RP: YSS Kaiyō Mission 32: Uchū Kaubōi

Cauldron Lake

"My orders," Myga tapped the rank pin fastened on her uniform, an intense stare fixed at the guard. "You must've fallen out the vat that birthed you yesterday, so I'll pretend you're not questioning them." Her gaze shot to the gunner, nostrils flaring with growing annoyance, "And I won't file a report for off-color remarks that could distress the people delivering our damn food. Keep it up, and I'll make sure you taste test every slab of meat we serve for a month."

Cynea and Sahty's excuses were more plausible, and definitely more tactful, but Myga was the sort of woman who loathed having to explain her decisions to strangers, and enjoyed flexing her power over those lower on the totem pole. "Don't justify nothing, girls. Newbloods like that'll think we need to explain everything to 'em if you do," Hihja quipped with a bemused expression at the dichotomy between her squad leader and squad mates, before raising an eyebrow at the man with the thick drawl. "Someone's eager..." She licked her lips, then gave him a wink. "Promise we won't eat you if you're on your best behavior, alright?"

When the rancher in the distinctive outfit voiced a contrary desire, Myga merely shrugged. "We freshened it up for you, princess-" For a moment, the hardass demeanor gave way to wide-eyed surprise. She hadn't meant to let that slip. "And...I don't need to explain myself. Either you and the cattle come in, or you don't get paid." Myga said, shrugging again. "We're not gonna eat you, worst that'll happen is we get a discount for lame beef. So stop complaining."

If Aiko paid attention, she might have noticed a slight smile to go along with Myga's smug self-satisfaction at giving her an order.

Cauldron Lake

Hoshi’s eyes were lackadaisically chipper as she looked to William and winked, having heard his telepathic quandary about the future of his black beauty living the good life at her ranch. Aiko’s proclamation almost tore her gaze to her XO, but she realized the princess’ ploy was and didn’t want to jeopardize the double bluff. She stared up into the sky with her mouth in a round whistling shape, though no sound came from her lips. She snuck a look at the NMX Neko and seeing the telltale way one of them wrapped their tail around their waist, Hoshi couldn't imagine that was anyone but the Kaiyō's very own Sif Ignemar. To avoid detection, her eyes slid away from her young crewmen but her face took on an apple-cheeked smile as she did so.

The guard was having none of it and shook her head disdainfully as her sharp eyes shot from Myga to the gunner. The woman in the spire just shook her head in a half defeated, half bored sort of way. She had been looking at Aiko in particular, chewing over the woman's disinterested tone as she tried to make out exactly what Aiko had even said. Shrugging, she seemed to give up.

"No use arguing with Elites. Take it from one, they think the whole base answers to them. Call in and ask for my replacement. I'll escort them down, y'hear?" The gunner had been quick with her words as she set the locks on the hulking weapon she manned before entering through a small trap in the spire's top. She was soon at the back of the herd while the other guard spoke frantically into the comm she had readied.

"An Overseer is coming up to take your position," the guard shouted to the gunner, tension tickling every word she spoke.

"It'll be Charbon then," the guard said, now on the lift and beckoning the cowboys to follow. "At best, prepare for demotion."

The smile was wiped off of Hoshi's face and a prickling surge started at the base of her SPINE and ascended all the way up to her hairline. The mare under her started taking a few steps back as if utterly perturbed so Hoshi squeezed with her heels and nudged her horse forward to make it begrudgingly move forward.

Overseer Charbon had been the NMX Neko Hoshi had killed once on Urtullan and avoided killing a second time.

Fleet Admiral Ketsurui Yui had even given Hoshi her first dressing down over the exchange she had with Charbon out in the desert of Urtullan, saying "Our mission is to eliminate the Mishhu forces. All of them," to the Kaiyō captain. Whether their mission would be compromised now was on the forefront of Hoshi's thoughts as Yui's disconcerting words haunted the back of the small captain's mind.

The lift started closing around them all, darkening the sunlight like heavy cloud cover at first. Lights on the supporting beams of the lift had flickered on, but the cows started getting unruly from the sudden darkness after the lift had fully closed and started moving downward. Stamping back and forth, they were mooing desperately. Their wild movements made the lift shudder, a sound almost unheard over their mad vociferations as they moved as a unit from one side of the platform to the other. Hoshi looked to William and Aiko as she tried to corral them. She had limited experience with livestock so unruly as her usual breeds on the ranch were more pastoral and calm, but knew enough to point the pair to either side of the cattle to try to box them in.

"You've got those things for this, right?" asked the gunner loudly at the first sign of trouble as she looked about ready to take the cattle prod right out of Cynea's hands.

Caldera Base Cargo Lift

With Sahty's confirmation of the possibly limp livestock, Cynea made a show of shaking her head before passing her gaze over the other cattle to see if there were anything else she could spot that was going to cause any issues, just trying to be as picky as she could be if they needed even more of a reason to drag the ranchers in. But egging the guards on even more was not necessary as they relented and ordered the cattle to move on.

Cynea stood by, making sure no funny business was taking place, still keeping an eye out for any limping bovines, though stepping back to not be so near them, content to just play guard until the gunner came over to her, looking a bit antsy at the misbehaving cattle.

"Ah, yes, the prod," Cynea responded in a hush, sounding a bit nervous as she clipped her rifle to her side and pull out the electric baton. A crackle of electricity sounded as arcs of energy jumped from one prong to another, much too strong for moving cattle along. A minor adjustment later, and the sound was milder.

"Keep the setting on two, Sahty," the neko warned her squadmate. "Too much juice and this herd's going to stampede. And remember to poke and not swing, or you'll be dragged to workshop duty."

The crimson-haired neko prodded the flank of one of the bovines that began to act stubborn and held up the others behind it. The small buzz got it to move forward with a displeased grunt. She had spoken to a few nekos in charge of processing the cattle, and they learned the hard way that if the prod was too strong, the beasts would get spooked and might kick or jump around trying to escape, ramming into its enclosure walls. Being herd animals, the panic may spread. The way the girls told it, getting kicked by one of these things was neither a pretty sight nor feeling.

"Come on, move it you stink bombs!" Cynea groaned as she gave another traffic jam on her side a little prodding to encourage a smooth flow. She was quick but careful not to hit any mess that might have stuck to the cattle's behind. For a mercy, the flanks were clean enough. And she wasn't being careful just because she didn't want to be the one to clean the equipment later, but because it could affect its function if the prongs had debris shorting the circuit.

As she carried out her duties, she turned to the gunner, eyes practically sparkling as she remembered something she learned from the cattle processors. "Hey, have you ever seen how the processors handle the ones with bloated stomachs? They told me they stick a needle in them to get the gas out and light the exposed end to burn it away so the room doesn't turn explosive. They said it looks like a blowtorch, and a few got their hair singed because they didn't notice the flaming needle when they passed by."

Caldera Base Cargo Lift

 William turned to Myga and rolled his eyes. "More like I want to get this over with. We need to gather more cows for the next haul." He replied, tapping his horse with his heels once more urging him to follow the cattle.

Noticing Hoshi's wink, William gave a smirk in reply before returning to the task at hand. 'Good. That's one problem solved. Now we just have to make it out of here alive and arrange transport to Hoshi's ranch... Simple.' He thought with a sigh.

Once on the platform, the cattle became restless. With the NMX breaking out the cattle prods, he could see things going south. At Hoshi's look, William nodded. "Come on boy, lets go to work!" The ID-SOL called, spurring his horse into action. His stallion snorted, moving back and forth, forcing the herd to huddle closer together.

Caldera Base Cargo Lift

Sahty raised a hand over her head and gave a little "Ok" hand signal to Hihja as she stood back up from where she had been squatted down. She understood what Hihja was saying, but it was her job to enforce whatever orders Myga gave. Sometimes that meant helping justify those orders. In this case she was also doing her due diligence regarding the cattle.

She'd missed part of the conversation while squatted down but, catching only a few words, but assumed Myga got her way as the herd moved down the ramp onto the cargo lift. The unruly cows had begun to make Sahty nervous and she took a few steps farther back from the herd. The idea of being stuck in a confined space with this many large, panicky animals was not a pleasant one.

Sahty was reaching for her own cattle prod when she heard the crackling of electricity from Cynea's side followed by her warning. It was hard to see Cynea through the herd or hear her over the upset bovine but she got the gist of the message. She adjusted the prod's power setting down before hitting the power switch. Even at low power the sound of arcing electricity was a intimidating sound.

Quick to begin using the prod to control the cattle, Sahty gave a few stubborn cattle a shock with the prod. Thankfully only one or two pokes with the prod convinced each cow to move. "Can we get this thing going already?" Sahty shouted over the din inside of the lift.

Hihja chuckled in bemusement at the aftermath of Myga's verbal scuffle with the hapless guards, "Someone's fired up today," she said, eyebrows raised, "Didn't think you cared that much about cattle of all things."

"I eat here too, in case you forgot," was Myga's curt reply as she started marching alongside the cattle, prod in hand, back to the base.

For her part, Myga let the grunts grumble without castigating, as she'd gotten what she wanted. What the NMX noticed above all else was Hoshi's reaction at the name 'Charbon,' which shattered the rancher's relaxed demeanor in an instant. Myga answered to a Charbon, but her past life had no clue what significance that person had in her captain's life. It was something to keep in mind, she supposed, and as the left descended, there was plenty of time to think about the mission.

More specifically, Myga thought about how she was in the process of betraying her comrades. Though she'd known them for weeks, NMX bonded with each other quickly over the shared expectation that they wouldn't live long, given the cavalier attitude of their overseers and the overwhelming might of their foe. Myga's eyes flitted to Hoshi and the other ranchers, particularly Aiko, whom she remembered to be an especially merciless warrior with little sympathy for her enemies. The finger that rested against her rifle's trigger guard twitched, ever slightly, toward the trigger. All Myga had to do was level the rifle, eliminate this hidden threat, and explain to her superiors that she'd just neutralized three hostiles.

Of course, that would mean a summary execution once her connection to them was established. Dammit. Myga's trigger finger relaxed, then went back to resting. She felt sick to her stomach, which was likely Molli's persona letting her guilt creep into Myga's mind. After all, the Nepleslian girl loved her comrades dearly, and would have gladly killed to protect them. Suddenly, Myga found herself loathing that mental tether to a past life.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Hihja asked, after gently elbowing Myga.

"The mess their horses are going to make, and who'll clean it up," she said, inventing an excuse without a moment's hesitation.

"Shouldn't have made a fuss about inviting them inside then. They'll make us shovel it out, you know."

Myga let the matter rest at that, but the storm of conflict brewing in her earthen eyes didn't abate, and she stared off into the distance in silence. Options upon options floated through her thoughts, none of them ended in a satisfying outcome for this mission for everyone.

Caldera Base Cargo Lift

With the cargo lift loaded and finally descending, Aiko shifted in her saddle and gave a relaxed sigh after the initial encounter topside had passed so smoothly. That more NMX Neko remained on the scene than would account for the Kaiyō's complement of infiltrators was a mild concern, but was far from any sort of problem. They were heading into a den of Mishhuvurthyar and their thralls, after all. And even so, the odds didn't frighten the Ketsurui princess today. A more pressing concern, however, were the restless cattle bucking and milling about on the wide elevator platform.

Aiko's training as a cattleman hadn't been extensive. It wasn't much more studying than the cowboy movies she'd watched, only amounting to enough to pass as a space rancher to these NMX guards even less initiated than she was. But what she did know was enough to seek out the lame cow in the group that had been called out earlier, searching over the the herd with her wide crimson eyes until she spotted it. All the electric prodding in the sector wouldn't calm these livestock down, and the princess didn't want an otherwise easy undercover mission to be spoiled by some kind of stampede.

"If they panic and charge then we should take advantage of the commotion and slip in unimpeded," Aiko told Hoshi and William with a silent wireless message, trying to keep in mind all eventualities. "Still, I am moving in to prevent a run."

Once she spied the lame livestock, Aiko squeezed her thighs and motivated her steed over toward it quickly. The princess let her agile mount trot over and rear up the way it wished to, not seeking to control it too much until the moment she wanted it to stop. And then it did, planting its hooves steadily on the deck for a long enough moment for Aiko to pull a length of rope secured near her saddle's horn and toss its looped end around the wounded space-cow's neck. The rope securely wrapped around its target, Aiko pulled at it with both arms while moving her legs to command her horse to back away and drag the lassoed cattle away to a corner of the lift opposite where most of the herd was congregating.

Aiko remained relatively silent as she worked, with only gritted teeth and a few dignified grunts to show for her effort. If they'd brought along a working dog to help them, she may have barked out a string of orders to it. But her Eihei strength combined with the might of her horse was sufficient absent any working animal's assistance.

Caldera Base, Level 1

The cattle yelped at being prodded in a way that made their thick, muddied tongues fall out of their faces as their eyes bulged wildly. Combined with being cordoned off by William and Hoshi they seemed to have limited their distress to a fast pacing in the tightened space, but were still frantic. It wasn't until their weakest member was removed from the main herd by Aiko did their moods fully temper. At least, almost.

Of the hundred, only one of the cattle was still running in that gangly, uncoordinated way in which cows bounded about. But its intention soon became clearer as with each upward movement of its rump a squelching sound exploded from between its cheeks. Having released out whatever gas that was trapped there after a half dozen spastic lunges, the bovine to its herd with a docile contentedness just as the cargo lift shuddered to a stop.

Responding to Cynea's words with a look of appalled disgust, the gunner took a few long steps away from the other NMX Neko. At first it looked like she was merely creating distance, but when she pressed her palm into an obtrusive red button on the side of the elevator it was obvious there was more to her actions. One of the metal walls that enclosed the cargo lift's structure rolled open, letting in even more light as the base's interior shone into the elevator. The inside of the base wasn't damp and wet like most Mishhuvurthyar interiors. The heat of the volcano wouldn't permit that, but there were the telltale signs of the enemy. Metal walkways were wedged between fleshy walls that were chafed and peeled off of themselves. Fist-sized bugs whose perpetual footfalls against the metal made an unsettling medley that was interrupted by a few errant cow's mooing.

A prick of darkness in the center of this walkway stood an Overseer. She was the same one that Molli and Sif had anguished over when Hoshi had killed her in the facility on Urtullan those months ago. Quietly, the captain had also chased down the NMX later in the desert, but let the enemy go—much to Yui's dismay. The Gunner nodded to her and walked forward, but the ashy haired Oversee took a step forward and put her hand on the gunner's chest. Many of her nails were long, though a couple were broken down to the nail bed, and there were sewn up cuts in the arm of her unstained mustard jacket.

"I'll escort them from here. Return to your post," the Overseer said without a hint of tolerance for argument.

The gunner reacted quickly and turned on her heel as if to leave the way she had come. Seeing the sight of the gas-riddled cattle inside, she moved away and out of sight to a different lift that would take her back to Cauldron Lake.

With the gunner gone, Overseer Charbon began looking over the cattle and shot a thumb over her shoulder to indicate where to move the cattle to. Her eyes pierced past the cattle, looking strategically at all of the bodies other than bovine to later be accounted for.

Caldera Base, Level 1

William attempted to hide his disgusting as the lift opened, revealing the base's interior. The ID-SOL always held a deep seeded hatred for the Mishu and their creations. His grip tightened on the reins as the Overseer stepped forward. His steed responded by stamping a hoof in irritation and whinnying. William relaxed his grip and turned the horse, letting his horse pace back and forth at the back of the lift so he could calm down.

He stayed quiet and did not make eye contact as the overseer spoke to the gunner. Patting his horse's neck he leaned forward "Easy boy. Easy." William soothed, as he waited for the Overseer to give them instructions.

When she pointed her thumb in the direction she wanted the cattle, William brought a hand to his mouth and let out a long, low whistle, urging the cattle forward. He followed behind the cattle, directing them to where Charbon indicated.

Caldera Base, Level 1

Overseer Charbon. The name was familiar, and indeed Cynea knew why. Or rather, Sif, knew why. 'She needs a resleeve,' followed by a flash and a life snuffed out. The same memory played in her mind the first time Cynea had seen the Overseer in person and overheard her name. She was learning to disassemble and reassemble the guns under Nari's guidance as part of her repentance when the Overseer arrived. As with that time, Cynea acknowledged Charbon's presence with a salute before carrying on with her business. There was no heavy emotion, positive or negative against the Overseer. No guilt over what had happened. They were and still are soldiers on opposing sides. When it came to it, one will have to die and sometimes get stuffed under the stairs. It was as simple as that. Trying to think otherwise will give the other the edge to finish the job.

At least that was what she was conditioning her mind to feel about the situation.

Cattle flatulence not withstanding, Sif imagined the situation was tense for the 'ranchers', having been ambushed by Charbon's appearance on the lift. Unfortunately, there wasn't any realistic way to warn them beforehand, but there was no use getting hung on it.

Cynea waved her hand over her face and took out the scent bottle again, dabbing a bit more of the flowery scent over her mask, all the while mumbling why they couldn't just get the meat delivered frozen. Surely it'd save some space, but then she realized how long it'd take to unload everything if the meat couldn't walk themselves. But then again she wasn't sure if the tradeoffs were worth it. Perhaps she can talk to someone who'd been working in logistics to get the answer. A quest for another time. With an overseer present, she couldn't be caught doing anything other than her job, which at this point in time, is keeping the cattle in line.

Calm as they were at the moment, ushering them into the pens might be a different story. Stowing away the bottle, Cynea then clicked her prod twice, but didn't shock any of the cattle just yet. Being at the back corner, she'd be the last person to walk out, and she was already dreading having to follow the herd of stink machines. In response to the sound of electricity dancing between the prongs of her prod, one of the cattle vocalized its own discontent at the situation, which Cynea dryly responded with, "Don't make me taze you again."

She doubted it understood, but she had to cope with the situation somehow.

Caldera Base, Level 1

"Captain,” Aiko remarked telepathically as she looked back to Hoshi, resting her right hand on the grip of her holstered revolver. She remembered Charbon’s face as the soldier the Taisa had killed during their infiltration mission on Urtullan. “I believe we are going to have to kill this Neko.”

Charbon smiled nastily at the NMX there; she seemed to be paying more attention to the likes of Cynea and Hihja rather than the enemy captain she had history with or Hoshi's cowboy-clad comrades. Hoshi, for her part, was further from the entrance to the rest of the base and was slow to understand the name she had heard earlier was now in their path. With William keeping the cattle moving, Hoshi thought fast and dismounted her horse as if she were water slipping off its back. She made her way in the middle of the herd, trying to be her smallest and less noticeable self in the middle of the herd.

The ranchers and NMX moved the herd together with an easy synchronicity the short distance from the elevator to the meat processing facility's holding pen. The beasts looked more uneasy than ever as the stench of death and bodily remains clung to the crevices in the floors here. A crabby bug skittered onto the hoof of one and she flinched with a scream like a donkey's bray.

"Sisters," Charbon shot her voice into the air, perturbing the cow nearest Mygea and drawing more than just humanoid's eyes to her. "You may return to your regular duty posts. Any further assistance is not required as our nourishment supplies have been replenished. Exemplary marks for such will be doled out within your duty periods."

Charbon's own eyes followed the path back out of the holding pen, ready for all five of the NMX Nekovalkyrja to be gone.

Caldera Base, Level 1

Myga had grown familiar with the Overseer over the long two weeks she'd spent at the base, and came to regard her as a strict but fair woman. She was reserved, and a tad mysterious, and Myga had more pressing matters to concern herself with to worry about discovering anything else. Standing here and observing the ranchers, however, made Myga keenly aware that something was off. Her first thought was that the Kaiyo crew must know the Overseer from someplace else, and Myga wondered if her past life held the knowledge she lacked. For obvious reasons, the consciousness transfer involved leaving much of her original personality behind, lest a prying mind discover her secret purpose. That put the young elite in the dark, more or less.

"I cannot in good conscience leave you alone with three guests," Myga replied calmly, her eyes flitting to the woman whose hand was on her holstered revolver. "I brought them inside, anyway."

Hihja looked as though she wanted to say something, but she bit her lip and looked off into the distance at nothing in particular.

Caldera Base, Level 1

A sigh of relief passed through Cynea's lips as they were dismissed. She nodded to the Overseer, stowing her prod away and putting a hand over the grip of her primary as she unhooked it from her side. She made a turn to follow the gunner that came down with them, but she was not in any rush. The neko was trying to think of how to proceed from here. Charbon would have the fate of these ranchers in her hands, and with the Overseer's smile just then, Cynea wasn't sure it was going to be a kind fate.

When Myga spoke up, Cynea stopped and turned all the way back to her squad commander, then to the ranchers, and back to Charbon before settling her eyes on Myga. Cynea's shoulders slumped before beginning to shrug and sigh. A series of actions that proved to be a horrible decision next to the herd as her olfactory system got a huge hit of gas that made her involuntarily gag. She practically lurched away from the herd, putting the back of her free wrist over her mouth and nose as she shot a dirty look at the cattle.

"Disgusting beasts," she'd grumble. Though unintentional, she hoped that at least it causes some delay in negotiations. "What the hell are they feeding these things."

Caldera Base, Level 1

Any blasé nonchalance Charbon had been exhibiting as she led the way for the NMX guards to exit the room fell from her countenance as Mygea spoke. For a moment, she looked ready to reprimand the Elite right there. Something in her mind pieced together some part of whatever puzzle she was ensnared in, now, and her mouth closed in a steely ribbon. To the outside, it looked like the usually-upset Overseer was just her normal self as she surveyed the herd then whipped a finger at Aiko and Hoshi (hidden, though, the latter was), beckoning them.

Finally, she spoke, "Elite Mygea, pick some of your squad to stay with him. He stays with the herd until they've been slaughtered." She had sent a chin over her shoulder towards William before disgust dripped out from her newly formed words. "Stinks of sex that one. This is no thrall planet and I don't need my girls acting like it is such with his pheromones wafting the corridors."

"Bring the ranchers to the nearest office, Mygea, with all the haste you can muster. I'll meet you there with the necessary forms," Charbon said and turned, coming back the way the herd had entered as she forfeited whatever need she had previously had to escort the Kaiyo veterans.

Caldera Base, Level 1

Today seemed to be Sahty's late day. Last to meet up with the squad, last out of the armory. Now she had been the last in and the last out of the disgusting stinkfest that was the holding pens. Sahty looked almost green beneath her facemask as she rejoined the squad, fanning the air in front of her face in a vain attempt to blow the stench of cow away.

Sahty slowly looked between Myga, Charbon and the disguised Kaiyo crew. In particular her eyes lingered on Hoshi. She'd heard the conversation and their orders to split the squad up. As Charbon turned away from the squad the vestige of Rio in the back of her mind began warring with Sahty. Right now was an opportunity. One that made her sick with the thought of betrayal at what she was about to do.

The elevator bay was mostly isolated, Charbon had her back turned to them in and Sahty still had her shock prod in hand. It would only take a flick of her thumb to bring it to full power. But could she close the distance and strike before the Overseer or anyone else realized what was happening? Sahty didn't know.

Sahty looked directly at Myga, shock prod in hand as she telepathically spoke for the first time in weeks "Myga?" A singular unspoken question of great importance that could be answered with a shake or nod of Myga's head. Was now the time?

Caldera Base, Level 1

William clocked the look the overseer sent him and the disgust in her words. He smirked in return. The feeling was mutual. "Well, that happens when you're on a cattle drive and can't take a proper shower." The ID-SOL replied, following the herd. Nodding to Hoshi and Aiko, he kept the herd moving where the NMX Neko's directed him.

With any luck, he'd have a chance to slip away while the overseer was handling paperwork with Hoshi. Then he could start setting up for the grand finale.

Caldera Base, Level 1

It felt like something was amiss here. There was something at the back of Cynea's mind that buzzed with alerts of danger, which caused her to start pacing farther away from the cattle as the overseer turned to leave. Maybe it was the dread of having to stay longer than necessary to keep watch on the cattle. Or perhaps it was the anxiety of imagining Myga alone with the overseer. Though bringing the other ranchers along would make it a three-on-one scenario, who knew what could be waiting for them there.

"I guess I'll stay here," Cynea said with a half-hearted shrug. "I can bear the stink if it means we'll get out of here faster." Her grumbling came with an almost impatient tap on the side of her weapon as she tightened her grip on it, partially as a small gesture for "Don't try anything funny" to the rancher she'll be watching over.

When Charbon was out of earshot, Cynea would eye up the muscular rancher and chuckled to herself. "I think the overseer likes you, if she's already caught a whiff of your scent from all the way back there." It was both a tease as an agent of the NMX, and a warning as a Yamataian, recalling how intimate this man who "stinks of sex" was with hugging a previous sleeve of Charbon, if indeed this was the same person.

Caldera Base, Level 1

"Aww, look at her leaking her breeches because of you while she trots off," Aiko said to William, mocking Charbon's statement about her friend's sex appeal and leaning more of her weight on her pistol's grip to play off ever having wanted to draw it. "You Mishhu cats really need to get topside more," she added, peering around. "Town is only a shuttle hop away and there are plenty more like him ready to knock some sobriety into your quaking knees."

The undercover princess chuckled heartily at the thought while she dismounted her horse. Even before prepping for this mission, Aiko had plenty of practice speaking more casually from when she'd explore the Empire's sights with a less urgent disguise than today's. So she didn't pass up the opportunity to let out a loud laugh at something she genuinely found funny despite the situation rather than needing to suppress it for the sake of her Ketsurui lineage.

Part of Aiko even hoped Charbon would turn back and give her an excuse. But her better mind accepted the current course of their mission was proceeding as well as anyone could have planned.

"Do not let my steed get too bothered by your venereal appeal," Aiko continued, lashing her mount up to William's horse tack with the same rope she'd used to lasso the lame cow. "Pheromones? These Neko cannot be serious," she trailed off, letting her cowboy commentary fade to some private amusement about the idea that ID-SOL pumped out anything other than an aura of death.

With a wry shake of her head, Aiko stepped away from William and her horse toward Hoshi and Molli—or rather Myga—to wait for what would come next.

Caldera Base, Level 1

Myga was steel-faced in the wake of her overseer's comment about Will, more relieved that her excuse had been accepted than anything. Hihja, however, was having a hard time containing her giggles. "Yes, overseer," Myga pointed to Hihja, who immediately snapped to attention, "You can attend to him." And just like that, the immediate problem of a third party had been somewhat solved, for the time being.

Hihja's expression was that of abject betrayal, "I gotta stay with the man and his stinkin' cows?" she whined, slumping over dejectedly and groaning.

"If you want to make the overseer happy, yes."

The look on Hihja's eyes gave Myga the impression that she had a few words to say contrary to that, but she bit her tongue and simply saluted Charbon, before marching around the cows to stay closer to Will.

It was then that the telepathic message came from Rio-- Sahty; one word spoken in a cadence that left little doubt to its meaning to someone in the know. "She wants to question them," she replied calmly, with a remark that hopefully couldn't be interpreted as a hidden message to anyone who might desire to listen.

"Cynea's stayin' with me? Capital!" Hihja pumped her fist close to her waist and grinned at her erstwhile comrade, "After hearin' miss priss over there, I'd rather take the cows," Hihja jerked her thumb toward Aiko, whose nonchalance and easily spoken insults had caused the soldier to bristle a tad. Clearly, she was used to getting more respect from civilians.

"If the ranchers who are attending would accompany Overseer Charbon, Sahty, and myself?" Myga's request was worded with the cadence of a demand as she looked over the assembled group, nose finally wrinkling from the stench of their living cargo. "...You will, of course, leave your weapons behind at our armory. Civilians are not authorized to brandish firearms within this facility."

Caldera Base, Level 1
Holding Pen

Charbon's ears had swiveled back to listen in on the final proceedings. When they flicked back, Hoshi could almost see the annoyed countenance in even the smallest movement of the Overseer's ears. But, for now, the captain could let out an easy sigh of relief. Instinctually she wanted to look over her crew to praise them for their quick-wittedness and tenacity. But this was still far removed from such a time and place and she simply removed herself from the middle of the herd once Charbon had fully absconded. Hoshi followed in Aiko's steps of fixing her horse to William's with the bay's reins acting as the tie.

"You lose her to these wry NMX and I'm out 100 KS," Hoshi said to him with a wink to William. She was worried about being separated, as worried as any commander would be when things started to go awry. But the both of them knew there was some benefit to William staying with the herd.

"We'll do with dropping off whatever so long as they're returned," Hoshi drawled out to Myga, not fully sure she would allow for the disposal of their weapons but happy enough to at least pretend to oblige. She was hesitant to believe any of these NMX had any of their best interests at heart, still not aware who—if any— of these NMX were her crew sleeved into dupes.

They set off in the direction the NMX Elite was setting for them to the armory. It seemed Charbon had somehow beaten to it, though, as the armorers Nari and Rem and another NMX Neko walked out with her. With their backs to the armory and walking off down the hall from it, it seemed Charbon had cleared them out from their posts. For a moment it looked like the Overseer was about to look back, but she kept her grey-haired head forward.

Armory

As they followed Myga into the now-empty armory, Hoshi's mouth opened a little as she saw the guns and gear strewn about haphazardly, ready for the taking.