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

((I completely missed @Zack 's post earlier!))

Power Armor Bay

'Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Cr'

At that moment, Jax came bursting up the lift, hauling a dolly stuffed with crates, all with tiny, red bows.

"Wazu! Sorry! I got your stuff! Hope I'm not too late! Had to deal with-"

'A smol, hyperactive, flying kitten. That's also your daughter and you should really keep her off of caffeine.'

"Some schematics and such!"

In his usual fashion, he'd said that all in one breath. He dragged the dolly to Bronzi's armor and let it go. He took a moment to catch his breath. After standing, he dusted off his coveralls and straightened his cap, looking around at the assembled away team.

"Well, good luck everyone! If anyone wants to bring me some cool technological doo-dads as a souvenir, I would greatly appreciate it!"

He glanced over at Tsuguka.

<Hey, Tiger! Go out there and knock 'em dead! And try to make sure that Freyja doesn't blow everyone up. Taught her some explosives handling over the past few months. But that was with dummy bombs, and, yeah...>

Power Armor Bay

Junko stopped to let Jax roll on in with... a dolly of decorated crates. Little red bows on each one. Why would he slap those on every one if he was so obviously taxed for time? Even by his standards, it seemed childish.

She blinked, then turned to look at Freyja. Metaphorical gears clicked in her head. Fumiko wouldn't even be a week old, if she had to make any guesses. She'd be a ball of compressed energy you could power a smaller ship off of.

She almost felt sorry for Jax. Almost.

She gave the shuttle a look over. As much a good idea it was, she felt mildly claustrophobic just looking at the transport. Like a lot of born Mindy operators, she was practically ecstatic to fly in open air under her own power. Getting stuck in a box, unable to do anything with enemy fire rushing past, ran counter to every instinct.

First, though, was the practical matter.

"Hey, Huge Guts!" She called over to Bronzi. "You want to try stuffing into this first? See how much space gets left over?"

Power Armor Bay

"Yes. Are you almost ready, Mister A'soongao?" Tsuguka backed up Junko's question, now standing at the end of the ramp, in front of the right-side row of seats. The raccoon was a pretty spacious troop transport by design, but carrying that abominable thing was pushing their luck. "I can wave you in, but you'll need to lay forwards to fit inside..."

A concerned glance was still observing their medic Pan, alongside this. Certainly trusted them as a doctor by now, but this was about as far as they could get from their office. Heck knows that the completely random and independent attitudes of their team mates freaked the red neko out during their first drops, too... She had since dealt with it by telling herself that the enemy would find that hard to predict, too, but...

No. This was not the right time to be telling a soldier that their comrades were adequately deranged for the job.

Blonde neko boy.... with bows?... Hanging out with that loony neko child again?...

"Howard Heisho. Would you do me a favor, and put the missiles and aether beam modules on the Kuma?" A pure, cold, professional tone. If he didn't expect that by now, then who knows what he was. "An armed extraction vehicle may be necessary if there are injuries."

That face. Those angular green eyes that didn't blink often enough... Was there really no response to his private transmission?...

<They won't die, Jax-san.> The reluctant return was soft. Like a whisper behind the ear. The careful voice of a guarded inner self. <I won't allow it.>

"Just call meh Bronzi, or Bronzi-San" he responded on his voice caster from the exo. In side of the exo Bronzi was linked in via his armor, and a neural jack that was installed in his left arm. The Gartagens did not have Yamatain minds hat were built, but they did design their systems for integration with their bodies. Bronzi then jettisoned the old jet pack and placed it into one of the storage nets. The new thrusters would suffice to keep the speed.

He snorted "Showin their asses." He said smirking as he drove the exo forward towards the entry way to the shuttle. The Shuttle was long and wide enough, but its height was a problem. So, he did what he could do and had the mecha curl up into a tight ball. Using the maneuvering thrusters the suit very litirally rolled into the shuttle. "Ya, I think I can fit her in the shuttle just fine." He said back over the voice caster.

It may have looked silly, but it worked. The gravity gizmo wazu installed would insure that the discomfort they both felt was minimal.

The Balled Exo fit, but only just. He also didn't want to be in the way of the Yamatians. They seemed bent on glory and battle, Bronzi had resolved only to intervene if they utterly needed it.

"Ay." Bronzi said locking the Exo's stance in so he could move freely. He shoved a fan of pop up into the technicians chair between Wazu's legs. "Got more in the cooler if ya need. Also. How you wanna run dis? Keep our distance and let the Yammis do it?"

Shuttle

Natsumi waited for all the others to get aboard the shuttle. She visually checked everyone over as they boarded, making sure they did not need anything else and that all was good with their power armor. As soon as the last member of the landing party was crammed onto the small craft, she herself boarded. She was all but trapped in the small space by the hatch due to them cramming Broinzi's massive armored suit into the shuttle. In fact she was surprised it even fit, or that there was enough room for it and everyone else in their Mindy's.

"Okay, all are aboard, we're ready to launch" Natsumi signaled to the bridge as she sealed the shuttle's boarding hatch and locked it down.

"Launch as soon as we have clearance" she called forward to the cockpit, where Victory was manning the flight controls.

Shuttle

Freyja had chosen to sit between Junko and Tsuguka. She didn't really know what to say, so she just kept quiet. The awkward silence was driving her insane. She made a volumetric projection of the target and examined it carefully as if it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen.

I love Fumiko, she wasn't a mistake, but maybe involving Wazu was, she thought. At the time sleeping with him had seemed like a good idea. How could I have known she would be back? Still, she wasn't even gone a day before I was having sex with someone else. What does that say about me? She didn't know if she could bring herself to mention that she had thrown herself at Jackson and Mehitabel first.

Freyja remembered that she had never asked Jax-san what had happened. She made a mental note to ask him why he ran from her and what exactly happened with Tsuguka.

Bridge

Shosho Hanako sent brief messages to the other ships in Second Squadron and the First Expeditionary Fleet, letting them know what the Eucharis was up to, in case they needed backup.

Hanako dialed up the armor bay intercom, shuttle bay intercom, and the shuttle Telemachus, which chirped indicating a secure channel. "Away team, Eucharis actual on subspace channel 3185. You are clear to proceed on mission when ready. Standby for atmospheric decompression."

She signaled to Takao to open the shuttle bay doors.

"The bridge crew is going to give you a path to one of the docking ports of interest," Hanako told them.

Shuttle Bay

Becker sealed the shuttle doors of the T8 shuttle "Golden Apple" ready to move it out of the way to clear a path for the Telemachus. He wasn't a pilot so he relied on the for assistance.

Bridge

Takao simply nodded as he spoke, "Hai, Hanako-Shosho."

He let his SPINE do the work as he closely monitored the decompression to make sure he didn't do it too quickly and jolt the shuttle, or not to slow, which would hamper the mission. Once the doors were open he signaled the shuttle an 'all clear' signal as well as reporting audibly,

"Shuttle bay doors are open, signaling shuttle now."

He prepped the doors to shut once the shuttle passed a set distance from the doors and simply and quietly waited while checking the rest of his readouts for any change in activity.

The Shuttle Telemachus

"Copy, Shosho," Saiga confirmed, his quick response coming more out of habit than duty. "The Taii and I are trusting you to guide us down safe, Ramiro-juni," he added, confident that the veteran starship operator would have no problems doing so. That Ramiro hadn't anything to add about the scavengers was reassuring, too. But even if the automated gatherers remained benign for the duration of the mission, there was always the risk they could relay the Eucharis' presence back to the Kuvexians or whomever they belonged to.

Saiga would have been the last soldier to board if not for Natsumi's prerogative to do so herself, and stood with his right hand braced against the shuttle's bulkhead above her. He'd widened his stance a little, too, since the Mindy 4 made him just-too-tall to stand upright inside a Raccoon-class shuttle. Thankfully, though, that height gave his head plenty of clearance above everyone else—save the Gartagen mech—and minor relief from whatever confined feelings the others might be experiencing. The ellipsoid shield attached to his armor's left vambrace rendered that arm useless for stabilization or anything other than making the cramped situation even more so, and so he just tried to keep it out of the way.

"Recommend we open the aft door once our approach brings us closer to the surface," Saiga said, restricting the message to Natsumi, Tsuguka, and Victory. "Even if we make it down without incident, it'd be optimal if the team could debark with all haste."

PA Bay

"Too late. You're huge. That means you have huge guts. You are now Huge Guts-san." Junko remarked.

////

Shuttle

Junko let herself get jammed in where she was without much say-so. Ended up with Freyja on one side, Tsuguka past her. Not that she minded the company, but she didn't want any of the seats. Not when she could have been flying free, under her own power.

Enough.

Better to make some constructive use of the time. That in mind, she queried her AIES and accessed the mission files. They wouldn't have much forward information right now, but she wanted to check over what they had. Expected terrain, what the landing zone and connected areas were like, projected patrol patterns of the scavenger craft.

She tilted her head at Freyja, or rather her projection of the mechano-planet. Just what was it, and more importantly, what killed it?

Junko brought up her own copy of the globe scan and rotated it around. As infantry, she had a solid grasp of what weapons did to people and solid materials. Even scaled up, the fundamental patterns held true because the methods didn't change. Kinetic weapons punctured, shattered, tore and energy weapons melted and burned and fried.

Was it a kinetic strike, or an explosive? Energy weapons? Was the damage from an outside attacker, or something from inside the planetoid itself?

Junko knew she wouldn't solve any grand mysteries in the shuttle, but it needed chewing on and she had time to kill.

PA Bay

Jackson nodded to the request. He wasn't as dense as he let on to be sometimes. Obviously, right now was not a good time for flirting. What's more, Tsuguka was never really flirtatious herself... unless it involved biting one of his appendages.

So, he turned and headed back down to fabrication.

Fabrication

"Hey, kiddo, I've got an errand to run," said the engineer as he exited the lift, silently praying that Fumiko hadn't broken anything since he'd left. "Want to come along? We can even practice putting on an AMES!"

He'd tried to make the last part sound super exciting. However, it was more for his sake. Were something to happen, he wanted the child to at least have a spacesuit on.

Shuttle

"Hai, Saiga-Chusa." Tsuguka answered back simply. Even if her OS was running on paranoia and vigilance, the open program was all preoccupation with protocol and efficiency. Yes, hitting the surface running made sense. It annoyed her a little not to be in the cockpit putting her free time's shuttle training to good use, but it didn't seem like that new skill was destined to be anything but a party trick just yet. Still made her clunk her shield against the seat and click her heels against the floor, impatiently...

"How are we all feeling? Are we focused?" This was friendship mode being activated, despite her continuing stern tone. Her free hand took on a life of its own, nudging on Junko's shoulder. "This mission should go smoothly as long as we stick together... If anybody down there gets a sneaky shot in, I'd stick close to the surface for cover, then teleport straight back to the Eucharis... Yes, a manual flight in open space right now would be foolish. If this is a trap, they'll have pretty big guns on the surface..."

Hum. That was a little too business like...

"Also, Nito Hei Yuuki, your skin looks good today. I would eat that blueberry."

Perfect.

Shuttle

"I'm saving the focus for when there's something in front of me. I think it can wait while we're still in transit," Tan answered with far more honesty than was necessary or appropriate. "Staying low sounds good. I don't fly about as a matter of course." Even though skin care was a major part of her specialty, she still didn't feel qualified to add on to Tsuguka's last comment.

Shuttle

"Focused like a laser, ma'am. Just let us at 'em." Junko responded. Wondered if Tsuguka would ever really grasp the idea of moderation. So far, it seemed like she took every task with escalating concentrations of undivided effort.

And then their was the blueberry line.

Junko stopped and blinked, letting it sit in her brain. Tsuguka was many things, but she was not given to metaphor or elaborate idiom. Was that a sex joke-slash-come on? Did Tsuguka just hit on Freyja while she was sitting right here?

Only movement out of her was a slight stiffening of the spine and one hand had tightened into a fist hard enough she could hear the flexible material strain from the pressure. Took a deep, calming breath to get herself under control.

Just remember, you can't kill your superior officer in a jealous blood rage.

Too many witnesses.

Shuttle

Freyja watched the interaction between Junko and the oni curiously. It started out okay but somewhere along the line veered off into the Tsuguka Zone. She still wasn't any closer to figuring that one out. Sometimes she wondered if it was even possible. She would have to try harder to crack the tough exterior and get at the real Tsuguka, she decided.

Her cheeks darkened and her mouth dropped open at the next words out of Tsuguka's mouth. "T-Tsuguka-heisho..." She said, wondering what exactly she meant by that. Freyja closed her mouth and looked over at Junko. She had to say something. But what was there to say? Any denial would sound suspicious at this point.

"Your skin looks.. uh, very healthy, as well. Like an apple." She stammered, trying to sound casual. "Junko's skin is more like.. cheesecake. It's rich and creamy."

Time to change the subject, she thought. "To answer your question, Heisho, I am a little tired. Fumiko hardly sleeps. I feel bad for Jax-san sleeping under us. But I am focused and ready for anything." Nothing could surprise me more than seeing Junko-chan today. It's good to see her. Now if only Shiho was here.

Shuttle

"If only Shiho-Hei were here." Tsuguka came to the same conclusion on her own, but chose to acknowledge it verbally, sighing wistfully. "We could place a bet on some Gyoza..."

A groaning of the small craft's metal structure, as they approached the gravity well of the gigantic space station. The red neko felt all those unanswered questions looming, and tried to think of the best options to deal with them. Tried to think of a way to motivate these people, the closest thing a nekovalkyrja like her could have to a family; because that was what they were. Perhaps it was still simply that old autopilot, trying her best to follow those orders to perfection, or perhaps it was inspiration from an old movie... The answers alluded her as much as they likely alluded everyone else.

It was just time...

"That is good to hear, Yuuki-Hei..." A deep breath. They didn't open their face plate. "...Oh, and I never slept with Howard Heisho. I offered you a fight and you were too drunk. That offer still remains open, but I won't let him go easy."

"Nito Hei Hasegawa." The helmet turned towards Junko. It was a little hard not to feel the strain there, and the red neko had just added another corner back onto that love hypercube... "You should know that I took a year as a teaching assistant. The Shosho didn't think I could take the strain at the time... So I know what it's like coming back. I am pleased that you did."

Tan's words were a little harder to respond to. She liked her room mate, but their perspective on life was just so different, it continued to make them quite mysterious.

"Santo Hei Pan... Just, thanks for coming with us. I know you are following orders, but a little health expertise can make all the difference on-sight."

Great, now Tsuguka was thinking of those scenarios... Fighting to the death and having someone dragging her out again. Having that pair of red wings drag her out...

Silent again, with the blank faceplate simply regarding the ceiling, the lynx simply decided to keep the descending melancholy to herself.

Back Seat

"Thanks," Wazu said, taking the can of pop and... looking around.

The technicians seat was now quite a mess. His own computer was pressed up against the side wall along with the rest of his electronics, and the majority of the area was filled with training grenades, datapads, caster tape, and the assorted bits and pices of the boxes that Jax had wrapped the requested parts in.

Wazu would end up getting some tape, and then sticking the unopened can to the side of his chair.

Followed by making a note on his datapad to consider adding cup-holders if Bronzi was going to be drinking in the mecha.

Then he remembered to back up his data and do an incremental sensory backup for his ST data.

Then it was time to start disassembling those volumetric grenades so he could get at the memory buffers...

He could hear Freyja talking about being kept up late at night, pausing for a moment as he thought about saying something. It had been nearly three months and Freyja seemed like she had been avoiding him. With Junko back 'avoiding' seemed a lot more like 'fuck off'...

... perhaps this wasn't the time.

Wazu kept his conversation between himself and Bronzi,

"The Yammis can handle the shooting, but they will start to focus on that when it happens. We should try and herd them towards whatever is going to be useful down there. I think 'useful' is something 'I will know when I see'. I would like to try grabbing whatever stores data on those robots and see if it is recoverable. Examining the build quality of the armor on the surface would be useful as would investigating the creatures already here and the computer the Eucharis thinks is at the core of this thing."

Shuttle

"More of a candy red than an apple red. Though there's always candy apples," Tan Ann Pan commented, unwilling to let go of one of her preferred topics, even if it was strange how and when it had come up. "I'll be here to support you, and if you're lucky, that's all you'll need from me." She lifted her rifle and waved the barrel around, turning her head toward Junko for a moment, before looking at Tsuguka again.

"Otherwise, there's always contingency plans. Don't expect me to panic, I'm prepared for the worst." She spoke this as lightly as a hotel valet promising to return a guest's car in one piece.

Shuttle

As Frejya spoke, Bronzi who had neglected to switch off the voice castor would disrupt the discussions with loud audible sigh. Where he back in the RRF leading a similar mission he'd have probably kicked somebody off the mission to get the other members of the mission's heads out of their personal affairs. But he wasnt so he kept his mouth closed and simply let it go. He couldn't fault the crew for being focused on such matters---being on a ship of this size for months at a time was, well like many things in a military; very boring. But it was the timing that irked him. Sure death was a trivial matter even for him, cloning and ST technology ensured that, how ever mission success was dependent on living and dying. Bronzi for the life of him couldn't figure out who was going to be doing what once they hit the surface of the whateverthehellitwas below.

Bronzi cracked open a can of root beer and sipped. Bronzi then remembered to shut off the voice caster. "Ay, ya handle dat. Ill keep us alive, same game jus a different field." Bronzi flicked on his own data screen and it gave him a three dimensional view of the super structure below. He snorted at it. In truth he had no idea what the hell he was looking at, who built it and for what. But it didn't matter. His eyes could see damage. The information streamed below the image. "I'm sure tha yams got dis. What I need tah know is why in dis thing occupied. Or destroyed. Dis don't look like nothin dat would be left alone. Not willingly. And if something could do damage to it...why didnt it just destroy it?"

Then Bronzi switched over his to his comms and sent a message to his daughter. "Stop layin around and give tha captain her gift already."

"Okay." is what she said.

Eucharis Bridge

Nervous. Sura had swiftly gotten the gifts ready. Hanako would get two. She was the ships Captian, and while Sura and her father were citizens of Yamatai, they did technically represent the Empress, and Gartagens. This was naturally her idea anyway. She just wish she didn't have to go before the Captain and look silly with her back water tradition. She stepped forward through the entrance to the bridge and halted having read up on SAoY ship protocol. She stood for a moment, with a large finely engraved wooden box in her hands, as well as a smaller circular container on top of it. "A'soongao Sura...attache to To the Empress' of Gartaga's Hand, A'soongao Bronzi, requesting permission to enter the bridge and go before the Captian." She spoke as confidently as she could, but her soft voice sounded shaky. Sura was for an alien a pretty girl. Her round heart shaped face, strong features and almond shaped eyes stood out from under her head wrappings and heavy robes. Her curvy but small frame was hidden by the loose fitting tan robes. Her tail curled under her attire nervously as she awaited the permissions. Seconds felt like an eternity to her at this moment.

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

"Come in," Hanako told Sura. "What is it?" she asked in a way that suggested that coming onto the bridge of a warship during a mission should only be done for something of immediate importance, and she wanted to know what that something was immediately.

Shuttle Telemachus

"We are in position with the docking port. I'll need a moment to line everything up and test the seal," Victory announced over the cabin speakers.