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

Bridge

The android's eyes seemed to flicker for the briefest of moments. "Yui-class Scout ships have a large window on the ceiling of the Officers' Nest. If I get close to it, I could cast a light into it and check for refraction. That will tell me if there's an atmosphere or not; less so if it's safe to breathe." Without using the ship's scanners, he didn't add.

Tankyusha looked at the other members of the bridge in turn, then back to Hanako. "I think some time away from the bridge might be well spent." His tone held neither hostility or pain. Just a fact, same as any other. Still, his respect for the Captain went up a notch. This solved his desire to know more about the ship and the other crew's need to remain involved.

"I will meet you in the Power Armor bay, Captain," he said, making his way to and down the passageway out of the bridge.

P.A. Bay - Decontamination Showers.

Mio, listening to the sound of the hot, steamy, water pattering against her armour's outer metallic hull while the Mindy's inner lining actively massaged her shoulders. While not quite as nice as taking a hot shower while being naked (and not clad in several inches of metal), it was still damned relaxing. So it was no surprise that she at first didn't even register the fact that someone had spoken to her.

"Mmh?" She murmured, slowly opening her eyes and blinking repeatedly, before registering the voice as belonging to Tsuguka. And then the contents of the words. "Red pha-... Oh. Right." The fact that you needed to operate a Mindy naked had frankly slipped out of her mind. You just didn't notice it while actually inside the suit. "I'll respect your wishes, and won't turn around, Tsuguka-Hei, but what are you concerned about?" Nudity had never been a taboo amongst Nekovalkyrja, or the Yamataian culture in general, so Toyoe's comment kinda baffled the white, armoured, neko.

Bridge

"I think I will settle for a spacesuit," Hanako replied as Tankyusha passed her. "Go ahead and check the atmosphere as you suggested." She turned around and went back to her cabin, slipping out of her heels, skirt, and uniform jacket and then throwing an AMES on over what remained for the sake of expediency. In a moment she passed through the bridge, floated through the main passage, and entered the docking airlock on the ship's port side. There was no sign of Tsuguka or the away team, but Hanako didn't let that stop her. She cycled the airlock and the exterior door opened up to reveal the docking tube snaking down to the gray circular hatch on the top of the scout ship. Through its ribbed, clear plastic sides she could make out the scout's teardrop-shaped outline and its blue hull as was illuminated with a regular bright flash from the Eucharis' collision-avoidance strobes. She slowly crossed the length of the inflated tube, rotating her orientation to match the Yui's so that the hatch ahead of her was "down" and she would be standing on the scout's "roof." When she reached the hatch she waited to hear from Tankyusha. Perhaps if the hatch wouldn't open she could send him or another soldier in through the scout's open shuttle bay to open it from inside.

P.A. Bay -> Docking Tube

As she felt the ship shudder faintly, Mio's armoured head darted up, especially as the ship's Megami informed her that they'd docked with the derelict Yui-class. She cursed softly under her breath, though that vocalization wasn't carried outward to the speakers. "Suit up. Fast." Mio growled out to Tsuguka, before she raced out of the showers, where she grabbed her plasma rifle again, before racing over to the docking tube. No way was Mio, one of the Eucharis designated infantry members, going to let anyone board a potentially hostile ship without armed backup. Especially if that anyone happened to be an officer and a Princess of the Empire.

As she floated into the tube, Mio spotted another Neko in an AMES suit, and the volumetric display on her HUD informed her that it was Shosho Hanako. With no space to bow to her captain, Mio simply inclined her head in respect. "Shosho. Nunagawa-Hei reporting in. Please, allow me to enter first, in case of any potential hostiles." The ever dutiful white neko stated, clutching her rifle in both armoured hands, teleporter, forearm weapons, and shields all charged and ready should she need to.

P.A. Bay -> Docking Tube

It didn't take long for Tsuguka to catch up. She only had to nudge the drying function for a second, before throwing on an AMES suit and retrieving the type 33 rifle from her locker. Actually zipping the suit closed, putting her helmet on, and putting a fresh magazine in the rifle could be done whilst she walked.

"Santo Hei Nunagawa is right. Please let us go ahead, Shosho." She added simply to Mio's remark, standing directly behind her in the cramped tube. Even without the mindy, the red neko was still just as tall as her fellow soldier. "I'm sorry, but Santo Hei Akiashiro is still under medical review."

Space

He registered the severe drop in temperature across what passed for his skin, the spike in cosmic radiation, and the sudden complete lack of gravity, then filed them away. No real harm would come to him so long as he wasn't outside for too long. He did have to stop breathing, though. Didn't want to cool off his systems too much.

Magnets in his boots kicked on, connecting him to the surface of the Eucharis with a soft click. He kicked off and righted himself with machine-like precision along the course that would take him to the Officers' nest.

"Shosho, Away Team, this is Tankyusha," came his voice on the radio. His lips didn't move. "I'm approaching the scout ship now."

Android or not, something about drifting through space like this was still awe-inspiring. The universe spread out before him and he found himself humbled by it.

He clicked into place on the Yui-class. True to plan, he landed neatly right next to the glass viewport of the Officers' nest. Lights played across the room as he pressed his hand to the glass, flashing through a full range of colors, each with their own significance. Satisfied, he stood and looked towards the transparent docking tube. "There are sufficient gases to allow you to breathe and a relatively low particulate matter density." How very robotic of you, Tankyusha. "Ah, that is to say, the atmosphere checks out. It's below freezing in there, so you may find breathing uncomfortable."

Tankyusha prepared to kick off, then a thought occurred to him. "I didn't see anything to indicate that the ship is still powered. If you are unable to open the hatch, I could attempt to open it from the inside or restore power temporarily from here."

Shuttle, space

"Shuttle, our CO is not present at this time. Maintain current course until further notice," was the response.

The leaned back in their seats. "So, where'd we leave off?" the copilot asked.

"Oh, for the love of Aethersperm. Not again!" Dirjon thought as he facepalmed.

The pilot turned to face his comrade, "let me thi- oh, Yeah. All I'm saying is that non-citizens should have to pay for healthcare until they earn their citizenship." "But if they'll be citizens eventually, why would that matter?" the copilot replied sternly. "Well, a lot of them don't become citizens. And besid-" at this point the pilots were just trying talk over each other, filling the hull with their obnoxious bickering as they had done three times before during the flight.

Dirjon peered out the small window and saw the silhouette of what looked like a humanoid standing on a docked scout ship. "That's my target," he mumbled as he slid his helmet on, the voices outside being muffled only slightly. He approached the keypad by the open cockpit door and began typing in technician override codes until he found the right one.

With control of the door he closed the bulkhead door and depressurized the passenger area. The pilots in the cockpit banged on the door as he grabbed his duffle bag. With the air in the small room purged and a few more codes into his DataJockey the rear hatch opened wide.

Dirjon stepped out into space and adjusted his trajectory with the compressed air on his AMES, decelerating as he rapidly approached the yui class ship.
In the shuttle the copilot had contacted the YSS Eucharis informing them of the Minkan that was flying at them.

Bridge

Tony shrugged at the android's comments. 'Like a whiny child, bot'man really needs to grow, or I guess, build a pair.'

She didn't leave her post even with the invitation from the Shosho, she had read somewhere that only docked at a friendly station or landed in a friendly port could the bridge go unmanned. And she wasn't going to be yelled at again for something stupid.

So she sat there and ran mini combat simulations on her station. she wanted to make sure she could both fly and or fight the ship at any moment. Who knew with the current crowd on the bridge, what she would be allowed to do tomorrow...

Scout Ship - Aft Dorsal Hatch

"I learned a few tricks on my way up to Shosho," Hanako remarked. The hatch came open with a hiss, followed by a second inner one. This left Tsuguka and Mio looking down into a round lift shaft with a lift car in it. There was an hatch on the roof of the car. Forward of the car roof there was also a portal to an access shaft that ran vertically the the lift shaft. It was too cramped for power armors to enter it, all Hanako was already going for it. The Shosho unbuckled her AMES belt, removed her pistol, and ditched the belt into the lift car. "The boosters will just get caught on things," she explained as she rotated into the access tunnel feet first. "No gravity in here. The ship must be operating in a standby mode. I can try to restore power from engineering, which is close by on the subdeck." Now that Hanako was in the access shaft, she was also right in front of a door to the officer's nest, which was essentially the "attic" of the small scout ship. She opened it up without hesitation and shined her pistol's flashlight inside, first at the pit-shaped nest, and then at the ceiling window. She could see Tankyusha through it on the outside. Various pillows hung in the air, and so did a wine bottle. "Looks clear," she said. The room went dark again as she went lower and looked in the briefing room. "No one here either."

Mio and Tsuguka were able to get through the lift to arrive on the main level of the scout ship. The main passageways, which ran in a pair on either side of the ship, were crowded with hundreds of boxes of food supplies, making it very difficult to see anything or move. On the port side they could see a door labeled DINING HALL. As they got their bearings, Hanako transmitted a floorplan map to the away team:

Scout Ship - Main Deck (Rear)

Tsuguka practically went into a trance, procedurally going through the list of immediate dangers and obvious booby traps in her head. Her rifle was actually a little too long to be swinging around such confined corridors, but it made her feel safer just having a big lump of metal between her and whatever else was out there. Hanako's lack of fear was actually rather comforting in a strange way, but she still hoped the Shosho wasn't about to ditch any more equipment along the way. The corridors were cold and dark, frosting up her visor a little, but it wasn't anything near as disturbing as what she had been doing mere minutes ago. Hopefully things would stay like that.

"So... I guess this must really have been part of Emperor Uesu's fleet, then..." It wasn't really too big of a leap. Toyoe had read the system's files, and the ridiculous amount of supplies suggested that they were someone undertaking an insurmountable journey. She didn't envy those nekovalkyrja, honor bound to follow their leader into the black, no possible end in sight... Yamatai had come a long way in a short time. "Nunagawa-Hei... Can your mindy still fit through these boxes? I'm going to try moving to the port side generators first."

Her thoughts were of protecting the Shosho, but it wasn't like she could just ask the short cyan-haired woman to stay back. That didn't mean she was about to ask her to run ahead and turn the power on, either, through, even through she almost definitely would have known how.

"Santo Hei Tankyusha... The entry is clear if you want to come inside." The neko's voice always sounded a little robust and intimidating, but in this case it was pretty clear she was unsure if the android fell under her away team command or not. "Your assistance may be required in the activation of the power system."

Rifle raised, she crept towards the dinning hall, and then gave the door a hefty nudging open with her elbow.

Space

"Santo Hei Tankyusha..." came the voice on the radio. Tankyusha was momentarily preoccupied with the body rapidly approaching him. "The entry is clear if you want to come inside."

"Acknowledged." He started to ask the Shosho for a recommendation, but decided his current predicament was a military one. "Tsuguka-Hei, someone is approaching the Yui-class from a nearby shuttle. They do not appear hostile."

He noted the dufflebag. "If I were to take a guess, I would assume either an infiltrator or a new crew member." Everything about his voice suggested the android was puzzled with the situation. Nothing in his files indicated that this was how you received crew additions. With rifle hefted in one hand and a magnetic grapple in the other, he felt ready for their new guest - even if the newcomer overshot. "Proceeding with caution until I have new orders."

Fortunately for Dirjon, Tankyusha had a strict no-kill policy until ordered otherwise.

Scout Ship - Port Passageway

As Tsuguka pushed the sliding door to the kitchen open, the air in the passageway began to rush out into the kitchen area, with enough force to pull Tsuguka towards the door. As the atmosphere began to escape from the ship, the boxes around Tsuguka that had been calmly floating in zero-gravity started piling up around her and bouncing off each other and the walls in a chaotic cloud that continuously bumped into her back.

Scout Ship - Port Passageway

"Tankyusha-Hei, just raise your rif- an-"

For the second time in one day, Tsuguka was thrown a curve ball right at the same moment that her ears were filled with a completely different situation unfolding. Being focused on something else made her loose her footing almost instantly, alrough her rifle saved her from being ejected into space purely by being too long to fit horizontally through the doorway, and jamming lengthways into her stomach. Tankyusha got little of a reply other than strained grunts for several moments, as she was too distracted getting battered by stray boxes to think about closing the channel.

An almost bestial growl emanated from her lips. Biceps burned with exertion as she jolted herself upright, just enough to stick a leg through the gap and haul herself back inward. Finally with enough purchase to slide the door closed again, she repeatedly kicked free the boxes clogging the shrinking gap as she did so.

For a extra few seconds, nothing but deep breaths echoed through the transmission.

"...H-Hull breach in the kitchen... I've secured it again..." Continued groggy wheezing. Her voice was calm, but disorientated. "Team... Report status, please..."

"...That's right... Tankyusha..." The red neko physically shook her head, trying to restore her living daylights. "Tell them to halt... and identify themselves... await further orders..."

"Mission correction, Nunagawa-Hei... Move to the starboard side engine assembly first... It should... I-It should be clear... now..."

Recreation Lounge::

Even though Aikiko enjoyed the break from being on duty and working part of a team, regardless though the others thought she was crazy or insane or what ever the case may be. She gave Hisoka a very rude unmentionable guesture that even a Mish Neko or any intelligent being would consider very rude and make them mad. She stood up and put away the glass to be cleaned.

Ship's Infirmary::

She walked out past Hisoka, without a second glance and headed down to the infirmary where a NPC Medic was on duty. "Here for a check up." She said as she stripped naked for the check up. Not caring if the medic was male or female.

Twenty minutes later with a clean bill of health and a fresh back up done. She gotten dressed, going through her self checks to prevent tampering of her psychie (mind/personality). She thanked the Medic on duty with respect. She had completed what she had been ordered, leaving Hisoka trailing behind her.

P.A. Bay:

Aikiko moved to her Mindy 2-2A locker and opened it up and began to put it on. She studiously ignored Hisoka as she (Hisoka) had her chance.

=^= Tugs, Akiashiro. You guys still need me? I've cleared Medical with a clean bill of health. Will I need Mindy or go to space suit?" =^= Aikiko called sounding calm and very much rested from her nap that Hisoka graciously provided her.

Scout Ship - Subdeck

Hanako crawled forward into a horizontal access tunnel that ran under the main deck's floor, passing through a doorway and then another one. She looked down into the engineering section with the searchlight on her pistol, and spotted severe fire damage. She could see from just looking at it that the matter-anti-matter reactor was a total loss and the main reactor looked questionable. "Away team, this is Hanako. I am above engineering and it looks incinerated. Power will have to come from the aether generators. There is one on each side of the ship in a power room down one of the side passageways. It should be the next door after the toilets, across from the baths. I am proceeding forward towards the environmental systems equipment and then I plan to visit the bridge and the MEGAMI system to see if we can get more information." After two more doors, Hanako reached another ladder downward. As she descended, she past the nests for the ship's technicians. They were empty, too, but there were signs of previous occupations. A bra and a paperback novel floated around in the first one and the one below had uniform pieces and a hair brush unsecured and hanging in the air inside.

Space->Scout ship

Dirjon hurtled toward the ship with almost the same velocity as the shuttle he stepped out of, more than enough to instantly splatter him across the hull while leaving a man-sized dent in the armor.

A voice he'd never heard before contacted him ordering him to halt and identify himself... He must have been told to say that as it was obvious by the time he'd stopped he'd be right next to the guy. Still, he replied as best he could.

"Santo Hei Dirjon Ulvson. Engineering transfer. I'll stop ASAP."
Being that ASAP was going to be dicey at best it seemed to be for the best. Despite the hot approach Dirjon still felt it was a whole lot safer being a missile than being trapped in the shuttle with 'those two idiots' as he would say.

The air shooters began spraying ahead of him trying to shed off the excess speed as he sailed for the sloped aft of the scout ship. He readied his grappling gun, seeing that he was clearly going to need a backup.

Almost at the ship he was still moving too quickly as his compressed air tanks ran empty.
Like getting hit by a car... was all he could think as he tightened the strap on his bag and pointed the grappling gun at the hull, launching its polymer cord. With the cord set he tucked inward as best he could, rotating around to land on the softer duffle bag.

A soft thump could be heard in the aft lift as he collided with the hull, cushioning the blow with his personal effects and sending him floating back up. With a sore back and neck he gave the line a tug while opening up the transfer orders in his DataJockey that he'd wrapped himself around to protect.

With his documentation on the screen he began looking for the man that was on the hull with him.

Space

Dirjon found him, alright. It wasn't hard to turn and find a rifle pointed at him and the dispassionate stare that came with it. The android, devoid of spacesuit or other significant equipment, seemed a little surreal. Something about his eyes flickered in a way that had nothing to do with the nearby stars. "Please remain still a moment," came Tankyusha's voice over the radio. It was professional and held no promise of violence.

The android nodded gently, as if in response to some far-off sound, then swung his rifle around to a magnetic clip and left it there. He offered Dirjon a hand. "Welcome to the Yss Eucharis, Santo Hei Dirjon Ulvson. You make quite an entrance. I will leave it to our Captain to officially welcome you."

***

With Dirjon safely aboard the Eucharis (and with the ship's other nekos nearby, just in case), Tankyusha made his way onto the scout ship. "Away team, I'll be entering the Yui-class shortly. Shosho, I've sent you the engineer's transfer orders for your approval. Given the state of this craft, he could be useful."

That done, he sent a message to Tsugaka via terminal. No reason to share his concern over the broad band. He knew she was prideful.

Scout Ship - Port Passageway

"I'm okay Tankyusha-Hei, but thank you for the support." The reply was straight across the open line, shameless. The red neko wanted to be seen as useful and effective, sure, but oiling the team as a whole would forever be her top concern. There was no tactical precedent for exaggerating her abilities. Any tiredness in her voice had passed, and so that was apparently the end of the ordeal. "Any idea where our newcomer came from? Is there another ship out there?" Her annoyance at the command staff for not giving them a forewarning was mentally filed away for later.

"Akiashiro-Hei, can you have a look at our new guest for us?" Tsuguka asked the woman calmly. The irony wasn't lost on her, but since the woman was now certifiably sane and free of parasites, that actually gave her a lot of credence. At least it didn't sound like they were angry anymore. "I'm sorry about impounding you, but we can talk about that later. The mission could still go hot at any minute."

"I read you, Shosho." Her attention scrolled back into the present, as the soldier continued her way down the hall. The generator room was right around the corner, but getting there was better described as 'digging towards' rather than 'floating towards' at this point. All of the cargo in the circular corridor had been pulled over to the side she was currently on.

Tsuguka fully braced herself before slowly opening the door this time.

Cargo Bay

Mitsuko had scanned the clothing as a mass, and it seemed harmless enough. If disgusting. She began to gingerly peel the various layers apart, scanning and recording the individual items before carefully piling them together as orderly as she could manage. "A Yui-class Scout, hmm?" She might as well spend her time wisely while she tended to this fairly menial task along with Victory. Murakami wasn't sure if the Eucharis' computer would have information like this, but she began searching for any ships of that type that were registered as missing near here. Or battles where ships of that type might have been lost. She fed the information she was compiling from the uniform pieces into the search as well, wondering if that might narrow things down. She knew that the others were likely about to examine the ship and discover what it was for themselves, but perhaps she could discover more of the story from this end. At any rate, it kept her mind off of what she was handling at the moment.

Eucharis :: P.A. Bay

Aikiko stayed in the P.A. Bay and dug out her laptop, activated it. She began to look at the different schmatics. Unfortunatelt the laptop wifi connection was turned off, she couldn't access the ship's databanks, nor could the ship access her laptop. But it was okay. She had plenty already stored on there. Brushing up on her knowledge.