RP: YSS Miharu Mission 5, Aftermath (5th day)

Yukari stayed where she was. Her gaze bored into Kotori, unblinking.

Then, she stood up and scowled, but bowed low and formal.

"I will not be pacified," she said in Yamataian, fists balled in front of her as she rose. "I will seek the means to make my plan successful, and begin preparing now. Please excuse me, Taisa."

Yukari turned and began to walk away. She was not convinced Kotori meant what she said. She could have trusted her, but her instincts told her that her friend did not acquiesce so easily. Not without more to it. Defeating Yamatai's security systems would require more than the IFF, yes, but how much more? It was not impossible, that much she knew. If Eve could do it, so could they, even without an NH-23 body.

She had to try. Kotori's life was at stake.

"Yame!" Kotori's voice cracked, uncompromisingly authoritative. The words were meant for Yukari, but Nyton found himself blinking in Deja Vu. An eyeblink later, he placed it:

Memories of the samurai-instructor's intervention when she stopped the impromptu spar at the beginning of the visit to the Samurai House came to mind. The voice, the glare, the poise of her back even as she knelt... yes, Kotori had just now sounded eeriely like her mother.

"I did not dismiss you, Shosa," Kotori then added, her voice more level. "Sit with us, and we will talk of the subject more at length."

" ... " What was there to talk about now?

Kotori had been firm, though. That was a good sign, Yukari thought, even if it might have cost her.

"As commanded," she said, and returned to her mat after a quick bow, once again sitting on her legs in a formal kneel.

"Good," Kotori - gracious in her small victory - said with the ghost of a nod.

"Now, truth be told, the plan - despite any enthusiasm - is unfeasible. We aren't an organization like Black Spiral or the Daughters of Eve whom have survived at length skirting around the eyes of the Empire. Nor were they perfect: we found them."

"Last we were in port, Yamatai was developing extended measures to protect the homeworld from infiltration. Those, in the time that passed, will have progressed. We'll be behind the times for them, and too much, so that isn't a viable risk to take."

"We'll have to hunt for Eve sooner or later. It'll have to be later for now," the princess then asserted. "For our purpose, I no longer think we actually need to. Not to the point when we've become inclined to turn to Melisson for assistance."

"Correct me if I'm wrong: Eve got her psionic amplification technology from Melisson. She got the inspiration to subvert the fleet through Melisson's own example back in YE 27. Melisson is not as powerful as the Infection Queen proper was and Amaya rated her slightly lower than Eve in that report..."

"But if you think about it, those ratings are probably biased. Eve's psions not only cover telepathic mind alterations like Melisson, but also telekinesis, pyrokinesis and stuff such as spatial manipulation. Melisson has never shown any of that: she seems to specialize only on perceiving and altering minds, in a way that has her experience and insights outweight what we've seen with Eve."

"Eve was prepared to try and take over the Second Draconian Fleet on her own. That leads me to believe that Melisson would suit our purpose just as much without running the risk of having to infiltrate Yamatai's perimeter defenses."

Yukari added up all the points. "You believe Melisson can somehow rend our problem away. ... How would she do this?"

"Well, for one part, by the same fashion Eve would've done it," Kotori answered. "Only I'll be there to, and I'll have a better idea of what we're doing. If it's too big a task we can work on a smaller scale for starters. If means are lacking even then, well, we'll have tried that before going for other more perilous solutions."

She raised one hand to toy with her hair at the base of her left ear, looking aside. "Melisson herself admitted she wasn't pleased with the predicament of the people in the Second Draconian Fleet. That taking control of them was for convenience's sake at first, until she could have them make contact with the nekovalkyrja separatists, and restore that measure of free will back."

She then looked back toward Yukari. "She said it. I don't trust her much, but I do trust her to keep consistent to the person she portrayed she was. I think it's possible to have her cooperate this way."

Nyton listened as the two superior officers discussed things. The notion of working on options before attempting to infiltrate Yamatai was more preferable. At least now they were discussing better solutions.

"Rather than working on a large scale attempt to free all the crew members first we instead work on the smaller scale version. One where perhaps only a handful are freed. We should not trust Melisson with the larger project but if we explain that working small first is a step towards the grander she may be more likely to support it. We would have to keep our thoughts hidden from her so that she is not tipped off." Nyton offered.

"Chances are she will already guess that we will not trust her but we should be able to minimize the risk of allowing her to assist us if we work on the smaller means. Once we have a working successful prototype we can decide where we want to proceed from there." he then concluded.

Kotori nodded in agreement to Nyton. "The way I see it, Melisson could go and interface with a psionic amplifier in a setup similar to Mefpralphra's installation. I'd be in my own amplification installation, using my Signaler traits to seize it, and channel that potential on a greater scale."

"If Melisson does it right from the beginning, my role would be more as a fixture to help amplify her already augmented capabilities and the tampering I'd have to do would be minimal. Should Melisson try anything funny, though, I'll be in the perfect position to stop her in her tracks, or even alter things more to my liking."

Amber eyes turned to Tom. "We have Vermillion and Surtur stashed on Hoshi. Vermillion is damaged, but aside from armor and winglet damage it's still mostly functional. Surtur was crippled and partly salvaged, but I believe we still have the piloting cage and the amplifier-supporting winglets intact," She raised her hands, mimicking the Akuma mecha's beak-shaped torso's shape with her fingers. "They could be our starting points."

Yukari saw the logic of Kotori's suggestion, and she begrudgingly admitted she trusted Melisson to act consistent with the ethics she already had displayed. It is my nature, said the scorpion to the frog ...

"Can we trust her to not seed them?" she asked. "Her seeding ability appears to be mostly passive. It might not be so simple to halt."

Kotori reflected on Yukari's question a moment before shaking her head. "If I were her, constrained to a single humanoid body to serve as a hub for my collective consciousness, I'd refrain from making picks that wouldn't be strategic. There's only so much a hundred minds can pay attention to and she already has to pay notice to seeds she's had before the Infection Queen was destroyed."

"Though impractical for the entire fleet, perhaps asking officers to adopt new bodies after the ... " Yukari knew not what to call it. "Transfer, is appropriate."

The Taisa reflected on that a moment, and then said: "Well, they were likely to get transferred to NH-27 or NH-29 bodies eventually anyhow."

Yukari blinked at that, then nodded, understanding. "You are right." She had not even considered that likely all of the Neko eventually would transfer bodies anyway.

"That leaves only the specifics of our test — who we should attempt to free first, and how many. I believe conducting the test on Hoshi is best, to keep Melisson as contained as possible."

Tom had placed himself next to Yukari and listened to the plans unfold. He nodded once, and then again, as points became known and details were fleshed out.

"First, do we have any idea how these individuals will react once awakened from their current state? If these people are fully aware of the condition they were put under, they may react in ways we will not expect. They could become hostile towards Melisson... or the Taisa. We have to take into account their mental states, as well as the possibility that we may have to secure the Hoshi's interior and the security of the two VIP's as well."

"You have a point there, Freeman. We would need to have the first few people locked down so that they could not lash out. If Melisson attempted foul play we must have them incapable of doing any damage. Our ability to properly incarcerate the test subjects would determine how many at a time we can free. As for who to initially test this on we may want to use some of the lower rank tier soldiers first. Not to sound cruel but if one of the high ranking officers were to become hostile they may have more access to weapons systems." Nyton then suggested.

Kotori listened, blinked, and listened some more. Then she made her call.

"A starship," was what she finally declared. "I want this done on a starship beyond my immediate vicinity. As a test, it needs to stress things. I want a genuine reaction I do not control. I need to be able to see how bad it can get from a diversified pool of people."

"I appreciate your desire for prudence, but I think we need to move past that. It's only a matter of time before the numbers of the fleet's survivors draw attention even if we are presently concealed. It's important that we return to Yamatai on our own terms, rather than get found out and have others form a first impression of us."

"You mean attempt to control the crew of another vessel?" Yukari asked.

"I mean to restore to normal the crew of another vessel," Kotori sternly corrected.

"Restore," Yukari repeated, cursing herself. She was not helping. "A smaller vessel, then?"

"Not a Yui-class. An Irim or an Ayame class would do," Kotori answered.