RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 22] Echoes of the Past

Eucharis - Bridge

Natsumi's ears twitched as Hanako's voice came in over the comm system. Just for a moment she thought she would have something useful to do, but then that hope went away as it was just an order for her to call someone else and send them to,do something useful.

"Understood, Shosho" Natsumi replied, then checked the internal scanners, finding where Sheila Vonderbrink was on the ship.

Once located, Natsumi clicked on the intercom in that compartmemt and spoke; "Vonderbrink Hei, The Shosho has orders for you to travel across to the scout ship and assist with hull repairs,"

Orders relayed, she waited for a response from the new crewmember that she did not know.

Scout Ship - Port Generator Room

Tsuguka reversed direction upon the announcement. The soldier re-entered the room with the floating body, then briskly tugged it down to the floor with a careful hand. Re-attaching the cables to the aether generator was easy enough, since they had been dropped barely a foot away. The breaker didn't make any noise due to the lack of air, but she felt the hefty thing vibrate as it clunked back into an 'on' position. With any luck, this would get the artificial gravity system working again, at the very least.

"Shosho, the port side generator is up as well now." Well, the LED light and some of the screens were blinking. The sharpish thing was a soldier and not a technician, so what state the device was actually in was anyone's guess. "Team, keep an eye out for free-floating wires near the damaged sections. They are now most likely live."

Shuttle Bay / Space

Standing once more exposed to the void of space, Tankyusha was too annoyed to really enjoy it. He should have realized that the bay would be open before hand. Even though the schematics didn't directly mention how the shuttle bay worked, it was still standard Yamataian tech. He wondered if one of the 'living' members of the crew might not have made the same mistake. Hanako probably not. The others maybe not. Somewhere between intuition and experience, they'd likely have connected the dots where his raw data hadn't. Tankyusha took solace in that he'd at least closed the door behind him quickly. No reason to waste all that atmosphere.

"The shuttle bay is empty. The shuttle and any power armors that had been here are gone. I'm not yet sure whether the shuttle was gone before the bay was hit or not, but this area is in pretty rough shape."

His boots clicked to the deck as he started walking. He'd take a closer look at the damage to the ship. If the angle was right, it would prove that the ship had been hit from behind - potentially while trying to escape. It didn't bode well for the shuttle. Once he made it to the center of the hangar, he started a simulation up using the data he had available - the number of shots that hit, the angle they struck the ship from, the diameter of the holes it left, and more were all mentally cross-checked against known enemy ships. He waited for the simulation to come together, then tried to run it in real-space using light projections.

Scout Ship

Hanako tapped away at her keyboard in the MEGAMI room, getting things on the ship to a more normal state. She activated the environmental systems and emergency force fields. She also opened a communications channel to the Eucharis and began downloading the scout ship's entire memory to the gunship for analysis. After that, she removed her helmet and went out to meet the crew.

Throughout the ship, air-containment force fields flashed into being in the doorways of the damaged sections and the shuttlebay door, followed by a rush of warm air as the atmospheric temperature rose to room temperature and the missing air was restored. This had the side effect of making everything a little louder. The ship also sounded like a ship again, instead of a silent grave, complete with humming power lines and rumbling air vents. Finally everything floating in the air came slowly down onto the floor as Hanako stepped up the gravity a little at a time. The main passageways were still a disorganized jumble of food boxes.

"Tsuguka, secure the ship," Hanako ordered over the team channel. "Clear all rooms and extract the dead. They should be scanned for parasites, too."

Scout Ship - Shuttle Bay

Tankyusha could see that there were some twenty-something hits from a bunch of medium-sized subspace-encased positron cannons, which seemed to have spacing that might indicate a Ghullfrashirv Escort or other SMX ship of that era. It was clear that the enemy ship had hit the scout from behind, and had made a mobility kill, trapping the scout from escaping by disabling both its CDD engines and its hyperspace system in engineering.

Port Side Corridor

Tsuguka bowed to Hanako despite the woman not being anywhere in sight, and began to plot how to proceed. Akiashiro was being her usual independent self, Mio was apparently still in a pretty burned out state, alrough Tsuguka could completely sympathize with the latter. The woman's agitation and refusal to loose face had pretty much been the only thing keeping her going for a while now.

"Okay team. Let's keep this orderly. Judging from the running location data from each member, there should only be a few rooms left to check out." She instructed openly across the channel. "I'll take all of the remaining port-side interior hull rooms. Akiashiro-Hei, if you look at all of the remaining starboard side rooms, that would be most helpful. Nunagawa-Hei has the central rooms, Tankyusha-Hei has the forward sensor array, and Dirjon-Hei has both control thruster and hydrogen collection matrices. Vonderbrink-Hei will continue to examine and repair the outer hull as previously ordered."

"Technicians, I want reports of any obvious critical systems failings as you proceed. Infantry, begin moving dead bodies back to the rear airlock section. Report anything suspicious. That should be all."

Working as she was talking, Tsuguka opened up all of the nearby amenity rooms and stuck her rifle inside briefly, before making her way back to the cold storage section.

Scout Ship:: Starboard Corridor ::

Aikiko opened up the Stasis room and looked inside, her weapon at ready. If it is dark inside, she’ll use a flashlight to see what is inside. Or find the light switch to turn on the lights in the room to see what is inside.

Shuttle Bay - Atmosphere Restored

"Acknowledged, Tsuguka-Hei," Tankyusha turned and started the walk to the other side of the ship. This time, at least, he didn't have to worry about getting pulled into a vacuum. He spoke while he walked. "This ship looks to have been taken from behind. I'm still unsure about my shuttle hypothesis. It's possible that the enemy is responsible for the missing AI and not a fleeing crew. Dirjon-Hei will need to confirm this, but I suspect all drive systems, sublight and otherwise, will be beyond easy repair."

It still doesn't explain why the ship is intact. Why leave evidence? They could have kicked this into the gas giant as easily as we did with that facility.

He stepped around a few boxes and ducked a low-hanging beam that had fallen during the attack.

They may not have had time? If the shuttle theory is correct, they could have gone after it.

The damage eased up as he moved towards the front of the ship, confirming that the SMX had intended for this to be a capture. The attacks had been precise enough. He slipped into the long hall that contained the ship's sensor systems, glancing from side to side as he did so. So far everything seemed to be in good condition.

Scout Ship, Starboard Engine Room

"...Dirjon-Hei will need to confirm this, but I suspect all drive systems, sublight and otherwise, will be beyond easy repair."

"I'd say beyond any repair," Dirjon said in a slightly sarcastic tone as he stared out the engine room door into space, the emergency containment systems keeping the air from escaping. "Sirs, the starboard CCG is gone... Like, nothing left at all. It was probably in overdrive when it got hit. Anyone in this room would be ash but it appears the door contained it. I still think the Intel Office is our best bet to find some answers, ma'am. With power and MEGAMI restored it'll have relic led itself but I can have it open in minutes."

Scout Ship

After the team had inspected the ship, Hanako had everyone briefly meet in the Scout's briefing room, where they shared their findings or lack thereof, while those back on the Eucharis could watch via the briefing room's screen. Hanako explained that because the ship wasn't able to move under its own power, the ship would have to be towed back to a Star Army base, and that a ship from Eighth Fleet in the nearby Samurai sector had been dispatched. "If we want to take supplies from this ship off of it, this is our chance," Hanako explained. "Although we should keep in mind that everything here is at least six years old so you may not want to grab a crate of fresh oranges, as I noticed when I took off my helmet in the hall. Once everyone gets what they this the Eucharis could use and returns to the ship, we will investigate the other items of interest in the system, which include a crashed starship and some some of surface anomaly on the nearby terrestrial moon. Unfortunately we were able to get almost nothing out of the ship's main computer, and it had been zeroized before the crew left."

(OOC: You can grab reasonable supplies and return to the Eucharis this weekend. After that I will be moving the plot along)

Scout Ship

After the briefing was over, Aikiko did one last minute checks of the scout ship, grabbing small easily stored, low or non-value items. An Awesomeness Commando Knife with scabbard for Tsuguka and the other Infantry Soldiers, 6 year old Datajocky for the Techs and Logistics that were stuck aboard the ship. Ship's registration/dedication plaque for Hanako. 6 yr old power rechargers for the andriod crew. For the Pilot of the Eucharis, A pair of old metal winged flight pins. For Cadet Stark, An old manuel on the various heavy anti-ship guns from the surrounding empires to include Yamatia (Jane's Book on Anti-ship weaponery of the Era of YE04).

Aikiko hitting the known smuggler's compartments and hiding places for the good stuff using her UOCPF knowledge in looking for War booty; valaubles in gems, jewelry, currency of the time, Old KS cards in reasonable condition.

Eucharis Several hours laters::

Once aboard the Eucharis, Aikiko deconned the loot she had gathered and then stored her loot in her locker in the P.A Bay to give out later once she had chance to do the final cleaning on them.

Cargo Bay

After the remote briefing, Mitsuko finished tidying up what had been brought aboard so far, before removing the AMES and stowing it away again. She considered sending a quick reminder to the ship's medic about the remains that had been delivered to the Medical Center, but resisted the urge to meddle. She didn't want her name associated with that task anyway, if she could help it. Murakami prepared for the others to return and for the Eucharis to continue on in the investigation, attaching what little information she'd found along with the report on the items they'd recovered, especially the mystery ship.

Scout Ship

As soon as the briefing was dismissed Dirjon was back to the door of the Intel Office, convinced that the answers lay in the the desk and room that lay within. The door was unlocked in three attempts and hissed apart with a slight scraping sound. He rushed in only to have his dreams crushed by the gaping hole where the Intelligence officer's secrets used to be stored.

Well, at least the locker is still here, he thought with some of his hopes renewed. He braced himself to fight the locked door as he began to bend the door open with his pry bar. The door simply fell off, revealing nothing but melted sunglasses, burnt toiletries, and Dirjon's dejection. He turned to leave but stopped upon noticing a picture frame on the wall.

He gazed at it in amazement.
Everything in the room was just sucked out... Except this?...
Grabbing the bottom corners of the chrome frame, he jerked violently but the picture didn't budge. He tried slipping his pry bar under the frame but couldn't get it under. Switching his vision to x-ray, he tried peering through it but the picture perfectly concealed everything that would be on the other side. He approached the mysterious object from the sides and began attempting to see around it but found only the wall you'd expect to find behind a family portrait.

This can't be right... Spies know how to hide stuff, this must be a trick! he kept telling himself as he lit his plasma torch......
Nothing.

"What are you!" He cried as he drew his service pistol and fired a burst into the blackened picture of a happily smiling family sitting together, doing no damage and sending his shots ricocheting off the yamataium 'canvas' into the roof while making him duck.

He briskly left the room as the four faces in the portrait held their smug grins. As he got to the hallway he picked up an entrenchment tool that had been floating around earlier.
"I found a shovel," he said when asked about the gunfire.

Port Side Corridor

Tsuguka dug through the various items in the armory with a keen eye. Technically speaking it was in good shape, but much of what was in there was either entirely obsolete, no longer comparable with current systems, or had been practically taped back together after being used to the point of destruction by the old technicians. Seeing as they had been working without a supply line of any kind, it was all to be expected.

Standing there, in someone else's workshop, it was difficult not to think of the missing crew. Moving the bodies had simply put the red neko back into a state of mild disbelief over the subject, but rummaging through their things was different. Dead bodies didn't have personalities.

Ah. Right at the back. A Lamia shield, wedged at the back behind a locker. Exactly what she was looking for.

Holding the huge, cumbersome thing in her arms didn't field right. Even if it was old and abandoned before this ship was ruined, it still wasn't hers...

"Santo Hei Yui-class, if you no longer need this equipment, I'll transfer it to the Eucharis. Please make a record." The raven-haired woman looked left and right outside of the door just to make sure nobody was watching, and then gave a whole-hearted bow to the empty room. "My name is Santo Hei Tsuguka Toyoe. I will... I'll take good care of it."

A sudden gunshot. Tsuguka jumped out of her skin... Then, after a pause, Dirjon's voice squawked into her ear.

"Please warn us before you do that next time, Santo Hei." She had turned the corner and was looking straight at the tall dark-skinned man, but still used her telecoms to voice her annoyance. The short stuffy crimson thing didn't say it, but she was clearly wondering why exactly he needed to use his pistol to free up a shovel in the first place.

Yui-Class Medbay

The gunshot caused Tankyusha to look up quickly from his work. No more sounds followed it and nothing alarming came across the radio. Eventually he heard Tsuguka scolding their new crew member and decided it must have been a misfire. Fortunately, his hands were steady enough- the surprise hadn't caused him to move his upper body much at all. He'd already raided the Tech Nest for some choice pieces of equipment - things that he couldn't fabricate easily on the Eucharis, primarily computer guts and data stores that would explain how things expected to work. Now he was plucking out some of the parts from a machine that was used to create new Nekovalkrja. It was a surprisingly sophisticated device, one which he was sad he couldn't take back whole. Like the tech nest, he'd settle for the bits that were hard to reproduce.

The android knew that Plumeria-class ships had such devices on them, but he didn't think anyone would appreciate him cannibalizing the Eucharis' medbay for his own studies.

That done, he drifted his way to the armory. A ship of this type should have a nice selection of plasma-based weaponry onboard, along with the recharging units that were nearly impossible to find. The net he was using to tote his salvage around was starting to get unwieldy. Not unlike Tsuguka's reverence for the ship's old crew, the android felt remorse at leaving so many devices behind that could still serve their purpose. He could hardly leave it all behind.

Bridge

Hanako returned to the ship and took a moment to get back in her duty uniform before returning to the bridge. After last of the away team finished boarding the Eucharis, she retracted the Eucharis' docking arm, leaving the Yui-class Scout drifting in space ready for pickup. Since it was now an active Star Army ship again, the Eucharis stood watch over it until cruiser from Eighth Fleet came and towed it away. Once the Eucharis was alone again, it was free to continue exploring.

Hanako got on the intercom: "Attention all crew. As Toyoe-Hei has demonstrated excellent leadersip in the salvage operation, I am hereby promoting her to the rank of Nito Hei, effective immediately. Toyoe-Hei, please report to the bridge for your uniform patches. Also, Tankyusha, please report the bridge. Your science expertise is needed. Everyone else stay ready for another exploration mission."

"Natsumi, Stark," Hanako addressed the bridge crew. "I need you two to work out who is going to be doing what. Also, Natsumi, plot a course to take us down to the ocean surface of Splorfin I 14."

Bridge

Tsuguka was simply sitting spaced out in the recreation area, reading Vonderbrink's assembly file as the announcement was made. Probably for the best that somebody interrupted that, really, since even if the android had no emotions, the grim woman's glassy stare of examination was enough to make anyone paranoid.

The sharpish nekovalkyrja didn't waste any time making her way to the bridge after that, and clomped into one of her traditional incredibly rigid and uncomfortable looking bows at the Shosho's side. As always, her uniform was in stupendously good condition, her face simply the dim scowl that her bone structure made default. "Nito Hei Tsuguka Toyoe, reporting as ordered, ma'am."

Her greenish eyes regarded Hanako's form. Was this all a fluke of Tsuguka's training, or a fluke of her managing to capture the commanding officers' attention?... There were a lot of options to consider, but the Shosho was still like a black box to her. The motivations and neurosis behind the venerated woman's actions continued to be as obscure to the red neko as a rogue AI's...

Still, somewhere down in the depths of that dark, austere frame, there was a little glimpse of contentment. There were a lot of places in the universe where a person like her would never have been given an opinion at all, Toyoe was perfectly aware. It was a good feeling knowing that she was not a wasted effort.

P.A Bay

Aikiko heard the announcement from Shosho Hanako and smiled to herself that Tugs got a promotion. She deserved it with dealing with a bunch of Noobs from the Vats and training. She, herself was a hard person to get along with. Tugs weathered it nicely. But it still stung deep down inside her when Tugs ordered her to get checked out. Maybe she was insane according to Yamataian standards. But why did they let her keep her personality if she was not the norm for Star Army Nekos. Or someone in the facility that gave her new body to her had a deep hatred against UOCPF and this was their chance to get even. She shook her head to clear out the unnecassary thoughts and let the matter lay to rest.

Aikiko resumed her cleaning and decontaminating the stuff she had aquired from the Scout ship. Seperating the stuff that she was going to keep for herself and give away to the others. She had given the 6 year old Datajockeys to their respective new owners and sent up a nicely wrapped gift to Natsumi (the flight wings). She would leave Tony's gift (Star Army Version of "Jane's Anti-ship Weapons of YE04) on her bunk to claim later. The nice combant daggers, she wrapped and tagged with Tugs name on one, and the other with the other's name on it and left it in the lounge to be found by them at their leisure.

She took a shower in the P.A.'s Decon shower unit and dried off. she changed into her duty uniform (pants style). She returned to cleaning out her AMES, weapons, Mindy 2-2a and the Manipulator set while doing pmcs on her equipment.

Bridge

Natsumi glanced at Stark as Hanako spoke, she had no idea what answer to give other than to tie everything back into her own computer system like it had been before the Nepleslien cadet had arrived aboard the ship. Natsumi was more than capable of commanding both flight control systems and weaponry efficiently when hooked into the SPINE system. That and she had no idea what Stark was capable of, what training she had undergone and how well she had absorbed that training.

The Operations neko turned back to her own station and input commands into her panel, plotting in a course to Splorfin I 14 into the navigational system.

"Course to Splorfin I 14 plotted in, ready to engage at your command" she replied to Hanako.

To Stark she typed a message and sent it to her screen.

YSS Eucharis - Fabrication Area

The android sat calmly against a wall, a cable dangling from his wrist and into a nearby receptacle. Providing temporary power to the Scout ship had been more draining than he'd anticipated. He wasn't sure if it was the short or something else, but he didn't plan to run into the problem again if he could keep from it. In front of him, schematics and technical read outs of Yamatai's premier small-scale power sources coalesced from light and faint magnetic fields. A number of ideas came to him, but his body wouldn't support most of them.

His identity wasn't so strongly tied to the body he resided in that the idea of transferring to something else bothered him that much, but the potential effect on the crew would have to be predicted. Not to mention the need to test any new body he might put together before he'd risk putting himself into it. The readouts faded away and he watched a small drone zip by with some of the parts he collected. Satisfied, he almost slipped into his equivalent of a day dream when he heard the orders come over the intercom.

Bridge

Tankyusha arrived on the bridge, his uniform crisp and his mood neutral as usual. He gave the captain a light nod once he was noticed. "Reporting as requested, ma'am. How may I be of assistance?"

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

"Take us down to land in the water in the artifact's vicinity," Hanako ordered Natsumi. "If you want to go in fast and fiery, I am alright with that."

Next, Hanako turned to the red-skinned Nekovalkyrja. "Congratulations on your first promotion, Tsuguka," Hanako nodded. "As the senior infantry soldier, I am putting you in charge of general away teams. For your next assignment I will need you to form another team to investigate a possible alien artifact on the surface. Take any daytime crew member you need."

"Tankyusha-Hei," Hanako addressed the new scientist. "First of all I want to say think you for being so proactive. Now, as we get closer to the planet we are going to land near the unusual structure you detected earlier. I want you to man the science station and tell us more about it as our sensors get a better look," the captain explained. "Also, what kind of protective equipment will we need down there?"