RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 21.2] Return to Ether - Spaceside Thread

Engineering

Sienna's brow creased in confusion at Junko's mention of public baths, and she remained looking baffled as the NCO continued along the rails her train of thought followed without elaborating on just where that tidbit of information had come from or why it was warranted. She listened to the rest of what the black-haired Neko had to say, however, and started to take note of her nonplussed, borderline offended expression. Aside from having to stifle her annoyance at being called "Sienna-san" yet again, based on Junko's reaction, she began to consider the possibility that she had been too hard on her. She hadn't observed much of the relatively new arrival, but from what little she had seen, she seemed like one of the few people aboard that actually had a good head on her shoulders. It wasn't a giant leap to realize that she might have been unfairly projecting her frustrations.

She nodded slowly back at Junko once she had finished, closing her eyes briefly as she sighed again, and reached up to massage her temples with her fingertips. "Yeah, I get it," she responded semi-apologetically, making no effort to address the question of how long she intended to remain on board. At this point, she mostly just wanted to avoid drawing out an argument she had little actual interest in, to say nothing of having the energy for. "Sorry. Today's just been a real bastard for me so far," she continued, pinching the bridge of her nose slightly and squinting before blinking a few times and looking back at Junko with a worn-out expression. "You're probably busy, so since you don't actually need me, I'll just get outta your hair." Looking back down at her barely-covered torso, she glanced sheepishly back up at her. "I gotta go find my shirt anyway, and then probably have a lie-down for a while."

Engineering

Junko wasn’t sure what had changed the other woman’s mood but as she saw Sienna visibly relax she felt herself smile genuinely. A few years ago, the Nepleslian would have absolutely driven her crazy, but now she was finding something disarming about meeting someone so forthright in word and appearance. She knew it was only the absence of rank, duty, and regulations which let her appreciate it. Still, in the name of working on her personality after remaining stagnant for so long, she'd gladly take what she could get.

"No apologies necessary. Everyone has their off days." Waving dismissively at the compartment behind her she continued, "And I'm not actually busy at the moment. If the Shosho wants dinner shortly, there's not enough time for me to begin even a tear down of the systems I need to work on. I'll tackle it later. And honestly, if the Shosho gives you permission, I'd be happy to have your help any time, if you're looking for something to do. With the Taii moving up as XO we're a little short on wrench-turners at present."

Reaching into the locker, she tidied up the stacks of suits, made sure the tools were all in their proper positions, and then closed the doors on them all. "Just a moment," she said, crossing quickly to her consoles. She was pleased to see the FTL systems had spun down as easily as they had started up and that all systems were otherwise behaving normally. Making sure her preferred priority schemes were locked into the automatic run queues, she set the systems to remote for the moment, and lifted a handset.

"Bridge, Engineering. This is Takeda requesting relief in the Mainspace to join the Shosho in the Wardroom." She looked over at Sienna as she waited for a reply. "I'd highly recommend dinner," she called out, covering the handset's mic. "Though finding your shirt first would probably still be a good idea." The comment wasn't particularly clever and she tried her best to stifle it but even still she giggled - and as usual she hated it.

Engineering

Sienna managed to humor Junko with a chuckle and smirk at her comment before she headed towards the exit. "Yeah, probably," she replied. "I'll see you there."

Even before she left, she knew perfectly well that it was a lie; she had no intention of attending. The absolute last thing on Sienna's mind was going to the mess hall. Not only did the mere thought of food make the subtle threat of her nausea returning stir in the pit of her stomach, she wasn't at all interested in potentially being dragged into pretentiously polite conversation with people she never intended to see again. She knew that Natsumi would more than likely notice her absence, but she hoped that her new "friend" would possess the good sense not to come looking for her when she didn't show up. Tousling her hair with one hand, she walked down the corridor to the crew cabins as quickly as she could, stopping at the medbay just long enough to retrieve her shirt from the exam table and put it back on before she continued, listening ahead of her in hopes that she wouldn't run into anyone on the way back.


Cabin 6

The door to the cabin barely had enough time to open to its full extent before Sienna, now once again decently clothed, stepped inside and closed it behind her. Leaning against the closed portal, she closed her eyes and drew a long breath through her nose, held it for a moment, and exhaled steadily out through pursed lips. Opening her eyes, she took stock of her meager belongings in a pile at the foot of her bed, and almost began to ponder just how and when she would make her exit. Part of her figured she at least owed Hanako a formal farewell, but then again, she didn't really know why she should have to explain herself at all. She had given enough in exchange for her freedom, and the posh treatment she'd received here was, while greatly welcome, completely unsolicited and given of their own accord without expectation of payment. It was their own decision.

She rubbed her forehead again and flopped face-down on her bed, one arm draped down on the floor and one leg hanging off the edge of the mattress. She reasoned she'd figure it all out soon enough. For now, however, she just wanted to be left alone, and to get some rest. Hopefully she'd feel better after she'd slept some more.

Bridge

Now that the shuttle was aboard Natsumi disconnected from SPINE and double checked their orbit and the sensor sweeps of the local space before turning over control to the MEGAMI.

She stood up and stretched her arms and legs. "call me if anything comes up" Nattsumi instructed the computer and exited the bridge, heading for the wardroom.

Armor Bay

Once dressed, Chieko made her way out of the armor bay, past medical and recreation, making for the passageway. She then floated her way up to Deck 2 and made her way into the lounge. Looking around the scientist identified her assigned cabin and took a relaxed bee-line towards it and opened the door.


Cabin 6

Looking in at the bottom bunk, the academic noted the form of her cabin mate and shook her head in bemusement. "Still sleeping?" she asked in an entertained voice, slightly louder than necessary, in her less than perfect Trade, "You know it is nearly dinner time, do you not?"

The Minkan chuckled a little on her way to her locker, smirking as she opened it up. She then began hunting things down: towel, shampoo, conditioner, soap. The young woman felt grubby; but not enough to dampen her spirits over being off that frozen wasteland of a planet.

Cabin 6

Sienna was just beginning to drift off to sleep when she heard the door to the cabin whisk open again, and someone come clomping in. Lifting her head slightly when her roommate addressed her, entirely too loudly for the enclosed space, and kept herself from groaning in annoyance as she pushed aside some of the hair that was stuck over her bleary, bloodshot eyes. She didn't have any idea where Chieko had been all day, nor did she presume that she knew anything about what had transpired in her absence.

She stared blankly at Chieko for a few seconds while the Minkan busied herself in her locker. "Yeah, I know," she replied with disinterest, her coarse accent exacerbated by her tired, gravelly-sounding voice, and gracelessly plopped her face back down into her pillow. "Gimme ten more minutes," she continued, muffled by the stuffed fabric. "Y'all Nekos ain't never experienced a hangover."

Cabin 6

"Neko?" Chieko asked confused as she looked over at Sienna. The image of herself with whiskers and kitty ears appeared in her mind before the face morphed into that of Misato and the realization occurred to her. "Ah!" the scientist smiled, "I am actually a citizen."

The academic giggled as she made her way over to the bunks and knelt down to level her face with her cabinmate. "And to tell you the truth, I have experienced many hangover," the young woman offered in a quieter voice before putting a finger in front of her mouth and whispering, "Just don't tell my parents or I will never her the end of it." She then gave the other woman a wink.

Cabin 6

Sienna wasn't sure what Chieko was trying to say by differentiating herself as a "citizen," nor did she care. She didn't bother to lift her face out of the pillow before responding. "Next time I talk to your folks, I'll keep that to myself, then," she replied jokingly, although her words were still muffled and groggy-sounding, barely intelligible as if she were trying to speak with sock in her mouth while half asleep. She didn't think it was necessary to explain the fact that running and climbing about the engineering bay had badly delayed her recovery from last night's bender; whether or not Chieko thought of her as lazy or a lightweight wasn't important to her. She just wanted the room quiet again.

Wardroom

Natsumi stepped into the wardroom, rubbing her eyes as she entered the compartment. She could already smell food being cooked in the kitchen and smiled. A good meal would do her fine. She walked over to the buffet and got herself a glass of ice water, then settled herself into a seat, letting herself relax a little.

She sipped at her cold drink as she reviewed the now completed (for them at least) training exercise. She scanned through all of the events, recorded in exacting detail in her digital memory and looked for what she could have done better and what she missed as well as what she thought she had done right.

Cargo Bay

After removing her Mindy, Mitsuko travelled to her Cargo Bay, once more wearing her Duty Uniform. Thankfully it was one quick, uneventful trip back to the surface to pick up Riko and the tank. She frowned as he purposefully parked it crooked, but bit her tongue. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of rising to that bait! Instead she just made a mental note to return once everyone was asleep and move it herself.

Wardroom

The news about dinner made its way to her quickly enough, and it wasn't long before the Neko was poking her head in, sniffing at the air. The sight of the captain preparing the meal, in such a casual outfit, caused her eyes to widen behind her glasses. "Oh dear..." She muttered to herself as she moved further inside, quickly settling down near Natsumi while trying not to stare at the cook.

Power Armor Bay

When the shuttle had docked, Takeyu waited until the others had left, and stayed behind to perform a brief maintenance lookover to make sure the shuttle didn't require any repairs. It took him a few minutes, carefully looking over the hull and then its internal systems and marking them off one by one either as 'intact' or 'needing attention', he didn't find anything of any real concern although it was always a good idea to perform maintenance. When he was done he left for the ships power armor bay where he put his power armor up on the rack. Hearing the notion of food, the Taii stretched his arms wide and then made his way toward the Wardroom.

Once everything was in place that the rest of the crew made their way off to their respected areas, Misato sighed tiredly and made her way to the PA bay. Slowly she stripped out of the Mindy and set it into its storage. It had been a long and stressful experience, she still wasn't sure she wanted all of the duties that came with her new rank.

throwing up a volumetric kimono she made her way to the shower with he uniform folded under her arm. All she wanted to do was take a long hot shower, let the water and the steam wash the planet below off of her. As she washed flashes of the past trip to the ice planet kept popping up in her head. At least everyone came back this time with out being hurt or killed.

once she was out of the shower she tossed her towel into the bin and dressed. Misato had heard the announcement for dinner but she really didn't care. She was off to her cabin, and her desk where she could write up the report from the operation as a whole.

Wardroom

Hanako started off with an onion volcano, filling it wish sake and leaving a line of the sake across the grill. Somehow, she lit the alcohol with her finger and it created a trail of fire and set the volcano alight, creating a brief but intense blaze that lit up the wardroom, followed by a column of steam jetting out of the onion volcano's cone. Then, Hanako poured some soy sauce into it and it came gushing back out like lava. After a moment, Hanako diced the onions up and dumped a pad of butter and a large bowl of steamed white rice onto the grill, followed by soy sauce, diced carrots and peas, salt, garlic powder, and finally cracking some some eggs over it. She then mixed it all up together thoroughly with a large metal spatula. "Who wants to head to Yamatai?" she asked the crew in front of her as she worked.

Cabin 6

Possibly getting more of the hint, Chieko sighed at the apparent discomfort of her cabinmate. She then made her way back to her locker, changing out of her uniform and into her PT outfit. Once changed, the scientist set the dirty uniform aside for laundry and pulled out a fresh set along with a towel.

Going over everything she had taken out, the academic made sure she had all she needed prior to plucking it all up into her arms and closing her locker. She then took another look at Sienna, thinking about what she may be able to do to help. The idea did not take long, but the Minkan did not wait to act on it - leaving the cabin for a shower instead, resolving to deal with it on the way back.


Showers

The shower was glorious. Chieko absolutely would have loved to take her time, cursing her hunger as she scrubbed and rinsed as quickly as she could thoroughly. Even at the end, there was a thirty second span where the young woman really just wanted to stay and enjoy it; but damn it, this is the Star Army.

The marginally disappointed academic turned off the water and stepped out of the stall, picking up her towel once it was within reach. She dried her self off as best as she could before getting herself into the fresh clean uniform that was only partial consolation for the abbreviated shower paradise. Chieko then straightened everything out and picked up her things in the towel so as to avoid getting her uniform wet.


Cabin 6

The scientist returned to her cabin, though this time much more quietly, in order to put the items she carried in their place. Before opening her locker, though, she set down a glass of water on the desk hoping Sienna would find it when she was ready. The Minkan then put her things away, and locked up the storage unit - making her way back out of the cabin again without a word.


Wardroom

By this time, Chieko had been smelling the food - her guts audibly protesting its distance as she popped up the stairs. "Smells good," she commented a little louder than she needed to, until her scanning gaze happened upon Hanako. The enlisted's eyes widened as her jaw dropped, barely registering her captain's question.

"Yamatai?" the woman asked as she found herself again, "Are we not a bit far, Shosho?"

Wardroom

Natsumi watched the show Hanako was putting on with amusement. The smell of cooking food filled her nose and she lazily sipped at her ice water as she enjoyed the display.

"Mmm, Yamatai would be nice," she commented. It had been some time since she had seen home. A smile touched her lips, she could show Sienna her home world. As she thought of that, she wondered what her friend was up too. She had not seen her since the day before. She was sure she had had something of a serious hangover after the amount of alcohol the two of them had consumed yesterday.

Showers

"I thought cats hated water."

Bors said as he entered the shower, throwing a towel over his shoulder before stripping down to get a nice rinse before heading up to the galley. Taking a free shower he let the warm running water drench him, geting the little bit of cold left from the planets surface wash away from his system. Seeing as the the rest of the crew was jumping in and out of the showers, and Bors didn't want to be 'that guy' he hurried up his personal hygiene before quickly getting dressed and headding up towards the ward room.

Wardroom

Adjusting his collar as he walked in the wardroom, Bors noticed the small onion volcano that the ShoSho was making, "Are we burning food again? I thought that's what the cooks were for." He said with a chuckle before taking up his usual seat.

Wardroom

Mitsuko watched, wide-eyed, as the mountain was built, leaning back with a yelp as flames burst from the concoction. She recovered soon enough, but continued to eye the cooking surface warily as Hanako kept working, only looking away when Bors spoke up. She smiled at him quietly, enjoying the peaceful gathering after the mission. After a moment, she tilted her head. "Misato is running late. I hope she doesn't miss dinner." She didn't worry much about it, though, as the thought of returning to Yamatai to resupply kept her occupied.

Wardroom

Chieko continued to hover over what was in the common area, tummy growling as her eyes grew bigger. "So when will it be ready?" the scientist asked staring at the food as if she hadn't had any in quite a while.

Engineering

Junko sat back in her seat and stretched with a sigh. One hand stretched back to scratch the back of her head; wearing the AMES helmets for any extended period always left her with one spot that itched terribly. The only remedy was a shower but she couldn’t very well take one at the moment. With the ship at Condition Three and with no reply to her request for relief she was stuck in the Mainspace. Engineering, just like the Bridge, was both a critical department and duty station and couldn’t simply be left unmanned.

She pinged Charisma with her request, hoping the AI would be able to get through to whoever was in command on the Bridge at the moment where she had not. While waiting for any word, she entertained herself by manually adjusting the power balance to the CFS shield generators. The automatic Engineering subsystems did a perfectly serviceable job of keeping the power load across the ship even but each ship had idiosyncrasies that evaded the rote mathematical analysis performed by such “dumb” systems. She supposed she could have asked Charisma to handle that for her, as the powerful AI would easily be able to recognize the variables beyond the obvious. Still, making the changes herself was much more satisfying.

Wardroom

The Shosho smiled as she cooked, speaking a little loudly so she could be heard over the hissing sounds of the fried rice on the teppanyaki grill. "We are going back to the fleet headquarters in the Ketsurui Military Sector and Yamatai is on the way there. I will have Charisma plot a course and get us headed there right away. In the meantime, what meats do you want? I have steak, chicken, and shrimp." Meanwhile she began using the spatula to hand out fried rice to anyone who wanted some. "Yamatai would also be a great place to stop for crew transfers and such. I have not yet had a chance to review the roster changes but there should be some assignment rotations coming up. Also, I want to keep an idea on the International Relations Conference, to see if Yamatai and get a peace treaty with Nepleslia or get the Lorath to stop invading our space. As soldiers these things are important to us."