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

[Kokuten]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Looks like tha' crew did just 'bout as well as we did." Asher said, taking sight of the Miharu through the cockpit's view. It's twisted shape, and the extent of the damage made it look like a wounded comrade on the battlefield crying out for help. As a soldier, he wanted to do something, but this sort of thing was beyond the helping of the Malifarian. So, instead, he stood out of his chair as the shuttle landed, lightly patting the wound under his left arm. It didn't hurt as much as it did, but it was still there, still limiting him.

He shook his panty-wearing head, disposing his thoughts for the moment, and turning to walk towards the ramp.

"Well boss, wass' tha' word?" asked Asher, stepping into the area in the rear of the shuttle, looking directly at Nyton.

 

[Doshii Jun]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Bad news first, Yukari thought. She used telepathically written text.

"Taisa:
We have a maximum of 75 percent of our CFS capacity;
we have no torpedo capabilities;
we are slowly leaking coolant, which is at 80 percent of maximum capacity with no reserves remaining;
we have lost at least 30 percent of our sublight maneuvering and speed capabilities;
our fold system was destroyed;
we have five of six particle turrets, but we have lost one of our reactors;
our energized armor is off-line;
and we have four crew dead, two armored."

Now good news.

"We have rendered the Takumi's main bridge inoperable, but Eve is likely not dead and we have dealt only superficial damage to all other parts of the vessel's vital systems.
Its tachyon communication array, likely necessary for its Type 31 electronic warfare system to function, was also destroyed.
Hinoto-san eliminated 48 enemy power armor that attempted to infiltrate Miharu, and three more were killed by Junko-san and Suzume-san."

 

[Fred]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Thank you for holding Takumi at bay," Kotori responded to her XO. "What's Takumi's status? What is she doing?"

 

[Doshii Jun]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"She has deployed psionic amplifiers and has raised her shields," Yukari replied. "She is moving at sublight speed to the Gate."

 

[Nyton]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Nyton saw the destruction wrought upon the Miharu and wondered how they would even get home at this rate. With a sigh he began to grow restless. The AIES link with the ship was now restored and communication between the personnel aboard could now be heard along with Asher's request for orders.

"Black Knights, looks like our job isn't done. While we were busy invading the enemy's fortress, the enemy managed to infiltrate our citadel." he broadcast. "Let's make ourselves useful and help out where we can. We'll unload the gear and consolidate what's left for another assault. All Armors in need of repairs must get serviced. We need to get back to full fighting trim. I want the technology we stole from the Gate analyzed. We might find something to give us an edge against the enemy if we scan it fast enough. I also want all the dead enemy units rounded up and stripped of any tech and intel. The enemy AIES may have information we can use. Salvage everything we can people, we're working on a much tighter budget now."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The sounds of battle outside the medical lab had subsided right as Ayumu stepped up with her own pistol drawn. "Everyone please step away from the door. I'll..... I'll check..... who it is." she said. Hiding her fear as best she could, she felt as though she were walking towards her own death.

Azuki continued covering the door while Ayumu verified who was knocking.

"Four Caretaker Personnel are confirmed outside the door. The enemy is no longer near." Miharu told the nurse. With a sigh of relief Ayumu opened the door and admitted the four Caretakers in.

Then came the orders to revive personnel. "Azuki, could you please begin working on reviving the deceased while I tend to these patients?" she said, trying to remain calm despite Akiko's crying.

 

[Fred]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Very well," Kotori returned. "I don't see us facing that juggernaut head on in our condition, so we'll have piranha bite it down to size first."

"Takumi's shields are powerful, but they predated the upgrade against anti-mishhuvurthyar shield tech so our particle cannons should still shear through. The psionic amplifiers are going to be redundant if we can close within 5000 meters of them before we attack and they won't be able to cause us any harm at greater range."

"So, close attack passes will be ideal. We'll use particle cannons to disable her four CFS nacelles - we might not be able to destroy them in a handful of shots, but if we disable enough of them with that positive electrical surge, we'll get her shields down. That'll be our opening to fire a couple of main gun shots at choice spots. Maybe we can get some of own teleporters in to make surgical strikes - I'll check with Nyton and Tom shortly."

"I doubt she'll just watch us do this, though. Keep our ventral side toward her: the armor there is in better condition, and it gives us three turrets to fire with. Her remaining weapons are nose and dorsal mounted, so try to stick to her underside if she goes on the offensive. I'm counting on our speed and proximity being more than what the raker dome can track," Kotori finished with as she deployed Surtur's psionic amplifier fins.

"Nyton, Tom," Kotori then transmitted. "Prepare me two teleporters. Use either an M2 Mindy or one of those M10 Daisy power armors stored in our bays and equip them with a double-teleporter as well as the best weaponry we have on hand - those Type 27 Meni-Custom Aether weapons could do. Choose two of your soldiers and prepare them to teleport to Takumi to perform surgical strikes."

"Tom, as soon as can manage, direct repairs to the ship. We've namely a coolant leak that must be stopped in short order. Nyton, you'll have your remaining infantry stand ready for the next fight. Rearm, repair as needed."

 

[Aendri]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kyou stepped out of the ship, still holding one of the swords and the teleportation unit they'd managed to salvage. "Sir, where should I take these? The fabrication bay?" As she waited, her mind was racing. As damaged as we are, we can't afford to make this a fair, even fight. The fact we're still planning on taking the fight to them must mean the Taisa has something in mind, but what?

 

[Kokuten]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Well, boss, last time I checked, which wass' 'bout two year's ago mind you, I was n'armorer. I cn'get 'round t'servicin' and doin any hands-on work wit' our armors if needed." Offered Asher, his gaze following around the bay. He himself didn't know if there was any personnel left for such duties on hand, but he was more than willing to handle their war gear.

 

[Doshii Jun]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Yukari nodded, though it was to herself. "Yes, Taisa."

She took a breath in, slowly let it out, then began.

"Heisho," she said, without looking at Miyoko. "I am granting you a temporary battlefield promotion to Santô Juni. Congratulations. Assist Azuki-san and the others in the medical bay. If Ashitaka-Heisho objects or fails to follow your orders, stun him."

"Hinoto-san," she continued. "You are now my gunner, as well. I will require the most precise timing for what we are attempting to do." She telepathically relayed Kotori's orders. "There will be times when we have as little as a quarter of a second to fire. The first couple passes I am computing now, along with possible maneuvers by the enemy, but eventually we will be reduced to chance attacks."

Yukari planned the first pass on the monitor. It involved a jump that put them about 4,500 meters of Takumi's CFS nacelles, and just a bit below the ship's horizon, but with the ventral side facing the enemy. That would provide Hinoto with a clear shot using the ventral turrets, and she was ready to jump away the moment shots were fired.

"Agreed?"

 

[Fred]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Hinoto stood from her seat and gestured to herself. "Hoshi will not let you down, Shosa."

 

[Nyton]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Roger that Taisa." Nyton replied as the shuttle landed. "Alright we got some marching orders. Gunshin, those teleportation units are to be attached to a pair of M10 Daisy suits. Freeman, Westwood, get those suits prepped and attach the teleporters. Gunshin, you and I will get the weapons payload ready for the suits. The setup will focus on heavy assault weapons along with those saber rifles we stole. Gunshin and Westwood are to use these suits for surgical strikes against the Takumi. As soon as Westwood and Gunshin are ready we'll focus on restoring the rest of us."

"Mara, you and Tsuya work on salvaging parts and supplies to get us restored. Nimura if you're still injured I need you to get to medical to get treatment, otherwise stay and assist. Ichigo, take those circuit boards and get them ready to be scanned before returning to assist Mara. We're running short on infantry so I'll need you to stay with us."

As soon as the hatch opened Nyton moved quickly to work with everyone to get equipment out. As soon as that was done he pulled Kyou towards the weapons to get them ready for the surgical strike suits.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The medical center was beginning to grow busier and Ayumu was becoming slightly overwhelmed. She directed Nao to lay down again while trying to pull the unmoving Shizuka and Chisako over to another examination table. Azuki was also rushing about to get Masako and Kai's bodies ready for revival. Alerts of more injured personnel arriving were popping up as the medical center reactivated from low power mode to full operational capacity. "Doctor! We could use another hand out here!" shouted the beleaguered nurse as she checked for Shizuka and Chisako's vitals.

 

[Rabbit Eclair]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

When Miyoko saw the Takumi's bridge rupture, she dared to think that the fight might be over just for a moment... and then the vessel struck back, giving as good as it had taken. She did her best to effect damage control through the resulting bombardment, trying to throw off the enemy's shots, but it was a little hard to do effectively with the entire ship shuddering around her. The crashing ventilation system sounded close enough to a teleporting power armor to her rattled nerves that she nearly jumped out of her seat. The smell of ashes and ozone filled the air again, and this time, it was likely here to stay, thanks to the room's now-poor circulation.

"Heisho," she said, without looking at Miyoko. "I am granting you a temporary battlefield promotion to Santô Juni. Congratulations. Assist Azuki-san and the others in the medical bay. If Ashitaka-Heisho objects or fails to follow your orders, stun him."

"Thank you, Shosa," Miyoko said, her voice still a little shaky from the shock of nearly having the Miharu explode around her. In this situation, she couldn't get too excited over explicit permission to stun Sanjuro. That conflict, the central thing on her mind for some time, didn't even matter when viewed on the scale things were operating on now.

The violet-haired Yamataian pushed herself to her feet sorely and turned to walk out of the room, then paused and turned back to Yukari and lowered herself in a formal bow. "It has been an honor to serve under you today. Now please, get us out of here in one piece, Sho--Yukari." She gave the Shosa a wan smile, then turned and limped off the bridge. As she did so, she drew and armed her pistol--with as many intruders as the ship had had, she wasn't about to be careless walking its halls alone. Even though the weapon would barely even annoy a power armor, it was better than nothing.

 

[Kokuten]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Ha ha! Alright!" Asher said gleefully, yanking up one of the teleporters. Another fight? Yes sir! On the Takumi? Hell yeah! This was a grand opportunity, to use the enemy's teleportation technology against them, and then kill them shortly after doing so. Now, the ball was going to start in their court, at least, in the eyes of the armorer. "C'mon, Free-boss! Less' slap these babies on those M10's!" urged Asher, waiting on Tom to follow through.

 

[Aendri]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kyou set the teleportation pack down on the bay floor, so Asher could grab it, before getting pulled away by Nyton. "Sir? Why Asher and myself? Wouldn't it be better to send someone like yourself with the extra power? I'm inexperienced..." She hefted the blade. I only survived because of luck, not any special skill...

 

[Fred]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Ichigo wasn't happy with her orders. How did Nyton expect her to go and analyze those crystal plates while in the middle of a fight. She wasn't a scientist and it would clearly take a lot longer to poke and pry at them.

The Daisy-suited Heisho had her way to the nearby cargo compartment to deposit the plates in a sturdy container, which she secured so that the samples would remain safe until they could be attended to by professionals.

She then transmitted to Nyton: "Respectfully, Sir, I would feel more useful in engineering. It's unfeasible to research and salvage during a pitched firefight. Seeing how heavily Miharu was damaged you should understand how a senior technician down there could help hold the fort until Freeman-Juni is done helping you."

"Me too, me too!" Mara added. "There's a free seat in the bridge. I'll go fill it up! Besides, you'll need someone to plot those teleport coordinates!" Unlike Ichigo, Mara did not ask permission to leave and just dashed off.

Nimura walked out of the shuttle stark naked and proceeded to mount one of the vacant M6 Daisy armors (which was actually the first one she had worn, which had been patched up since then).

* * *

Hinoto settled in the seat Miyoko had vacated. "Ventral particle cannons charged and ready," the white-haired sprite announced. "That compromised anti-matter containment unit for the dorsal port turret... if we wait for a gap in Takumi's shields I think we could eject it and then use graviton beams snag the containment unit and fling it toward the enemy ship."

 

[Nyton]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"I said get them ready for analysis. We've got more pressing stuff going on but I want them set up so Miharu can run some tests while we work. That is if the cocky girl can split her attention enough to do so." Nyton said knowing full well the ship was listening to their comm link.

"I wanted you to return and be on hand because you're one of my few combat experienced engineers in case we get called up immediately. Otherwise I'm just waiting on Masako and Kai to be revived to take your place along with Freeman once he's done working here." Nyton concluded before switching over to Kyou.

"Gunshin, as much as I would love to go over there and strike out at the enemy I have to remain here. Right now you're the only other soldier ready enough to go. You managed to survive so that's enough for me to have confidence in your abilities. Now let's get to work." Nyton then messaged over to Kyou before going back to work.

 

[Fred]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"I love you too, Taii" Miharu snarkily replied. "But you're asking for hours, if not days, of work done in minutes. I propose we worry over analyzing those if we survive."

Ichigo sighed and opened communication with the subdeck. "That leak is still going on. Anyone down there equipped for heavy duty EVA work?"

"I can try and do it," Junko responded from down in the subdeck, still over the broken corpse of the last Mindy II she defeated.

"Good luck!" Ichigo returned and closed the channel. She then returned to the shuttle and dragged out Nimura's previous power armor - the Daisy that had been crippled in the back - with the intent of dragging it back to a holding harness where she could either do repair work or scavenge it.

Nimura finished donning her scarred Daisy armor and, helmet under the arm, hurried to join up with Tom and Nyton. "I looked up the inventory and we're nearly out of heavy ordonnance. I'd advice you equip the teleporters with capacitor packs instead." Each pair of capacitors (on lower leg and shoulder hardpoints) would store enough power to renew one teleporter charge.

 

[Nyton]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Nyton smirked at Miharu's reply. "Oh sorry, I guess I mistook you for a smarter ship. At least a scan of it's material make up, something to let us know just what Eve has been working with all this time. That's fine though, it wasn't something I expected any huge returns on, just a clue maybe." he replied back to the ship, still provoking her before returning his attention to Ichigo. She had just shown him how critical she was in engineering and he knew every hand was needed to repair the ship.

"I looked up the inventory and we're nearly out of heavy ordinance. I'd advise you equip the teleporters with capacitor packs instead."

"That's a good idea Nimura. Ichigo, help us out with your valuable skills to get these suits ready faster and you can return to engineering all the sooner." Nyton remarked as he scanned over weapons inventories. Nimura's grim analysis was proving right but he still went over the numbers just to get an idea on how much ammunition they still had available.

 

[Tom]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Frankly, Tom was stunned by the damage he had witnessed to the Miharu. It was not a feeling completely unlike Mara's, but not one of mortality. For the Chief Engineer, it was as if he was witnessing the slow, painful suffering of a child under his care.

The Taisa's orders came through... a coolant leak was particularly dangerous to the ship's survival. Imagine everything slowly grinding to a halt as metal glowed and slagged, then, finally, as the heat became too much, explosions from the generators that would consume them all.

And the sprites... they needed him there. He had to stabilize the emotions that were no doubt about to boil over among the technicians.

So the order to attach teleportation units to a couple of armors while everyone in the subdeck suffered was particularly insulting to Tom and his sense of professionalism.

"Sir," Tom shot out to Nyton. "I trust your tactical leadership on the battlefield, so I strongly suggest you trust your engineering crew on matters regarding the ship. Nimura, Westwood-hei and yourself are more than capable of modifying power armors."

His anger at everything: Nyton's order, the condition of the ship, the deaths of his friends, the disfigurement of the Taisa, was barely contained as he continued.

"If you feel uncomfortable doing this job yourself, then I can assign a technician to assist you, but RIGHT NOW, the ship's in bad shape, the technician crew is in disarray and Ichigo-Heisho and I have more important things to attend to than armors and goddamn scientific analysis!"

 

[Nyton]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Right then and there Nyton could have used his emotional suppression programs. He was like an alcoholic craving a drink right now but he refused it. Perhaps he should have because it was taking everything he had not to snap. However he had already had his fill of complaining from every direction.

"First off Freeman, I was simply relaying the Taisa's orders to you. Second, you and Ichigo are the closest engineers present not having to drag one out who is already busy working to fix this ship. Third, this isn't just some nifty little gadget we pulled off our shelf, it's stolen enemy technology which could use an experienced eye on it." Nyton began saying as he approached Tom. His voice was calm and yet there was an edge to it barely hidden beneath the surface.

"But since you two insist on running to your cave and doing something else even though we have no time to waste in order to win this battle then go ahead." he continued. At this point Nyton's voice was still calm but that edge was breaking through the surface in the form of bitter wrath.

"However understand this: If you're going to disobey a direct order from the Taisa and myself just because you believe you have a higher calling then you're going to have to get through me first." By now Nyton had unslung his LASR and pulled a round in the chamber.

"So either put the teleporter on the armor or get the hell off the deck." the Nepleslian stated coldly.