RP: YSS Miharu Mission 5, Part 1: Amaya's Gate

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

After talking with Tom, Yukari lost her focus on her work. She was unconnected to the battle at hand, wandering about in hypotheticals and not in the actual fight.

A little volumetric panel with Yukari in it opened up before Hinoto, amid all the other panels she was operating on. Yukari brought herself off to the right side of Hinoto's face, away from the panels.

"Hinoto-san, do you have time for an update?"

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Hinoto looked grim. "A stealthed Black Mindy engaged Nakamura team. They tried to flush her out, but she teleported in the Cougar shuttle and killed Sanri."

"Mara's Fox is almost there," she added.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Of course my Mistress, you chose me for some reason and hopefully one of those was longevity. I look forward to learning much from you that is beyond the limits of the human experience. You will have insights even my grandfather cannot fathom. Nyton thought, suddenly aware of a deep desire to learn what his Mistress possessed. The rewriting of his mind had made it palatable to listen to Melisson but his own natural ambition craved the knowledge as well.

Hinoto looked grim. "A stealthed Black Mindy engaged Nakamura team. They tried to flush her out, but she teleported in the Cougar shuttle and killed Sanri."

"Mara's Fox is almost there," she added.

Click to expand...

The news of Sanri being slain by a Black Mindy brought Nyton's bloodlust to the fore again. Another casualty which made the reality of death all the more present. The black cloak of the specter of Death was billowing nearby and he thought he could hear it rustling faintly in the wind.

Then there was Hinoto. Nyton's sense of duty was conflicting with his unleashed desire. For the first time he believed he had found someone that meant more to him than his own pursuits. What a fool he had been to withhold this until the midst of battle! Now that this discovery was made he didn't want to let it go and risk losing it to the battle. There would be more fighting and as Hinoto pointed out there were still several Sakura class ships unaccounted for. If any of them did manage to close in Hinoto was indeed the most exposed. Once he returned to the tactical console about the only thing he could do for her was perhaps shift several weapon pods to the vicinity of the sensor dome to protect it, or rather her, from enemy attack.

The conflict cracked and Nyton walked over to Hinoto one more time, obtrusively standing in the midst of her status windows. The attraction and boldness he had been reprogrammed with was most certainly inspiring him but it was still himself that he was being. First he had to deal with one minor interruption. Positioning himself in view of the window that Yukari had opened Nyton looked at her with his usual expression and addressed her directly.

"Excuse me, Suzuka-Shosa, I need a moment to discuss something with Hinoto-san. Please let the Taisa know that I will be at the bridge shortly and that I apologize for the delay in my return." Nyton said easily with only a hint of urgency before respectfully bowing his head slightly and closing the window so that he would not be heard by anyone except the sprite before him and unintentionally the ship around him.

"Hinoto, before I leave I need to tell you something that I regret not saying sooner. I only wish it had not required the circumstances that occurred to finally say this and that I had more time to do so. At the very least I can finally talk to you openly." he said before taking a quick breath of air and grasping hold of the pale neko's hands within his own.

"I have found you striking since the first time I laid eyes upon you. Despite all my duties taking me elsewhere I have cherished our casual moments together. To be honest I secretly hoped that when you thought I had died on Bowhordia that your expression at that time was more than just regular concern towards a comrade. Perhaps you are underhanded and manipulative as you say you were made to be but you were still kind enough to help me even though I could be a possible danger to all. That is why I want, no-I need you to survive this mission. I will do my best to protect our ship and you. After we have fought and the day is won I want you to be the reason I survive this battle. I want you there with me so that we can be together. Always."

Nyton's statement carried much weight and power to it. His expression was his usual stone wall demeanor but there was something different to it. It lay in the subtle details: a minute twitch in his eye shown once, a slight quiver to his jaw expressed faintly, the glimmer in his eyes, the pitch of his voice, the steadiness of his breathing, and the gentle squeeze in his hands upon hers as though through them he could convey his inner essence.

This was more than just the wish of good fortune and survival but also a revealing of fear. He was exposing his feelings, ever so slightly but it was there for someone with Hinoto's trained eye to see. That fear was that he would never see her again. That the ship would be destroyed and with it Hinoto's soul. The crushing of her soul and the ultimate failure by him to protect her dared to engulf him if it were not for his other feelings.

For there was more than just fear. There was hope! Hope that they would survive. Hope that there could be more time between them than just this moment. The hope that she would return these feelings and forever be in his arms. It was the hope that had been garnered from years of enduring hardships and trials but triumphing even when no end was in sight.

There was hope and even moreso there was the confidence that they would win. Nyton Claymere was not the timid Raltean who feared violence and struggled to cope with how it affected him. He was born for conflict. He thrived in it! He still felt fear and pain but he was a Nepleslian born and trained to be of the highest caliber. He was a man who would put such fears aside and run through fire to win. If there was someone who knew victory was in their grasp it was him and he was determined to pursue it.

All this Nyton conveyed to Hinoto as best he could in the brief seconds, the moments they had right then and there in the Sensor Dome.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Yukari brushed by the urge to feel sad or angry. Sanri would come back.

"Set aside any data having to do with teleports, please, Hinoto-san. They have improved their teleporters somehow; I — "

Nyton cut in, and, after his brief explanation, cut Yukari out.

" ... " Yukari just looked ahead briefly for a moment.

That did it. Probably not what the Taii was looking for, but such is what happened.

In a brief flash Yukari recalled every moment when a Nepleslian man simply ignored her and kept right on talking. Nevermind the disregard for her rank, the blatant racism or even the sexual abuse she'd suffered under Nepleslian men during her time aboard Sojourners and other cargo vessels. No.

He simply cut her off and acted as if she was not important, that she was not privy to whatever conversation he and the sprite were about to share.

As if it could have been so vital as to require removing her from it.

Her first thought was to dress down the Nepleslian man as she felt he so richly deserved. Such rudeness would be punished by death on other Star Army vessels. Would he have done that to Kotori? To Irim? Yui? No. But she was just the Shosa.

However, Yukari took a breath and regathered herself. Now was not the time.

Another breath. They had a battle to win, and reducing Nyton to a Hei was not the answer.

Another breath. There would be a later time to handle such insubordination, if they survived. If they did not, the insult became of no consequence.

The intelligence officer was not about to let a secret go, not like that.

"Miharu, relay to me the events of the Sensor Done, starting 30 seconds ago."

"Taisa, the Taii will be along shortly," she said to Kotori, hoping she melted all the ice from her voice.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Hinoto's throat felt tight.

Swallowing hard, she reflected that this kind of heartfelt confession of another person's love was exactly the kind that would've moved her, made her chest feel like she was bursting with happiness and then had her jump to encircle the other person with her arms... but...

The sprite's jaw clenched as she grit her teeth. She would not cry at how sad and pathetic he was and how horrible the timing was. She would not get angry at him for it - this was Melisson's fault.

"That was a beautiful confession," she told him faintly. "It would have been even more so if it hadn't been fake."

Hinoto then slid her hands out of his grasp. "You are not yourself, Taii. Please, just go back to work."

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Nyton smiled thinly and allowed Hinoto's hands to slip out of his. "Now who is treating the other like an idiot?" he replied flatly before turning away. His 360 vision still held her in sight even as he began walking slowly away.

"Oh and if you still care enough then see to curing me of my condition. Then we'll see what stays true and what doesn't." he said as he walked, leaving the sprite alone again. Deep down, half of him almost wanted her to succeed. His cybernetics however had grown rather silent as though they were biding their time.

The cold professional had to rise up again. The time for love and emotion was over. Nyton wanted to rip apart any enemy who met them be it at the tactical console or in an Armor. Silently, observed only by him, Death was still a faint shadow off in the distance. With purpose the man walked quickly to return to his duty station.

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The elder Shimabumi sister paused for a second before she replied.


"Let us go back to the kitchen, Akiko-chan. Freeman-Juni has a task for us."

The two nekos hurried back as quickly as they could to report to their current immediate superior.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Nyton went to one the Sensor Dome's door and found that it was sealed.

Suddenly, with the door on his front, he was suddenly enclosed in four mirrors. One to his right, another to his left, and one behind him (blocking off sight of Hinoto) whom were 250 centimeters high, and a final mirror that was his new ceiling. All were opaque, effectively blocked his all-around vision, and the faint but recognizable hum of forcefields hinted that they likely were solid as well.

"Well, I do have a theory..." he heard her say, her booted footsteps coming closer.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

A theory? Already!? But how? She can't possibly have already found a way to sever me from my Mistress, can she? Nyton thought to himself while finding himself slightly unsettled. There was no way to do so, was there?

Then there was his situation. Everywhere he looked he only saw himself and not much else. It was disorienting since the mirrors reflected endlessly into each other, forcing him to pause, even 'blink' a few times as he tried to adjust himself without getting overwhelmed. The doorway was the only direction not throwing his vision off but that was locked and inaccessible to him.

"Is that so?" Nyton replied, listening for her boot steps to try and locate her through the mirrors.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"If you'll excuse me, I'll need your data recorder," Hinoto told him politely.

When he heard the weapon discharge from above, he understood too late. Finally honed warrior reflexes had him tense, attempt a last minute dodge... but when Hinoto's Nekovalkyrja Service Pistol discharged on its heavy setting right down into the space where he was enclosed, he was left with little to no fighting chance.

The barriers failed with the explosive attack, but then, so did his life. Hinoto had not even struck him directly, and instead had fired at the door behind him, making sure he had just no room to dodge in his impromptu prison.

The Nepleslian's charred corpse fell down heavily on its length, Nyton now nearly senseless. Most of his lower body had been withered to the bone and the rest was so badly mangled it was a miracle he had not been killed instantly. His universe was filled with pain and the loud, uncertain sound of his heartbeat.

In his last moment of life, what Nyton was the most aware of was Melisson's displeasure. She was not upset that he had been killed, but rather the timing chosen to kill him: without her to look after them, she felt their odds of being able to defeat Eve had diminished. She was annoyed that she had underestimated Hinoto, but on the other hand it had been a surprising upset.

Melisson liked when her prey struggled. It was more entertaining that way. Maybe it was better to have less control on the situation after all.

Then there was nothing else. Nyton was dead.

* * *

Hinoto looked down on the man she had more or less taken down like a butchered sheep and holstered her pistol before kneeling down and unsheathing her utility knife. She then hacked at the back of his skull to split it open and inserted one hand into his brain matter to fish around for his memory chip, shoveling it out of the way with her digits to reach the device's location.

Like Nyton had noticed, a shrinking violet she was no longer. So did Yukari make the same observation. It was a very grisly scene.

Hinoto's hand, slick and wet from her search, finally produced the recorder and wrenched it out along with some of its peripheral wiring. Quite aware that Yukari was eavesdropping, she said: "Shosa, please instruct Ashitaka-Heisho to start the revival process of a new Nepleslian body for Claymere-Taii. I will join him shortly to add this-" she closed her hand around the data recorder. "-to be incorporated into the hemosynthetic tank."

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Why ... ?!

Yukari was trying to stop herself from endlessly repeating the question in her mind. A dizzying storm of responses kept her from picking one, leaving her in the center with just the question, over and over and over.

She threw herself into Miharu, amidst all the infinite sums of data the computer processed every second. It was like jumping into a cold pool, feeling her Neko brain be overwhelmed by the processes around her, but it flushed her mind of the distraction of do something.

Analysis was her only answer.

Miharu helped her replay the incident in her head at lightning speed. Hinoto's succinct report, Nyton's cutting her off, the confession, the reply, the parting shot, the truly parting shot, and Hinoto's request.

Included in this was Hinoto's head wound, which Yukari got to see on the replay. That was present before the other events, so she started there.

She could not see the extent of the wound, but it did not bleed enough to make Hinoto faint, so it could not be that bad. The wound's cause was revealed with a very quick scan — some of Hinoto's blood-tipped hair was on the dark grey floor of the Sensor Dome.

Pulled out hair ... A struggle? Between Hinoto and Nyton? Why? Yukari filed that part away.

The confession was completely out-of-character for the cold-steel Taii of Nepleslia, a man of consummate professionalism and integrity. From Tom, such words might have meant something ... but from Nyton they only sounded awkward. Out of place. That he did not have to chew on every word as he spoke them made it even more strange.

What would cause such a confession? After all, the last time Nyton and Hinoto engaged in much conversation, Tom had to step in and mediate. Besides, what about Kotori?

Psychic attack was the obvious explanation, but the PSC registered no activity.

Hinoto's reaction was no less strange. She knew Nyton was not of sound mind. She said as much, but did not say why.

Nyton's last words were the key. A "condition." What kind of condition? Mental? Physiological? Cybernetic? When did it show up? How does it affect him, his subordinates, his commander? Why did it manifest now? Why does Hinoto have to cure it? There were no answers, only assumptions.

Assumptions aside, Hinoto felt strongly enough about it to end Nyton's life and remove his memory chip. Did she want answers? She could not modify the chip's contents without manually connecting it to some kind of reading/writing device, so answers were a likely scenario.

The wound bothered her. The events immediately before the confession/execution showed the avatar and the officer working together without entering two feet of each others' space. There was no struggle, no argument. Nothing to cause a head wound.

Miharu's virtual shrug as to why the evidence conflicted with her recording was a clear sign of a conspiracy. Hinoto was the likely source of it; she was capable of that level of manipulation, where Nyton was not.

Why would Hinoto let Yukari see the murder, though? Evidence was the best answer; evidence showing the murder was not out of cold blood, but to reveal something else. The cause of her injury? Miharu could do that, if Nyton was the cause. It had to be something only Nyton could prove. A conspiracy on his part?

She added it up. The only evidence that could confirm how Hinoto suffered a head wound was covered up by the victim. Hinoto then cleverly assassinated a fellow officer, in full view of the executive officer, after he uncharacteristically confessed his desires for her and sarcastically asked her not to give up on curing his condition, which was not described.

If a battle were not imminent ... Yukari breathed and decided.

"I trust you, Hinoto-san, but the Taisa will expect a complete explanation. Please do not keep us waiting long."

The orders to Sanjuro were succinct, and in text form in a glowy blue volumetric panel before his eyes.

Ashitaka-Heisho: Defer your current duties and begin manufacture of a Nepleslian body for Claymere-Taii, complete with the brain-based cybernetic data recorder system you have on file for him. Hinoto-san will be along shortly to provide the Taii's recorder chip.

Click to expand...

Now came the hard part: Speaking to the Taisa.

Telepathic speech, converted into a text panel, made the most sense.

Yukari introduced the events as something that occurred a few minutes ago, summarized those events as recorded, the evidence she had about what happened, and her basic conclusion: Hinoto-san's killing of Nyton Claymere was justified on its face due to a possible conspiracy on Nyton's part, but further investigation was required.

She ended the missive with, "I understand the need to keep this confidential from the crew while we are amid the battlefield. Nyton is being restored with his memory device in tact. What are your orders, Taisa?"

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kotori slapped on her console and quickly vaulted over it to land on the lower tier of the bridge before coming to a crouch next to Yukari's chair. She made eye contact with her XO and sent her: "What?!"

She looked a little shocked, but her outrage sounded stronger. "If I went and told you that Hinoto had murdered Tom and that the act was justified due to suspicion of conspiracy and then promptly asked you what we should do, would you have any fucking idea of how to react?!"

"Get an explanation from Hinoto before I storm out, rip off her arms and make her to eat them," Kotori added, her lips curled into a snarl, before she stood up again and made her way back to her station.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Yukari felt Kotori's intense rage through the telepathic connection. It made her wince a little in her chair, but she replied via telepathy with a quick "Yes, Taisa!" and snapped forward again, eyes wide behind her visor.

In an almost bemused way, Yukari thought that while she would not have reacted the same way Kotori had ... Kotori had done exactly as she was asked to do as commander: Issue orders.

Maybe it was that simple.

"Hinoto-san, the Taisa needs some answers immediately, so she can trust returning the Taii to duty. Can you start with how you suffered the wound to your head?"

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Hinoto, with her slimy prize in one hand, walked to the sensor dome's other doorway and opened it, making her way down to the medlab.

"I will do better than that," Hinoto sent via encrypted telepathy to Yukari. "I will transfer you my memories of the events as well as the non-falsified sensor logs which I segregated to my own memories to have a third-person view of the events. I will answer any question you have about the content."

Then Yukari received data that included audio and volumetric video content. The bandwidth of the file transfer exceeded the nekovalkyrja norm for telepathy, so, most of the content she got from Hoshi herself via the SPINE interface.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kyou did her best to mirror Asher's movement, on the other side. She positioned the drone already present at a distance directly behind the shuttle in case it would see the target before them. Settled into position she settled her finger on the trigger, since there was no need to watch for friendly fire any more.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

@Amaya's Gate:

Kai, with his fusion-thruster-assisted boost, was the first to get to the rear of the shuttle slightly before the drones, while Asher and Kyou ran over each side of the shuttle.

As his plasma rifle's sight lined up with his target, the Black Mindy, Kai realized he had just landed himself neck-deep into trouble. The Black Mindy was there, waiting for him, with her forearm scalar cannon already aimed at a stack of munitions.

Just as soon as Kai came in her sight, the scalar cannon fired a pulse at the ordonnance and the Black Mindy teleported away, with Kai's shot passing through the space his enemy had occupied... and his 'powder keg' exploded.

With the Cougar's shuttle open, most of the explosion was channeled back through the rear hatch... in Kai's direction. Luckily for Kai, he was just distant enough to avoid the blast being harmful to his Daisy, through the shockwave pushed him out strongly enough to send his Daisy beyond the hangar's atmospheric screen and out into space.

The explosion also ruptured the leg side of the shuttle and had the external mini-missile pod join in a sympathetic explosion that bowled Asher over. Asher's M6 power armor landed with a hard smack against the floor and the Malifarian was left seeing stars.

That same sympathetic explosion pushed the shuttle to the right, having it slam into the running Kyou and dragging her along with it as the momentum threatened to carry it into the nearby wall. Fortunately, the scrapped shuttle screeched to a halt with about a meter to spare all thanks to Sigurd - the Custodian War Android had made a grab for the shuttle's nose to force it to a stop. It was a tight fit, but Kyou's Daisy could still wiggle out.

Kai had flown past Mara's shuttle, whom had backed away at the explosion with a "Whoa!" Figuring the Heisho would be able to regain control, Mara eased the shuttle in and landed it in the hangar at a healthy distance away from the Cougar in case there was some ammunition that had not yet cooked off.

Mara spared a mournful look to the now twisted, burning wreck of the Cougar, thinking of Sanri. She opened the T4 Fox shuttle's rear hatch.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Dammit" Kai muttered to himself as he was given an extra boost out of the hangar. He tucked his body into a roll and used his and his suit's gravity manipulation to straighten out toward the hangar, before boosting back in, landing on the hangar deck with a clomp. As the Heisho landed on the deck, gravity reminded him that he was not immune to his own adrenaline, and he found his body to be shaking a bit from the events that had just happened.
"Asher! Kyou!" kai called, using the two heis given names for once "Report! are you unhurt?"

Inwardly, the Yamataian cursed himself for not having thought that clearly. in the heat of the moment he had made a bad decision, but fortunately it hadn't done more than really annoy him and make them lose munitions they could use in the upcoming battle.

"We need to keep the guard up in case they try to take advantage of this distraction." Kai pointed out, to any of the black knights whom might have been listening.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Understood," Sigurd let go of the shuttle and then turned to scan around, the War Android going into search mode.

Sigurd was an odd sight amongst his power armored comrades: a man of herculean proportions with a dark jumpsuit looking like it had been spraypainted over his prodigious muscles. It was like they had brought an alterophile enthusiast along with them.

"Heisho, the opponent teleported twice now. Assuming she fled, it will take two minutes to recharge her equipment."

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kai set his suit to do a self-diagnostic, to see how the Synthetic insert and different movement gear had been affected by the blast and the Heisho's little jaunt out in space. As he did so, he moved over towards the cougar shuttle and wedged himself between it and the hangar wall, pushing on the shuttle in the hopes of making it easier for Kyou to get out, he wanted his team ready as soon as possible.

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kyou wedged herself back out from behind the shuttle. "I'm fine, so far as I can tell. Just got shoved pretty hard. Dropped my gun though." She dusted herself off, looking around. She spotted her plasma rifle and trotted over to it, picking it up and inspecting it. "Looks like I'm set to go."

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Tom said:

"Eh, heh," Rin heard the embarrassed chuckle coming from Eiko. "I'm stuck in a crawlspace. I'm sorry, but I need someone to pull me out and I just noticed that you finished one of your jobs so you had a chance to free me. Could you help a poor sister out? Please~~~?"

Click to expand...

Rin facepalmed, or rather helmetpalmed. Her sister had gotten stuck in a crawlspace? How in the world did that happen? Though, how in the Blue Rift Expanse would be a better phrase to use than world, but that's not the point.

"Right.... Where are you now?" Rin replied, still in disbelief.