about to get away. Hightower-Hei was attacked by a parasite.

Gravedigger had already informed us that Grullyvushhgari controlled them. That he released them upon the dying on the surface to force them to work on his project.

So why would he release one and have it attack a healthy person. It would appear that was his final attempt to kill us. After all if the parasite had successfully implanted a fight aboard the damaged shuttle would end in a crash."