Masako's time on the Miharu this time had been full of routine. During the 14-day period of surveying and scouting, the young Warrant Officer had spent her time divided among a variety of work. The more routine bits included the weekly maintenance on the Power Armor they had, which she had obtained the assistance of Nimura to accomplish the task in a couple of days.
The Armor Leader had felt bad when she had asked Tom if he could deal with Nimura's absence for the time period, he had been working on the Main Cannon Problem for quite a while. But doing the maintenance by herself would have taken longer, which would have left them in a lot of trouble if the power armor had been needed in combat.
More of her routine had also been daily meetings with the other power armor pilots as well as a few armor simulations to foster team work. She had tried to include their single fighter pilot as much as possible, but it was difficult given Masako had never really seen or had fighter cover in any of her previous operations.
But routine, although well and good, had to be broken up on occasion if one were to stay sane. Masako attempted this by adding exercise to her daily schedule. Often waking up earlier than she normally did to jog through empty hallways. Miharu had help with nice conversation throughout her exercise schedule of warm-ups, jogging, aerobics, and even a bit of weight-training. This too, became routine after the first four days.
Masako tried her hand at programming Armor Simulators next. With the help of Hinoto and Mara, when they had the time, Masako had designed a couple of skirmish simulations based upon her own experiences. One of which, was an exact replica of her first encounter with the Mishhu while the other was a replica of the disaster on Bowhordia. It had brought back some bad memories and a few unpleasant nightmares, but she knew both had been good learning experiences for her. And if she could learn from them, so could others. She was also thankful the two sprites hadn't asked questions about the scenarios other than what was needed for the design.
But for the most part, the fourteen days gave Masako more than enough time to think. She needed to spread her experience out. For three years, she had specialized as an Armor Pilot...even if she had knowledge that would help her as a Technical Sentry. But as a Warrant Officer, Technical Sentry was no longer an option. She was an officer in her own right now and that required her take a position of responsibility. True, she was in a position of responsibility as an Armor Pilot. But when her ship and crew weren't even in any danger, the young Neko felt useless. She wanted to cross-class into something...but what?
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Today had been different from Masako's routine. After waking up at her usual time for exercise, the young warrant officer had returned to her quarters and passed out, having worked out much harder than usual. Because of this, she slept in a bit longer than she wanted too.
Groaning slightly, the young warrant officer opened her eyes slowly as she lay upon her bed in her exercise uniform. "Maybe I should have held back," she mumbled to herself as she rolled over onto her back. Wincing slightly as she felt a sore muscle in her calf, she slowly moved so that her feet were dangling off her bed. "Definitely too much," she said as she began to stretch her muscles, both sore and not, out to keep them from cramping.
Once off the bed, Masako decided it would be best to see what was going on before going to the baths. Exiting her quarters, still in her exercise garb, the young Neko headed towards the wardroom.
Upon entering, she noticed quite a bit of commotion going on around Yoroko. "Hmmm?" she hummed as she walked up to her taller, but newer crewmates and peered around them to the Volumetric Windows. "What's going on now?" she asked before reading.
Slowly, her expression went from cheerful to neutral and neutral to surprise. Ketsurui....gave up the throne!? she thought to herself as she leaned closer to the windows to continue reading with a serious expression, unintentionally placing a hand upon one of Yoroko's shoulders and a breast upon the other.
As she read on, her face became more pale than before as a mixture of emotions struck her. The war was over....the Mishhu were gone! Happy as she was, Masako was still quite shocked. She had been born to defend the Empire against the SMX and she only one combat with anything Mishhu. Maybe she had been lucky, but she still felt as if the purpose she had been born for was stolen away from her. No...that's not it. More opportunities have opened up. she thought cautiously as she forgot the current position she was in.
