RP: YSS Miharu Mission 3 Prelude: Rise; you better shine

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

ON

"Get me that wrench!" Tom's voice echoed down the corridors of the subdeck, over the grinding sound of metal and engines. The engineer had the upper half of his body stuck through a panel connecting to a section of the hyperspace fold drive. It had been quite a long day, and the poor Yamataian didn't have time to eat dinner. At least his grease-covered form made it easier to fit into tight spaces like this, but his thin frame was getting quite the workout in the art of the contortionist.

Ichigo, looking upward at her boss, did as instructed, handing the wrench upward toward his heldout hand. "Here!" The Neko's lithe frame was equally covered in dirt.

"Thanks!" Tom quickly went to work, removing the panel directly in front of him and placing the bolts on top of the sheet of metal, where they clanked around. The engineer had an idea of replacing the wiring between the main drive and battery for more efficient power production. "Ichigo, please get me a handful of type 3 wires and a soddering iron."

The Neko did as asked, handing up the wires first, then the portable soddering iron. "We've got a new engineer sprite, Juni. She's very smart. Yuzuki is her name!"

"Mmmhm," Tom said. "When was she created?" His reached for a mini-knife in his pocket and shredded the end of the wires to make connection points. Although such small conversation may annoy other officers, Tom wanted to encourage a family atmosphere in the subdeck.

"VERY recently," Ichigo replied, enthused. "She is actually as old as Sanri ... but she's still kind of new. But she's nice! Very dedicated to her profession."

"I'd hope so," Tom muttered below his breath. "Anyway, Ichigo, you're one of the veteran sprites down here, right?"

"Yes Juni," Ichigo replied happily. "I'm the best at engineering. Nimura's a better fighter. She likes that stuff. I don't though. Too violent. I'm a lover, not a fighter! — Nngh! Oi, shimatta! Gunk in eye!"

Tom's form snaked out from the panel, plopping on its rear to turn to Ichigo. "Are you ok?" He pulled out a cloth and motioned for the sprite.

Ichigo took the cloth and swiped at her eye, which now looked like it was painted over with greasy black makeup. "Yes Juni, fine," she said, pausing with the rag near her mouth. "Sorry Juni. We should continue."

"Anyway," Tom said with a soft sigh. "The reason I asked you that was because I wanted to know if you'd like a little more responsibility..." his voice trailed off.

"Responsibility? Of what type, Juni?" Ichigo's good eye was wide; her other was still shut tight.

"Well, the Miharu is doing a fine job of providing me with more staff, but you know how I am," Tom grinned. "I like to stick my head in there and get down and dirty. Unfortunately, this leaves the other sprites running about, perhaps out of earshot from a certain chief engineer."

He stretched his arms behind him and flexed his back muscles to try to work out a sore spot. "While I trust the capabilities of the other sprites, I may need a liaison at times to provide the group opinion on matters and to also serve as my assistant. As a fellow sprite, I feel you have a deeper connection with the others, and, given your experience, you'd be good to fit into a leadership role for the others while I'm attending other duties. What do you think about that?"

"I ... " Ichigo blushed under the dirt of her face. She had not expected that! An assistant position? Was it possible? I mean, to be able to serve the Juni so ... closely! "Juni, I would be honored!"

"That is good then," Tom said before turning a bit more serious. "Before you accept, however, please understand that the added power comes with more responsibility. As I would be ultimately responsible for failures in the subdeck, you would be responsible for the activities of the sprites. Can you set a good example and be the leader I think you can be?"

"Yes Juni! Yes I can! I will do exactly as you ask and lead my sisters to success!" Ichigo could hardly believe it. She was being promoted!

"Fantastic. I expect no less than excellence from you." He looked up. "Miharu, please give the sprite Ichigo an acting promotion of Nito Hei in the subdeck." He extended his hand to the sprite. "Congratulations. Make me proud."

Ichigo almost started to cry. But crying out of the one eye didn't feel very good, so she tried to hold her tears back. She couldn't, and cried as she took Tom's larger hand into both of her small ones. "Y-Yes Juni! I won't let you down! I promise, Juni!"

The engineer patted the sprite on the back, rather touched by the output of emotion. He began to think of something... but stopped. That would be something to talk to Yukari about. "Hey there, why don't you take a short break and get that stuff out of your eye. I'm sure nothing will blow up while you're gone."

The Neko sniffed and nodded, still smiling despite her reddening face. "Yes Juni! Right away! *snrt* I will be back soon!" She quickly darted away toward the showers.

As he saw the sprite run off, Tom shook his head with a chuckle before returning to his duties.

END

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

And there they sat, in all their glory.

Rows of crates had been loaded into the ship and stored in the portside multipurpose bay, ready to be moved into the cargo holds.

It was like someone's birthday, except instead of pretty wrapping paper there was a lot of metal and hold the cake, since nobody was hungry and they'd all just had dinner anyway. There were no streamers or noisemakers or absurd hats. There were no well-wishing relatives or crewmates bearing lemon pudding or green bean cassarole. But it was all very nice and forgivable; it was actually somehow appropriate.

Happy birthday!

Well, sort of.

Kind of.

(Not really)

Yuzuki already had her crowbar.

She punched in the codes for the crate lids, then when they had opened, she began to pry open the smaller crates and containers inside of them. After a few minutes, she checked the content labels and dockets. This was one of the crates with the parts for the Mindy modifications in it. As the Exec. had noticed these first, Yuzu figured that might as well be a start. It wasn't everything, but it would be step one.

With a little effort (and the eventual, but not immediate aid of the hoverplate it was sitting on) she managed to move the first crate off a bit. Then she began to check the rest of what she'd requisitioned. It would probably keep her very busy for a little while.

That was oddly satisfying.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

Yoroko looked back at Kai and nodded. "Theoretically they may not be able to, but they could use the AIES units inside their mindies as remote uplinks from a larger system. Either way, it will give us at least a little bit of an edge." Yoroko said before rising. "Sumimasen, I have something I need to do before my bridge shift." Yoroko said to Kai, not wanting to cut the conversation off prematurely but needing to so that she could give Sanjuro his gift before her shift started.

"Ashitaka-Heisho, is it possible for us to talk for a little bit before my bridge-shift begins?" Yoroko glanced over at Sanjuro as she communicated with him, but didn't completely look away from Kai either.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

"...very well," Sanjuro spoke aloud once again, staring straight at Yoroko as he did. The medical officer turned back to Sora and the other ones and replaced his datapad back into the folds of his uniform pockets. Sanjuro made sure that he had placed all of his eating utensils and dishes in a neat yet efficient order for the ones who were going to pick them up later, and promptly gave a short bow to his superior. "Excuse me."

Sanjuro stood up and took a step or two back, pushing his chair back in meticulously and straightening his uniform, making sure to correct any creases and folds he may have received from his prolonged sitting. When he was satisfied, he made his way to the exit to await Yoroko in the hallway.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

Kai nodded, understanding, and got out of Yoroko's way, saying "Okay, i'll talk to you later then." Glancing about the room, he realized he didn't want to talk to anyone else specifically, so the Yamataian sauntered out of the room and into the hallway, contemplating the upcoming mission and wondering if he had anything at his disposal to help make preparing for it easier. An actual combat mission into dangerous territory was something he had never done before in real life.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

Miyoko took her seat upon reaching the bridge, leaning back in a far too casual position... though Masako hadn't arrived just yet, so she wasn't really technically on duty, right? She pulled out the datapad Sanjuro had bought her, leafing around its contents idly. And there, flashing slowly, was the New Mail icon. Probably just some welcome message or such... Miyoko selected to open all of the new messages.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

Kotori eyed Nyton cautiously. "That belief in me could be premature. I'm actually not sure me being the Empress when Melisson unveiled Emperor Uesu's possible involvement in the plague would have had me able to make much of a difference in a way you would have liked." She winced. "I certainly could not have handed him over to the Nepleslian government for trial - the basis of my power as ruler would come mostly from the Ketsurui clan and I would have ruled at their sufferance. Say that I would have tried to hand him over, I'd likely have been argued against vehemently and ousted from the office if I would not have changed my mind. Perhaps obligations and context turned the Motoyoshi clan into much of the same even if the Ketsurui had taken a step away; you know how that went."

She chuckled. "Even if I end up ultimately running the Empire, the ways I could change it could only be subtle because I would be the puppet of the Ketsurui, perhaps even more than I am now. Phrased that way, it's puzzling that I would still yearn for it anyways."

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

"Perhaps in some innate way you understand more than what you know." Nyton replied, taking a mildly serious tone. "I believe in you because you have shown me to have the strength of will to win no matter how long it takes. During my drunken tirade I analyzed just how much power the Ketsurui have. There was no way anyone could have handed Uesu over to Nepleslia before he ran off with his fleet. So when you become Empress I wouldn't expect to see any visible changes at the beginning. However I am not looking to the short term. Think about what could be accomplished over time in the long term. If done right, you could turn things around and make them your puppets instead."

Nyton then gave her a half smile. "It would be nice to be there and see it unfold. Given the chance to change things, when one approaches it soberly and with an understanding of the challenge presented, you should not be too confused by your desire to achieve this position."

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

As Miyoko pressed the new mail icon, the screen faded from the home page to a smaller screen. In this screen were a handful of video-mail messages, dating from as far back as a month ago, while the most recent one was, coincidentally, the day after Sanjuro had given the datapad to Miyoko for her birthday. Apparently, the ever-so-perfect Sanjuro had forgotten to include his mail folder while he was frantically sending all of his other information from one datapad to the other.

There were three video-mails in all. Two of them were from the same author; a law firm, Watanabe-Konoshi Law Firms, based in the Yamataian city of Central Uesureya. According to their icons, images of an opened envelop, they had already been read once before. When selected, each of the icons played a short voice message from the author that signified the title. The deep, confidant voice of this lawyer made a deep impression; it was obvious that he was very good at his job.


The most recent videomail, the one this particular datapad had received the day after Sanjuro had given it away, had the icon of a closed and seal envelope. This one, unlike the others, had not been read, and the voice was not one of a suave, confident lawyer…but one like a young girl, with a slight problem pronouncing her R’s.


---

Yoroko followed Sanjuro out the door of the Wardroom before turning to the Yamataian, "Sumimasen, I need to get something from my room before we speak." Yoroko said as she looked up at the taller Yamataian.

"As you wish...do you want me to follow you?" Sanjuro asked plainly, trying his best to not look as if he were looming over the much shorter soldier before him.

Yoroko hesitated before speaking, "If you want to you can, but it isn't necessary." Yoroko waited a few seconds before turning to head to her quarters.

"Your quarters are in the direction of the medical bay," Sanjuro explained, checking his watch as he turned to walk a beat or two behind Yoroko. He seemed a little apprehensive, however, giving his peer a few short glances in hopes of ascertaining a purpose...but turned up empty-handed. "...what exactly did you need me for, again?"

Yoroko's door slid open as she approached it, "I have a gift I need to give you." Yoroko was silently happy that Sanjuro couldn't see her face right now, since she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. Quickly the Hei slid into her room, and started to head toward the drawers that were built into the wall on the back side of the room.

Yoroko's few belongings were neatly organized and sitting on available shelving units. The changes that Sanjuro had painstakingly made had been undone, reverting back to Yoroko's previous method of organization. In the middle of the room was a nest in which there was only chaos, perhaps the messiest part of the room.

Sanjuro apparently had no qualms with following directly behind Yoroko into her quarters. Standing off to the side of the room, he looked around with a look of slight distaste…he saw many out-of-place items and things of the like that he, normally, would’ve fixed on the spot. He had recalled how very unorganized this room was compared to some of the others…and he silently regretted Yoroko’s denial of his ‘suggestions’, having replaced her belongings back they way he originally found them. When he saw her nest, Sanjuro had to fight back a wince…he would have to notify a sprite or clean it himself when Yoroko wasn’t around; he didn’t trust her enough to fix it properly in the first place.

Yoroko pulled a small package that was neatly wrapped out of the top drawer of the unit and turned to face Sanjuro. It took her less than a second to realize his displeasure about her room, Great...I just had to put it back where it belonged didn't I... Yoroko thought as she remembered how she had found the room one day after Sanjuro had 'helped her' by moving things to different locations. Yoroko steeled herself, not wanting to let Sanjuro see her sense of guilt concerning her room. "Anou, Ashitaka-Heisho. Thank you for this morning." Yoroko bowed as she presented the giftwrapped planner that she had picked out with Asher earlier in the afternoon.

Sanjuro stared at the package for a moment before lightly taking it from Yoroko’s grasp. He turned it over a few times, apparently not sure what to make of the parcel. “…what is this?”

Yoroko expected something like this, though she expected it to be after Sanjuro had opened the gift. "It's a gift." Yoroko replied after standing back up, unsure of how else to respond to Sanjuro's question.

“…for what occasion?” Sanjuro asked again.

Yoroko blushed. "It's a thankyou gift." Yoroko replied, "You helped me out a great deal this morning, especially after I had....well...gotten drunk. I wanted to thank you for helping clear up my hangover." Yoroko said.

Sanjuro held the gift back out for Yoroko, his face solidly stern and his tone very determined. “I don’t want it.”

Yoroko fell of her chair mentally when Sanjuro spoke those four words. For seconds Yoroko stood there stunlocked, unsure of what to say, when her mind seemed to have finally grasped what the Yamataian had said, she spoke. "Why don't you want it?" Yoroko asked, the disappointment and confusion both evident in her voice.

“It is unnecessary, and unprofessional,” Sanjuro replied simply.

Yoroko didn't even take a half second to respond. "It is necessary and has nothing to do with profession. You helped me when I needed it, I am obligated to do this. When someone helps you, you do something back for them." As Yoroko spoke she used the flat of both her palms to push the gift back toward Sanjuro gently. "It is hardly unprofessional, it is socially required!" Yoroko's voice dropped lower as she spoke as the Yamataian tried to consciously not yell at Sanjuro.

“No, I cannot accept,” Sanjuro said sternly back at the shorter Yamataian, pushing the gift back towards Yoroko’s chest. “A gift in such a context requires some sort of service being performed, and I do not believe I have done such a service. I will not accept this.”

Yoroko pushed against the gift again, in opposition to Sanjuro's own push. "I believe you have performed a service to me Ashitaka-Heisho. It certainly would have been within your right as a doctor to tell me to suffer through my hangover. But you didn't. You helped me Ashitaka-Heisho."

“Yes,” the medical officer argued. “I assisted you that morning because it is my job, Mizuno-Hei. I do not give you gifts for doing your job as a soldier, and I do not expect different treatment,” Sanjuro finished by, again, pushing the gift back towards Yoroko’s body. He really didn’t want this gift, apparently.

Yoroko's teeth grit in determination. "You are receiving no special treatment from me!" Yoroko almost yelled at the Yamataian. "Consider it my way of showing appreciation for such a good job." The Hei was at hair's end now she wouldn't last much longer, but she pushed the gift back at Sanjuro one last time.

Sanjuro remained as solid as his opponent in his resolve. He lightly shoved the present once more. “I do not require appreciation for my job in such a fashion.”

Yoroko eyes welled up, it was clear what was coming next. Before however the torrent of tears, Yoroko roared something at the Yamataian. "FINE TAKE IT AS A GIFT FOR BEING THE BIGGEST JERK ON THE SHIP!!!" As soon as Yoroko was done yelling she shoved the gift again toward Sanjuro, this time with more force and turned away from the Yamataian. As Yoroko started to walk away, she could be heard softly crying, trying not to bawl.

“Tch!” Sanjuro scoffed in surprised as the parcel was rather forcibly placed onto him. The sudden force had shifted his attention to the package itself, however, and Sanjuro missed the immediate sightings of Yoroko’s newly-acquired emotional status. As Yoroko turned to leave, Sanjuro reached out to grab her wrist with one arm while, once again, re-presenting his gift to Yoroko. “Mizuno-Hei! I cannot accept this gift from you! Please take it back.”

Yoroko spun around to face Sanjuro, her eyes already slightly red from the tears that she was crying. "It's yours now, Ashitaka-Heisho. If you don't like it...If you don't like it...." Yoroko seemed unable to go past that point, and so she twisted her wrist out of Sanjuro's grasp and began to walk away again, by this point the Hei had reached her door and stepped out of it and wished she could shut and lock Sanjuro in there. No wonder Saito-Hei can't stand him. Yoroko thought.

Sanjuro’s stern gaze, upon seeing Yoroko’s face, slowly melted away in to surprised and, interestingly, very worried confusion. After she wrestled her grip away from Sanjuro, the medical officer quickly followed in pursuit, the gift still held out as if it were a emitting a deadly poison. “What is it? W-what are you doing? W-why are you crying, and why will you not take your item back?”

Yoroko spoke as she walked, though she hiccupped frequently since she was crying. "Nothing's wrong, and I'm not crying. I've just got something stuck in my eye. And it's yours now, keep it." Yoroko said as she walked down the hall toward the wardroom on her way to the bridge.

Sanjuro didn’t look too convinced. He continued to tail the Yamataian woman, doing his best to keep in stride and argue at the same time. “That is nonsense. How is it mine now? I did not accept it. This is still yours!”

Yoroko stopped right at the entrance to the wardroom and turned to face the tailing Sanjuro. "You can't only take gifts you like Ashitaka-Heisho. You can't choose what gifts to accept. It's yours!" Yoroko still had tears budding out of her eyes while she spoke, but she had determined that she wasn't going to back down.

The medical-minded Yamataian stopped as Yoroko did, his resolve visibly crumbling as the argument between the two continued. He still had the gift in his hands, but instead of his arms being extended fully, they were pulled in half-way. Sanjuro’s expression was still a jumbled mixture of alarmed confusion and stern determination. “I think I know why this is so upsetting to you, Mizuno-Hei,” he said, nodding his head once wisely. “I am not angry at you for your inability to understand my reasoning as to why I cannot accept this,” Sanjuro said in earnest. “If you were to say the exact reason you are upset, I can fully rest your mind at ease, and you can take back this gift. No hard feelings between the two of us will persist.”

Yoroko's nose flared in rage when Sanjuro finished speaking. "What would I do with it?!!? I bought it for you! Its whole purpose is to be a gift to you!! To show my appreciation for your help! I'm not taking it." Yoroko said firmly.

Sanjuro grimaced, taking a moment to collect his thoughts as he exchanged glances between the present in his hands and the clearly very upset Yamataian women in front of him. After a moment of these exchanges had passed, Sanjuro carefully began unwrapping the gift, taking care in doing so in case the contents were sensitive.

Inside the wrapping, Sanjuro would discover a black spiral bound planner with colored tabs. If he leafed through the pages, it would have an hourly breakdown for the business hours of everyday, with a space for other notes for each individual day. It contained a calendar for 2 years, as well as a page for contact information.

Sanjuro leafed through the planner briefly, and then closed it shut and looked back up at Yoroko. “You can definitely use this, Mizuno-Hei. You do tend to spend your day erratically, as far as I’m concerned, and I would suggest that you write a daily cleaning schedule for the belonging of your room. Especially your nest,” Sanjuro stated. Yes, he was explaining the ways that Yoroko could use her own gift…and he was honestly still intent on giving it back. “I, on the other hand, already have a very functional datapad that can do all of the functions of this planner. There, you see? You should have this gift back.”

Yoroko could only stare at Sanjuro. "See, you've already accepted it's yours. Yoroko responded coldly to Sanjuro, choosing to pick at the Yamataians word choice instead before she turned on her heel and began to walk into the wardroom.

“W-what?!” Sanjuro said, fully intent on following Yoroko wardroom. “I did no such thing! I was merely answering your previous question as to what you would do with this!” Sanjuro held up the planner, his breathing becoming rather sporadic as he frantically tried to further explain. “As a matter of my personal standards for my work, I cannot accept this gift, no matter how generous, for the services I perform! As I have said before!”

Yoroko turned heel to face Sanjuro again. "You've already accepted it." Yoroko said, wiping off the tears that were formerly budding but had run down her cheeks. "It's over." Yoroko smiled sweetly and bowed to Sanjuro before leaving him again. Inwardly though it was all she could do to not take the planner and throw it in Sanjuro's face, now she sought the safety of Miyoko and Yukari hoping that Sanjuro would be unable to stay while the shift worked.

Sanjuro paused for another moment, this time turning his head side to side as he tried, unsuccessfully, to wrap his head around the reasoning Yoroko had presented him. She is not making any sense! There has to be some way to make her understand this... Sanjuro noticed that she was on the move again, however, and quickly jumped back into reality to pursue her. “Mizuno-Hei! Mizuno-Hei, you must take this back! Mizuno-Hei!!”

Yoroko continued to ignore the Yamataian as she headed toward the bridge. When she finally reached the bridge, just before entering, Yoroko turned to see if Sanjuro was still following her.

He was still following her, calling out her name every so often, but never going as far as to outpace her. When Yoroko had reached the doorway to the bridge, Sanjuro was a good two yards away, his face a menagerie of emotions ranging from worry to slight annoyance. He stopped and took a moment to take a deep breath before giving it one last try. “Mizuno-Hei, please, take this back. You must understand that I cannot accept something like this.”

Yoroko faced down Sanjuro defiantly. "Ashitaka-Heisho." Yoroko said chidingly almost as a mother would speak to her son or daughter. "You are perfectly capable of accepting it. Do you have any physical limitations that would prevent it?" Yoroko was almost mocking Sanjuro now. "You can, and have accepted it. By your own admission, 'you should take it back' you see: you've already accepted it. I'm almost late for bridge duty, if you'll excuse me." Yoroko said this last part with a degree of finality. A long time ago, it had stopped being about the book, he was taking her gift.

“Mizuno-Hei!” Sanjuro called out a final time as she turned around. The medical officer started once again to follow her, but held fast when he remembered that this was the bridge access…and the Bridge was off-limits to one such as himself; he had no reason, other than this personal matter, to enter. Sanjuro heaved a great sigh, his straight posture falling only so slightly in his momentary defeat. There wasn’t much point in staying in that hallway any longer; the Yamataian doctor turned around and began making his way back to the familiarity of the medical facilities.

I’ll just have to wait until she has had time to consider my position, I suppose. I’ll have to try again later.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

As Yukari took her position on the bridge — the captain's seat, as she was commanding the bridge at the moment — she watched Yoroko walk in seemingly quite upset. But the Neko was visibly trying to come to grips with whatever was bothering her, and Yukari did not want to intrude upon whatever it could be. She would ask later, at a more appropriate time.

They had places to be. She was still waiting on final confirmations from the Pelican, as well as the Taisa, before the Miharu could depart.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

ON:

Tom Freeman had resumed his duties, attending to the sodding of the wires into their correct places between their connectors on the hyperspace fold drive and the end of the large cable they joined. The old wires were tangled, messy and had lost some of their conductivity efficiency. He was hoping a fresh set of updated wires, arranged in a tight, orderly fashion and sodded in place would allow a slight increase in performance without requiring the engineer to replace the entire cable that ran to the battery. His form once again was snaked uncomfortably between the panel and the drive as he carefully attached each wire to their appropriate spot.

Ichigo had finally returned from cleaning herself up, but she wasn't as fresh-faced as she would've liked. There was still some grease on her face that wouldn't come off without a shower, so as she popped her head back into the shaft he was working in, she was still a bit streaked. "Is there more I can do for you, Juni-san?"

Sparks shot from the end of the soldering iron Tom used to attach the wires to the fold drive. "Well, I'm trying to update a series of connections between the hyperspace fold drive and the battery. Can you go to the control panel and make sure that each wire is conducting properly? Wire one should be in place..."

More sparks flew and then faded into nothing in the air. "...right about now."

Ichigo nodded happily. "Right away, Juni!" She disappeared from the shaft and went to the control panel inside the room. The Juni would not be able to hear her, but she could talk to him via communicator, and she did so. "Conduction level at 98 percent, Juni," came the voice from his comm.

Well, that was loads better than the 83% they were getting earlier. Moments like this made the engineer both proud that he was doing his job properly but a little apprehensive about the build quality of the prototype. With a silent nod, he continued soldering. "Wire series 2 should be in place, now."

" ... Conducting at 98.2 percent, Juni!" Ichigo replied happily. His work was succeeding, and it made Ichigo happy to have finally fixed the problem. Or so it seemed.

No problems there. The last set was soon in place. "Ok... wire series 3."

" ... Still conducing at only 79 percent, Juni." Ichigo's brightness dimmed in her voice.

Ouch. Tom checked the connection. It seemed snug. Maybe one of the wires was bad? There was no way to tell without replacing them all, though. "Ok, get me one more set of type 3 wires."

He open hand reached out of the panel.

Ichigo replied with an affirmative, and soon the Juni could hear her crawling down the short bit of shaft to reach him, wires clutched in one hand, then to the panel, where she handed the wires up. Their hands touched but briefly.

"Thanks. Tight spot, eh? I really..." a grunting noise as he ripped the wires from their place. "...envy the size of you sprites when I cram myself into these places." The Yamataian chuckled as he scraped away metal residue from the previous soldering.

Ichigo turned a little red; she was glad the Juni could not see her. "Y-you like our size, Juni?"

"Yeah, you all are usually very short, slim and flexible. I only have the slim and flexible parts down myself..." the last bit of metal fell to the ground of the shaft where it clanked. "...But I think I make up for my size by being a bit extra flexible. Thank the stars for all that dancing."

"You dance, Juni?" Ichigo sounded surprised. A man like this dances?

"Oh, it's a huge part of my life, Ichigo," Tom replied. He began to solder the new set of wires in place, elevating the sound of his voice over the buzzing electricity. "Before joining the military, I was part of a performance troupe."

Ichigo's awe was manifest in her open mouth. "But, Juni, you are an engineer! How did you practice your engineering while dancing?"

"Huh?" The engineer had to actually stop in the middle of his work to answer that. "Well, I'm over 26 years old, right? I wasn't in the military all that time. This would be my... I think third year in service? My life before this, on Yamatai, was quite different than the one I'm living now."

"Ah." Ichigo looked down, a little embarrassed by her silly question. "Your life, outside the Star Army. I understand! You are from Ralt, in Star Prefecture. Ralt must have lots of dancing, yes?"

"Ralt has a lot of traditional arts, dancing being one of them. You really should visit sometime, especially during the snow festival. That's our big-party time of the year. We've got all sorts of performances and things and a whole bunch of tourists come by and enjoy our simple style of life." He returned to soldering. "I should be done with this last wire shortly."

Ichigo's eyes lit up. An invitation to leave the Miharu? Was such a thing allowed? If she was not there to help maintain her, she would be left in the hands of others; her duty would be dishonored if she did that! But ... she was Nito Hei now. She could delegate! "Nimura, stay here while I enjoy Ralt with the Juni! Ha ha ha!" she thought. ... But then her sister would not get to have fun. Perhaps Yuzuki would be up to the task by that time. "Um ... Juni, may I bring Nimura with me, if I go to Ralt?"

"That's... not really my decision, ultimately, but the Taisa's. I'm sure if we get another bit of shore leave, Kotori might find it in her heart to permit you a bit of time off." He grinned as he finished the last bit of wire. "Don't worry: I'll put in a good word for you if you both do a good job."

"Ah — Yes! Yes Juni!" Ichigo saw the last bit of wire done. "I will go check the connection immediately. Please wait Juni!" Once again Ichigo rushed from sight and to the control panel, flying to it this time. After a moment ... "97.5 percent conductivity, Juni! You did it!"

"We're not out of the woods yet. Ichigo, perform a stress test on the hyperspace fold drive at maximum safe threshold. We don't have a lot of time and this thing needs to at least be as functional as it was before I started tinkering with it." He quickly reattached the panel to the drive and crawled out of the shaft.

Ichigo quickly turned serious again. "Yes Juni. Communicating with bridge personnel now. ... Suzuka-Shosa gives 'OK' for stress test and wishes you good luck, Juni." She sniffed off-comm. "Testing start ... increasing theoretical speeds to zero-point-zero-five light years per minute ... zero-point-one-zero ... zero-point-one-five ... " She went silent for a moment, then spoke with cautious triumph. "Maximum of zero-point-four-zero reached, Juni. Permission to test instant acceleration?"

"Granted," came the reply from the engineer. He crossed his arms and stared at the drive from the distance, as if he was judging the machine. "Let's do this."

"Roger!" Ichigo replied in Yamataian. "Here we go ... instant acceleration!" Six seconds seemed to drag on for minutes. "Ah ... mostly successful, Juni? Instant acceleration reached maximum of zero-point-three-eight light years per minute. Stress levels still being detected as too high when combined with the auxiliary ship."

A slight improvement overall, but there was room for more. "So it's not the connectors that's the main problem." The engineer let out a sigh, removed his gloves and ran his right hand through his yellow hair. "It's the whole energy grid for the Miharu."

"Yes, Juni," Ichigo said, crestfallen. She removed a clean towel from a back pocket and handed it to the Juni. "It appears to be a significant design flaw."

"We're sitting at 95% efficiency right now, which is reason to celebrate considering we were sitting at about 88% not so long ago. That 7% may save our lives." The engineer's words, however, didn't seem to relieve his frustration. "This design flaw needs fixing. This energy grid is either too inefficient or it's not providing enough energy. We know the connectors are in working order, so we can scratch off that problem."

He slipped his gloves into his pockets. "I'm more concerned about a cascading energy failure if we stress out this generator too much."

Ichigo liked seeing him like this. He was very appropriate when he was thinking out a problem. "The Hoshi's generator typically does not transfer energy at peak efficiency, due to the connectors and other wiring in the vessel. Perhaps that is the issue? We have replaced all of the connectors with stronger ones, after all."

"I think replacing all the connectors on the Hoshi will provide a small improvement to the CFS, but we may have hit the ceiling on the HF system. I'm more concerned with HOW our generator is set up and how it's getting the energy to where it needs to go. Unfortunately, we're going to need time to literally take apart the thing, brainstorm and refit it. That's time we don't have, with our current schedule and manpower limitations."

"Yes, Juni," Ichigo said, eyes falling downward. It was true; there was simply no time and not enough people to truly tackle the ship's energy issues. "I am sorry, Juni. I did not work hard enough to isolate the problem."

Tom turned around, sensing the disappointment in the sprite's voice. "It's not your fault, so don't act like it. We did what we could on a hunch that worked out pretty well. That's something to be proud of. When we get back from the next mission, we'll get all the technical sentries together and really hammer down this problem. I'm sure you all will provide me with some great ideas, too." He nodded to Ichigo. "THAT's where I'll need you the most."

Ichigo looked up and nodded firmly. She felt a little better. "As ordered, Juni," she said. "I will be sure to survive our mission, so we can accomplish this task."

"Oh! I actually didn't check my datapad concerning the exact details of our mission!" The engineer let out a sheepish laugh. "Heh... I was a bit too busy down here, you know. How was dinner?" He took out his datapad.

"Ah. It was good. We had flan for dessert." Ichigo thought back on the flan. It was kind of slimy. She wasn't too into it, she decided.

Tom fiddled with his datapad, in the process of bringing up relevant information regarding their next mission. "Oh? Sorry I couldn't cook tonight. As you..."

The engineer twitched visibly for a moment. "...k-know, I was busy down here."

Ichigo didn't miss it. "Juni?"

"Hm?" Tom looked up from the datapad to Ichigo. His eyes had a light sheen to them, and his face was slightly pale.

"Juni? Is something the matter?" Ichigo took a step toward him. "You do not look well."

"Oh?" Tom looked down and shook his head, bringing his hands to his eyes and rubbing them. "Do I?"

"Yes!" Ichigo's ears twitched, almost annoyed. "What is wrong, Juni?"

"I take it you've been briefed on the mission, right?"

Tom opened his eyes again. The gray orbs were normal.

"Yes, I was ... with everyone else." Ichigo's hand came toward her mouth, almost recoiling in a way. What was wrong with the Juni?

The engineer laughed uncomfortably. "Well, I guess it was best that I missed dinner then! Bowhordia... I can't believe it."

"Can't believe it?" The Juni did not look as ill ... but he surely sounded that way.

"Yeah. This'll be my second time going there. Not... the best vacation spot."

"You've been there before? Bowhordia?" The planet was one Ichigo did not even recognize as belonging to anyone. Why had he been there before? "What happened there, Juni?"

The engineer sat down, bringing his legs up to his chest with his arms as he leaned against the control panel and stared off into space. "I lost a lot of friends on that planet. The drones were waiting for us. We were torn apart not long after setting down there. They boarded our ship."

Ichigo gasped at the information. That forces had been waiting before ... that forces were waiting for them now. "But ... you're alive. That's important to remember."

Tom seemed completely oblivious to what Ichigo was saying. He was reliving the horror, speaking to himself just to hear his own voice, reassuring him that he was here not there. "I don't even remember how many times I was shot. I woke up on the planet in a heap, alone and surrounded by them. I felt them... their calculated indifference for what they had done. One passed within feet of me ... looked at me."

The sprite grit her teeth; the Juni was not in a good mindset, and it was getting worse. "Juni, you are here now, not there! We will conquer this time!"

Conquer... conquer. The word seemed to reach the engineer. "Conquer? How can you conquer something that feels nothing about your existence? Mishhu ... they had hatred. Hatred you could feed off of and use as a justification to kill. But these drones. They feel nothing. Nothing." The engineer shook his head again, frowning. "Why am I telling you all this?"

" ... " Ichigo did not have an answer. "We will win, Juni. You must believe that. I know we will. We have work to complete after this mission is finished."

"O-of course." Tom stood up. "Just forget what I told you, ok? It was just stupid talk on my part."

"Y-Yes, Juni. Of course." Ichigo could not, and would not, forget the look on his face, however. She had to tell Nimura about this! "You should get some rest? You have worked all day."

"Yes, that is a good idea. Probably the lack of food is making my head dizzy too. Ichigo, I leave the subdeck in your capable hands."

The Hei bowed deeply. "Yes, Juni! I shall not fail you."

The engineer stood at the door before leaving. "And... thanks for listening." With that, he was gone.

" ... " Ichigo looked at the door for just a second or so, then turned to the control panel. I will tell Nimura tonight. The others should know what they are in for!

END

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

Miyoko hurriedly muted the datapad as it started to play the messages out loud, tucking it away and pretending to suddenly be very busy. Whatever was on there, she didn't want people to know that she'd snooped at Sanjuro's mail... though she, of course, thoroughly wanted to snoop at Sanjuro's mail. Or did she? What if it was some sort of trap to see if she'd stoop so low, and the device would let him know the second she opened the mail? She could just see him, rubbing his hands together evilly as he schemed to ruin her.

Whatever the case, it could wait. She had a long night of bridge duty ahead of her, and she wasn't going to be able to watch it with the others around anyway. Reluctantly, Miyoko settled into her seat and started pulling up sensor feeds.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

Time had passed.

Yuzuki dropped down off of the edge of one of the crates and brushed herself off, looking around at the packages she had seperated out from the rest of the cargo. Most of them were still in their smaller crates, but some of the were in longer metal sheathes. They had been heavy and tough to move, so she'd given it effort and come out feeling a lot better than when she'd started. Yuzu actually felt slightly tired, which was a little comforting to her somehow. She had accomplished something.

Finding a conveniantly sized crate, she sat and listened to the faint hum of the ship's engineering, below. During most of her time here, Yuzu had been able to slip by relatively unnoticed because of everyone's shore leave. She had avoided people on purpose. Conversations were still shaky ground, and it was difficult to understand them - there was just nothing she could talk about with a 'regular' person. But she wouldn't be able to slip by anymore; everybody was now on ship, they were pulling out and going off to some place she didn't care to know much about. And she had stumbled into a whole room full of crewmen, so they all knew she was here now. Yuzu was going to have to talk to someone.

After giving it some consideration and taking in her surroundings, Yuzuki decided that someone would be the ship's senior engineer. It was a start.

But first. . .

"Nito-Hei," she sent, trying the rank out in her head, "Congratulations on your promotion, Ichigo!"

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

Yoroko walked into the center of the bridge area, "Sumimasen." Yoroko said apologetically, "Ashitaka-Heisho and I had a....discussion." Yoroko decided to leave it at that and glanced around the room, from where everyone was sitting she gathered that it was probably going to be her that was flying. Yoroko thought about asking, but decided to just go ahead and sit in front of the piloting and navigation panels. "I think I'm ready to go." Yoroko said after turning her head to face Yukari, unsure of what else to really do.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

"Very well," Yukari said simply. "We are still waiting on other clearances, but feel free to adjust the controls for yourself."

* * *

The message in Ichigo's head from Yuzuki brought a little smile to the technician's face. "Thank you!" she sent back. "It is an honor to be promoted by the Juni. What are you up to right now?"

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

Yuzu tapped the crowbar on the edge of the crate she was sitting on a few times. It produced a hollow metallic sound.

"I am just looking through everything we took on-board from the Pelican," Yuzu sent back, "We have a lot of replacement parts, but there's some stuff here directly off the line. New serial numbers and everything. Aether power couplings, a few new electronic arrays and grid paneling, this new type of circuit insulation they came out with recently, and a couple of specialized tools. That just the big stuff, though - it's not everything. There's lots more, it's just not as big."

She couldn't help but vaguely smile.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

"Oooh, new parts! That's wonderful! The Juni will make good use of them, I am sure!" Ichigo brought up an image panel before Yuzuki and took a look at some of the parts that were visible. "Oh, wow ... added parts for the Daisy armors, too! The pilots will be very happy with that."

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

"Think so," Yuzu answered, trying her voice. She was conscious suddenly of her bemused expression and the sudden urge to hide it rose to the surface. But that felt inappropriate, especially with Ichigo, so she just continued smiling. Where was the harm? "Do you know where the Juni is? He should probably take a look through this."

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

"Anou, he retired for the evening," Ichigo said. "He had worked so much all day on the wiring. He needed rest."

The panel moved along the in the air so Ichigo could see different things. She cooed for the power couplings, knowing the Juni would be most pleased with them.

Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina

"Oh."

Disappointed, Yuzu tapped the crowbar on the metal again, listening to the empty ringing and watching Ichigo's panel swivel around as she continued her inspection. Freeman-Juni was resting? Maybe he would be about, later. Yuzu slumped a little. Well, at least there was something to do in the meanwhile.

"Do you think he would mind if we started somewhere?" she asked, sounding hopeful.