RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 24] Looking for Trouble (YE 38)

Near Sbuhfaba System
Early the next morning

After a day of travel, the Eucharis and Task Force 82 arrived in the vicinity of the Sbuhfaba system.

The ship's sensors immediately began sweeping the area within 20 light-years. There were a surprising amount of starships moving around, the majority of which were not identified with Yamataian transponders. The Yamataian-flagged ones seemed to be mainly cargo haulers, miners, and the occasional salvage collector poking around the picked-over sites of massive conflicts of the First Mishhuvurthyar War. The other ship included some that might meet the profile of Rixxikor colony ships in terms of size registering on the subspace mass sensors. There was also a weak signal from an old Meikai "Peeper" sensor platform that was originally intended for Operation Hidden Eyes back in YE 30 and that had somehow been left by the NMX during the Second Mishhuvurthyar War.

- - -

Bridge

Blackberry stood up as Hanako entered the bridge, still in her pajamas and with her hair a bit disheveled. "Status, please."

"We have just arrived, captain," the mulberry-skinned bridge neko said.

"Set condition three," Hanako ordered. "Get a picture of activity in the area to give the day shift. I will be back after my shower," Hanako said before exiting the bridge and heading back to her quarters.

"Aye aye, captain. Raising shields." A tone sounded throughout the ship, followed by Blackberry's voice. "Attention all hands, this is the bridge. We are now at readiness condition three. Main shift please report to duty stations."

Eucharis Hallway, just outside of the bridge >


"Excuse me, Stark?" Wazu asked, ducking away from his station and following the Nepleslian woman as she left the bridge, her shift at an end, his own too nebulously defined to tell, "Could you show me where the kitchen is? Victory is not around to show me where to go."

Her green eyes looked him over and then with a shrug she smiled, "Sure, I guess they didn't give you a map of the ship either?" She pointed the way and started for the passageway that would take them to the wardroom and the lounge.

"I was given a warm smile from Victory, but no map of the ship," He replied, following to her side and just a step behind. "I am only familiar with what I have found out since I have gotten here. If I could interest you in some coffee or tea, maybe you could fill me in on a few things? ... I hate sounding like a nervous wreck but I always feel like another shoe is about to drop."

she listened as she lead him, "I wouldn't mind some coffee." she responded pulling her non-navel cap off and letting her pony tail fall out of it. "What would you like to know?" Tony looked back at him quizzically.

"Hanako does not sound as bubbly as she used to... " Wazu said, following along as he realized that was more of an observation than a question, "And the political situation on Nepleslia seems to have changed quite a bit... and... well... you can assume I have been living under a rock for a while." He said as he placed his right hand on the back of his neck, "... Anyways, how do you feel about this ship and crew?"

"So I heard," She comments about his living arrangements the past while, "but as for the Capt, I wouldn't know I just joined the crew a little over a year ago. A bit of friction with the now XO at first." She blushed and walked into the lounge. "though that has faded with some.. um..." She fell silent then pointed at the stairs..." Ward's up there... with the coffee..." She got out.

"How do you take it?" Wazu asked, heading into the ward, "... I like to think coffee is the least terrible vice that I have gotten good at." Of course, once he got into the ward room he was lost once again, able to see the kitchen area off in the corner but otherwise lacking in pots, grinders, beans, and the other paraphernalia of that particular drink, "Was the problem with the XO cultural? Or personal?... or did I just ask about a sore spot?"

She stood there for a moment before following him up the stairs. "I came and my job aboard was the same as hers.... and um... she was afraid I was here to take over." She reached the top of the stairs before pulling a flask out to give the proper flavor to the coffee. "Just sugar..."

"Got it... Sugar..." He said, searching the cabinets, fridge, and other areas, finally finding some beans. "... Well, it looks like you two have worked things out." He said, looking at the mixer for a while before making his decision, placing some of the beans inside and then setting the device to make them into a fine powder, "... you Nepleslians still drink the stuff from the green bottle?"

"I.. We... yeah..." She blushed brightly again before pulling a seat over to the counter. "No... I wouldn't try that if my life depended on it... I drink this." She set the flask on the counter, "I brought this on the beach planet a few cases of it hidden in my cabin. Good stuff imported from home."

"BZZZZZZZzzzzzz.......zzzzzz......zzzzz......" Wazu finaly got to the consistency he wanted for the beans, but now the mixer was coated in a fine coffee powder. He then started his search for filters and a strainer, "The good stuff.... you strike me as a whiskey girl?" He asked.

Nodding her head she opened the flask. "Yeah that or beer." She gave an half grin, before asking her own question. What brought you aboard?"

"Officially? Hanako needed a science officer." He replied, finding some cups, filters, and hot water... setting the powder into two filters, and then pouring hot water from the tap onto them to strain two fresh cups as he went to the sink to clean out the mixer, "Unofficially? I made a lot of enemies... Yui is covering for me, I think... I was hoping you might know a little more about that actually." He said, setting the freshly cleaned mixer back where he got it from, "The Nepleslians want to put me in a hole and throw away the hole."

"I donno... I'm here as an officer exchange officer. I guess they ran out of officers to exchange and sent me." She grinned. "As fir Yui I really don't know, I really wonder each day if I'm going to be shipped back." She frowned thinking, trying to remember more about the guy. "But If you're aboard and the Captain hasn't shot you or put you in the brig, then I would guess you're good, for now..."

"So what do you think of this current operation?" He asked, bringing the sugar over by the cups of coffee, then disposing of the used grinds once they had finished seeping, leaving behind two fresh cups of coffee. "I was only able to read some of the information on the last encounter, but there was not enough for me to get a feel for who they are."

"I Think we might have a large war a head, they are sleazy yucky beings, that just screw and bread and drink and blow crap up... I think I know what the Yamatains think of us...." She grinned and watched him, "But mainly I fear the fact they seem to expand so quickly."

Wazu listened calmly, putting a little bit of sugar in his cup before holding it in both hands, letting the warmth seep into his palms, "There is plenty of space in.... space...." He said, unable to get himself out of the awkwardly phrase sentence before it left his lips, "It was not that long ago that they would have responded with force first. Assembling a task force seems aggressive but..." Wazu took a sip of his coffee, finding it still a bit too hot to really drink, "... Is aggressive, but it is a more restrained approach than usual. Dealing with this kind of problem is complex."

Tipping her flask a little over the cup, she poured a little whiskey in to cool it, and to give it just the right flavor. "The problem is they seem to have a more powerful group pushing them into this sector of space. As if they are to bred and take over everything, then these others walk in." She blew on her coffee and took a sip. "It's good."

"I like to think I am good at my vices," Wazu replied, cracking a smile for a moment before returning to his coffee, "So we just kill everyone then, Yamatai starts learning that is the easiest way of handling its problems, then next time Nepleslia steps out of line...." Wazu took another sip, "Sorry..."

"I'm.. um.. you're preaching to the choir here.... But I fear the other faction might be starting something that might affect our home space... Not just the Yamitains..." She sipped on her coffee and thought more about what was all happening.

"If it were just Yamatai, then Nepleslia and Lor would be free to side with the weaker faction and chill any large scale conflict before it could brew... but..." Wazu paused to take another sip, "... things did not pan out exactly as I intended the last few years."

"What did you intend?" Tony asked curiously.

Wazu couldn't help but crack the kind of smile one has when they've got a good secret, "now THAT... could get me into some trouble." He responded, taking another sip of coffee to buy time, "The idea was that if Yamatai found itself surrounded by a lot of smaller powers, they would start to change how they look at problems. They could not start up a new war without angering the local community... and a bunch of small powers are going to be unable to attack Yamatai since they would not be able to get their act together without some large event to drive it.

Things got a bit out of hand though, with the Nepleslians, with Vishta.... especially with Vishta...

Nepleslia is warming up to Yamatai, sure they could team up together and be fine but well...

... I want to save everyone, not just Yamatai, Nepleslia, or the Kuvexians."

"I guess that is what you get to do when you aren't just having to follow orders. I don't get to have lofty ideals. Just what is the next mission and let the politicians sort out what to do about the bigger problems." She took a sip of her coffee, "though I tell you what, if I can go the rest of my days with out having to deal with another one of those rixxies I'll be happy.."

"Were they really that gross?" Wazu asked, "I am just glad they are not giant spiders." He shivered a bit, "Giant bugs right? I know I have no reason to think of them any differently, I guess it is something wired deep down in our brains."

"They were like ant people... Not bugs persae, just ant people. They are gross because they are rude, poop everywhere, eat people, and just gross in general." She shook her head thinking about them.

"I wonder if that is how the Yamatains think about us...." He set down his coffee cup for a moment, taking a brief look around the general area, still getting familiarized with the layout, "... though it sounds like they could use sanitation, manners, order... when this latest dispute is settled maybe we could use some robots to civilize them."

"Maybe... but they might try to eat the bots, or turn them into expensive tools..." She frowned again. "The only way to communicate with them was to use the worst bar room language I knew... and they still were cruder."

"Maybe you just got put up against their worst?" Wazu asked hopefully, followed by a soft sigh, "But I suppose we will not be that lucky. Maybe we could develop new insults?!"

"Maybe..." She responded, "Though I'm not sure assimilating their insults into our language would be worth it. They were more disgusting than effective."

"sorry, I will stop trying to make jokes," He said, allowing himself a brief smile before returning to conversation, "So why do you do all this?"

"All of what? I joined the service cause of an old boyfriend." She smiled a little at him. "But if that isn't what you were asking... I'm sorry." She was hoping she had answered the right question. She as a la little nervous talking to the old man.

"I suppose that was too personal of a question," He replied, "Though I do appreciate you speaking with me... and showing me where the coffee is," He held up the cup for a moment to make his point, then finished it off, taking the cup over to the sink to rinse it off.

"It wasn't a 'too personal' of a question, He was a Marine, and well he gave me this cap before shipping out, a few months later I got word he was lost. So I joined up." She smiled and finished her own mug, but instead of taking it over to be rinsed she tipped a bit more of her whiskey into it. "Why did you decide to come out from under your rock?"

"I... well..." He had to think about it for a while, "I could not just keep hiding forever, and well... " He paused again, clearly having a hard time putting what he wanted to say into words, "... There is nothing left for me on Ether," He stated matter of factly, "... and I guess it feels good to be needed again... maybe I do not really know. Emotional baggage, issues with letting go of things, or maybe I am just not good enough to escape."

"Being needed is really nice isn't it, but I found being wanted is even better." She gulped the last of her mug and took it over to rise it. "And I would like it if you stayed aboard. As much as they have tried to make me feeled welcomed, well most of them, it is nice to see a face of home."

"I will have to give being wanted a try sometime," Wazu said, "... Thank you for the talk, but I think I should be getting back to the bridge. I need to justify the faith Hanako is putting in me..."

"I think you might, but if you are heading back up there, I'll head down to the cargo bay to my room. If you need a friendly face, come on down I got plenty of the whiskey to share." She winked at him and started out for her birth.

Natsumi had woken up early. She had a lot to do that morning. She still needed to move fully into her new cabin, while most of her stuff was already there, but she had wanted one more night in the cabin that had been her home nearly all her life.

The snowy haired neko had gone down to the favrication bay early in the morning, requisitioning her new uniforms with the appropriate stripes to her new rank. Once she had done that, Natsumi had gone off to the mess for a quick breakfast, then the showers to clean up and dress.

Now she was in her new white paneled type 35 duty uniform, all perfectly pressed and trimmed and type 36 officers cap atop her head.

Natsumi was ready for a formal review as she headed out for the bridge to start her duty shift a bit early. As she made her way up to the command center Hanako's voice came over the ships intercom,

"Attention all hands, this is the bridge. We are now at readiness condition three. Main shift please report to duty stations."

Click to expand...

Natsumi picked up her pace, making her way along the last few meters to the bridge and entering the command center, finding just Blackberry on duty so far. She had just missed Hanako leaving to get ready.

"Good morning, Chui Blackberry" she greeted the night shift operations officer pleasantly. "Whats the situation?" she asked as she slid into the chair at her station.

Gym/Recreation

Aikiko was pushing herself to her limits in an endurance, cardio exercise after a peaceful nights sleep. Her feet pounding softly on the treadmill as she ran, watching the timer count down the last minutes of the run. The treadmill at a 30% incline with a bit heavier gravity bubble around her so not to effect others nearby exercising. She could feel the sweat trickling down her body and soaking into the tank top she wore. Her breaths were fast yet even to keep up the supply of oxygen to her body. Conversations going on around her was slightly distorted due to the change in gravity.

"Attention all hands, this is the bridge. We are now at readiness condition three. Main shift please report to duty stations."

She continued her exercises as the others began to respond to the announcement, getting in the extra few seconds on the treadmill before shutting it down. Grabbing her towel and her duty uniforms scampered off to the showers to freshen up and change into her duty uniform. It looked like breakfast was out of the question as she stripped and entered the shower cubicle to get cleaned up. Well maybe if she hurried on the shower, she could grab-n-go her breakfast before heading to P.A. Bay.

Finishing up her shower and quickly drying off. She got dressed, skin-suit first, then over that was her duty uniform. Pausing long enough to brush out her hair and pack the dirty P.E. uniform for the return trip to her quarters and then get something to eat on the run. Leaving her hair loose for now as she scrambled through the ship to her quarters. She secured her gym-bag and grabbed a hair tie to put her hair into the regulation ponytail on her way up to the wardroom to grab a quick bite to eat.

Fifteen minutes later, Aikiko entered the P.A Bay taking a look to see who was all there as she listened for the latest updates. They had arrived in the vicinity of the Sbuhfaba system.

Cargo Bay

Mitsuko was enjoying her comfortable new uniform as she picked her way through boxes and containers, her favorite mug full of hot, fresh coffee from breakfast. She was giving everything the once-over now that they'd reached their destination, ensuring it was all properly arranged and secured. She'd supervised the reloading of the Eucharis herself. Even if very few people on board would notice a difference in the Bay's arrangement, she felt this new layout was just perfect. The Neko was alone so far, as she was trying to give Victory as much of a break as possible, after she'd lost her shot at a vacation while fetching that civilian scientist.

Bridge

Blackberry gave the new first officer a little wave. "Good morning. We have just arrived in the area of Sbuhfaba and we are conducting long-range scans. There are plenty of places and starships to look at more closely, and we will have to sort through them. There are Yamataian civilians in the area, and known and unknown independent groups. We also have ships that might be Rixxikor colony vessels. The Sbuhfaba system itself is fairly quiet, with just a few unregistered mining operations. I stopped here because it was a good place to stop and look at what is ahead of us. Task Force 82 are the only Star Army assets operating in this region of space, except for a few old unmanned SAINT sensor stations from before the NMX war. The captain is up and getting ready. She checked in when we came out of the hyperspace fold. If you are ready, I would like to pass the watch to you and go off-duty," the night-shift neko said to Natsumi.

Bridge

"Thank you" Narsumi said and smiled. "Of course, I have the bridge. Get some rest" she nodded, releaving Blackberry.

She pulled up all the sensor information Blackberry had already gathered, which was a lot already, and focused on the data concerning the possible Rixxicore colony vessel.

"Good morning, Charisma. Are the old SAINT sensor stations still functional, and can you access their logs?" she asked the Eucharis' MEGAMI as she looked at the data on the possible colony vessel, comparing it to what information they already had.

Bridge

Blackberry got up, and nodded, leaving newly-christened First Officer Natsumi alone in the ship's tiny, red-carpeted command room. Teal displays danced around her on black control panels as the ship continued to run itself in a mostly-automated fashion.

"Good morning," the ship's AI replied to Natsumi. "We should be able to access the logs of the local sensor networks. Would you like me to download them?" she asked, rhetorically. At the mission operations station, a spreadsheet of notable events appeared.

Meanwhile at the science/sensor station, the analysis of the nearest possible colony ship was being created. It looked like the ship would have to get closer to get more details. It was certainly a rather large starship and it was headed for the Nougfran system, which, for whatever reason, there was not much detail about in the data banks. It was another system that was formerly held by the SMX and NMX during the Mishhuvurthyar wars.

Wardroom, Night Before...

Since her thinly disguised attempt to communicate before the journey launched into hyperspace, Umeshu found herself once again being very shy in person at dinner around the young technician, Jax. Here they were,only a few spaces apart at the wardroom table with excitement going on all around them among the crew anticipating the mission ahead. And yet in between the two remained a vast, imposing distance created by that nagging, awkward silence. She had barely touched her food... and it was obvious to Jax-san that it wasn't just because of her samurai manners to not be watched while eating. Her sage green eyes set in that lightly-shaded purple face attempted to and almost met his several times and yet turned away, seemingly trying to find the courage to hold steady for once and force something... anything... to happen to break the stalemate.

Jax, while less conspicuous with his usual, joking manner, also felt the need to break the silence between them. Already, a couple times, they'd made brief eye contact. And already, a couple times, he'd tried to give her some gesture. He couldn't, however, with everyone sitting around. He wasn't ready to let them in on it just yet. Aikiko definitely knew, but he trusted her to tell no one. He felt the stilleto in his pocket, and slowly brushed a hand over it.

He too a deep breath. Time to man up, and get this over with.

Without looking at Umeshu, so as not to attract attention, Jax called out to her telepathically.

'We need to talk.' he mumbled, almost regretting letting the words slip his mind. But, at the same time, it felt as if a great weight had lifted off his shoulders. They were going to fix this. Whether it would end well or not was the great question.

Umeshu felt the message from Jax sent her way immediately, appearing like a beacon in the darkness. She was thankful that he had made the first move. Looking down at her unfinished plate briefly, she then pushed it away towards the center of the table with a sense of finality. The young Neko needed to deal with this battle of the heart before she could do anything more tonight.

'We do,' she pinged back to him wordlessly, summoning up her warrior courage. 'Cargo Bay. 10 minutes. Please,' Umeshu added, the order to change the location for their talk to someplace quiet, and likely unmanned at the moment, what they both likely felt.

'Got it.' he affirmed. He took a few more bites of his food, wiped his hands and mouth with a napkin, then pushed his plate to the center as well. Once again, he never looked at Umeshu.'I'll go ahead and go. Wait about five or ten minutes before doing the same.'

And with that, Jax casually walked for the elevator, saying something about "Working on Candon's new mod". He got into the elevator and soon after disappeared.

'Hai' came the reply, as her sensitive furred ears heard Jax's footsteps behind her heading towards the elevator. Ever the friendly sort, it wasn't hard for Umeshu to pass the agreed upon few moments feigning attention to some of the idle chatter going around the wardroom and Hanako's coterie. Her mind was instead focused in anticipation of the true conversation that was to come.

When she was satisfied that the engineer was long gone, and an opening to politely dismiss herself presented itself, she took it. Umeshu arose quietly to leave, even assisting the cooks by disposing of her plate by the scullery to take a round about way out and not make anyone suspicious that anything was out of the ordinary. Once out and about, it was only a short hop via the cargo lift to the bay on the lowest deck...

Cargo Bay, Night Before

When she got there, she would've found Jax leaning patiently against a cargo container right by the door, arms folded into his chest, deep in thought. When he heard the doors open, he snapped out of his trance, shook himself awake a little, then looked to Umeshu. He stood up and walked slowly towards her.

"H-hey..." Jax muttered weakly, at a loss for words. Where did they begin...?

Umeshu strode out into the bay, herself also looking a bit lost and sheepish as he approached. "Jax-san," came her unsteady greeting, like she was meeting him again for the first time. No, actually this was much harder than that. She held her hands clasped together in front of her, in an apologetic gesture. "I feel like I need to start by saying... I'm sorry."

Jax met this question with a bit of confusion. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side.

"Sorry? For what?"

"It's my fault that things are like this between us," began the purple-skinned operator with a guilty expression. "Seeing you so distant and quiet and reserved. It's not like you. And I feel shame, that somehow I caused this distance to develop by not speaking up sooner."

Jax took a small step forward.

"Don't say that! I'm just as much at fault here, too." he said. "We both have responsibilities, after all."

To get things rolling, Jax decided to get straight to the point.

"So... That night with the wine... are you... okay with how that turned out?"

Umeshu was glad that Jax felt the same way... such things didn't develop because of one person after all. "You're right. We both do have responsibilities... to the Captain and her ship... but also to each other to try to be honest about things. Running isn't the way I was taught."

The Nekovalkyrja let his words hang in the air for an uneasy moment, as she recalled the events of that night. A faint blush came across her cheeks again, she couldn't seem to stop that even during the briefing in the hangar. "I... don't know what to think. But... it didn't feel wrong to me..."

"Same." Jax replied uncomfortably. "I mean, I thought it was wonderful, truth be told. And I- uh- I wouldn't mind doing it again if I had the chance."

Jax shifted uncomfortably. He'd never been great with these kinds of things. But he wanted to make his feelings known, and this was the way it was happening, no matter how awkward.

"It's just- er, you're really beautiful, and- er, damn it..."

When she heard him speaking about his feelings, awkward as they might have been expressed, he could see some of the tensions melting from Umeshu's features. Her plum-like countenance softened and her eyes shimmered. "Oh, that's what made this so hard to bear... it was too wonderful," the young officer gushed, "It was the first time I was ever kissed like that... a teasing taste of a liquor better than any Lorath wine. I felt guilty for wanting more."

She then raised a hand to the side of her face brushing some of her hime-cut violet bangs away. She was definitely graceful and ladylike in even the small things she did. "You really think so?"

Jax smiled. This just got a whole hell of a lot easier, knowing her thoughts on the matter. It really took a lot of pressure off. That's about when he realized he'd been slowly closing the distance between them this entire time.

"I mean... yeah..." he muttered, going red with embarassment. Just to be sure, he looked around to make sure they weren't being watched. Then, he simply looked back at Umeshu, staring deeply into those gorgeous, green eyes. They were so... hypnotic...

Going an even deeper shade of red, Jax averted his eyes from hers, and scratched the back of his head absent mindedly. They were well within arms reach of each other at this point.

The pair of hypnotic eyes drew closer still, as Umeshu closed the gap between them slowly. She reached up with the hand that ran through her hair a moment ago towards Jax, hesitating for a second, before coming into contact with the side of his face.

"You're... really handsome, too. That boyish charm you have that doesn't come from a synthetic body's manufactured looks. It's different than what I've known up until now. More... real." Her voice was soft and soothing as she spoke, bringing his gaze gently back to hers.

Jax stiffened at the touch, causing his ears and tail to twitch. It'd been a long time since he'd been touched in such a way. At least since high school, but the sensation felt then paled in comparison to now. As if on auto pilot, Jax's hands found Umeshu's hips. He swallowed nervously, and his head leaned in just slightly.

"Can I...? um... You know... uh..." he stammered quietly, not sure if he was going too far or not.

Umeshu's cheeks turned a more reddish shade of light purple as she felt his hands return the favor on the hips of her pleated uniform skirt. "O-negai shimasu," the young Neko murmured quietly in Yamataigo, which Jax recalled was a very polite way of saying 'please', as she found herself leaning in as well, standing on her tiptoes to bring her lips closer to his.

That was all he needed. In one fluid motion, Jax firmly, yet gently pulled Umeshu against him, and closed the distantce, pressing his lips against hers. His heart was beating in his chest, more so out of excitement rather than nervousness. This kiss was much better than the one shared a couple weeks ago. There was less uncertainty about it, and to top it off they were sober.

The taste of his lips was just like before... no, thought Umeshu, it was ever sweeter now, untainted by the feelings of guilt and shame she felt unnecessarily. She drank deeply of the blossoming and honest love between them, throwing her arms around the back of his neck to hold the kiss a while more. As they embraced, the pilot also found her fingers idly moving through his sandy blonde hair and towards the spot behind his ear that caused that purring reaction...

'Aw come on!' Jax whined internally, but did nothing to stop her. After a few moments, he pulled away for air. When he did, he groaned, dreading what this meant.

"Do you think we should let Hanako know about thi- er, us?" he asked her.

Umeshu truly enjoyed the warmth of their closeness, her grey-paneled uniform still pressed up against his red one even as they paused in their kiss. His groan was met with a questioning look, however, soon replaced with cool realization of certain consequences of these actions in the shipts command chain. "I think she might already suspect something... but I dont want to worry the Captain any more than she already is, what with the great weight on her shoulders."

Jax nodded in agreement. Things would probably go a lot smoother if they kept this under wraps. He checked the time, and realized it'd been a whole ten minutes since they'd come down here. They needed to split before someone barged in on them.

"We should get going." he muttered. He reached into his pocket and removed the stiletto, handing it to her. "By the way, here's a little something I picked up in port. I know you're a samurai and all, and, you know, I thought you might like it more than an diamond necklace."

He chuckled a little at that thought. After savoring the feeling of her body against his for a few more, sweet moments, he released her and began to walk to the elevator.

"You know the drill. Wait a bit before coming back up." he reminded her. "And next time we're in port, we'll go on a proper date. How's that sound?"

Umeshu nodded once as she became aware of the passage of time and just where they were amongst the precious cargo containers of the logistics Neko. "Hai, Murakami-heisho is bound to return any minute... shes very dedicated."

As she moved to pull away from their embrace, the purple-skinned officer blinked in surprise as Jax produced the small stilleto and presented it to her in a rush. She immediately recognized what it was, though, taking it almost lovingly into her hands. "A.... kogai hairpin?" Umeshu replied with a very wide smile and a bow of her head, the long braided ponytail following the movement. "Arigato, Jax-san. I will wear it always. Even if Im not supposed to show affection in public due to my code of honor, you will see it when I bow and know that my heart belongs to you."

Hashimoto-chui gave a wistful sigh as they seperated and he headed for the elevator, calling back to him. "It is a promise. And please save a seat for me on your next airbike ride, ne?"

Jax smiled and hit the button on the elevator.

"I will, Umeshu."

And with that, the technician disappeared.

Zero-G, Next Morning...

Jax had slept well last night, his mind full of dreams of a soft, warm, wisteria-colored woman whom he refused to identify. He'd woken up just in time to catch Aikiko heading for the gym, and he himself had had a bowl of cereal while adding a page to his current writing project. Then there came the announcement for the day shift to man their stations, and here he was, heading for Engineering.

He swooped in through the doors and greeted Cherry curtly, having completely forgot about the events of yesterday.

YSS Eucharis, Recreation Area

"Ichi! Ni! San! Shi! Go! Roku! Shichi! Hachi! ..."

The shouts echoed through the holographic chamber, as the purple-haired samurai trainee went through a series of thrusts and chops with the wooden bokken, cutting the air in front of her with the practice sword. The background of the chamber was simulating a traditional dojo setting, not unlike what one would find amongst the training areas of Samurai House back in Kyoto. However artificial the shoji's and tatami mats that her bare feet rested on were, morning practice in such a way was something religiously ingrained in Umeshu's psyche since the very moment she was birthed from her tube.

Something was different about going through her katas today, though. Last time her movements were quite unsteady... her mind clouded with guilt and shame over what happened with Jax-san on shore leave. Now... there was no longer any hesitation. The warmth that started in her lips that night now spread throughout her being, as she recalled their secret embrace just several hours prior in the cargo bay. Umeshu was finally at peace that the man she was falling in love with also felt the same way she did, and that honesty lifted a great weight from her shoulders. The woman knew where her aim should be now, at least, and that made all the difference; all that was left was to fire that arrow and trust her instincts to lead it to his heart. Waiting for their next promised moment together was surely difficult, though...

Umeshu's familiar loose practice gi was soon filled with a healthy, cooling sweat as she held the weapon to her side and relaxed to a standing position. "End program," the purple-haired soldier commanded, the room's projectors deactivating and returning to its default state, as she grabbed a towel she conveniently left and headed to freshen up. It was around this moment that Hanako-shosho's announcement also echoed through the ship for the day shift to assume duty stations, causing the officer to quicken her step towards the showers and back into her uniform...

YSS Eucharis, Bridge

Umeshu gave a respectful nod and morning greeting to her fellow Chui Blackberry, as the two colorfully skinned roommates passed by each other at the entrance of the bridge as the shift change was going on. The replacement Neko entered the bridge fully and bowed quite low to her sempai, Natsumi. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Ittou," began Hashimoto-chui pleasantly, using the respectful word for her new position as the ship's 'First', as she awaited any information before assuming her post at the helm.

The XO could definitely tell something was different about her mannerisms today. At launch time she seemed to be putting on a brave face over inner troubles -- but now, her eyes were shining brightly like a paper lantern at festival time. Nested skillfully in a roll of her dark purple hair at the top of her usual braided ponytail was a sheathed kogai stiletto, bits of its silver filigree hidden by her locks.

Bridge

Tony walked through the doors and to her makeshift gunnery station. With a quick salute to Nats, the Nepleasian slide behind her station. With long practiced skill she brought up all of her standard screens and started hunting for targets. "Ma'am I have a colony ship on sensors, would you like a targeting solution on it?" She wasn't sure how she felt calling Nats Ma'am, but she used the honorific nonetheless.

Bridge

"Good morning" Natsumi greeted Umeshu cheerfully. She could see the change in Umeshu's mood compared to how she had been recently. "I'm glad you are feeling better" she added and smiled.

"Good morning, Ms. Stark" She saif as Tony was next to enter the bridge. "Not yet. We need to gather information and confirm if it is indeed one of the colony ships we are seeking. I have information downloading from our local sensor posts."

She tapped through some information on her display. "We should also make sure there are no Kuvexian warships here. It would not do well for us to run into one of them while we are stalking one of their colony ships. Please look for any ship that matches the perameters of those we battled" she said to Tony and sent all the information she had on the warships they had encountered to Tony's stations.

"Hashimoto Chui, lets see if we can get a firm ID on the colony vessel" She sent the data she had on it to her fellow operator so they could go over it together.

She also sent a text to Wazu;

We may have detected a Rixxicore colony vessel in system.

Click to expand...

P.A. Bay

Come hell or high waters, Aikiko wasn't going to wait for anyone that wasn't ready as she prepped her Power Armors. Her Mindy. And an extra Daisy PA, just incase she needed the option for the upcoming confrontations. She slapped her coded access tag onto the Daisy stating it was already taken by her along with her new Mindy. Now it was time to wait to see what would develop in the near future.

Wardroom >

"Hey, Princess," Candon greeted as he passed Stark at the entrance to the wardroom. Quietly he took a seat next to Wazu. His demeanor gave no impression of ill intentions or aggression toward the man nor any trace of goodwill. He set a dense folder on his lap and exhaled sharply.

"Alright," he began, the same way he usually did before dropping heavy information, "I am Itto H- scratch that, Joto Hei Candon Suites. I am the ship intelligence specialist, Hanako runs the ship and I watch her back. Part of that job includes screening our personnel and guests before they arrive..."

He raised an eyebrow.

"So let's look at this from my perspective. Here we are about to confront a potential war and five minutes before takeoff here comes a last second addition to the crew. A civilian, who I haven't screened, with access to the bridge… you see what I'm getting at?" He asked rhetorically, then slapping the thick folder on the table he continued, "This is your dossier... I have to read all two hundred thirteen pages tonight so let me be clear, I automatically do not like you. I don't trust you, or believe that you should be serving aboard the flagship of the whole damn fleet. Unfortunately the Shôshô left me completely of loop on this however I'm well within my rights to have a 'conference' with anyone serving aboard the ship, which means you. Now with over 200 pages in this folder I am completely confident there is something in here that I am NOT going to like. This is your chance to be honest. I want you to tell me what's in this folder and don't lie to me."

With that he leaned back in his seat with his eyes locked intently on Wazu.

"Attention all hands, this is the bridge. We are now at readiness condition three. Main shift please report to duty stations."

Click to expand...

"That folder," Wazu said, straightening up a bit and turning to face the intelligence officer, standing behind one of the chairs parked at the table as he rested his arms against the top, "Probably is going to tell you that I have been fighting your people for years, that we are not on the same side, and my days of being a Taisho in the Star Army of Yamatai are long over."

Wazu tapped his fingers for a moment,

"I would suspect that file is a lot less clear on the how and why of it all. So where do you want to start? My relationship to Yui and Hanako? My history with the Stararmy? The Nepleslians?"


"Let's start with Hanako," Candon decided.


I first met Hanako back when she was Yui's pet. We were both on the same ship but we were never really close. Our last run in was a few years ago, we changed up our strategy for dealing with yamatai. We shifted to trying to develop ties through arms sales to discourage aggression, ended up giving them the elf hover tank during talks with Hanako. She was a lot more bubbly then, the Hanako running the ship now acts a lot like Yui...” Wazu asked, “... I take it you have a thing for Hanako?"


The question caught Candon off guard. His back stiffened as he processed the question. The thought hadn't really crossed his mind since he had been laying on the dirt of Higaflan high on painkillers. Regardless it was a question for another time. He couldn't let this conversation focus on himself but he was impressed that the man caught him off guard. He relaxed and put on a wry grin , as he made an attempt to return the favor.

"Not quite, I'm more interested in you right now," he said so flatly it wasn't clear what he really meant, "how about Yui?"


"Everyone on a S-A-O-Y ship loves their captain." Wazu said, having come to terms with that a while ago... He shifted about a bit before continuing, "I started off as her science officer, she promoted me to Taisho, we started butting heads over fleet issues regarding deployment of Kessaku computers in the 4th fleet over QIS developed systems, then my mom ended up killed by Eve..."

Wazu shifted about again, deciding how much to share,

"... There are maybe a handful of people who could have ordered that hit, and even less who stood to gain from it. Yui must know who ordered it... but, she will not tell me. I assume because that butcher is a lot closer to her than I am... Honestly I am not sure what our relationship is right now. She ended up sticking her neck out for me during the last international relations conference... Maybe it is professional courtesy, Maybe she is just a shrewd and capable manipulator...

...She certainly is interesting..." Wazu sighed.


"Yeah, most political figures are. The corporate ones can be even worse," Candon agreed, "tell me about your military history. Where did you start and end?"


"A friend introduced me to the Qel'norans, started designing ships for them. Joined Yui's crew not long after the Qel'norans joined the star empire. After my mom died I ended up doing work all over the place before ending up on Nepleslia. By then I was not just a green officer." Wazu had straightened up again at this point, "I did not just build Nepleslia's fleet. I built their entire logistical infrastructure, trained crews, wrote their playbook, saved their collective race from extinction. If you want war stories I have plenty where we were able to win even while outnumbered and outgunned.

However the new administration after Davis' did not approve of my methods. I ended up with the Gartagens for a while after that but currently I am not working for them.

If this is a question of who I am working for, then I can truthfully say I am here to help Hanako.

Or if you are asking about my technical abilities, you can find equipment I helped design on just about any ship in the sector. Lorath, Nepleslian, Gartagen, even this ship has something you can trace back to me."


"That's a good reason for me to be concerned. If you have given so much for the galaxy why aren't you living in luxury?" Suites asked, "and while you're at it why not tell me specifically why you're here. For all I know you could have been helping the Kuvexians the same way you helped the Nepleslians.


"Is money all you are after in life?" Wazu's voice dripping with judgment, taking a moment to adjust his tone before continuing in his earlier, calmer, voice.

"... So why am I here? There are a few good answers to that. You can not just kill me, so Yui probably figures it is easier to keep me where I can be watched. I can not return home, so this is as good a place as any to stay. My lifestyle choices had gotten to the point where I did not trust myself to keep going..." Wazu chuckled a bit, "But the real reason I am here?...

... I need friends,

I tried changing things on my own, and the result was some nebulous success, Yamatai is not as hostile as it used to be and I like to think I played a part in that. However, if I keep doing this myself I might just end up eating a bullet for good. It does not matter how good I get at building empires or organizing fleets... People like Yui and Hanako can bring people together and I can not. .. if I am going to make a real change I am going to need people that trust me, not just those I can manipulate."


Candon rolled his eyes, if only he knew that SAINT Operatives don't get a pay raise...

"Okay then, Hero, let's get one thing straight. I- don't- like- heroes," he hissed with a quiet menace, "people like you generate more fallout with your personal crusades than you can possibly handle and it takes people like me to clean up the mess. So before you go making a difference in the galaxy consider reconsidering. If I get even the slightest feeling that you might endanger the captain, empire, or worse I will send you home in a type 35."

Candon rose from his seat. "Report to the bridge, Wazu-san. And watch your back." Snatching the dossier off the table he turned towards the door.

...

Candon would be long gone by the time Wazu would respond,

“Well... I could have handled that better...” He said to no one in particular as his datapad chirped, letting him know he had received a new message. He started going over in his head how to improve his pitch as he read what was sent to him, then composed a quick reply,

- Natsumi

You should check the spectragraph and see what is coming out of that ship's engines. If it matches what you saw last time then you should be able to confirm who the ship belongs to. It is very likely they all have similar engines and produce the same kind of exhaust.

I will back on the bridge shortly

- Wazu

Click to expand...

With that, he would head back to the bridge.

"Looking good, Aikiko," Candon complimented as he entered the PA bay, still obviously vexed, "I appreciate you being ready so quickly."

He made his way to his assigned station and opened the locker to deposit the thick folder he carried along with his side arms.

Bridge

Natsumi read wazu's response note and pulled up a new window on her station, bringing up the spectograph information on the engine exaust on both the possible colony ship and the warships they had previously encountered.

Thank you for the suggestion. Beginning comparison.

Click to expand...

She replied to Wazu.

Aikiko looked up, chewing on a sandwich she had grabbed from the Wardroom/Mess, she had made to take with her. She nodded taking note of the thick file Candon carried and placed in his personal locker here in the P.A Bay. She swallowed the mouthful of food.

"What's the scoop from the bridge?" Aikiko asked, ignoring the file she had seen. "What's gotten you so uptight, Suites-Hie?" She took another bite of her sandwich, finishing it off.

YSS Eucharis, Bridge

Umeshu returned the smile to Natsumi. "Mmm, I guess I'm just looking forward to our success today," she began with genuine enthusiasm, dutifully moving to assume her station at the main helm control station and align herself with the SPINE connection once more. With a pleased tingle that traveled up her nervous system, she took the barest moment to orient her newfound senses and spatial awareness of the battle fleet's current position in the Sbuhfaba system.

When the purple skinned operator heard that they had presumably identified a target, she was hopeful that it was one of the vessels that they sought. "Hai, working on it now. Subspace mass sensors definitely are reporting multiple non-Yamataian contacts with sizes close to our estimates of a Rixxikor colony vessel," Umeshu replied to her superior, using her idle moments not spent holding the flagship's position steady to contribute what she could to Yamashiro-chui's endeavors. This mainly involved combing through the sensor data Charisma had collected on the nearby unflagged vessels currently prowling this sector of space and assigning them a confidence level to significantly speed up the process of analysis. This was also made available to the bridge station next to her for the science officer Wazu to jump right into things when he returned.

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

The doors on the left side of the bridge hissed open and Hanako emerged, now dressed in her duty uniform. "Now that we have had a chance to look around, I think we can start approaching and hailing these ships," the Shosho suggested. She looked at the sensor displays for a moment. "It looks like the Rixxikor colony ship is heading to Nougfran system. I remember from the Mishhuvurthyar Wars, the system was a farm world much like Higaflan. If we want to talk to the Rixxikor, we should go there. It is possible the the colony ship may have some sort of escort like the last one did. The escorts could use the mass of the large colony ship to hide themselves."

YSS Eucharis - just outside of the Bridge

“Drei, would you mind finding out what Alert Condition 3 is exactly?” The datapad in hand quickly finding what he was looking for and providing a simple read-out for him on the face of the pad.

A few moments later he would be walking back onto the ship's bridge, glancing up from his data-pad to find the neko he had been working with earlier, quietly moving over to where she was before continuing,

“Natsumi, There are a few long-shot items I would like to take care of but I am not sure I have the authority to do so,” He said, tapping his finger on his chest where a rank pin wasn't.

“These ships have to have come from somewhere, and while there is not complete coverage sensor coverage around the old NMX territory our target ships may have passed by someone on the way here. The S-A-o-Y has outposts and sensor networks in the area and along a few possible entry points into the area. Nepleslia also has a few towards the north-west that may have gotten lucky. The Ketsurui Military Sector also may have seen ships moving around that were not worth investigating at the time.”