RP: YSS Miharu Mission 4: The Fame and the Fury

It was a crash course in battlefield decision making. The kind that killed people. Her own people.

Yukari was used to it. But it was not the same, not when it was this kind of decision. She heard Kyou start to stir, heard her start to react. Her eyes were on the HUD of her armor's helmet, where her sensors informed her of the Mindy-like armor essentially ignoring the graviton barriers. The weaponry it took to cut through those was more than any armor should have.

The engineering personnel were still donning their AMES. They weren't safe in the damage control rooms because that safety was compromised by the enemy armor team advancing on the dormant MEGAMI. Yukari's plan had relied on it being dormant so it was an inviting target to the enemy team. Now that would be her undoing. Their undoing.

The enemy armor was in front of her. A Mindy III. The commander, whoever it was. Yukari threw up her forearms to activate her shields. She saw Kyou start to fire at the Nekomachina. There was hope.

But there was no guarantee. Her forearm shields would not last anyway. And the data contained in Miharu was too important to risk.

"Miharu. Release Soul Savior Pod. Immediately self-destruct."

Before Yukari gave her order, Tsuya had already reacted to the new threat of the commander. She launched her own nodal bits, fired missile after missile, blasted with her cannon, and spewed forth her characteristic stream of plasma, hoping that this desperate assault would have some effect. But when the order was given to self-destruct the ship, she just let out a wrenching cry.

There was just enough time for the Nekomachina to be purged from existance before the simulation suddenly ended. For everyone in the VR Room, they would suddenly be plunged into blackness before the lights came back on to reveal a small Warrant Officer with arms crossed under her breasts and a disappointed expression upon her face. Taking a moment to observe the new recruits and the vessel's Executive Officer, Masako sighed quietly. "Well Suzuka-shosa, I would call this a win for the Empire." the Armor Wing Leader stated before pausing for a moment to observe reactions.

"Though I don't think the new recruits learn much from self-destruction," the raven-haired Neko finished her sentence as she pulled out her wrist computer to connect to Miharu to copy the simulation recordings. "I should probably feel proud of myself that it took a ship self-destructing to take me out, but personally taking the field of battle was rather a last resort for me in that exercise," the Warrant Officer commented before glancing over at the Kyou and Tsuya.

"All right," Masako said a bit more up beat as she looked between the two enlisted. "What did we learn from this exercise?"

Kel said:

Miyoko nodded at Takuma's suggestion. "We'll save the specifics on what we'd like to look for until after we've gotten some idea what's on there. For now, let's just work on breaking the encryption and file manifest." She was getting settled in to her chair now, in a slumped-down position that was both informal and unladylike... but comfortable as hell. "Miharu, do you have an estimate of how long it will take to do that much?"

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"Days," the ship's AI promptly replied. "This is why I recommend a more specific keyword search so that you can have something to work with in the meantime of a comprehensive index being available."

"If I may be so bold, I would also add that you, Saito-Heisho, have been serving aboard since my beginnings. I'm not exactly sure why you are less qualified than the Shosa to decide for how to search. Were you not tasked - as this ship's science officer - to find answers? To provide options? To anticipate needs? If you were given no specific orders as to what to search for, I'd assert it would be because the senior officers simply have no idea and hope you'll find out."

"The Daughters of Eve have been the repeated source of your life being put at risk. Why don't you figure out a way to get back at them for this, and search for a way to better defeat them? What do you need to look for?"

* * *

Mara had just recovered her pillow when Yukari gave the 'order' in the simulation. The blonde sprite blinked, blinked again and then threw the pillow back in the nearest bulkhead.

It was a bad day to be a pillow.

"Ah, look out for those grenades!" Kyou blushed. "I should have been paying more attention and avoided it altogether." She looked down at her toes. "It's possible that if I'd still been able to act, Suzuka-Shosa wouldn't have been forced to self-destruct the ship."

Tsuya's expression was a mixture of intense disappointment and something very close to anger. Her large ears bristled, the tips quivering just a bit. It was only a moment longer before she couldn't hold herself in any longer

"Shosa, that was stupid! We could have won! You gave up too early! And the enemy has many more combatants, but we have only one Miharu - you let them win!"

Yukari didn't stretch when she climbed out of the simulator suit. She pulled, more than removed, her arms from the suit's sleeves, and she floated out of the rest, setting herself down flat-footed onto the floor of the VR room. She rubbed her upper arms as she approached Masako and the others, not making eye contact.

She wished the lights had stayed off. Masako's "observation" about a win for the Empire made Yukari feel no better about her choice. Her imagination had run away with her again, perhaps. Yukari felt she had been true to the simulation, that under those circumstances she had no choice. Masako seemed to understand that, even if it was not the purpose of the exercise.

Kyou seemed to take the outcome as a personal failure. Tsuya lumped the result squarely on Yukari's head, where it belonged. The Shosa kept her eyes forward on Masako. The wing commander was talking to her recruits, not her.

"Yamada-hei," Masako spoke in a much different tone. She didn't raise her voice, didn't add any curses, and didn't even talk down to the enlisted woman. Instead, her expression narrowed upon Tsuya and her voice became as cool as liquid helium. "You will not speak to an officer in that manner," she stated in a cool, yet calm, voice. "You will also stay here with me after everyone is dismissed, understood?"

Staring at Tsuya for a moment longer, the small Warrant Officer's expression lightened considerably as she turned to Kyou. "Don't blame yourself too much, Gunshin-hei. The grenades you were hit with were Psychic Grenades. They were a weapon we encountered in the previous mission, so I thought it would prudent for you to experience them first hand." Masako explained. "A few of our soldiers were actually knocked unconscious for the entirety of the mission because of them, but I didn't think you would learn from being knocked out of the mission entirely."

Pausing for a moment, Masako glanced over towards Yukari before turning to the Officer. "Suzuka-shosa, what do you believe you have learned from this exercise?"

Tsuya's ears drooped to nearly touch the tops of her shoulders, and she let out a small whimpering sound, all the anger gone out of her. She didn't look at any of her comrades.

"There are many lessons I should learn, Kurohoshi-Juni," Yukari said. "I do not know which I have absorbed. I do know that if I were in that situation again, I would not change my last decision. The data on MEGAMI is above our lives. I take all responsibility for the outcome."

Tsuya wasn't experienced enough to likely accept that fact, Yukari thought. She did not blame the grey-skinned Neko for her outburst.

Wazu would walk over to the table and chairs in the room, taking off his shirt as he did. While Nyton moved the desk he would wrap the fabric of the shirt around his right arm. “Anything goes it is,” He said, quickly finishing the wrapping of his arm and moving to the chair near the table. Though Wazu was fit, he was no where near the physique of most Nepleslians, having only a little bit of muscle tone instead of the more hulking shape of those with IDSOL ancestry. He would then pick up the chair and instead of moving it to the side he would throw it at Nyton.

In a blue crackle, the thrown chair struck one of Miharu's internal forcefields and bounced off to fall with a muted clatter on the chamber's carpet.

"I don't appreciate my officers being thrown chairs at," Miharu's AI quipped.

"Ok, technically no one said no using the ship's computer either." Wazu said, laughing at himself more than the situation.

Nyton had just finished moving the desk when he saw the chair flying at him. There was no surprise in the move since it was plainly seen by the optical sensors inserted around his head and just beneath the skin. He was actually getting ready to calmly step slightly off center and deflect the chair with his cybernetic arm. Pain sensors had already been switched off and was ready to take the hit when the Miharu's force field absorbed the strike instead.

"I don't appreciate my officers being thrown chairs at," Miharu's AI quipped.

"Ok, technically no one said no using the ship's computer either." Wazu said, laughing at himself more than the situation.

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Facing the fellow Nepleslian, Nyton grinned a bit. "I did say that there were no rules outside of killing or crippling each other." he said with a chuckle. He then calmly reached down to his pistol belt and withdrew the NSP he carried with him and set it to stun. "Although I suppose it would be somewhat too cheesy to use this even on a non-lethal setting. Miharu, if you would be so helpful could you use your field to encompass my sidearm so that neither of us will have access to it for the duration of this 'friendly spar' I would appreciate it. Oh and no more barriers please, even if he does manage to throw a chair on me again. I think we may as well add that to the rules." he said before lightly tossing the pistol towards the doorway.

"I suppose I have no more time to get myself ready since you have already begun the match. A pity since I would rather not get my uniform too dirty." Nyton said while readying his posture. He lowered his chin to guard his neck and raised arms in front of him so that his fists were just above eye level with the cybernetic left side in the advance. His body positioned so that his left leg was more forward and the right leg was shifted to give his body more stability and balance.

His targeting and scanning software had already begun to analyze Heram Wazu for any differences in comparison to earlier scans. Perhaps there were systems that only emerged when the man was in a combat mode. Along with any biological signs, Nyton's eyes quickly absorbed all data on how his opponent could move, the length of his arms and legs, width, muscle density, and leverage. Although older Heram was still a wily Nepleslian. Wrapping his arm with his own shirt would allow it to absorb a little more impact for defense or hide another trick up his sleeve as it were. Either way it showed the man's knowledge and experience gained from past conflicts. The room could pose another danger and Nyton's targeting system already had every object tagged and located for possible use as a blunt non-lethal weapon he or his opponent could use.

In the two seconds it took Nyton's eyes and mind to process everything he then glared at Heram while his face hardened. With no obstacles on the floor to interrupt his footwork Nyton advanced, clearing the distance between them quickly. His fists flew out in a rapid fire three piece combination of punches lead first by a left jab, right straight, and another left jab toward Heram's face.

This combination would be a distraction though for as soon as the second left jab (ie: the third punch) struck he would use his right leg to bring it in for a low sweep to target the side of the left leg's shin. Nyton had noted that the left leg always seemed to be limping and this would be an attempt to drop Heram to the floor by removing the seemingly bad leg out from under him.

Heram had to be aware that his left leg made itself out to be a target so he would need to defend it or maybe even use it as a trap to draw in Nyton's attack, hence the use of punches for distraction. Still, Nyton's instincts remained alerted to any other attack Heram might use.

“I will do my best not to bleed on your uniform,” Wazu said, smiling as he watched the pistol get tossed aside.

Wazu’s body had not changed format sense the last time they had scanned it. Unlike Nyton, his body had not been augmented for combat and still had a large amount of fleshy bits and mechanical components holding them together. What little adrenaline he had left began to flow through his system and his eyes were watching where the pistol and chair landed before going back to Nyton. Though he had a good memory, his eyes and brain were mostly natural, not having been equipped with a mental HUD.

“You have more than one way to win without…” Wazu was cut off as Nyton began his attack, putting his weaker left leg behind him slightly as he brought both his arms up to help block his face and upper body. He would wince as Nyton’s fists slammed into his arms, able to feel the force of the impacts through the thin fabric of the shit wrapped around his right arm, and even more on his exposed left. Wazu would end up backing away from Nyton as the punches landed, the sweeping kick ending up grazing Wazu’s shin and causing him to stumble backwards until his back hit the wall

“… Laying a hand on me. I would have been very upset if you did not think of at least one of them.” He would keep his eyes watching Nyton’s shoulders, waiting for the next strike. He found that his arms moved a lot slower now that they weren’t wired up with electronics, something he would have to compensate for as the fight went on.

With her uniform removed and being in a whole different kind of suit, Rin quickly clambered into her own Daisy. As she did this, she replied with a quiet, "Hai," to Tom, unsure of exactly how to respond to his ramblings or even if she should be responding at all.

Once the armor closed around her, Rin breathed a quiet sigh of relief before she reached down to take care of the slight mess of clothes on the floor.

"Don't worry about those," Tom said. "Let's get to work."

Tom led the sprite back to the subdeck and to the capacitors.

"Ok, we have two capacitors here that are wrecked beyond recovery. In order to have the ship recycle them into usable material, we have to remove them from their dockings. This is why we need the armors."

Tom quickly checked with Miharu to confirm that there was no energy running through the wiring systems of the two destroyed capacitors.

"So, carefully cut this one from its dockings and take it to where it can be recycled while I get this one."

He then sent a communication over to Ichigo.

Masako pursed her lips in thought when Yukari responded to her question. "I see," she mumbled before glancing over at the whimpering Tsuya and grimaced slightly. It looks like just my attitude was enough punishment, she thought before sighing. "Very well," she responded after a momentary pause.

"I believe the Shosa has dealt with me enough for today, so I believe everyone is dismissed now. Gunshin-Hei, I will contact you later with my analysis on your performance. I would also like to find Nagamira-Hei and talk with her, but she seemed to have walked out." Masako explained with a frown before looking over at Tsuya.

"Yamada-hei," she stated in a more gentle tone. "As I've said before, I'd like you to stay here after everyone else has left."

The chastened neko nodded as best she could while staring at her feet. She stood still as she waited for everyone else to go.

Miyoko kept her eyes closed through Miharu's chastising, but it would be hard to miss an angry to her cheeks. She didn't respond immediately, but that was partially her stopping herself from trying to start a fistfight with a spaceship, which would surely be a losing proposition. "Then begin with a specific keyword search on Amaya's gate, as I said earlier. What I want after that is going to depend largely on if that turns anything up."