RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 5 Prologue] A breath of fresh vacuum

[Miyako]

Misaki tapped her nose in thought, sitting over her finished meal a few minutes longer. She had to think what was best for the ship, but at the same time it also meant what was best for the crew. I'll put her on the search team, Taisa. As long as she is not in command it won't be a problem, a solid goal might help her. Would you like me to join you for the interview? It wasn't surprising the officer knew most of what was going on in the ship, she kept a constant dialogue with CHARISMA over some of her more secured channels of data. She would take the two fighters with her, for sure. A list was already formulating by the time she put her dishes away and floated back into the main passageway.

The XO sent a first draft to Hanako:

-By Mission Rank

--Kurusu Misaki

--Yamamoto Hotaru

--Cherry

--Kurosora Kim

--Konoka Miyazawa

--A Pilot (Qualified Standby Support Role/Shuttle and site evac to Eucharis)

Did you prefer a much larger team than this? Since our first priority is to locate and evacuate those soldiers, I did not think it prudent to have a much more cumbersome team for the first sortie.

The crew change seemed very well rounded to the soldier, they lost one man and gained another one, or would if he did not burn an Imperial flag sometime during the interview. Hanako was one of the most compelling people she knew in that there was a great kindness in her, but that was matched by her will during military operations. The more she interacted with the other woman, the more she wanted to understand with feeling as much as mull around logically. She stopped in the passageway, and sent herself into a slow spin while thinking, and waiting to hear a reply.

Kage-Sosha, the Nishizaki twins transferred if you weren't aware already, so please make note to reassign their duties around. She remembered to remind the Chief Engineer in case he had been busy with the work on the main weapon.

 

[Gamerofthegame]

Cherry would suddenly loom over Nana's shoulder like a something that looms of people's shoulders in a sudden fashion and can be references for comparison with, say, a Neko looming over another Neko's shoulder. She did so without much warning, not needing to be exactly quiet with zee banging after she got rid of Blueberry. Or whatever, not like there were return details on the subject matter.

She whispered into her companion's fuzzy ear; "Toasters tend to not get broken and need fixing. They just get broken and need replacing." ... Which could go with a lot of things in life, couldn't it? "And doing that won't fix anything. You best go if you're going to do that." She spoke in a slight museful tone, not that that is a word.

... And for some reason she felt as if something far, far away went wrong... Horribly wrong. It was a thought that popped into the back of her head. She ignored it, naturally. Actually, ignoring wouldn't be the proper word. She didn't even have the capacity to notice it; She wasn't some sort of Seer neko in disguise, after all.

 

[Krieg]

"..Who's trying to tell me what won't work? I think I'd know if something I was doing wouldn't work, Cherry, I'm not a moron." There was the slightest edge to Nana's voice, now, and she suddenly dropped her wrench, which landed on the floor with a loud clatter. Flexing her fingers, she quickly rose and turned, stalking out of the armor bay, though not before she glanced over her shoulder with very distant, sad eyes.

"..They won't need to be replaced if I fix them. Nothing will. Nobody will need to throw anything away."

Her nose wrinkled, and a few of the hairs atop her head bristled in the manner of an animal raising its hackles. She then closed her eyes, heading out into the corridor, pulling her goggles up onto her head and peeling her gloves off with her teeth.

Nana hung her head and groaned in frustration once she was out of earshot, placing her palm against her forehead with a heavy sigh and finally allowing herself to slide down, her bum planting itself against the ground.

 

[Wes]

When the airlock opened to reveal Karei, Hanako immediately thought to herself "He is...so cute." After a brief moment, she off the surprise and said, "In the Star Army, we bow to superior officers, not salute." This was a recurring problem...and she wondered if some training instructor somewhere was getting his laughs off of suggesting it to the new people. In any case, Karei knew know and so she didn't expect to see him saluting again.

Not giving him a chance to apologize over the minor goof, Hanako continued. "Come in and we will get you settled. Have you ever been on a Plumeria-class before? No? That is fine. Remember that most of the ship's main compartments are built around a central main zero-gravity passageway."

Grabbing some of Karei's luggage, she led him from the airlock area to the aforementioned passageway, from which he could see down six stories to the bottom of the ship. Stepping into it, she pointed to various doorways and hatches. "Deck one forward - the bridge, where you and I will work together. To the aft is the wardroom. The ship is too small for a proper mess hall so we all dine there. Deck two has the crew lounge and crew cabins. We will assign you a cabin there. Deck three is the recreation area and medical lab, as well as access to the armor and shuttle bays. Below there, there are mostly bays and systems."

The captain briskly led Karei into the crew lounge.

As Taisa Hanako moved, she had telepathically answered the message from her first officer:

That team sounds good. I am also considering putting the new intel officer on team for experience purposes. Pineapple should be happy to pilot for you. We may also want to assign a backup team just in case.

 

[Eric]

Karei would have blushed if he had allowed himself. He abhorred making mistakes, and hoped it wouldn’t hurt the ever important first impression. He was going to apologize for the misstep, but decided not to interrupt Hanako to do so. He did hate to apologize so he was rather thankful she didn’t even give him the chance. Once more the captain surprised him by grabbing some of his luggage, and going on with her introduction. He followed her and was amused by all of her rhetorical questions. He hadn’t been on a plumeria before, but he did have some knowledge on its schematics.

His footsteps were nearly soundless as he followed her, listening to everything she said, his eyes looking to everything she was pointing to and indicating. As he walked though his excitement grew, he could not wait to prove his worth to the Taisa. In recent years he had wondered if his brilliance was self-invented, and if it would amount to anything. His new career path would be the test, and he hoped to pass with flying colors.

Once more those cerulean eyes looked to the captain, and he couldn’t help but notice her hair. Though of course he would never comment on something so insignificant, he found the colors pleasing.

“A magnificent ship,” he commented as he followed her into the crew lounge, “I hear the sensors are top-of-the-line as well.”

 

[Wes]

"Yes," Hanako grinned, looking very pleased, "Eucharis has a unique set of sensors...I have had extra equipment added such as Quantum Mirrors and a telepathic activity scanner."

After Hanako crossed the red-carpeted lounge, she went to one of the many small single doors around its circular edge and touched a small control panel next to it. The door slid to one side, allowing her to lead the way into one of the crew cabins and set the luggage she'd carried in the back near the double set of storage lockers. The room smelled faintly of...girls. It had definitely been lived in.

The Taisa apologized: "This room was just left by two of our technicians who just transferred out. It is all yours now, at least until you get a roommate. Once you get settled in, please report to the armor bay and get ready for a ground mission. You will need three days of supplies. I will be holding a briefing soon. Do you have any questions?"

 

[Miyako]

Misaki sighed and rubbed her eyes, still in that little subtle ballet created by the utility of a zero-g passage. It always helped her think. A list went out to everyone on her final team, coded priority to them personal. Volumetric displays popped in front of them simultaneously all across the ship.

Attn: All crew members listed are to prepare for three days survival immediately. Following the briefing this team, hereby known as Alpha, will take part in the rescue. Details will be given at the briefing.

-By Mission Rank:

--Kurusu Misaki

--Yamamoto Hotaru

--Cherry

--Kurosora Kim

--Konoka Miyazawa

--Pineapple Standby Support Role/Shuttle and site evac to Eucharis)

--Kanashii Karei

The next team was drafted and sent as quickly as the first.

The following soldiers will be Bravo for the upcoming mission. Please ensure you have proper supplies for three days. Extra details will be provided at the briefing.

--Hanako Taisa

--Blueberry

--Nana

--Endo Kumiko

--Nakishi Seraphina, provided this soldier arrives before we depart.

She decided the rest could be handled by the crew remaining, with Blackberry on the bridge. Yaichiro could always take the con if she needed assistance in that case, and it helped clear him some for the visit she noted.

 

[Toshiro]

Acknowledged. I'll take care of those things myself then.

Yaichiro replied, finished with the Main Gun. He Visually inspected to make sure that no one was present, then communicated again.

Visual confirmation of no present parties. Re-enabling the Main Gun.

With that he threw the switch, and the dangerous weapon came online. He proceeded to go toward Engineering to inspect the fusion reactors.

 

[Eric]

“None that I can think of, ma’am,” he said professionally. Obviously he had questions pertaining to the mission, but being as patient as he was he did not wish to be impertinent, so decided to be logical and wait until the briefing. He liked the taisa, she was courteous, authoritative, and from what he could tell a fabulous leader. He had heard she was a technical genius, and was quite excited he would be able to work with Quantum Mirrors. “I believe I will get some supplies ready for the mission, and then go to the bridge and orientate myself with the intel. If that is alright with you, of course, Hanako-Taisa.”

 

[Wes]

"Very well," Taisa Hanako nodded. After briefing inspecting the room, the blue-haired captain ducked out of the cabin and went back through the lounge to return to the bridge. On the way, she found her first officer, Misaki.

"Misaki," Hanako smiled, "You did good work on the teams. If there is any equipment left you wish to bring aboard, please get it immediately and keep me updated. I plan to depart as soon as possible. I will be on the bridge initiating maintenance tests. The briefing will be held once we get underway."

- - -

With the Asamoya safely docked at Gemini, Pineapple and Blackberry returned from the Asamoya, bringing 50 pistols and a few sets of power armor as souvenirs.

 

[Miyako]

Purple squinted out of a flurry of flower-like hair, it took the woman's eyes a moment to adjust to the lights again. She had been floating with her eyes closed all that time. By the time she had, it looked as if she was upside down, at least to Hanako but her slow, slow rotation continued to one side. "Thank you, it is about time I had a chance to stretch my legs ago. This was the longest stretch with no time in an armour for me in, uh...ever." If that spoke volumes on her life, Misaki didn't realise it.

"I can do that all from the bridge, if you wish. The requisitions in mind should not take very long." She had a small list, specifically some Armor equipment that might help those in DAISY models, as the mission saw fit for it. "It's strange..." She hesitated, breath catching like she had been pinched for a moment, "...when things are quiet like this sometimes it is as if we're the only people here." In the empty passageway it really did. The slightly taller woman's body was parallel to the ground that Hanako stood on by that point.

 

[Wes]

A rush of excitement surged through Hanako's body and ended up between her legs. "Were that the case," Hanako told Misaki, her big golden eyes fixated for a long moment, "I might take advantage of it." Blushing and grinning, the Taisa floated past and into the bridge entrance.

Once on the bridge, Hanako began calculating the hyperspace route their mission site...it was a system that was off the map. In fact, the route had to be calculated with maps just given to her by SARA. She had a suspicion of why...

 

[Eric]

Karei watched as Hanako scanned the room and left. Just as she walked from the door he began to get things ready for the mission. While he did that, he decided to also unpack his things so he wouldn’t have to do it later. He was not surprised to be going on a ground mission, he figured it was to give him experience as well as test his mentality in a possibly high pressured and tense situation. His training in intelligence would help him, and if anything happened to the medic, he also had, even if limited, some knowledge on how to take care of anything that might go wrong.

It didn’t take him long to unpack his things and place them in one of the lockers. Though it did take him a second longer as he examined the black briefs, he rather liked them, but then again, he liked tighter clothes in general. He shook his head as he realized that he was wasting time, but smiled to himself because he was amused that he could get stuck thinking about things of a more aesthetic, leisurely nature.

Turning he caught a smoky glimpse of his reflection in the metallic bar on the bed. Spotting a few of his blonde hairs out of place he primly put them back properly. Pleased with the rest of his appearance, he made his way for the door, leaving the supplies he had gotten out for the mission on the bed, making a mental note to come back and get them later on. Exiting his room he turned and headed for the bridge.

He was sort of hungry, but breakfast to him was less important. He wanted to go ahead and read some things, it would be his first time doing so on anything official.

 

[Miyako]

Misaki felt one heartbeat hit her like weight, standing out against all of the others. She swallowed and nodded, looking over her shoulder as Hanako went. Five seconds later (once her toes finished curling) she followed after, and stepped onto the bridge with a tinge of noticeable heat marking her features. Lightly, the officer set down behind and to the right of where Hanako's command chair was, and placed a few fingers tentatively on her shoulder whilst bringing up her own small volumetric screen. A listing of items that could be quickly loaded on the Eucharis loaded for her.

She did notice the planned route, though, "That seems especially foreboding. I should not have said I wanted to stretch my legs." The XO quickly requested half a dozen Type 29 ASPs, to augment the armours and more rations for those who might need them. "Do we require anything else special you can think of?" Her voice asked softly, warming against any exposed skin the CO by coincidence of their proximity.

Another thought came to her about the kit waiting for her armour, some basic rations, the standard sidearms and her knife, a repair kit, the communicator, all of them were standard but somehow it didn't feel like enough. She could not bring any of her exotic weapons and chance losing them. Something gave the soldier a cold shiver about the mission whenever she thought of it, right up the spine. Still, that just meant she needed a backup. After the moment in the passageway, she wanted to get one with a sudden urgency.

 

[Eric]

Karei made his way into the bridge, his eyes wondering all around it. He found it to be very nice indeed. The design was pleasing and aesthetic, but also professional. From what he had seen, a lot of things in the Empire were like that. Like myself, he thought arrogantly. He was vain to a degree, but not so much as he gazed at himself in a mirror all day. He liked to think of it as a healthy brand of confidence in both his looks and his mind. All he had seen thus far was women though, no men for him to play with in after hours? Maybe later on they’ll let me create one.

With that thought he continued and made a slight bow to the Hanako and Misaki. “Taisa, Chusa,” he said with a clinical, respectful tone, then if they chose to give him attention, asked, “Might I inquire where I can gain access to the intel?”

 

[Kimberly M]

Having been satisfied her armour was cleaned enough, Kim had left the Power Armour bay, and made her way towards the wardroom to get something to eat, as Misaki had recomended her to do.

With the question of food having been eliminated by a quick and small meal, Kim returned to the quarters she shared with the Eucharis' XO and began packing her gear together. Her knife was allready strapped to her back, so she didn't have to worry about that. She did pack flashlights, rations, and...

"Rope. I'll be damned if I'm going on a mission like this without rope." Kim muttered as she packed some spare uniforms into her kit, picked it up, and headed for the cargo bay to get some lenghts of rope. After having picked that up, the infantrywoman headed for the armoury to pick up a secondary NSP Type 30, and a few grenades, and stuffed it all into her kit. With that out of the way, Kim still felt as if she had forgotten something...

 

[Wolf Ward]

“I will bear that in mind,” she replied with a grin. “I would suggest checking the assigned crew cabins again, and see if it’s been updated with the recent crew changes I’ve heard about.” Hotaru then shrugged and said, “You never know, might be lucky and get an empty cabin.”

Approaching the Medical Center, Hotaru said, “An admirable goal. Mine is more be the best I can,” stopping outside the entrance, she continued “about the back-ups, if you don’t mind could you do me now since I am here?”.

While waiting for Konoka’s reply, they both received their orders for the upcoming mission, “Looks like we’re on the same team Konoka-san. After my backup, I’d recommend doing your own before the others get here and then preparing for the mission.”
-----
After getting her backup, Hotaru proceeded back to her quarters and began sorting through her things, packing two spare jumpsuits, her survival pack, NSP. Thinking that was everything she needed from her cabin, she made her way to the armoury and requested half dozen grenades (2 scalar and 4 frag) before she headed to the PA Bay to customise her Power Armor and get ready for deployment.

 

[Konoka Miyazawa]

Konoka made a check. "Four has been vacated. That looks good." She sent a message saying she would stay there if possible.

"I'd be happy to." said Konoka, smiling. She prepared to start. She sent a message telling the crew to do the same. She became aware of her new team for the mission. "It seems we are." she said nervously. She was bothered. Someone could get hurt. "I'm worried about you!" she called after Hotaru-san. She really hated the fact that someone might need her help. She sighed. Would someone get seriously hurt again? She hoped not.


She made her own mental backup. She would hate to forget treating her first patient, or meeting Hotaru-san. She was good now. She grabbed a survival l kit, some spare jumpsuits, and a medical kit, which she figured she'd need. She made a mental note to stop by the armory. She sighed, thinking of the possibilities of injury. "At least I'm here." she sighed. She waited for the others to come for their backups.

"What fate wills will come..."

 

[Miyako]

"You should know." Misaki only looked at the man a spare moment, gesturing towards a station to the fore and port side of the bridge. She was at that moment suddenly worried about the man's credentials, and put another note in private data to send a letter to the training administration within the Star Army about familiarization for bottom ranking soldiers before they were sent out. The transfer with Gemini had begun quickly, she decided to have them readied in the armour bay for last minute supplies on anyone going out, but only needed about half of the rations that came in one uniform container.

While the XO was at it, she approved Konoka staying in the fourth cabin. If they needed more space they were able to double up two of female quarters, and could put the Chief Engineer with the other blonde. To the NH-27 they looked so alike it bordered on disturbing. A volumetric window slipped into existence in front of the fresh medic to inform her of that fact. She didn't want to put her with Mango, which could have meant disturbing the night cook's sleep schedule. Unsure if Blackberry and Blueberry wanted to stay together, the officer made another note to find that out after the mission. If Blackberry and Mango could share quarters that made the most sense to her. At least they would keep each other company a little better.

 

[Wes]

"So much for Nakishi Seraphina," Hanako frowned, referring to the starship operator that was supposed to have been aboard hours ago. "Beginning detachment sequence." The ship jostled a bit as it was freed from the grips of the snowflake-shaped Star Fortress. "Eucharis to Second Squadron. Detach and follow me out in standard formation. Also, it just occurred to me that we might want to create a name for our squadron. Let me know if you have any suggestions."

"Ryokai," the other ships responded in near unison.

Eucharis, followed by its three sister ships, moved toward the galactic south, heading for the eastern exit of the Ketsurui Military Sector.

( Continued in [Mission 5] The Secret Battlefront )