RP: YSS Miharu Mission 3: The sound of machina

Before the sprites could file out, the hissing crackle of a forcefield overlapped the entry.

"Stop," Miharu's disembodied voice ordered.

The group, almost as a single entity, froze in whatever they were doing.

All that talk of being expendable had left the hint of a ghost in their minds, and the forcefield coming online was the equivilent of some ancient dread portal, slamming closed.

Although they were, once again, individuals perfectly capable of individual, unique thought, within several heartbeats of each other they all had a shared thought which was, more or less, the equivalent of 'Oh Shit'.

They all started re-examining, in very minute detail, every little bit of what the Taisa had said, previously.

"Ah," ventured Yuzuki.

And that was more or less it.

Wazu thought about what Hinoto had said about a drop ship section and a combat section. That meant the Miharu only had two sections and a weird distribution of geometry. He would have thought the aerodynamic looking bit with wings would be the lander and the thin part with the small cross section would be used for combat. Of course she also said ‘If a ship could split…’. Was she trying to trick him? Wazu decided probably not so much, perhaps it was just a slip of the tongue or that he misunderstood what she had said.

“I take it you are relying on information taken from the computers in the facility to build a picture of what starships have been here and where they have gone?” Wazu asked, deciding to add, “I am sure I can think of a few less dirty ways to get that information... or will such a discussion have to wait until your CO is ready?”

"We have a fair idea of the number of ships the Daughters of Eve dispose of, and know this base was in the process of being dismantled because it was too close from the Fourth Fleet expanding zone of influence," Hinoto replied. "We are here in the first place to rescue the crew of the Sekkou, but our other objective is to get our hands on the main computer databanks of this base."

* * *

The forcefield fizzled off. Apparently, it has served its purpose.

"Firstly, Yuzuki, you are not going back to that damaged bay wearing an helmet with a cracked visor," Miharu said. "Secondly, the mural depicts the Ash Bay, not Ralt. Ralt is a very cold place by contrast. The Taisa had a mural of Ralt put in the public baths as a gift to the Shosa, because both are friends. It is not a lie."

"Now let's have a Miharu happy corner break and talk," Miharu continued. "Mara should be the one having this discussion with you, but she is not here, is she? So, before you wallow too much in self-pity, tell me: what sort of life in this Empire does the sentient computer of a warship have, what it can hope for and how it can end?"

“So then they all arrived at the same time? That is unfortunate.” Wazu said, sounding disappointed. Based on the large numbers of prisoners he had expected them to all be from different ships. That would imply a larger number of starships had visited the base coming from a larger number of exterior locations. The prisoners all coming from one ship implied that there were only at least two ships that had come to this facility recently. They also likely knew from where meaning his plan to trace the ships back to other facilities was far less likely to produce results.

He decided to make as much use of the talkative sprite as possible for the time being, “Why do the Daughters of Eve have a base out here? Outside of the prison section and landing bay I did not observe any work areas on my way out. If it is a mere prisoner storage facility I do not see what they hope to gain from its operation.”

A more pressing thought was in his head now. If the prisoners of the Sekkou, and himself, only arrived here in the past few days the set of ships that could have been here months or even years in the past. Getting pictures of those ships would be much more difficult especially without a date to guide where to look. Wazu realized he needed to ask another question.

“Also, do you know when this facility was constructed? Or when the Daughters of Eve moved in?” Wazu asked with a bit more expediency than before.

The sigh of relief, also, was more or less universal.

Yuzuki removed her helmet and examined it. The damage didn't make the thing inoperable - in the sense that you could still, technically use it at your own risk - but it did bear an uncanny resemblance to something that had been hit with a high velocity projectile. She passed an inquisitive finger over the dint. It felt like shattered plexiglass, which meant that it looked as if the actual helmet surface was being held together by innocent prayers, assisted by a thin, synthetic microfilm. The visor was also cracked and spiderwebbed.

"Apologies," Yuzuki said, meaning on both counts. The helmet, and the location.

Somehow, the mood had changed again. The world wasn't off kilter, but Yuzuki felt sheepish and a little bit ashamed, even though parts of her stubbornly insisted that she hadn't done anything really, definably wrong as such. And she didn't know exactly how to answer the Miharu, either. Dimly, she was aware that she was being scolded.

The damage control team looked at each other. There wasn't an answer.

"We don't know, Okaa-san," offered Ozuno.

"Gomenasai, Okaa-san," said the sprite at Ozuno's elbow - Kuni - with a poorly masked smile. Ozuno was stone-faced, but Kuni, apparently, understood the subtle humor.

"Gomenasai," repeated several others a little more sincerely, Yuzuki included.

Yippee, a freaking door Kai thought, rolling his eyes. this was a bad thing considering they were going to try not to be detected. They could blow the door, but that would be bad, they could hack it, but that would get noticed, they could wait for it to open, which would take much too long. Then he got an idea. Telepathically sending to Nyton on an encrypted frequency, he asked the team leader "Taii, I think we will need to lure them out. We should have most of the team stealthed on the ceiling, and have one person make a scene in front of the doors, drawing them out, and opening the doors for the rest to get in. I know it will be dangerous for the one, but the plan has benefits."

Kai hoped it wasn't too risky an idea, but it seemed like it would work if the bait knew what they were doing. He added "I would like to volunteer to be the bait, if we choose this plan." The reason for this was that he would hate sending anyone else to do such a dangerous job, because if they got in trouble, it would be his fault.

"Well, from observation, the base served as a supply base for them," Hinoto answered. "Though its latest use was as a drone factory - with the latest being totally synthetic humanoid combat androids dubbed 'nekomachina' along with various other combat drones. If I were to indulge in conjecture, I would guess that the Daughters of Eve are going for the Phoenix Arms approach because they are getting short-staffed, and because their ability to refine zesuaium - and thus the ability to produce the Lamia and the Black Mindy - is growing thin."

"As for its inception..." the white-haired sprite trailed off, thinking, and finished with: "We're fairly certain it was built and developed before YE 28 by a SAINT splinter-group, seeing that the nekomachina had been a concept tossed up at SARA and discarded by... well, I suppose it's no secret: neko-supremacists."

* * *

Miharu spoke again, more gently: "I was created a warship. Warships fight - for various reasons. My reason is to protect this crew, and assist them in their endeavors. If I emerge victorious from battle, with my crew safe, or as safe as I could help it be, then I am satisfied."

"Sprites like you are created to help the crew achieve that purpose, but as you grow and develop into individuals, you also become more. The beginnings may be unflattering, but you are hardly the first sprites to have been born this way, and Junko is hardly the first sprite to have died so abruptly. Most, in fact, have died. Some others, like a pawn crossing a checkboard, found more to life. Some may have a civilian life now. Other might hold important positions in starships, starships that are not the places they were born. Others may be fleet commanders, hailing from humble beginnings just like yours."

"This is what you have, though: You have a ship in which each of you have a room to yourselves, instead of being cooped up in bunks. You have a first officer whom preferred restoring a sprite anew instead of making a new one. You have a commanding officer whom feels guilty she could not give you the opportunity to be born in better circumstances. You have the people with more experience actually being the ones to go and fight, with sprites filling vacancies instead of being cannon fodder."

"Tell me, wouldn't this look like the people here are going out of their way to make sure that - even if engineering work is still risky work and bearing in mind that this is a warship - you do get the opportunity to grow beyond being tools created by necessity? Seeing that the Taisa ordered the creation of the strict minimum number of sprites to reach the default crew complement of this ship class, I really don't think she ever even considered the thought of having any of you recycled once this mission was done."

“A two year gap is a lot of time to cover.” Wazu said, “I assume you don’t have any records from this SAINT group detailing when the base was turned over to the Daughters of Eve?” Wazu asked, trying to keep her talking. He didn’t expect an answer to that question. When this side project started he knew next to nothing and now was nearly up to speed on the Daughters of Eve’s activities, an exciting prospect for him.

“And a supply base, even if it is a small node of a logistics network, should connect up and provide a good picture of their operations in the area.” He added, thinking out loud before quieting his lips.

“Any chance of allowing me to use an FTL probe? Or will I need to speak to your CO for that?”

Hinoto only answered the last question with a slight shake of her head. "Hoshi does not carry probes."

‘But the patch says Miharu,’ Wazu thought to himself, his mind trying to think in the Yamatai language as much as possible now to try and help his words come out more fluently. ‘She did say this was the lander, and the other part was the combat part. Perhaps then the combat section is Miharu and the lander is the Hoshi. Or perhaps together they are the Miharu and separated they use different call signs.'

Wazu then spoke up again.

“If you do not carry them in your inventory then there should be something suitable nearby. There was another ship in this hanger, one of the newer Yui Class scouts I think, and a few small craft any of which would serve the role of probe just fine with some adjustments. . .” Wazu trailed off a bit, deciding to change his approach to this particular task. “. . . Perhaps this is a topic best left for later.”

“Is there anything else you can tell me about the Daughters of Eve, such as any operations they have carried out in the past?”

Rin barely resisted the urge to flinch as Tom motioned to her. "Ano, hai Juni." She went to the supplies and grabbed a tool kit, mentally scolding herself for being such a coward. How could she be so afraid of such minor things? Tom would never shoot the sprite, so she hoped. There was no need to be frightened.

After a deep breath to once again calm her nerves, Rin returned, tool kit in hand. It seemed that, at the very least, she was going to be spending some time in the nice confines of a ship. She'd never thought. during her short life, that the outside world would just be so... scary. Sure, she had been scared of having to go and fight, but a chance to get off the ship and see how the world was didn't seem to bad before. Now, the sprite was sure she preferred to stay inside at home.

Sayuri seemed to be responding to treatment at a rather fast pace, her current unconciousness seemingly caused by physical exhaustion and resource deprivation in her hemosynthetic body. The pink-haired Neko that had lay motionless in the Hoshi's medlab for some time began to stir. At first, the sprite tending to her might notice small rustling for a few seconds, until the body suddenly sprang up with a loud gasp.

This is...

Her short sleep had allowed her to sort through the memories of the past few months, allowing those long months of meaningless torture by her twisted to finally be processed and made sense of. It hit her hard, and had she eaten in the past few days, she might have evacuated her digestive tract of its contents. Instead, she made dry heaves over the side of the bed, feeling the blood rush in and out of her head, causing a dull painful thump to beat inside of her head. It continued, until she manually shut off those nerves so that she couldn't feel it.

...I was rescued. But who?

Regaining her composure a little, she turned over and attempted to keep her eyes on Ayumu, but still felt too weak to do anything other than curl over her own knees or fall flat onto her back. The former felt more dignified.

"Sprite-san. Where am I, and how long as I unconscious?" Sayuri asked the sprite telepathically, leaning over her knees to keep from falling over. The odds were that if her body had the chance, it would probably oblige her to hibernate again until she was needed, but that would interfere with any chances of understanding the conditions she was now thrust into.

The Sekkou was turned downward and sideways. The nose of the ship had almost made contact with the docking bay floor, in the process shredding a shuttle in half. Smoldering pieces of metal were strewn about the floor, and small fumes of smoke rose from the remains of the shuttle. Upon analysis, one of the side hatches had been damaged on contact (the door was caved in), making entrance through there impossible. It was possible to enter through either the opposite side hatch or the launch deck at the back of the ship.

"Ok, I'm sending you schematics of the Yui now," Tom said. This should help us out."

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Freeman-Juni." Rin dropped down beside the prow of the ship, checking to see if the shuttle had done any serious damage to the larger Yui-class.

A shuttle was not going to do much to the mighty Yui. Apart from cosmetic damage, the larger ship had sliced through the smaller shuttle cleanly. The inside of the shuttle, as a result, was a mangled cluster of metal and smoke.

"It's fine here, Juni," Rin said, slowly forgetting her problems now that there wasn't so much stress. She took off again to check the rest of the exterior.

The ship's metal dully shone in the off light provided by the outside desert. It seemed impeccably smooth to the touch. Tom and Ichigo followed suit, using their armors to walk along the top of the shuttle, checking for any punctures in the hull. Aside from a rather nasty dent along the aft, there were no punctures. This was very good, because punctures would necessitate the use of material from one of the shuttles, wasting valuable time.

"Whew, if everything is as good on the inside as the outside, we should have a fairly easy time of it!" Tom sounded genuinely cheerful.

"Hai," Rin agreed. She looked over the schematics of the Yui-class in her HUD, looking for the easiest way in. "Ano... how should we proceed?"

"I believe it is best to go through the launch deck, but it's probably a bit of a pain opening it from the outside," Tom began. "How about the side hatch?"

Rin looked over the layout again, and found a side hatch. Which way...? She headed back to the prow of the ship and found the hatch to be inoperable. How did she miss that earlier? "A- ano... this one is... broken." A sudden wave of stress came forth. What else could she have missed!

"Broken? Really?" Tom asked as he approached Rin's armor. "Let me take a look.." Behind his visor, his eyes narrowed as the engineer surveyed the damage. "Well, that's no good," he muttered aloud. "I'd try to pry it open, but it's pretty dented in. We could do the opposite and seal it tightly, though."

He thought for a second. "What is your opinion, Rin?"

Rin stepped aside to let Tom get a better view. "Ano... hai. That seems like a good idea. Etto, should I go check the other hatch first though? If both are broken, then... etto, see which would be easier to get in through...."

Tom chuckled and knocked the Yamataium of the door. "If we restore power to this ship, the containment fields should take care of any pressure concerns," he started. "With that in mind, this is rather low priority, right?" He asked the last question pointedly, as if he was hinting at something.

"A- ano... etto...." Rin freaked out a little, wondering if she made a mistake. She was slightly confused as to what Tom seemed to be implying. "Ano... I... I guess? G- gomenasai!"

After a long pause, Tom spoke. "Rin, I know and you know that you're a smart person. It's ok to have an opinion on matters. I won't bite you. Let's enter through the opposite hatch."

Rin was nervous during the pause and felt embarrassed when she was finally addressed. "Hai... Free-... Freeman-Juni." She wasn't entirely sure how to respond. Her armor floated, before she started for the other side.

Entering through the opposite hatch proved to be without problem. Upon entering, they were greeted with the glow of dull red lights. "Looks like something knocked out the main power when this Yui collided with the shuttles," he said. "But... since it's not completely dark, I think we're not too bad off."

"Hai. Etto, I suppose the first thing is to get main power back online?" Rin asked, gazing into the reddened interior.

It was hard to see any details in the light. The interior of the Yui seemed cavernous, lifeless and empty. The metal walls of the hallway were cold and uninviting, despite being clean. "By the map here, one of the security nests should be directly to our left," he said. "If we fly up this elevator shaft here, we will have to pass the bridge on our way to the subdeck."

Rin nodded. It didn't seem so hard. "Ano...." she said quietly to herself as she took a step forward into the eerie ship. She wanted to just follow Tom, but she knew she should probably go first, being the lesser of the two. With that thought in mind, she advanced further into the red glow.

"Wait a sec," Tom said. "Weapons out... just in case." Pulling out his LASR, he stepped in front of Rin and flew up the elevator shaft.

"Oh, hai!" The sprite grabbed her own LASR and followed after. Well, so much for being the one in front protecting Tom....

Almost immediately, the three armors were out of the elevator shaft and on the 2nd floor. The ship was only 22 feet tall, after all. The hallways was a tight fit in their armors, only a foot or two separating their heads from the hard, metal ceiling. Turning on a light, the lead armor walked slowly, carefully towards the closed door that led to the bridge. The door, as expected, was closed.

Ichigo piped up. "I'm going to go to the Megami and see if we can get its assistance," she offered. "I'll be right back."

As the two waited, Tom turned to Rin. "So, how do you feel?"

Rin waved to Ichigo and blinked at Tom. "Etto, what do you mean, Freeman-Juni?"

"This is your first combat sortie, correct? How do you feel?" Rin would notice Tom had turned off his public communications channel and was now speaking to the technician privately.

"Ano...." Rin did the same with her comm. "I'm okay," she lied. "It's certainly a lot different than what I expected."

"I bet," Tom said softly. "It's never easy to fire that gun, is it?"

Rin shook her head. "I think I like these more," she said, refering to the tool kit she carried.

"Hopefully, you'll get to put it to good use," came the reply. "So, do you have any dreams?"

Suddenly, Rin was confused. "...Dreams?" she asked, sounding quite naive.

"Yeah, anything that you look forward too after all this mess is done. Do you have a vision of what you want to be after you're out of the army?"

"Out of the army?... I can't even imagine what that's like. Gomenasai...." Rin was more focused on her little world of the present, and didn't even spare a thought of what the future might hold.

Hinoto's returned a steely look to Wazu. "Most of that would go beyond the specifics of this mission, so I can only tell you of the very recent past. Bowhordia Prime was protected by the Obakemono escort group - an Ayame-class command cruiser along with its full allotment of auxiliary ships: four Yui 5 destroyers and four Ketsueki corvettes. Miharu destroyed them all prior to your rescue."

"Some elements of the forces in this system were lured out prior to our attack, so, we expect reinforcements going from one to three squadrons to return on high alert before our operation is complete."

Sayuri's sudden alertness startled Ayumu and she nearly dropped the bag of hemosynth she had been administering. "Kya!" she let out before catching herself. Steeling herself she resumed treatment by stabilizing the bag so it could continue to function. "We're on a Star Army ship but I don't know which one. They're here to rescue us as far as I can tell. I'm just helping their medical team so I don't know how long you were unconcious," she telepathically replied.

Azumi meanwhile didn't hear any response to her statement so she went ahead and began to administer the hemosynth to Camellia's arm. After securing it so that it could continue to properly drip went on to get some muscle relaxants as had been prescribed by Sanjuro.

Shouko did not get very far before Sanjuro looked over and yelled out at her over the loudspeaker. "Hey where do you think you are going?" he said incredulously. "You are in no condition to be walking around yet, let alone perform maintenance on a ship. Cease and desist right now!" he said, securing his current patient's hemosynth unit. He pointed over at Ryoko and motioned for her to bring a hemosynth unit. "Shouko you must lay down and rest for at least thirty minutes before you can walk. Maybe then we can determine if you are ready to do any work." he ordered. "Ryoko, administer Shouko a hemosynth unit. Along with proper rest that should assist in helping her recover."

Sora watched the exchange, prepared to throw in her rank and voice in case Shouko tried to shrug him off. For the moment though her own patient was receiving hemosynth and it was stabilized so she decided to check on the status of the three in the regeneration tanks. As a result of the time spent, the three were no longer in danger of dying. However they still required more time before they were completely healed.

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Aoiko took her position by the hangar entrance, figuring the enemy would attempt to enter from there. The two weapon pods configured for combat were also standing by on guard. Checking her LASR's ammunition she held the rifle at a low ready while keeping an eye on the sensor readings that AIES gave her.

Freeman-Juni, I am in position. Nothing to report so far. I will keep you informed in case anything happens.

Click to expand...

Aoiko reported to Tom.

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Nyton's muscles tensed as he floated quietly by the entrenched nekomachina. He could see them, knew they were looking in his direction, but they were not registering him. The tension was still there as though expecting them to open fire any moment. And then they were past and the feeling was gone. It had been exciting but he was glad to be past this objective for the moment. Their current obstacle was more of a nuisance however. The blast shutter was an obstruction but it also created a complication in that they were not far enough away from the enemy yet. Any attempt to open it would likely be detected. This changed a lot unfortunately.

"Taii, I think we will need to lure them out. We should have most of the team stealthed on the ceiling, and have one person make a scene in front of the doors, drawing them out, and opening the doors for the rest to get in. I know it will be dangerous for the one, but the plan has benefits. I would like to volunteer to be the bait, if we choose this plan."

Click to expand...

came Kai's telepathic message.

Nyton considered the plan but it didn't make sense. Why would the enemy open the door for the bait in the first place? They would just lock it down and trap the bait. However, if they are drawn out it could still work to their advantage. The enemy would lose the advantage of terrain and those weapons that had been plugged to the power station may not have a long enough cable to carry with them further down. They were still fairly well armed though regardless. Worst case scenario, if they were detected opening the door they could remain hidden, allow the nekomachina to assume they had continued on further down, and then ambush them from behind. He needed to think of something else that would place them on better footing.

Everyone stand by.

Click to expand...

Nyton texted to the team members present with him.

Takuma, we are being stopped by a door. Can you use the computer you are in now to open the door and bypass the computer's registry so that the rest of the facility remains unaware of our access?

Click to expand...

Nyton then texted to Takuma.

Camellia silently watched the sprites administer aid to herself. "Thanks..." She said with a small smile before the relaxant kicked in and her head fell back while she smiled some.

While Nyton went about his operation preparation, Sumaru allowed him to share his plans. Once he had finished, the once Yamataian then notified him that he was still close to full charge, because he had been relying on weapons with expendable ammo instead of his suit for his time so far. He also went on to mention that if it became necessary, that with his NH-27 Neko’s body, his super-strength could move the suit on his own accord without the power assistance, this way they wouldn't have to wait too long to get another generator and up-link it.

"And if it comes to a situation where our guns have more chance of harm to us, then to our enemies-- Then I have my sword for such encounters," Sumaru answered towards the issue if the enemies did hold-up inside the highly explosive armory. He then took the time to pull out his katana, and tightly grip it with his left-hand; he was prepared to draw blood now-- or whatever these things bled. In tradition, and personal ideal-- his sword could not return to its scabbard until it drew blood, it was the way of the Ketsurui Samurai. In his right, he switched out his Atmospheric Plasma Rifle, storing it in the r-shoulder mount where his LASR was mounted, and took out that weapon instead-- previously to drawing it, he allowed his Mindy to switch out the ammo type to regular rounds.

"Takuma-san, we will prevail. You have my word," Sumaru sent telepathically to his partner in the coming assault. He took this time to make sure to ease the Nitô Heisho, because if this person was going to be firing bazooka rounds over Sumaru, the Samurai wanted to make sure this Yamataian would be pulling the trigger with calm nerves.

Then finally came Nyton's order to move, and under radio silence Sumaru nodded once to acknowledge the command. As Wish settled into passive scans, the white armor phased with the light around it, bending the images of where it stood like a cloak-- concealing the Samurai and his weapons. Sumaru closed his eyes, allowing his mind to slip into a calm state, instead of relying on the sight he had as a Yamataian, he allowed his mind to rely on the data and new view he had through his skin. He was becoming quickly adapt at this, and with the new all around vision-- he was not going to be someone caught flat-footed. The Mindy lowered itself to the floor, the feet touching with the cold panel was the last sound Sumaru would make. After that, he withdrew the small amount of energy needed from within-- and floated back up from his own body's gravity manipulation, so he would not have to rely on his suit's power systems in such a draining field.

“So then we are to sit here and wait?” Wazu asked. He figured that Eve would require starships, but from what he knew of her he could not think of a reason why she would require so many starships. There was something going on here that he was not aware of, a new MO for Eve perhaps. To have any chance of bargaining with her that new MO would have to be discovered. The thought of Eve becoming more than just a child obsessed murderer was disturbing.

"No," Hinoto returned more gently. "We continue on our operation, and succeed before Miharu succumbs to attrition."

"You are not a citizen of the Yamatai Star Empire and you also seem to be working on your own agenda - national or personal I cannot tell." The sprite's hand went to her nekovalkyrja service pistol, where she seized the battery pack and removed it, placing it on another part of her belt. "For these reasons, I cannot allow you to take a more active role within the frame of this mission; you will have to settle with being an observer."

"Out of fairness, I will add the following: as the ship computer's avatar, I have access to internal security measures that can curtail the amount of harm or movement you can cause," the sprite informed Wazu. "Furthermore, my open cooperation with you in answering your questions have turned you into something of a liability - I did so not out of naivete, but because I needed to coax you into giving a measure of what you know - and you clearly know more than you are willing to tell about your involvement in this situation. If my Commanding Officer still sees you as a liability at the end of your interview with her, I am confident she can have you eliminated without too much international fuss because no one knows you are alive right now."

"We've no express desire to see you dead, but this is a SAINT operation." Hinoto concluded, managing to say all she did without coming off simply sly, rather than nastily. "We have an imperative to protect ourselves from what could be threats to our security. The amount of cooperation you provide as well as your usefulness ought to directly proportional to your chances of survival."