RP: YSS Miharu Mission 3, Debrief

Nyton mulled not too far from Kotori's door, his arms crossed in front of him. Tom had wandered off, his expression far more obvious than Nyton's. Instead Nyton just paced a few steps in a wide circle while his mind buzzed about.

That could have gone better. How the hell did it erupt into this? What was the point of it all if Kosuka just ended up leaving? Dammit Kotori, did you really believe Kosuka may attack us again or did you just seek reassurance for our sakes? Tom you didn't help but then how would you know Kosuka's history? he thought as the matter swirled about unending. Finally he stopped his pace and just stared at the walls and corridor around him.

Yeah some 'guidance' I provided. 'Here's my arm, take it if you need proof of my conviction.' Looks like I am still just a young fool, grandfather. Nyton thought while letting out a sigh.

"Something like that," Kôsuka replied as she floated down. "She was asking something of me she knew I could not follow through on. But she wanted me to anyway. She has growing up to do. But she is ready for it."

She touched down to the main deck, and Kôsuka seemed to close the questioning. "I don't suppose there is a shuttle I could borrow just to trip over to the base, Miharu?"

"I need the First or Second Officer's approval, at least, to have my sprites prepare a shuttle launch," Miharu replied.

"You're not going to say goodbye to Hagesawa-Juni?" The AI then asked. "Nor attempt to make up with your daughter after the briefing? You already seem to have some distance between you - I see no need to build a wall there as well. A wise man once said Only fools never change their minds so there'd be no shame in going back."

"I'm sure that apologies, sweet whispered nothings, hugs, kisses and incestuous lesbian sex will help!" The MEGAMI declared with obviously feigned enthusiasm. "Honest!"

"I won't. They will be fine; I can still communicate with the Juni from a distance."

Kôsuka closed in on the shuttle bay. "Please ask Suzuka-Shosa for the right permissions."

Masako stayed silent once more as the argument had turned sour. She even repressed her dismay that the Taisa would authorize the reset of the Miharu's AI. That was like ordering the execution of Miharu, Mara, and Hinoto all in one sentence. The deaths of four people to save her own mother...was that how family acted? Masako couldn't fathom the selfishness that took, but then again...family seemed precious.

As she listened to Nyton speak, the young Warrant Officer couldn't help but note the wisdom from his words. She had been naive to think destruction of the NH-23 would have been the solution to the problem. Did she have to live as long as it took most Nepleslians to mature to gain such wisdom? Or was it just Nyton's sharp mind that brought this on?

Masako didn't know as she stood up from her seat and bowed silently to Kotori as the Debriefing was recessed. Stepping out into the corridor, she didn't notice Tom as she headed out towards the Wardroom for a while, blinded by her thoughts. She couldn't help but mull over her disappointment and confusion over the situation.

The Taisa seemed about ready to take back all of her conviction for a single soul. She was about ready to risk herself and the Miharu, not to mention Mara and Hinoto, over her mother. Being born from a factory rather than another Neko, Masako only knew logically about a familial bond. But did such a bond warrant such selfishness? Didn't Kotori need to push that selfishness aside for the mission and her crew?

Breaking her train of thought for a moment, she noted Kosuka heading towards the main passageway. Not realizing what she was doing until it was too late, Masako gave chase as she followed the Samurai down to the Main Deck. "Was it worth it?" she blurted out suddenly, her face turning red as her expression seemed to be a mix of confusion and embarrassment. "W..what I mean is," she began again after clearing her throat. "Is it true that your daughter is worth throwing away your way of life?"

Kôsuka froze where she stood.

When Masako could see her face, it was soft. Resigned. The look she'd shown Kotori before.

"Yes, Kurohoshi-Juni. My life for either one of them is always worth it. For both of them, doubly so."

* * *

" ... Kôsuka-dono has requested I give her permission to loan a shuttle, to leave the Miharu," Yukari said quietly after Masako had run off.

Tom thought on Miharu's words. It was a long silence as the engineer drew the open fingers of his injured hand down the side of the wall. His eyes became dull as he spoke.

"I'm not sure if I would have," he finally muttered, defeated.

There was another pause before he shook his head and cleared the cobwebs out of his mind.

"The way I see it, we're in too deep now," he thought through encrypted telepathy, but more firmly. "You, me, everyone. The NH-23 just seals the deal. We have to see this to the end, one way or another. Kotori's plan? SAINT would've been very thorough with their investigation. They'd have found out what we didn't want them to know. Clemency? Too risky. It would be easier for the Taisho to simply erase us, wouldn't it?"

He slowly turned his back against the wall. The sluggish movement looked pained.

"I think the only way we get out of this and back to our lives is by not giving SAINT a reason to investigate us at all. We have to kill Eve."

"We've all sacrificed too much to have everything fall apart now. I understand the Taisa's pain, but she can't let family distract her from her responsibilities. Her solution would've been a tactical disaster. My feelings for you, Mara and Hinoto aside, your performances during our missions have made your value to our crew immense. Erasing that would cause a vacuum in performance and damage crew morale. And the loss of the original Kotori would be the loss of a valuable weapon. Four sentient being in exchange for a samurai who has yet to prove her worth on our ship, is insanity."

He sighed deeply.

"I do not regret what I said, and I fully accept that I may be punished for my outspokenness. If I have to tear open wounds for the mission, so be it. It was better to have the bomb go off between missions than to have it go off at another time. The two were steadfast in their positions, and this exchange only showed me that our Taisa is still very young and able to be driven to emotional decisions. And that's a lot more dangerous than an engineer and his mopey woe fest."

"Tom, I doubt you'll be punished - this was a conversation that went out of control for very understandable reasons," Miharu sent to Tom. "I also suggest you take Kotori's stance as a bluff she was ready to back, rather than a truly deliberate action. Dilemmas face everyone, and I do not think people should be condemned by contemplating temptations - it is the actions they take beyond those dilemmas which determines who they are."

"I'd have figured that Kotori being swayed by emotion in the first place would've been something that would have been reassuring to you. If Kotori could perfectly do everything on her own, she wouldn't need a crew," the MEGAMI then reasonably added before saying aloud: "You should probably get going."

* * *

Though she had told everyone to leave, Kotori had taken Yukari's silent companionship in stride. When the XO broke the silence, though, Kotori did not immediately reply, or turn her head from the window.

After nearly twenty seconds, Kotori faintly replied: "Take care of it."

Masako bit her lower lip silently as she looked upon Kosuka's resigned expression. The mother sacrifices only herself for her daughters while one of the daughters had tried to sacrifice their mission for the mother. While Masako had always thought she understood how families worked, she knew now that she hadn't truly known anything. Or did she know after all? Masako knew she would gladly sacrifice herself for her friends on board the Miharu. It wasn't only her duty as an Armor Pilot either. She has always said that the crew was a lot like a family to her, but now she could truly feel that way.

"I guess I never truly knew what a family was like until now," she replied with a softer expression of her own. Straightening up at attention, the Warrant Officer bowed deeply to the Samurai. She didn't bother saying good-bye or good luck or anything of the sort. It was probably because Masako didn't think it was necessary at this point.

"Yeah, but I don't want my Taisa seeing a psychiatrist, either," Tom thought back to the Miharu. "I won't lose my faith in her so quickly, especially when it wasn't her fault."

He headed back to the meeting room.

After half a heartbeat, Yukari replied, "Yes, Taisa."

"Miharu. Please prepare a shuttle for the departing Samurai Kôsuka. Thank you."

* * *

Kôsuka looked at the bowing Juni ... and smiled a little. She faced Masako and bowed as well, though not as far. "May Chiharu guide your soul to happiness, Juni-san." The Samurai turned in one fluid motion as she began walking to the shuttle.

A couple of sprites took charge of preparing Miharu's Fox shuttle for launch as Kôsuka approached the craft's rear hatch. Sanri, a brown-haired nekovalkyrja with two pigtails, opened the shuttles hatch and headed inside to sit at the pilot's seat.

"Is there anything you would like me to convey to your, ah, eldest?" Miharu asked Kôsuka.

* * *

The five-minutes recess was long over. Kotori took a bracing breath, turned from the window and got seated once more in her chair. "Call the others in, if you would please," she instructed Yukari.

"That I love them both," Kôsuka sent, making a point of including them. "And that I know the future is safe in their hands."

The Samurai boarded from the back of the shuttle and took a seat at the rear, not wanting to be bothered by the sprite at the moment. Once could never tell how chatty sprites would be.

* * *

"Taii-san, Freeman-Juni, Kurohoshi-Juni — please return to the Taisa's quarters now. We will resume our briefing shortly."

Yukari did not look at Kotori.

Holding her bow until she heard the Samurai start walking, the raven-haired Warrant Officer stood up straight and watched Kosuka leave with an expressionless mask. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, the young Kurohoshi pivoted on her left heel and began heading back to the main passageway.

For some reason, she didn't feel the confusing mix of emotions she had before. Boy, am I fickle, she thought with an annoyed snort as she headed back up to the top deck and out onto the wardroom once more.

As she turned towards the Taisa's quarters, she noted Nyton standing nearby in the corridor. Her left ear seemed to twitch as she pursed her lips slightly in thought before striding up to the brooding Officer. "Claymere-Taii?" she asked softly as she stood near the giant of a Nepleslian. Well, a giant compared to her.

But the telepathic signal from the Executive Officer cut any chance of asking what was on his mind. "I guess it can wait," she stated as she bowed politely and returned to the Taisa's quarters. Bowing politely to both Kotori and Yukari once more, the Warrant Officer stood by her seat. She seemed to be waiting for the others before taking her seat.

Just before Nyton could turn to address Masako's inquiry the announcement for the meeting went out. With a nod to the smaller nekovalkyrja, although most tended to be smaller than him Masako really set aside herself as one of the shortest he had ever known, he then returned to Kotori's room. He stood by the earlier seat that had been his during the briefing. Nyton waited, expecting the others to stand by theirs and for Kotori to take her seat first before anyone else sat down.

Tom was not far behind, but he was the last one to return to the meeting room. His hand still ringed with dull, annoying pain, his Yamataian body healing the self-inflicted wound slowly.

He bowed at the entrance to everyone and sat in his seat. He silently wondered why everyone was standing when the Taisa was already seated.

Nyton went ahead and sat down. His eyes took in everything around him to attempt to discern the prevailing mood. Things still seemed tense. He briefly switched to thermal vision to see if anyone's heat signatures had risen above normal recorded parameters.

Kotori waited until they were all seated and began with: "The topic we previously addressed is only going to be revealed on a need-to-know basis with other members of this crew. Those whom know now include all of you, along with Saito Miyoko-Heisho, Samurai Kôsuka, Hinoto and Mara. For the rest of the crew, the NH-23's resting place is a container containing raw hemosynthetic materials."

"Seeing how tricky this situation is, I prefer keeping the rest of the crew in the dark," her eyes briefly shifted to Tom and she added. "It is less about deception as it is with needlessly burdening them with things they do not need to know. Those present I do not expect to see transferred out of the vessel until Eve is defeated, but for others the matter is different."

"If they would know, then once they'd leave the ship I would have to find a way to insure their silence - from benign to drastic measures as necessary. I believe their ignorance ends up serving them best; it will keep them safe in regard to any legal repercussions tied to this and in turn keep us safe as well. I believe it is the best arrangement we can come to."

"Are there any further questions regarding this topic?" Kotori finally asked.

Tom cursed Kotori's logic in his mind. It was sound and protected the lives of those who did not know of the NH-23, even if keeping secrets from the crew made him feel dirty.

"No, Taisa."

Nyton felt that the subject of the NH-23 had occupied the discussion more than it should have. True it is serious but the matter has a simple solution for the time being. It was just unfortunate that so much discontent was created by it.

The Nepleslian calmly shook his head. "No your highness. I have no further questions or matters to add at this time."