Cargo Hold
Atlonzee considered Rin's proposal. After a moment of thought the alien shook his head from side to side. "I do not believe that will work. Even if I can calibrate your communicator to broadcast on our frequency. There is the issue of line of sight and security encryption. I think the only way would be if you could transport me to their location."
ON
Bridge
Katae sat at her station on the bridge. When Eternity detected a Star Army T7 shuttle entering the system. She monitored its progress uncertain of its purpose while keeping track of her personnel.
'Eternity please query command as to what is going on with the shuttle." She asked.
A moment later the shuttle signaled.
YSS Aeon, this is Tanuki-1. We have a personnel transfer aboard.
Requesting permission and vectors into dock.
"Ise-san, command has reported that they have dispatched a doctor for the ship." Eternity said from the speaker next to Katae.
Katae opened a channel to the shuttle. "Tanuki-1, this is Aeon-actual, the Aeon is current located on the innermost planet. We have multiple away teams deployed. Please follow the OGSP beacon until you are in orbit and then pick up our beacon. Approach our coordinates via a polar descent as their is a volcanic event taking place east of our position.
Upon arrival at our location dock in the shuttle bay."
She turned her attention back to monitoring the data from the various teams.
Roger that, Aeon-actual. Adjusting course for
Hohmann transfer orbit. Will be behind the primary star in 5 minutes, expecting communications black-out for two minutes.
Shuttle
Eiven smiled when he heard the reply. He even felt as if he were shaking a little on the inside, though it managed not to cross his more calm demenor. That was until the man felt a breath on his ear and jumped.
The Heisho giggled with a smile before freezing when the Juni looked back in again. The doctor's lips tightened, then he gave a nod to the Kodian before gently closing the door to the cockpit. The supply Neko saw this and began making her move again only to see the officer cadet stand with a displeased look on his face.
The medical Minkan would not disrespect the previous commanders his fellow passengers by believing the two Nekos were incapable of self discipline; however he felt that enough was enough and that the shenanigans needed to stop. He brought himself to attention and called the compartment to group; his fellow travelers responding properly - much to his relief.
"I understand that this trip has been one without entertainment or incident," Eiven began in an even, yet firm tone, "However until such time that we each are in the trust of our prospective commanders, and have been given leave for personal pursuits, we are on the Empire's time. As such we should comport ourselves as the professionals we all know we are. At ease.
"I apologise if I have given the impression that I needed to be 'comforted' - this was not my intent, though the two of you are lovely. My preference would be to stick to casual conversation, however, until we part company. Does that sound unreasonable?"
Both the supply woman and the technician were taken aback by the turn of events, but fell back on their training as appropriate. Then, when the Minkan's question was given to them, they offered a "No, Sir." in the proper fashion, though they would have preferred to look at the floor in that moment. Both Nekos had thought that they had been invited.
The officer cadet nodded with a "Thank-you," then sat back down and allowed the two girls to go back to their own thing. Thist time they stuck to themselves, quite possibly messaging back and forth between their heads again, Eiven figured, but that was fine. A little time to compose himself before meeting his new captain about suited him at this point.
After some time, the Kodian Juni opened the door again and looked into the passenger cabin. He noted the two enlisted behaving themselves in one corner while the officer cadet looked unmolested. The shuttle commander gave the doctor a nod of approval before delivering on his business.
"Sir, we have just entered polar orbit around AX-03I and are preparing for atmospheric entry." the fuzzy operator began, "All of you will want to buckle up before we begin."
Eiven smiled with barely the edge of nervousness as he thanked the Kodian and worked on strapping in. The two Nekos also tied themselves down before calling out, "Ready here!" The doctor nodded and gave the Juni the thumbs up, after which the door closed.
Soon there was the sound of rattling as the shuttle passed through various wisps of the planet's exosphere, punctuated now and then by a bang or bump. Then the exterior began to rumble as the vehicle's occupants started to feel vibrations through the floor and seats. Finally there was a roar and shaking as the atmosphere's thickness increased enough to truly decelerate the the small spacecraft down from its orbital Mach 35 down to something a little closer to the speed of sound.
The rage of the atmosphere against the shuttle's airframe calmed as it reached a stable flight speed and Eiven's grip on his seat relaxed a little. Turbulence still buffeted the small craft, but that was not as much of a problem. The old man finally let his breath out, then rubbed his face self-consciously as he waited to land at his destination.
Eventually the shuttle radioed in that they were inbound, using the Aeon's beacon to line themselves up for final approach. The Juni had let that part of the conversation also ring out in the passenger area, causing the doctor's heart to beat fast in his throat again below his cool shell. Privately, Eiven allowed himself to be thankful of even the little things his Minkan body could handle.
Eternity was monitoring the shuttles approach, and turned on the beacon at the appropriate time. She kept Katae appraised of the status verbally so as to not disturb her from the data from the others. She watched the count down timer on the screen. The shuttles rate of descent showed it would arrive right around the deadline for getting the Thaurgons out of the wreckage.
"Aeon to shuttle be advised we are holding position fifty meters above the ground due to seismic activity. Also one of our teams is effecting a rescue from a hazardous location. Once they return we will be moving quickly to a place outside of the effective area. Please expedite passenger exchange and then depart promptly." Katae broadcasted to the shuttle commander..
"Roger that, Aeon!" the Kodian replied before opening the door up again. "Better have your gear ready, Sir. Looks like an emergency in the works."
Eiven gave a quiet curse in his father's tongue, but at the same time the excitement within brought the tiniest of smirks to his face. He looked up at the rack where his duffel was, then began undoing the straps on it so he could pull the bag down onto his lap.
"How long?" the doctor asked the commander,
"Moments, Sir," the Juni replied, "Better say your good byes now."
The officer cadet nodded then looked to his fellow passengers with a small smile.
"I really did enjoy our earlier talk," he offered, "We should go for drinks should we see each other on leave."
The shuttle eased up enough to still be careful entering the shuttle bay doors. "Get ready to hop out, Sir," came the operator.
"Count on it!" the technician smiled as the medical officer pulled his restraints off.
Shuttle bay
Eiven thanked the shuttle commander and pilot for the ride then gave the two Nekos a good bye before opening the door, giving a wave before jumping out. The shuttle was hovering half a meter off the deck as the doctor popped out of it, giving him some time to get clear before taking off again. The man smiled after it and shook his head before looking back around the shuttle bay to see whom was around.
Waiting at door to the shuttle bay a light purple haired Nekovalkyrja with bright violet eyes was standing watching Eiven disembark. 'The shuttle pilot obviously took the Taisa's warning seriously.' she thought. She smiled and in a clear voice she called out "Eiven Lankinen-Shoi Kohosei, I am Keiko Gi-Ittô Juni, one of the Aeon's starship operators. Ise-Taisa asked me to escort you to the bridge. You can leave you bags here in the bay off to the side." she then waited for him to approach.
The officer cadet took a deep breath to settle his nerves again after Gi had spoken, and made his way, professionally, over to where she was. He then came to attention before the Nekovalkyrja. "Permission to come aboard, Juni?" he asked with a kindly serious face.
Gi bowed to Eiven, "Permission granted Kohosei. Please follow me we are in the middle of a rescue and my services may be required." she said straightening up.
Eiven gave an appropriate bow in return. "My thanks," he replied before setting his duffel next to the wall, but about a meter away from the door, "Let us proceed, then."
Gi turned and walked across the power armor bay quickly but maintaining a sense of decorum. She knew that Katae would not approve of her running, so once through the bay she took the corridor past the medical center. "Well here is where you will be working, I am sure you will know your way around a medical center. Do not take it wrong, but I prefer to avoid trips to the medical center." She said continuing down the passageway
Once they reached they reached the zero-g passageway Gi launched herself upward. It was after all only a journey of two levels. She was confident that the Kohosei would be more than capable of making the trip. She landed on deck two and waited for him to follow.
The doctor followed along at Gi's pace, not too worried about gawking, but ensured he noticed the power armor bey they moved through. Next was a pass by the medical lab which he made note of as well, but more so the fact that Gi was not too fond of going there.
I will have to keep that in mind for when she does show up, he figured.
The man then watched as the operator stopped at the corridor and floated her way up to the first deck. Eiven stepped to the edge, hanging onto a hand hold for a moment as he calculated the distance up. He never really used his floating ability much, other than when he first received his Yamataian body, and later during training; but it looked like he would be doing it more often now.
The Kohosei, slowly at first, floated his way up to the deck next to the Juni and nodded to her. "I'm sure I'll get used to that soon enough," he smiled, "Shall we?"
"Not bad for your first time out of training sir. You have come at interesting times. We currently have representatives from two new alien species with us. In the hold are a bunch of hexapods who call themselves Thaurgons. Seems they are stranded here.
The other is a furred species that looks to be related to foxes. Her name is Kata'nova. We picked her up on the prior mission. She's lost and we are trying to find her home. When she came on board there was a brief concern about a biological contagion. But Sakura-Hei found out that it was a case of infection from a wound she received on that planet."
Bridge
She walked over to the bridge access, and opened the door. She walked into the bridge where she stepped to the side. "Ise-Taisa, Lankinen-Shoi Kohosei is here."
Katae turned towards Gi, "Okay, kindly take the Operation station and be prepared to get us far from here when I give the word." She said and then glanced back at the countdown on the main screen's lower corner. 6:00 and counting down.
Eiven listened to Gi as she went over some of the instances of first contact that the crew was currently dealing with and smiled at the opportunity. Not the kind of excitement he envisioned initially, however the chance to learn about new species nearly topped that. The doctor also made a note to speak to Sakura-Hei about the emergency to find out what she learned in that incident.
The Minkan followed the operator onto the bridge and after the threshold, moved so he wouldn't be blocking the door and came to attention.
"Eiven Lankinen-Shoi Kohosei reporting, Ma'am," he bowed deeply and respectfully, "It is an honor to accept your invitation to this fine vessel."
"Welcome aboard the Aeon Lankinen-Kohosei. For safety sake, please take a seat at the Systems and Safety monitoring station and strap in. We are expecting to have to leave this location rather abruptly. I must admit that I have more than a few questions for you." she said pointing to the referred to station.
"Understood," he bowed again before quickly taking the seat and strapping in, "Sounded like you were in quite the frypan from what I heard over the radio."
"The volcanic activity does not pose a direct threat to us. We experienced a few minor tectonic shifts. The threat is the piece of Thaurgon ship that is stuck in the volcano. There are a number of Thaurgons who chose to stay with the wreckage to by time for their comrades to escape to safety. Our away team lead by Kim-Chui rescued the ones on the surface who are now in our hold. She is now leading her team to try to save those who stayed behind. Within the wreckage is a malfunctioning anti-matter reactor. Without knowing the exact size and capacity. We have no way to know how big the blast will be. So they are going to teleport back to this area, board the ship and we will leave at maximum speed south.
I must say that I was surprised when I reviewed your records. Not used to a new soldier being so old."
"Not many are, but it is something that a new body allows for," the Minkan smiled, "One does not need to worry so much about all the typical aillments that our ancestors used to at my age. Then again, there are very few in the Empire whom are my age or older, which does not help that particular statistic."
"The only person older than you that I have ever had any dealings with is Saiki Kouan, the Director of the Yamatai Scientific Studies Service.
Military service, or to be more precise war is typically a career for the young. Or the young at heart. The dangers we face, and the losses we suffer can age a person in ways that have nothing to do with the phsycial.
So that being said, why at the age of 50 after getting a new Minkan body did you chose to place yourself in the Star Army, and risking that very life?"
"Because it is at those very moments that I feel the most alive, Ma'am," came Eiven's very serious response, "I'm sure it shows up in my civilian record as to why I ended up in a Minkan body.
"I felt an itch that I eventually managed to scratch a few years ago; bought a new airbike to release the tension and, I suppose, feel free. I began to test the bike as well as test myself, or that is what I figure I had done, since the last back-up they had was from before then. I have three tickets from that, the last one from the incident that claimed my life. Worse than that, who knows how many times I did not get caught and was still not just risking my own life, but the lives of others as well.
"The next time I hit the clock to start causing those types of incidents again, the Mishhuvuthyaar had attacked Yamatai and I was put to work in a tent hospital - overseeing my own section of it, really. It reminded me that there was a way, where if I felt stupid enough again, I could risk my life without unduly risking others. Sticking to the medical profession while doing this, I may be more of a positive rather than a neutral influence on the lives of others.
"As for aging, I'm getting old right here before your very eyes, Ma'am. The speed of it doesn't really change the fact that it's happening."
Katae had listened to Eiven's explanation, and rather than putting her mind at ease, it gave her more concern. She wrinkled her forehead as she tried to decide what to say.
" Lankinen-Kohosei, I may not be medically trained like you. But from where I am sitting I have to wonder. You started exhibiting a tendency to push yourself by doing things that were more and more risky. So much so that you died in one of them. It almost sounds like you were having some sort of identity crisis.
So how do I know that this is just not another risky action just for the sake of affirming that you are alive? The Aeon is more than just the ship, its the crew and everyone has to depend on the others to be there for them. How do I know you won't dive into some rash situation again?"
"Because stuffing a man's entrails back into him was more important than running out into the bombs with the paramedics, Ma'am" he replied, "Patching him up the old fashioned way on a cot, because the beds and tubes were all in use, was more important."
"So you are saying the events of the Battle of Yamatai, cured your self destructive tendencies. I sincerely hope so." She said and made a quick entry into her console.
"Now, for a more delicate question. As you are very much aware, you are older that every meber of the crew, in most cases by several times. Living in such close quarters means lots of social interactions. Do you foresee any problems interacting with people so much younger than you? That do not have your life experiences or perspective."
"So long as they stay off my lawn," the Minkan smirked before getting more serious, "Honestly, it's taken me a lot of time and so many mistakes to get to where I am now.
Of course there will be times when someone will do something that I'm sure they shouldn't; but unless there will be a bigger problem, it's my jurisdiction as the medical officer, or I'm being asked for advice - I've found it be best to leave well enough alone. Hell, some of it made me laugh while going through the last two years of training. I love those kids, every last one."
Katae had to think for a moment when Evien started speaking. It had been a long time since she heard that particular idiom. She turned back to her console and took a look at the data being displayed.
"Well, obviously passed the standard psych evaluations that they give all trainees. But you have to understand that I needed to hear for myself. We have had soldiers in the past who graduated but in the field proved to be problematic.
Given your age you have obviously experienced some things that many of the crew have not, and some that have and had to deal with. For example the matter of true death. Most of our culture has gotten so used to Soul Transfer technology that they forget that people can still die. So I expect that you have experience in counseling people through such unfortunate events."
Eiven nodded at the possibility of people being problematic. The questions really could only do so much while and experience eye can catch things that automatics don't. However when Katae got to talking about death and counseling he heaved a great sigh. It brought up, momentarily, the dozens of people he knew whom had died around him, the hundreds he tried to save - it had touched a nerve.
"Not exactly the most favored aspect of my profession, but one that ought to be expected of us," the doctor offered solemnly, "I probably have too much experience in one light; but also not near enough in another - if you take my meaning, Ma'am. The process is different for everyone, and no one goes through it unchanged. Some take it worse than most, while others can hide the problem so deep they never get a chance to deal with it before it causes them irreparable harm. I do try my best when the time comes, though."
Katae smiled, "Well, you just said the words that I wanted to hear. I have a very simple standard that I apply to everyone on the ship. I expect everyone to do their best. And I realize that best can change depending on circumstances. But a person will rarely find themselves being disciplined by me if they truly give me their best.
Lastly, I just want you to understand that we do have a medic currently assigned. She does not have your many years of experience. Sunflower Sakura-Hei has been a valued member of the crew. But I do hope you will see her as a peer and not try to relegate her to little more than a nurse."
The man nodded affirmatively, "As valued she is, she will be invaluable to me as a gateway to helping the crew better. I have also just recently heard that we have some aliens on board, one of which she is the current, foremost expert on. I have a feeling I will be doing more learning from her than delegating for a while yet."
"You are no doubt referring to our resident alien Kata'nova, she is a Shukaren Daur of the Neshaten Shukara Navy. A member of their military that allows youths to serve. She literally crashed into our lives during a mission. Our SSS Liaison Josea Gustav has been working with her to establish and build upon a translation program for her." Katae said.
"Well, I think you will definitely be an interesting addition to the crew. I suggest that you grab your gear and deposit in the Medical Center for the time being and then grab a medical kit and wait in the Cargo Hold. It is entirely possible when the Away team returns, that their will be injuries, to our people or those they are rescuing."
"Sounds like I got here just in time then, and thank-you for this opportunity," Eiven offered, hiding how pumped he was to actually start working right way, "Would you happen to know any more about these hexapods, or would it be best for me to wait until I meet up with Sakura-Hei?"
"Actually we have no real medical data on them. We have the life scanner readings that Gustav-San has taken. But Sakura-Hei hasn't had any time to work on them. The ones we have on board are fine. And we have a team that is visiting their main installation. So if any of the Thaurgons that the team brings are injured, our main goal will be triage and get them to their base as quickly as possible."
OFF