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

And, back in the subdecks,


Yuzuki watched Nimura go. It wasn't that the sprite-Heisho breathed easier. That would have been really spiteful and Yuzuki was not the sort of person that would be mean; at least, not consciously. It was that there had been a feeling of almost critical scrutiny that had entered the picture along with the other sprite and if there was one thing that could raise her hackles, it was scrutiny.

Tom's evaluation of her repairs had grated on her nerves. Why the hell did they have to make it 'look prettier'? It didn't need to 'look' pretty. It just needed to work. Looking pretty took time.

She looked back to the two holding up the capacitor.

"Let's go," she said, and started off towards the fabricator bay, her mind preoccupied with the feeling that, despite all facts to the contrary, she was being watched.

The two with the capacitor would have had trouble keeping up with her if the ship were big enough for footraces. Yuzuki reached the bay first, opened the doors, and stepped inside. Immediately, she was surrounded by a veritable swarm of luminescant panels. There were so many femtomachines in the air, if they hadn't been generally programmed to stay out of people's mouths, someone would have choked on them by now. Yuzuki stepped aside to let Kyou and Rin into the area. The panels followed her.

Rather than being annoying, the splay of statistics and numbers and schematics put Yuzuki more at ease. Normally, with anyone else, okaa-san would probably have just done the thing by the books, but Yuzuki wanted to do it.

"Thank you, Okaa-san," Yuzuki thought as she assumed a position generally facing the center of the room and dragged the panel with the internal schematic from her four-o-clock, to her twelve-o-clock view. "Can you please ask Ozuno-san and Cho-san to report to the portside capacitor array with power armor and welding equipment? I have a job for them, and it's important."

At the same time, in the more audible realm, Yuzuki said;

"Put it down over there. Make sure it isn't touching the wall. When you come back with the second capacitor, the first one will be ready to take down."

"Un, Nee-chan," Rin replied, carrying the capacitor toward the designated area, though going slow in order to keep with Kyou. As she did this, she shifted her hands quickly, to make sure she could keep her grip on the giant piece of metal.

Once at the spot, she carefully lowered the capacitor to the ground....

Kyou nodded to acknowledge her orders, and stayed even with Rin, making sure she had a tight grip on the capacitor. They had enough problems right now that they didn't need to break stuff that was still in one piece. Once they arrived in the fabrication bay, she carried it over to the spot designated with Rin, and slowly lowered it, taking care to set it down gently.

"Hai. Should we set the next one down in this spot, or next to where this one currently is?"

"I was just hoping to get acquainted with the armor, Rei-san," Tsuya explained, her hands fidgeting a bit in front of her. "If I am interrupting I can find something else to occupy myself with... I am probably not supposed to be down here anyway." Her cheeks tinted and she looked away.

Masako was only partially listening to the majority of the information being presented as she mulled over the tidbit of all that info on the assassin. From the looks of things, the assassin in question was not only a Ketsurui, but a very experienced assassin at that. If Masako had to face someone of that caliber outside a Powered Armor, she would probably last about as long as an injured child and Chiharu help her if she were ever caught with her guard down.

Well, apparently she did as her thoughts were interrupted by a small window at lap level to reduce any distractions in the meeting.

Nyton said:

Due to a confirmed threat to Taisa Ketsurui Kotori and senior Miharu staff we need to take immediate steps to improve security aboard the ship. Miharu, I need you to run a check on all personnel currently on board. Ensure that there is no one aboard who is not authorized and give me all movement logs of personnel who have boarded and disembarked since we arrived in system. Assign a security detail to begin patrolling all areas. Pull whoever we can not currently working or who have just started their shift. Focus on areas that you cannot monitor such as conduits and hemosynth tunnels. Previous assassins have been noted in using such to move about. Inform all personnel to be on alert for anyone suspicious or unfamiliar. If possible, all personnel are to be armed at all times until we can confirm the ship has been made secure.

Click to expand...

Masako couldn't help but frown openly for a moment. It was times like this when she wished for a Non-Commissioned Officer with specialized combat training. However, if Masako's wishes could come true, she would probably be stationed on some garrison or exploration ship because there wouldn't have been wars or traitors to deal with. But, she did have someone close to an NCO.


Typing up that quick message to the Miharu, Masako shunted her addition to Nyton with a glance.

Nyton gave a nod to Masako as she glanced at him. While listening to Yukari he could not help but feel that there was something being missed regarding the NH-23. "Shosa, there must be some purpose that Sylvester had in mind for this. You mention two possibilities but only one made any sense. The question you ask is valid though. If she is a weapon then who is she intended to fight? I imagine Sylvester would make her capable of fighting against those who forced him into this situation. Perhaps we can further narrow this down by figuring just how she is meant to fight." he proposed.

"I also just thought of something. If we are all targets for this assassin then perhaps we should adjourn and separate. Otherwise we make for a very opportunistic target." Nyton then added, feeling somewhat edgy and only slightly comforted by the fact that he had his sidearm with him.

"The plans outlined in the report suggested that it would be easiest to stage the assassination when the crew is on shore leave. There were no concrete details, though." Miyoko spoke up only hesitantly... with an assassin potentially gunning for people on the ship, it was a bit hard to use too much caution.

"I also just thought of something. If we are all targets for this assassin then perhaps we should adjourn and separate. Otherwise we make for a very opportunistic target." Nyton then added, feeling somewhat edgy and only slightly comforted by the fact that he had his sidearm with him.

Click to expand...

"I think-" Tom started before pausing. He cleared his throat. "I think if we allow ourselves to succumb so easily to paranoia that we break our meeting for fear of being targeted... we've already done half the work for our would be assassin."

He looked down, at his lap.

"This meeting is essential, even more so with this new information, because we do not know... our future circumstances. We must brainstorm and come up with solutions to our problems. For one, I would like to propose we talk with the NH-23. Perhaps it is better to do that than speculate."

Nyton's face hardened slightly and he stifled the urge to sigh. "Assassins strike whenever the target feels safest whether on shore leave or aboard their ship. The majority of the high profile killings seem to occur when the target was in a location where security appeared to be highest. The former Empress was found dead in the palace which is protected by numerous Samurai. Other murders were committed inside Star Army vessels. That shows a pattern of the target becoming complacent and letting their guard down. Besides if this assassin is indeed Kikyo then she would have intimate knowledge of our security procedures and countermeasures." he said.

Looking over at Tom, the Nepleslian then added, "Besides it's not paranoia if someone really IS after you Freeman-Juni."

"I suggest we make it a practice to remain armed at all times." Nyton said before looking over at Kotori. "I don't know if talking to your, er, twin sister is a good idea at the moment. At least that may be something more for Suzuka-Shosa to determine since she has had the most experience in actually speaking to her. If she is intended to assist us in some way though maybe we should get an idea of what that might be." he said, now even more anxious to review the data files uncovered from the core than ever. Damn I wish I had been there to view these data files. he thought.

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Azumi entered the kitchen on her way to get something to snack on when she noticed a couple of familiar faces working. "Shizuka? Akiko-chan? Is that you?" she asked in surprise.

The Shimabumi sisters looked over at the voice from their meal preparations and smiled. They had decided to work on a meal in that would go well with the myriad of desserts still awaiting to be consumed. "Oh! Azu-chan, you're here too!" Akiko replied happily. The blonde haired neko nodded and grinned. "Yeah, so is Ayumu. We're both working over in the medical center. I'm surprised we hadn't seen you two earlier."

"Oh we have been keeping ourselves busy. We decided to join the crew here." Shizuka replied.

"And already going at your usual antics. Magical animals already?" Azumi asked.

"Yeah! Miha-chan is helping us out so we're going to make a little show." Akiko said.

"Well this should be fun then. I can't wait to watch the show." Azumi said as she continued to the kitchen.

Kotori glanced right and left as people spoke, until she finally cut in.

"No."

She eyed the others as she reclaimed their attention. The fingers that had been hanging to the long hank of hair over her shoulder balled up into a loose fist and she ran that fisted hand down the black locks.

"From what I've understood from the report, the Daughters of Eve were aware of our movements, and possibly outgoing communications. If Former-Director Kikyo has been lurking close to SAINT's breast and beneficiated from administrative priviledges... then it explains rather well how this Amaya would be so well aware of what we have been up to."

"However, if having the NH-23 around has proved anything... it is thanks to her help that we've retained all administrative rights over our own isolated PANTHEON network. Throughout the activities of the Daughters of Eve, Eve's surprisingly high access to the PANTHEON network's higher functions have posed a danger... and this danger we have been spared thus far. Because of that, I choose to believe that she has no way of knowing what goes on aboard Miharu, nor any way to pull off an inside job."

Kotori flipped the hair she held back over her shoulder. "Which means that she has absolutely no way of knowing what goes onboard. Therefore she cannot know yet of the actual results we've had of our mission, of how we did at Bowhordia, of what we know, that we know of her and such. Therefore, if I would be in her shoes, I would bide my time - Miharu has been a long time away now, the crew has had no shore leave, the ship is not refitted to current yearly standards... it would be logical for her to assume we would stop for some richly needed R&R, and then strike when we are separate, divided, easy to isolate and easy to kill."

"I bet on my ship, my crew being dependable for now," the Taisa continued. "I also believe that as long as we look like complacent prey, she is going to take her time to strike, and strike well. Her background indicates she is meticulous and if she did kill the late Empress Ayame, then her caution is proven even more true."

Kotori stood up from her chair, and walked to the viewport in which part of Yamatai shone brightly in stark contrast to the blackness of space. "Evidently," she added with her back to them. "we cannot also wait for the hammer to fall. It's my aim that when we decide to bolt, Kikyo have no chance to get us... but this is not a prolonged game of cat and mouse we can win."

She turned back to them, resting her hands on the bottom edge of the viewport. Her next words carried the weight of authority: "Miharu will fold out to Nepleslia to deliver Heram Wazu; this much is already expected of us. After delivering him, we will maintain communication silence and fold to the Claw nebula - Tom, I will give you three days, and what you can glean from the nebula, to get Miharu into fighting trim. Afterwards, we shall proceed to the Blue Rift expanse and we will decide matters there."

She looked to Yukari. "Understandably, I cannot tell Taisho Yui of this. One reason is to not tip off Kikyo on what we are up to. The other reason is that I do not wish for the Star Army of Yamatai to reclaim the Second Draconian Fleet. I am sure it would surely assist against the Mishhuurthyar... but after seeing what Yamatai was capable of during the armistice I am not willing to push the Yamataians back up on the pedestal of intergalactic bullies - we already do that well enough."

She then eyed Nyton. "For the same reasons, I choose not to make the Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia aware of Eve's finances or to ask their assistance. Either cases could lead to them becoming aware that the Second Draconian Fleet could be taken under control... and I am not willing to trust them with such power either."

"The only ones I can likely afford to trust are here," Kotori sighed. "Which means Miharu is all we have to decide things. This is the endgame - our own mountain peak to climb and conquer. If we succeed, few will be able to appreciate the scope of what we have averted. If we do not..."

Kotori left that consequence left without voice. "Opinions?"

"Then what becomes of our comrades in the rift?" Yukari asked. "You will leave them to their fate?" There was so much more to ask, to question, but to Yukari, the fate of the Second Draconian Fleet was the only thing that mattered.

* * *

"Oh no, don't worry," Rei said with a kind of empty smile, her words niceities to placate a superior officer she did not have to bow to. "You wish to examine the armors? I can assist you with that, Hei-san. Which armor would you like to inspect?"

"I don't have the answer to that, Yukari," Kotori returned sincerely. "I wish it were somehow possible to save them... but it doesn't look to me like we can afford to. I mean, the totality of this fleet emerging could have enormous ramifications. It's not an issue I like weighting like this, however I believe the priority for us is making sure that no one ends up being able to misuse the Second Draconian Fleet."

Nyton's brow visually furrowed this time and looked down while assuming his thinking pose. He was not altogether happy with the direction laid out but at the same time he felt this was just one possible course in a road that was foggy and unclear. "I was honestly giving this some thought myself as well. Knowing that this fleet exists in stasis should make their rescue a priority. However for all those involved these people have already been thought of as dead for years. At the same time they present a logistical nightmare to deal with. Even Eve determined to contend with that matter on draconian terms."

The man then looked up and gazed over at Kotori standing in the viewport. "If we are to prevent their misuse we may have to eliminate the possibility of their retrieval along with any knowledge that this fleet still survives. Whose to say someone else in Star Army high command will not go after this fleet to restore Yamatai's prominent place in the galaxy, let alone selfish means?"

"Not to sound cruel but perhaps they should remain in the pocket dimension. If some crisis were to occur we could summon the fleet to turn the tide. They would be our 'ace in the hole' as it were." Nyton added with a coldness to his voice.

Or they could be the means for a certain princess to assume the throne. You would be a very powerful contender for the throne with a fleet that large under you. Adorn yourself with the laurels of a few significant accomplishments and you would be not only powerful but popular enough to be acceptable as Empress. Nyton thought to himself, guarding the idea closely beneath the many layers of deep thought that he maintained.

"Anyways, that last bit was just a thought. I agree that right now our role should be preventing the Draconian Fleet's misuse. One thing that concerns me though is Eve having access to PANTHEON. Something about that just does not sit well with me. I fear that there may be some data regarding the Draconian Fleet there which may be uncovered and lead someone else to it as well." Nyton said with concern.

"Or perhaps I am just being my usual paranoid self."

Yukari grit her teeth at the answer, but accepted it. The picture Nyton and Kotori constructed used facts as paint, and her emotional replies didn't match.

"I knew you would rule this way," she said, bitterness in her voice. "Taisa, I believed we could do it alone, but I also believed we would be able to hurt the Daughters' finances, at the least. We risk rushing into this, as a Nepleslian would say, 'half-cocked.'

"You see that, do you not? We are one vessel. We must have some help. Divine providence and luck can last us only so long — even that of Chiharu-sama. Wazu alone can secure a second vessel for us. Even a small ship is enough, so long as it has firepower."

Kotori leaned back against the transparent durandium of the viewport, looking at Yukari thoughtfully.

"The Nepleslians will be able to piece together the meaning behind the financial records," Kotori slowly said. "As they shut them down, seeing the ties to Eve, their intelligence will surely cross the dots. If the Nepleslian Intelligence agency, or the Nepleslian space military get word of the pivotal import of what awaits... they will seize the opportunity."

"Wazu, for his part, seemed to have his own agenda and he's made it plain he does not truly care about defeating Eve like we do. In fact, with our goal being to kill Eve, he might oppose us at some crucial moment just so he could have the discourse he's wanted to have with her - if such was really the truth of the matter with him."

"For the matter of the finances, I do agree to wanting them shared to the Nepleslian government... but the timing is rather critical," the Taisa added. "If I give it to them before, I am concerned about giving away too much information. I also do not feel 3 days spent without access to her bank accounts, if she even tries to, will have been very significant yet to Eve before we strike. Therefore, if we succeed, we can do that afterwards to cripple the remnants of her organization."

Kotori paused, sighed and told them: "I see the possibilities you outline, but if I make these choices, I need to be able to live with them as well. Further involving the Nepleslians and Wazu could bring about consequences I feel there is a very good chance we could regret. Should I dare? Somehow, facing stiffer odds feels like a better choice to me."

"The Shosa has a point," Tom interjected suddenly. "To turn an idiom around, we're missing the trees for the forest."

The Chief Engineer found a sudden burst of conviction, despite the overwhelming pressure that pressed down upon him. Miharu, more than anything else, was his ship. And although the Taisa commanded her, he and the technical crew nurtured her.

"We have more immediate concerns to attend to, which include our numbers and the functionality of the Miharu. I cannot recommend a course of action that endangers the ship unless we are in the best possible shape to face that danger. And right now, we're nowhere near that shape."

He looked over to Nyton.

"I do not know much about Nepleslia, Taii, but isn't it a rather lawless place in some areas? Couldn't we make use of a neutral facility outside the Pantheon network to spacedock and administer the necessary repairs to Miharu? With enough time, we can fabricate all the parts we need. I just need a place to do it."

He nodded to Kotori.

"And Taisa, if nothing else, I'm sure this Wazu would be a sizable barganing chip to cash in, even if the price is a new ship or an area to repair Miharu. If I had known he was on the ship earlier, I'd have shaken his hand! I mean, the man's name is on some of the latest Nepleslian ship designs as the creator. That's got to be worth something."

Miyoko tracked the conversation as it became rather heated... and it was a topic she had strong opinions on, herself. She held Yukari's concern for the trapped fleet, but at the same time, she could see the problems with freeing them--more than had been raised, in fact. If the fleet's big enough to conquer known space, who is going to take on the responsibility of educating all of them on what's happened since they've been trapped? Where will all those ships dock... or better yet, where will they live? And this is before considering all the trouble that millions of questionably loyal warships could get into...

While she had some strong opinions on the issue, it just wasn't her place--her giving Nyton or Kotori strategic advice would be even more absurd than one of them trying to educate her on chemistry. Miyoko's role here was to disseminate the information in the datacore, and she intended to stick to it. It was only very reluctantly that she worked up the temerity to contribute even that much. "The datacore unfortunately doesn't list what, if any, additional ships or security measures will be at the rift. It might be possible that there are files to that effect that we haven't found yet. On those grounds... might I suggest that any tactical planning wait until we've gotten the chance to search for a few more relevant keywords on the core? It may be that the rift will only have a bare minimum guard to avoid attracting attention... or we might face the full force of the Daughters of Eve."

It was obvious Kotori had great misgivings about the course of action Yukari and Tom were backing. By the time Miyoko spoke, the Taisa was leaning her back against the viewport's transparent surface, arms loosely crossed.

"That could be worth looking into," Kotori nodded. "But truth be told, the information is already several days old. Add the few more days, and the way FTL capable ships can move around, and... well, I'm not sure the information would have any worth to us by the time we'd get there."

Kotori pursed her lips, looked back at Yukari, then Tom, and sighed. "Fine. Let's say we do ask the Nepleslians for help. Would the Nepleslians be able to provide us with the specifically tailored zesuaium pieces we'd need for the ship's structure and provide in an acceptably timely fashion? Is there any way we can mitigate how negatively their government, their intelligence agency or Wazu could butt in on our objectives? Can we be sure that during our stay there, SAINT won't get an inkling as to our location, which would also likely reach Kikyo and look suspicious?"

Masako mulled over what her Taisa spoke of about the Former Director of Saint at the issue of assassination on board the Miharu. All of the facts seemed to support Kotori's view, but the small Warrant Officer still had her duties as Chief of Security to perform. That honestly meant none of her plans for after the meeting changed at all. A ship search would be a prudent course of action even if they were secure. One could never be too sure after all.

But other discussions were less cut and dry. With no one to trust, the lone Light Cruiser was left alone to defeat Eve and her forces. The idea of the entire force of the Daughters of Eve in one location didn't really sound right however. "I wouldn't believe Eve would gather her entire forces in one place though," Masako replied thoughtfully. "Not yet anyway." she amended. "Eve's forces are still in hiding. If she were to gather her forces now, wouldn't they be noticeable even if the rally point is far from civilized space?"

On the subject of Nepleslia, Masako didn't have anything to answer the Taisa. The Warrant Officer had relatively little knowledge on them to begin with.

"Well," Tsuya said thoughtfully. "I do not, exactly, know. I have not been assigned to anything yet - I only thought I would get a head start on finding out what I will be doing. Do you have any information on what manner of assignments I will be placed on, or... any information at all, really?"