RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 9.2] Salvaging Parts and Hearts

Sune considered Yachiro's comments about time, he was not entirely sure what to make of it, since his own question to the Taisa was basically asking the same thing; how did she want the salvage to take place..

He then briefly considered Hanako's suggestion. A private discussion in a fighter cockpit was not exactly what I had in mind, but it would allow me to speak freely. And more importantly I will not have to be in a Mindy for the duration of the discussion. he thought.

"That would be acceptable Taisa, I will be ready to depart when you are." he answered.

YSS Eucharis

"I will leave it up to you individually whether to stay aboard or to salvage. If you salvage, stay with a partner," Hanako told the crew before throwing away her ration package and departing.

The Taisa first stopped by the bridge and took an AMES suit form there and carried it with her down to the shuttle bay where the fighter was waiting. She removed her utility belt and pulled the plasticky suit over her uniform before putting the belt back on and climbing up the metal rungs on the side of the fighter. She waited seated on the cockpit's edge for Sune to arrive.

After seeing Hanako leave the briefing, Sune got up took his ICP and made his way to the exit. He deposited his refuse into the available recepticle and headed up to his cabin. The cabin seemed strangly empty with Valencia away. Sune secured his ICP in his locker and headed down to the shuttle bay. Along the way he grabbed an AMES from one of the unraided Damage Control stations and carried it with him. 

Once Sune entered the bay, Hanako flashed him a smile before sliding her legs into the Hayabusa's cockpit and strapping herself into the front seat. Her SPINE system interfaced with the fighter and brought all the systems online save the aether engines.

Once he entered the hanger he saw Hanako already in the fighter. He returned the smile she gave, which belied his current state of nervousness. He walked over to the side and removed his belt with the accessories attached. He stepped into the protective suit and pulled it up over his uniform. Sune then reattached the belt and approached the fighter. Having never seen a V6 series fighter, it took him a moment to identify the proper hand holds to ascend and enter. A lot more room than a Mindy-2 he thought.

"Hopefully we should not have to fight anything. In case we do, however, you will need to designate targets. The computer will be able to do the tacking, aiming, and firing of the six turrets," Hanako informed him.

Fighting was not something had given serious thought to. "Right, select and let the systems take care of the shooting. Sounds good to me. It is my first time in one of these ma'am," he replied. He then started familarizing himself with the systems and controls.

Once the cockpit was sealed, the Taisa slowly pushed the Hayabusa past the damaged shuttlebay doors using the control sticks and the anti-gravity systems. They floated out into space. "I have the audio pickup switched off now," Hanako told him. "So it is just you and me. We should talk, I think." She manuevered the fighter into a position to guard the salvagers.

"Yes there have been several items of concern that I wanted to speak to you about in the past, but the opportunity never presented itself...." Sune paused to decide which it would address. "Taisa, are you okay? Not physically, but emotionally... while we were preparing our power armors for use, you did something uncharacteristic for you. You said you were nervous and impatient. What exactly was causing those feelings?" he said softly.

"I...I have under a great deal of stress," Hanako admitted. "I just wanted to get in and do the mission so we could get out of there. I do not enjoy facing the Mishhuvurthyar. You have probably read my history...medical history included," she told him. "I hate them and what they have done to me. Not only physically but the way they have changed me. I have become hardened...closed in, and I am weary of constantly having to face death."

Sune listened quietly while Hanako opened up, It would seem my concerns were closer to the truth than I thought. He waited a second or two before replying. "I can empathize ma'am. I suspected that this newest war was affecting you. From as far back at Battle of Nataria. I observed your behavior, and analyzed the NMX strategy. While I am sure they wanted the starships, I concluded they were in fact after a much more strategic target.... you. From cutting the squadron apart to the introduction of those bugs, it was all calculated to elicit an emotional response. And well, we haven't exactly had much down time. Everyone thinks a Nekovalkyrja is just a weapon, and unaffected by events. But they are wrong.... And unfortunately, everyone sees you as the Great Indefeatable Hanako. However, they do not see the real you. You have paid dearly. Sacrificing ship and...shipmates for the good of the Empire."

"And before," Hanako went on, "I felt at least there was lvoe to balance it out...but I do not feel that warmth anymore. Yui has become distant. She is so busy we rarely speak anymore...and there is no one on the ship I have been truly close with. I feel alone."

Sune had always heard that command was lonely, but never fully realized the extent that Hanako had been feeling. He knew she was not a manufactured neko but it was natural to want affection, even if it was just someone to hold her, or a shoulder to cry on. "Taisa... you are not alone. I care about you, not as a healer, or as a member of your crew. I have no real family, but I consider my feelings towards you to be like those I have for my friend on the Bouken. I am your friend, and I will always be your friend, and will stand beside you no matter what we face."

Hanako took a deep breath, feeling full of emotion. "Sune, thank you. I trust you. I know you must keep thinking of we you saw there...it is difficult to get it out of my thoughts as well. It also shows why I cannot stop and just retire. We need everyone to do her part until the NMX can no longer freely do with our people as they please."

"I never imagined just how depraved the NMX could be. And I will be honest, it has affected me. My emotions are jumbled, one moment I want to go into a rage against what they were doing, and then I feel terrified for those on the Bouken, when I looked at those two children we rescued, I kept seeing the two young ones I knew there. When I joined the Star Army it was to help protect people, the ones who can not help themselves. And after today, I feel that I have failed. It does not make sense, but it is how I feel."

"You did not fail that family in the recreation room," Hanako pointed out. "If you had not been there, all of the prisoners might be dead now. We just need to keep doing our best to save people from the NMX...whether than means defending Yamatai or going after their war machine."

"Good words, Hana.. Taisa. But what can one ship, one crew hope to accomplish. How many more battles will the Eucharis hold together. And the NMX..." Sune paused trying to figure out the best word to use. "Bastards... just keep coming. The fleet is bottled up, Yamatai is all but surrounded... and no matter how smart and clever we try to be.. It seems we come up short." Sune said giving voice to his own pain.

"This ship, not any ship but this ship, stopped the NMX from taking our fleets and crushing us at Nataria. This ship, not any ship but this ship, stopped the NMX from taking Elysia Novus. And it may be this ship that delivers the killing blow of the war. Whether it is Yui's vision or simple chance, we seem to be in the right place at the right time. We should take advantage of it."

Fortune favors the bold and the reckless. he thought. "I do not know about the Taisho's vision, ma'am. But it would seem that we need to... come up with a new play book. The enemy knows our tactics and strategies and plans accordingly. Perhaps we need to come up with some new tactics, or use what they know against them. Trick them into being where we need them to be to hurt them, to make them pay for all the blood we have shed." 

"But we are off topic, what can I do to help you ... to get through this time? "

"Honestly...I need someone to bond with, someone I can be close to. Not necessarily a lover but a confidante. Right now, it looks like you are it," Hanako smiled.

Sune considered Hanako's words. "I can do that, I can be that person for you." Sune meant what he was saying, mere words seemed inadequate. But whatever he could do to help ease some of Hanako's burden he would do it. He was also more comfortable with that role, than some thing more intimate. Hanako's reputation in dare parties and such, left Sune feeling not up to the task of lover, having never been one. "So, I presume Kage-Shosa will be the XO now Taisa?" 

Hanako sighed. "I am not sure yet. He was part of the crew before, but I ended up transferring him because of...well, we did not see eye to eye with many things, such as the technology. But he is the best at what he does and we need him. However for now he is not in the normal chain of command, but rather my adviser. We will see after a mission or two how I feel about putting him as my XO. As for you, I am promoting you to Juni and keeping you as first officer for the time being."

Sune would have to figure out how to work with the Shosa. "Thank you Taisa, I will do my best. For now it would probably be best to let Kage-Shosa have Stateroom one given his senior rank. And I will work on establishing a working relationship with him."

Takeyu watched as the Taisa had left, followed by Sune. He was somewhat smited, as the Taisa never gave him a response to his request but he also figured that perhaps it was just due to all that was going on, thus he couldn't really blame her. I'll write it up later and send it off to her, that might be a better idea anyway, he thought with a nod and got up.

He threw his trash away and leaned up against the wall in thought; he had to figure out a way to even the odds, but his knowledge on teleportation systems was rather limited and he only knew so much. I guess once everything settles down I'll try and educate myself a bit, and see if I can find some way to make the system work, though tampering with the module would be a stupid thing to do, since the manual already states not to, he thought in reference to the power armors teleportation module.

With a sigh he looked around the room. "I'd go for the salvage operation, but my Mindy armor is damaged and possibly won't hold up if any of the Fredicks debrie happens to hit it. Instead, I'll see about cutting away some of the doors that are blocking the shuttle bay," he said though cautiously.

He pushed off the wall and started for the exit, perhaps it was rude of him not to ask for help and his expression betrayed his working manner. He was depressed, and worried, and it showed on his face, he wanted to get away from the recreation room - away from the two kids - his blood only boiled further each time he looked at them. How could the Mish treat a person, a child no less, as .... the word he was going to use couldn't reach his thoughts.

Yaichiro rose, throwing away his trash, and looking to the crew remaining.

"I may be the senior officer here aside from the Taisa, but my role is not defined. As I'm outside the chain of command for the moment and was not in the battle to learn the details, I can only make recommendations to append to standing orders."

He looked to those assembled as he shouldered the GP-12 Pulse Rifle.

"We should guard the prisoner with extra care, whoever remains behind. While the Medbay's power is still on along with the locks and systems holding her, she could wreak havoc all the more easily if she somehow escaped into areas of the ship with powered down nonessential systems. It's a potential security risk, and we have civilians aboard to ensure the safety of, which magnifies the concern and our responsibility to avert it.

I'll loan my Mindy 3A to one of you surviving pilots to salvage with if your unit has been incapacitated or destroyed, as we need to field as many units as possible. I'll stay behind to help with the repair efforts and ensure at least that an officer is present should a situation arise...who among you doesn't have a functioning Power Armor, but is skilled in their use and needs to borrow mine?"

He'd considered sending a message to the one who'd just walked out, Nayacesen-Hei, but something about his general demeanor and actions seemed to indicate that he didn't want to be bothered...he probably needed time to cool down and think.

Kumiko raised her hand. "I think I'll stay behind. I'm not fully recovered yet, so my use in the field would be limited. If you need me out there, I can serve, but I'd prefer to stay here." She pondered for a minute. "I am without an armor as well, since mine was almost completely destroyed back at the shipyard."

He noted that Kumiko seemed familiar, and pulled up her information. He probably served with her last time he was on the Eucharis.

"The Taisa left it all up to you individually to decide, and I'm in no position to countermand her orders, nor do I wish to. This would all be entirely voluntary. If you do stay though, I request that you use your skills as a technical sentry to help with the repairs...I know you probably need rest, but we're not really out of the woods yet.

Any technicians who get to work on fixing the ship though -- I request that you don't cut medbay power, as I've left it on. The prisoner must be kept secure."

He then turned to Gally-Shoi. "Gally-Shoi, is it possible for you to recall or call up the manifest of the Fredrick? If there's anything in the DOC which we can use, we should be aware of it and relay that information."

Nika was the next to raise her hand, "I've no problems in assisting with the salvaging. Unless you need a Starship Operator to assist Charisma in pioritising in what to get this ship moving..."

The neko finished, breaking the ration pack for something to fill her stomach.

Takeyu double checked his AMIS before walking over to a damage control station near the shuttle bay main entrance. There he removed two electrical wielders and a CASTER.

"These should do it," he said but grabbed a few extra tools just in case. Then he started for the main shuttle bay door. "Charisma, just double checking but there's oxygen in the bay still right?"

"Confirmed," said Charisma calmly.

He entered the bay and saw that there was a force field over the breach, the bay doors were curled back almost as if someone had taken a can-opener to them. Glancing about the bay he realized that there was also damages here that he could attend to after he was done cutting the doors away.

Because of the lack of gravity, he was able to float up to the first door easily, but he had another worry. The force field would make work a bit difficult, since it was designed to keep an atmosphere in while keeping the harshness of space out.

"Charisma. I need you to seal all pathways into the shuttle bay. Then start pumping all of the oxygen out of here please," he asked her.

He heard the main shuttle bay door close; along with the door that lead into the power armor bay. With the last of the oxygen pumped out, he braced himself just in case Charisma's internal sensors were damaged in some way. "Disable the containment field please," he watched the field flickered several times over the course of ten seconds before going offline.

Taking the electric wielder he moved up to where the door meet the ship and started getting to work, he had one hand on the wielder and another on a handhold. "Charisma. Can you please scan the rest of the bay for any hull breaches not associated with the shuttle bay doors? I know the oxygen was still here, but I don't want to risk it," he asked her.

As he waited for her response; he continued his cutting, intending to do it clean and simple. Right now, there was no noise, nothing to disturb him, minus of course Charisma when she came back but he didn't mind her at all. To a tech, a ships AI was family and often times you didn't really care if they overheard what you said. "I hope this works, removing the oxygen probably wasn't really needed," he muttered to himself. "But it's always better just to be sure," he moved the wielder over the doors supports.

“We'll keep a cut-out around Med-bay systems,” said Junko to the officer. She was fiddling with a communicator, trying to pull up a list of damage reports from the engagement without paying very much attention to what she was doing; a sure sign that she was annoyed. The way Takeyu had left without consulting the other technicians had raised her ire slightly. Still, she was a professional and had a job to get to. She quit messing with the device and stowed it in a pouch.

“Well, sir, I'm not sure what you wish to do here, but I'd like to get started with working the systems back up.” She turned toward Kumiko. “If you're still not quite in usual form, Endoh-Hei, might I suggest running the system checks from the Mainspace? I could perform the local confirmations and repairs, if necessary. Either way, we should get moving.”

Sune lapsed into silence, he felt that it might be best for Hanako and himself to just have a few minutes of quiet to let their earlier conversation truly register. He leaned as far forward in his seat as he could and placed his hand on her shoulder. He gave her shoulder a brief squeeze hoping that the non-verbal expression would do her more good than words.

No sign of any of the crew emerging from the Eucharis. Perhaps they were waiting for us to let them know they were in position. he thought. He switched his audio pickup to the Eucharis' frequency. "Jalen-Heisho to Eucharis. Fighter is in position to monitor progress and watch for hazards. You may commence Salvage operations."

He then switched his internal audio pickup back to private, just in case Hanako wanted to speak. Looking around at the cockpit he realized that the Hayabusa was more like a starship, than what he considered a fighter to be. The armament and systems were quite considerable for such a small craft. Better run a full diagnostic, this fighter was taking a pounding back at the shipyard, and we have not had time to do any repairs. Best to know what does not work before we need it. he thought entering the necessary commands into his station.

Since the full diagnostic would take a few minutes, Sune decided to start scanning the battle scene. He did not want a repeat of what happened to the Frederick, so knowing if anyone was out there was paramount. With all the debris from shattered ships in the area, it would take some time to make sense out of the clutter.

While Hanako provided overwatch with the fighter, she hovered over to a large, shimmering sheet of fine silk she saw floating out there. “What is this doing out here?” After checking to make sure Sune had his helmet still on, Hanako opened the cockpit window and strained to grab at the fabric. “Auungh,” she transmitted to Sune. “I need one of those grabber arm things, the kind they sell at hardware stores with the little rubber claw on the end. It would also be useful to have the fighter equipped with a miniaturized graviton beam, a tow line, and/or a net of some sort of collecting things.” After some careful maneuvering the Taisa basically pushed the fighter into the silk and she was able to grab it and fold it into a thick pile before stuffing it down by her feet. “This is in excellent condition,” Hanako noted.

Hanako switched on the audio pickups and began to playfully brag. “It is difficult to believe I got the first salvage item,” she teased. “Where are my slowpoke crew members? Perhaps they are taking a break to read doujinshi or something. Meanwhile, it is a free-for-all of out here. Come get some items to bring home to Eucharis!

Perhaps they were There should be five or so undamaged Mindy armors left in the armor bay. Shika and Yaichiro also have armors in good shape.”

The Taisa then looked for something else to grab. She spotted something metal. A scan revealed its shape. “Oh no, a sausage grinder,” she frowned, thinking back to the recently-seen scene of horror. “Bad timing.”

- - -

Gally nodded. “I have the cargo in my head,” she told Yaichiro. “There are a large number of Plumeria repair parts in the container and also enough turrets of the same model to replace the four anti-armor you lost. You should definitely go get it. Plus, it has Hanako’s orders on it. The DOC is too big to fit in the Eucharis but If you can rig an external power source to the DOC, we can use its air-containment forcefield to maintain its pressure and open the doors on the end, allowing us to unload it. Perhaps you can use a shuttle to attach it to Eucharis’ tow line and then reel it in so the open DOC door faces the shuttlebay? ”

Yaichiro nodded, liking what Galley-Shoi recommended. He then turned back to Nika-Hei, after getting Sune and Hanako's message.

"Well, it seems that the Taisa is wondering where everyone is. You're cleared to use my 3A if you need it. It looks like I'm going to the shuttlebay to get the Kuma, and rig it to power the DOC's systems so we can unload it. I'll grab what salvage I come across on the way there. The rest of you can choose what to do, and should probably do so swiftly." Yaichiro sighed lightly after he put the helmet on, and went out toward the shuttlebay toward the T8. He went over what points were essential for the ship's engineers and tried to hurry, but the remainder of the crew who were supposed to have followed Hanako out seemed slow to take initiative when given open-ended orders -- even those who weren't technicians. He sent a reply to Sune and Hanako, pushing this out of his mind.

"Gally-Shoi has informed me that there are some repair parts on the DOC in addition to your ordered items. I'm planning on taking out the salvaged Kuma to grab it and connect it to the tow line, and maybe use the Kuma's power to augment its air containment forcefield to help unload it. I'll salvage what I see enroute possibly, but I will be getting back to the ship as soon as possible to aid in repairs. I've consented to allow one of the crew to use my Mindy 3A to salvage."

Yaichiro reached the Power Armor Bay and started changing into an AMES, while Charisma informed him that the Shuttlebay Door was exposed to vacuum. He sent a message to Nayacesen-Hei inside.

"Nayacesen-Hei, can you repressurize the Shuttlebay and allow me to launch in the Kuma? I know it's inconvenient, but we have to go get the Odori's DOC. It has parts on it for us to use for repairs."

Sune pondered Hanako's suggestion of fighters with salvage tools. "Taisa, I do not think KFY would consider equipping fighters to serve as salvage vehicles. But perhaps they could come up with some sort of exo-frame that a power armor clad soldier could wear that could have those kind of features."

Watching the meat grinder go drifting by Sune ground his teeth, and resisted the urge to do a little target practice on it. Although he did briefly lock onto it. He did a visual scan and noticed a few ANU's tumbling free in the wreckage.

"Taisa, perhaps while the crew is working getting out here, we might want to locate and tag priority items. Or ones that might be hazardous, like a Scalar Mine. Or we could use some of the equipment from the survival kits, we could use the tape and twenty meters of cord to tow some of the items we want behind us. We would just have to maneuver close and do a bit of EVA work to attach the cord to a point." He offered.

Takeyu stopped mid cut and keyed his communicator. "No problem Shosa," he sent off his response as he floated down to the ground while sending the task request to Charisma. It took a few moments for the bay to repressurize, when it was done he keyed the communicator. "It's done Shosa, will inspect the shuttle right quick," he messaged.

He put the repair work in the bay on hold for the moment and began to inspect the shuttle, though he knew that it would probably need some small repair work after it was used.

Hanako nodded a little. “You are right, Sune. They are probably too busy building normal fighters to build one with salvage capacities. But that gives me an idea!” Hanako signaled the Eucharis and its shuttles and suited crew members before continuing, so they could hear: “We still have those two Lorath work Paa-Zem pods, and those would be perfect for salvaging and for working on the ship’s hull, especially since we are short on armor suits. Send out the mobile spanner drones too.”

The Taisa then switched back to vehicle audio and told Sune. “It sounds dangerous but if you want to try it, you are welcome to. I will try not to jerk you around too much on the cord. What would you tag items with, though? We would need some sort of little transmitters, I think.”

The shuttles and the fighter seem to be holding up okay in spite of the recent battle, although Sune could see signs of the battle as gouges in the Hayabua’s armor and a spiderweb crack in the starboard turret’s transparent window.

Sune considered what Hanako had said, Well its not like we are going to find a crate of transmitters. He thought as he pulled up the inventory list of the Type 31 Survival Kit.

"Ma'am we could use these items from the Survival kit to tag items. We have ten glow sticks, I would suggest that we use those to mark hazardous items. Items that you think we should take we can mark with the marking tape. The glow sticks would be more visible so would serve as a better warning. I am willing to tag the hazardous items, in the interest of protecting the crew."

Sune did some checking of what other resources they had at their disposal. He reached down to check his AMES belt, the compressed air tanks he would need for EVA, and there was the grappling thread gun.

"Taisa, next time you see something that you want to bring into the fighter, why not use this." He said holding up the thread gun.

Kumiko nodded. "I think I can help just fine, but that sounds like a plan anyway. I'll go get started on the checks." She turned to go, and paused. "Keep in touch via telepathy, or the coms?"

"I'll get right to it Shosa." Nika finished her meal, "Will update and await further instructions once I'm ready." She made a quick bow and went off to the armour bay.

Yaichiro's 3A was not difficult to get in, after all, he was taller than the neko as she settled into the PA, letting its system boot up. She went about making minor adjustments to the system as she walked about in it.

"The body fitted nicely, just that my legs and arms need to stretch abit..." Nika winced as she stretched her new arm, "Ok, not too much... then maybe we could increasing the senstivity..." That worked off better, but it did pushed the PA slightly further than she wanted to, almost hitting against the bay's wall.

Once the programming was done, she re-equipped the PA, adding the Manipulator Arm as well as a Aether Beam Saber Rifle.

"Shosa, Irenika Himeya Itto Hei suited up and ready." Nika informed Yaichiro telepathically as she put on her helmet, which was intact from the previous operation.

To him, it looked like the external hull of the shuttle was fine, though he knew that there was the possibility he had missed something. Despite that, he continued his check while waiting for the Shosa so he could give him a quick report.

While he waited though; he realized that there was a problem, not with the shuttle, but with him. He had left the recreational room, though he had stated where he was going, he had left in a rather unprofessional manner and knew that he would have to apologize to his fellow tech's the next time they were together in one place.

"Understood, Irenika-Hei, deploy at your leisure." Yaichiro said, having noted the Taisa and Sune's communications. He wasn't exactly one to comment on the Lorath systems, and he needed the Shuttle's higher power output.

He emerged into the Shuttle Bay, and nodded to Takeyu. "I'm ready to go. I apologize for impeding your progress." He said, as he got into the shuttle and started up its systems, wearing an AMES.

"This is Kage-Shosa to all hands, I'm departing the Shuttle Bay, maneuvering thrusters only. Nayacesen-Hei, please stay clear." The T8 started to move out of the shuttlebay, very slowly, to avoid hitting the soldier as well as the damage to the bay doors.