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

Bridge

Natsumi nodded with agreement to the choosen path. She preferred the nonviolent option, especially when dealing with a possible opponent with such numerical superiority as the Rixxicore had. There could be millions of the insectoid creatures aboard the colony vessel. And while Natsumi had no doubt in mind that the Eucharis's aether cannon would make short work of many of them if it came down to it, she did not relish the thought of such a waste of life.

"Shosho, would you like me to accompany the inspection team? It may add some legitimacy to have an officer on the away team" the snowy haired neko volunteered.

Bridge

"You may go if you think it is a good idea," Hanako replied to Natsumi. Her face looked a bit pensive and concerned. "Whatever happens, do not allow yourself to be taken captive," she added. "Go down to the armor bay and get them moving."

YSS Eucharis, PA Bay

"Suites here," Candon identified over his communicator, "Akiashiro and I can roll out in five minutes but Akane-Hei is unaccounted for, Ma'am."

Bridge

Natsumi got up from her station. "Understood" she bowed to her admiral respectfully, taking to heart the order to be careful. The departed from the bridge and quickly made her way down through the ships passages.


Power Armor Bay

Arriving, she spotted Suites and Akiashiro, "I will be joining the inspection team" she announced as she quickly strod past the two armored soldiers. She was already in the process of removing her uniform as she reached her MINDY power armor.

It had been some time since Natsumi had taken her armor out. She was glad it had been one of the few to survive the destruction wrote upon the PA bay in their last mission.

The snowy haired neko triggered the suit to open up as she placed her neatly folded uniform and undergarments into a locker. She climbed into the suit, the familiar sensation of the MINDY's interior surrounding her as she settled into place and the thickly armored suit closed up around her.

The armor came so life as she took control and put on the helmet. Next Natsumi armed herself with a standard balanced weapons package before joining the other two.

"Shall we?" she knew they were short a person, but time was of the essence.

Bridge

Umeshu saw Natsumi hastily depart with the Shosho's blessing to lead the away mission, and she quietly said a prayer to Chiharu for the XO's safety. Now it was her turn to be the support for her fellow Neko in engaging the Rixxikor once more. Hopefully things would turn out alright, as they did at the BBQ mission... but the stakes were also much higher this time, too.

Hashimoto-chui turned back to her work, giving a polite nod of her purple-haired head to the Nepleslian scientist sitting next to her at the forward console as if to reassure his seeming nervousness that things were well in hand. While Wazu worked on planetary surveying, the operator's instincts told her to put out some feelers on the SIGINT side of things, taking a look at the frequency the recent insulting communication from the Rixxikor was sent on and seeing if there was any other channels or transmission methods of note that the colony ship was broadcasting or receiving on. Considering the bug-men's chaotic and sloppy nature, surely some unsecured data could be picked up on by the Eucharis's impressive sensor cluster... and that might give them a better clue where other ships might be located. Umeshu's passing familiarity with the channels the Kuvexian cruiser communicated on during their brief skirmish also gave at least one good pattern to look for.

P.A Bay

Aikiko was surprised to see Natsumi enter the Power Armor bay, instead of Akane. She listened to the newly promoted XO and scrambled into her Mindy. As it closed up around her, feeling the spine connection and the Manipulator Arm set make their connections. The transition was much easier as she was used to it and fluids from the Manipulator Arms were bio-geared just for her. She could feel the increase production of fluid within her to provide the extra hydraulics fluids for the arms. She was turning into a Mishu/NMX Squid or a female version of 'Doc Oct' from an old antique Spiderman comic book.

Once fully encased within her Mindy, and doing a quick communications with the ship's MEGAMI. She looked around the P.A. Bay to make sure she left nothing out or unsecured.

"Akiashiro-Itto is ready, XO." She sent to Natsumi as she updated her combat computer not to fire any weapons, slaved to the Mindy, to fire upon Natsumi.

She kept the manipulator arms retracted till needed. She did a pre-combat check on herself to make sure she had everything with her for the foray into hostile territory.

Bridge

"We should have Suites place a tracking device and bug their ship where appropriate." He said, his head turning just in time to catch Umeshu's slight nod. He nodded back, keeping his own feelings about the operation close to his chest, his attention returning back to his datapad.

YSS Eucharis, PA Bay

Candon's stomach turned as Natsumi announced that she was joining. The former guard immediately identified her as a VIP, the thought of bringing her into the confines of a ship filled to the brim with aggressive aliens physically pained him. He would protest if he had any authority. He began the process of suiting up with a long, deep breath.

Once he was wrapped in the second skin that was his power armor he remotely swapped the countermeasure pods for offensive pods and proceeded to the armory station to return his aether rifle. He needed to rethink his choice in weapons, crowd control would be the key to any battle on the ship. He grabbed a flame thrower by the tank and slid it into the open mount on his left shoulder and then shouldered an SMG, attaching the power cable to his right arm. While most people would neither notice nor care a soldier who had worked alongside him would probably notice the difference in how he held the compact machine gun.

With his helmet still off he looked to Aikiko.
"Alright," he spoke like a drill sergeant, "This colony ship will be filled to the brim with bugs and now we're escorting a VIP. The halls will be very confining, I'll take lead in any tight spaces. Chui I need you to follow Akiashiro closely but stay between us. Itto-hei, stay on our XO, if something happens I want you to lead Chui Yamashiro into space. I don't care how or at what cost, there is no safe place on that ship. I'll cover the escape but I'm following you so keep an eye on every possible exit and don't be afraid to improvise. Just in case, I need your armor equipped with a teleporter, Chui Yamashiro. Also, Rixxicor are filthy, odds are that the air in that ship will choke death itself. Keep your helmet sealed and vents closed at all times. The air in your helmet came from Eucharis, that's where it'll be returned. Questions, anyone?"

Meanwhile, in Engineering...

"...Therefore, it sounds like a matter of structural integrity to me." Jax explained to his FAR. Truly his only companion down here. They'd been conversing over the past few minutes about Candon's new toy. Jax grinned. He could totally make a version that worked, patent it, and start rolling in the dough.

That would be such a dick-move! Totally worth seeing Candon's reaction, though. Even if it possibly meant loss of life or limb.

"So a problem in the wiring? Too much current, too fast?" she asked.

"No, the power surge is necessary in order to heat the grill fast enough to get the grenade off. I think it's more in the grill. When the grill fails, the system fails in turn," Replied the engineer, who propped his feet up on the console and placed his hands behind his head. "Using the armor's power core to heat a piece of metal is like using an atom bomb to heat up leftovers."

"Nice... analogy...?"

"Shut up. So anyways, say the metal could withstand the rapid spike in temperature without malfunctioning. Maybe we could make a grill out of yamataium? I know its expensive, but its regenerative qualities are second to none. It might be able to sustain the temperatures, and then heal itself after cool-down."

"What about... oh, what was it...?" his FAR thought a moment. "Oh! Theralis? It's an excellent conductor, and it becomes flexible when a current runs though it. It would be able to bounce the projectile off like a trampoline."

"Nuh-uh! I'd get slapped silly if I ever tried to put in a requisition for a batch of quasicrystal! No, let's stick in the realms of normal here. Cost effectiveness is still a major factor..." Jax mumbled. And with that, Engineering fell silent as the occupants entered deep thought.

Power Armor Bay

Natsumi smiled behind the facemask of her armored helmet. She found the different treatment of her now that she was XO interesting. If she had still been the ships operations officer, she knew she would have just been treated as another soldier attached to the mission.

"Don't worry, this isn't my first rodeo, Suites-Hei" she replied to the infantry man, thinking back to her time in armor, including her very first mission, as part of an assault on an NMX space station when she had first been posted to the Eucharis. "I have a teleporter and I want both of you to have them as well. If things go sour I am not leaving anyone behind"

P.A. By

"Aweee, I wanted to squish few bugs." Aikiko blurted out, then fell quiet.

She scrambled to the storage locker and snagged a teleporter. Then attached it just below the manipulator arms set. She had to use the arms to get it attached properly and power connected. She charged up the teleporter's capacitors and programmed in an automatic response if/when certain conditions were met. Otherwise she could give the command herself to return to Eucharis P.A Bay open area where a Team Leader could have the troops assemble in full gear for pre-combat checks. She paused by the explosive locker and snagging several satchel charges. Explosives always make a good force equalizer and with wearing Mindy's, they would be well protected. Maybe tossed around a bit, but not splattered like the Rixxicor will be.

"Let's get the show on the road, Su... huh... by your command, Chui. I'm ready." Aikiko remembering Natsumi being present and part of the team.

Med Lab

Taharial had not left the Medical for a while, only to sleep, the message was at the forefront of her mind.

She needed something to take her mind off it and quickly "What can I do, I really need to forget this" she starts playing with medical equipment, she picked up a scalpel then put it straight down "Not touching that without others here."

Bridge

"Good idea," Hanako said. "I am not sure what sort of equipment we have to actually do that, but you should pass the idea along to him. I am sure that, as a SAINT member, he has something suitable."

Meanwhile Umeshu's listening was turning up a lot of transmissions. The Rixxikor ship was actually quite noisy on the radio spectrum. It appeared the Rixxikor had discovered SYNC and were anonymously downloading things off the Yamataian civilian networks like games and music, and basically attempting to troll anyone they met online. Also there were some long-range transmissions between their ship and other Rixxikor ships, plus a few unknown protcols, encrypted traffic, and alien language voice chats that were not translatable.

Bridge

"I have something in mind already," Wazu replied as he typed up his message for Mr Suites.

P.A. Bay YSS Eucharis

Aikiko looked at Suites like he just grew another head, through the transparent faceplate of her helmet. ~~ "Leave MY weapons behind?! You're friggen nutzo!"~~ She sent via telepathy to Candon as she froze in place looking at him. ~~ "Ride piggyback with the Chui. Or I can carry another teleporter with me." ~~ The look turned into a her usual stoic neutrality with a tinge of a glare.

Then she moved to Suites to help remove the teleporter device, snagging a carry-all for the device, if he decides to remove it.

YSS Eucharis, PA Bay

Suites had indeed swapped his cannon's magazine extention for a teleporter. He didn't want to be in that ship any longer than was absolutely necessary. He nodded affirmatively to the Chui's request as his datapad chirped from his station locker informing Candon of a new message. Not wanting to reopen his locker, Candon pulled up a holographic image of his datapad's screen using his suit's projector as it accessed the device remotely.

Zack said:

Bridge


"I have something in mind already," Wazu replied as he typed up his message for Mr Suites.

Code:

Suites,


Can I have you bring along some spare communicators?


I was hoping you could bug the bug ship with them.

I can upload the necessary tracking software during

the operation to follow their ship if they leave the area.


-Wazu

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It was a good idea. Suites was simply going to use a SAINT issue hacking program on a computer terminal, a program that was capable of downloading straight through the PANTHEON network the bugs were cluttering with nonsense and trolling. It would do the same thing with enough time but the communicator idea was much simpler and if he placed them well it would be more reliable. It was a really, really good idea.
I hate this guy...

He attempted to contact Mitsuko.
"Ittô Heisho Murakami, the mission requires type 36 communicators. Do we have any?"

1.2km out / 45 degrees below the stern of the YSS Eucharis

Ripples in subspace suddenly spiked in a small locale, no doubt triggering an unprovoked sensor data text dump on the screens of the large ship above's c&c interface. It soon coalesced into a short spark of blue and white light, dumping the diminutive humanoid figure of a Mindy 2 back into realspace with a rather anticlimactic slow jolt. The lack of combat speed was obviously to avoid provocation, but the equipment was a little weird; Bayoneted A/S SMG, fold booster, and what looked like... Maybe a Lamia shield?...

No verbal communication. Their FOF unit blinked into life as friendly, landing lights gave them a brief heads up, and an infra-red com stream gave the cruiser above the briefest possible identification packet through the WIES.

Code:

"Nito-Hei Tsuguka Toyoe reporting, as denoted on the transfer order. I am equipped for continued operations if necessary, over."

It was certainly by the book, but... Sometimes doing things that mechanically minded had a way of arousing suspicion in itself.

Bridge

Umeshu studied the results streaming in from the communications sweep with a little bit of a sigh. It seemed whatever the Rixxikor touched just always seemed to go downhill fast, and now they were mucking about on Yamataian civilian networks with reckless abandon. She felt sorry for the countless people online getting insulted just like her dear Shosho did a moment before. Thank goodness they were locked out of more secured military systems like PANTHEON or who knows what might happen...

However, it wasn't all fun and games... there were things that were worth checking out more deeply, namely the long-range transmissions and unrecognizable voice chatter, some of which was encrypted. She gently passed this along to Wazu's datapad,

Wazu-san,

A sweep of communications of the colony vessel has produced some interesting results. I'm sending them your way now. There's definitely evidence they are communicating long range with other colony vessels, and someone else on a secure channel, perhaps Kuvexian? It may be possible to track down the origins of these signals and get a better idea of distance and location from us, ne?

-Umeshu

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It was about that moment that the disturbance in hyperspace was noted by the ship's sensors, and the helmswoman immediately snapped into alert mode thinking her probing had caused some kind of reaction from the Rixxikor ship. Thankfully, it was only the after effects of a Mindy teleportation module, as a solitary friendly infantry reinforcement had appeared. Still, it was a little suspicious on the timing of it. The purple-haired Chui dutifully patched their message through to Hanako, adding politely, "Shosho, a Mindy 2 PA has just teleported into close range. FOF identifies as infantrywoman Nito-Hei Tsuguka Toyoe. She is requesting permission to join the operation as per transfer order..."

Bridge

"Oh! The red one," Hanako smiled. "She's definitely welcome back! Having another member of the armor team would be welcome." Hanako had admired Tsuguka's rigor and focus.

Bridge

Umeshu nodded to Hanako and returned her smile. The armor team did need more manpower, indeed, and better someone whom the Captain trusted. She didn't waste time before hailing the soldier floating outside:

Hashimoto-Chui to Tsuguka-Hei, transfer order confirmed. Hanako-shosho is pleased to have you aboard once more. Okaeri nasai!

Yamashiro-chui and the rest of the armor team are currently making final preparations to deploy, you are clear to proceed through the PA bay forcefields to join them.

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