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

Wardroom

"Yes ma'am," her deep voice plainly replied.

Quick. To the point. Good. Without another word, the newest Neko on board their ship turned away from Hanako to find Tsuguka right there by her, and already speaking. It was rather convenient that she was there and so readily accessible. Pleasing even. The faster she could reach her additional objectives, the better.

"Any form of appropriate address is suitable, Nitô Heisho Tsuguka," the snow haired Neko began, noting the NCO's peculiar colors. Though Nekovalkyrja came in a variety of patterns and colors, what she was observing was uncommon. Though keeping this in mind made would make it easier to spot the Heisho in the future, she ultimately didn't care much for it. What Tsuguka said next however, got the very tip of Noriko's question-mark tail to twitch. She had her attention now. A SOFT team. Reorganization. Meeting at 0800. "The sleeper module is adequate, and I will be present at oh-eight-hundred," she plainly stated. "If I may ask, is the reorganization you mentioned routine? I was hoping to access the recreation area's holo-chamber."

It didn't matter to Noriko what Tsuguka thought she was going to do, as often happened in the past regarding holo-chambers; she had objectives in mind, and she was going to meet them.
 
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Wardroom

"Nothing routine about it. The team was only recently reorganized from our original power armor unit. Such is the weight in significance of moving behind enemy lines." Tsuguka's eyebrows arched upon examination of the woman's interestingly sparse tone of voice, though her own speech became similarly rigid as they dropped their own act. "We are fighting a completely new enemy. Further changes may indeed be necessary, as suits the situation."

Part of her wanted to go on and explain just how different the Eucharis was from the protocol of the academy, but experience said that didn't really seem to help newcomers. Truth was, Hanako's 'forge of wills' approach meant that it was pretty much constantly a madhouse of extremely skilled, but rather unique individuals.

"You... Have plenty of time between then and now, at any rate. If the sustenance does not meet your fancy, a holo-chamber might well be free."

No qualms. Tsuguka's duty was to care about the stability and effectiveness of her team, not petty gossip.
 
For a moment, Noriko was silent as her feline ears flicked back ever so slightly.

"Understood," she replied again, tone carefully neutral. Tsuguka was wary. On guard. Why? Unknown. She didn't like unknowns, and for good reason. Immediately, the snowy haired Neko changed her personal objectives; she had to find out why the bloody-crimson Neko was uncomfortable. Something was wrong. She would have preferred to simply ask here and now - theoretically efficient - but from what little she did understand about socializing, doing so in a saturated environment like this was less than ideal. Others interfered. Others overheard. Others. There were too many others. She needed to isolate them, one at a time like a larger enemy force, and deal with each accordingly.

"Is there anything else, Nitô Heisho Tsuguka?"
 
Tsuguka looked back from their quarter turn, slightly surprised that the woman hadn't left already, given the briskness of their conversational style. Wasn't like they were used to formally dismissing squad members at this point.

"You have your sidearm and standard issue equipment, yes? Nothing additional. You can go about your business now, Santo Hei." A red hand just held up their glass, took a slow sip of the green liquid within, and then made a small, slightly defective smile. They blinked only when it was clear that a normal person should have done so by now. "Welcome to crew of the YSS Eucharis. Please feel free to come to me with any problems you might have... A personal power armor has already been assigned to you within the bay, should you want to perform equipment tests. We can discuss load-out tomorrow."
 
Wardroom

Bronzi nodded to Lime. "Thank you Lime-San. Thank you both fer tha best tacos I eva had."

Bronzi then turned and saw the new kid in her introducing her self. He was kind of surprised to see everybody except the red neko basically hovering over Hanako. The poor Shosho had not had time to even eat her tacos. As much as he wanted to say something about being polite and letting the captain eat and enjoy dinner, it was not his place.

Bronzi walked up but didn't close so as to not crowd Hanako. "Ay, tha Santo Hei can have muh rack. I can bunk with Wazu. His snorin won't keep me up." He said win a grunt.

Bronzi looked down at he husky voiced neko. Green as grass. Bronzi then looked at Noriko. "Get ya some food. Them Tacos are amaze."

Bronzi then looked at Hanako. "Uh. Captain. Before everything on da mission happened... da buggers were beggin fer food. I was thinkin we could get em to calm down by bring em some of da left ovas. Might be able to get em to clear out of da AO tomorrah. Yer call tho."

Fabrication

Sura let out a soft chuckle at Jax. "I'm afraid haven't met this Candon. He sounds like and interesting fellow."

She finished cleaning the blood off of the outside of the armor, and soon move to the interior. This was where it was messy. Hair, innards, burnt flesh. Sura's sensitive nose have the impression that this person had taken quite the wound. "Well, that's the beauty of Gartagen engineering is that it is base line. Reliable and endlessly modifiable. I look at it when I want inspiration. When I want to get intricate I view Yamataian engineering."

Sura came out of the armor holding a bloody lock of Natsumis beautiful snowy hair. Still beautiful even when discolored.
"I am interested in your offer. The problem I have is timing. Three months out. I at present have this obligation and I..."

She took her sonic tool and cleaned Her hand and Natsumi's hair "I feel my father may need me...the this crew needs you. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Where will your company be based? I have numerous designs and ideas all waiting to be put into applie tests."

 
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"Thank you very much, Nitô Heisho Tsuguka," Noriko remembered to bow.

Having gotten as much information she could get from the crimson-colored Neko for now, it was best to simply leave. There was no more use for her. Naturally, bowing usually got around to that. They liked that, and it usually appeased them too. Turning to leave once Tsuguka did so first however, she stopped and turned. Again. This time, it was a xeno. When the Gartagen spoke to her, the Neko's blue eyes simply blinked at first. The young Neko noted him earlier, but paid him no mind because he was simply not of interest. Irrelevant at the time. However, now that he was speaking directly to her, she had to deal with him for the time being.

Him and his tacos, it seemed.

"I appreciate the gesture, but that won't be necessary - " the snowy haired Neko paused for a moment, asking the MEGAMI. " - Hand Bronzi." Odd. Very odd. An outsider, not part of the military hierarchy, though a field commission was made in the recent past. Difficult. Annoying. "I will also have to decline your offer, since I will be making my way to the recreation room shortly," she tried smiling, just a little.

It was a hassle, dealing with 'social norms'. So inefficient and time consuming, but Noriko suspected that if she was going to get anything, or get anywhere, she'd have to play by it like she had back during training.

So difficult. So annoying.
 
Wardroom

Takumi smiled with a bow before replying, "I appreciate the offer, but I do have a few things to take care of before turning in for the night." With that, the young Shoi excused himself and headed out. The side conversations were registered in his mind, but he did not interject in any of them.

However, the scary-looking crimson Neko talking to the other new crewmember seemed to be actually a lot nicer than her appearance led on, so that was good to know. The science officer himself hadn't had a chance to speak with Noriko during , and from her current brevity, he doubted that any previous conversation would've been anymore fruitful as Tsuguka's had been.

The Gartagen that also tried to interact with the new girl was of interest, though. He seemed to be of a similar species to the alien Takumi had seen down on the power armor bay, but the Minkan couldn't be sure just yet. Unfortunately, time was of the essence now, so he would have to inquire about it later.

While exiting the Wardroom to make his way down to the rec room, Takumi noticed the youngling along with two other Nekos. From the shared skin tone, he could immediately tell which one was the mother, but it was harder to tell if the other Neko was involved or not. Although this was the first time seeing a youngling in the flesh, he had read up on them quite a bit.

The science officer made another mental note to ask the mother about this interesting phenomenon and smiled to himself while entering the zero-G passageway. The Eucharis was definitely full of interesting little side projects to explore.
 
Wardroom

Tsuguka made sure to place her glass back on the table before returning Noriko's bow with a robust, heartfelt show of symmetry. The woman's unspoken assumption was right, the Heisho did rather like formality. Knowing one's place in the world made social politics a lot less of a minefield.

Of course, without literally being psychic, the soldier was left simply wondering if that was a rare form of empathy they had just experienced, or something different entirely. Being built from a similar mold certainly would have made sense, given their origins, and their interaction with Bronzi on the way out certainly played out like Tsuguka might have when they were younger...

But, did that mean the entire conversation just like a Turing test, except with a computer at both ends?

...

Back to work. They needed to get a better grip on this small arms problem. It likely wouldn't be fully realized even by the next mission, as things stood.

The half-read page left open on her pantheon browser was detailing subsonic ammunition. Perhaps it would be possible to integrate something like this into one of their infantry weapons, and bodge a silenced SMG-type weapon together? She'd already asked Jax for quite a few favors lately, but a donor weapon to fool around with, yeah, that might make things easier...

Wordlessly, they got up and went to the power armor bay, to fetch an old friend.

-> Power Armour Bay -> Fabrication


When Tsuguka turned up at the engineering section in person, it was bearing her classic skinsuit and rifle combination. The original plan had been to try acting sexy-sinister and baiting Jackson in with some flexing. Or maybe a chest-assisted headlock.

But, she remembered at the last minute that there was another unfamiliar Gartargen there, the assistant mentioned in the digital message. So the effect really just ended up being overly imposing instead, standing tall and hulking, silhouetted against the more brightly lit corridors beyond.

"Howard-Heisho. Apologies for asking you for so much lately." Voice cold, pure business. "But I was wondering if you could help me on another little idea, too... This rifle has a carbine version, right? Do you think it would be possible to develop a silenced, covert ops variant, here on the Eucharis?"

"In return... Well, I am certified to help you with basic maintenance grunt work, at least. It's only fair." A smile formed slowly, narrow eyes and fangs doing a poor job of disarming their uncanny valley approach, before they finally turned and made a small bow towards the newcomer. "Excuse me, the ship's roster says your name is Ujia Sura? Pleased to meet you!"
 
Recreation Room

Masumi was splattered against the rec room and felt as if her bones were broken in ways she could never fathom they could be broken. She was building up a light sweat on her brown skin and beads of sweat had formed while she punched, pushed, blocked, and sometimes kicked her way out of the losing side of the fight with the virtual samurai.

The final and fifth time she was thrown across the floor, she began laughing. Her head was bent down with her light fuchsia hair splaying out to both sides as her palms pressed into the floor and she just laughed. Laughed at everything she had done, everything she thought she had done, and those things she regretted doing. She laughed until she couldn't breathe in fast enough to keep laughing and then she fell onto her side. She gripped her stomach and smiled at the ceiling as the simulation ended around her.

She got herself up from the floor and shook her head, still chuckling albeit less intensely. She exited the rec room and made her way to the zero-G passageway, still looking down at the floor with a wide smile on her face.

"Ah—oh!" Masumi made the soft little utterance as she nearly ran into Takumi on his way down. "I—I'm sorry." She didn't allow herself the chance to look him over much before seeing his green panels. She looked up, into his steel-colored eyes and breathed in deeply while a smile spread across her face. Her hand swept up to a salute and she spoke excitedly.

"Shoi Higashi Takumi!" Masumi said, accessing PANTHEON. "I am Nitô Hei Oshiro Masumi! Science officer like yourself. Would you mind accompanying me to..." She looked around, lost for words. She could feel the happiness of her jaunt in the rec room emanating out of her and she wanted to share it. She wanted it to be soaked up by someone, not just evanesce. It felt odd to want to share after being closed off for so long, but it was what she wanted to do more than anything. Share.

"Would you mind accompanying me to my quarters so that we may go over the details of the last mission and speak on what we would like to attain on our next one?"

She bit her lip, wondering what she was saying a second too late. Her sapphire eyes seemed to become shadowed by doubts and she questioned herself. She backed up a little more and for the first time since looking into his grey eyes, looked away.
 
Recreation Room

Takumi had been mulling over his observations when a collision alert sounded in his head upon exit from the zero-G passageway. Stopping abruptly, a wild Neko appeared before him. He mentally shook such a silly prospect out of his head before being captured by her cerulean stare.

Before having a chance to access PANTHEON himself to figure out who she was, the dark-skinned enlisted crewmember introduced herself. Her hair color almost reminded him of a type of bubblegum which contrasted with her skin tone slightly, but it was not an unattractive combination, he decided to himself. Few Neko ten years ago had such colorations, but times do change... perhaps for the better?

Of course, his own smile was ever present but turned more genuine at meeting a soon-to-be close coworker. Takumi politely returned her salute, if not a little awkwardly. How... Nepleslian, he thought to himself, wondering if so much more than just physical appearances had changed in Yamatai during his slumber. She seemed full of life and energy, though... until she wasn't. Her sudden change in demeanor at the end of her sudden proposal concerned the Shoi, but since it was their first time meeting, he was unsure if this was normal or not for her.

Takumi let her finish before replying, but a small part of his mind wondered why they would have to go to her quarters to speak on such a matter. "Ah.. Oshiro-Hei. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I was hoping to catch-up with you, but..." Takumi paused a moment, briefly glancing down at the datapad in his left hand. "I do have some business to attend to in the holosuite, if it is available."

Another pause, but this time was mainly to evaluate her sudden shift in presence. Nodding to himself as if to confirm his own decision, Takumi made her an offer, "We can discuss the mission details afterwards. If you like, I wouldn't mind the company... I.. probably shouldn't do this alone anyways."

The gravity of his mission was obvious in his voice. His gray eyes seemed pained as well but only for an instant before returning to their normal violet-flecked appearance. It was probably obvious that something within that datapad worried him... perhaps even frightened him.
 
Recreation Room

Masumi nodded solemnly, picking up on the painful expression of the man she was only just now meeting.

She said,"Let's go then," and walked back towards the rec room.

As they entered one holographic chamber, she asked, "Charisma, would you please let anyone know that this holographic chamber is in use and to use the other and for no reason should they interrupt us?"

"What would you like to experience tonight?" Masumi asked, hands in front of her pelvis as she looked with raised eyebrows and a barely-open mouth. Her white teeth shone behind her cherry pink lips and as she took a breath, her chest rose and fell while she looked to Takumi.
 
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Wardroom

Junko took the lull between things happening to pay passive attention around her, ears occasionally flickering to get the best "angle" on a certain sound.

She wasn't sure she was happy the sound of things over from Wazu. Made it sound like a competition, or... something. Just didn't seem the healthiest way to approach a relationship, which was rich coming from her. Either Freyja let her, him or both into her life or not, simple as that.

If she was being honest with herself, once she got past that stubborn nugget of irrational jealousy, the biggest problem she had was... well, why a civilian?

New people came in. Science officer and a fresh pair of boots. Takumi seemed pretty straight laced, but he was still presenting like a good officer. No idea why he was getting second just stepping aboard. Tsuguka knew how to lead, so why weren't they letting her?

New boots seemed a bit stiff. Funny thing was hearing her and Tsuguka trying to out-robot each other. One day she'd get the whole social thing, but today wasn't that day. Probably not even that year, come to think.

Again, like she should talk, yeah?

Cracked her hardshell in half and slid it over to Fumiko. Growing kids needed plenty of nutrition, right?
 
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Takumi gratefully walked into the holo-chamber with her. He was not sure if gratitude or worry should be more relevant in this situation, but at least he would not be facing his demons alone. Masumi's reaction to him seem to be a bit odd, but perhaps she was simply nervous? He was one of her direct superiors as resident science officer, after all.

Deciding to inquire her about it later, the Minkan started to tap his datapad to being the process. "I... We are going to relive a memory." Takumi didn't mean to be brief but was simply focused on queuing up the relevant video file to be recreated. His datapad screen would show four image files alongside said video file. Transferring the file to the holo-chamber's computer system was a simple affair, and it would take a couple of minutes to fully process the data.
 
Wardroom

As Noriko began to finally make her way out, her footsteps slowed. Did she hear him right? Rewinding her memory, going through her data records, she played it over again. Yes, the Neko heard him right. He wanted to discuss future operational details with the Shôshô here. In the Wardroom. While they were eating. And with all these people present, nevermind that many of them would potentially be on the away team. It was a potential leak in information, as well as a potential source of supposition amongst the rank and file. It was...less than optimal. Disappointing. In fact, the more Noriko thought about it, staring at his back with narrowed eyes, Bronzi had her making suppositions now too.

So annoying.

He did, after all, imply something had happened in the last mission. It was not worth mentioning if things went according to plan, therefore, it was possibly the opposite. Moving to stand besides the doorway, she crossed her arms and waited. The white haired Neko knew she would have to isolate and deal with him properly the moment she had a chance.
 
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Masumi noticed that it would take a bit of time for the program to load and asked Takumi a question.

"Do you have a strong personal attachment to what we're about to experience?" Masumi asked.

With a soft sigh, Takumi nodded, suddenly looking very serious... and grave. "Yes," he replied softly. The computer interrupted him with a verbal confirmation.

"Accessing post mission log for YSS Sheridan. Date of Log: YE 29. Loading parameters. Modes Available: Observation Only. Warning: This simulation is not for the faint of heart. Will you proceed?"

"I will proceed," he told the computer. Turning back to his junior, the science officer finally finished his answer, "This is when I died."

The holo-chamber was suddenly replaced with a sea of sparkling stars all around them, as if they were floating in space. The beautiful scene was only available for a few minutes before a ship began to form around them.

Before they were encased in its metal shell, it would obviously be an Irim-class Heavy Gunship... Probably a museum piece nowadays, Takumi mused as the computer set the scene for them.

She knew little about the contents of this simulation, but gritted her teeth when the words "...not for the faint of heart..." were spoken. Her own experiences in this room had been when she had almost died and to hear someone wanted to relive their own death made her wonder if there really were people out in the universe like her, that wanted to see what went wrong even if it hurt to do so.

As the sea of darkness surrounded them and there were only stars to look at, Masumi instinctually popped off of the floor and hovered above the ground, next to the stoic Takumi. She looked around them with an open mouth and even wider eyes. She had run simulations in space hundreds of times, but never someone else's simulation. She was swallowed up by the ship and her buoyancy in the air remained as she floated next to Takumi.

Smiling at the now-floating Masumi, the science officer gave her worried look some reassurance. “Don’t worry. Nothing here will hurt us. It’s just a projection. The only threat here is a mental one.” Easier said than done, he supposed. Taking a deep breath to relax as the ship was complete and the scenario began.

They came from below. Crawling on multiple tentacle appendages, the massive bulbous nightmares incarnate poured from the engineering decks to infest the other areas of the ship. The crew of the YSS Sheridan responded with alacrity, but they were ultimately overwhelmed by the sheer number of Mishhu. Those not killed outright would suffer an even worse fate.

Takumi paid little mind to the carnage and other… more troubling activities around them as he led Masumi through halls soaked in blood and other fluids. Pockets of resistance remained evident, but most of the decks they passed by were filled with lewd noises and feminine cries of both pain and ecstasy. As they moved along, the recording would follow them until eventually arriving at the medbay.

A few times, Masumi outwardly shuddered, raising her hands as if to protect herself from some supposed threat, but they went unnoticed by the Mishhu. She had never seen them up close and personal before and she violently shivered more than once.

"What are these things' mission? To do..." she looked around. "This? This is..." Masumi trailed off, unable to put words to it. Besides, they had arrived at the medbay and she had a sinking suspicion this was Takumi's final destination.

Although he tried not to show it, the bestial and ravenous tendencies of their enemy of old troubled Takumi as well. He paused a moment in front of the medbay doors to take in a few breaths. “They… They breed,” he finally responded to her, even if her question had been rhetorical. “Once they are done, they will find a way to infect another ship. They are monstrous and inhumane.”

Glancing down at the chronometer on his datapad, Takumi sighed again with almost a whisper. “It’s about that time.” He stepped forward, and the medbay doors opened as if to welcome him to his own grave. A chilling air greeted them as well upon entrance. Once inside, they would see single figure in one of the corners of the medbay.

The figure was wrapped in shattered power armor and was holding out against a seemingly endless horde of the creatures. Bloodied and helmetless, the viridian haired man with steel gray eyes locked in angry and concentration wielded a combat knife in his right hand and the battered barrel of his rifle in the other.

Takumi silently watched his mirrored half take the fiends on in melee combat, having run out of ammunition what felt like ages ago at this point. He tirelessly cut wandering tentacles and bashed in Mishhu brains like a man possessed. Behind him, several variously injured Neko and sprites lay in a huddled group, blatant fear plain in their eyes and expressions.

"That's... That's not right," Masumi said, choking back tears.

When they entered, she turned to look away from the man fighting back the Mishhu invaders until a fraction of a second after setting eyes on him, she recognized him to be the same man standing next to her. It all seemed to make sense now, and Masumi looked to the Takumi that was next to her with bewildered but sympathetic eyes before then looking back to the scene unfolding while her hand moved over towards him to hold his in it.

"I sometimes relive the moments I fear the most, but this is different. This is when you died," Masumi said to him with a surge of emotion. "You'll never know how you felt in that moment, only be able to guess as you watch it and then as you think about it days and years from now." She gave his hand a squeeze and went on, "There are things we're not meant to know, though."

Her touch was almost a sting to him, but only because he was not expecting it. However, Takumi instinctively gripped her hand in return. There was an enormous battle of emotion welling up inside of him while watching the futile attempts of his former self. For every single Mishhu killed, two more would take its place.

“Yes…” he managed to croak in return. “Sometimes, you just have to face that which you fear the most… no matter how painful it might be.”

His mirror was slowly losing ground, and eventually the inevitable occurred. One of his cuts was not deep enough, and the Mishhu were on him. The tentacle he meant to sever instead wrapped around his right arm and swiftly broke it with a gruesomely loud crack of bone. The real Takumi’s right hand clenched almost out of reaction, but his arm was actually fine.

The predictable cry of pain was cut short as the same beast used all of its strength to throw holo-Takumi across the medbay. He slammed hard against the bulkhead at an odd angle and crashed to the deck in a bleeding pile. Any attempts to rise would fail, and the real Takumi could immediately tell that his mirror’s lower spine was likely severed from the impact.

Masumi gasped and brought her free hand to cover her pink lips with it while the holographic projection of Takumi's arm was broken. She felt Takumi's grip on her hand tighten and she squeezed back gently. When he was thrown, though, and his spine was destroyed, she pushed her face into Takumi's shoulder for a split second before looking back, remembering his recent words and garnering strength from them.

She watched, peeking out from her position. A position of intimacy she had never experienced before, though she felt instinctually driven to be close to him, as if the experience of seeing his final moments in one body brought her closer to his next one, his current one.

Takumi dared not look away as if mesmerized by his own impending doom. He felt Masumi clutch at him, and his own free hand rose up to touch her shoulder. It was his way of comforting her while continuing to watch the scene before them.

With no strength in his legs, old Takumi began using his good arm to defiantly crawl towards the enemy. However, the Mishhu completely ignored the now impotent Yamataian. They had their prize and would relish taking them while he bore witness to his failure.

His curses against the devilspawn were loud and vulgar, but even these were drowned out by the chorus of moans and wails emanating from his previous charges. The real Takumi frowned uncharacteristically as he watched his former self’s pain and anguish at failing to protect his crew.

Thankfully, the scene was cut short when someone still in their conscious mind activated the self-destruct sequence. In a blink of an eye, the YSS Sheridan and all of her crew ceased to exist in a bloom of a newborn son. Takumi shielded his eyes from the bright glare before the recording terminated.

“Mission log complete. Have a nice day!” The cheery voice of the computer belied the tension in Takumi’s body as his heart fought to slow down. His gray-violet eyes were moist, and the hand on Masumi’s shoulder trembled noticeably as the Minkan officer contemplated the ending.

Feeling the apparent tremble from Takumi, Masumi put her hand on his that held her shoulder and pressed her palm into the top of it. She pushed herself nearer him and bowed her head so that her cheek could press against his chest as she mumbled nearly incoherently.

"That was awful for you. It must have been the worst pain I've ever seen experienced. It far exceeds the fear I have lived with half of my life and only nullifies the pain I once felt at my own traumas and, yet, expounds upon it. I'm sorry, I am going on. Are... Do you know how to live with that trauma you once forgot and are now confronted with? I..." she lost her footing with her words once more before going on.

"I can help you," she said, looking down and away from him with her face on his chest, hearing his heart beating and feeling his warmth.

How had she gotten here? Masumi wondered. There was nothing stopping her from releasing from the embrace she had initiated and part of her begged to do so, to withdraw, to go into hiding. But a new voice spoke in her mind, telling her to stay. For him and in some ways, for her.

A little surprised at her sudden closeness, Takumi was not sure how to respond. Her pink hair was the only thing that he could see, but her words were understandable, if a bit jumbled. Taking a moment to sort out her utterances as well as his own emotions, the Minkan smiled once again. His heart found a normal rhythm once again before he finally replied.

“It will take some time, but yes, I would like that…” The words seemed to come naturally, even though they were difficult to relay. “Thank you… Thank you for being here with me. I… I don’t know what I would have done alone.”

Her warmth was comforting, to say the least. He wasn’t sure if they were still holding hands at this point, but his grip would become gentle while the tension bled away from his core. Fortunately, the datapad was hooked to his belt, so it wouldn’t have gone far after falling from his grip.

During their close encounter, a thought came to Takumi’s mind unbidden. Suddenly feeling very selfish, he cleared his throat gently before continuing, “I must apologize, Oshiro-Hei… I… You have had pain and trauma as well. I would like to help with that as well, if I can… if only as someone to talk to.” His chest would rise against her cheek with every breath, and he curiously wondered what she must have been thinking at this moment.

Masumi shook her head, "This isn't about me." She brought herself a little further away from him so that she could look into his silver eyes and smiled faintly, saying, "I don't want to compare a small shimmer of sadness that is what I have carried with me to the bright, enraged sun that is what happened to you. I wouldn't compare a day with a spot of rain to a day when snow buries homes. I cannot do that. No, this is about you and I'm here for you right now. Letting me..."

Masumi lost her words, her impetus, her drive to tell him what else she thought, but prevailed. "I am selfish to think that letting you be helped by me helps me, too. What's more..." she, again, trailed off and, again, found her wording moments later. "Letting me in now means when I need it, I'll be able to let you in, too."

Takumi’s face flushed a little at her words. Perhaps she was wiser than he had first thought? Releasing her hands, his own found her shoulders gently as he smiled at her. Those deep blue orbs on her pretty face couldn’t lie to him. “I wouldn’t call you selfish at all,” he said, trying to find his own words as well. “Forgive me for being cautious with a stranger… but you’ve already seen my darkest secret laid bare.”

He trailed off while watching her. They were like two broken toys trying to fix one another, it seemed. Takumi didn’t exactly feel broken, but this traumatic event would be difficult to digest. However, one thing that he was sure of… “The past is behind us, and now there is only the future.” Unsure of where that saying came from, he nonetheless continued. “I guess… learning from things that happen to us is how we get past them. I would be honored if you would help me do so.” The sincerity of his words was hopefully obvious, if not in his voice than in his eyes.

"I will," Masumi replied simply.
 
Wardroom

Fumiko blinked and stared up at the new Neko. Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You're Junko! You.. you came back? Mama told me about you. She wants you to be my other mama!" She said excitedly. The tiny blue girl floated over to Junko and began examining her.

Freyja's heart started hammering in her chest. This was not how she wanted this to go. There were too many feelings involved on too many levels. She just laughed nervously and stuffed a bite of taco in her mouth. It dawned on her that a full mouth really wasn't going to stop her from speaking. For the first time, she silently cursed whoever had decided Nekovalkyrja needed telepathy.

She was completely oblivious to the conversation between Bronzi and Wazu. Her attention was focused like a laser on the food in front of her. Deciding Junko was acceptable, Fumiko floated down to the offering of taco Junko had given her. That may have actually been the deciding factor in her acceptance of the woman.
 
Wardroom

Wazu, on the other hand, couldn't help but overhear.

"I should be working on the armor," He said, kinda to Bronzi... Bronzi had left a few moments ago to speak with Hanako, leaving Wazu by himself. He would then get up and head for the exit without further investigation of the available tacos.
 
Fabrication

At Tsuguka's voice, Jax spun around, beaming. But, seeing her cold demeanor, his face fell just slightly.

He listened to her request, then shrugged.

"I dunno what to tell you, Tugs. That's a rail gun. Fires slugs with an electrical current, not any sort of chemical propellant. That in itself makes it impossible to suppress. Suppressors work by capturing rapidly expanding gas from the explosion created by the pin hitting the primer."

Jax's pride at being a tech-genius didn't like him telling people he couldn't do something, but physics didn't really care about his pride all that much.

"I mean, the next option would be to create a device that eliminates all ambient noise within a certain radius, but that technology doesn't really exist. There might be something like that in a SAINT R&D black site, but I'm not asking."

Jax paused for a moment.

"...Though, if you want to stay around and help that would be great." He added with an innocent little smile.
 
Fabrication

Sura nodded as Jackson spoke. She had was taking a break from cleaning the inside of the armor.

"He is right. The report from chronicle fire arm is produced by the explosion of the powder. A rail gun's report is two fold. An electric pulse, then a thunder clap. The rail gun round rushes through air, heating it up. The air is thinner as a result leaving a vacuum and the cooler air collapses in the wake giving you the noise you hear. Mounting tiny deployable spikes to the ammunition should disrupt the sonic boom. Though, that work would be tedious, and may disrupt the speed of the projectile."

Sura then peeked up. "I did have an idea for a silent weapon. But nothing is free. An air powered projectile gun. Slower than a rail gun. But similarly effective and working in the same scientific field. In this age of technology, looking backwards often yeilds results...."
 
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Wardroom

Junko tried to stay still for Fumiko's brief inspection. She hadn't expected Fumiko to recognize her like that. Much less the "other mama" tidbit. Neither of them expected to be in each others lives again, after all.

Part of her niggled at the back of her mind. Reminded her not to get too excited just yet. Sure, Freyja had been more than forgiving since she got back, but their was always a limit to how far you can push someone. Until they talked, their was no guarantee of anything. She could cut Junko off completely and transfer to a nice, safe posting elsewhere and she'd probably be in the right.

Junko quieted that up by reaching over and ruffling Fumiko's hair affectionately.

As Fumiko had the taco, she finally got to her own. Aside from throwing Freyja a quick She's so cute! she was content to just enjoy a quiet moment. It was... nice, relaxing despite being so transitory. No orders, no gunfire, just... people.

Whenever Fumiko finished (which probably wasn't long, knowing kids) Junko asked "You want to get a tray of your own?"

Because Fumiko could probably have eaten them both out of their... lunches? dinners? Either way, she'd get up to help Fumiko get her own tray of food. Also didn't hurt that she kinda sorta did want to spend more time with the kid.
 
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