ON: YSS Eucharis
"Thank you," Hanako told Sune. "I intend to talk to the crew and then assemble them for promotions. I think almost everyone deserves one after this last mission." She stood up from the captain's chair and left for cargo bay to check on the progress down there.
Yaichiro, meanwhile, had elected to return to the Cargo Bay and either start helping in ship repairs proper; or to somehow learn how to operate that Lorath Pod to help expedite the turret swapping. Charisma had no data on how to pilot it, and he couldn't do much more in an AMES. He checked his oxygen, to make sure his supply was still sufficient, before walking toward the Cargo Lift.
The Taisa entered through the main passageway and walked inside, looking over all the recovered supplies and parts spread over the floor.
"Ah, Taisa. Thank you again for the rescue," Victory greeted her, "and for the offer to join the Eucharis crew."
Hanako smiled to Victory and then noticed Yachiro over by the cargo elevator and went over to see him.
Yaichiro had briefly stopped to glance at the broken apart Mindy he'd recovered, pondering for a brief time using what shards were left of the armor for an experiment later, when he saw Hanako approaching. As he hadn't done so yet, he turned toward her and gave the appropriate bow for boarding the ship. He'd have given it when he first arrived, but the situation did not permit it at the time.
"We have a chance to talk now," Hanako told him. "Shall we go someplace private?"
"Very well, Taisa. It's nice to see you again." Yaichiro said, smiling gently through the AMES' helmet. They hadn't parted under the best of circumstances, but hopefully this would be a chance to fix that problem...he'd had a lot of time to think. "Wherever you want to talk is fine."
"How about the armory?" Hanako suggested. her big golden eyes looked thoughtful.
"Alright..." Yaichiro said, disconnecting and picking up the Sylph Pack and the Aether Submachine Gun. "That works just fine, and I can drop these off while I'm there. I have a few things I'd like to talk to you about as well, time permitting."
After riding the cargo lift, they made their way inside. Hanako sat down on a stack of grenade boxes tied down on the armory's upper level.
Yaichiro took a moment to put away the Sylph Pack and the Aether Submachine Gun before joining her and taking off his AMES' helmet. He was grateful for the fact Yamataians didn't sweat like Nepleslians did, or he wouldn't exactly be presentable at the moment. He stayed quiet, to allow the superior officer to speak first.
After a minute of silence it became clear that she was waiting on him, too.
"I apologize, I thought since you sought me out, and are the superior officer, I should let you speak first...the first matter I have to speak of is a matter of business, and the second a more personal one. If you have any more important matters, feel free to stop me and say what you want to say."
The first thing he did, while waiting for her to respond, was open the AMES and put his hand inside, pulling a letter out of his uniform pocket inside. He handed it to her, to read when she was ready.
The letter read,
"Princess, You may not know me, but my name is Celebration, the Captain of the Fruna Ruica. While yes, I understand that I am a Lorath, I promise you I do not hold their preconceived and unwarranted notions of you and your government, and to that affect I have disentangled myself from theirs. I've gone off track though. I would like to arrange a meeting, about a possible business arrangement between myself and your government, one that I feel could benefit the both of us. Included in this letter is my contact information, and I leave the arrangements of location to you. I will come completely in the spirit of open talks, and as such I leave it to you to pick the location, so you are able to know it is a safe place. I look forward to hearing your response and thank you for your time.
Signed Ringmaster Rish'Til'Tuk Celebration Llamnel."
"What is this?" Hanako asked before opening it.
"Long story short, I went to purchase a Lorath-made car from one of the only non-UOC places I could find it, under an assumed name. The captain of the craft I purchased it from somehow knew who I was and requested I give this to you...how she knew who I was, or that I would even see you in any timely manner, I haven't the slightest idea. I agreed to give it to you, but no more. It's your choice to ignore it or follow up. She says she has some sort of business proposition and wishes to meet you. The issue is that she's Lorath -- though she says she's not affiliated with the government or anything and doesn't share their views and prejudices."
"I see," Hanako said, frowning lightly at the letter. She did not open it. "How does it feel to be back, so far?"
"Good and active, to say the least." He said, giving a light smile. "Compared to arranging exhibits and schedules, it's a little more like what I used to know...I think I needed that break to be able to move forward."
"It has not been easy out here," Hanako told him. "Thinking about the future of this war makes me feel sick. There will be so much more death before it ends. The best we can do is to get through it with friends at our sides to help."
Yaichiro nodded. "Yeah...honestly, when we split paths last time, I was content just to serve my term and quietly get my discharge. When this second war started though, I decided to stick around. Just in case I was needed...I'm sorry about a lot of things from last time. I wasn't really doing well after the UOC split."
"Neither was I," Hanako admitted. "I wonder if they will survive the war."
"So do I...I adopted a sprite over there as a daughter when she lost her ship, but she stayed behind to serve the land she was born from. Sometimes I wonder..." Yaichiro said, sighing. "If the SMX hadn't manipulated Uesu-sama into the position to resign, I have to wonder if the UOC would really have split..."
"I like to believe he's out there somewhere still fighting for us," said Hanako. "I wonder what ever happened to Yuriko."
"The last time I saw her was when she gave me Midori to take home to Yamatai and sold her house to me...Midori's still living there in my care, since she hasn't really gotten better. There are rumors that Yuriko-san had some sort of company going, but with the blackout, that information might not be current."
Yaichiro waited a moment before standing to bow deeply. “I'm sorry...for everything that happened back then. I'd wrongly felt betrayed by my emperor, I'd lost my daughter, and I saw doubt and suspicion everywhere I looked...by the time you saw me again, I was tired. Very tired. I'd come back to the Eucharis somehow expecting it to be just like the Sakura I left, but...time changes all things. The ship, her crew, everything had changed in some capacity. Add to that all the politics and it just didn't work...but the museum let me rest, and I'm willing to try again, if you'd have me aboard..." He continued bowing as he said this, the bow not a subordinate to superior bow. This bow was far lower than the difference in their ranks would have made necessary.
"I accept your apology, Yaichiro, and welcome you back to the ship. I hope we can become close friends again and that you will also get to know the rest of the crew personally. This is a good new beginning."
"Thank you...and one more thing I should make clear...I don't hold any more grudges against Uesu-sama. You see...I had previously taken his resignation at the Elysian Plague issue as a sign of guilt...but that's not how it was. The SMX sent that information to the Nepleslians, you see....and Admiral Davis personally came and gave that information to Motoyoshi Taisho-Shogun. With the Nepleslians and the UOC both questioning him like that, he had to resign to avoid a war on three fronts. I see that now. The SMX maneuvered us all like fools."
"Melisson is the most dangerous person in this war," Hanako replied. The hatred was clear in her voice. "This is all her doing."
Yaichiro nodded. "From the destruction of Taiie to the cession of the UOC from the Empire...I wouldn't put it past her…perhaps we should think of happier things for a while."
Hanako had difficulty coming up with anything happy at the moment. "Perhaps business would work. I was wondering if you could set up an array of small graviton beams on the hull that could be used for rapid, easy salvaging."
"That should be no problem, Taisa. I've already been thinking on how to arrange them on a hull to do so, and have already noticed them in the cargo you ordered. I've also been working on a few other things here and there, though a few simple tests need to be run on the technology. One of my ideas might actually help expedite the Projector Array, if we have the resources to construct it. A 20 foot Construction Mecha which can be made in a Fabrication Bay. While not combat capable, Nishitama City has been using it for a couple weeks without issue."
"I can’t see how a large walking mecha would help install small projector arrays," Hanako replied.
"There are various benefits, but I have no problem doing it another way if desired. It would be a good chance to learn how to use that Lorath Pod, assuming the Mindy 3A couldn't carry them all at once."
Yaichiro briefly debated how best to accomplish the task, as he pulled out a datapad and pulled up the arrangement on the Eucharis' hull which he'd been considering. While there were a number of the smaller projectors as Hanako had suggested, there was some size variance to allow the grabbing of larger and more distant objects.
"I was also thinking of some sort of automatic inert gas system or an ionized water mist system would be useful for controlling fires," Hanako added. "Also, we have life-form scanners and anti-bug systems to be installed. They will help guard against insects and intruders."
"I'll start running through possible options for that as well. I recall the discussion in the wardroom about it. As for the life form scanners, I'm familiar with them. I'll start calculating the optimal locations for coverage for those. Unless you had any specific places picked out already?”
"Good. I am certain we will come up with a number of other improvements to this old ship," Hanako grinned, feeling a little better now. "She is our home, after all."
"Yes. She may not be the Sakura, but she's just as good from what I can tell." Yaichiro said, lightly patting the wall beside him. "Now I'm able to see that."
"Better than Sakura. I designed her myself!" Hanako laughed. "But she's got Sakura's soul...and by that I mean the original MEGAMI."
PAUSE