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, tapping his heels. His stallion snorted, moving back and forth, forcing the herd to huddle closer together.