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

[Kokuten]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Me? Coverin' somethin? Naw! I ain't that cleva', y'know!" exclaimed Asher, throwing a hand up in the air. His mind was wracking for excuses to put forth to not reveal the truth and defy orders. Then, he recalled a piece of mythic advice his father had given him when daddy Westwood ever got in trouble with mommy Westwood. "Hey, Kyou. Anyone eva' tol' you how beautiful y'eyes are? Such a pretty yella'."

 

[Aendri]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kyou snorted. "Okay, now I know you're covering something up. If you were serious, it would've been my tits, not my eyes." She shook her head. "Come on. You can trust me."

 

[Doshii Jun]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Is she well, Hoshi?

Kotori clenched her fists. Despite that, Melisson persisted: "Be reasonable. You've succeeded. The nightmare is over," and then more softly: "There is nothing you can do for the Second Draconian Fleet. Go home."

All of the conversation to that point was, in Yukari's mind, mere confirmation. Melisson might have engineered the events, but by her own admission, Miharu and her crew achieved their own success.

However ... to be told to go home in such a way. As if Melisson was a caring parent! Trying to save her children from emotional strife they simply were not prepared for! To reach this point and be waved off back home, when the true goal — tipping the scales of war in Yamatai's favor — was not yet achieved?

The condescension! Not to mention the ignorance!

There would be no laurels waiting at home. No grand recognition. Likely not even a small medal ceremony. They were on a mission apart from SAINT, from the fleets, from all but Yui-sama. Yui-sama could not acknowledge what they did; how they subverted the very Yamataian military by breaking off from it. Kessaku-dono would quietly murder them in their sleep, were she to find out. What was that to look forward to?

As all knowing as Melisson was, she was woefully unlearned.

"What a fool," she said.

 

[Kai]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

At this point, Kai got tired of being ignored, and tired of the inane bickering going on between Kyou and Asher. He Knew what had happened, even if he had died since the first revelation, the second time being his first as far as this Kai was concerned, Kai had known Asher before and known he had not simply come aboard, and could put two and Two together.

"Kyou. Asher is an Illegal clone of himself. As far as we know, the original Asher is still alive, somewhere, and this Asher, Here, Now, was created without his consent while he is still living. According to Yamataian Law, he is illegal and cannot exist. Though to be frank, I doubt that matters anymore. By now, the Asher before us will have become an entirely different person, unlike the original. So, Asher, shut up, they aren't going to kill you. The worst they will do is refuse to ST you if you manage to die out here."

Moving closer to the two other PA pilots, Kai grabbed the cable from his Saber rifle he had pilfered, and pointed it at Kyou. "Gunshin-hei, will you please help me install this, I know less about it than you do."

 

[Kokuten]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Sheesh, Naka-boss, I'm juss' sayin'. I know Koto-boss iss' pretty loose when it comes t'regulations, but still, y'neva know. I'm juss' rememberin' some of tha' horror stories I wass' told in basic 'bout clones." Asher shrugged, before throwing a finger in Kai's direction, "N'why do ya think I wass' tryin' t'hide it afta' I said that?"

He tilted his head forward for a moment, as if waiting for Kai to answer, but didn't give him the time. He continued on with a bit of aggravation in his voice, "'Cause iss' supposed t'be a fuckin' secret, y'moron! Usin' clones iss' a bullshit Neppo tactic, an' iss' disgraceful to a Yammie vessel. N'despite how fuckin' awesome I am at killin' shit, the fact that I wass' illegally cloned iss' somethin' y'not supposed t'blurt out."

 

[Aendri]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kyou shrugged. "Well, it's not like I'm going to tell anybody." She gestured broadly around her. "I mean, who could I even tell? Melisson?" Nonetheless, she stood up, leaning her rifle against the wall instead of her leg, and made her way over to Kai, carefully taking the saber from him. "For the record, I don't know much more, if anything, then you about this. All I know is that you're supposed to connect this cable," and she gestured with it, "to the main power just like you would in a Mindy. Then you just use your controls in the armor to have it route all power drain to the capacitors."

 

[Fred]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

@Bridge:

Melisson appeared unaware of Yukari's scorn. Her blood-red eyes remained on Kotori and she asked: "Well Kotori-chan? What will it be?"

The Taisa remained silent for several long seconds before she closed her eyes. "I do not want to die. I also do not want to lose my home," Kotori said softly before ordering: "Shosa, move us out of the Shlarvasseroth's way."

Technically, there was little need to move Miharu. The Mishhuvurthyar flagship could've easily swerved around the smaller light cruiser with minimal effort. The gesture might have been more symbolic than anything else.

To Yukari, Hoshi responded:

The MEGAMI is functional and operating as well as can be. She's just interacting little and delegating more tasks to me than usual.

@Armor Bay:

"Your power supply has insufficient output to support the function of that aetheric saber-rifle," Nimura said as she passed Kyou and Kai by, referring to the Daisy 1A-style capacitors the M10 he was operating had been equipped with. "If our next combat venue allows for aether weaponry, you will need BU-M20 battery packs."

The sprite then walked out of the armor bay.

 

[Doshii Jun]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

A small part of Yukari's mind caught Hoshi's reply. The rest was devoted to steeling herself against her sudden urge to strangle Kotori.

If this is not a ploy ...

"Yes, Taisa," she loudly said, making sure Melisson heard her. She gently angled Miharu and added enough thrust to put a 3-kilometer gap between them and the edge of the enemy vessel's estimated CDD.

She must have a reason, Hoshi. Trust her for now.

 

[Fred]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"A wise decision," Melisson acknowledged graciously. Not unkindly, she concluded their conversation with: "Have a good life, Kotori."

Melisson's volumetric projection died and was replaced again by the earlier situational display. Not longer after the Mishhuvurthyar flagship - more than 8000 times the size of Miharu - swept past them and leisurely cruised toward the Gate.

Kotori stood mutely, struggling to find the proper words to convey to the others why she was about to send them all on a suicide mission. Why she found it important enough to risk throwing everything they had away.

Melisson was going to enslave the Second Draconian Fleet to further her own schemes and Miharu had a slim chance beyond the Gate to stop her from doing so. That slim chance wasn't much, but it would be more than anyone would have once Melisson secured that prize.

Melisson's promises of regaining the safety of home were tortuously tantalizing. Kotori was battered, tired and suffering from mortality pangs - she wanted to believe she could just stop, be safe and rest. She wanted to believe that it was possible to go back home and that somehow things would work out... but even then, how long until the shadows of Melisson's pilfered ships blotted out Yamatai's skies?

A good life indeed. Huh.

But when the time came for her to speak, she said none of that. Kotori would not make her crew follow her on account of grand causes: she had already selfishly had them put to risk - alone - for her own foolish sensibilities. She was not going to stop taking responsability.

"Melisson doesn't -chan me and get away with it," she declared in a blatant show of princessly capriciousness. "Yukari, eject our Soul Savior Pod."

 

[Doshii Jun]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

The Shosa's face went from ashen to smirking. "Roger, Taisa!" she said in Yamataian, entering the command to eject the pod.

We come for you, Melisson! We come for you!

 

[Tom]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Tom closed his eyes and took a slow breath. Kotori had made her move, and he just had to trust that it was the right one.

What laid before them was certainly unfair... and Tom struggled with that, having to accept that everyone, his friends and coworkers, would most likely die out here.

But there was an odd comfort in finding the role destiny held for you, a comfort which tempered the fear within him. There was comfort knowing that he fought alongside Yukari, that he was with her. There was comfort in Nyton's tactical prowess, Kotori's firm leadership, the skill of his technicians and the ferocity of Miharu's pilots.

They at least had a shot!

And then there was revenge. How sweet it would feel to at least blacken the eye of the woman who robbed them all these years and threatened to destroy their homes.

And he couldn't walk away from that. Not now. He at least had to try.

It was selfish, but it was the right thing to do.

"Taisa," he said, opening his eyes. "I believe I have the CFS configuration you ordered ready. Standing by."

 

[Nyton]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Nyton closed his eyes and smugly nodded. With a slight turn he then faced Kotori's direction and thinly smiled. "Excellent show, your highness. I knew you would not be so easily broken off. The full might of your soldiers are at your command to bring you victory. We shall make her regret 'allowing' us to live, Kotori-dono!" he declared.

"Nakamura-Heisho, you're in charge of ensuring everyone gets suited up, on the double. We're moving to engage Melisson inside the null-aether dimension so plan accordingly." Nyton then telepathically messaged to Kai. They were going to fight inside the rift and they needed to be ready.

 

[Rabbit Eclair]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Miyoko did her best to stay focused on her work, trying to ignore the conversation happening around her, but it wasn't easy. With the stakes that they were playing with, she couldn't help but eavesdrop a little. Hearing Melisson that confident-sounding... well, it was good motivation to make her work faster, at least.

Once she'd put together her best estimates of the conditions inside the rift, she transmitted them to Tom, suggesting a few last-minute changes to the CFS model they'd put together.

 

[Fred]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Kotori hopped down from the elevated portion of the bridge's deck to stand by Yukari's left and bent down, resting one hand on the edge of the console as she turned her head toward Yukari. "Then we're as ready as we'll ever be. Yukari, go in-"

Her sentence was cut off by a small alarm coming from aether sensors, whom registered a massive power buildup. The SMX flagship, its triple-claws crackling with power, broke off its slow approach to blur right over the front of the Gate in a superluminal jump.

As Melisson's vessel made to cross, its crackling triple-claw array widened enough so that the ship no longer could quite fit inside the ringed structure. The amount of energy coursing around the giant metal talons however made for gargantuan-size improved aether sabers whom could deliver to the Gate's reinforced structure the kind of damage that had been out of reach from the light cruiser.

Kotori reared back in open-mouthed astonishment as the Shlarvasseroth plowed through and then disappeared into the portal just as Amaya's Gate broke apart around the three new seams the Mishhuvurthyar vessel has cut into it, with the anti-matter generators inside blowing up and ripping each of the segments inside out.

Without the Gate to maintain it, the portal shrunk and collapsed on itself. "Yukari!" Kotori shouted, not giving an order so much as calling her XO to action - the modifications to the CFS allowing, there might still be a chance Miharu could punch through the thinning veil between dimensions and stay in pursuit of Melisson.

 

[Doshii Jun]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Yukari hardly waited for her commander to shout.

The Shosa hammered the throttle up to 35 c, to shove it right into the gap within 5,000 meters of Melisson's vessel. She angled whatever shielding capability they had to the fore, in order to brush off sublight engine wash that was waiting for them on the other side.

 

[Tom]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

Tom was monitoring the energy and heat levels of Miharu, adjusting as necessary to make sure that Yukari's push for the gate would be well-powered.

"Come on Miharu! Let's rock!"

 

[Kai]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Hai, Claymere-Taii" Kai answered, before turning to the others in the Armor bay with him, suddenly droppingthe Aether weapon as if it were poisonous. "Seems we can't use these anyway." he muttered, looking to Kyou. "Grab weapons that are not Aether-powered, if you can help it- the Zesuaiam blade may be a help, but the weapon itself is too much of a hindrance to make up for it. LASR's, plasma rifles, and I suppose grab a positron rifle if there are enough. We have to-"

Kai was cut off as he noticed the stars outside of the Hangar bay change suddenly- they were now on the move, apparently into the gate, though aside from that he had no clue what was going on. He mastered himself quickly and continued. "We have to be ready for combat at any moment. That includes you, Westwood-hei." His M10's helmet turned toward the Malifaran. "we can worry about your arm later."

 

[Nyton]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

As everyone leaped into a mad rush to catch up to Melisson, Nyton quickly examined the data from the destruction of the Gate. Using the readings from the sensors he tried to route real time updates of the energy fluctuations to allow the modifications to the CFS a better chance to compensate. Hopefully it would be enough to help punch through now that the Gate was no longer holding the rift stable.

One other thing Nyton checked for was the whereabouts of Sigurd. The last thing he recalled regarding the android was that it had gone to the Gate's control room. After that though it had stood by while the rest of them made their exit. It was a low priority given the urgency of the situation but one he had to at least attempt given how faithfully the android had served them.

 

[Kokuten]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

"Psh! Y'actin' like I'm some kinda' cripple! Heh heh heh." Asher chuckled generously, flexing his bad arm, despite the pain. "I can deal wit this', n'I c'n definitely do wit'out this Black Mindy piece a'shit." The Malifarian tossed the saber-rifle aside without care for it's condition as he wobbled himself up. He had something mind that was just as good for these kind of situations. Something he had failed to use against Meni and Mani since it was too... explosive.

"I'll tell you what I can't do wit'out, though." Asher continued to let the mirth go, getting a little more excited with each step to his old Daisy. His hands wrapped around his old 50mm Gauss Rocket Launcher, and pulled from the deactivated armor. "Dis' here Can Open'a'll take out any big piece a'shit what thinks iss' balls a'big 'nuff t'take us on." His hands drummed over the lucious piece of equipment before stepping down to the Daisy's leg magazine holders and putting the spare 50mm magazines in his own leg holders.

 

[Fred]

Re: Mission 5: Amaya's Gate

With the most alacrity its engines could muster, Miharu made a dive for the dying gateway. The ship disappeared into a mess of trans-dimensional eddies and was swallowed up by them, the rift closing up seconds after the light cruiser's tail had disappeared.

CONTINUED IN MISSION 5, PART 2: THE FIGHT FOR THE LOST