RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 23.1] A Distant Threat (YE 37)

Wardroom

"Thank you kindly! Stay safe, Umeshu." Jax replied and took the data pad. He disappeared into his cabin momentarily, just to check his belongings and how they fared the fight. They were all intact, and he found a set of coveralls on the bunk, obviously for him. Since he would likely be out and about doing manual labor for the next several hours, he put on a set over his work uniform. Once he was decked out in his new attire, he left the crew to get to work.

Outside, Eucharis Landing Site

Jax once again stepped into the warm sunlight, and the pungent aroma of fresh soil, rotting bug corpses, and summer air filled his nostrils as he took a deep breath.

His eyes scanned around for the shuttle that, if Umeshu was right, had the parts he needed to get his ship back in shape. It wasn't hard to find, and he strolled over. When he reached the main hatch, he extended an arm and knocked.

"Hello! Anyone home?" he called inside.

Wardroom

Umeshu listened calmly as Sigurd delivered his report filled with difficulties, a certainly rough first contact for even the best diplomat or scientist to handle. "I see, so Darkfire-hei was making trouble even back then? This does not surprise me," commented the Shoi with a bit of frustration when he recalled that portion. "I am, however, glad that you were able to rescue him and survive a brush with decompression, and return to tell the tale." She paused to consider the rest of the specific details, "I think your theories about their motivations we all can agree on, and the idea I had in mind was to try to use that desire for food as a bargaining chip."

It was then that the reason the Shoi had picked this spot was apparent. She walked over to the spot near the buffet table with the thick, red velvet curtains and carefully she started pulling it open to reveal the tastefully hidden hydroponic mini-farms on the wall behind it. In the recesses were growing a large variety of fresh vegetables and herbs -- such as spinach, tomatoes and basil. "Thanks to miniature farms like this, the Eucharis has a large supply of some of the finest ingredients for its shipboard cuisine. Some say the Shosho has the best cooks in all of Star Army because of it. So, what if we could take a sampling of that large variety of vegetables, fruits, meats and yes, even alcohol... and experiment to see if this will be enough motivation to get them to share information with us. I know this may be difficult after we have killed hundreds of their people today in our bloody skirmish, but it just might work if they seem as chaotic as you say they are..."

Umeshu then created a small volumetric display like the one that she presented on the larger wardroom table. This one was footage of her shuttle discovering the Rixxikor encampments that looked very similar to farming communities not far away from the landing site. "I've identified some settlements nearby that seem to be devoted to peaceful agriculture and the locals there did not seem to be so heavily armed with missiles and firearms as the ones we fought today. I feel this would be the best place to focus our attentions first, as it is both safer for us and we don't have to go in looking intimidatingly armed. We also may more likely have what they want." Hoshitomo-shoi's sage green eyes looked to the senior operator. "Yamashiro-shoi, what are your thoughts?"

Wardroom

A light bulb lit up in Hanako's eyes as Umeshu mentioned the wine. "The Lorath wine! We have three bottles of the kind that has mood-altering effects in the Lounge. Maybe we can use it to make the Rixxikor more docile. Also, we have a lot of fish and hamburger patties onboard. I think a huge, free cookout would be a great distraction to anyone."

Wardroom

When Sigurd heard the plans of his superiors he got his doubts about their wisdom. The plans' not his superiors'. He'd never doubt the overall wisdom of the powers that be. Although he understood the intention of such a generous approach he could see it backfire rather spectacularly.
Sigurd opened his mouth to express his concerns but closed it again immediately and began nervously squeezing his fingers behind his back. He didn't like objecting his superiors plans. After all he was only a Sentô Hei not an officer. Surely the shôshô and the shoi have considered the cons too, have they not?
But then they to were only human. Well not exactly, Sigurd observed with a glance at their furry ears, but close enough. The point was that they were still fallible. And speaking his mind couldn't hurt, could it?
Sigurd gathered his courage and cleared his throat and addressed Hanako. "Excuse me, ma'am, but... I...", he stumbled, "...ehhm... I'm not so sure about this... I mean... I can see the intention, but the results may be... something about 'giving an inch' comes to my mind... ma'am."
He silenced and flushed. Why the hell was he so damned nervous about those things?

Wardroom

Taharial smiled listening to the diplomatic ideas of her crew mates, then burst out in laughter over the idea of having a BBQ for the insects and themselves. She blushed and forced herself to stop laughing but still had a massive grin on her face "Sorry about that, I was just picturing it" she turned to the man speaking out and listened to him, it as obvious that he wasn't use to talking to a big group and she felt like she should help but could see if she did it would make him worst.

Wardroom

Umeshu blinked a moment when the Princess interjected on the plan. It was at once brilliant and at least a bit crazy at the same time. She had a vision in her mind's eye of the offering of humanitarian aid being turned into some form of barbecue cookout with free drinks... it sounded more like a decidedly Nepleslian way of doing business. She heard Taharial laughing and then started to have to hide the fact she wanted to chortle along with her, and tried hard to keep her composure.

"Honto ni? Hanako-shosho... I suppose I can't argue with the powers of such a spirit on organic lifeforms," finally commented the Shoi on the use of Lorath wine, having had some passing experience with the fruity yet potent beverage herself. "Along with the food, it's certainly worth a try, especially if we have sedative or a similar effect blend available."

She then glanced at Sigurd a moment as he hesitatingly voiced his reservations, which had a good deal of wisdom to them. This thing could backfire on them badly, if mismanaged. "I have to agree with Bjarnison-hei, though... such an unusual humanitarian mission as a cookout, while really out of the box, could go wrong in a lot of ways. There is the classic humanitarian aid pitfall... that if you feed one, then everyone will start coming demanding the same. Soon we could be overwhelmed with Rixxicor looking for a handout, and then violence will likely ensue again. We need to be prepared to manage such scenarios and extract ourselves from them safely. So too, must it be remembered we are out for actionable information first and not trying to inadvertently support future enemies."

That being said, Hashimoto-shoi finally let a little bit of the humor slip out and smiled warmly. "It would be ironic though, if this works then the true heroes of the Battle of Higaflan would be Lime and Mango-hei...?"

Wardroom

Still wearing her AMES, Mitsuko perked up as she heard the others planning this feast for the Rixxikor. She could already see the supplies vanishing off her mental lists like a waterfall, instead of the slow trickle of their normal usage. Once she had recovered from the shocking idea, she quietly approached the officers and their group. "During our last encounter, the Rixxikor did request alcoholic beverages several times. However, considering how we were finally able to pacify them with the promise of free food and drink, before we ever had a chance to provide it, it might be possible to use similar tactics in our current negotiations."

Wardroom

Natsumi listened to all the planning skeptically. She did not know if feeding them was the right idea.

"I think I must agree with Sigurd. They may take or demand more than we have to give. on our first encounter they made many demands and when we did not provide all they wanted, their response was violence"

Wardroom

Hanako rubbed her chin for a moment in consideration before replying. "The first the Rixxikor fought us, it was because they were desperate. The second time, it was presumably because we invaded their territory. I mean, if they are already farming here, clearly they consider this a home and what we saw was some sort of defense force. That means neither time have they necessarily had any malicious intent. Because they are so...chaotic and disorganized, I think we can expect violence to happen regardless because even if the majority of Rixxikor are onboard with a plan, we can never expect them to work as a complete unit. So we need to suppress the violent ones as they present themselves, kind of like finding instigating rioters in a crowd of protestors. So far, food and booze are ways we know can distract them from being violent, so that is what we have to go with to minimize the threat. We should also see what loyalty they have to the nation that was dropping them off on this world."

Wardroom

In that moment, the entire ship jolted upwards. A few items on the table might have lifted slightly before coming back down. A chair might have tipped over.

One thing was for certain, however. It was unexpected, and thus probably scared the hell out of everyone inside.

There was a moment of silence, and then Hanako's communicator chirped.

"...No, idiot! You weren't supposed to apply that much pressure-!" Jax's voice at first sounded irritated, but once he realized that the connection had gone through, he straightened out, and now sounded a little sheepish. "Whoops! Hehe! Sorry Shosho! Someone... not mentioning any names, was obviously out sick during the 'potential energy and inertia' lecture during training. Won't happen again! But hey, the ship's no longer tilting!"

The comm went silent again, and everyone would have noticed that yes, in fact, things were level again.

It is one thing to be composed when the good china is out and another thing entirely to remain composed when the good china is being broken over your head. Doctor Thaddeus Hemlock was a man well-versed in the ladder. He remained composed despite having just survived the crash of the YSS Vesper.

When he was sure all of his body parts were intact he received his new ordered from this commanding officer. He was to assist the YSS Eucharis' scientist, Bjarnison Sigurd, with the situation. He had thought about protesting but his good sense prevented him from doing so. Before finding his snug little seat at the back of the small cargo craft that was going to be his ride, he helped load on some raw materials to provide the Eucharis with some much needed support. Opening one of the non-damaged communications array, the good Doctor sent a message on a secure line to the Eucharis.

"This is Doctor Thaddeus Hemlock of the YSS Vesper to the YSS Eucharis. It seems our rescue mission was not as successful as we had initially hoped. Still, I have been assigned to render logistical aid and technical support in any capacity I am able. I will be arriving by way of a small cargo shortly with some relief supplies. Is there a clear enough area to land nearby for us to touch down?"

Wardroom

Umeshu listened to the others chiming in with their experiences, especially Murakami-heisho's thoughts which were very helpful in solidifying the aim of their plans with more evidence. Hanako seemed to agree as well. "Hmm.. if that's their mindset, it seems then that this plan stands a good chance of working... let's just try to be as careful as we can to not set off another slaughter and really turn them against us. There are many more of them than there are of us," mused the purple haired officer, as she began to mentally plan for nuts and bolts of the arrangements and get orders ready for Lime and Mango-hei.

Just then the room shook and tilted a bit as the failing front landing strut had apparently had gotten some maintenance love. Umeshu found herself smiling a bit nervously as she righted a chair that had fallen over, not quite expecting him to work so fast. "Jackson-hei has quite the work ethic," she commented to the Shosho, once again pleasingly surprised by his zeal.

Wardroom

Sigurd was relieved that Umeshu and Natsumi backed his concerns. Still he felt quite uncomfortable and so he didn't speak out again but waited until his superiors finished making up their minds.

When the ship suddenly shook Sigurd barely managed to grab the handrail instead of hitting it with his helmeted face. "What the...", he exclaimed out of surprise before he could stop himself. Then Jacksons voice sounded out of the intercom. That mechanic..., he thought with a mixture of being amused and being on edge. Someone should talk to him about proper military procedure. There are things like giving a warning or something like that. Not to mention his way of giving a report!

Assuming their communications were down he spoke with the pilot, the only other person on the insignificant craft. The good Doctor kept an eye on their rudimentary scanners and didn't detect anything but the Eucharis... but that didn't mean much.

They circled over head thrice before landing in a clearing nearby. It was a mere 50 feet from the large spaceship and positioned it near the rear door ramp. Cautiously, carefully, Thaddeus approached- his head on a swivel as he did so. Calling out, he made his presence known- figuring if the bugs were going to waste him they would have already if they were in the area.

"Good day! I say, hello there! Permission to come aboard!"

Thaddeus announced, directing his voice towards the hulk- praying there was someone near enough to hear him. If that didn't work he would have to employ that oldest of techniques, one mostly employed by the love-struck youth, throwing rocks at the hull until someone heard him. He really didn't want to do that though, it was so... uncivilized.

YSS Eucharis, zero-g passageway


"Hey!" Aikiko called out to Sam, trying to remember if she had seen him before, but came up with a blank. "Hey you! Wait a second!" She picked up her pace to catch up with him before he decided to run off from her. She was wearing her duty uniform with her Mindy buttpack turned into backpack. Even with the some of the memories returned from Mitsuka, they were incomplete and still needed to be filled in. And up ahead was obviously one of the Eucharis Crew and hopefully he would be able to help her out.

Sam felt like a diseased freak. Whatever weird things those bugjerks did to him while he was unconscious, it was ruining all the neko plans he made while he was in training camp. He sighed when he heard someone yell in his direction and stopped. "What?"

"Huh... Aparently I've gotten lost and need direction. Could you be a gentleman and show me the way. And where the showers are at. Then to the ships infirmary? " Aikiko blurted out, to hide the fact she was embarrassed to have forgotten the layout of the Eucharis. Specially her assigned quarters. "Are you new to the Eucharis?" Curiousity getting the better of her.

Candon shook his head in disapointment, but with her memory failing he could'nt have really expected her to know that he was absent from the battle... But she was smart enough to know about the duties of an infantryman.
This will be Interesting...

"Why, of course. I know where all the female showers are." Sam made a point to remember those kinds of things. One never knew when a pretty girl might take a shower and have soapy eyes to make her miss a certain someone enjoying some of her more private areas. "The showers are right this way." He began walking toward the direction of the nearest communal shower. He was so eager to see the poor girl nude that he completely forgot that she asked another question.

Bingo
Samael would have to pass him to get to the shower room, accessed through the lounge. Candon leaned on the wall to the right of the entrance to the zero-g passageway waiting for the human to float to his level and enter. The opening was smaller than the wall it was a part of, a necessary design as it contained the door itself when the passage was open. In short it allowed the agent to remain perfectly out of view.
The young man's feet had barely touched the red carpeted floor before Suites stepped out of cover and pinned him to left wall using his right hand to hold him by his shirt collar. He used his natural ability to fly to keep himself grounded and immovable.

"We were at readiness condition three since we began our voyage to investigate a possible act of WAR. We were at WARTIME READINESS!" He yelled at Samael, pouring his rage into the young man. He raised his bruised, wounded left arm for Samael to look at. "You see this? I broke my arm and had to keep fighting ALONE! An hour ago my damned shoulder couldn't move, and I had NO HELP! She got hit with a missile-no, MANY missiles! During all of that where the hell were you?!!"

Aikiko stood there dumbfounded with a look of shock at the way Candon attacked Samael. She listened to the tirade and at least she now knew the source of her anmesia. She didnt know whether to intervene or watch. But dereliction of duty, even an idiot knew to be at their duty station. Her personal needs were forgotten as she watched and listened.

Sam just kinda hung there as someone seemed to be attacking him, not really caring whether he lived or died. However, when it became clear the dude was just yelling at him and not ending his miserable existance, he just became annoyed. "Well, I'm sorry I spent the last few hours locked in the Med Lab after being fucking hit by some exlplosion earlier. Maybe if locking up injured personnel in cages wasn't proper protocal for treating burn victims, I probably would have arrived at my station sooner, yes?"

"Sooner? We were on call, It was our shift since we took off," Candon released his grip on Samael's collar but didn't move, "We had only hours of transit time. You should have been in the armor bay preparing. And what were you doing in the engineering room, anyway?!" Suites' had found out his locations during the fight from MEGAMI upon his return, though he hadn't checked the security footage yet.

Aikiko watched a bit wide eyed "looks like I m gonna have to find my way, " Edging away from the two. "I will let ya deal with this." She made her escape, leaving the two behind to finish out their conversation.

Engineering room? Wasn't he outside the girls' locker room? Fuck Sam didn't even remember. So much happened after the explosion blew him away it was hard to remember details. And right now, he didn't really care. "I-I was taking a shortcut?" Just then, he noticed the pretty girl leaving and quickly tried to run after her. "Hey, wait for me!" This dude was giving him the creeps. Besides, the girl was looking to shower and it was his duty as an infantryman to properly escort her and keep watch over her as she showered. But this only infuriated Candon and burned off the last of his short, frayed fuse. As Samael tried to leave Candon shoved him back against the wall much harder than he did the first time. The idea of this man only wanting to get into his a Neko's pants had him ready to shoot the man, if given the chance.

"YOU'RE DONE HERE!!!" He roared, paused, then continued, "No, better. I'm giving you two options, kid. You can either pack your things and leave on the Vesper or get your act together. Keep in mind that if you stay I will personally force you to grow up and be a man." With that Candon turned on his heel and headed for the zero-g passageway to join the meeting.
"Choose wisely, boy."



YSS Eucharis, Wardroom

Candon tried to enter enter the meeting quietly But the floor shifted just as he stepped inside. The sudden leveling on the slanted floor he was becoming used to tripped him and his hands instinctively reached out to stop his fall. He stood back up, straightened the items on his belt and continued on his way back to the table, bowing to the captain as he came to stand at the far end of the table.

Wardroom

Taharial sees Candon and smiled slightly walking over to him "hey sir, your arm looks pretty bad want to go to the Med Lab, I can look at it better there, maybe the others who were with you could come as well, that would make finding the injured easier." She smiled and looked around "Where did Sam go all of a sudden I thought he was still here with us?"

Taharial got slightly worried and looked at Candon "Did you see a guy, probably trying to hit on a female crewmate running around here?"

YSS Eucharis, Wardroom

Candon knew his arm definitely needed a professional touch to heal properly but he also needed his orders. “I'll head to Medical once I receive my orders,” he answered Taharial, "and Darkfire is escorting Akiashiro to the shower room then to Medical. You should prep the equipment to heal her memory and anything she does to Darkfire."
His last statement was meant to be humorous, though his voice didn't really reflect it well.

YSS Eucharis - Exterior

Victory, the green-haired Nekovalkyrja cargo specialist, spotted Thaddeus as she was hauling repair supplies from the Vesper to the Eucharis with a ceil-colored forklift with a flashing yellow light on top. Coming to a halt, she silently checked his ID against PANTHEON in her mind before waving vigorously to get his attention. "Can I help you, scientist?"

YSS Eucharis - Exterior

"Oh... yes. Please pardon, I was looking for one Bjarnison Sigurd... Hei Sigurd. I understand he is a scientist with you all and I've been assigned to report to him. We also have some supplies from the Vespr on the transport." He said, sounding more confident than he actually was. As he spoke he offered a little bow.

Wardroom

Natsumi smiled as the deck shifted level. The strut was repaired. That was a good sign.

"If we're going to do this,we should get about it soon. I don't think letting them stew long after fighting them will help us try to win them over piecefully" she suggested. "Anger is hard to get over once it settles in and I'm sure they are pretty angry after the pasting we gave them"