RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 27, Part 1] Expanding Horizons (YE 39)

YSS Eucharis, PA Bay
Masumi would notice that Candon was already out of the room. He actually hadn't been there for hours. The odd man had chosen to spend the night in his armor, hanging from the rack and plugged into SAINT's network combing through terabytes of Intel. He couldn't sleep anyway, it seemed like the next logical step in putting his time to good use until receiving Saiga's summoning. After a quick shower Candon would enter the-

Wardroom

"That's Jax for you," Candon chimed in between Jax and Saiga, " this guy performed a modification to my M2 that saved my life. He's always coming up with something."

YSS Eucharis, Bridge

The intercom came on. "Bridge, this is Victory, it looks like we have everyone aboard who should be here and all the supplies we requested are now loaded. I am closing up the ship."

"Excellent," Hanako replied. She dialed the local starport departure frequency. "Tower this is STAR ARMY EUCHARIS NG-X1-408 requesting takeoff. Transmitting course data."

"Roger, STAR ARMY EUCHARIS, your route is approved and you are cleared for departure. Safe travels," a flight controller replied after a brief pause.

Hanako grabbed the joysticks at her station and manually lifted the ship into the air and began following a line projected onto the main viewscreen, which was the start of the long course Takao had just created. Throughout the ship there was a noticeable lurch in the gravity as the ship left the ground and sped up into the sky in a way that suggested Hanako was rather enthusiastic about getting back into space.

"Retract landing gear," Hanako ordered.

YSS Eucharis
Bridge

Takao nodded and 'plugged' himself in to the ship and retracted the landing gear. He stayed plugged for a moment before disconnecting to turn back to report, even though he thought to himself that she probably already knew, "Gear Retracting." He looked to his console, "Gear is now retracted." He turned all the way back forward and awaited Hanako's next order, if it was jump he would plug himself in.

In any case he sat calmly in his chair, watching the console feed him information.

Wardroom

"Then you must be head-over-heels to serve with Suites-heisho, here," Saiga chuckled upon Candon's entrance. The Chusa gave his fellow operative a respectful nod before he continued. "One of the Star Army's finest ninja."

With the Eucharis' takeoff he paused for a moment, swaying as the ship briefly heaved. Saiga had no need to brace himself, having long since learned to adjust his center of gravity during moments of turbulence. Indeed, the Chusa generally had no problem staying steady on his feet or in his chair even if the ship were hit by hostile fire, able to surf the deck with a familiarity only rivaled by Funky City's most frequent metro passengers.

"Maybe you can spend some time in the fabrication bay and show off a prototype later on," he added when the ship's ride was smooth again, the sounds of its landing gear folding still grinding through the hull. "I'm sure Suites-san would endorse a recommendation for development to SARA."

Medical Bay

Tan Ann Pan continued her work in silence, until pulling Masumi upright as soon as she started regaining consciousness--another habit retained from working in clinics where time very much was money. "Alright, on your feet... shuffle on... Who's next in line? It was Yuuki-hei, wasn't it?" She added to her latest patient, "By the way, we launched just a moment ago." Tan had been unprepared for the sudden lunch, but the backup was probably fine. No need to worry the patient.

Power Armor Bay

Having finished the mind backup, Masumi led herself out of the Sakura medical lab and went to the power armor bay, where her less than pristine Mindy was awaiting her. She put her hand against the new plates of armor on the chest and sighed out, then her eyebrows knit together and a determined smile spread across her face. She sent a message to Candon.

Candon,

Can we put a Gauss Canon on my empty left shoulder, an aether beam saber rifle as my empty handheld, and switch out my scalar pulse grenades with a type 29 butt pack outfitted with Type 31A survival kit? I seemed to need that quite a bit last time we were out in the field together.

-Masumi

Click to expand...

Medical Bay

Jackson's attempt to ease her worries brought a smile to her face. She nodded just before he walked away. The naivete of youth blinded her to the uncertainty in his voice.

Feeling hands around her waist suddenly, Freyja jumped a little and squealed in surprise. The soft cheek rubbing against her gave away the identity of the sneak hugger. She leaned back into Junko and closed her eyes. "I missed you so much." She muttered softly. The blue girl almost forgot where she was. She just stayed like that until she heard someone call her name.

Reluctantly she slipped out of Junko's arms and moved to the table. Before climbing onto it, she turned to look at Junko. She smiled, then climbed onto the bed. Her tail wrapped around her waist as she sat back. Freyja looked up at the new Doctor. "It's nice to meet you. You're much less terrifying than the Elysian we used to have." She said. "I feel sorry for Tsuguka-hei though. If Junko wasn't around I would be a wreck."

Wardroom

Jax's ears perked up slightly, and the engineer reached up to nervously scratch the back of his head. If Candon was a ninja, then he was an astrophysicist.

'Unless... his antisocial personality is all part of his cover! It's the perfect disguise! He must be a master! I wonder if he can do a triple backflip kick like that guy in Minor Konflict 9!"

"I, um, would love that! But it's still just a sketch on a datapad. I haven't even begun to figure out how I'll put it together."

YSS Eucharis, Wardroom

He only nodded to the Chusa's complement. He'd spent years learning the art of stealth, a study with no end. It was always nice to be praised by a fellow badass, especially one with a more distinguished career.

As the ship began to lift Candon wouldn't miss a beat. Too many launches to count had saturated his brain to the point where using his gravity organ to plant himself was a minor reflex.

"You could always submit a concept design to SARA, Jax. I hear the M2-4 was an answer to the requests of many starship crewmen and operators."

Medical Bay

"Impressive. Seldom am I called 'less terrifying'. I look forward to working with you." Tan Ann Pan addressed Freyja and Junko, both, this time. "Are your wills up to date? I always ask, because if not, it may cause trouble for the backups we're making, now." She hadn't been giving her full spiel, on the assumption that veteran Nekos were very familiar with what happened on the patient's side of this procedure.

<<Med-Bay>>

"Missed you more."

Junko sighed, a quiet thing that just brushed against Freyja's neck. Accepting that she couldn't squeeze Freyja for longer, she let go and let the blue neko do her backup. They still had to be professional on duty. Though, as Freyja looked back, Junko would give her a knowing wink.

They could always not miss each other later, in the sleeper unit.

"My paperwork is up to date, ma'am." Junko answered the doctor. She wasn't sure about terrifying or not. So far, she struck the soldier as someone down to earth and no-nonsense. Fitting traits for someone on a warship.

Medical Bay

"Alright, let's get started now." Tan Ann Pan started up the procedure again, for Freyja, this time. Most of the queue had dispersed, and Tan had high hopes for a lunch break in her future. "Looks good. We won't be too long, Hasegawa-Hei." It was safe enough to say for the younger Nekos, their minds were made to be highly compatible with the Soul Transfer technology, after all. And each other, Tan thought with a smile.

Medical Bay

"Not buried yet!" she replied cheerfully to Jax, before resuming her patient wait in line behind the near swarm of occasionally amorous nekos. Even though they were leaving behind the cold Yamtai winter for the climate controlled, she had decided to put on her comfortable knit Type 30C uniform top for at least another day out of comfort's sake.

Wardroom

Jax shrugged.

"True," he replied after some thought. "But before I can get rolling on this, I still gotta build the other two things on my list."

Of course, he was referring to The Parking Brake and Valhalla, but since the backstory behind those two creations was sort of embarrassing, and he wasn't sure how Saiga would react to learning that the ship had been stolen before, he decided not to go into detail.

Zero-G Corridor -> Wardroom

Tsuguka could still feel it, the gravel crunching under her boots on the way up to the launch ramp. Take off was no more special to her at this point than slipping into a new pair of clothes, but in hindsight it did come across as strange in retrospect that she barely noticed it at all now. It probably did not help that the Eucharis was now, from her perspective, quite an old ship, too. She wondered how long it would be, before she saw the onyx-black hull of the Provisional Distraction Yacht No.1 again...

No trouble getting to the Wardroom. A lightfooted gait propelled her along, just enough gravity manipulation to make ignoring the turbulence a breeze. Examined this new black-haired commander from a distance, before making a respectful nod towards Candon, Jax and him in turn. Distinctive braided pigtails were back and jangling rhythmically. Volumetric? A crisp Type 35 uniform, infantry blue and preened to perfection.

"It is an honor to meet you, Chusa." A dry voice, highly silhouetted green eyes peering out from a statuesque red-skinned form. Tsuguka had the body language of someone constantly expecting to get in a sword fight. Cold, observant, but also internally brooding. A communication pad was produced from under left armpit and held out before her, giving a precise update of the amount of time she had spent small craft training in the last month. There was close to a full week's worth. "You are here for the reorganization of the power armor team? Please let me know if you need additional information. Hanako allows for quite a high degree of autonomy in some respects, and there is often no one assigned to record any personal training undertaken in one's free time. Nito Hei Mehitabel Calidius may prove helpful, but, truth be told, they are also rather new."

No mental backup yet, Tsuguka reminded herself. Plenty of time to do it on the journey. Current situation would not benefit from thinking about Taharial.

Bridge

"Now that we are in space, we should find ways to occupy ourselves as we wait to reach to our next stop," Shosho Hanako noted. "At least some of these activities should be useful to honing our skills," the elf-eared admiral grinned. "At the same time I also feel like we should also be trying to create a more cohesive crew dynamic...that is, getting everyone to know one another and getting them used to working as a group. Maybe we should do a truth or dare game," she pondered. It had been a while.

Wardroom

At the thought of the Parking Break, Jax suddenly had an epiphany. What if he'd been going about it the wrong way?! What if the solution could be so much simpler?!

He excused himself from the conversation and moved away towards the zero-g

"Shosho, it's Howard," he hailed on his communicator. He swallowed a bit from his excitement. "Requesting permission to enter the bridge. There's something urgent I must speak to you about. A new idea I came up with that would better protect our ship in the future."

He could have just explained it over comms, but he felt it would be better to show, and if his idea was accepted, he could implement it right there on the bridge.

XO's Cabin

Yamashiro Natsumi had had herself a quiet and relaxing shore leave. She had not gone off on a trip or on any adventures, just found herself a comfortable hotel to stay at and rest and do as absolutely little as possible. Now the time for relaxation was over and she was back aboard the Eucharis, which she could already feel through the vibrations in the deck, was lifting off into space.

The snowy haired neko folded up the civilian clothing she had been wearing and put it away, exchanging it for one of her uniforms, her white paneled type 22 bodysuit. She pulled the form hugging suit on, up over her long legs and torso before slipping her arms into the sleeves and zipping up the front of the uniform. With everything adjusted, Natsumi slipped on her uniform boots and strapped on her belt with its holstered NSP and communicator. Lastly, she affixed her rank pins and badges, making sure all were lined up properly where they were supposed to go, before heading out of her cabin, grabbing her peaked cap on the way out.


Bridge

Passing through the command center threshold as the doors hissed open for her, Natsumi paused, bowing to Hanako respectfully,

"Yamashiro Taii reporting back to duty" the executive officer said as she straightened and smiled at Hanako, stepping fully into the bridge. "I hope your leave went well and was relaxing" she smiled and assumed her station, slipping into her chair comfortably.

Medical Bay

After Freyja was done, it was her turn to wait while Junko's mind backup was created and stored. She led them back both together at the front of the bay, afterward, and gave them both a vigorous shake of the wrist, at once. "All done, you two are ready for anything."

She turned to look at Mehitabel, next. "Are you looking to use the MTBU, too?" That wasn't usually her first question, but last year's sensitivity training seemed to override old habits, this time. It was advised to be careful when discussing mind uploading with an Elysian!

Shiho on duty:

While many had taken to the med bay, or the mess hall: Shiho was down a few decks doing some weightlifting. It had taken her about a minute or two to get in the ship, change into the exercise uniform and disappear to where it was quiet. She'd heard the recommendation to get the mind backups done, but she also remembered the last one she'd had done. The one in the break, just before the trip out to the western frontier with Tsuguka.

The trip she would prefer to not remember if given the option.

Who knew that death could ever be a potential blessing? Really, she was exercising just to keep her mind off stuff. Like her giant slabs of chrome that were worth enough to finally get out of the service, and here she was! Back on the death ship! Stupid Shiho, stupid! Great job going back to work at your not so great job. It was a small comfort to say she was here to help Mehitabel. She'd come to the conclusion that if the Elysian was slowly killing herself with sleep deprivation to work this place, the least Shiho could do is stay there and help her out for this one last mission.

At least they'd get a few days in space, before their next encounter with whatever those things were called. The guys in gold? And if the last one was any indication, as well as Hanako's reckless reputation, it would just be another fifteen minutes of hell before having to go back to port for more shore leave while the ship was repaired.