RP: YSS Heartbreaker [Mission 2] Remember To Always Think Twice

[Reynolds]

1/38 - Shekhinah System - Heartbreaker Bridge - 1600 hours

"Exiting Hyperdrive...resetting instruments to real time..." Funabashi made this announcement mechanically as her fingers moved and mind worked, more concerned with performing her duties than sharing updates and information with the Captain glowering at the back of her head. Until she found something unexpected in the conventional array of scans they began upon entering a new system. She let out a soft gasp, double-checking her readings before reporting again. "Captain, I'm detecting signs of a FTL-capable craft in this system. Working to determine its current position."

"Move to Readiness Condition 2. All hands on deck." Tsukisaki looked away from the data that was being displayed on the main screen, towards her First Officer seated nearby, as warning lights began to flash, alarms blaring to ensure all crew members were awake and aware of the situation. "Ready weapons, but do not fire without my express permission. Alert Engineering to prepare for evasive maneuvers and another possible Hyperdrive charge." There was a pause as she glanced back at the data streaming in. "...suggestions, Ittou?"

Usagi began to angle the Heartbreaker towards the source of the energy signatures they had detected, pushing the ship just close enough to get more data on their target. It was an odd craft, even smaller than the Yui, mostly smooth and round except for pronged shapes jutting out from what seemed to be one end of the vessel. "Taii, I am not detecting any weapons...so far. But, I think they've noticed us." The small craft began to show signs of life, power levels rising slightly. The visuals projected onto the main screen grew clearer as they neared the craft, revealing some obvious signs of damage to the other ship.

Throughout the Heartbreaker, the warning lights continued to pulse, although the klaxons had gone silent after several repetitions. They had only been traveling for a week or so since their encounter on Owan to Tama, although that brief vacation suddenly felt like a lifetime away as the crew prepared for battle.

 

[paladinrpg]

YSS Heartbreaker, Bridge

With Funabashi-hei manning the pilot's seat for the next leg of the trip, Hoshitomo-shoi took up the chair at the Systems and Safety station slightly behind and to the right of the Captain. She was closely monitoring the entire ship during it's fold as always, though with the refitted Yui scout being underway for so long into their secret mission now there was much less anomalies that needed correcting... and those that did were dealt with swiftly by the vastly larger team of technicians manning the ship. Rin reckoned she needed something to keep them busy, and on a datapad in front of the XO was drawn up plans concerning a full inspection of the ship's aging Zesuiaum armor plating's condition after their next stop, and a subsequent refit schedule of Yamataium panels from the fab bay for those that were not quite up to spec.

The Minkan was however not so immersed in her maintenance schedules that she wasn't also paying attention to the arrival in system, as the sudden klaxons blaring to life made her drop the datapad and turn to Tsukisaki-taii, rubbing her chin a moment as her icy blue, narrowed eyes studied the visuals and the results of Usagi's scans streamed to her workstation.

"Senchou... I think I have seen this once before," mused Rin to her superior, before the veteran tilted her head back towards the main screen with a voice directed at the MEGAMI. "Ochiko, please display information concerning NMX vessel: Hand of Fear class. Compare to the available data on Target Alpha before us." There was a pause, before the First Officer added to the person manning sensors. "Sensors, conduct a scan of the vicinity of the ship for signs of any asteroid debris moving in straight-line or otherwise eccentric, non-orbital trajectories."

 

[LittleWasp]

Ee'ith Ambassador Sphere, Crew Compartment

Sally was awoken by a shrill, trilling sound made by her sister, Yui; a warning call. The I'ee ambassador had been sleeping beside Edtoto, their passenger recently rescued from the wrath of their relatives, curled protectively around her. Yui's call made Sally scramble to her feet, running mostly on instinct as she scurried from the cushioned aft section of the chamber to the front end where her sister was manning the controls.

"Alien craft. Do you know it? Our drive is not fully charged.", Sally's warrior sister relayed the information in a calm series of squeaks and snorts. The ambassador herself was already pressed against the port cock-pit shield, peering out at the blade-like craft looming closer; her alertness quickly fading in the face of curiousity. "I... think it might be from Yamatai...", Sally mused, speaking using her translator implant, which made Yui pause for a moment before nodding.
"Yamatai... Are they trustworthy?", Yui muttered with suspicion, her claws tightening on the controls that her body was currently sprawled across. "I have scanned their vessel. Their weapons are armed. We should flee."

Sally let out a frustrated squeak, tottering over to her sister and huffing at her in their native language. "Do not do anything, Yui! Not without my permission, at least! I know how to communicate with Yamataians!", she snapped at her sister with a hint of arrogance. "Broadcast the Yamatai distress signal and keep me updated. I'm going to tell Edtoto what is happening."
Having lectured her begrudging warrior sister on what to do, Sally turned and scampered back to the rear of the compartment to find Edtoto. "There is an alien vessel, Edtoto.", Sally spoke to her slowly in Trade speak; a language the Vekimen had picked up on fairly quickly. "I recognise the markings. We may be able to get help from it."
---
The spherical I'ee craft was now angled towards the Heartbreaker, its frontal antennae broadcasting a carbon-copy of a Yamatai vessel's distress signal. The Ee'ith ambassadors had a selection of 'borrowed' transmissions such as this to use in communication with alien vessels; naively unaware that some might find such copy-cat behaviour as suspicious.

From the outside, the vessel was tiny even compared to the Heartbreaker. Its golden hull was pockmarked with dents and scratches, but the frontal antennae and rear engine prongs seemed in good shape. Currently, the engines were not started, and the prongs had no obvious purpose to an onlooker. Two polarised, reflective screens flanked the central communications antennae at the front of the craft, presumably marking the bridge or cockpit of the vessel.
---
Despite the sheer size of space, and even the comparatively small system where the Heartbreaker had arrived in, the I'ee have infinite patience, even when enraged. The Thoot mining family, still in a frenzy over the earlier debacle over Edtoto, had suspended their harvesting operations in the local asteroid belt and had begun combing the system for the Ee'ith craft.

Large patrol vessels, each slightly larger than the Heartbreaker, were sent to the far corners of the Shekhinah system to search the area using sub-light drives. Each was long, flat and coated with ridged, jagged metal protrusions with a small entourage of mining tugs assigned to them. Each had their antennae tuned to pick up any clues as to the fugitives' location.

 

[LeighLink]

YSS Heartbreaker, Bridge

“Scanning for rocks, Shoi,” Blesi-Hei responded from the sensors console, her fingers trembling as she input commands. She missed some keys, making her reissue the commands to the computer as her nerves fought against her. She looked at the blip on the screen indicating the first unknown contact she’d ever encountered in a real environment and felt her panic rising. This wasn’t a simulation anymore, this was a Mishhuvarthyar and she could die, or….

She paused her actions, clenched her fists and inhaled deeply. Her stomach continued to flutter, but her hands steadied. Carefully, being sure to get it right the first time, she returned to her task seeking out asteroids and suspicious projectiles.

The local area was mostly vacuum with a single large comet a million kilometers away. Ingrid exhaled in relief and reported, “No suspicious debris or projectiles. Now analyzing target profile.” She brought up the image of the Hand of Fear class and the fuzzy, preliminary image of Target Alpha for comparison. Immediately, she saw a discrepancy: Target Alpha was much smaller than the Hand of Fear class; it wasn’t even a tenth the size of the Heartbreaker. “Shoi, Target Alpha is way too small to be a Hand of Fear class. It could be a shuttle. I’ll check the--”

The blip identifying Target Alpha on her screen updated with a new status marker indicating distress.

“Target Alpha, status update, captain! It has begun transmitting a distress signal,” she announced. Her eyebrow lifted as she looked at the signal’s data. “It’s a Yamataian signal, they’re providing identity and,” she paused, “this doesn’t make any sense.” Ingrid squinted at the readout and cocked her head, making sure she was reading it right. She then turned and looked over her shoulder at the captain. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to find words to explain it, but Tsukisaki-Taii’s answering glare forced her to simply spit out what she saw.

“Taii, they’re identifying themselves as us—as the Heartbreaker.”

 

[Edto Xar'Sivaree]

Edtoto Nar'Sivaro
Rank Three
Ee'ith Ambassador Sphere, Crew Compartment

Edtoto had been sleeping rather soundly when she was unpleasantly awoken by a shrill, loud, trilling sound that was quite unpleasant. To add the giant insect scrambling around, practically trampling the lizard in its rush didn't help the mood of waking up. She assumed the one who was still laying on her was Sally, or the nice one as she originally identified her. She listened to the senseless chattering of Yui, and Sally using her knowledge in Trade. Things would be interesting, though. When Sally walked out, Edtoto got enough of a message. More Aliens. After countless generations of looking, now she alone was finding more aliens than she could shake her tail at.

To top off the message, she knew she should be prepared. If this was going to be anything like what happened to her when Sally first found her. She started to slide her gear on. She didn't want to be caught off guard again. She put the pilot suit on first, pulling the hood up and over her head so her horns slid int their premade sleeves. Next her Vest, boots and leg guards, gloves and arm guards, then her Helmet and backpack. When she was done, Edtoto, at least, looked ready for a fight. She had no ammo in her SMG, and she only had about five clips for her sidearm, not that a hundred wasn't enough, plus whatever was still in her current cylinder. Thinking about the concept of a potential firefight, she actually started loading her ammo into her SMG. She did so with trained hands so it took her only a few minutes to load three of the five magazines she had into two of her SMG magazines.

When she was ready, she walked into the cockpit and looked at Sally. "I help. I good, keep Sally safe with Yui. Good?" She asked, her voice sounding distorted as it came out of a speaker in her helmet. She looked reasonably ready for a fight should one break out.

 

[BloodyScarlet]

YSS Heartbreaker Engineering

Kamatari looked over the information of the ship making sure nothing was going to break apart then he smiled as he saw that everything was working how it should be "Well at the moment there is nothing at the moment to be worried about." He lay back against a wall and smiled softly feeling the soft vibration of the ship calm him down "Ah this ship really knows how to calm down a man when he is nervous" he chuckled and patted the ship then went back to checking that the ship was okay after their jump "Have to make sure your all okay now heartbreaker, don't want you hurt now, it would be a shame to lose you."

 

[LittleWasp]

Ee'ith Ambassador Sphere, Crew Compartment

Having turned away from her sister Yui to attend to their passenger, Sally almost immediately ran into Edtoto, suited up and armed. "Edtoto?", she squeaked, surprised at seeing her friend dressed again so quickly, then tilted her head to listen. "Thank you, Edtoto. But I don't think... I hope, we won't need weapons for this one. I should be able to communicate much more effectively with Yamatai." The ambassador gave Edtoto a hug, then turned and tottered back over to the cockpit windows, peering out at the Yamataian scout craft looming closer.
---
The Thoot upon the command bridge squeaked and chattered amongst themselves with what could be considered a morbid form of excitement. It was a round-table discussion of sorts, as the I'ee tended not to have commanders in the true sense, regarding the message they had picked up. It was quite distorted, since the source came from somewhere on the other side of the local star in relation to the patrol craft's current location. They'd already forwarded the fragmented information on to their mothership, still hidden in the asteroid belt, and the other vessels currently searching the system.

Finally, the crew came to an agreement and took positions around the bridge; they weren't going to wait for reinforcements. The Alcubierre drive was charged and ready, and they angled their craft towards the estimated position of the signal's source. Even though their course would take them dangerously close to the local star on their way to their target, the Thoot vessel ignored the risks, powering up its FTL drive and disappearing into the blackness of space.

 

[paladinrpg]

YSS Heartbreaker, Bridge

Hoshitomo-shoi studied the data coming in, as the spherical craft was indeed too small to be the asteroid-flinging NMX terror vessel. Neither was it a shuttlecraft of Uesu's Grand Star Army. It didn't seem to fit the profiles of any species crafts she had encountered or had the technical information on, thus raising the strong possibility that this was an entirely alien spaceship before them. There did not appear to be weapons, but the fact it was damaged from an encounter was not entirely lost on her either, deepening the mystery of who or what situation they had just stumbled into.

"Senchou, I don't believe this 'alien' vessel is a threat to us. In fact, there's a strong possibility it is attempting to escape from someone or something that is more powerful, judging by the scoring on its hull..." spoke up the XO to her superior. Though when Blesi-hei indicated the use of the IFF signal that was a replica of that of the Yui scout's, Rin's eyebrow raised up. "Mirroring our signal? Is it some attempt at communication?"

 

[Moogle]

This was supposed to be my off cycle, Miho fumed. Forced to relax when she wanted to work, forced to work when she wanted to relax. She speedily hovered through the room to her designated tiny seat, settling in late.

"It's a call and answer," she declared after a few seconds of observation. "If we changed our signals, they'd likely match it. It's the best way a foreign culture can communicate with an unfamiliar one - like a handshake."

 

[Reynolds]

Heartbreaker, Bridge

Tsukisaki remained silent as the others on the Bridge weighed in with their opinions, taking in all of the data they were compiling on this new curiosity. Finally, she nodded. "Agreed, not a known SMX or NMX vessel. Possibly something new. But unlikely...if they were attempting to draw us in, they would have used a trap with more...flesh...involved. It's all they understand." She considered their thoughts on the incoming transmission as well. "It seems they have us at an informational, if not tactical, disadvantage. Alpha is aware of our standard communications channels, distress protocols and ship registration format. Although it appears they either have little idea what the information they're transmitting actually means...or, they're doing their best to set a trap for us with the little information they possess."

She turned to regard her First Officer. "You are more than familiar with Star Army First Contact protocols, I assume, Ittou?"


Engineering

"You should be worried, Kama-chan, yes!" Ochiko appeared, seated on a saddle resting on the topmost of her traditional pile of cushions. She was wearing traditional samurai armor with black and red enamel, including a helmet with a large, bushy mustache. One hand clutched a metal fan, the other waving a stumpy sword as she spoke. "Ochiko won't be left alone again, yes." The MEGAMI seemed to be upset about the possibility of ship-to-ship combat. One of her traditional scrolls popped into existence next to her, like a war banner, with a message written in Yamataigo.


Power Armor Bay
"To die with one's sword still sheathed is most regrettable." Veronika spoke the same words to her partner, as she assisted the Infantry Neko into her armor. Others were starting to join them, suiting up for a possible boarding party.


Bridge

"Know your enemy, know his sword." The Captain was thinking along the same lines as well, as they prepared for the worst. "Or, perhaps...know your enemy, know yourself." Her frown adjusted into a grimace of determination as she fought to ignore her instincts and perform her duty. "Since they have made their knowledge of our communication channels obvious, open them and respond. We'll begin with Yamataigo, then switch to Trade if there is no response." Just like the distress call. She leaned towards the main screen as they began transmitting audio and visuals on the same frequency that distress call was using, the view focused in on her and Rin.

"I am Tsukisaki Valesti, Taii of the Star Army of Yamatai, servant of Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Himiko of Yamatai...and Captain of the YSS Heartbreaker. Terminate the broadcast of the falsely credentialed distress call at once and identify yourself." Not the best first impression, although if they were merely copying what they'd heard before it wouldn't really matter what she said. The full title had likely been used in case this ship somehow traced back to Uesu, Himiko's mentor. She paused, waiting for a response before preparing to repeat the message in Trade.

 

[Abyss Walker]

YSS Heartbreaker, Lounge → Power armour bay

A yelp of surprise escaped a Neko-shaped enigma as the Heartbreaker emitted a cry to action stations. The Neko had been sprawled out upon a couch within the Lounge, nearly lulled to sleep by the music filling her ears via a communicator until alarms wordlessly told the crew to make themselves ready. “Time to move like you've got a purpose, Hidaka” The Neko mumbled to herself before she broke into a sprint for the power armour bay.

Once Hidaka had reached her destination, the Neko paused in the doorway to the power armor bay for a moment. Given the busy state of her fellow crew, the Neko had given pause to plot a course around her comrades to her designated armour. Yet rather than try to tip-toe around, Hidaka instead made use of her gravity manipulation and floated over the busy bundle of comrades with a sing-song "Pardon me~" before landing at the back of her armour and starting to climb into the protective wear. As she readied herself for confrontation, the rookie wondered where exactly were the action stations for someone of the Infantry when aboard a star vessel like the Heartbreaker.

 

[LittleWasp]

Ee'ith Ambassador Sphere, Crew Compartment

"Sister. They send us a reply.", Yui chirped to Sally, stepping away from the controls to give her sister the reins, so to speak. With a nervous squeak, Sally ran to the controls, laying down upon the cushioned seat and playing the message sent by the Heartbreaker. While the ambassador had studied Yamatai and their military at length for almost half her life, the cold, professional tone in Valesti's message greatly intimidated the little I'ee. With shaking limbs, she quickly switched off the distress signal before recording a reply to send to the Yamataian vessel.

"We apologise, Taii Valesti.", the I'ee spoke in Yamatai, her artificial voice betraying none of her nerves. "We are an unarmed ambassador sent by the Ee'ith family of the I'ee to make formal contact with civilisations such as yours. We have a passenger on board that has drawn the ire of our... less cordial relatives in this system. We were charging our FTL drive to escape this area when you arrived." With a click and a synthesised tone, Sally transmitted her reply back to the Heartbreaker and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.
---
The Thoot patrol craft emerged from FTL in a blinding burst of heat, releasing particles and energy in all directions. Its dangerous path close to the sun had caused the Alcubierre drive's FTL 'bubble' to pick up far more rogue particles than it normally would, and the heat on top of that had badly damaged the ship. Roughly half the crew were dead, including the weapons control staff, and one side of the ship was engulfed in flames. In addition, the course had been changed mid-flight to avoid more catastrophic damage: The craft was roughly two hundred thousand kilometers away from their intended location.
The crew were scrambling to contain the fires engulfing some of the passage ways and ascertain just how many had died, leaving the ship drifting uselessly through space.

Roughly three seconds from when Sally sent her message, the light from the Thoot's disastrous exit from FTL would reach the Heartbreaker and the sphere, showing as a bright, yellow pinpoint in the blackness. This faded after only a couple of seconds, but the excess energy from the particle burst would remain quite visible on most scanning equipment.

 

[Firebrand]

Power Armor Bay

What is there to do for infantry on a starship during first contract? Just get ready and hope the ship isn't blown out from under you, ending your life before you realize it? Scary stuff maybe, knowing that this was the kind of situation. Darren was scared out of his mind, to be completely frank about things. Not that he was letting it show: power armor was great for hiding one's shakes. The man's actions certainly didn't, y'know, make him seem like he was scared.

"Eh. It's more of a shame to die at all. I'd rather live out my years, marry a cute officer rising in the ranks, then retire with a nice pension. Seems a hell of a lot better than dying for something like glory."

 

[Acewing13]

YSS Heartbreaker, Engineering

“What do you mean, you don’t need me?”

Skade stood in the threshold of the engineering bay, half eaten toast in hand as she stared in confusion at her commanding officer, who was too busy to be fielding questions from the Neko.

“I didn’t say that, Nitô Hei,” Sunny replied, her usual pleasant expression marred by the stress of dealing with a ship just out of hyperdrive and a possible combat situation in the near future. “I said, Nakane and I have it handled, and you need to be ready to join that welcoming party.” The Minkan spared a moment to smile at the Technician, then shooed her away, “Good luck and get a move on, sugar.”

Skade sighed, saluted, said, “Yes, ma’am,” then skulked out of the room while she brought the rest of her toast to her mouth. And I was looking forward to being in the engineering bay during a battle…

Power Armor Bay

Once at the power armor bay, the Neko took care not to get in anyone’s way as she headed to their , though she resisted the urge to fly over the crowd like she saw one of the newbies do. I don’t need to feed my bad habit.

When she finally reached her Mindy armor, she checked over everything, making sure all of her weapons were loaded and otherwise ready to go, and that the fabrication module was full. I’m just glad we’ll be using armor this time…

 

[FrostJaeger]

YSS Heartbreaker, Power Armor Bay

With a faint fwish, the doors of the Heartbreaker's PA Bay opened, revealing the pale-hued, slightly out-of-breath, and damp-haired form of the newly-promoted Nitô Hei Inukai Sayoko - who'd had the misfortune of being in the middle of showering when the alarm klaxon had sounded. Brilliant timing...


Wordlessly, the SAINT Agent darted around the variously-armored forms of her crewmates; equally wordlessly, she strode up to the compartments console and, fingers blurring, entered her armor's configuration into the Bay's isolated computer systems.


At least, mused the Neko as she entered "her" M2-3a Mindy, Tsukisaki-Taii has permitted the usage of Powered Armor...then again, it would be......difficult to combat the noble Empire's space-borne enemies without it...

 

[LeighLink]

YSS Heartbreaker, Bridge

After hearing the incoming message from Alpha One and Hoshitomo-shoi’s orders to suit up, Ingrid reached to lock down her console. She was interrupted by another signal on her screen.

“New ship, coming out of FTL. Uh, they are ejecting coronal mass as their field bubble collapses,” she reported. “They seem to have suffered some damage from flying too close to the star, but they’re still on an intercept course. They are outside of weapons range for now, but time is limited before they reach us.”

Blesi-hei locked down her console, stood up and turned to her officers. “New target is Alpha Two. Reporting to power armor bay as ordered.” She hastily saluted and hurried off the bridge.


Power Armour Bay

Upon arriving in the PA bay, Ingrid quickly shed her outer suit and moved to her assigned Mindy. There was a palpable sense of tense resentment in the room that clashed with her nervous curiosity. She had seen some of the marks that the Crab Type on Owan to Tama had left on the others and knew they were bitter about being thrust into a situation they were ill-prepared for. Ingrid swallowed and hoped that the power armor was enough for whatever mystery they were being driven into.

She reached behind her suit and pulled the equipment pack off, dumped its contents of sampling equipment into a bin, and then replaced it on the suit. She tapped a couple of modifications to the loadout of her armor, swapping the MSAP missiles for SOOW missiles and loaded the pack with additional ordnance which she linked to her shoulder-mounted missile launcher.

Satisfied, she turned around and stepped back into the suit, connected her SPINE to the AIES, booted it up, closed the suit down, and undocked from its cradle.

 

[paladinrpg]

Bridge

Hoshitomo-shoi wrinkled her nose once as it seemed things went the way of the unknown instead of the known, and her superior mentioned the rules of first contact. Naturally she was schooled in such matters like any officer should, though with her old guard, conservative upbringing she couldn't help but feel a bit ill-suited for the task ahead. Her Star Army of yore was known for performing niceties with lesser races subsequently at gunpoint. It was an ugly past of Uesu's gunboat diplomacy, but one not easily shaken off even to this day. "Hai, Senchou, I assume we will be following the Rights of Early Contact from here on out, then?" she replied to the stern Taii, bringing up a copy of the rules from her memories to refresh herself nonetheless.

When the second contact appeared on sensors, apparently barreling through portions of the nearby star's corona to get to them, Rin shook her head and mumbled the old proverb, "There's always a bigger fish..." She had wished not to be correct in this case, but her combat intuition was always impeccable. "It appears... we have our pursuer of our alien. Such a reckless maneuver... however, this might be some type of disposable scout for a larger force that could be approaching, now that they know the location of their quarry is here. This alien ambassador or its passenger must be of high value to them... but are they worthwhile to us to rescue?"

Rin turned quickly to the systems station, brushing a bit of her teal hair out of her eyes. "We need to assemble a team quickly to make contact. Inukai-hei, Skade-hei, Leverton-hei, Blesi-hei, and our newcomer Hidaka-hei will accompany me to the Ee'ith vessel." The officer began keying in some commands at the workstation. "Since we don't know what kind of an opposition force to expect -- while we EVA over, Kayoko-hei will launch in our upgraded V8 Kawarime on CAP duty. Anti-starship loadout, with an outer mount fitted with a Wave Front Module that can help mask the ship's exact location from long range scans and buy us some time. Bettie-hei will be on sentry duty in case of boarding operations against us." There was some more handiwork on the console, as she called up the contents of the Heartbreaker's drone bay on screen. "While we suit up, Ochiko, I need you to ready the VCMAD Space drones we have with full weapon packages. Keep them on hot standby to launch incase we have to force multiply against superior numbers or swarm tactics."

Hoshitomo-shoi drew in a breath as her plan came together, and those assembled were made aware of just how fast the XO could turn the exploratory Yui-7 into a vessel capable of massive amounts of destruction at a moment's notice, worthy of it's heritage of the 'bloody' Taisho. There seemed to be a glint of the Emperor's jingoism in her icy eyes, as her brand of making peace was to come carrying a big stick... perhaps in this fashion she was even more frightening than Tsukisaki.

As she arose from her station finally, Rin placed a pale hand firmly on the grey-paneled Usagi's shoulder at the helm and gave a slight smile. There was nothing directly spoken, but the implication was clear... she may actually get something to shoot at this day.

 

[Reynolds]

Heartbreaker, Bridge

Tsukisaki was just signaling Funabashi to begin sending another message when the I'ee response arrived. A small 'AUDIO ONLY' warning appeared in the corner of the main screen as the message began playing on the Bridge. The enemy craft was arriving as they listened, but scans only caught up a few moments after the message finished. Usagi looked up from her station as Rin approached her, grinning in return. "Weapons ready, Shoi. Ochiko is reporting the preparation of her...spears." She returned her attention to her station. "Oh, the drones. Also, examination of the recording indicates it was not natural speech, but some type of computerized voice. Perhaps their computer can translate and record Yamataian speech?" More detailed information was coming in as they continued scanning the small ship. "I'm picking up three lifeforms on Alpha 1. Further details unknown. It's possible they cannot naturally speech Yamataian. Or even any sort of vocalized language..."

"We do not have time for that, Hei. Alpha 2 seems much less interested in chatting." The Captain kept Usagi on task before turning towards Miho's small station. "Nakamaru-Hei, handle communications with Alpha 1. Tell them to stand down and prepare to be boarded. Any movement of their ship will be seen as an act of aggression." She paused, considering another option. "...also, if you can confirm Alpha 2 are their disgruntled relatives, instruct them to communicate the same suggestion to stand down and cease their aggressive approach, or we will be forced to defend ourselves." She nodded to the Mini, done with that assignment, returning her attention forward.

"Funabashi-Hei, transmit the standard recorded warning message on all possible frequencies as well. Although I fear it will do little good." Usagi nodded, not looking up from her station. "Hai, Tsukisaki-Taii. Broadcasting warning to cease aggression in Yamataigo and Trade. Alpha 2 is entering communication range...three minutes to long weapons range." The new craft finally appeared on screen, a few deployed Tugs picked up as well. Usagi let out a snort. "They're...not well armed." She summed up. "Their size may prove a problem if they attempt a ramming maneuver. Also detecting several small craft or drones, approximately the same size as Alpha 1."

"Before they try to run, lock down Alpha 1 with a graviton beam. I want them kept where we can see them. Ittou, if you can ensure Alpha 1 is not a threat, your armor team may return to assist us. Otherwise, subdue the crew and capture the vessel before continuing." Valesti nodded to dismiss Rin, returning her concentration to the brewing battle.


Power Armor Bay

"Hoshitomo-Shoi!" Veronika seemed a bit surprised to see the officer entering the Power Armor Bay. It was Bettie's turn to help her friend into her armor, the two being left behind to guard the Launch Bay and entrance to the ship. Darren, Skade, Sayoko, Hidaka and Ingrid were all making their final preparations. Nearby, activity could be heard in the Drone Bay, even as the Heart of Fire launched, moving to one side of the Heartbreaker, swooping towards the small craft containing Sally, Yui and Edtoto, passing by for a closer look.

A thin beam of dull, golden light suddenly projected from the Heartbreaker's hull, hitting the side of the tiny diplomatic vessel. If the I'ee weren't trying to slip away, it would begin attempting to reposition the little ship, moving it towards the rear of the ship where the Power Armor Bay exited into space, keeping the Heartbreaker between it and the approaching enemy. The Heart of Fire was now lining up behind the alien craft, watching it as the others prepared to board the tiny ship.

 

[LittleWasp]

Ee'ith Ambassador Sphere, Crew Compartment

Yui snorted as she and Sally listened to the Heartbreaker's message, the smaller I'ee simply quivering with confusion and fright; replaying the message obsessively in case she had heard something wrong. "Why are they boarding us?", Sally finally asked, letting out a terrified, little whimper. "We haven't done anything bad!" Her guardian sister was a little more level-headed, sending an acknowledgement to the Yamataian vessel, before beginning to power down the ship's systems one by one.

The ship quivered almost imperceptibly as the beam struck their little ship and began manipulating it. "Sally, tell your passenger what is happening. Tell her to drop her weapons too; I don't want it getting you killed.", Yui chattered over her shoulder at her sister, who almost jumped at the sound of her sister's voice.
Sally turned to peer at Edtoto nervously, toddling over to her alien friend and speaking to her in Trade. "Edtoto, the alien vessel is going to...", she paused, trying to find the right word for the Vekimen's limited vocabulary. "They want to enter our ship and see if we are dangerous... I think. Also, you should leave your weapons behind... They might think you're dangerous." The ambassador paused for a moment before letting out a frightened whine and hugging Edtoto, burying her face into the Vekimen's chest. "I won't let them hurt you, ok? I know how to talk to them...". Despite Sally's words, she didn't sound confident in herself at all, clutching onto the Vekimen for dear life.

---

The patrol craft's engines sputtered and sparked with a ferocious, yellow glow; spitting particles out into space, which then spiralled elegantly along the metal prongs before flying out into the blackness. Small mining tugs were flying out of its storage pods one by one, quickly forming a loose, escort pattern of eleven craft. A twelfth dropped out of the port cargo pod, its engine's sputtering as it tried to cope with damage sustained during the dangerous FTL jump. The sunflower yellow of its engines intensified in brightness, the tiny craft shuddering violently as its aft section seemed to tear itself apart: a swarm of erratic, glowing particles escaping from the damaged containment unit powering the engines. The rest of the tiny mining tug soon followed, breaking apart while its brothers flew onward alongside their flaming carrier vessel.

The Thoot crew aboard the patrol craft received the Heartbreaker's warning, but had no interest in stopping even if they could understand it. Instead, they replied by barraging both the Ee'ith craft and the Heartbreaker with a simplistic set of messages, repeated in every language the Thoot had in their database.
KEEP AWAY ALIENS
WE NEED KILL
GO AWAY
WE WANT KILL
ALIEN MUST DIE
While there was more to their messages, it was all variations upon the same theme, repeated in different languages. Without the proper context, the message seemed openly hostile. The Thoot patrol craft showed no sign of slowing or stopping, only increasing its speed whilst angling itself to ram straight into the tiny, Ee'ith sphere. The little tugs were having trouble keeping up, struggling along in the wake of their mothership.

---

With the Thoot craft only a couple of minutes away, Yui pondered whether or not to forewarn the Heartbreaker. She honestly didn't trust the aliens at all, chiefly concerned with the possibility of them hurting Sally. Perhaps they could escape while the Thoot are...? She checked the sensor instruments and hissed softly. Nope, the stupid miners were going to ram them and only them.
"Alien vessel.", she hailed the Heartbreaker. "The incoming craft is hostile. Our relatives will stop at nothing to destroy us both. We are unarmed." She was almost about to request that the Yamataian craft unhand them, but decided not to push her luck. She'd already lied to them after all; technically, the Thoot would leave the Heartbreaker well enough alone if they kept away from the Ee'ith ship.

 

[LeighLink]

Power Armor Bay

"So it's first contact," Ingrid said to the assembly in the PA bay. "Any bets on how many limbs they've got? I've got 700KS saying they've got two limbs. Anyone else? And don't be chicken! You don't know the next time you'll get to bet on something like this, so I wanna see some real numbers."