RP: YSS Aeon [Mission 7.1] Departure for Southern Encounters

"Thank you, Arai-Joto Hei. The last year's been a little odd, being so far away from the Aeon." Araan spoke fluidly, his eyes finding hers and remaining with them as he spoke, no longer distracted by her form.

"With all honesty and no hostility ma'am, I would have to say that my best specialization right now is simply my flexibility. I was Nepleslian at birth, I grew up between gangs and vandalism, I've gotten everything I wanted through force of arms, knowing when to run, and learning how to do things on the fly. The Star Army of Yamatai has drilled into me the basics of direct combat and honed my firearm capabilities. I'm far from done with my training, in my own mind. But I will continue to work on that, until such a time as I die or am brought to retirement, ma'am. Unlike a lot of the Nekovalkyrja and Yamataian I've met in my brief time with the SAoY I'm not pretty, I'm not well fashioned, and I'm certainly not well refined. What I am, ma'am, is a damned good soldier with an even larger debt to the Empire and specifically the Aeon." He stopped and caught his breath and thought of what he said.

He had been a fair bit too rash.

"I was a slave, sold out by my own people at the age of eighteen. Surviving until twenty-three was a miracle for me, I died on my twenty-fourth birthday after being saved by the YSS Aeon. I was kept alive a short while on life support systems until I made the decision to join the Army. But I'm quite sure yer not here for a history lesson on me, after all, if you really want the full story, you can access it at any time." He finished, closing his eyes for the duration of a brief exhale, opening them as he took in a sharp breath of air, his demeanor seeming to shift slightly.

Bridge

Kurusu scowled at Trowa first because he had not noticed that the Taisa had left the bridge, and second because he was calling for weapons before even determining the threat.

"Yamamoto-Heisho, is it customary to assume a hostile stance without reason. This is an exploration mission, with the stated goal to make contact with Kata'nova's people. How do you think a first encounter will go if we charge weapons every time someone drops out of fold?

Assuming a defensive posture is fine, but in this case it is unnecessary. The ship in question is one of ours. She is the YSS Isou NL-X2-013 an Odori-class Medium Freighter."

"Yes, you are right. I did not ask for you life story," Saki said. She was maybe sorry for him being enslaved and all that, but he did the right thing to joing the SAoY. Did he want a medal for it? "Anyway Eternity will lead you to your new cabin. You will be roomed with Tanaka Yoshiro Joto-hei. Get your armour stowed and your stuff into your room. There will be an away-mission soon. I have to return to bridge now. Dismissed."

Nagato Maki stepped into the cabin she would now share with Saki. It was small and standard but comfortable, as was to be expected of ships of the Aeon's size. She set her things down, she traveled light and took no personal effects with her at all.

It took little time to sort her belongings into her locker and square everything away. She then tested out her new bunk and relaxed for a minute. She intended to volunteer for the upcoming away mission if the Captain didn't add her to it automatically. She wanted to begin being useful to ship and crew right away.

YSS AEON - Bridge
Location: 5 LY from AX-03
ON

Katae was sitting at her desk reviewing the latest astrometric data on AX-03. The data showed clearly that there were a number of planets orbiting the Red Dwarf. She was anxious to get there and see what was there with her own eyes.

"Katae-San, Oinari-Nitô Hei is waiting to enter as requested. Shall I tell her to enter?" Eternity chimed in via the cabin speakers.

"Yes please." Katae said picking up her cup of coffee. She took a sip and placed it back on the desk and waited.

In the Hallway Eternity spoke, "Oinari-Hei, the Taisa is ready for you to enter."

"Thank you." The red headed neko walked in and walked over to the Desk,, with a bow she spoke softly, "Ma'am you called for me?" Freyja wasn't quite sure why she was called in by the Taisa, but she has a feeling it was about the new SAINT agent that now out ranked her

Katae smiled, "Yes, I wanted to discuss your role in our exploration of the upcoming system.

I want you take Kata'nova with you on the Tenba when we do an aerial recon of the planet. Since it seems she was a pilot, I figure she will feel more comfortable with you in the cockpit. She might even be a bit more talkative, and if not you can always evaluate her flying knowledge."

Nodding Freyja smiled, it was a grand idea, and she got to fly. "Ma'am would it be any issue if I teach her to fly the shuttle? I think then we might be speaking the same language... You know flight." The all made sense to her, flying was as natural to her as sleeping and walking.

"Or would that be too much of a breach in security?" She new that if Kaka'nova wanted to then, she would be able to steal the shuttle and try to go home.

"By all means teach her. That will make her all the more comfortable. After all it is not like she can override Eternity to give her access to the craft, and the computer array on the Tenba can be secured as well.
Plus while up there your skills of observation can be put to use when she's flying. No telling what we will find on any of the planets there, but keen eyes will be necessary."

Freyja excitedly nodded her head and started drafting up a lesion plan for teaching Kata'nova how to fly, "I can program in a few security code into the shuttle so it can be secured." she was so excited to be able to teach and maybe learn ab bit about flying with the kit that she had almost forgotten about the new crew-member.

"May I ask a question off topic Ma'am?" she was shifting her weight awkwardly between her legs, like a young child worrying over who took all the candy.

Katae took note of the Neko's behavior. "Certainly, I am always willing to answer questions from my crew. It one way I have to make them better soldiers."

Her voice dropped to almost a whisper as if she worried the person in question could hear her, "Was that really another SAINT operative?" The fact that her exterior was still the same childish neko, the back of her head was swimming through everything she had been programed with or taught back on Vicky.

Katae smiled slightly, now that she knew what had her soldier concerned. "Ah, you must be referring to Nagato-Hei. Yes, she is a member of SAINT. Given that we are going to be visiting a number of worlds that no one from Yamatai has set foot on.

I thought it prudent to have two trained SAINT personnel. You both come from different backgrounds. That means you will approaching things from those backgrounds. Dealing with unknowns I will need all the answers I can get."

"So she isn't a rouge agent?" Freyja frown then felt really bad on how she was treating the new member, even if most of the meanest actions were just in her head. "That makes sense... but does she know I'm here?"

"Nope, not a rogue agent. With her on the ground and you doing recon from the sky with the sensors. I am confident that the two of you will not miss anything. I would suggest that you take a few minutes to meet with her." Katae suggested.

"umm.." She blushed as she tried to think of how to explain, "I did meet her... Kind of ran right into her..." Her poster shifted a a little causing her hair to hid a bit more of her face, even though she brushed a hand past to pull it back.

"Then this will be a chance to meet her a bit more discretely." Katae said with a soft chuckle.

"Yes Ma'am... umm so I'm to tell her I'm an agent also?" She wasn't sure she trusted the new person yet but at least then she would have some one else to talk to other then just the Taisa about situations.

"I will leave that to your discretion. Although I think the two of you would work better with an open understanding between the two of you." She said.

"Yes ma'am... one last thing.. it's kind of personal..." She hesitated on asking. "Have you seen Santo Destin today?" she blushed as she asked.
"He is being transferred to the Integrity to help bolster their crew. I hope to have him back in the future." she replied.

"Oh..." the red head stood there frozen. "Tha... thank you Ma'am, was there anything else." she voice was already cracking a little as she tried to hold herself.

"No, I think you have plenty to do. If you have any more questions do not hesitate to ask." She said.

OFF

Once she bowed and left the Captain's room Freyja started to shake. there was to many thing working through her head. namely the fact that she had to deal with the new Saint operative. Oh the crushing emotions about Eli were there but her brain was still in professional mode.

After stopping in her bunk to retrieving her pistol and giving Mr. Waffles a tight squeeze, she left for the new cabin of Itto Nagato, now that she had spoken to the Taisa, she no longer wanted to just shoot the person, but she still didn't trust them, it was rare to see another operative since she had left Vicky.

Maki was still in her cabin. She sorted out the last of her things, put them away and made sure her uniform was still properly adjusted. She then went to the door about to exit. that is when she paused, her keen hearing told her someone was outside.

The SAINT operative rest a hand on the comforting weight of the NSP strapped to her belt and spoke through the door. "What can I do for you?" she asked, as usual her voice was pleasant and calm.

"umm... Well.... I just... wanted to talk to someone..." Her voice was filled with the emotions that she had been holding tight since she was told of the transfer.

Making raised a blue eyebrow. The emotions this one was giving off was like she needed a personal confident, rather that some form of official talk. She opened the door and stepped back."Please, come in. What would you like to talk about?"

Stepping in she mentally sealed the door behind her, so that no one other then she or the Taisa. Freyja frowned as she thought of a way to have this conversation. It was then she realized she had locked herself up in a room with someone with her hand on their gun. All that she could think of to do was, to tackle the Itto and start to sob as she pinned her arms down.

That was not what the operative had been expecting the other to do, but her own training had kicked in right away and as the pilot advanced, sobbing or not, Maki sidestepped with speed and grace, watching with some amusement as she face planted on the deck.
"Are you alright?" Maki asked.

Freyja was sure this was going to be a lot easier if she could have just shot the lady by now. Curling up into a ball she continued to sob, muttering things like he left and hurting. Her brain raced 'this was so not going right in any way, what the hell am I doing...'

Maki frowned, just a little. "I think this may be something better suited for you to ask a friend or counselor?" she suggested.

"I... I... can't trust anyone else aboard the ship..." Her voice was weak but at least the words were getting easier to understand. freyja worked up to a seated position as she looked up at Maki tears still working our of her eyes.

"And so you go to the SAINT Operative just assigned to the ship?" Making smiled, it was hard to tell if it was a happy smile or something else. "Well that is a first, usually a knife between the ribbs or a bullet between the eyes is the more standard greeting, not a counseling session" she said.

"I... I thought about it at first... but... then again that would have been rude..." Freyja's hand slipped back and she drew her dark colored NSP, tossing it up at the confused agent.

She was in fact not confused at all. She had already seen the matte black SAINT issue sidearm on the pilot's hip and snatched it out of the air deftly as it was tossed. Thumbing a switch in the same motion as she caught the weapon she ejected the power cell into her other hand.
"I though it was interesting, though foolish that your handler missed this detail and did not issue you a standard fleet issue NSP while you are under cover" Maki said, all pretense aside now. They knew what the other was. "This could get you killed in some corners of the galaxy"
Maki then returned the disarmed weapon to the pilot, her own gun still secured in its holster, the safety strap in place and a constant gap of several feet maintained between the operatives.

"Don't have a handler... one day I was working in the clear with a fighter squadron, next orders to report here, with no permission to work in the clear. I try not to wear that, unless I'm on an operation, then I have always just thought to say I got it as a gift or something." Freyja was sure the higher ranked Saint personnel was going to try to take over here, but she was here first and her mission was to observe, so that is what she did.

Mski smiled, this was defiantly not a friendly smile. "Mm that's a nice story, but nobody gets those as gifts" she said. "Don't bring it out again" she warned. "Especially since you're orders are not to operate in the open"

With a bit of a huff she put the pistol back into working status then stuffed it into her holster, "then high and mighty what do I carry on duty... I can't be flying with out it..." She stood up slowly and still stared up at the taller Maki, "I came here only because the Taisa told me to, and I only told you who I was because I thought it might be helpful for both of us working together, but if you are going to become some kind of bossy jerk then I don't have to play nice either." She wasn't sure at all where the back bone was coming from, it was like when she snapped at Eli.

Maki smiled dispassionately, "First, requisition one from ship's supply. I say this because I do not want to do the paperwork when your cover gets blown and you get your brains splattered across a wall somewhere" she said, her voice constantly and unwaveringly maintained the same calm, pleasant tone. "Second, I am not here to boss you around or take over your mission, we are both here for different reasons and as far as the crew knows, you are still a simple pilot" she went on. "And I see no reason why we can not peacefully work along side each other" she finished. "Unless you want an enemy?" she added with just a hint of a flash to her acid yellow eyes.

"Fine..." she growled at first before her mind reverted back to her normal though processes, "What.. what are your orders?" Freyja recalled that the Taisa had said that Maki was suppose to be helping with ground recon, so she figured the orders where close to hers.

"Officially to assist with the mission at hand" Maki said. "Beyond that I am not at liberty to say just as much as you will not be telling me the details of yours" the spy responded smoothly. She was completely unphased by the others rapidly changing demeanor.

"I was meaning, what are you suppose to be doing... I'm not trying to get your official orders, I'm just trying to figure out how we are to work together." Frejya was starting to swing back to the idea of just air locking the agent, it would have been easier

"As I said, I am here to assist with the Aeon's mission" Maki replied, leaning back against the bulkhead casually.

"Oh... ok... well here are my reports so far on Kata'nova... but you be nice to her, she is nice and I would hate to have to fight you cause you hurt her in some way." Freyja transfers a few documents from her glasses to the desk station, with just a few quick thoughts.

"I had no intention of being otherwise" Maki replied truthfully. She had no reason to be unkind to Kata'nova and it would do nothing to further her mission to be so anyways. "Thank you" she added once the files compleated downloading onto the desktop terminal. "And don't worry, I have no intention of telling the crew or anyone else your true status as a SAINT Operative or shooting you in the back" she said reassuringly, though not adding the obvious unless ordered to do so.

"Thank you..." she fought to smile a little, maybe she wasn't going to be an enemy and the Taisa was right. She would just have to keep an eye on the Saint agent, just to make sure. "Ummm... She's a combat pilot like me..."

Maki nodded. She had read up on the available information on the Aeon's alien passenger on her way over. "Yes, I would like to interview her at some point soon, but not right now, maybe after the away mission" she said.

Freyja was sure she didn't want Maki alone with Kata' the girl might do something that would upset Kata, who would in turn draw her knife or her pistol. That would not end well at all. "Please inform me before hand, so I can be there, I was the one who rescued her, and she is most comfortable with me."

"If you wish, though your being present is not necessary" Maki replied. "I will not upset your friend" she let her eyes drift half closed as she stored away mental notes about this Operative. She was a strange one if she truly was presenting herself forwardly, if she was not, the personal she was presenting was still strange and an unusual choice for a cover.

"You better not, also don't touch what is her's. She doesn't like that." she frowned maybe the Taisa would help her keep Maki from interviewing Kata alone.

"Nitô Hei Freyja Oinari, there is no need to speak to me in such manner. I am quite capable in doing my job efficiently and without upsetting the subject" Maki said, pushing away from the wall and standing back up to her full height. The look in her yellow eyes changed, showing a hint of her darker side behind them as her eyes bored into the other operative. "Also, I would suggest severing whatever personal or emotional attachments you have made with this person, they are clouding your objectiveness and the mannerism in which you speak to a fellow operative, let alone a higher rating member of the fleet." she said, very matter of factually.

Freyja was not frightened or startled in the least, her teachers where far scarier, "I handle her how i like, the fact that you have shown up and started even speaking of our guest like that makes me speak to you as such. My feeling towards Kata'nova are not part over this what so ever." She spoke softly but stressing certain words did slip out, with out her meaning to.

"You need to consider there are others who will work with this person and you can not always be there, Nitô Hei. The Taisa asked me to work with the guest. If that is a problem or you think the Taisa is in error in this order I believe you should take that up with here and stop giving me flack for following the orders given to me by my new commanding officer" Maki replied flatly.

"there shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't touch her things. Think if you were trapped on one of their ships, would you want some intelligence agent touching your stuff." Freyja wasn't going to back down.

"I never had any intention of touching her stuff" Maki replied. "I just want to talk to her. That is all." she crossed her arms. "You are just going to have to trust me" she went on. She looked the other in the eyes. "But I will warn you now, if you continue to press this hostile attitude when I am just trying to do my job, I will have to do something about it"

The threat hit her square between the eyes. Freyja calmly smiled, "I haven't been hostile, at this point I still hope to have some one I can talk to... I'm still dealing with a few other things, but tell you the truth. I rather stick my hand into an Aether Generator, then talk to you anymore." She pushed past her towards the door.

"Well thats nice" Maki replied. "I'm sure you can find the engine room easy enough, all these gunships are so easy to get around" she said and smiled pleasantly. "I hope you have a nice time"

Freyja unlocked the door and walked out waiting for it to shut behind her, if she would have been thinking she would have locked it again. She stormed off to her cabin and curled up with Mr. Waffles, thinking of ways to deal with this new member.

Maki waited for a moment after Freyja left and shook her head. She made a few more mental notes, then departed from her cabin.

Now that Freyja was gone Maki could finish what she needed to do before she could think about joining the away team. She needed first and foremost to have a backup done. It wasn't that she thought she would get killed on an upcoming away mission, it was just that one could not be to careful... that and she was just a bit unsure of her unstable counterpart, Freyja.

Maki adjusted her uniform with a quick tug then headed off to medical to have the backup done.

Araan took the gruff send-off from his direct superior with a grain of salt, it had always seemed to him that people of Yamatai, be they Yamataian or Nekovalkyr, took offense when a Nepleslian in their society was assertive to his own end. Still he was not deterred and reclaiming his gear he made his way back up to the armory to store his personal weaponry before making his way to the room he was to share with Tanaka Joto-Hei. His movement though the ship was swift and some might even go as far as to say elegant for a Nepleslian, even though he in truth was a Nepleslian in a Minkan Shell. His eyes wandered over the different crew members, taking in new faces and old faces alike. He had barely served on this ship when he was all too suddenly removed from it before, but the faces that belonged most were easiest to tell.

Upon arrival to the sleeping quarters in question Araan waved his hand in front of the doorway, touching it just lightly as he allowed it to open and he trespassed within. He took in the view of the room, eyes wide as he remembered the last quarters he slept in on this ship. His arrival wasn't without action, however, and soon he began to set himself to work, finding the appropriate place to settle his clothing in, his uniforms, and his miscellaneous items. Thanking Eternity mentally for the directions he smiled a bit.

"It's good to be home, no matter who I have to deal with to be here." He whispered to himself, still unsure of who he was being bunked with.

With the crew transfers completed, the shuttles returned to their owning craft.

Eternity then switched the display. "Initial system scan complete. Sensors have identified the star as a red dwarf with four orbiting bodies. Visual image analysis shows at least one of them has some sort of atmosphere."

Katae returned to the bridge and took her place at the center console. She noted that Freyja had not taken her test flight. She was not surprised, the soldier seemed upset about the departure of one of the crew.

"Starship Operators. Lay in a course to the system. Standard system insertion trajectory to take us past the planets to let us do a more detailed scan." She waited a moment, "Engage CDD."

She picked up the intercom handset and dialed internal ship and squadron.

"Attention all hands. We are closing on system AX-03. Sensors show there are four planets. Provided there is no obvious threat; the Aeon is going to take the one that appears to have an atmosphere. The Integrity will take planet II, Succubus will take planet III, and Ouroboros will take the last planet. Each ship will assume a standard orbit and send shuttles down to recon. Ise-Taisa out.

Maki was finishing up with her mental backup as the Captain's announcement went out. She had felt the ships drives spool up and sent subtle vibrations through the superstructure and knew they were underway.

she directed a wireless note to the Commanding Officer as she departed from the medical bay, all properly backed up on the ships system now.

She was not overly worried about bodily harm or death while on this assignment, but one could never be to careful, especially now that she had an operative to work with that seemed more than a bit twitchy.

Saki made her way back to bridge, wondering about the new soldier under her command. He was a bit out-spoken, but there should be no trouble with him. She was a bit more worried about that spy, she will be sharing her room with. Hopefully it was just some analyst and not someone to gather info on the crew. Only time will tell.

"Arai-hei reporting back on brige," Saki said as she walked back on the ship's bridge.

Yoshiro set course for the planet and sat back to relax a bit. "Course laid in and CDD engaged, Taisa. Heading toward target planet." Yoshiro said and moved out.

Kata'nova's tail moved slowly from side to side as she stood there, arms folded over her chest; the translation program translating what it could into her language although she had already grasped at least a portion of Yamatai's language.

That was the thing that got to her, while learning Yamatai's language she had discovered already that there were monumental differences in the phonetics and assembly of words. She was thankful she had paid attention to her language class back in primary school, and had taken an advanced class shortly before taking on the assignment of exploration - although it was actually required in the event of a first contact, but what she had never been taught was how to actually 'react' during such a case.. this was a crash course in something she had no experience in.

Then again, when she looked around; she knew that she must've been doing something right given how these people hadn't treated her bad... yet anyway. She still pondered those things that attacked her, all she knew was their name... NMX... to her it sounded like some kind of shoe-brand or perhaps a name for a toy.

Turning her attention back at the screen; she smiled at the translation program mentioned something about flying, good, don't like standing still...

Katae looked up from the sensor date, and looked at Yoshiro. She was puzzled why he had not engaged the CDD after she had already told them to. With a sigh she said, "Engage CDD maximum speed."

She turned to Saki. "I plan to launch two Ke-O4-1a Aerial drones. They will be deployed in a standard grid search pattern to survey. Have you given any thoughts about what vehicle you will use for the away team? The composition of your team? I suggest that you include a wide range of skills in it. You might want to gather them in the wardroom so you can brief them."

"Sorry Taisa." Yoshiro said and he realized he had not actually engaged the CDD. He engaged it and made sure that they were moving.

"I hope if we find something, it is not in the bottom of an ocean like the last time..." Misaki put in lightly, referencing the last time she'd had any extensive chance for exploration. "Perhaps it would be more simple with a crew. We didn't have much save sprites back then."

The XO had resumed standing some time ago, upon Katae's return, and stood with one hand down on a console out of habit, even though she didn't really need it to steady herself at all.

"Approach countdown active." She called as they began to move, already wondering if she should add even more drills, or bridge training in to the regimen she already had planned for stretches of time on board where they had little to do, en route to another location on this particular mission. The veteran had guessed they would not be so lucky to find their guest's home planet or space very easily, but if they did, it wouldn't be the first time she had been wrong. Planning ahead couldn't hurt the readiness of the crew, however.

Kitsu fiddled around with the programming of the two drones they would soon be deploying. He had been for quite some time. He felt more at home playing around with the simple mechanics of these machines than the more complex machines who surrounded him.

Geshrin were still "wetware", whereas the NH-models were closer to hardware with bits of wetware. As far from the truth as it really was, it helped him to look at it that way. They were still people, but they were different from him.

As he readied the machines for use, Kitsu pondered (sometimes muttering) what it would be like with a digital brain.

Settling into his proper attire while he still held some semblance of privacy Araan took but a few moments to think while the rest of the ship brimmed around him. Stepping out into the wardroom he listened to the communication that played overhead, the prospect of touching down on this planet in a shuttle was interesting enough for him.

The ships of the Seventh squadron surged forward towards AX-03. The close the squadron got the more astrometric data they acquired. By the time the ships entered the system, they had orbital data. When a scan of the system showed no artificial objects moving about the other ships broke of formation and headed to their designated targets.

The Aeon closed in on the inner most planet. Visual data showed there was water on the planet with most of it located in the northern regions.
As the ship approached the Hills Sphere threshold the Aeon dropped into normal space gliding towards the planet.

"Operators take us into a standard orbit above the planet we will make an orbit or two before we set down. XO notify Freyja to get the Tenba ready for departure. Kata'nova and Nagato-Hei should get ready to go with her.

Arai-Hei, give your team requirements to the XO for approval." Katae said as she got up from her seat to move closer to the screen.

Maki could feel the unmistakable vibrations of the engines changing power. They were braking for orbiting. The SAINT operative smiled and relaxed as her mental backup process was finishing its final stage. It really was an unpleasant experience, but a necessary one that had saved her from permanent death once already.

Then, finished, the spy left medical and made her way to the bridge in time to catch the Captain's stating she should be going with the away team on the Tenba. "What kit shall you be requiring me to bring, Taisa?" Maki inquired of her Captain.

Maki had to smile, just a little at what sort of reaction her SAINT counterpart was soon to have at the thought of them being in a small contained space together with the cat girl she seemed to covet so. This would be entertaining.