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

Kai sat in thought after Nyton sort of answered his question. He would have to see if Miharu could in fact, build such a weapon as the aether Saber rifle for their use. A second thing that he wondered if the Miharu could make one of the Armor service rifles he had found for sale from Origin, the gun looked Like it had more punch than a LASR and would make a great addition to their arsenal.

The Yamataian Spoke up to Kyou from his experience "The grenades do have an absolute distance on their effect, so staying away is helpful, they also get weaker the farther from them you are, so you don't always need to go that far, especially if what Hinoto says is true and our protection is greater. As a precaution, It may be helpful to shut off less necessary systems and route power to the PSC to make it as effective as possible, though."

Hinoto winced. "Routing more power has diminishing returns; there's simply so much the armor-sized psionic signal control system can do. Your best options regarding those mini-missiles and grenades would be to shoot them down or instruct your drones to actively watch for them rather than doing anything else. The casing typically isn't very resistant and this is not live ammunition: if you destroy it in mid-flight, you'll destroy it without risk of premature detonation."

"The psionic grenades essentially perform a one-shot amplified short-range psionic shriek," Hinoto elaborated. "Psions you'll face will be equally dangerous, but anything to personally affect you will have to overpower your armor-equipped PSC. You should get a clear warning of when your protection is attacked and about to be overwhelmed."

Hinoto shook her head helplessly. "There's not much you can do to prevent this save breaking the psion's concentration - breaking their line of sight might help slow them down, but killing is usually the fastest way. We have very few counters so it is rather unfair. The cloud's silver lining is that most psions we will encounter likely won't be wearing power armor like we will. If you manage to land an attack on them, chances are it'll really hurt them."

"Also, bear in mind that getting over your PSC is a significant effort for a psion that they will have to keep up for a good while to target you directly with any attack - some decide that they don't have that kind of time and decide on executing indirect attacks to defeat their opponents."

"Excellent work Hinoto-san. Any ability to defend against the psionic grenades will be of help." Nyton praised.

"For those of you who have not had the opportunity to work with her, this is Hinoto. She is the Hoshi's avatar and our support operative. During our missions she will be providing technical and situational advice. I recommend listening to her when she speaks." he said introducing the attractive sprite.

"Next to her is her sister, Mara, the Miharu's main body avatar. She too is a support member both in ship's operation as well as direct combat. She is an experienced combatant so you can trust in her ability in battle." he continued.

"Are there anymore key points that need to be brought up? Otherwise we should begin to wrap things up. Security detail will have their patrol assignments and I believe dinner will be served very soon." Nyton said once again offering control of the floor.

Hinoto, still standing, bowed politely and rose to the occasion again. "If I may again, Sir... you've offered us an overview of the opposition but this appears to foreshadow something much greater for Miharu's coming assignment. Would you have any insights you could share on our next mission?"

Nyton thought for a moment as he thought about his words. "We are not certain what to expect at Eve's location. We can only guess but it is likely her remaining fleet will be there along with a facility or station. There should also be an altered Novacorp gate located in the vicinity but we do not have accurate data on how it has been altered."

With a visible pause Nyton then looked down for a second. "With so little intelligence to rely upon and the expectation of Eve's forces being consolidated in one location we will be in for the fight of our lives. I will not lie to you, I expect us to suffer heavy casualties. Our operation has not been finalized but we have determined a possible means to tip the odds in our favor. You will all be briefed once the specifics have been established."

"I want everyone to go over enemy parameters and discuss possible tactics among yourselves. There will be a series of small training exercises to better prepare you for our next encounter. Personnel assigned for night security detail will be notified shortly. Until then you are all dismissed for dinner." Nyton declared.

Kyou stood up, deep in thought. She slowly made her way to the mess, thinking over what had been said. She'd trained against the nekomachina and the Black Mindys, but not against anything beyond that, and that scared her a little bit. But he'd said something about further work before they got there, so maybe they would be training a bit further later, hopefully against the mishhumachina or the bodyguards.

Watching the assembled soldiers stand up to leave, the small Warrant Officer turned to Nyton. “If you will excuse me, sir.” She began after being quiet for the entire briefing. “I’ll look over the information you sent me before we go over it,” Masako explained before bowing and taking her leave.

********************************
ON

A while after the briefing, Tsuya was still feeling unhappy and shivery inside. She sought out her very favorite commanding officer's room, luckily nearby, and tapped on the door anxiously. "Hello? Kurohoshi-juni, are you in?"

Sitting at her desk, the young Warrant Officer tackled Nyton's proposed Armor Wing Organization. She knew the Tactical Officer wanted to go over it with her, but she had excused herself to look at it in depth before discussing it. The tap on the door would have been hard to hear, but Miharu conveniently chimed to notify the small Neko of someone at the door as well as followed that up with a link to what was being said outside. Curiously, it was a certain enlisted woman once again. Blinking in surprise, the Warrant Officer stood up and, with a quick stride, walked over towards the door to open it. "Hello, Yamada-san," she replied with a cute smile. "Do you need something?"

"I - oh, you are busy?" The young neko shuffled from foot to foot, biting at her bottom lip, not meeting Masako's eyes. "...I do not want to... bother you if you are doing something important. N-not that all your work is not important! I just - " She grabbed her ears and pulled on them slightly, looking increasingly distressed.

That cute smile seemed to turn upside down fairly quickly as she met with a very distressed subordinate. "It can wait," she replied as she moved out of the way and motioned Tsuya inside. "Come inside, you look like you need to sit down and talk for a while." she suggested out of concern.

"No, no, your work is so important and I do not want to interrupt it even a little bit!" Tsuya danced about on her feet, pulling harder on her ears, but at least she came inside the warrant officer's room.

Masako couldn't help but look at Tsuya strangely as the taller Neko nearly danced into her quarters. Staring for a moment, she closed the hatch and placed a hand upon Tsuya's back. Gently, she attempted the lead the enlisted woman to her desk chair in an attempt to cease the anxious dancing. "Yamada-san. You are saying one thing, but your body is expressing something different. Please voice your concerns." the Warrant Officer asked as she sat down on her bed.

"...hrng." Once Tsuya was guided into the chair, she seemed to relax a little, though her legs still twitched nervously, her feet making pattering noises on the floor. "I... Kurohoshi-juni, I am so embarrassed to say this..."

Masako rested her right leg upon her left as she crossed her arms under her breasts. Leaning forward slightly, the Warrant Officer looked at Tsuya with a patient expression. "It maybe embarrassing, but it seems you want to tell me," she replied gently. "Maybe you'll feel better once you say it."

"...I trust you, that is why I came here," the young enlisted neko mumbled. "I am... afraid. About our mission. I tried to keep my emotional attachments to a minimum, but since I came here I found I like people and now I... don't want to die, Kurohoshi-juni."

Masako kept silent for a moment as she sat up a bit more. Staring at Tsuya for a minute in that silence, the Warrant Officer slowly began to nod in understanding moments before speaking her first word. "Good," she stated before smiling. "Yamada-san. Everyone is like that," she responded semi-honestly (considering she had no idea if Nimura feared anything). "Nepleslians and Yamataians have fear in order to protect themselves from danger. While we Nekos initially don't fear anything, we develop those emotions very quickly. It's a survival trait." the Warrant Officer explained. "So you are scared and are afraid to die," she began and paused for a brief second. "Those emotions keep you alert to danger. As long as you don't allow that fear to control you, it will work for you."

"Danger does not matter! I am unimportant, I can die, I am just another body to fill a power armor!" Tsuya threw her arms up. "I am not supposed to be afraid of things that are going to kill me!"

Masako patiently allowed Tsuya to go through the motions of her rant. Sitting there, on her bed, Masako listened to her subordinate with perfect attention. "Yamada-Hei," the Warrant Officer spoke more formally now. "If you are unimportant and can die, then that means we've been fighting a war over nothing," she responded firmly. "If you are unimportant and can die, then that means the vast majority of the Empire is unimportant and can die." the Warrant Officer stated and paused for a moment to allow her patient expression to bore into Tsuya's eyes "But we were designed to stand between the Empire and her enemies. That means the majority of our Empire is important. So what does that say about you?"

Tsuya blinked a moment, but then her resolve renewed. "...I have not yet earned the right to live, Kurohoshi-juni. I have no reason to be alive, and I am only a drain on the Empire's resources, a drain on the people I am sworn to protect. You cannot say that I have proven myself worthy yet, no matter how protective you are of those under you!"

Masako took a deep breath and relaxed a bit more as Tsuya tried to make her case. "If you feel that way, then you'll just have to earn it, won't you?" the Warrant Officer replied with a smile. "If you are adamant about thinking that way, then come back alive from this mission. Show yourself that you have a right to live, because I know one thing," she replied with a slight pause at the end. "You will always have the right to live in my eyes."

Tsuya surged to her feet, thumping herself on the chest with one hand. "I will earn it, and I will make you proud, Kurohoshi-juni! I - " Masako's next words made her cheeks redden a little. "...w-why?"

Masako chuckled a bit at the younger Neko's reaction and smiled cutely. "I maybe young compared to Nepleslians and Yamataians, but all of my life has been warfare of some type or another. My job maybe to kill the Empire's enemies, but that doesn't make me an emotionless automaton." the Warrant Officer began as she uncrossed her legs and arms. Allowing her legs to dangle a bit, the small Neko sighed quietly. "I see you and I see myself about three years ago. I see all of my sisters, who are probably dead by now, and I see someone who has potential." Pausing once more, Masako scratched the tip of her ear lightly. "Maybe the instructors of EF1 taught you to think the way you do, or maybe you've decided it yourself, but I believe that everyone has the right to live until they've lost that right. Do you know what someone has to do to lose the right to live in my eyes?" she asked the enlisted woman quietly.

The younger woman sat back down in her seat, her head hung so that her black hair fell over my eyes. "...I do not think I want to know, Kurohoshi-juni," she murmured. "You are so kind and loving that... I cannot imagine what could make you want to fight, besides the way we are designed." Her spring-green eyes flicked up, the color piercing through the curtain of her hair. "...and I am sorry that I bring up such memories for you, though I up to that."

It was the Warrant Officer's turn to have her cheeks blush a bit as she shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Yamada-san. If I remember bad memories, it's because my humour is just melancholic today," she replied with a dismissive wave. "As long as you've gotten that off your chest now. Do you feel better?"

"...much. Thank you." Tsuya raised her head a little, a small smile tugging at her lips. "...is there anything you would like to talk about? This must be stressful for you, as well, Kurohoshi-juni."

The young Warrant Officer's lips pursed in thought as her ears seemed to twitch slightly. "I wouldn't necessarily call it stressed as just being pulled in several directions at once," the Neko replied with a shrug. "I was reviewing new organizational plans for the Armor Wing earlier before I sat down and spoke to Claymere-taii about it. But then there's research I need to do so we can get some Heavy Weapons in our inventory: Squad Assist Weapons and the like." the short woman explained as her space-black eyes focused on the ceiling while she thought. "Then there's studying for Navigation Systems certification so Suzuka-shosa has a back up other than Mara and Hinoto, though I'd be doing it just to branch out a bit from Armor work." she admitted with a snort.

"Heavy weapons? If you do not have anyone selected to use them, I would very much like to." The larger neko smiled a bit more. "And I am sure you will enjoy expanding your skills. ...what organization for the wing are you changing, though?"

"I'll keep that in mind," the older woman teased before leaning back slightly. "Organizationally-wise, we're trying to give some of the older enlisted personnel some more command experience for their eventual promotion to Non-Commissioned Officers," Masako explained. "Because of this, Claymere-taii thought giving the wing a stronger hierarchy would be beneficial. Also, the Taisa expressed more interest in an organization structure that could be scaled up if our crew size ever increased."

Tsuya nodded thoughtfully, leaning back and crossing one leg daintily over the other. "Who would be placed in command of us, the new enlisted soldiers?"

"Since there are an odd number of new recruits, we had planned on giving Nakamura-hei two of you while Yoroko-hei would be in charge of one recruit and Nimura-hei," Masako explained, though she frowned thoughtfully on the subject. "That is the initial plan, but I have some ideas I'd need to run by Claymere-taii before it’s finalized," she stated vaguely. After all, explaining to a new recruit about why she was worried about Yoroko's ability to handle Nimura could possibly lead to the young Tsuya fostering a lack of confidence in her superior's potential. "Considering our crew, the main combat section would be a Squad of six that could be divided into two, three-soldier teams."

"I am not exactly a tactical expert, but I think that sounds like a good idea, Kurohoshi-juni." She smiled. "You will not put people in command positions who do not want to command, right?"

"Quite correct, Yamada-san," Masako replied with a slightly lop-sided smile. "We also need teams that have the possibility of working together efficiently. But I don't think there will be problems like that," the Warrant Officer stated calmly. "Claymere-taii did have some ideas I have been mulling through it seems. One of them is the use of positions in each team. Each team has a team leader, a grenadier for the heavy weapons, and a rifleman for basic infantry weaponry or long-range precision weaponry," the raven-haired neko explained to her subordinate. "It offers us balanced teams with tactical flexibility compared to the old system."

Her subordinate nodded again. "I like that plan... and I agree, I think we all get along well enough that there will not be problems. Though I do not think any of us would ever dislike each other enough to sabotage each other in battle." A smirk touched her lips.

"An act that would land anyone on the path of my fury, Yamada-hei," Masako warned in a friendly manner.

Tsuya frowned. "I would never do any such thing!"

Masako smiled and shook her head. "I never said nor believed you would," the Warrant Officer replied. "Just something that had to be said to your comment. A case of action and reaction in other words," Masako explained before pursing her lips in thought once more. "Enough on that subject however, have you thought of trying to socialize with some upper enlisted? It'd be good to get to know your comrades before you go into battle together."

"I would like to, but everyone has been so busy. I have only really had time to speak to you and Ashitaka-heisho." The memory of her cookie humiliation brought a frown to her face.

"Is something wrong, Yamada-san?" Masako asked as the taller Neko's frown brought a concerned expression to the smaller one's face. Of course, Masako had her own thoughts about that frown since Sanjuro had been mentioned, but the Wing Leader wouldn't approach that subject unless it led there.

"...I brought him some cookies and he had some... choice comments." She shook her head. "We made up, and it is fine now. Please do not go after him."

Poor Masako seemed stunned by Tsuya's last comment as confusion crossed her expression. "If by 'go after him' mean confront him about his anti-social behavior, I won't." the Warrant Officer promised as she frowned in irritation. "Trying to reason with that man about sensitivity is like reasoning with a bulkhead, though I suspect I'd have better results with a bulkhead."

"I think he meant well. He was only trying to help me with my recipe." The young infantrywoman bit her lip thoughtfully. "I think we could get along... I am not very good with people, either."

Glancing at Tsuya, Masako couldn't stop her sigh from escaping her lips. "At least you are polite," the shorter of the two countered mildly as she seemed to fume at the thought of Sanjuro.

"I try. If I was not polite, no one would like me." Tsuya folded her hands in her lap, staring at them.

The poor Warrant Officer felt guilty at that moment as Tsuya seemed to stare at her hands as if they were interesting. It felt as if she had just kicked a small kitten at that moment. "Sorry," the raven-haired Warrant Officer apologized. "Ashitaka-heisho has only recently pushed my buttons, so the wounds are still fresh. I shouldn't be taking it out on you in such a manner."

Tsuya's big ears had slowly drooped so the tips touched lightly against her shoulders. "Oh... I should not have brought him up, Kurohoshi-juni. I am sorry. ...I will let you return to your work." She started to stand.

Masako's palm seemed glued to her forehead at that moment. "Yamada-san." she interrupted with a sigh. "It is not your fault. And if I can be frank, you seem quite attached to the fact that everything seems to be your fault."

"It is my fault. I was blamed for everything that went wrong in my room at Ichiban, because I was always there. I nearly ruined several Sims at the school due to my overzealousness, and it is partially my fault that Suzuka-shosa was forced to detonate the ship in our most recent one."

"No, the Shosa was forced to detonate the ship because I made that simulation as hard as possible," Masako said as she looked up at the younger Neko. "And young Neko are supposed to be overzealous. It's in the programming and Ichiban is supposed to smooth it out into dedication," the Warrant Officer went to explain. "Apparently, your instructors were morons who couldn’t fathom balance in their methods."

Tsuya touched her face. "...one of them hit me when I fouled up."

“Ah, if I could tell the tales of bruises from instructors back in my time at Ichiban, we'd be here for hours," Masako replied as she stood up and walked over to the enlisted woman. "Yamada-hei, the military gets rough like that. It's in an effort to teach us that making mistakes can cause pain. While I personally don't approve of striking someone for a mistake, it is a common practice none-the-less."

"I did not even make a mistake! I completed the simulation as ordered! He struck me because I did not do arbitrary tasks he had not notified me about!" The young woman was starting to get a little upset.

Masako paused to ponder what Tsuya had told her. That did sound quite unfounded. Pursing her lips, Masako shook her head. "Calm down, Yamada-hei. I wasn't agreeing with your instructor, I was generalizing over all." she tried to explain calmly. "Since I don't know what this simulation was, I can't say whether he was right or wrong. I can say from experience that you are a good soldier and a good team mate for anyone you work with. You showed me that in my simulation. A simulation created by an instructor from Ichiban has no place in my decisions about you."

Tsuya took a few deep breaths, calming herself down. She was a little embarrassed that she had gotten so worked up. "...I apologize, Kurohoshi-juni. I overreacted. Thank you for your compliments; I will try to live up to them."

The short Warrant Officer ran her hand through her own hair as Tsuya calmed down. "Now that we are done with that, is there anything else?" Masako asked calmly as she sat down upon her bed.

"...no." Tsuya stood, stretching her legs. "Thank you for talking to me. I feel... better, now. Slightly."

"I'm glad I could help," Masako replied.

"...I hope we get another chance to talk soon." The younger neko smiled bleakly.

"We will," the small Neko stated with a smile. "I'm sure we will."

"Good." Tsuya bowed deeply before turning and beginning to walk out.

END

The cutting commenced without much fanfare, and after somewhere around an hour and a half of work, the jagged, empty space where Tom and Rin had torn out one of the portside capacitors was ready for another foundation, and for the refab capacitor to be replaced with it.

Basically, two sprites - Ozuno and Haya - had to hold the capacitor in place, while Cho welded. Tom and Rin had cut away the foundations earlier, but the three of them had gone ahead and ground the rest of it off so that the new mount, which had been fabricated with the rest of the capacitor, could be eased into place.

They accomplished it with power armor. The visors also helped to dim the sparks.

After a while Haya said, "You know, I think Juni might have a thing for her."

"Who?" asked Ozuno. She shifted the load on her shoulder a little, turning her helmet slightly.

"She means Yuzuki-san," provided Cho, as politely as she could, "I do not think the Juni has feelings for her, like that, Haya, so don't go starting any more rumors. Please stop bumping the capacitor around, I am trying to weld this properly."

Normally, Ozuno and Haya were good workers, but it was hard to deny they were incessantly chatty. Everyone was being chatty, now that the ship had settled into a more regular work routine. The ship had been like that in port, too - even if there was work to be done, it was a break. The hours always shifted like that. It was good to get six hours of sleep every once in a while. Now the whole engineering department was readjusting, again.

Rolling her eyes beneath her helmet, Cho drew a deep breath and tried to refocus on the work in front of her.

"Not a rumor if it's true," Haya replied, eventually, "He was watching nee-san that whole time, beneath his helmet."

Ozuno replied, "I didn't see any of this, so when was it?"

"Well, I didn't see it personally either, but Leiko-chan said she was doing maintenance on the cables beneath the deckplates when they were taking the capacitor off, and she heard the whole thing when nee-san came down and started talking with Freeman-Juni. Apparently, nee-san's a Heisho now, and they were flirting."

"Please," said Cho.

"No, really," continued Haya, grinning and popping the visor of her helmet up, "See? I'm not smiling, or anything. He asked her to come back to his room. You can't tell me that isn't flirting."

Ozuno popped her facepiece, too, and grunted as the weight of the capacitor shifted a little bit.

"Steady on," Cho ordered, steeling her voice, "I'm almost done here. Put your visors back on, you'll both ruin your eyes."

Haya glanced up to Cho through the straw-yellow blond veil of the hair displaced by her helmet, "Oh, quiet, Snowflake. Who cares?" Haya glanced to Ozuno, who was beginning to look a little guilty, and Ozuno smiled just slightly back at her. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make Cho, who was watching the both of them through her suit's 360-visual, more than a little frustrated. Haya was such a bad influence sometimes - now, whether proper or not, that rumor would probably be flying all over the subdeck.

"I care," Cho said sharply, "Now, put it back on. It's what we're supposed to do. And please, please please, hold the capacitor steady. I can't work like this. Aren't you two tired of holding this thing?"

That got Ozuno back on-board. The quiet sprite - now a Hei - repositioned herself, braced, and took the weight from the capacitor off of the welds again. Haya reluctantly followed the example, and soon Cho was working quickly away again, all the while thinking to herself how meddlesome Haya was being. Haya just needed to back off, sometimes - that was it. Too forward. Too blunt. Too honest. The nicknames she was giving everyone were stupid, too; Cho hated being called 'Snowflake'. It reminded her too much of Nimura's nickname, and that was not how she wanted to come off. Cho wasn't -strange-, she just wanted to do things -right-.

That really rankled her.

Cho asked so very little of people - really, she didn't ask much. She wasn't higher ranking, or anything, she was just trying to get the work done. Then, everyone could sit around and talk and laugh at whatever it was they wanted. Preferrably, not each other. Cho couldn't find anything funny with her silver-blue hair, or eyes.

Briefly, she wondered if the Juni noticed, but put that out of her head when she noticed that she had finished with this particular area of the weld.

"Alright, we're done," she said, "Change out, and put the equipment away."

Ozuno and Haya stepped away from the capacitor, flexing a little bit to get the blood circulating again. Holding that thing wasn't easy work, even with power armor. When Cho's helmet com. began to beep, she acknowledged it and said, "Cho, here."

"Hey, it's Kuni. I just heard that nee-chan is sleeping with Freeman-Juni. Is it true?"

Cho took off her helmet, tucking it beneath her arm without answering. She shook her hair out, pulling most of it free of the neckplate. Then she took a moment to stare - stare - at Haya.

Haya, removing her own helmet without bothering to mess with her hair, just caught her eye and shrugged.

"Incorragable," Cho chided, frowning. "Just incorragable."