RP: YSS Kaiyō Mission 27: The Crimson Levy

[raz]

RP Date

YE 45

RP Location

Yamatai

YE 45.4.15
Planet Yamatai
Tania, Kyoto Prefecture

This spring marked the second time Ketsurui Aiko had been invited to lecture at the Star Army Academy of Military & Medical Sciences, and again it was immediately following some bit of heroism that she didn't think of as much more than fulfilling her basic duties as an officer. Two years prior she'd given a series of seminars, one every other week, to a selection of rising seniors nearly ready to enter the fleet and become full Shoi. Back then after the Kuvexian War it was a simple task for Aiko to enthusiastically share her adventurous experiences with a new generation of officers who'd been trained during the height of conflict. Like the Ketsurui princess, the class of '43 were bred to think of nothing but victory against the Kuvexian menace.

The cadets today, just two years their junior, seemed so much different.

Perhaps it was because Aiko herself was older than that first time teaching at the Academy, when she had never really lived any life other than fighting the Kuvexian War. She'd spent all of her formative years out on the frontlines taking correspondence courses and training in the field, having been deprived both of any civilian upbringing and the privilege of attendance at SAAMMS she would have been given had Yui chosen to create her in more peaceful times, but today possessed a more balanced psyche that had learned to make considerations for more mundane ideas far removed from the war that had forged her from birth. The joys of food and culture and friendships were now known to Aiko — as well as the fullest extent of her renown on the homefront and the responsibilities such a public profile demanded of her — where they had only been dreams she occasionally had between the warrior's focus that defined her earlier years before the war's end.

Peacetime had smoothed Aiko's edges somewhat and made her alabaster visage a more perfect creation like the marble Nekovalkyrja statues that adorned old PNUgen buildings all over Tania, but had nonetheless done little to dull her blade-like determination. She could not say the same for this year's batch of Shoi Kohosei.

They were all fine cadets in most ways, of course. No student at the Academy was anything less than completely excellent, and the school's reputation for producing officers who would become starship captains and medical chiefs was well earned in no small part due to the rigor of its curriculum as much as for its selection practices. But some of the cadets asked odd questions compared to that first class Aiko had regaled of her exploits years before. For her part Aiko believed the right questions heralded the best kind of learning, but a few of the students in her seminar this year did not seem to ask much in order to gain further understanding. Rather there was always a critical bent to their queries instead of an inquisitive one. Aiko got the impression that they were sometimes more concerned with how the princess' war stories could have or should have turned out differently — about whether protocol had been followed correctly in the heat of battle or trying to impose some retrospective moralizing, not simply to her actions in the Kuvexian War and more recently against the Mishhuvurthyar in Uesureyan space but to the Star Army itself.

Nicholas Saiga, a SAINT Tasia who had become a mentor of Aiko's alongside Hoshi, knew of the princess' concern for the mindset carried by some of her cadets. Even beyond that, there had lately been hushed reports of officers throughout the Star Army questioning their orders and purpose. Of soldiers trying to impose a sort of committee review of the actions their duty demanded they carry out. This wasn't a widespread phenomenon but word of such things happening even once quickly spread.

So Saiga paid her a surprise visit in Tania tonight, having shuttled over after they'd exchanged messages on the topic, and invited her to hear the Academy's glee club sing. Similarly to Aiko, Saiga hadn't attended SAAMMS and earned his officer's rank in the heady days of the Second Mishhuvurthyar War when such advancements weren't nearly as regimented as they are today, but he knew many of the school's traditions and intricacies.

The chorus of cadets was performing off-campus this evening in a sturdy stonework building with a rotunda whose brass dome was allowed to develop a lively turquoise patina. A grassy expanse and majestic clusters of beech, elm, and linden trees surrounded the structure. It was a small building but finely appointed with classical pillars and carved facades as many PNUgen buildings across Yamatai were, and stylistically matched the nearby landmark castle called Karen's Lookout. Inside, its white walls were decorated similarly with beautiful arches and distinguished Nekovalkrja statues. Stained glass windows depicting scenes from Geshrintall's early development under the empire that would become Yamatai hung over polished rows of wooden pews that were bisected by one red carpeted aisle down their middle. There was a balcony level, too, and below that a mezzanine where Aiko and Saiga sat listening this evening.

"Blue of the unknown skies, red for Yui's blood. These shall our colors be till space-time comes undone," the cadets sang, that particular line standing out in Aiko's mind as they finished their rendition of the hymn. She stood and clapped with the other attendees, only a few dozen all told, and then sat down again to wait for the glee club's next song.

"See, Aiko," Saiga said in a low voice that wasn't quite a whisper, leaning in to address the princess. Neither he nor Aiko had spoken since the performance started half an hour ago. "The cadets today already know how to be good officers."

"What?" Aiko replied, blinking at him. Saiga hadn't mentioned anything about yesterday's e-mail conversation at all upon showing up at her office door earlier in the day. Still, she recalled it quickly.

"All those voices sound so perfect together don't they?" he asked, gesturing with a tip of his head toward the Shoi Kohosei whose dress uniform's back was turned to the audience. "All it takes is the right captain. Don't forget that's why you're here. It's to teach them how to be leaders by showing them who you are, not to get upset that they're not the same kids who fawned over your stories years ago. These aren't your peers, Chusa, they're soldiers like your crew on the Kaiyō or those legionary who love to follow you around the galaxy. You're the conductor and they're your choir, and you'd better damn well make sure they're ready to lead their troops once they make it to the fleet in a few months or the Star Army's in for some bad fights ahead."

Aiko just stared back at Saiga for a moment, leaned back away from him to the side, and then folded her arms and relaxed back down in her seat again.

"You could have simply told me this correspondence, you know?" Aiko said at last, folding her arms across her white Type 35 tunic's chest. "To think you came all the way out here to—"

"Nah," Saiga interrupted, getting comfortable again beside her with his eyes back toward the glee club on stage below. "Had to be this way. Couldn't have you miss an essential Academy activity for another whole semester even if you're faculty. And shhhh!" he scolded. "Can't you tell they're about to start the next song?"

 

[raz]

YE 45.4.18
Tania, Kyoto Prefecture, Planet Yamatai
Star Army Academy of Military & Medical Sciences

It was a bright spring Thursday and sun spilled in to Ketsurui Aiko's little office, its light tracing out tiny dots between the shadow of maple leaves across her wooden desk. The Academy's superintendent had offered Aiko more lavish accommodations each of the now two semesters she'd given her senior combat leadership seminar and both times the Ketsurui princess declined. Even as naïve as she'd been in YE 43, Aiko had known back then as well as she did today that her lectures were more than anything meant to be a treat for those upperclassmen whose accomplishments merited the privilege of spending a couple hours every odd week hearing her talk about fighting Kuvexians or Mishhuvurthyar or whatever Aiko decided would be the topic of the day. So she'd ended up with the same kind of plain six-foot-by-six-foot office with well-worn wood paneled walls, a desk and chair shoved into the corner, filing cabinet, bookshelf, and a big window that overlooked some pathway through campus like every other visiting lecturer would be given. It did, however, have a door to maintain sound privacy, which she generally kept half open to the shared hallway beyond it so she could see the nice oil painting of an Ayame-class cruiser that hung on the opposite wall.

Tomorrow would be her next session and she spent the time now going over what she'd talk about. Aiko took her assignment here very seriously even though most other officers might think of it as a nice vacation were they in her shoes, and had been here in her office thinking and re-treading the subject matter for the next class ever since the morning after Saiga's visit. The old SAINT operative's brief words during the glee club's concert had invigorated her spirit and enthusiasm for this semester's class. Today she wondered why she'd doubted at all, having been totally immersed in lesson planning for the better part of the week, and figured that it had probably been some esoteric problem from within more than any problem with the latest generation of Shoi Kohosei attending SAAMMS. Nonetheless, Aiko did have a lingering concern with how best to impart her wisdom upon the cadets in the classroom having only herself learned by fighting a war.

By now it was early afternoon. The princess had skipped lunch despite her dutiful samurai Rei and Mao troubling themselves (and her) over it, and she'd dismissed them back to their posts at far ends of the third floor where her office was with one standing guard at the elevator and the other at the stairwell. So engrossed was Aiko in her work that she didn't notice the bit of commotion all around her. Outside the window to her left, groups of cadets ran toward the nearby student union over pathways and grassy patches. And to her right, other lecturers and professors — both officers wearing Star Army uniforms like she did and civilians in professorial suits of tweed or mousey grey or plaid with elbow patches or added vests — shuffled through the hallway toward the floor's common room. It wasn't the regular time for a class period change, but still Aiko thought nothing of it. At least not until one of the passing faculty skidded to a halt in her doorframe and caught the princess' attention.

"Ketsurui-chusa!" the black haired Yamataian man said. He was older and short, probably around 40 years old, and had a stubbly growth of facial hair.

Inwardly, Aiko was annoyed. Takashi here asked her once a week to lunch. Not for anything romantic or anything of the sort but to get the same war stories that she told her students. Now a civilian economics professor, he'd been a logistics officer during the Second Mishhuvurthyar War and was deeply interested in hearing about the ones she'd fought with William, Hoshi, and Task Force 282 in Uesureyan space. She'd already turned him down this week, just the other day in fact, and was surprised he was back again to beg so soon.

"Takashi-san, as I have said many times, you'll have to ask another time," Aiko said with a smile, not looking up from what she was writing on a lined paper pad with her pen.

"What?" the stocky professor said with a little bewidlerment. "No, no. I know all that, Aikohime! It's the Kuvexians! News from the Ketsurui Military Sector!"

The princess' attention shot up toward him. Takashi was already leaving her doorframe, and Mao jogged up to take his place in her red-and-white samurai uniform with an inquisitive look on her sharp face.

"It is nothing," Aiko told Mao, herself standing up from her seat and stepping around her desk so she could join the others. "Tell Rei to maintain her post, too."

With that, Aiko marched down the hallway and into the faculty lounge where just about everybody whose office was on that floor had ended up. She stood tall over most of them from the back, though the few that did notice her parted so she could get a better view of the volumetric panel. Upon it, a news anchor spoke beside a graphic that showed a blue-green planet and the words "Terror in Taken Territory" overlaid on it.

++++++​

"This is Isla Grawley with SANDRA News in Kyoto breaking the latest to you from the Ketsurui Military Sector. In a surprise move, Kuvexian Forces occupying Hanako's World have begun a campaign to consolidate their tyrannical grip on the planet. Vast numbers of Yamataian citizens still remain on Hanako's World despite Star Army efforts to retreive them, increasingly outnumbered as Kuvexians flock to the planet under the rule of the self-styled 'Duke of Zzmyrneh,' General Tokeroh Bruchiiz.

"It's been less than 24 hours since this dangerous and unstable warlord arrested or killed several dozen Yamataian nationals that his regime charges were members of a Star Army force dedicated to fomenting terrorism and supporting resistance cells on Hanako's World, which the Kuvexians living there today call Zzmyrneh.

"The General has demanded a ransom of 30 billion KS in exchange for the lives of the captured Yamataians, and promises that reprisals will continue against the Yamataian minority living on Hanako's World until he can be assured that all Star Army military 'terrorists' are removed from the planet. He claims that his Duchy of Zzmyrneh is the legitimate government of the planet now, and that all foreign military presence on Hanako's World — Star Army or otherwise — violates interstellar political norms and is a direct threat to the stability of the sector.

"Although the General has long promised that those Yamataians remaining on Hanako's World are permitted to live in peace with Kuvexians and other species allied or indentured to them, intelligence suggests that all non-Kuvexians are treated as second class citizens by the regime on this occupied world.

"The Star Army knows it is dealing with a power-mad dictator, whose forces are among the most hardened of those who fought for the former Interstellar Kingdom of Kuvexia. Some experts fear, as the result of continued funding through piracy and access to black market trading, that General T. Bruchiiz's forces are still equipped with cutting-edge wartime weaponry matched to anything in Kikyo Sector arsenals."

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​

Soon thereafter, Aiko returned to her office with clenched fists and a fire in her eyes. A few years ago, Hanako herself had told Aiko the importance of re-taking Hanako's World and yet it was still an incomplete task. Now even more of her sisters and countrymen were dead or suffering for it. Had the YSS Kaiyō II not been in drydock at Tami for refits with Captain Hoshi far off south liaising with the Uesureyan Star Army in the aftermath of their effort to retake Kessica Prime, Aiko and her friends would already be halfway there with a whole Star Army Legion in tow. But all Ketsurui Aiko had right now was a class of cadets and a little office at SAAMMS.

Right after sitting back down behind her desk, Aiko told her mentor Nicholas Saiga as much in a quick text communique.

"That's way more than I had during the Second Mishhu War," came his fast reply. "Maybe it's a good opportunity to teach them something meaningful."

"Oh how I wish it were, Saiga-taisa," Aiko sent back from her Type 36 communicator, taking far too long to send back that simple message.

"Empress' sake, Aiko, are you always this dense when you're not slicing some enemy in half hundreds of lightyears from home?" Saiga's almost immediate message returned. She was used to his disrespect by now to the point that she'd given up on ever forgiving him for it. "You can't just give up like that, come on."

And then the veteran SAINT operative drew out of Princess Aiko exactly what she wanted to do. Back-and-forth they went for some time (but not too long) until Saiga understood the nature of Aiko's current need for action. When he had that grasp, it was his turn for a suggestion and Aiko agreed with unquestioning enthusiasm. So with everything then decided, she said a happy goodbye and formulated a new message to the students in her seminar that rescheduled the meeting's place but not its time. Instead of their regular classroom, Aiko's cadets were ordered to meet her at the Ketsurui Fleet Yards facility on Luna Bianca.

She'd arranged for them to go on a field trip.

 

[raz]

YE 45.4.19
1113 Yamatai Standard Time
Ketsurui Fleet Yards Luna Bianca Shipyard

The cadets in Ketsurui Aiko's class had taken two of the Academy's T8 Kuma shuttles up to the shipyards at the moon of Luna Bianca, and all of them made their prompt 11 o'clock arrival at the berthing where they'd been ordered to report. They'd been given temporary badges upon entry to the shipyard, which allowed the small cohort of 15 Shoi Kohosei specific access on a specified path from their shuttle bay to where their teacher had told them to appear instead of the same little seminar room where they normally met at eleven in the morning every other Friday. Each of the badges, made of the same glassy black material as the Star Army's Type 42 communicators, was flash imprinted with their information and showed their portrait, name, and rank on its two-and-a-half-by-three-and-three-quarters inch surface alongside a KFY logo and the facility's emblem.

Ketsurui-chusa had been waiting there for them, standing in the bright silver-walled corridor in front of a wide blast door beside two other people. Beside the entryway, the place beyond was simply marked as "Maintenance and Refitting Dock 21" on a small volumetric placard whose letters and digits hovered over the bulkhead's surface in distinct blue shapes. Almost immediately when the cadets met up, the princess and the couple of soldiers with her ushered them all in to behold the vessel that was being worked on within Dock 21's confines.

One of Aiko's associates was a tall Yamataian Taisa with green eyes wearing black panels that matched his dark hair and a white command cap, and Aiko's second companion was a Nekovalkyrja with olive skin and dark navy teal hair in an a-line cut. The latter woman wore no rank insignia on her operations grey Type 35 jacket and had an innocent inquisitiveness behind her orange-gold eyes, but did not speak whatsoever as she accompanied Aiko and her class into the maintenance berthing (and always kept quite close on the princess' heels as they proceeded).

"The YSS Asamoya," Aiko announced as her students took in the magnificent sight of the old test type vessel. Its wide, winged superstructure and sleek arches were still unlike anything else the Star Army had produced before or since, and the ship's white hull gleamed as brightly as the day it was built. "One of two Himiko-class Light Escort ships ever constructed. My colleague Saiga-taisa was once her captain and he was gracious enough to speak with the Fleet Yards and make it available for us today. She is in the process of being converted into a museum ship, so we are lucky to visit her in such pristine condition."

The maintenance bay itself was currently open to space but protected by an energy shielding that kept pressurization within its confines so KFY's shipbuilders and maintainers could work comfortably on whatever ship was assigned to any given berthing, though emergency shutters did exist to close it up. However, there was no artificial gravity here, allowing technicians to dart around their project vessel in three dimensions. A wide view of the Kikyo Sector's stars could be seen in front of and above the Asamoya's pristine silhouette.

Soon, Aiko had ushered her gaggle of enlivened officer candidates aboard. Engineers from KFY were scattered about the ship, expertly laboring to put the relic in tip-top condition for the public. It was not a priority project, however, and demilitarizing the Asamoya was still in its earliest stages, as Saiga explained while the Academy group toured the retired light cruiser. The man rattled off other facts while they meandered down its main corridor, beautifully illuminated from beneath the white rectangular cushions that lined its walls. The cadets learned that it was faster than its sister ship, the YSS Miharu, owing to reduced armor thickness. And that it was capable of more consistent performance due to superior power management revisions to the Himiko-class' design. Saiga spoke about its MEGAMI, too, and working with the avatar it created during his time as captain.

"That is partly why I have brought you here for class today," Aiko said when their walking tour brought them down a deck and to the forward of the ship, taking over from Saiga-taisa's history lesson upon the mention of MEGAMI avatars. She turned to her friend in the grey uniform with orange eyes and smiled warmly. "This is the Kaiyō II's avatar, Boss. She's come along to help me illustrate the importance of a good relationship with your ship's artificial intelligence."

"I'll catch you soon, Ketsurui-chusa," Saiga interrupted, stepping away from the group as they stopped while Aiko introduced Boss. "I've got to make sure the bridge is ready for when you all come see it."

Aiko nodded to him knowingly and then put her attention back toward the Academy cadets.

"We are just outside the MEGAMI room, in fact," the princess added, leading them through the door they'd stopped beside and into the chamber beyond. Once they were all inside, Aiko continued. "None of you should think of your ship's intelligence as a simple computer. It can be easy to overlook them even with all of our training to the contrary, but they are an essential member of the crew who will fight alongside you as Star Army soldiers and look to you for leadership as officers. Many MEGAMI avatars even go on to fuller lives as individuals despite being the chosen and psychologically organic personification of these great vessels that carry us in the course of our duties, as the Asamoya's original avatar that worked with Saiga-taisa and the ship's other captains already has."

Indeed, the room they stood in now was brightened only by a soft illumination from the ambient lighting strips. Its alabaster walls, usually blinking with a dazzling display of read-write indications and sequence monitors, were lifeless. Demilitarization of the Asamoya had been proceeding slowly and carefully — lovingly remodeled at the hands of KFY's engineers — but its MEGAMI's capability for higher command functions were among the first to go. But easy enough to restore with the right expertise.

"Boss has fought many battles with me and my crewmates," Aiko told the class, smiling again when she looked at the Kaiyō's avatar. "Among all of the extremely important aspects of being a Star Army officer, and for many of you that will mean eventually serving as someone who commands as a captain or first officer, there is the trust you must share with your MEGAMI. That means having trust for your ship itself. Whether you find yourselves on the largest dreadnought or the smallest patrol gunboat, your ship personified by its IES intelligence, is the most enduring crewmember that you will ever have."

The cadets were totally silent now. They'd become less lively than they'd been earlier, upon seeing the Asamoya from afar or touring its artistically designed halls, but nonetheless still remained in some measure of awe as they listened to Aiko teach them.

"Boss," Aiko said to the ship's avatar that accompanied her. "Now is the time."

"Yes, Chusa," Boss confirmed, and then stepped toward the interface bed every MEGAMI room contained within it.

YSS Asamoya
Bridge

Saiga only had a few moments to get comfortable in the Asamoya's command chair after he'd arrived, stretching out and briefly reminiscing about his time as the ship's captain under the service of a different Ketsurui princess. He'd never really enjoyed the ship's full capabilities but this bridge, which was located in the Himiko-class's detachable auxiliary ship called the YSS Byakuen on this particular vessel, was very familiar to him. He chuckled in the dimly lit command center as part of his fleeting reverie and then saw a green indicator flash to life on the otherwise glossy black surface of the captain's programmable console station before him. It told him the process of restoring full function to the MEGAMI-IES had begun.

"Well then," he said aloud, a little disappointed he didn't have a few more uninterrupted minutes in peace and quiet in the near-dark. Then Saiga pressed a button on the right arm of his captain's chair to open up the ship wide intercom.

"Ahh, make ready for final preparations," Saiga said, his voice echoing through the relatively empty ship. "Understood? Our ship is now in final preparations. Get to work!"

Across the ship KFY's engineers and technicians looked at each other quizzically, searching for an answer in their colleagues' faces only to be met with the same bewilderment in return. They did not at all understand the announcement — at least not those among them who weren't one of the operatives under Saiga's command.

Of the thirty KFY employees working on the Asamoya today, ten of them had been replaced by members of two Special Intelligence Fire Teams (one Special Deployment Force squad and one AEGIS rescue group). And beyond those ten, both squads' support teams had infiltrated the Asamoya under stealth earlier in the day. Upon Saiga's order, these operatives revealed themselves, drawing their NSPs on the civilian engineers and marching them toward the ship's main airlock.

"W-what are you doing?" a Yamataian KFY employee demanded, mustering the courage to look the Nekovalkyrja with black hair and purple irises back in her eyes as she forced him out. He was the shift supervisor, so momentarily felt it was his duty to try and ascertain that much.

"Get off now and you'll be fine!" she growled from behind her pointed pistol, shoving him out into the zero-g environment of the maintenance dock beyond the Asamoya's confines.

Back on the bridge, Saiga had been joined by three of his Nekovalkrja subordinates from SAINT. The brown haired Sanzugawa Mikan took up the sensor operations station while the AEGIS team's support pilot sat forthwith at flight control. The SAINT marksman known as Taka, who served on the Special Deployment Force team under Saiga with Mikan, went to the tactical station and began to familiarize herself with the Asamoya's weapons.

From his place in the captain's chair, Saiga stared at the wristwatch on his left arm watching to make sure his orchestra kept their time. So far his operatives had performed spectacularly. All civilians had been evacuated and the operatives had attended to general quarters with only two minutes having passed so far. Now the engines were fired and spooling up to go, filling the ship's entire body with an exuberant thrum. Behind him, the bridge's starboard doorway hissed open and Aiko strode in with her mob of cadets faces showing a mixture of concern, excitement, or dissociation among them.

"Sorry to keep you," Aiko said, walking up to stand beside Saiga in his seat.

"Not at all, Princess," he replied happily, a big grin growing across his lips. Just then, the jaded old SAINT operative finally felt electrified by the moment. "As long as you're still ready. Now shall we get going or what?"

Aiko didn't reply immediately and looked forward, out into the berthing where the Asamoya was parked through a volumetric projection across the room's front wall that replicated the vantage provided from a traditional warship's bridge.

"Hai," the princess confirmed in her smoky, refined Yamataigo voice.

After she said it, Saiga flicked a toggle on the command console in front of him and the room's lighting brightened from the dim state it'd been in since his arrival there. Thereafter its clean white walls and polished panels would no longer be obscured in the dark.

"Loading departure plan three," said the AEGIS support pilot, who was a short and wiry Yamataian man with cotton candy colored pinkish white hair and bronze skin. "Priority exit subroutine seven nine six zero: online."

"Finalizing logic array," Mikan chirped from her chair, attesting to Boss' success at restoring full MEGAMI functions.

"Security is disengaged," Taka added coolly, her voice not betraying how much fun it was to play with an older ship's guns, at least not to anyone who didn't know her (like Aiko or the Academy cadets).

"All systems are green," Mikan said.

At that moment, as the ship's engines found their rhythm and entered a sweet spot of energy production so long absent from its thrusters, the guest badges worn by the cadets, Aiko, and Saiga all went blank and produced a red X across their glossy obsidian faces instead of the identification they provided only a second before. The Shoi Kohosei saw it happen among their group as they kept close formation together at the back of the bridge, feeling more than any of the varied emotions among them the camaraderie of their SAAMMS pedigree.

"Hey! What are you doing?" squawked through the bridge from the flight control station's communications receiver, relaying the frantic voice of Luna Bianca's Star Army traffic control. "Orders to take off haven't been issued to your ship! What's happening? Saiga-taisa?" they asked, knowing from their data streams in the flight control office that he was the senior Star Army officer aboard "Respond!"

Above the Asamoya, the maintenance bay's blast shutters began to close, blocking out the starry skies just beyond its confines and threatening to trap the ship within. From the helm, the SAINT pilot turned to address Saiga.

"They've changed the access codes for the gate," he reported.

"Wouldn't expect anything less clever from our great Star Army," Saiga sighed, giving genuine credit to his comrades. "They really should have left things alone, but I suppose this is what we get for going with last minute plans. I guess the Director forgot to tell them about our secret mission," he chuckled, looking up over his shoulder at Aiko. "We're going to have a rougher exit than we expected. Brace yourselves!"

"There is no choice," Aiko said, her voice full of grace. "Our compatriots are dying on Hanako's World. We can be delayed no longer."

Saiga nodded, his eyes darting back forward.

"Weapons, prepare to fire!" he ordered. "Target the blast shutters' electromagnetic tracking guides! Fire on takeoff!"

"Preparing to fire," Taka confirmed matter-of-factly from the tactical station. On the Asamoya's hull, its turrets revealed themselves from beneath their armored cowlings and performed a swiveling traverse in anticipation ."Targeting the closing mechanisms."

"Asamoya, please launch," Aiko said, giving the go-ahead to execute.

With that, the ship moved forward from where it had sat for so long unattended, its once cutting edge technologies left to languish as the old Himiko-class waited to become a monument to past glories. It responded enthusiastically, gliding quickly and elegantly toward freedom. Taka followed her orders, letting loose a volley from the Asamoya's Ke-C3-W2901 Subspace-Encased Particle Cannons toward the closing bay doors. The shots found their marks, bringing the inevitable advance of the emergency shutters' massive tonnage to a long and grinding halt as they lost momentum.

As the Asamoya slipped through the narrow opening that remained — only barely enough for it to rocked through and into open space — baffled protests from Luna Bianca's flight control continued to broadcast onto the bridge. But soon the ship was gone from Planet Yamatai's orbit and off of sensor nets, expertly helmed by a SAINT operative accustomed to disappearing his ship when it needed to. Once in the clear, Aiko turned back to speak to her class of cadets.

"This final lesson will continue until I am satisfied you are prepared to lead other Star Army soldiers," the princess told them sternly. In point of fact, today had been their last scheduled seminar session on the last Friday of their senior semester before graduation. "Have you any questions?"

 

[Ametheliana]

YSS Asamoya
MEGAMI Room

For her part, Boss had been quiet and had tried to suppress her giddy emotions. Something new and exciting was being done around her and on her peripherals she could see all the ways it could go wrong. Every time she looked at Aiko, the dizzying volatility of the plan became immutable, though, as if hardened into stone by the princess' cool demeanor alone.

That feeling had only spread a thousandfold when she lay in the interface bed and became the MEGAMI to the YSS Asamoya. Whatever capricious feelings had been ebbing at her vision cleared. She saw what she was doing; nay, she saw what she had become for what it was.

From the very prow of the ship, she was in contact with the auxilary ship's C-IES and it was a strange feeling to have such a powerful secondary ship so intrinsic to her own structure. She touched base with the forward sensor dome, was connected to the datapads in the recreation lounge and was able to change the news headlines they showed (all went to Isla Grawley's report and the recent tyrannical grip the Kuvexians held Hanako's World with), and even spoke with the Chibi-Megami science probes. In her unrestrained high spirits, she wished there was a need to fire up the WARMS sensors—her favorite of the sensors— or the new-to-her InterPhasic Drive. But the targeting systems on the Subspace-Encased Particle Cannons were the first to be utilized by the crew and she took extra care in assisting Taka in the nearby bridge room to do as little damage to the doors above herself.

After her solitary venture as a lone gunship in Kuvexian space, Boss had reached out to other ships of her fleet. Something in her itched to know what the MEGAMI she had spoken to in the past would think about Boss having been MEGAMI for not two ships. Taking over the second of the Fuji-class, the YSS Kaiyō II, had felt like a special privilege after the Plumeria-class of the first YSS Kaiyō, but now she had slipped into a class wholly different.

Her own femtotronic quantum computer had moments ago already shaken hands with the electrogravitational temporal distortion field that increased her own processing speeds, allowing her to make the faster than light calculations that was now necessitated from her as she jettisoned away from planet Yamatai. No longer simply laying in an interface bed, she was flying amongst the stars in an all-encompassing bliss. She felt there was nothing she couldn't encompass or become as she left the swirling ephemeral concerns behind her like a trail leading to Luna Bianca.

Bridge

In the back of her mind, Koizumi Aratani had been worried. Not about the field trip or Aiko's lesson being taught today. Her worry had been born a month or so ago when she realized she would actually be an officer. She had become a great student in the last four years at the academy. She had a sharp mind and her interest in mecha and armors had carried her through quite a few projects and hands-on lessons, earning her the best marks she could hope for. But the lingering doubt in her mind had been laid bare in the last month when the instructors as a whole were no longer testing her but believed in her. Something about their unyielding faith that she would make a good officer. After all, how could she not after being put the SAAMMS ringer and making it out alive and with straight A's? But Aratani was not so sure.

And so, something in Ketsurui Aiko's determination to keep teaching her students, even on the last day, made the silvery hairs on Aratani's arms stand up straight and shivers went down her spine. Would this would be her last chance to prove to herself she would make a good officer or another opportunity to get more hollow approval from teachers and not much else. She looked to her friend, Yaeko, a well-brought up girl with all the confidence in the sector and then some. She was about to ask a question and avoided Aratani's eyeline and stared down their instructor instead.

"Yes, I have a question," her friend Yaeko said. "If this is really a 'secret mission' like the Taisa said, then is this a field exercise or something else? If it is, we don't have any more room for field exercise credits so late in the year. If it's not, then is it even regulation?"

"If this is a field exercise, will your legion be joining us?" Aratani's interest was piqued and her hand even flung up as she asked her questions, making her sheet of silvery white hair splay out. "Will you be using Ryūketsu, Kesturui-chusa?" Aratani had read the name of Aiko's Kirie thought armor in an interview from some years ago and her cheeks flushed, worried she had misremembered such a personal detail. Her animated elation contrasted Yaeko's dubious expression and crossed arms next to her.

 

[raz]

YSS Asamoya
Bridge

Aratani and Yaeko's queries were but two coming from the squawking squad of cadets standing at the back of the bridge. They'd become quite lively all at once after the voices of Luna Bianca's space traffic technicians ceased their broadcast, but many of them echoed what those confused flight controllers had said during the Asamoya's unexpected departure from its maintenance dock. The Princess Aiko could forgive them for their excitement. Her seminar that they'd attended for the past few months was a generally informal gathering and they were usually free to ask their questions without hesitation — not even considering that they'd apparently just been a party to the famous Ketsurui officer's unauthorized requisition of a Star Army warship — and they were still technically in class now. Eager hows and whys alongside nervous we have to go backs and this can't be happenings continued from the cadets for a few more seconds before Aiko, still gazing out through the main viewscreen at the bridge's forward wall, unclasped her hands from the small of her back and raised her right finger. Her call for silence was heeded quickly.

"The details of our excursion will be explained to you all soon enough," the princess said, turning to face them. This statement answered most of the cadets' inquiries, if only with an order to wait even longer. "We will reconvene in the wardroom later for a briefing, but I will tell you now that your function will be to serve as this ship's crew until the lesson is complete. Today we embark on a mission to Hanako's World, where I am sure you know the Kuvexians have struck out against our fellow Yamataians. First, however, you should take the time to familiarize yourselves with the Asamoya's decks and choose accommodations from among the ship's enlisted quarters."

Aiko regarded Honda Yaeko directly, looking back at the well bred girl in her eyes. The cadet had asked the most straightforward version of the same question among those that remained unanswered, so Aiko chose her.

"You will still graduate if fate deems your performance satisfactory, Honda-kohosei" Aiko said in her formal, direct manner that the cadets had become accustomed to by now. "So you and every one of your friends here must be sure to give your finest in service of the Star Empire. To do that, you will follow my orders before looking to any regulations for direction."

Aratani's question about the Legion and her Kirie were lighter and charmed Aiko, but the princess didn't show it. The thought that anyone who hadn't served with her knew so much about things Aiko held as personal never stopped surprising her. Even knowing her status as Yui's daughter and the propagandistic purposes behind her own creation, Aiko found it amusing that anyone at all cared, much less so many among the billions Yamatai counted as citizens.

"No legion belongs to me, Koizumi-kohosei," Aiko explained. "With any luck we will receive reinforcements during the course of this mission, and what luck it would be for the legion that bears my name as inspiration to join us in pursuit of our task. For the time being we only have a limited pool of resources amounting to a few Mindy 4 armors. No Kirie or legionary are here to back us up and we should not plan on such."

At the bridge's forward operations station, the SAINT operative Sanzugawa Mikan piped up and reported to Saiga-taisa that a shuttle had rendezvoused with them and was preparing to dock. It seemed to be an expected arrival that stirred no concern within the operatives sitting comfortably behind interface consoles in their KFY engineering coveralls.

"For now you will all think of how we might best utilize our limited resources," Aiko added, giving the cadets a bit of homework to ponder until they were summoned back to meet in the wardroom. "The Asamoya is a light cruiser with no ammunition stores and an inexperienced crew," she said, pointing out something that a confident crop of SAAMMS midshipmen might not realize about themselves. "Be prepared to share any thoughts on the matter during the briefing later. Dismissed!"

Port Side Multi-Function Bay

After the bridge was emptied of midshipmen, Aiko informed Saiga she'd go meet his shuttle and quickly proceeded to where it had landed. It was a big T7 Raccoon that, by the time she arrived in the place it was now stored, had slipped through one of the ship's atmospheric shields and was already parked. A few of the SAINT operatives who had so deftly requisitioned the ship for her were already there unloading big cargo crates down a ramp extended from the shuttle's rear open aft hatch. And with them was another figure that towered above all others, bulky and rippling with Nepleslian muscle from head-to-toe.

"So you have decided to join us in the end, Captain Sanders," Aiko said from behind William in a commanding, unfamiliar tone that he would nonetheless know wasn't at all serious. He'd just been setting down a big metal box that even Saiga's Nekovalkyrja needed equipment to unload. "I knew you would not be able to resist such glories," she relented, a smile on her voice as he turned to see her.

Wardroom

A few hours later, the cadets were summoned for a briefing as Aiko promised.

In the time they'd been given, they were sent a digital inventory of what the shuttle delivered. This included a Mindy 4 for each of them with a cache of maintenance gear, a small armory of personal weapons like pistols and rifles, some extra uniform essentials and undergarments, food in the form of shelf stable rations to last three months, some medical supplies, and other odds-and-ends such as a Type 33 Office Kit and survival kits. Saiga's SAINT operatives had unloaded most of the stuff alongside their own equipment and put it all away in the Asamoya's stores. Meanwhile, Aiko's cadets had found bunks for a bit of relaxation — or perhaps restlessly sulked in suspense of what might come next — before being called to the wardroom.

Big transparent Zesuaium windows dominated the wardroom's design, giving the two tables set underneath each spectacular views of the vast stellar sea that surrounded the ship. The cadets had taken up seats at each of those tables, as well as in the seats that lined the room's central table whose teppanyaki grills lay dormant under a retractable cover that protected them and allowed the surface to function as a regular counter. The place was buzzing like one of the Academy's dining halls would with the ship's crew of Shoi Kohosei congregated again for the first time since the excitement of their departure from Luna Bianca.

"Hey Aratani," a Yamataian boy with a mop of wavy brown hair and blue eyes named Andres Sarna called over to the Nekovalkyrja from his place at the wardroom's communal table. He was destined for the Infantry so had asked the silvery haired Neko girl about her experiences before, since she was one of the few cadets among them with prior service. "You've seen Elefirn right? Think we'll be able to handle a run-in with them with what we've got?"

 

[Gunhand4171]

Port Side Multi-Function Bay

William set down the crate he had been carrying and turned back to Aiko. "And let you go galavanting across the galaxy while I was on leave? You're lucky I'll be here to pull your ass out of the fire princess." He retorted, a smirk across his lips. He grabbed his go bag, containing pistols, a shotgun, and a few of the melee weapons he had collected throughout the years. His PA was back with the rest of the Berserkers. He did have a ballistic vest, so it would have to do for now.

He turned and allowed Aiko to lead him through the ship. It was a design he had never seen before and was a lot different than both the Kaiyos he'd been on. "So, what's the play? Want me to teach your trainees how an ID-SOL gets things done?" He asked, only half joking.

 

[Ametheliana]

YSS Asamoya

For the most part, Aratani had been alone while inspecting the ship resources as Aiko had bid them. Once she had run up against the SAINT crewmen as they worked at their steady pace, as if guided by some unseen clock's hand. She had felt embarrassed, like being a part of the inexperienced cadets meant she hadn't served with a black panel on both of her starship postings all those years ago before SAAMMS. But she had and she shifted her averted gaze to instead look at the supplies being brought in. Koizumi Aratani preferred large vehicles and hulking mechas to power armors, but they were still a sight that brought a bright smile to her fair face.

In the wardroom, she was hoping to give her sole attention to the briefing. Waiting for such, she had been looking out the window, lost in thought about the Asamoya's transfer chamber and how the armors could best utilize it.

"Hey Andy, yeah I did fight against the Elefirn." Koizumi nodded to Andres when he approached with his question, but her amethyst-colored eyes lingered on the stars outside of the ship as she answered him. "With what we've got, huh? Well, if we let them direct the flow of combat, they'll use some mind tricks against us to freeze us up. They've also got some pretty nasty attrition tactics and it's not like we're a full ground army or anything, so they have numbers on us. What we've got weapon-wise won't hold out against them for much longer than a fraction of a second, either."

"It depends if we're sharp-minded about it," Aratani's gaze had fallen on him, a determination in her set smile that she didn't know was there until after she had put a hand on his shoulder and kept it there a moment. "If I were just counting the weapons and armors we've got, I think my answer would be that we don't stand a chance. But because we've got our quick wits and a leader we can trust, I think we would have a better chance than they would have against us. And I say that confidently, having been shot at by them and all."

In that moment, she felt like she was answering her own concerns, too. If she could inspire this future Inantryman, she could surely inspire a crew as their commanding officer, right?

 

[raz]

YSS Asamoya
Port Side Multi-Function Bay

"Oh, you are more than welcome to educate them," Aiko replied to William as they walked away from the shuttle and through a doorway into the ship's corridors. She ignored his taunting about the possibility of pulling her out of trouble — the fire as he called it — and had only grinned in return. "A Nepleslian perspective on warfighting will surely enhance their future readiness as officers. What is regular for you and I through our work together is woefully rare out in the fleet. Perhaps if the midshipmen see our cooperation first hand then joint exercises will become more common between our Star Armies."

The princess slowed her pace for a moment as she pondered the idea, dawdling on her long legs in the hallway while looking happily pensive beside her friend. She thought about how Yamatai and Nepleslia were sister nations that shared the entirety of their history prior to the split, and how the two great Kikyo Sector powers yet still remained uncooperative in matters of mutual defense and prosperity. That Legion 777 contained within it a whole company of Nepleslian Marines who fought side-by-side with Nekovalkyrja was no small wonder, and Aiko wasn't sure herself if such integration could or would ever be repeated. Her priority now, however, had nothing to do with bringing Nepleslia and Yamatai closer, so William's presence now was mostly a bonus rather than part of her lesson plan.

"Or not!" Aiko said with a smile and cheery look painted across her beautiful face, having reassessed what she'd only just said. "I mostly asked you here so we could slay these Kuvexians together again. My duty as their teacher will have been well carried out if they learn anything from seeing my blade's edge deliver justice to King Kalapom's leftover mongrels.

"Speaking of sensei," she added, continuing their walk through the main passageway and toward the deck above. "Rei is aboard if you want to catch up. Her and Mao came with the SAINT operatives who secured this ship for our mission. They have been making themselves scarce but I am sure you can find Rei if you would like. For now you can go choose an officer's cabin and settle in. They're forward on this deck," she said while pointing a finger down the corridor. "Saiga-taisa and I will be giving a briefing after a while in the wardroom. See you then."

With that, Aiko waved to William and departed to herself prepare for later.

Wardroom

Andres' nose wrinkled in revulsion when Aratani called him "Andy" but didn't have time to correct her as she spoke quickly and exactingly about fighting against the Elefirn. The boy had corrected her before on how it wasn't a shortened version of his name at all, but he was too enamored with her to care much at this point. He wasn't interested in her romantically or anything of the sort. Instead, Andres saw Aratani as a more accessible (though slightly less impressive) version of Ketsurui Aiko because the former had fought in the Kuvexian War all the same. And, after all, the Academy selected a few prior enlisted soldiers each year for just such reasons: to share their experiences as peers among midshipmen rather than only through instructors like Princess Aiko was.

"Those Kuvexians got too many slaves," he said, glad to hear Aratani's confidence in their situation, if only because she seemed to trust Ketsurui-chusa and not because she could tell the class that the Elefirn weren't much of a threat. "Elefirns. Rixxikor. Ehlens. L'Kors and all the rest they pick up," he listed. "You name it! Maybe they even have Neko now like the NMX did, or even old NMX mercenaries stirred up by Ketsurui-chusa and her Captain Hoshi. You ask me we're screwe—"

"Officers on deck!" another cadet called, interrupting Andres instead of telling him that nobody asked when she saw the wardroom's door slide open.

When the call went out, all of the midshipmen stood at attention for a few moments until Saiga-taisa at the head of the new arrivals made a patting gesture in the air that unmistakably told them to be at ease and sit down. Saiga, Aiko, William, and a handful of the SAINT Neko strode in and stood centrally across from the long counter where a few cadets sat waiting, easily visible by even those who'd taken up seats at the outlying tables. The operatives now wore black paneled Type 22 bodysuits instead of the KFY coveralls they'd been disguised in (while Saiga and Aiko still had on their same Type 35s) and all but one of them dispersed from their place flanking the officers to take up the empty chairs or stand among the waiting cadets. Some moments passed in silence and Aiko surveyed the room, allowing het students to calm down after her sudden entrance.

"You are all aware there is trouble on Hanako's World," Aiko began, recalling to them the news flash that went out the day before and was the talk of both their campus and the wider Star Empire. "I cannot abide such disgraceful attacks on the Empress' people, nor the delay that has reigned in securing their freedom. My ship and captain are otherwise indisposed and so I have arranged this extra credit assignment for you to function as my crew on this ship."

All of this had essentially been told to the cadets on the bridge a few hours ago, though this time Aiko was more frank now about why they were here instead of back on campus in Tania on Yamatai. Not even the most mouthy or inquisitive Shoi Kohosei among them dared to speak now or interrupt her.

"Cowards might say that we are not at war with any Kuvexians today and cannot rush headlong into a new one with General Bruchiiz," the princess continued, her voice poised and clear but never for a moment harsh. "These caitiff among us would caution against any action to help those Yamataians still today living under Kuvexian rule, forced to call the planet — their home named for our Premier — some foreign word. I say that there is no excuse, nor a more pressing mission. No rebels on Kodia nor Mishhuvurthyar striking out against our Uesureyan cousins will take priority today. Together we are going to do something about this inequitable circumstance in the face of inaction. On this mission, you will learn why our great Star Army so often relies on lone gunships and cruisers to accomplish the most essential tasks."

She turned gracefully to the SAINT officer beside her and nodded. "Saiga-taisa," she acknowledged, telling him to proceed.

"The YSS Asamoya's primary mission right now will be to deliver two intelligence fire teams to Hanako's World," he said, pulling a handheld device from his pants pocket and pressing something on it before setting it down on the central dining table. "To refresh your memories," he added.

Saiga's device began projecting a volumetric image of the news report on Hanako's World from yesterday along with its audio. They'd all seen it at least once but he wanted the publicly available details at the forefront of everyone's thoughts right now. Soon enough the replay came to an end and was replaced by a three-dimensional projection of the planet itself that hovered over Saiga's device, slowly spinning over the table to dominate the room's attention.

"Since then our government has denied the presence of these forces General Bruchiiz has used as an excuse for his reprisals," Saiga said now that the news report was done. "That is not exactly the case. There has been an active resistance on Hanako's World since it was first occupied, though they've been rather ineffective and did not draw any particular attention to innocent civilians left behind through their actions. But just under a year ago, some misguided fool sent their goof troop in to rile up the locals. So there are indeed Star Army soldiers down there and their actions have given the good General his excuse to begin cracking down on all of our stranded civilians who were otherwise safe from Kuvexian violence. Yamataians still form a pretty significant population on Hanako's World and our intelligence shows they could previously work without threat to their lives, but the General's notice of these Special Operations amateurs has changed all that."

Several blocks of text about SASO's so-called Unifiers appeared around the volumetric image of Hanako's World with green lines extending out from from each label and down to locations on the surface. They'd apparently been spread out among the planet's population centers. Hanako's World was famous for lacking roads to connect its cities and towns, instead relying on air or mid-orbital transport to get between places. Even to these inexperienced cadets, any kind of planetwide resistance network would be doomed to fail purely for its lack of infrastructure and the attention any attempts at cross-communication would bring.

"Their bad idea is now our problem," Saiga explained. "Phase one of this operation has my teams going in to check out last locations and extract whatever Star Army personnel we can. Everything's been approved by Director Shida including our theatrics at Luna Bianca, but most Star Army units do not know of our deception. Riding in on a supposedly stolen vessel will give us some amount of cover and perhaps leeway when interacting with General Bruchiiz's forces, even if it only gives us a few moments advantage in the end. There are few things Kuvexians love more than the opportunity to help some mercenary criminals who just stuck it to the Yamatai Star Empire. A doctored story detailing such has already been leaked to underworld sources throughout the sector."

"The Asamoya will be there to extract you when your duties are complete, Taisa," Aiko said, knowing what Saiga had to say for now had run its course.

"Better make sure you and your cadets don't forget that, Princess," he quipped, looking at the midshipmen and William instead of at Aiko. Though he trusted her more than most Ketsurui he'd served alongside, Saiga knew the type of leader she was and why she was here in the first place. "Now didn't you ask them to share ideas about the logistics of this little adventure?"

 

[Gunhand4171]

Wardroom

After William had tossed his equipment in a empty cabin he got dressed in his officer uniform. Before he had a chance to go find Rei and Mao, it was time to make his way to the wardroom. He would just have to go check on them after the briefing. He hadn't seen either of them since their last deployment. He tried to speak with Rei as often as he could, espically after his conversation with her on board the Kaiyo about how he didn't visit her enough. Sighing he left to met with Aiko and Saiga.

Entering the Wardroom, he tucked his cap under his arm and eyed the assembled cadets alongside Aiko and Sagia, before moving to the back of the room. He was eager to give the Kuvexians another masterclass in Nepleslian ass kickings. Ever since he and Aiko had been POWs, he took every chance he got to pay them back for it. He returned Saiga's gaze evenly as he spoke. He had never met the man, but he hard heard rumors. Mostly from Aiko and Hoshi.

He wasn't sure what exactly Aiko wanted him to do besides slaughter Kuvexians, so he stayed quiet allowing the students to answer her earlier question.

 

[Ametheliana]

YSS Asamoya
MEGAMI room

The Kaiyō's MEGAMI—now the Asamoya's—lay tranquilly sleeping within the coffin bed of the computer room. Her dark teal hair framed her peaceful heart-shaped face on one side, though the weight of her curtain of bangs on the other side had fallen away slightly past her slightly pointed ears. Her lids looked heavy and her usually bright inquisitive copper eyes were closed, but her slight smile remained. It looked as if she were having an enjoyable dream, though her grey uniform panels of her chest did not rise and fall with breaths as a normal Nekovalkyrja's would.

Boss' form had long since been abandoned by her true conscious self. Instead, she roamed in a non-corporeal way through every hallway at once. Her focus was everywhere: on the fin-shaped gravimetric engines within the wings of the ship, spectating the bridge as if sitting on the cushioned bench in the back of it, she was amidst the hum of internal machinery on the sub-deck's engines, and even dipping into the untended soil of the observation deck to feel the cool softness of black earth.

Seven years ago, her first starship class she had inhabited was the Plumeria, and then the Fuji class. She strangely got the impression that the Fuji was an amalgamation of the ubiquitous and well-known Plumeria as well as the mysterious, two-of-a-kind Himiko-class. Her usual inhabitance, the YSS Kaiyo II, held within it the opulence of a monitoring room that served as a cozier second bridge and an observation deck like the Asamoya. Had her old captain looked at schematics of this class before sending in ideas for the new Fuji? Or was the MEGAMI just mistakenly finding commonalities to find something familiar about her new skin? Her quantum-enhanced digital mind could make sense of many puzzles, but whether the similarities were coincidental or all three ships were truly homogeneous outside of her inhabiting them all was something she couldn't solve today.

Looking for the satisfaction that can only come from questions being answered, her focus turned more fully towards the briefing in the wardroom.

Wardroom

A soft, heart-shaped face composed of glittering blue sparkles appeared between the crowd of cadets and Aiko and Saiga. The rest of her body followed with her hands clasped in front of her grey paneled Type 35 uniform, and soon the whole MEGAMI that the students had last seen laying down in the MEGAMI room was holographically standing there. She listened attentively to Aiko's final statement, then turned to look at the students expectantly.

"I wanted to point out the utility of the armor transfer unit of the ship," Aratani said. "It could be used as intended to send armors out and they'll have armor-based teleportation charges still ready in case the situation is more dire than expected. But also, the transfer chamber could be used to send dummy armors. If the fabrication chamber still works, we could fabricate shells that exude just enough heat to look like something to shoot at. Just an idea," Aratani had taken her look around the ship and had focused on the armors and their equipment. It was hard to avoid being called to her own interests, but she couldn't help it out on such an atypical ship and had asked the MEGAMI to explain different systems in the multi-function bays. Now, she wanted to know if they could use the transfer chamber, something not seen on any other Star Army vessel.

"Could we disguise ourselves as one of the Unifier teams already on the ground?" Yaeko asked. "That way upon insertion, we don't unintentionally warn the Kuvexians of a secondary Star Army presence." Earlier when the princess had answered Yaeko over everyone else, it had given the girl a sense of accomplishment. Now, hours later, she was looking for that same type of validation as she asked her question. She nudged Aratani with a competitive smirk on her taut face. Yaeko was sure her concrete addition to the briefing would be received better than Aratani's, which was, to Yaeko, as ambiguous as the jellyfish in the oceans of Hanako's World.

 

[raz]

YSS Asamoya
Wardroom

Aiko's lips couldn't help but tug upward in a fleeting grin when the image of her trusted MEGAMI, Boss, materialized like a beautiful fae creature come to help their assembled company of adventurers on their new quest. Though neither the princess nor Boss said anything to each other now, Aiko was glad that she'd come to demonstrate to the cadets how integral the ship's computer was among a crew's number. Not only that, but Boss herself was battle hardened just as Aiko and Saiga were, so just being there would provide the cadets with some sense of security in their current endeavor.

"You don't need to disguise yourself as anything, Kohosei," Saiga-taisa said immediately in reply to Yaeko's idea. "My teams will be the ones inserting. We've done this kind of thing a hundred times before. Your purpose here is to crew the ship and learn from the experience. Plus, those 'Unifiers' are why the Kuvexians are messing with our people in the first place. They're why General Bruchiiz is scouring the planet and promising reprisals on innocents. You wouldn't want to be down on Hanako's World masquerading as one of them."

With the confident young lady's idea quickly shot down, Saiga looked over to Aiko. She only nodded back to let him know she had nothing to say yet.

"In any case, they're probably not wearing anything identifiable themselves in the course of their operations," Saiga lectured, knowing that Aiko would appreciate him imparting some of his practical knowledge. "They want to blend in with the locals. So much for that plan, huh? So it's made looking Yamataian at all troublesome. Those Kuvexian bastards must be dragging off every tough looking Yamataian or Nepleslian on charges that they're one of ours. If disguise were necessary in this situation, you'd want to use Nekovalkyrja volumetrics or a holographic emitter to look Kuvexian or just stay as invisible as possible."

Next, the Taisa turned to Aratani. At least she'd used the time since the Asamoya's departure to think about something practical. He couldn't tell if Yaeko had thought about anything at all considering her quick attempt at synthesizing what he and Aiko had told them so far in the course of this briefing.

"A good idea to keep in mind, Kohosei," Saiga said to Aratani. "You must have paid attention to your adaptive tactics lessons. We're aware of the transfer unit, yes. Key to this mission is stealth, though. If my teams need to distract the enemy like that then we're in something deep. You shouldn't need to resort to anything like that while you're aboard, much less use the Mindy 4s provided," he reiterated, looking again at Aiko because he was telling her more than trying to reassure her cadets. Then his gaze returned to Aratani and the other midshipmen. "Still, stay sharp like that in your thinking. On this mission and all the rest you'll face in the years to come."

One of the girls sitting at an outlying tables near the wardroom's windows, the furthest away from where Saiga was standing with Aiko, raised her hand. She seemed rather shy, what with raising her hand while others simply said what they thought, and had pale skin with grey eyes and black hair. The princess stared over to her and raised her right hand gently in acknowledgement.

"Even though we have more than enough rations for the mission's outline, I have found seeds stored away on the observation deck," the cadet, Shoi Kohosei Tamahagane Hisako, peeped with a delicate and high pitched voice. She majored in life sciences, and was one of the few cadets in her class to have attended SAAMMS prestigious early life programs since her youth. "I think it is prudent to plant some of these. Although our mission promises to be short, if we are to simulate regular ship operations as its crew, the observation deck's gardening receptacles should be prepared for possible supplementary food provision. Also if the SAINT teams encounter unknown Kuvexian fauna and somehow return with it, this would be an ideal place to study them. May I have permission to do so?"

"Permission granted, Tamahagane-kohosei," Aiko said. Knowing the studious girl had nothing more to say and needed no greater praise for her idea, the princess scanned the wardroom with her eyes and waited for any other commentary.

The cadet Andres Sarna was next to say something regarding power armor, building off of Hisako's thought as to hypothetical preparedness and even suggesting that he and Aratani be responsible for readying the Mindy 4s. More propositions came from the other cadets after that, each growing more enthusiastic. Some spoke about acquiring torpedoes and ammunition, about the viability of stealing such from Star Army stores or liberating weapons from Kuvexian-aligned mercenaries they came across on their way to Hanako's World. Others talked about sensors and maintenance and managing the old ship's power flows. Most of the students spoke to their own interests and their future career specialties in the Star Army.

Not all of their ideas would be pursued, of course, but getting them thinking about being a real Star Army crew beyond what they'd already learned at the Academy was Aiko's primary thrust. It gave the princess a firmer grasp on where they'd all best be assigned, too. Where their duty shifts would be and how each midshipman would best be utilized. By the end of it, she became glad that none among them would need to be ordered to remain in their quarters. Their discussion continued for a good while and eventually wound down with no further suggestions from the cadets.

"There is nothing else, then," Aiko said at last. "We will be in transit for some time. Get your Soul Transfer backups in the medical laboratory. Jihi-heisho from SAINT will administer these starting after your leave. First duty shift will be in an hour. Dismissed!"

 

[raz]

Wardroom

William waited while the cadets all streamed out of the room. As the final cadet left and the door slid closed, the huge ID-SOL stepped up to the front of the room. "Good to see you again, Boss," he said as he approached Saiga and Aiko. Offering a quick Nepleslian salute, he turned to Saiga. "Its been a while," he said simply.

"Looks like you leveled up, kid," the SAINT commando replied. It had indeed been a long time since he'd led Aiko and the Nepleslian around in Ayenee, hopping across multiverses in search of destiny and danger. "A Captain of Marines and son of the Premier, huh?" he added, ignoring the fact of William's ID-SOL body standing there with them. "Glad you're doing well."

"Boss, would you be do kind as to give me a map of Hanako's World?" William asked.

"Saiga-taisa, if I may?" Boss asked as she reactivated the device on the central table so the volumetric display of the planet beamed into the wardroom once more. "What are your thoughts?"

The holographic representation of the ship's MEGAMI looked halfway between pained and happy to see William Sanders once more. He had, after all, died within the her previous hull while out on the Kuvexian frontier and was gravely injured the last time he had come aboard the Kaiyo while taking back Kessica from the Mishhuvurthyar. Sadly, she wondered if she would need to make use of the Asamoya's tiny medlab.

"You too, old man," William replied to Saiga, walking over to the map and studying it. "How much do we know about the enemies current numbers and concentrations?" He asked to the room in general.

"Well the Kuvexian general there's got the fleet he took Hanako's World with, probably missing a few pieces here and there," Saiga said, waving his left hand around the empty space above the projected map of Hanako's World. "The war took its toll, of course, and the Interstellar Kingdom's demise probably put a halt to effective maintenance. But they've had all this time left alone to raid and gather undesirables from across the galaxy. A lot of things change but Kuvexians and their mercenaries aren't one of them."

"If that is the case, there may be some old enemies of yours on the battlefields of the future," Boss said, looking from William to Aiko.

William closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Hmph," Aiko puffed with some obvious indignation. "Both of us are still wanted by every disparate speck of their fallen kingdom. Perhaps they will finally try to collect on those bounties your friends are always alerting me about, Saiga-sensei."

"Yeah?" Saiga retorted quickly. "How are they going to know to find you, Aiko? For what I'm sure won't be the last time: you are to stay with the Asamoya until my teams call for pickup. I agreed to this adventure and got approval from the Director so you could 'do something' to take heat off the civilians catching SASO's backlash. That means staying hidden and getting us out when the time comes."

Aiko's eyebrows scrunched together in dissatisfaction but she didn't argue with him for now. She knew the Kuvexians wouldn't stop their reprisals just because the guerillas that triggered them were evacuated. Now that it had begun, the excuse to call every Yamataian living on Hanako's World a terrorist was solidified in General T. Bruchizz's deranged mind.

William snorted at Aiko's indignation. "When we are together we do have a tendency to piss people off," he added looking back to the board. "As it stands, I wish I had a unit with me and some drop pods. I know shock troops. If I had the opportunity..." He pointed to the map. "I'd hit one of there supply routes. It would take the heat off of you while you're trying to insert. However they would know something was up. So I'll leave sneaky cloak and dagger shit to the professional. Just tell me when you want someone's skull crushed."

"Here I was thinking you'd make sure she didn't get the ship's cover blown," Saiga sighed. They knew their mission. It'd been repeated several times by now since the briefing started. "Some stuff to watch out for, though," he said, pointing to the planet's surface. "So Hanako's World hasn't got any highways connecting its cities. It's a very beautiful and ecological place. Intelligence shows the Kuvexians haven't changed that and they still rely on space transport to go between where they've set up their strongholds.

"Real military power in the system is projected from the fleet above," Saiga continued. "Forces planetside are concentrated in Shinjuku on New Kyoto Island, Paradise City on Paradise Island, and Harbor Town where all the galaxy's scum come to trade and deal. The General, as should be expected of Kuvexians, has fortified the Cloud Temple and Chateau Hanako as luxury retreats becasue that solidifies his prestige and image in their culture. It can get pretty wild down there with the infinitely churning business interests having it out between their gangs and security forces outside of where the General's honor guards follow him."

The ID-SOL gave Aiko a knowing glance then turned back to the table. "Boss, sorry to be a bother but I'd like to know what this ship is capable of and what it has to work with. I know I can't get the sensitive bits, but can you send a general rundown to my implant please?" he asked.

"I am more than happy to," Boss said and the MEGAMI sent as much as the cadet's had received before the briefing began. "The fleet above that you mentioned is stationed around the Minato-class starbase once held by Star Army. Above Hanako's World, it has become an orbital trading hub much like the independent station near Kuvexian space where you brokered a deal for golden zesuaium. Perhaps just as dangerous," Boss ended with a warning.

William ran a hand through his beard as Boss explained the orbital situation. The fact that they had placed most of their orbital assets all in one place was giving the Nepleslian many awful ideas. However he was going to reserve them for now. "Understood. And what is the fleet make up look like?" he asked.

"Too big for the Asamoya to take on," Saiga cut in. "It's a big old Kuvexian invasion fleet. They've got battleships, cruisers, scouts, escorts, fighters. The works, man. That's not even to mention whoever or whatever else the General has hired to patrol his space lanes. Anyone who wants to try snatching a piece of his scraps can be found floating around the planet, and not much is done about the pirates and mercs zipping around up there unless they do something that hurts the General's profits or power. If anyone does, they're squished out of orbit with haste. With nowhere else to invade, the Kuvexian vets are just itching to improve their response time and get plenty of practice wiping up wayward Rixxikor shit daily."

"The Asamoya is a far cry from that filth," Boss said. Pride for the ship she was newly inhabiting made her usual tone become uncharacteristically sharp.

"You are accustomed to her handling by now, yes?" Aiko asked with what sounded like a genuine inquisitiveness for Boss' new experience. "The specifications for a Himiko-class do not show them being as nimble as our Kaiyō, but how do you like the feeling? I trust you will fly us safely once Saiga-sensei's pilot departs."

"I'm not truly accustomed yet, no," Boss said with a tempered voice in reply to Aiko. "The Asmaoya is equipped with a drive we have yet to use that pulls from Mishhuvurthyar technology. If we were to use the ship's interphasic drive, I would certainly be able to say I was truly one with the ship's capabilities. But as it stands, I am more than comfortable with a ship of this pacing. It allows for a different way of moving where speed is not always key."

"Sometimes just sitting quiet and waiting is key," Saiga groaned. Even this MEGAMI seemed too excited for a mission that should only promise boredom. "You don't need to run or evade anything if you just stay hidden."

"Has such worry ever been justified?" Aiko asked him. She wasn't smiling with her mouth but crimson eyes shone with joyful ambition. "We will be safer with Boss aboard the Asamoya than you and your operatives will be out in the field."

"Waiting quietly and patiently has never been Aiko's strong suit," William replied with a smirk. He knew that he also was not one for waiting. And where he and Aiko went, trouble for their enemies usually followed.

+++

OOC: JP by Gunhand, Ametheliana, and raz

 

[raz]

YE 45.4.20
1425 Yamatai Standard Time
The Duchy of Zzmyrneh (Hanako's Star System)

A little more than a day since departure had passed by the time the YSS Asamoya reached Hanako's World in the fallen Ketsurui Military Sector. Much of the ship's interstellar transit was spent getting first out of the Yamatai system and then when it advanced on the beautiful blue and green world from the system edge of Hanako's Star. The minutes spent in-between during hyperspace fold were comparatively inconsequential. Although Ketsurui Aiko in her command of the Asamoya was determined to move quickly and ferry Saiga-taisa's SIFT teams to perform their personnel retrieval mission with eager haste, she didn't push for the old ship to proceed at full speed ahead through system space. She had instead left such decisions to the SAINT pilot chosen to helm their approach-to-target and his expertise in navigating stealthfully as to avoid detection both by Star Army patrols unaware of the Asamoya's undertaking and by the Kuvexian remnants who awaited them near Hanako's World.

When the Asamoya finally drew closer to Hanako's World, one of the cadets took over as pilot and an order was given to activate the ship's experimental Inter-Phasic Drive as to bypass whatever foes stood in its path. Based on Mishhuvurthyar technologies from decades past, the drive provided flawless concealment for the vessel by displacing it completely from the space-time continuum in the same way some Mishhu scout ships and soldier evolutions could. For the time being, the Asamoya became a Yamataian ghost slipping unknown past the shambling bones of Kuvexia's ghoulish conquerors — a specter among barbarians who'd wish nothing more than to take the ship and its crew as another prize had they known it was among them.

Aboard, the Star Army cadets held their breaths having never needed to trust untested technologies. Aiko did, too, sitting regally in the Asamoya's command chair with her long legs pinched together at the knees remaining motionless in anticipation of some sudden alarm telling her they'd been found out. The SAINT operatives preparing to depart in the ship's multi-function bays felt none of the same, all hardened against fear by training and experience both. But the trepidation among most of the Asamoya's complement was met with inspired wonderment when the ship came close enough to see Hanako's World and the glut of Kuvexian ships arrayed around it.

Images were broadcast from the bridge to all stations so that the cadets could witness the rightfully Yamataian planet they'd been levied to visit. Despite the Kuvexian occupation, the Star Army soldiers saw perfect blue seas churning gently beneath idyllic clouds that looked to carry only the warmest rains. Islands of verdant, tropical green forest ringed by sandy beaches and lighter turquoise coasts stretched across the globe. And above that divine marble named for the heroic Ketsurui Hanako, whose atmosphere glowed as a thin ring of bright teal against the blackness of space, hung the ships of Yamatai's dastardly enemy.

The Battle of Hanako's Star had seen five full Kuvexian battlegroups come and destroy both the Sixth and Tenth Standard Fleets of the Star Army of Yamatai. Sensors aboard the Asamoya showed that only about 1,700 of that massive 14,000-ship force still remained today, but their glittering yellowy hulls were nonetheless a formidable armada. Like chunks of rocky detritus among a wash of twinkling gold dust, around a thousand more small craft and big ships belonging to mercenaries and merchants traversed through General T. Bruchiiz's collection of remaining Interstellar Navy vessels.

Unlike the Scientific Studies Service station YSS Furontia and the Sixth Fleet's mighty Nakajima Star Fortress, both laid low and destroyed during the Kuvexian invasion, an imposing Minato-class space station still orbited Hanako's World. Its spotless white plating from days past was covered in some places with gaudy gold paneling that stretched out like diseased skin over the grandiose installation's structure. Its command tower was completely covered by the remodel and most of the golden wrapping spread out from there, flowing away from that central point and dripping down the sides of the Minato's bulbous superstructure. By the looks of it, the station's new shine was a constant work-in-progress that doubtlessly existed to demonstrate the General's vast wealth and dominance.

Bridge

The Asamoya snuck past all of the Kuvexian might in orbit without trouble and glided through the atmosphere of Hanako's World still under the cloak of its interphasic stealth. Once down beneath the clouds and then in the planet's clean air the Inter-Phasic Drive was deactivated and Aiko immediately directed the cadet at the helm to dive their ship into the sea. Her order was followed with the uncreative but textbook maneuvering one could expect from one of the Academy's finest midshipmen, and the Asamoya was plunged under dense blue waves that would prevent its detection as Saiga and his SAINT operatives disembarked and went about their business above.

That task to deliver two SIFT teams for infiltration, which was ostensibly the ship's primary task along with getting them out in a few days time, took only about an hour to accomplish. Then Aiko with the cadets aboard the Asamoya were left to their own devices. The ship had surfaced within a big rocky sea cave that jutted out from some nameless island filled with ferns and palms and surrounded by beautiful sand beaches, and was chosen because it provided enough space to safely launch a SAINT shuttle and Mindy armors from a location central to their operations elsewhere on the planet.

It was enough to hide the Asamoya for now, but Aiko knew they couldn't stay here for long. A duty shift change came and new shift of cadets took up positions at the three forward consoles — flight control, tactical, and operations — with a few more on hand to "attend class" from the cushioned bench at the bridge's rear.

"You have all performed commendably so far," Aiko said to the new arrivals after they'd settled down. She had a plan, of course, but wanted to let her students actually operate as a real crew during this exercise. "We will need to shift the Asamoya's position soon. Shall we go back up into orbit somewhere and hide or remain planetside? Give me options, cadets."

 

[Ametheliana]

YSS Asamoya
Bridge

"You're so lucky," Yaeko told Aratani with an air of jealousy as Aratani rotated with the other two cadets and sat squarely at weapons. Yaeko was in the back observing on the edge of the shared seat. She immediately wanted to recommend to Ketsurui Aiko to let her at the helm. Yaeko had, after all, piloted her aunt's Princess-class yacht more times than she could count. That on top of basic made her the most qualified helmsman there, even with Aratani's starship experience. She simmered with contempt as she looked at the back of Aratani's silver head, then to Aiko. Yaeko thought how she would need to say something to get back into good graces with the Ketsurui.

"We're a sitting duck here," Yaeko said promptly. "We should go into orbit."

From tactical, Koizumi Aratani looked back at her friend, "We haven't seen a single patrol or Kuvexian ship while planet-side. Up there is a couple hundred shy of two thousand enemy ships. Staying here and laying low seems a safer bet. Can't beat the view, either," Aratani justified. The pale, pointy-eared cadet had visited Hanako's World between postings before she had enrolled and she felt grounded being there. The splendor of the planet's natural beauty was a reminder of what they had lost in the war— and what Aiko was trying to take back.

Unable to meet Yaeko's gaze while considering the weight of the situation, Aratani's flowery purple eyes strayed to the occupant of the command chair. Because of her common interest with Ketsurui Aiko, Aratani had looked into her a lot during the Kuvexian War. Aratani didn't think Aiko was especially famous specifically for doing all of her own work on her mecha. She had a hulking Kirie far larger and grander than the Mindy power armors the SIFT had packed onto the Asamoya and taken out for their operation, but Aratani had idolized her for all Aiko had said and done with her Ryūketsu. The power of the Kirie with Ketsurui Aiko within its pilot pod had even been immortalized for the mech-head Aratani at the Battle of Glimmergold when Aiko had shot her Kirie through the main gun of a star fortress and self-detonated it. The sheer scale of the chain reaction within the Kuvexian fortress done by a sole mecha, causing enemy deaths in the hundreds of thousands, had cemented Aiko in Aratani's mind as someone to be revered for their ingenuity with a hulking armor.

But, now that she was face to face with the princess, Aratani was second-guessing her own tunnel vision on the Ketsurui's accomplishments. In the same way Aratani had been questioning if she could really do well with a command, she was wondering why she had never recognized the leadership quality in Aiko and only focused on her propensity with mecha. The cadet wondered if she had been doing the same with herself.

It was an enlightening thought and Aratani turned her gaze to her console, though her SPINE allowed her to see the readouts and controls in her mind's eye. She just wanted to avert her gaze once more and collect herself from the introspection the princess had unwittingly induced.

 

[Gunhand4171]

YSS Asamoya
Recreation Room Two

While the cadets were learning to fly the old museum piece, William, Rei, and Mao sparred in one of the ship's recreation rooms. The VR room was set to a historical Yamataian temple courtyard. They had been sparring for a few hours. Several one on one matches, and finally a two on one match to finish it out. The two samurai versus the ID-SOL. It had been quite the spectacle. Once that had been finished William cleaned himself up and checked on their situation.

YSS Asamoya
Bridge

He strode onto the bridge in his uniform pants and green workout shirt. Captain Sanders was monogrammed above his left chest and the right had his unit designation 'Berserker 01.' He had managed to catch the conversation between the two cadets as he entered. Pulling up their names with his implant, he finally broke his silence. "Cadet Koizumi is correct. Think about our situation for a moment. We managed to sneak down to the planet and got the commandos off. As far as we are aware no one has spotted us." William said, walking up to stand by Aiko. "As our tactical officer has just pointed out, the enemy has quite a lot of tonnage up there. Trying to make a break for orbit increases our chances of detection. Even if we did get up, we'd then have to get back down here to pick up the commandos and then back out again. That's three more opportunities you are giving the enemy to catch you. Don't make their jobs easier on them." He explained, looking at Yaeko.

He looked back to Aiko and shrugged. "At least that's my take on the situation." He added turning back towards the cadets. "What else could we do?" He prompted. "Think about the resources you have on hand and the ship's current situation."

 

[Miko]

Zelphon walked onto the bridge, pushing her glasses up on her face as she did so. She paused and looked around for a moment. So this is what it felt like to be on the bridge of a Star Army ship. Though this wasn't her first time, this felt special to her as she was nearing the end of her training. She had always heard the stories of Alastair and all the grand adventures he had. The most telling was his time on the Kaiyō and the bond he had formed with his captain and XO. She too was looking forward to bonding with everyone on this ship. First, the mission at hand and the best course of action.

She listened to everyone give ideas on what they should do next. She was personally uneasy being this close to Kuvexian ships. She was a bookworm so knew all the little details about how bloody the war was with this race. Though it also felt nice being back to Hanako's World, which held a sense of home to her. A feeling she would not soon forget.

"A wise observation regarding the amount of times we could be detected. However, should we let the ship drift in a low power mode, they may just think we are nothing more than left over scrap long forgotten about," she said, taking a step forward and once more pushing the glasses up on her face. Her wings slightly unfolded before tucking in behind her neatly. "At least that is my take on the situation. Either way risk of detection is always possible."

 

[raz]

YSS Asamoya
Bridge

Aiko's steely countenance stayed unchanged as her cadets shared their thoughts. She sat with a rigid grace in the captain's chair as if it were the throne in some Ketsurui Clan court while listening to the advice from the Asamoya's rough-and-ready crew, and didn't allow the smallest smile to enliven her prepossessing features even when her oldest friend, William, entered the bridge and spoke. This was the manner in which Ketsurui Aiko always approached military matters since her earliest days aboard the first Kaiyō — though her public appearances and the resulting perceptions presented her in a softer light, if only just a touch — and that demeanor certainly suited her now. Even as their teacher, the midshipmen in Aiko's Academy seminar who'd been brought along for this capstone quest hadn't seen such unmoving sternness in Aiko who, as captain, demonstrated very extreme dedication to her duties now that the mission was underway.

"It seems the advice of my senior staff is divided," Aiko said once the cadets stopped having anything to contribute. She glanced up at William towering beside her and gave him an approving look with just her eyes, implicitly thanking him for his input. Standing herself, Aiko clasped her left hand into a fist at the small her back and contemplated the coming decision for a moment, as much in her capacity as the ship's commanding officer as she was the crew's sensei.

"I agree with the two who say we should return to orbit," she began, softly gesticulating with her right hand as she spoke while eyeing Zelphon and Yaeko with an assenting gaze. "Nevertheless, Koizumi-kohosei and Captain Sanders make solid points and have more combat experience to inform their statements. So we will hold out planetside for the time being and give the Asamoya's Inter-Phasic Drive more rest before returning to orbit under its cover. Our position here is exposed, however."

The princess considered those available on the bridge and recalled their records from the Academy in her mind. The Belmont girl had acceptable flight training qualifications, and Aiko's service alongside her half brothers Alastair and Miko contrasted positively with how Zelphon carried herself as a midshipman. Thus, Aiko decided on the Elysian.

"Belmont-Kohosei, take the helm and prepare this ship for departure," Aiko ordered. "Do not be remiss adjusting to the Asamoya's anti-gravity fields. They will keep our spaceship from being crushed the deeper we delve into these waters. Aratani-kohosei: please report on the status of our ammunition stores and the progress of production in the fabrication rooms. And the rest of you," Aiko added, turning on her heel to face to the cadets sitting along the bridge's rear bulkhead. "Captain Sanders here is going to tell you about the time we were captured by the Kuvexians. His version may enlighten you in different ways than mine did earlier this semester."

 

[Gunhand4171]

YSS Asamoya
Bridge

The Nepleslian's face remained impassive, but his eyes glazed over as he recalled the memory. It all came flooding back. The cells, the disgusting slop they were forced to eat, the constant fighting...

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, turning to face the cadets against the wall. "As I'm sure she told you," he said tossing a thumb in Aiko's direction "we were captured and held in a Kuvexian arena. We were forced to fight for their... entertainment." He said, venom in his voice at the last word. "Kuvexians rely on slaves to do their fighting for them. They'll even grow entire armies of clones to throw at an enemy." William explained. "They are obsessed with wealth and status. Anything to make themselves look better amongst other Kuvexians." He added with a sneer, before returning to a neutral expression. "We were kept in separate cells, and when the Kuvexian in charge came, he'd only talk to us through the bars. They'd drug us and drag us off to wherever they wanted us at. We only directly interacted with one Kuvexian and she was the arena 'coach.'" He said tossing air quotes around the word coach.

He ran a hand through his hair. It had been a while since he had thought about those memories, preferring to ignore them. "Also they don't say Yamataian. They call you guys Yahmooties."

 

[Ametheliana]

YSS Asamoya
Bridge

Aratani was churning through what William had said. It was interesting they had a coach and she wondered if the amassed slave armies of the Kuvexians had even been given as much. It only made the cadet wonder what else she could learn from this Cyclops armor pilot and she kept her purple eyes on the hulking ID-SOL's form for a long moment.

Speaking on the fabrication bay's production, Koisumi Aratani said, "We've got 10 AS-5 series torpedo and 12 of the S-7 series torpedoes, captain. Fabrication bays have ceased their output to negate our energy output, captain." She added the last word a little late, but it had a sharp ring to it.

With an excited air, she looked to Yaeko. The posh cadet was chuffed that Aiko agreed with her recommendation to go up into orbit and raised a sculpted brow at Aratani condescendingly. After all, it had been Aratani's idea that Aiko was going with for the time being. Aratani noticed that even on the shared bench, Yaeko had mirrored the princess' pinched legs and taken on a sharp countenance.

 

[Miko]

YSS Asamoya
Bridge
Zelphon walked over to the helm chair. As she walked along the back of it, her hand softly caressed the top of the chair. The chair turned towards her as if it knew who was the one in command. She turned and flared her wings to make room for the back of the chair. Her form sank into the chair as she sat down. Zelphon has heard from Alastair that it was important to have the best of form when on the bridge. Even something as simple as sitting in a chair can set the mood and pace of the bridge. She once more wiggled her hips in the chair to get comfortable. She thought to herself that she was ready for this. That all her training was in this exact moment about to yield fruits of her labors.

"Running through ship checklist." She said out loud to the crew. "Stations are coming back green. Ship is prepared to disembark." She said in a calm yet stern voice. Zelphon felt completely as ease doing her job. This reinforced to her that this was the path she was meant to be on. To be in command of her own ship one day and travel the stars. "Thank you for the advise." Zel spoke out towards Aiko. "The anti-gravity fields are nominal captain." She gave in reply. For just a moment, a small smile crossed her lips before going back to be straight faced.