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RP: YSS Miharu Mission 2, Aftermath

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Fred

Fred

Retired Staff
Great Southern Nebula, Outskirts
YSS Miharu

Miharu emerged from the nebula, her blue hull slicing through the mists as it headed for the YSS Pelican. The Anri-class Deep Space Repair Vessel opened its bay to accomodate the experimental vessel so that maintenance could be done on the Miharu's twin Material Collection Units.

Kotori's vessel had spent 14 days making a survey of the nebula as it searched for the hidden probes. The endeavor had been a long one, straining the concentration and enthusiasm of the ship's crew as they had to laboriously swift through the gases of the nebula to find the proverbial needles in the haystack.

The trail had lead to the Bowhordia star system. Bowhordia, when Miharu had stealthily ventured in, had been occupied by many of the 25 IFF-identified ships the Sekkou had reported in the first probe. The Daughter of Eve vessels were holding a garrison Kotori did not dare challenge with a single ship and the Taisa opted for a tactical withdrawal to report back to SAINT, rearm, resupply and consider their next move.

"Dorsal docking secured," Miharu announced aloud for the benefit of Yukari and the rest of the bridge crew.

Kotori gave a nod. "Miharu, you have permission to connect to the PANTHEON to export any communications from the crew we had on standby. Just filter them like usual." She stood up and addressed the crew present on the bridge. "The Pelican's crew will be handling things for the next couple of days. You are dismissed."

"Yuka, convey my apologies to Tom," the black-haired nekovalkyrja sent to Yukari. "After all the trouble he went through to fix the main cannon, I'm sort of feeling guilty we didn't end up using it."
 
Sora was both relieved and disappointed that her first mission aboard the Miharu was rather uneventful medically. It made her feel slightly useless since much of her job was automated despite her medical training. She smiled softly as she approached Kotori.

"Kotori-Taisa? I wanted to get your permission on something, if I'm not troubling you or holding you up at the moment," she said very politely as she watched her adopted aunt's face curiously.
 
Yukari did not reply to Kotori's request. Not immediately.

First, she had let out a long, low breath. It had been 14 days of flying with a paper sack over her head. She could not go fast, she could not maneuver (she had no need to), she could not always see what she was doing because of the need for stealth.

It had been 14 days of hunting varnmits; a tense pursuit of tiny hidden electronic pods and a limited timespan to find them. There was no predicting what the enemy would do, when they would strike or where. It was frustrating, to be stuck finding the probes first, with Eve and her minions floating in space, plotting more attacks.

It had been 14 days with a breathtaking payoff. A squadron of Eve's vessels. Approaching them, Yukari had wanted to use the main cannon Kotori felt was "neglected." To send the ships into a mad scramble, to respond to an enemy they had not expected and could not immediately see ... it had been 14 days of bubbling, immature anger, exacerbated by short sleep shifts and tense meetings with Tom in her pit, when he had the same sleep shift (Kotori had tried her best). One of those times had been Tom being greeted with her banging on her keyboard with headphones on. He startled her so badly she slipped off the edge of the pit and went head-first into it.

It had been 14 days of wanting to hurt she who threatened her crew.

It was a feeling, nothing more.

"It is fine, Koto," Yukari sent back, a little smile forming as she thought of falling into the pit. "Tom channeled his frustration appropriately."

Mentioning how might worry, please and disgust Kotori in one moment. Best to keep that to herself. Many emotions were inside her words. Yukari stood from her chair and bowed to Hinoto-san, thanking her for her highly valued assistance. She turned and bowed to Nyton, thanking him as well. Her respect for him never wavered; he was the embodiment of the professional soldier.

"Saito-Hei, will you please see me in five minutes in the wardroom?"
 
Nyton stood up and bowed in response to Kotori's dismissal. He wanted to go over the scans of the enemy squadron they had spotted. Perhaps there was something on the recordings that could help him determine a hole in the defenses around Bowhordia. He would also need to go over the records that the Mikomi may have of her encounter with the planet. To think that of all places we could have been led to, we end up at Bowhordia. Both Masako and Tom had been to this planet before. They may have some valuable intel for an approach once we make planet fall. he thought.

After Yukari had bowed and thanked Nyton he smiled slightly and bowed in return to his XO. He was grateful for the high regard that she seemed to express for him. He praised her piloting skill for having navigated them through the nebula and returning them to port intact.

"Once we know what resources we will have available to us I will try to plan accordingly for our return to Bowhordia, Shosa." Nyton then said before getting ready to depart from the bridge. He took his time in preparation to see if there were any last second words someone may have wanted to have with him before he would return to his room.
 
Of course, Shosa. I'll be there shortly.

Though in theory, Miyoko's work helping to track down the probes made her a hunter, her experiences on the Miharu over the past two weeks made her feel hunted. Every chance meeting with Yukari seemed to lead to some other stipulation involving parties or cake, whereas Sanjuro never seemed to relent his dogged criticism of her. Between that and the often frustrating search for the probes, the sensor specialist's nerves were rather frazzled. On the upside, being in deep space with little chance of encountering an enemy had meant more downtime than she was accustomed to, which was something she never had a problem with.
 
Kotori waved to both her bridge officers before she left her station and met with Sora at the threshold of the bridge's entry. "I do not have any problem with it. Want us to talk in the Hoshi's kitchenette?" Kotori gestured with her chin toward the nearby - still mostly unused - galley the auxiliary vessel had.
 
Yukari sent a brief message to Tom to dig himself out of the confines of ship's innards as soon as he could, so they could meet and celebrate the end of another mission with a little drink. She had not had alcohol since their time on Yamatai, and she felt it was a good opportunity.

She then made her way to the wardroom and found a couch to sit in. She only wanted to speak to Miyoko briefly.
 
Miyoko found her way to the wardroom quickly, taking a seat across from Yukari. "What was it you wanted to discuss?"
 
Sanjuro found many ways to keep himself occupied during those fourteen days. Most of his attention was focused on the medical centers of the Miharu, sifting and sorting through the pharmaceuticals, checking and rechecking machinery and analysis materials, and endlessly pouring over medical records and past procedures. By the time the solemn medical officer had finished, the medical areas looked like completely different rooms.

There were occasional simulation runs for medical crew held by Sora on the odd day or two. Sanjuro didn't like those very much, although the absolute lack of any need for himself or the rest of the medical staff made these harrowing simulations a welcome, albeit bitter, reprieve from the monotony.

His complete gutting and re-gutting of the medical stations took only a few days, however. Sanjuro immediately took it upon himself to straighten 'other' areas of the ship in his free time, when there were not 'objects of interference' (or people, if one wanted to be specific in Sanjuro's mindset) around to stem his sorting fury. The sprites would find the galley's food stores gradually rearranged until everything was in a different place. On many occasions individuals around the ship would come into their rooms to find their belonging neatly put away in places they don't remember putting them, without a clear explanation.

For Miyoko, however, there were plenty of clear explanations for her belongings finding new homes, or her work areas suddenly becoming more tidy. Most of Sanjuro's day, whenever convenient for himself, was spent absent-mindedly tailing the sensor specialist in the exact same manner their first breakfast was spent; correcting every error she left behind, no matter how trivial. Well, she seems sincere in her thanks for my assistance..., Sanjuro thought to himself during his daily inspection of Miyoko's work environment. ...and yet, she continues to make very blatant errors. He sighed as he winced slightly at dusty shelves.

When the Miharu had arrived at the Dock, Sanjuro just finished his routine check of the medical equipment. The announcement was soon followed by the medical officer fumbling for his datapad.

"Miharu, how would I go about sending and receiving messages from Yamatai? I have been expecting a number of them, but was unable to obtain then during the course of the mission."
 
Yukari smiled. "Yes, I did. It will be brief, however; I do not wish to keep you." She stood up. "Please stand, Saito-Hei."
 
Sora nodded politely, "Yes, that'd be fine, Kotori-Taisa." She moved back away and out of the bridge's threshold to allow Kotori through before she walked towards the auxiliary ship's kitchenette.
 
Yukari smiled, then gently hugged the slightly smaller Neko. "Thank you," she said simply. "I have not had an opportunity to say that while we searched for the probes. But I wanted to. Thank you, Saito-san."
 
Kotori entered the kitchenette and sat, gesturing Sora to the seat opposite to her. "What's on your mind?" The Taisa asked, her amber eyes following the red-haired Ketsurui.
 
Miyoko was rather baffled--not that this was an unusual circumstance when she was around Yukari. If this practice of hugging subordinates for following orders catches on, I'm never letting them promote me to officer status... She returned the hug, a bit uncertainly. After a few seconds, she offered, "Er, thanks. I was just... doing my job."
 
"Your job?" Yukari giggled a little. "It is not your job I am thanking you for, Hei-san ... it is for being a friend. You have put up with me in ways you did not have to. I must thank you for that." She smiled.
 
"Well, I was thinking that since there isn't much for me to do unless there is a medical emergency that I could possibly be of better use to you and the crew if I were somehow trained for another job on the ship. I want to help out more than I do," the young Ketsurui said a little quickly as she said down beside Kotori. She had spent a great deal of time considering her options of what she could do to help.

"I could do a shift on the bridge and a shift in the med bay or something to balance out the tasks so each got the proper amount of attention and to better keep both places manned at all times. So really, I wanted permission to get cross trained and a suggestion of what task I could do to help out better," Sora said with a soft, hopeful smile.
 
"As an officer, you may be expected to be able to assume command of a military unit, even if it is not your assignment," Kotori nodded slowly her approval, paused and added: "My belief is that you could transition to being a communication officer and eventually branch out from that speciality as a full-fledged starship operator.
 
Sora nodded with a smile again, "I'll start studying up on tactics and how to properly utilize our communications systems right away, Kotori-Taisa. I'm glad that there are things I can do to better help out. That was all that I really wanted to ask you before I got an update on how things are going at home."
 
Kotori returned a smile to Sora and stood back up. "Then I won't hold you back any longer. I have my own report to make to my superiors myself."
 
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