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

Soon, Nimura reported to Tom. She was already changed in an AMES suit.

"Sir?" she inquired as she approached.

"Nimura, good to see you," Tom said cheerfully.

His gloved hand pointed to a toolkit lying on the ground near the capacitors.

"I've drained the power and cut the connectors to the capacitors. What I need you to do is go through each of them and check the circuitry. I need to know which ones are slagged beyond repair and must be removed manually, and I need the rest prioritized in order of severity of damage sustained. Then I need you to run this information with our current maintainence inventory and configure a repair protocol that gives us the opportunity to restore the most capacitors. Then I need you to get said inventory and begin repairs of the circuitry in the most efficient manner possible, but not before we both need to get in armors and remove the slagged capacitors from their fixings, probably with aether sabers if need be."

His arms were crossed as he faced her.

"Oh! And we need to make sure that Yuzuki's jury-rigged piping and wiring is sufficient enough to ensure that Miharu can sustain more than a few rattles unless we suddenly want the ship exploding or something. We have to painstakingly make sure that critical systems are accounted for and that we have enough options to make sure we have the capabilities to fly under duress."

"Any questions?"

"None," was Nimura's quiet reply. The dark-haired sprite bent to retrieve the appropriate instruments from the toolkit and silently got to work.

Tom finalized his checks a few moments later and walked over to assist the sprite.

"So, I heard you got into some extra-curriculars. Care to tell me about it?"

He started to unbolt one of the panels to a capacitor.

Nyton considered things for another second. "There must be something different between the matches before and after the mission. It may give us some insight as to what happened." he said before looking again at Ichigo.

"You have known Nimura all of her life. Has she ever studied or trained in combat before? What does she do with her spare time?" Nyton asked, although he was already aware of her activities in the fabrication room, likely there was more he did not know.

Nyton said:

"We're from the Sekkou, Sai-Heisho-saaaaaaan! We're waiting to see if we can get transferred over to the Miharu now." Akiko replied cheerfully and excited.

"Akiko-chan, don't be so familiar yet. We just met Saito-Heisho." Shizuka scolded sweetly.

"Gomen naSAAAAAI! I'm just excited about cakes! And maybe when we get to the kitchen I can make some sides and stuff to go with them!" Akiko said, still as cheerful as before.

Click to expand...

Miyoko cringed a bit at the squeals, but didn't comment. Although, hey, the prospect of more food was always good. "I'm sure you will do fine. Even if you can't stay on the Miharu, I don't imagine there's any shortage of room on other ships right now. Who have you spoken to about getting assigned here?"

"Huh? I never said that. In many ways I'm glad to have been born naturally, I got to experience the world in a unique way as I grew up..." Kai stopped looking at the sprite to make sure he wasn't offending her or something, realizing she herself was only a few months old, even though she appeared to be nearly his own age.

"I don't see the harm in custom-fabricating something, and I'm sure the Empire will understand If I create something which helps me fight better for her" the Blond Yamataian reasoned. He watched the Sprite as she practically tore the other armor to pieces, being none too gentle with the thing. Perhaps that was fine, it being a machine of war and made to take a beating, but the pilot figured it might be nicer to treat the machine with more respect. he didn't however, say anything, and simply stayed quiet about it.

*****

The sprite paused to survey her work.

After she was satisfied, she extended a hand and pawed at the air quickly. Almost immediately, a volumetric window jumped into existence, and she looked off of it, comparing whatever was written there to whatever she was seeing on the ground. Viewing her from the other side of the transparent screen, it seemed as though the sprite were underwater, her features distorted slightly. Eventually, she stopped flicking her eyes back and forth through the diagram, and settled them on Kai.

"Where did you grow up?" the sprite asked.

Kyoki said:

Rin cringed back at the sight of an impatient Shosa. "E- etto... Miharu is in... workable... condition. It is far from optimal. We require a dock to do much more," she answered, delivering the fairly bad news. She felt as if she was in a bit of danger, since she was telling the Shosa this and Yukari didn't seem to be in the best of moods.

"G- gomenasai, Shosa," the sprite squeaked out quietly and nervously.

Click to expand...

Yukari shook her head. Her mood was sour, but it would not be taken out on a crewmember who had nothing to do with it. More important matters would press her very soon, she was sure.

"A dock you will not have, but time is perhaps something we will have some of." She slipped her datapad from her lap pocket, checked something, then nodded. "Return to your duties, Rin-Hei, and do your best. I suggest finding Freeman-Juni and speaking with him."

A small bow, and Rin was off, leaving Yukari alone in the port multifunction bay of Miharu.

Frustration burbled up toward the top of her psyche, and she had no immediate outlet. For now, the recruits had found the Juni, the ship remained under repair, and if the update from Miharu was correct, Takuma-Heisho was being demoted to Takuma-Hei. She was relieved Nyton was handling that affair; she was in no mood to suffer the computer expert's demotion.

Her eyes crossed over the empty bay's shiny black floor until they reached the armory. Her fingers flexed; her arms longed for a familiar weight. Unfamiliar, she corrected herself, but some day she hoped it would be intimately recognized. An opportunity to adapt herself to the rubbery grip and the feel of the wood against her cheek.

Few moments passed before it was in her hands. Her silent tool. She could move it left and right, but no sound it made, so tight were the manufacturing tolerances. It weighed several kilograms, yet felt heavier than Tom did in her arms. It spoke to her in such a quiet whisper ... but each word was a death sentence. For someone. "Occupant," perhaps.

"Nekovalkyrja," she said quietly. "Bred to kill. Bred to die. A war ends, another begins. Without war, we are without meaning." She squeezed the trigger. The sound was clear as the most flawless diamond, signaling a mechanism that broke as easily as scored glass.

Bolt up, pull back, push forward, bolt down. Acquire. Aim. Eliminate. Nearly half an hour passed. Hundreds died.

Yukari's datapad brought her out of her affair with the rifle and its empty chamber. The rifle was carefully set on the ground, and she examined the messages. It appeared a sanctioned bout between Hinoto and Nimura had resulted in Nyton doing her job for her. No punishments were delivered, which her summary suggested was proper.

But it suggested that the time for downtime was over. It was time to get to work. Soldiers needed orders, so she would provide; it was what Kotori would do.

Telepathy would much more clearly convey the push underlying her words. She decided to put the messages through Miharu, to effectively reach the crew. First things were first.

"Junko-Hei, this is the Shosa. Please collect some of your other crewmates who are not busy and set up the computer cores we collected from Bowhordia in Miharu's Port Multifunction Bay. Ask Freeman-Juni for extra help if you cannot find enough on your own. Quickly, please, and thank you."

Then, Miyoko.

"Heisho. Please collect Takuma-Hei and report to Miharu's Port Multifunction Bay. He has been recently demoted, but he must still examine the computer cores collected from Bowhordia. Your skills could assist him in examining and interpreting the data. The cores will be waiting for you. Thank you."

Finally, Masako.

"Juni. I apologize for intruding, but have you scheduled a brief simulation with the new recruits? They perhaps would benefit from experiencing the variety of opponents they will face as a part of our crew. I am free to assist you, if you require it."

"We spoke to Kurohoshi-Juni the other day about being transferred." Shizuka replied. "She seemed confident about the possibility. Although we have yet to speak to Suzuka-Shosa. We were told she is the XO and in charge of such personnel matters."

Akiko meanwhile hummed along the way, her mind distracted by the cakes and thoughts of preparing some extra treats. Her love of cooking had been deprived and felt as though she hadn't been in a kitchen for years. Her humming soon began to find words as she started singing out loud to herself. "Cooking for you is just what I dooooo! With all of my heart I can't wait to start! My lovely stew will be delicious for youuuu! I made enough tarts ev-en if you bring a cart!"

Ichigo cringed slightly. "We're sprites, Sir. Even though Yamatai's laws in regard to slavery changed, living like this is pretty much all we know - or at least within our comfort zone. We eat, work, try to remain constructive when off duty and sleep."

Mara gave Ichigo a queer look and turned to Nyton saying: "I play pranks. You know, poke fun at people and stuff. It's fun!"

"Rubber ducks is not my idea of fun," Hinoto noted.

Mara hurriedly tried to shush Hinoto - to no avail - and promptly counter-attacked with: "Well, your hobby isn't a whole lot better."

"I read manga and graphic novels. Reading is good!" Hinoto protested in turn.

"You read yaoi manga. About nepleslian boy-love at that," Mara added slyly, giving the white-haired sprite a predatory grin.

Hinoto scowled defensively at her sandy-haired sibling over the hand covering her mouth. "I like them!"

"And what about those drawings I found in your room - those having you pair Sigurd with Claymere-Juni, or Nakamura and Kimura-Hei?" Mara stayed on the offensive.

Hinoto snorted and looked away.

"Oh yes, Sigurd! Deeper!" Mara added dramatically in obvious mimicry of Nyton.

Hinoto sent a glare at Nyton. "Sir, tell her to stop picking on me!"

Ichigo, forgotten, looked a little bewildered.

* * *

Nimura barely spared Tom a glance. "No," was her faint reply.

Brilliant conversation.

A sardonic laugh echoed from within Tom's suit.

"As I thought," he grunted as a bolt popped out of the capacitor's panel. He moved onto the next.

"Look, I'm not going to-" Clank. Another bolt fell to the ground "-harp on you about a training simulation, everyone agreed to participate in it after all."

Clank. A bead of sweat was forming on the Yamataian's brow as he pried with his wrench.

"But we're a team here and I can't imagine the asskicking you've given your sisters has nrrgh-" Clank. "-particularly endeared yourself to them. Granted, based on what I've seen, you're not look-" Clank. "-ing to be liked, but let's try to keep the chemistry up, ok?"

The fifth bolt didn't give way after the Yamataian's heavy effort. He reached down for his blowtorch.

Nimura continued working alongside Tom, though not nearly making as many grunts, groans and noises as Tom did exerting himself.

"It was not my idea. It was Ichigo's," was her monotone reply. The girl was either boring, or doing a significant effort to look like she was - especially in contrast to the gregarious chief engineer.

"And I'll be sure to mention certain things to Ichigo too," Tom said as the torch flickered a blue-white funnel before his eyes. "Perhaps I'm being a bit analytical here... I get this way when I work down here..."

Carefully, the engineer brought the torch to bear upon the panel and its stubborn bolt. The area glowed a molten red before slagging and then evaporating under the intense, controlled heat.

"...but I looked at the tape. Your combat capabilities seem to far exceed that of your companions, perhaps all of us on this ship.... Have you ever considered the implications of this?"

Ichigo turned to look at him once his work with the torch was done. Something like puzzlement flashed in her eyes.

"What tape?"

I'm on it, Miyoko returned to Yukari's telepathic order. To Shizuka, she replied, "Ah, right. I was going to suggest that you speak to Suzuka-Shosa if you haven't, but it seems like you've already been pointed in the right direction." She stopped, watching Akiko get to work cooking. It seemed a bit weird for her to be doing so before she was officially part of the crew, but then the girl seemed weird to her altogether.

"Anyway, I've been asked to attend to some official duties. If it's okay with Freeman-Juni, feel free to take some of the sweets. It was nice meeting you." With that, Miyoko turned and exited into the relative silence of the dining area and headed off to find Takuma.

"The mission tape," Tom replied. "From Bowhordia. I'm sure you had time to review your performance."

Nimura frowned in concentration. "You should refer to that data as a 'recording', or 'battle footage'," she then corrected him. "The label 'tape' refers to a more archaic recording medium, as well as adhesive tape, non-adhesive tape, and various others. None of which are contextually close to what you actually meant."

"Ah, I see," Tom said with a small nod. "You are correct, but I am also referring to a colloquialism from my culture. See, in theater and recording, the word 'tape' is used quite a bit in different contexts."

He put out the torch and moved his wrist in a circular motion.

"Roll the tape means to play a visual recording for viewing, usually public, but not always. If you say look at or check the tapes, like I did, that means you are reviewing said recording. A demo reel or demo tape is a collection of movies used to promote an actor to an agent or others. So, in essence, I looked at your 'tape', which in this case is the 'battle footage' as you call it."

The torch was placed back at his side and with one great heave, the engineer removed the panel.

"But this is not important. Did you review it?"

Nimura stopped what she was doing to briefly assist him with the removal of the heavy plated cover. Once it was out of the way the sprite returned a no-nonsense answer of: "Yes, I have taken note of it. I am aware that I boast less humane traits than others. I have heard of myself referred to as 'monster' or 'freak' so far, so I am also firmly cognizant of possible alienation."

She then turned back to her own work.

"I grew up on Tami. It's a nice place. Mostly forest, and no cities, just little towns and colonies. It was a fun place to grow up, but you get tired of the same thing constantly for seventeen years." Kai answered. By now he had finished up taking apart most of the armor's front half, and Yuzuki's volumetric window reminded him he could do the same, and soon a volumetric window appeared before him as well, detailing how to remove the damaged insert.

As the Yamataian worked, he pondered "What do I do with this insert once it's out? I can't just leave a hunk of Hemosynth lying on the ground...."

*****

"Take it to the fabrication room and repair it," replied Yuzuki offhandedly, still watching Kai with a mild sense of fascination. "Or you could just break it down again if you wanted. All it is, now, is material."

Seventeen years seemed like a rather long time to her. It piqued her interest. She knew that people were born, and grew up, and would eventually die, but had never had the chance to talk about it with someone who it really happened to, before. Reminding herself that it was probably impolite to stare, she looked back down at the power armor, but didn't make a move to dismantle it further. Suddenly there didn't seem to be much of a point - she could do this, anytime. Actually talking with someone was rare.

"So you're seventeen?"