RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 27, Part 3] Expanding Horizons II (YE 39)

Medical Bay

"Go get cleaned up," Candon told Masumi, having himself already showered and clothed. Masumi nodded and slipped past him while Candon told Bronzi, "When you're all done cleaning yourself up, go to the wardroom for the debrief. Oh, and leave her alone." He looked to Natsumi and back to Bronzi and then was out of the med bay. Candon came into the wardroom through the main passageway and wordlessly took a seat in the booth next to the bookroom. Just a few minutes later, Masumi slid into the seat next to him with her hair bundled up in a wet bun and her duty uniform on.

Bronzi grunted and pointed at Victory in her hemosynth tube. "Maybe you shoulda left Victory-San alone." Bronzi's voice was no longer warm like when he spoke to Masumi.

Armor Bay

Wazu started unhooking his voidwalker pressure suit, leaving his stuff in the Gartagen armor for the time being.

He was worried about Natsumi... the near insurrection that took place was certainly an issue. He would need to decide where he stood, how to deal with Saiga, how best to navigate the conflicting loyalties between Freyja and Natsumi. The Kuvexians already seemed to have the upper hand here, they seemed to be in control of the narrative... or at least Yamatai was not. The soldiers seem themselves as killers first, and....

... that was when it hit him.

They had maybe ten minutes to shower and get ready for the debriefing. Wazu had already wasted almost have of that just standing there. The battle was not over, after the fact there was a narrative to seize and an intiative to take. If he wanted to be able to help anybody, he needed to be in control of the situation, and in order to be in control of the situation he needed to be the first to submit their mission report. With a clear objective in mind, the rest started falling into place, how he would frame the earlier events, his recomendations, his methods of manipulating things far beyond just the Eucharis.

He would ball up his pressure suit, and toss it up into the top of the Hierophant... the suit floping against the top hatch.

He'd come back for it later.

Wazu would start entering commands on his datapad, while heading directly for the wardroom

----


Hanako,

Included below is my after-action report:



After Action Report: 2日 4月 YE 39: Heram Wazu

The mission started with deployment of an armor team by shuttle to an exterior airlock of the machine-world encountered by the Eucharis.

The initial docking was hampered by a hostile robot located just inside of the area covered by the airlock. It opened fire immidiately, resulting in loss of the T8 shuttle 'golden apple'. The armor team would neutralize the hostile robot, and then proceeded with recovery operations for the shuttle's pilot.

At the time, the Gartagen Hierophant armor was too large to make use of the airlock, so it would remain on the exterior of the planet while searching for a larger access point, while the armor team proceeded to move forward.

At this point the armor team's cohesion was hampered by being split between the interior and the exterior of the airlock. Though the team was able to access the airlock controls and resolve this while laying down supressive fire on another hostile deeper within the structure the airlock provided access to.

Following this, a group of Rixxikor were encountered. Natsumi proceeded to speak with their leader, to pull HUMINT from this asset 'Frixxaqz'.

Increasing number of Rixxikor moved into close proximity to the armor team. The armor team reacted with lethal force as per their Close Quarters Combat training. This resulted in Frixxaqz deploying a device and withdrawing as well as with Natsumi being injured by friendly fire, likely due to weapon over-penitration from the armor team's weapon fire.

A mission abort was called for, and the team withdrew while under attack from additional hostile robots that arrived shortly after Frizzaqz left.

---

Conclusion:

Mission did not achive desired results due to an engagement with the Rixxikor. This can be attributed to a number of factors, however the main cause seems to be the armor team's training focus on fire-team tactics where a first response is lethal force. Cross-training in COIN tactics would have given the armor team better options to react to Rixxikor in close proximity.


Secondary:

Less-powerful armor team weapons should be considered for these operations. Rixxikor and other unarmored targets could be rapidly incapacitated with considerably less powerful weapons, reducing the likelyhood of friendly fire in confined spaces.

The T7 shuttle 'golden apple' will need to be replaced. Injuries to the pilot could have been avoided by the pilot of the shuttle wearing powered armor. A larger area for deployment from the shuttle, or simply a forcefield enclosed rear 'shelf' area instead of the fully-enclosed pressurized capsule could also make better use of avalible space inside the Eucharis as well as provide additional capabilities for the shuttle itself. A forcefield-enclosed-pressurized-bubble would also be useful for these kinds of space-to-pressurized enviroment operations.

Supply and medical recovery drones should also be considered, as they would free up the armor team to deal with hostiles. Enclosed is a suggested design.

Medbay

Bronzi turned back to Natsumi, and pressed his hand to the tube. She was tuning out the world now. The whole ordeal was hard. Bronzi had seen people break after this. He went through it once, a long time ago.

"I ain't vureh gewd at dis. But uh. Ya did everything right. Not a bad call. Dis wasn't yer fault. I'm sorreh I wasn't there fer ya. I'd have taken that shot. I wish it was meh ratha den you in dis tube.

Bronzi then turned and left the medbay. Trudged to the showers and stripped. Not saying a word as he cleaned his body, the blood from his wound swirling down the drain as he cleaned the failure off of his blue skin. He thrashed his tail, gathered his kit and cleaned it too. He then redressed back into his personal armor, and dressed his wound.

Afteraction Report Bronzi, Ujia - Hand of Empress Vishta

The mission began with the order to board the shuttle. When the shuttle bay docked at a docking port, the port hatch was then opened by the team. The team was immediately fired on by a hostile enemy unit, an automated defense drone of some kind. I secured the commanding officer from enemy fire and we evacuated the shuttle. The XO reacting to the team taking fire reflexively called for a counter attack. Some of the team reacted accordingly and attacked. During the fight Taii Natsumi gave the order to fall back, to which most of the team did save those engaged.

Masumi-San verbally refused the order. Not wishing to abandon the team in the face of the enemy. The team subsequently disabled the enemy automaton and proceeded to retreave Victory-San from the crashed shuttle. They then proceeded into the Mega-structure. The Heirophant was too large to follow so we remained on station to protect the exist and collect samples and artifacts.

Apparantly some Rixxihor appeared, and Natsumi-Taii gave a blanket order for no aggressive movements towards them. Verbal exchange took place, and the Rixxihor began asking for food. We received orders and a field comission from Natsumi-Taii. We followed our orders and went as swiftly as we could listening to the events unfold rather than seeing them. I inquired for a sitrep. Natsumi-Taii informed me she had been shot, by friendly fire.

The call to abort was issued, I was ordered by Saiga-Chusa to rearguard duty while the team evacuated the area. We returned to the ship.

Secondary:

Much of what happened was the result of inflexible training and misplaced loyalty. Not following of orders compromised the authority of the CO in the field and resulted in a case of friendly fire when an order of non aggression had been given.

Power Armour Bay -> Bridge

Tan Ann Pan couldn't find anything else serious. At least, not from a Yamataian point of view. The burns on Freyja's back would have baseline humans well-unhinged from the pain without combat meds, but for a Nekovalkyrja, it was nothing to write home about. Still, she had a can of bandage spray out, and she was ready to use it. "Present for treatment, please, Nitô Hei."

A few seconds later, a layer of cornflower blue air-permeable plastic, containing nano-tech medicine configured to treat just such burns, and promote a sense of calm and well-being, had been layered evenly over the site of the injury, much as the medic had intended to do for Natsumi, earlier. Though, for this wound, there was less need to focus on stopping blood loss. "All done."

Tan Ann Pan looked around the remaining infantry in the bay to confirm they had no visible injuries their suits hadn't detected, packed up her kit and put it away, and headed off to the showers. A detour to the medical center didn't seem to be in order, the only sign anyone needed her there was a track of deep red blood that quite clearly didn't belong to anyone she'd identified. She imagined she could guess who it belonged to.

She had better things to do than wrangle with medical escapees. Rather than follow the blood trail, she checked her data feeds from the treatments already in progress, decontaminated herself for good measure, and once outfitted just as she had been before reaching the armour bay--just with a few new bruises, none visible--moved on toward the bridge, stiffly.

After she was granted entry, she stepped in and saluted, beginning her report immediately.

"Five casualties to report. Nito Heisho Victory: Non-hostile death. Taii Yamashiro Natsumi: Severely wounded. Chusa Nicholas Saiga: Moderately wounded. Nito Hei Freyja Yuuki: Moderately wounded. Unspecified Gartagen: Moderately wounded.

"Nito Heisho Victory initially suffered from whiplash and a slipped vertebra. During a hasty evacuation, she was burned by backscatter, and briefly exposed to vacuum. Cause of death was hypovolemic shock. Several factors contributed, but major burns were the deciding one. She remained intact, and received treatment without further complications. I expect a full recovery, though partial download may be required due to internal hemorrhaging.

"Taii Yamashiro Natsumi's abdomen was penetrated by one 50 mm tungsten dart, which rebounded inside her armour. The injury was not immediately life-threatening, and Nekovalkyrja vascular compartmentalization mitigated the initial damage. Although no other shots penetrated, subsequent shocks, movement, and decompression have placed her in critical condition. Shrapnel from her armour is embedded in her right arm and collar, and she has many other fragmentation wounds.

"Chusa Nicholas Saiga was wounded in the leg, but remains mobile. I have not yet been able to assess his injuries. Nito Hei Freyja Yuuki suffered significant second and some third degree burns, but will heal normally within six to eight hours and is not impaired. Quantities of blood consistent with moderate injury were left in the power armour bay. The blood does not appear to be Geshrin or Yamataian, it appears consistent with Gartagen physiology."

She remained at attention with her report completed, not thinking or blinking, though with her glasses opaque the precaution might have been somewhat redundant.

PA Bay-> Medbay

By the time Freyja got to the ship her wound had already stopped bleeding. She didn't want to bother Tan with her injuries. Natsumi needed help much more than she did. She stripped off her armor and started to head off to her cabin but the medic stopped her. At this point, she was too upset by the sight of Natsumi to protest. After the treatment was applied she bowed her head wordlessly, pulled herself together and went to get a shower before the debriefing.

Showers -> Wardroom

As the hot water washed over her she started sobbing. She finished her shower and just stood there letting what had happened sink in. The deaths of the Rixxikor didn't bother her. In fact, she recalled the joy that she had felt as her Aether Saber had sliced through the insectoid flesh. What does that make me? She wondered.

I am a soldier. My job is to kill the enemy. The Rixxikor are the enemy. She told herself, although she sounded unsure. They were disgusting, but they were definitely sentient even if they didn't have the obvious superiority Yamatai had. Unfortunately, due to that superiority, she had a digital brain and that meant she could never use "I forgot" as an excuse. She had around five minutes to get dressed and report to the Wardroom.

Freyja dressed quickly and started working her way to the Wardroom. Fumiko would know better than to bother them during the debriefing. At least that was Freyja's hope. She didn't know if she could even look at her daughter right now. It was hard enough having to look the Shosho in the eye after this. Maybe keeping Fumiko on the ship isn't such a good idea, she thought. Normally she would never even dream of disobeying a direct order. Of course, normally she didn't have to refrain from shooting the enemy either, let alone allow them to grope her looking for food.

None of that was any excuse, she knew. She knew what she had to do. If she was to have any chance of staying on the Eucharis she would have to tell Hanako exactly what happened, leaving out no detail. And hoping she was in a forgiving mood can't hurt, she thought.

Bridge

Hanako listened to and read the various reports carefully as they started to come in. "Thank you, Pan-hei," Hanako nodded to the ship's medic. "The Gartagen's name is Bronzi," she added. Bizarrely, Hanako noticed that none of the reports had mentioned it was Tan herself who had used guns to open the shuttle, putting Victory in a much worse situation. Perhaps they were all trying to protect Pan. They all must like her, she thought to herself with a smile. "It sounds like no one was permanently lost. Good work," the Shosho said. "I will see you in the wardroom."

Wardroom

Moments later, Hanako approved in the wardroom, which was starting to fill with the ship's crew. She stopped for a moment and looked out the ship's one window. In future ships I hope they put the wardroom on the ventral side so we can see what we are orbiting, she mused, feeling all too aware that some 100 kilometers below them was an object of immense size, resources, and perhaps power.

"The orders I gave were to conduct an away mission to gather intelligence on the metal planet," Hanako began. "In brief, what did you find out when you went down there? I would like a list of discoveries. Anyone may answer."

Eucharis, PA to Medbay

Junko stopped as Freyja just bolted away like she'd gotten an electric shock. Hands curled in on themselves as she tried to work out what was going on. Not enough information to reach any kind of conclusion. But she seemed... upset, distressed?

Grabbed a bandage strip and slapped it on her arm. The cut was largely a non-problem, and she didn't bother making noise about the minor bruises and burns. Mindy armor could protect her from harm, but it couldn't stop every bit of kinetic or heat energy. As it was, she'd lucked out in terms of personal injury this time.

Even if she'd lost an arm, though, it wouldn't have occupied her thoughts as much as someone else. Right now, she was Junko the Person not Junko the Weapons Platform.

Showers -> Wardroom

It would have been a good idea to go in here to clean up anyways. Then she remembered Freyja would be present, naked and wet.

She wisely chose a different stall. Maybe their would be a better time and place. Assuming, of course, Freyja didn't come to the ultimate conclusion of "Get the hell out of my life, you asshole." Still a reasonable, possible response whenever they got around to that discussion.

And then she heard the sobbing. Even with the water running, she heard that distinct gasp-whine. Ears pricked and swivelled, getting the direction to verify. That hurt like no amount of enemy fire could have.

And here she was, too chicken shit to go over and say something.

Instead, Freyja would find a still fluffy-haired Junko waiting near the door. Silently, she'd follow her to the Wardroom. Just... watching her out of the corner of her eye, brow tight with concern. When she had a moment, she reached over to brush her arm.

Are you okay?

Bronzi made his way into the ward room. He had managed to stuff his wound full of gauze so that he wasn't leaving a trail of dark crimson all over the ship.

This was his first time meeting Hanako. The Yamataian Admiral had some fame amoung his people as well as with his new home - yamatai. So he was some what star struck and unable to figure out how to behave. He entered the room and bowed. "Permission ta enteh tha ward room Shosho-Sama? He said giving a soft respectful bow to Hanako.

"And uhhh...I think I heard somethin about the Rixx sayin them botz weren't from dat mega-station. But dun quote meh."

Bridge -> Wardroom

Tan nodded and left the bridge. She had the same destination and schedule, but it was awkward to make that obvious, so she went down to the recreation area and idly flipped through display channels on her glasses before returning to the wardroom, behind the captain.

She sat down and leaned forward to show interest in the debriefing, though there was nothing for her to add. Her only brush with the station had been when she'd collided with it at the end of her fall, and there was nothing she could have learned there which wasn't more easily reported by the ship's sensors.

As far as Tan was concerned, this part of the debriefing only served to demonstrate how badly the mission had failed, before leading up to why and how. She didn't expect the others to be able to mitigate the effect, and presumed Hanako already knew this.

For the past half-century, at least, Tan had been fatalistic enough to show little concern when mistakes had already been made. If she'd bothered to think about it, she'd have recalled she'd been in a cold sweat up until everything had gone wrong, and since then she'd been very relaxed. In a sense, her fears for the day had already been realized--albeit more completely than she'd ever anticipated--and waiting for the other shoe to drop had lost its luster.

She was still waiting for that shoe to drop, of course. It'd have been foolish not to. In the meantime, she continued to look interested. She was certain the captain wouldn't appreciate any hint of boredom or resignation.

Wardroom

Wazu would remain by the door, standing but out of the main path so he could watch people come in without having to take his eyes of Hanako.

The narrative seemed to be seized. The first question was about results rather than about who did what. The next steps seemed simple, so long as no one incriminated themselves this might just work.

"We did recover numerous robot parts from the surface. We will be able to perform a materials analysis on them tonight, and we should have more information on them in the morning.

From the discussion with the Rixxikor, it did sound like the control system that is in place for the facility below is not currently running. That does seem to imply that the robots are either not from this place, or are running on some kind of autopilot.

The Rixxikor also employed a flashing device during the encounter that, at the time, I thought was an explosive. They departed the area rapidly, and more of the robots arrived looking to attack. While I did not recover the device used, I do think we should have a SIGINT unit deployed here. If they were able to manipulate the robots near the surface, then we should be able to as well.

... I am making the assumption that the robots do not belong to the Rixxikor, as they seemed to be in conflict with one another. If the Rixxikor did build them then I think we will not easily be able to spoof them, but from past experience I think that this is an unlikely scenario."

Wazu's arms were crossed in-front of his chest, and he wasn't too worse for ware due to being inside of several layers of suits during the operation... but he was as robotic and tense as ever.

Wardroom

Saiga had been quietly filing his mission report from a booth seat as the others entered and gave their statements to Hanako. He'd respectfully stood and given her a bow, of course, but otherwise remained focused on his work. The admiral's question had been straightforward and to the point, which meant he didn't need to hurry and answer her, instead letting anyone more immediately eager do so. By the time Saiga's report was done and sent off, the others seemed to have quieted down, so the SAINT officer spoke up.

"The Rixxikor are using Kuvexian equipment," he said, not seeing the need to go over details already covered. "And that 'scientist' of theirs obviously knew a lot about reactivating the weaponized robots down there. I'd bet that the Kuvexians are using the Rixx to conduct research without any risk to their own scientists—at least before all of the resources have been scavenged. Other than that, I think your original assessment about the station being of great strategic interest to the Star Army is certainly correct. Our scans showed that it could still support human life in the subsurface areas, even with the extensive damage done to it, and that it's still got some sort of other active systems deeper inside. Plus, everything seems to indicate that it's a very, very old place.

"Definitely worth another look," Saiga finished. "Better we unlock its ancient secrets than the Kuvexians."

Bridge

"Agreed. One moment," Hanako interjected. "If the Rixxikor are being killed by the robots, why would they activate more of them? That does not seem to fit. What, specifically, did the Rixxikor scientist, this Frixxaqz, actually say about his mission and the Rixxikor activities there? You may leave out the profanity."

Wardroom

Bronzi remained standing and spoke. "Heard em talking ova that channel. Bugger said he was some kinda scientist. Also said his group was runnin from tha bots. Other Rixx in the area wanted ta activate more bots but he disagreed. Den he asked fer food. I reckon them Rixx were scummin around fer that same reason we were: infermation. Prolly why dey sent a scientist and opened wiv werds rather den fire."

Wardroom

Masumi looked to Candon, whose gaze was steady on the Neko at the front of the room.

Candon stood and looked to Hanako, "Shosho, the Rixxikor said that they were exploring multiple times, but also mentioned that some Rixxikor wanted to," he coughed, "'reactivate the ancient.'" He looked with wary eyes to Hanako. "I asked a number of questioned pertaining to this subject, but shortly thereafter Natsumi-taii, too, asked her own questions and the Rixxikor scientist responded to hers, likely less than comfortable with my queries. He said the "ancient's warriors" were still around and that danger was high."

Wardroom

Freyja couldn't look directly at Hanako. She looked extremely nervous. Even Junko's hand brushing her made her jump. She tried to smile reassuringly but it was painfully obvious she was faking. The words she was hearing weren't reaching her brain. Wazu's voice sounded a million miles away.

Candon's voice saying Natsumi's name rang in her ears like a grenade exploding nearby. She couldn't hold it back anymore. Freyja stepped forward and bowed deeply. "Shosho, I disobeyed an order to make no hostile actions. The Rixxikor swarmed us, I.. I couldn't see anyone else. They claimed to be wanting food, a-and they were... groping my butt pack. I thought they were coordinating an organized attack. I was afraid if I did not kill the enemy they might kill us and make it back to the ship, and everyone aboard the Eucharis would be in danger." She explained.

"I engaged the Rixxikor against orders and endangered the team. Natsumi-taii bravely moved in front of a Gauss round that could have potentially killed the one calling itself Frixxaqz, even though he was not my intended target," Freyja continued. "I take full responsibility for my actions. Sumimasen deshita. I have brought shame to your ship."

Wardroom

"Freyja!" Hanako stared. "I understand and I know you are the one you caused the mission to be aborted, and that you disobeyed orders, and murdered Rixxikor who may or may not have been peaceful civilian explorers, or, more likely, space murder-hobos. Since you brought up the subject and cannot wait any longer, I might as well tell you your punishment. Because of your insubordination I am reducing you in rank to Yonto Hei and I want all the crew to use you as their personal servant for the next 3 months. If you do not follow their orders I will get rid of you. Additionally, in lieu of pay forfeiture or confinement, I am fining you one container of fish, 1000 fancy outfits, and a chocolate bunny. Finally you will be lashed or spanked by the First Officer Yamashiro or her designated soldier until she is no longer angry you shot her. After that we will leave this in the past. Furthermore there is no need to draw unnecessary or unwanted attention to this incident in the future, from Star Army Command. That goes for everyone."

The Shosho paused for a moment and then continued. "While you were exploring I was working on trying to contact the computer that controls the machine planet. It seems to be damaged and in a continual state of sleep while it attempts to repair itself, but the damage is massage and catastrophic. Nevertheless, it keeps going through what could be described as a 'boot cycle' and crashes at some point during each attempt. Because of the power of the station in terms computing capability and whatever defenses it could be equipped with, it could possibly be extremely bad for us if the station 'wakes up' while we are in its presence. Masumi, you said that their scientist, Frixxaqz said that others were trying to activate 'the ancient' and that he thought it was a very bad idea? Do you think it is possible he was referring to the planetary computer?"

Wardroom

... relief.

The moments before were certainly tense. Freyja just did the one thing Hanako couldn't ignore: Directly stating she disobeyed an order. Wazu could do nothing but watch as Hanako handed out the sentence... and it certainly could have been much worse. Her requirements could even be a little fun for him... but he quickly chastised himself for that particular thought then moved on. Hanako herself had given the warning about asking for trouble again. Freyja had fulfilled her obligation to take credit for her mistake and Hanako had filled her obligation to hand out punishment. No further actions were needed at this point and if everyone could just quietly agree not to bring it up there would be no further repercussions.

Hanako started saying something about the planet, but it hardly seemed to matter at this point. Wazu would quickly turn his attention to his datapad to check on Natsumi's status.

Wardroom

Junko felt her chest tighten when Freyja flinched. Was she doing this to Freyja? Before she could formulate an inquiry or apology, Freyja stood and publicly admitted to guilt. A brief moment of panic as she realized Freyja had basically thrown herself on Hanako's mercy.

Thankfully, she seemed more upset about the interruption to the proceedings than anything else. What worried her was the potential for abuse the crew might live up to for three months. Have to find a way to keep her safe in the meantime. Keep Freyja "busy" so no one else could get her to lick their boots clean or something awful like that.

Quietly, she attempted to lead Freyja back to her seat. Her hand radiated concern the entire time. No, in fact, Junko was borderline terrified for her. She couldn't convince Freyja she did nothing wrong, that might even make it worse, but she could at least let her know she didn't look down on her for it.

Hopefully now they could move onto something less contentious. Like unknowable ancient super weapons that could destroy them just out of momentary confusion. Personally, she was inclined to believe the Rixxikor were liable to stumble upon reactivating the computer even if that wasn't their intention. But Hanako had asked Masumi, not Junko, so she kept her mouth shut.

Wardroom

Tan Ann Pan touched her fingertips together and wore a half-smile after Freyja's outburst, though she stayed silent and went stone-faced when the captain called the new Yonto Hei out on it. Though Tan hadn't suffered as much as she'd expected during her tenure as the lowest-ranked crew member, it sounded like Freyja was not going to have the same relatively peaceful experience.

The second and third stipulations raised her eyebrows a little, but there didn't seem any reason to panic yet. The one part she found most concerning was the implication that Natsumi was justified in being angry about being shot after she'd dived into the line of fire. Something told Tan there was a problem with the reasoning, there, and she was fairly certain that something was her old trigonometry lessons.

It was just intuition, and she didn't know how test her hypothesis, much less prove her point. But, with three months to go before Hanako decided the case was closed, it seemed she still had time to build a case. That could be fun, even if at the end, she was most likely to abandon the project to avoid enraging any officers by suggesting new tactics which might reduce the odds she'd need to treat friendly fire casualties.

...Or attempted to provide treatment and be denied the opportunity. She was still trying not to think about that incident, but on reflection, it did suggest there'd be even more resistance to her input than she'd expected. Some of the officers had questioned Natsumi earlier, but Tan hadn't heard any do so since the first officer had gone for a bullet ride. It seemed best not to overthink it...

What were they talking about, again? The space station... Tan concluded the Kuvexians sent their pawns out to deploy it against Yamatai as a probable suicide mission, and some of them had been smart enough to figure this out, which would explain why they were willing to talk--even Rixxikor weren't fond of being manipulated. It wasn't her job to reason out such things, fortunately. If it had been, she'd have suggested retreating to the Yamataian lines, on the off-chance the plan she'd imagined was possible and in the works, and the Rixx had just become stupid enough to play their full part in it, after all.

Even if Hanako had refused to retreat, the only options would be to race the Rixxikor and hope not to be played for fools in the process, or to double back and try to apologize and win their trust before time ran out. Both would be very desperate, and in her opinion, not worth the risk unless the Rixx could be trusted not to know what they were doing after all, or the station's ability to weaken the Star Army if activated was determined to be awesome enough for disabling it to be worth losing the Eucharis with all hands.

What a workout. Tan was fairly confident she'd rather experience every one of her life's worst tragedies all over again than spend six years in the command track. She caught herself drumming her fingers on the tabletop and resting her chin on the other hand, and nonchalantly moved back to looking attentive.