RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 7.2 Side Story] Desperados

"But what about the other biological weapon?" Hanako asked, "An automated medical system would need immunity from those small types. If we can do that, I would be happy to have them on board. As for tactics, we need to work together as a crew to come up with smart moves in future missions. It should never be just me," Hanako said. "I am not perfect. For instance, I am not sure if the power surge was a good idea. I would like more advice from the bridge crew and officers."

- - -

"Blueberry," the blue-haired warrant officer said. "Let me buy you a drink."

Sune nodded to Hanako, "You are correct Taisa, and the AMTC's are designed to deal with biological infestations. They have containment forcefields to isolate them from contamination, and have a nodal system component for removing any foreign organic matter. To ensure that they are protected it would be just a matter of programming them to remain in containment mode until a patient needs to be placed into it."

He took a brief pause, "With regard to the energy discharge, my initial analysis of the specimens Miyazawa-Hei had in the medbay showed, a less destructive method of arresting the problem probably would have been to vent the ship to hard vacuum. The creatures go dormant without oxygen."

"As for your last comment Taisa, there is not much I can add, as I am not part of the bridge nor an officer. It was however made plainly clear to me, the bridge does not want advice from the medbay unless they ask for it."

"That is all I have for the debriefing ma'am."

Tasuku hadn't taken any of the Sangria that had been passed around, instead he'd ordered a cola and a small glass of orange juice; once he had made it a quarter of the way through the cola, he topped it off with some the of orange juice.

Tasuku sat there eating, and tried to absorb the contents of the briefing, though he wasn't particularly interested in it. Despite the recommendations he'd gotten two beef taco's, as well as a quesadia, both of which he seemed to be using an almost obscene amount of cayenne pepper hot sauce on.

As briefing continued, and Sune and Hanako had reached the topic of automated medical units the look on Tasuku face turned to nearly a scowl as he looked down at his plate. In his mind the automated medical units were a mix of two of his two least favorite things, the NH-28 NIWS and Doctors.

Just what we need, an improved automated psychopathic Doctor. Tasuku thought with a heavy exhale, as he took another bite of his hot sauce drenched taco.

Darnell nodded and said, "I'm Darnell. I'll take whatever you want to buy, my tastes aren't very discerning." He paused, "But if you want to relax, all I've got are bad jokes and magic tricks."

He pulled out a chair at a nearby table and sat with his back to the wall, and pulled out another chair for Blueberry when she got back. The table was only a stone's throw from the bigger U shaped one. It had just been out of convenience.

When she got back, he asked, "So, does the Eucharis have science facilities or do I just sit at the sensor whenever you're not?"

Shizu sat quietly.

That more or less summed it up. She nursed her drink, sipping occasionally from it with a minor grimace, and listened, soaking. It was all being processed, of course - somewhere in the back of her mind it was being tucked away for later use or recall. It had to be the back of her mind, because the front was engaged in quite a different endevor altogether.

"We could have used that ship."

Shizu looked up from her glass, to Hanako. She had waited for Sune to stop speaking. Now that he had finished, she took advantage of the opportunity.

"I do not understand why it was left."

Blackberry's sardonic reply made Misaki smile on a bite of her rice, causing her to lean forward to look down the table at her. Out of all of the former sprites, she was the XO's 'favourite' if there could be any though she never was sure why that was.

"Automated or not, that is a good idea." She agreed aloud, then moved to eat her tacos.

We're a prominent ship. After I transferred on as XO a year ago, we started getting crew. Normally you stay for some time, but we're different. I got used to it, the Eucharis is home after all. They're part of it too. She thought to Kurasora.

"Another thing I'd add is while feedback is appreciated, in a battle when you're given an order you do it. It's not the old senate. If they didn't make that clear enough in training they should have." The Chusa told the crew when she had been about halfway through a taco, one rather warm smile on her face sticking against the conflicting feelings she had. One was being tired, of course.

"It was left because it wasn't our objective, and would have made a more noticeable tactical target. Another ship would have been a liability even if we slaved her in to our AI, and had you all out of unacceptable danger." Misaki explained to Shizu, then nodded at Hanako "I'll prepare a few notes on their tactics and how that may reflect strategy later. Unless Sune-hei has been to the War College and would like to do it for me?" She looked down at him and winked, trying to see if she could make him at least smile.

"Your thinking was not in a bad line, Hamada-taii. It just wasn't consistent with orders for a reason." She added as warmly as possible, ears perking as she remembered something, "I'm Kurusu Misaki, if any of you newer crew don't remember me or we've not been introduced. I have presents on the ship for everyone, assuming the bugs didn't get into them still from before we were scrambled. Last year I was accepted to the Eucharis when we were on Azorea. I'll do my best to ensure each of you, and the other ships in the squadron fight the hardest in the fleet during this war." Smiling again, she ceded the table back to the real discussion they were having, she just wasn't sure everyone would be together like they were with their attention in one place, and used the chance to briefly introduce herself to anyone that didn't know.

Hamada's gaze shifted slightly. It now took in Misaki. The look was level. Not really offended, not really hostile. Just level.

"My apologies, Kurusu-Chusa. I understand that it was not our objective to save any ships. I followed the orders I was given at the time. Now that there is time for discussion, I question why those orders were given to me, because I disagree with them and it is indeed rather juvenile to argue when time is critical. Now that we have time to discuss, I find that 'Because they are orders' is not a good enough reasoning, for me. That ship - the Paradise - had a full compliment of weaponry. It had fully operational systems, an adequate bridge crew," - here she glanced to Tasuku - "And all of its systems could have been brought online in a heartbeat. We were cold metal at the time. We had no signature, and as far as I could tell gave no indication that we were a manned vessel."

"By contrast, how much of a target did you become while we had to take the time to abandon the ship and pile into the shuttle and then catch up anyway? While you had to wait for us? While we could have simply aligned with the Eucharis, and entered faster-than-light immediately?"

The glass made a little click as she deposited it on the table. She folded her hands in her lap.

"Thank you for your opinion - I am quite honored to hear your reasoning. But I want to hear the Taisa's thoughts, as well."

Misaki knew that look, she had literally written the book on being an XO, and decided to make things very clear, for everyone.

"You will not dismiss me like that, is that understood Taii? You were given a reason, other than the importance of following orders in combat, and frankly if that was understood we'd have not received word that you were on the bridge there engaging ship systems when all that was ordered was the card. Your veiled nature is not an asset on a gunship. I suggest you learn to use the chain of command and be polite, or find another ship." She leaned forward, to look at the junior officer.

"You can question it, and assume your action was right, but in the end a small shuttle is a far less valuable target to anyone and if you recall they torpedoed the Paradise in short order to bits. There's no telling how long you'd have lasted on that ship at all, and we'd have lost the key we needed along with it. Given the situation, the Taisa made the most prudent decision. Putting an 'adequate' bridge crew with little or no operations experience with a mission vital item was simply worse than having their leader return with assets aboard." Glancing firmly at her subordinate, the XO finally looked at everyone else, speaking more softly.

"This is an open discussion, but an attitude like that I don't expect to see from any of you." She suddenly knew without making it clear to Hamada in public that her attitude wasn't welcomed, she would just brush her off. "I feel horrible for letting those ships die, but we had no choice, and maybe, if things had gone more smoothly, we could have managed to get the Paradise out at least. However, they didn't, and it wasn't favorable tactically despite your opinion, Hamada-tai."

The blue-haired officer stopped, to sip her sangria, and mildly looked around the table.

The Taii stood. For a moment it appeared as if she were about to do something rash - light off into something vaguely vengeful, spiteful, or destructive. But with a sudden presence of mind, she relaxed her fist - when had she clenched it? - and bowed properly.

"Forgive my insubordination. I will excuse myself."

She glanced to Jalen-hei, as if considering something.

Then she picked up her glass and headed directly for the door.

During the exchange between Hamada-Taii and Kurusu-Chusa, Kim had remained silent. It wasn't the place of a lowly soldier to get involved in an argument between officers, though she was of mind that officers shouldn't have a public argument in the first place.

When Hamada then stormed off in a rage, she couldn't help but shake her head. Since when were Officers supposed to act like a spoiled little child being told off?

"Personally, I think the Chusa was in the right. You're a soldier, be it an officer or not, and you follow orders. End of story."

"Stay with us," Hanako ordered Hamada, disgusted by the bickering of her two XOs. She was forced to begin considering letting one of them go if they couldn't work together...but which? Both? The Aeon needed a First Officer, didn't it?

"The reason we did not take the ship was that it had been infested with the bugs from some unknown time. I had no idea how compromised it was. If the ship had been clear, I would have gladly brought it and other ships with us," the Taisa explained, hoping that would settle things.

She started on a new glass of rum, trying to dull her displeasure with booze. "The important thing is we all got out alright. I suppose the briefing is concluded. Maybe we should talk about something other than work, or play truth or dare or something."

- - -

"Sort of," Blueberry answered Darnell. "Eucharis does not have a dedicated science lab but the medical lab is set up for a lot of scientific uses. Your workspace is whereever the crew goes. I would expect to be on a lot of away teams if I were you," the sensor specialist told him. "Science is a good occupation...if you do well you can rise in rank toward being a first officer very quickly."

Figuring he was looking at the menu far to long for it to be normal, he sat it down in front of him and motioned to one of the waitresses so he could order that chicken taco he was wanting earlier as well as another vodka.

As he was scanning the table, he realized based on what he thought he was seeing, he realized he was the only one wearing the Infantry panels. "Wonder who else will eventually be in my squad." He motioned to get the woman's attention next to him "Am I the only infantryman here?" saying it low enough for her to hear, but not the rest of the table.

Sune gave Misaki a brief nod to acknowledge her veiled attempt at humor. It does not take a War College graduate to know that the tactics needed review. he thought.

He returned Hamada's look briefly waiting to see if she was going to say something.

As the conversation continued he chose to stay silent. He saw no reason to bring up that when the original orders were given, to go retrieve the key so that the fleet could be destroy, there was no infestation, or that he had suggested slaving some of the ships to the Eucharis and been summarily rebuked by Misaki. The heated exchange between the to XO's was indicative of deeper problems, especially with it transpiring in front of the crew.

He picked up his glass of tea and sipped him, having lost his appetite. So much for a night of partying.

"Thank you, Ketsurui-Taisa."

Shizu returned to her seat. She did not put her glass down, but she did re-cross her legs and recline back into the chair even if her tense attitude prevented it from being an actual, relaxed 'recline'. Her glass was already mostly empty, so she caught an ice-cube in her mouth and began to suck on it.

Very carefully, the Taii was avoiding looking at the Chusa. Instead she watched the wall, sullenly. Apparently, she had attempted to leave the room to cool down, and now that she was trapped in it, silence was the only control she had.

If she opened her mouth, it would probably not be positive.

Darnell smiled a bit, "Guess it doesn't have half the stuff I have here. Too bad. As for being on the ground, the prospect of getting shot at doesn't bother me half as much as the idea of grass being everywhere. And under my feet instead of above my head. Hopefully I'll get used to it." He was referring to the small patches of grass the rich grew in their upper level apartments on Nepleslia. As of such, grass was above your head and rare.

When she said he could rise to be first officer, Darnell smiled honestly, "I'd like that. I wonder just how far a Yamataian and a male can actually get in this Nekovalkyrja's Army." He nodded at the trouble going on at the U table and shook his head negatively, as if disappointed. Not disgusted, just disappointed. Darnell thought, Well, morale seems wonderful.

Darnell said, "Right, I believe I promised you magic back when you said you wanted to relax." He took the spoon from his place and twirled it around his fingers quickly, lifting it up, then down, then placing it back on the napkin. Except the napkin wasn't there anymore, the fork was undisturbed. Darnell took one hand and used the other to turn his uniform's glove inside out on top of the table. In the center was the bird folded as a small crane. He seemed a bit proud about this feat.

For a reason she couldn't entirely explain to herself, Junko was angry. It was all well and good that the "conversation" between the XOs had completely diverted attention away from any of her errors, but the subject matter hit pretty close to her thoughts. She felt she could understand the Taii's frustrations; indeed, though she had no intention of saying it, she was more than a little annoyed that the bridge had failed to consult her before handing down the order for the power surge. But the reaction to the Taii's attempt to start discourse about the issue really got her back up. Dressing down an officer in front of her subordinates? Undermining her authority? Junko was deeply concerned by those highly unprofessional acts.

Briefly shaking her head in derision, she drained her cup of coffee. She knew that the Taisa was right, that everyone being okay was the most important thing. But then hearing a mere Nito Hei publicly criticize a Taii without reprimand, let alone more severe repercussions... She clenched her fists beneath the table, taking a few calming breaths. After settling down a bit she looked back up, poking absentmindedly at the now empty cup in front of her. With an apologetic grin she glanced over at Himeya. "Sorry. I'm not being very sociable, am I?"

'I think they deserve extended liberty.'

The Taisa would catch the Taii looking at her, sidelong.

'It's been a hard couple of days. The ship's inaccessable for the moment, anyway.' She returned her attention to the wall. 'I'd also like a chance to speak with you in private, soon.'

"No more work talk for tonight," Hanako said, flushed and a little tipsy now. "We need to...ah...enjoy ourselves. What is everyone planning on doing tomorrow with their day off on Yamatai?" she asked.

I got us all rooms at the barracks/hotel place next door. Hanako mentally texted to just Shizu. Once everyone retires for the night we can talk in my room or yours, provided Misaki is not dragging me off to the bed. The Taisa smiled a little at the mental image.

'Thank you,' she replied.

The Taii eventually managed to get a glass for the sangria that was floating around the table. She took a drink from this new glass, touching it to her lips, downing a portion of the contents - but not quickly.

She was taking her time.

I have to go see my parents... Tasuku thought, after two years of being missing 50LY from home he knew after the initial surprise of him returning home wore off, he again get scolded by his parents again for joining the Star Army in the first place, despite him being an adult.

"I need to catch up with a few people, find a new uniform, and a Kylie".

"...and Review this." Tasuku said as he casually held up a datapad with a small Sakura emblem on its back side, he'd tried to ignore the recent heated exchange, he hoped by humoring the captains question he might help to dispel some of the tension that had built up in the room.