RP: YSS Miharu Mission 3, Aftermath

"It's not that much different than Yamatai's nekovalkyrja clans - the latter only have had the time to grow more diverse. I suppose we could just call them the 'Eve clan' for convenience - Daughters of Eve is a bit of a mouthful." Kotori backed away and slowly eased herself back into her seat. There was a minute jolt in the ship and her eyes shifted to one of the volumetric displays that indicated that Miharu had dropped out of hyperspace.

She tapped on the volumetric screen a few times, loading in the preset she had prepared previously, and Miharu's maneuvering thrusters fired, angling the ship to turn its nose toward the small pinprick of light, far away, around which the planet Yamatai orbited.

The hyperspace fold drive started recharging for the jump, a three-minutes countdown appearing on the display. Kotori nodded in satisfaction and turned back to Nyton.

The nekovalkyrja eyed him a second and then tilts her head slightly to the side in a curious, bird-like fashion. "Was there anything else you wished to talk about?"

Masako smiled again, though their guests wouldn't be able to see since her back was to them, but her ears twitched slightly in amusement. "Caretakers, eh?" she responded thoughtfully. "We really don't have any designated caretakers on board," she replied before shaking her head. "Although Freeman-Juni would prefer to be called a Caretaker rather than the Chief Engineer he is," she made the comment before chuckling.

"Before this mission, we didn't have quite as large a crew as we do now. Most of them are sprites that were created to bring us up to full compliment. Though now I should probably call them our crew mates considering the Taisa and, for that matter, the rest of the crew would never think of recycling them." she went off on a tangent before her ears perked up a bit. "Anyway, we're about to hit the main passageway," she said as they closed in on the shaft. "Be careful, it's zero-g," she warned as gently pushed off and allowed herself to float to the other side rather than use her gravity manipulation. After all, all she was doing was crossing. It meant there was no need to go up or down.

Once across, she took a few steps forward and turned to wait for the two enlisted women.

After Nyton had ordered Yoroko to the armor bay Yoroko began to head toward it. Yoroko had barely made it into the armor bay before her body decided it could go on no longer. Maybe for just a minute... Yoroko reasoned before sitting down and propping herself up against the wall. After Yoroko's eyes closed minutes quickly passed and the Heisho was happily snoozing away.

Yoroko's DAISY emitted a loud chirp, drawing the Heisho out of her 'short' slumber.

Miharu said:

You have been dismissed from your duties. Please use this time to recuperate.

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"Nnngh?" Yoroko's eyes lazily read the message, her brain slowly awoke from its slumber to process the contents of the message. Yoroko sat there for what felt like an eternity, though in reality was only a few minutes, figuring out what Miharu meant, then figuring out what she would do.

As she sat there a strand of her hair fell in front of her face. As her eyes focused on the strand grains of sand could be seen covering it as it left her line of sight. It was around this time that Yoroko became aware of the grime caking her own face. Ugggh. Yoroko thought in dismay. Yoroko stood up and instinctively brushed her knees off before heading over to an empty armor rack and beginning to exit her DAISY. Once Yoroko had exited her armor she set about the precarious task of dressing herself without touching her face or hair or letting her uniform touch them either.

Once clothed Yoroko made her way to her room to grab her shower stuff.

Anything and everything. Nyton's mind immediately answered. He scolded himself for the thought. It had simply rose up unbidden. There were thoughts underneath thoughts that he realized were territories he did not travel in often enough.

"Mainly just seeing how you were doing Kotori-sama. I figure debriefs and mission details can wait until later. Unless you want to know something right now though. Other than that I actually am rather worn out from the mission but I wanted to see you first before I take any rest." Nyton said.

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Shizuka paused to let Akiko go first. The neko managed a decent push off from the edge of gravity. She floated easily enough and guided herself with her own body's natural gravity control before landing. Shizuka took off after Akiko and glided in to land at the edge where gravity once again took hold. "Yes we did not have a large crew ourselves but we were not too small. Ayumu and Chidori were also caretakers with us but they could double as medical assistants if the situation needed them." Shizuka went on to say.

"I thank you for passing by," Kotori told Nyton, nodding to him politely. "I encourage you to raid the kitchen and grab one of the cold meals Tom prepared in the buffet before retiring for the night. I will see you again tomorrow morning."

What was I expecting? We're still concluding a mission so there really isn't much time to socialize just yet. Nyton thought to himself, feeling defeated. He idly looked over the tactical screens again as though hoping they might have an answer.

Instead Nyton was reminded again of Tom's earlier words. They seemed to almost come out at him shouting:

"Nyton, when I got to know Yukari, I knew she was the one. I pursued her without hesitation because I wanted to spend my life with her. Women enjoy that attention too, as long as it isn't needy. But you need to be certain, powerful in your pursuit, like an arctic wolf, but also compassionate and caring."

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"Kotori-sama, if you plan on staying here than I shall stay. There is no need for you to be all alone in here. As your retainer I have a duty to do so." Nyton replied, looking back over at Kotori with a stolid determination.

"Besides, I would like to stay." he added, the slightest hint of a smile forming at the edges of his mouth.

"That would be quite handy," Masako replied thoughtfully as she lead the two helpers towards the starboard fabrication room. "I'm not much help with anything other than power armor combat I'm afraid," she went on with the small talk. "I have a bit of technical skill, but it's a bit below average for even most technicians," she admitted casually.

It would only be a few moments until they reached the starboard-side fabrication room. "Miharu, do you mind if we leave these armor pieces in the fabrication room," she asked politely. "It's only until someone can get around to salvaging it for materials."

"I do not think it would be a problem, Kurohoshi-Juni," Miharu replied. "If not, then the cargo hold is next room, so moving the wreckage will not be a problem."

* * *

Kotori frowned, not in disapproval, but more in concern. Still, she relented: "Well, alright, as long as you don't push yourself. Perhaps you'd like to go over the combat recordings of the fight Miharu had with the Obakemono?

Sora was mentally exhausted from her tasks in the medical bay and she was grateful for Sanjuro... as much as she was uncertain of his bedside manner, there was no denying that he was damn good at his job. She had always admitted his efficiency and his work ethic and right now, she envied his emotional detachment to their patients, their fellow shipmates and friends. It bothered her that her ability to take the lead on this mission was wanton and Sanjuro had to pick up where she left off. She had made a partial retreat to her desk to try to regain some of herself once Nyton departed the medical bay.

Perhaps, this should be an abject lesson for the future... if I ever get a chance to redeem myself from this instance of lack of objectivity, she inwardly sighed as she tried to rub the exhaustion from her eyes as she went over the case files and current read-outs to see who of the remaining patients were finally ready to be released from their tanks.

The young medical officer yawned and tapped her fingers against her desk, leaning back in her chair as she went over one file in particular. 'Hasegawa Sumaru," she said very quietly to herself, "recovering physically from the lacerations and puncture wounds he sustained in combat as expected despite the toxin that was introduced to his system by the being known as 'Eve'. There is an appearance of some emotional/ psychological trauma from the incident due to the patient's increasingly agitated state during REM sleep. The patient will be evaluated and screened for Post Traumatic Stress disorder once he has been discharged from inpatient care."

She stopped and assessed that Sumaru was indeed quite ready to be discharged. She rose from her chair and placed her datapad on the counter with a soft sigh. Her eyes moved to Sumaru's hemosynth tank as it had many times since he entered the chamber.

I need to let him out. I can't just keep him in the tank until I figure out what it is I can really say to him. I was never trained in how to keep my personal life from my professional life separately and... considering my family has a record of taking lovers from our subordinates and coworkers... I'm unable to ask them for advice. Grandma would probably just tell me to take advantage of the offer and be grateful for the devotion and the love.

Why am I really protesting so much? This man just went to war in my name, he could've died out there. Eve could've killed him but he survived... Mother, is this your way of telling me to accept Sumaru? She took a deep breath and crossed the room to the tank holding Sumaru.

"Time to face the music," she muttered softly as she started the discharge process to release Sumaru from his pseudo-prison.

Nyton nodded in gratitude for being allowed to stay. "I will be fine your highness. I appreciate your concern." he said in reassurance.

"Now that you mention it, I am rather curious to see how Saito-Hei fared at the tactical controls in her first skirmish." he replied. Turning to the tactical console he began bringing up the battle logs.

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"Thank you very much, Miharu-san." Shizuka and Akiko said, almost in time together as they began to set the pieces of armor down. After they were done arranging them so they were not in the way they both then turned and bowed to Masako. "And thank you very much, Kurohoshi-Juni." they said to her.

The large cylindrical tube full of hemosynthetic fluid made a faint thudding sound, the holes shifted to open up and drain out the fluid. The sudden sound and change in environment immediately awoke the sleeping Samurai within. Slowly as the liquid drained over his body, his feet came to the ground. His platinum locks were stained a slight tint of hemosynth red for the time being, until he could get to a shower. But for now he was just thankful to be standing on his own two feet unassisted, the only lingering effect from the battle was his exhaustion, it was obvious after all what had happened that he needed a good sleep.

The naked male Nekovalkyrja looked as perfect as the next Neko, only his body was notably muscular and given male proportions and just as generically flawless parts. But instead of exiting the curved glass like container nude, he projected his Ketsurui Samurai robes over his body with his natural holographic projection. Though it was obviously a projection, it would work long enough for him to dress properly. Just as he did that, the exit to the container opened wide for him to leave.

He walked out, setting his bare foot to the cold sanitized medical floor before him and the other one after. Sora was there, right in front of him now, after all that he still couldn't even think up the proper thing to say to her. He still wasn't sorted out with his own feelings, the only thing he was absolute at this moment was that he was devoted to this woman. Other than that, he didn't know after all-- he wanted to love her, but his love wasn't the love she wanted. Even with all that, the only thing he could do to greet her after his ordeal was bow his head before her.

Remembering the cold way she addressed him before the battle, he tried to respond and stand at a professional demeanor so he could return the feelings at which he thought she would be most comfortable with. "I apologize for becoming a nuisance to you during your duties. I was exhausted and not right of mind, I had just wanted to report that I had done what you asked Hime-sama. I should have waited," he said bowing deeper in apology.

Kotori nodded in acknowledgment to Nyton's words and then returned her attention to the navigation console as the Nepleslian began reviewing the first minute of combat after Miharu made its entry in the Bowhordia star system.

At some point, the Taisa was reviewing the status of the ship and stumbled on something. She frowned in puzzlement. "She's still at it," she noted aloud.

Work was a start so Nyton had no qualms against it. For now it would do. As he watched the Miharu's logs he had reached the part when they wiped out the planetary traffic when he heard Kotori speak out loud.

"She's still at it."

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The spoken statement drew Nyton's attention and he looked over to Kotori, his peripheral eyes still reviewing the logs. "Who are you making reference to?" he asked.

"Nimura," Kotori replied, pointing one of the ship's system operation logs. "She has been using a fabrication room on her own time since the M10 MCAS was out for testing, and using the chamber to experiment on a more autonomous interior insert and some sort of robotic-arm alternative to the usual weapon holding rack... if that makes any sense."

Nyton looked over at the logs which held the data Kotori pointed out. He let out a soft chuckle and then coolly nodded. "It looks as though Nimura has a hobby after all." he observed aloud.

"She's actually a very good armorer," Miharu quipped. "Nimura seems to have some affinity for power armors."

"Well, I see that," Kotori answered. "I figure I should not be surprised to see sprites start innovating on their equipment. It wasn't something I saw much on the Sakura, but I suppose Miharu's experimental nature encourages that."

"I really didn't do much to deserve thanks," she replied humbly before smiling gently. Suddenly an idea came to her. These two, along with everyone else, deserved to relax a bit. "You know, I honestly don't see what we can do to help the others," she said as she started setting up her plan. "There are plenty of people working on both the Miharu and Hoshi already and most of the major work needs a repair dock," she went on to explain before holding up her index finger as if she were making a point.

"Plus, I'd rather not walk around all day smelling like chemicals," she stated before crossing her arms under her ample bosom. "So why don't we go to the baths and then get something to eat." she suggested with a cute grin. "I think you two would also feel better with a hot bath and some food in your stomach. So, what do you think?"

"She is very talented in regards to Power Armor. Both in their theory and practice. I would say go ahead and let her experiment. Maybe it will help her to open up a bit." Nyton added.

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"Well, if it is no imposition." Shizuka began. "Of course we do!" Akiko said eagerly. The two nekovalkyrja's uniforms were dirty and in terrible shape. It almost reflected the state of their bodies if not for the healing they had at the medical center.

Kotori nodded in agreement. "Very well then. Will you check up on her occasionally to see how she progresses? I figure we could use every edge we can get."

Rin was still staring at the ceiling. She'd at least stopped crying, but there was no way she could fall asleep again. Flashes of her dream and of the past mission kept her awake and made her cringe each time they appeared. She doubt'd she would have a very pleasant sleep even if she could have gotten on the train to slumber land.

With her inability to sleep, Rin slowly got up and out of bed, running her fingers through her hair again. Well, if that option was out, she guessed she would head to the medbay to check on her sisters. A glance over herself to make sure everything was in order, since she had gone to sleep in her uniform, before she headed out.

A short-ish trip later and Rin was at the medbay on the Hoshii. She peeked in... only to sense a tense atmosphere. She saw Sumaru and Sora talking, seemingly on something serious, so she quickly retreated. It appeared to be a horrible time to interrupt/intrude.

Well now what to do? A quick list went through the sprite's head as she wondered. How about a bath? She brought up a hand to her nose and sniffed. Okay, a decon shower wouldn't really cut it. She scurried off back to her room to retrieve materials needed for a lovely shower. As she sent, there was a yawn or two, as well as some sleepy rubbing of eyes.