RP: YSS Kaiyō Mission Fourteen: Uekiya pt. I

"As part of the crew you have a Mindy 4 assigned to you. You need to suit up and prepare to begin the mission. I'll walk you through it.", Mark said gesturing towards a suit still in its rack after checking it's digital ID tag. "By the way, I didn't catch your name and rank. I'm Itto-hei Mark Oaklen."

Harrison stood at attention and stated clearly, “Santô Hei, Harrison Dee sir. Nepleslian.” He then followed after Mark and headed towards the Mindy 4. He took a good look at it and then said, “Shouldn’t be too difficult. I’ve operated PA before.”

Power Armor Bay

Alastair looked at the display on his Mindy's forearm to read a report. A short moment later one of the neko crew walked into the power armor bay with a box. A big grin crossed his face as she put it on the ground near him. "Thank you, you are free to go." He said as he motioned for her to leave the PA bay.

"Alright crew, listen up. As we have all been informed we will be fighting ourselves out there so must be on the highest level of alert. To ensure we do not mistake one of the enemies for a friend I have a gift." As he finished he opened the box and pulled from it a leather looking material. "During my last posting in order to identify our crew when mixed in with other teams we each wore a collar. It looked good and served us well to know fellow crew at a glance."

He reached into the box and pulled out a few more. "With Eden's permission I have enough for everyone to be able to wear one. Its my way of helping support my crew." Alastair was glowing as he looked around to each of the crew then back to Eden waiting for an answer.

YSS Kaiyō II
Power Armor Bay

Eden looked to Alastair and spoke to him over command channels with a sharp tone.

"You're not collaring my crew. We have HUD markers for a reason. Stop procrastinating with a mission preparation exercise. I don't want to be at the target location before having loosened our crew's joints."

Power Armor Bay

Alastair was heartbroken to hear the news the crew would not be wearing the collars. Maybe not today but a day would come. He tossed them back into the box and closed it. He then kicked the box across the room into a corner. Would deal with that later.

"As I was saying it is time for us to exercise. Got to keep the joints all limber and all that jazz. Alright, lets start with some hip rotations. A happy core is a strong core as the saying goes." Alastair put his hands on his hips and started to rotate his hips clockwise, then counter clockwise. "Will put some music on for us to work out too." As he finished talking everyone would hear the happy voice of the SARP version of Richard Simmons workout groove.

Kaiyo II
PA Bay

As William finished his with suit diagnostics, he sealed himself up. His massive armor came to life and multiple red "eyes" panned across the room and took in the seen.

At Alistars comment about collars, the Nepleslian scowled. He was not going to wear one. He rather fight without his power armor than wear one.

Then when he said they were going to stretch, William rolled his eyes and muted his comms. If someone needed him they could easily get his attention. His massive frame then turned and walked towards the doors and prepared himself for launch.

In his mindware, he tabbed over to a folder called music and smiled as he found the perfect song to get him ready. He opened the file and began pipping it through his suits internal speakers. No one outside could hear it, but there was a dull buzzing from the bass that might have been perceptible to the observant.

iYSS-Kaiyō II
Power Armor Bay

"That may be so Santo-hei, but this is much more advanced then what you used in the nep military. Believe me, I was a marine for five years, I know. First, please attach your selected mission loadout for your armor." Mark said waving the man at ease with a chuckle.

Harrison loaded up his equipment as per instructed. As he is setting up he tells Mark, "Sorry, never been in Neplesia. Hate the place, far to militant for their own good. On top of that, the only weapon worth getting is the IBR. Maybe Gas operated, but it's better than their lasers..."

"More like too corrupt for their own good. The place is run by black syndicate, and everybody knows it. Then again, living on the streets, that's far more obvious than to a normal citizen," Mark said with a slight bitterness, "Good, once that's all in place, it will be time to mount up."

Harrison strips completely, then mounts into the Mindy 4 and powers it up. He checks all of the systems and his gear to make sure everything is in proper order. "Everything is good in here sir. It's more cramped than I thought it would be... Damn Yamatai gear being too damn small..."

The Shosa and XO of the ship, Teien Eden glanced over, now in her armor, and went to the pair as they geared up.

"Ittô Hei, Santô Hei..." She began, then quietly glanced over her own HUD's readouts of their systems and then looked to Mark, "Oaklen-hei, are you able to assist Harrison Dee-hei in finding an appropriate loadout since you have done so yourself?"

"Hai, yes Shosa," Mark quickly said with a bow.

Mark would wait for the man to close up his armor before continuing. "This mission will be a mix of long and medium range combat. With the first part possible being in open space as we move to board, then in close quarters of the ship's interior. Your loadout should be chosen on this information. I would suggest....hmmm," He said as he looked over the various armor modules.

"Am I wrong so far Shosa on anything?" Mark asked.

Eden simply nodded in her Mindy 4 and her helmet moved up and down twice.

"Mark has lived through wartime environments too long to not be wearing white panels," she said with a calm, happy air. "He is likely correct."

Harrison finished suiting up and turned to Mark and Shosa Eden. Realizing that the XO is there he took a bow.

"Apologies Shosa... I was... occupied getting ready for the upcomming mission." Harrison raised his head slowly in the Mindy 4. Harrison then looked down at the ground and tappedhis foot. He was thinking about something.

"You honor me with those words Shosa. All the more reason to work harder to get those panels. Now as for weapons, a good selection of weapons for this would be mini missiles, 20mm gauss, NSB drone launchers, melee is not optimal, the LATR, scalar SMG, LASR, or any of our other more heavier weapons. I would suggest a little bit of both long and medium range to better adapt. Targets will be present in either range, and anywhere from in the open to in compartments. I would avoid anything with a cool down, or charge up timer. Do you prefer loud and heavy Harrison, or lighter and faster," Mark asked thinking about what he had chosen, but wanting to know what the man would be comfortable handling.

Harrison looked up and said, “ Apologizes, however, I am not the best candidate for long ranged combat. If you placed me up in the front or even in the middle. I can definitely hit hard wih either light or heavy armaments, sir.”

"You will perform best doing what you are comfortable with," Eden said simply, looking over the man's vitals and performance record from basic in her digital mind. "What do you suggest for close or mid-range combat, Ittoô Hei?"

"Definitely at least one 20mm, a scalar SMG with an aether saber as it has exceptional capacity, either another smg, or a missile pod for the other shoulder. NSB launchers for the legs, grenades on the hips, and maybe a shield module on the dorsal. Definitely think it would be wise to carry a buttpack. I would lean towards the missile pod for the other shoulder for heavier targets."

Mark began to pick out each module as he referenced them,

"Sound alright to you, Dee-hei?" Eden asked, turning to the Santô Hei.

Harrison nodded and stated, "Sounds like a plan Shosa. I'll get what ever it is you need me to do done ASAP Ma'am."

"Let's begin with the Shoi's warm-up sequence now that your loadout is decided and set-up," she said after placing the appropriate weapons and mounts on his hardpoints.

YSS Kaiyo
Bridge

Mochi sat up in the XO's seat, watching the monitor before him closely, flicking between the general overview of the Kaiyo and back to the away team's readouts. Everyone seemed to be fine from where he sat, listening into comms as people started chatting amongst themselves. Idly, he checked over what was happening in the science lab through the cameras, smirking in surprise as he spotted his mushroom-haired associate at work. He wondered what thoughts she was having about the upkeep of his workspace.

YSS Kaiyo - Suiting up

"Hmm?" The tall separa turned his head as his local nickname was thrown out at him, proverbially. "Yep, that's me. Nice to properly meet you Adler." A courtsy hand extended forwards, with the intent of a shake."

"Oh, and you mean this? No need to worry about that there, put it there myself... Even if i'm already quite distinguishable compared to the rest, i figured a small personal touch couldn't hurt... These photonics arrays are quite something." His metalclad tail waved around next to Abart, further emphasizing the "distinguishable" part.
"So yeah, any Abart that's walking around on two legs is up to no good."

YSS Kaiyo II
Bridge
Chlorate clanked into the bridge, thinking about Mark.

Lower Engineering
The crestbirb entered the room and proceeded towards the Transuniversal Teleportation Drive. She picked up her data pad and went to check on its systems so she would be ready when they were going to use it.

YSS Kaiyo II
Main Engineering
Goda Odo was back in engineering thinking about the briefing he had just heard. He was a new transfer to the ship, fresh out of boot camp. He did not have the kiind of relationships most of the people on this ship had, so he stayed in the back, not saying anything, just listening. He had only went up to grab one of the weapons the captain was giving to the crew, which was now stored back in his cabin.

The fact that they were going to enter a alternate universe was still hard to imagine to him. It was something that had been on his mind since he had been assigned to the Kaiyo, but he was now back at his duty station and had to concentrate. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned his attention back to his work.

He was checking the power systems to the Transuniversal Teleportation Drive. All readings were in the green, but he liked to be thorough. He grabbed a tool and walked over to the power conduits to recheck the reading.

YSS Kaiyo II
Power Armor Bay

Arete thought for a moment before responding to Walter, "I'm... Not sure. They sort of make me think of some of the fire ants from back at home. They're just gonna get bigger and bigger until they run out of places to expand, and right now it looks like they're looking for new territory..." She sighed and checked over her Mindy's systems before taking a deep breath.

"Well, at least fire ants were cool to look at. Especially in the bigger groups. Fighting Mindies sounds like it's training all over again... Just without the training safety net." She tapped at her chin for a few moments before sending a response question out: "What about you? What are your thoughts?"

YSS Kaiyo-ii
Power Armour Bay

Wyatt extended his own hand to return the gesture, the grip was firm yet not bone-crushing - You could tell a lot from a person by the way they shook a hand. Timidity or nervousness often showed through a limp wrist and a loose grip while an overly strong grip and forceful movements often derived from masochistic or over-confident individuals, at least that's what Wyatt had learnt.

His grip was firm while the movements of his arm mirrored the serpent's movements rather than trying to drag him around - if the book he found had been correct then this was the most neutral handshake he could execute without seeming like a pushover.

Baby steps.

"My Mistake, I still haven't quite gotten used to the idea of aiming a rifle at myself but your logic is more than sound... hmm" The marksman spoke, trailing off towards the end before he snapped his metal fingers together with an idea in his head. A symbol of three intertwined triangles appeared over each of the marksman's shoulders and his helmet became adorned with a design he had once seen on the nose of a merc ship supposedly dubbed 'The Flying Tiger'.

From what he had heard, Wyatt felt safe to assume the tiger was no longer capable of flight.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, all the best of luck to you" Wyatt spoke with the small sense of comradery that soldiers had between each other before he nodded and strode off once again. It made sense but defacing his armour in this way felt... wrong, almost.

Camouflage was one thing but the minkan could not recall one time he had injected a hint of personality into his armour, instead of pondering on this fact he simply moved out of the way and waited for the go-ahead.

The pre-battle stretches seemed very, very tacked on and unnecessary to him, - so Wyatt opted to sit them out.

"Thanks, you too. If yer grip on that rifle is as good as that handshake, we'll be just fine." A quick thumbsup accompanied the snake's compliment/encouragement/teambuilding statement thing.

It was around this time the call for pre-battle stretches went around. Given how the crew's never done something like this before, it's either some new thing the brass came up with, or they're just trying to kill time. Either way, nothing to really fuss about. "Eh, beats putting on collars..."

YSS Kaiyo II
Power Armor Bay

"Truthfully? I feel conflicted. I want to join the others and kick the Imperials until they're one with the blood-saturated mud, in fact I feel more entitled to feel that way for them condemning me to a life I didn't like. Yet, I also feel like I need to not do that, or I'd be just like them, and yet if I chose to stay out the fight altogether, it would be cowardice... Forgive me, that doesn't sound like anything beyond a petty issue," Walter answered in kind, his Stars making hand gestures to emphasize his response while his arms were crossed. A moment later, Walter actually realized his gauntlets were still responding to his MindLink, and he continued after he put the gauntlets on stand-by.

"It's basically personal because of how much this ties to me, and how negatively I look down on the Imperials, but not personal because of how I'm choosing to respond to them... I'm still not sure what to call it."

It was fortunate he had the gauntlets on stand-by, because Walter would have taken the little present that Alastair had and chucked it at his head with his newly bought gloves before he considered the action irresponsible. He doubted Eden and Arete, just to name a few, would look at Walter in a positive light after that... Or maybe he could also be overthinking it! Walter didn't know anymore.

"When shall we begin the practice simulation." Kyoi's voice spoke over communications. "Are we waiting for an authorization?"

Well, she knew that there wasn't any 'authorization' necessary to begin a simulated combat routine. It was just...no one else was doing it, apparently.

"Actually...MEGAMI, can you do that? Give us a simulation area for us to practice here?" Kyoi asked. "Or something to test our equipment on. A lot of us are running relatively new equipment, right?"

YSS Kaiyō II
Bridge

Within some time once they were out of Yamataian space, there came a low beeping on some of the bridge's consoles and Boss spoke out.

"We are at our destination," she said to the bridge.

"Good. Gravity-hei, prepare to work in tandem with engineering. Thesilis-heisho, please apprise the away team of the ship's current standing as the situation unfolds. Jôtô Hei Barlow, is engineering ready?"

Power Armor Bay

Muyomi lifted a fist, and shouted some lyrics, "Let's pound down tonight!"

Eden complied to the idea of the warm-up and, as they continued, she began looking like she was into it, hips swaying and backside swinging, when it was appropriate.

Hearing Kyōi, she said, "We're doing warm-ups, not simulations. Join in!"

YSS Kaiyō II
Power Armor Bay

William turned as Muyomi spoke, finding the expression odd. His mouth kinda dropped as he took in the site of everyone doing the stretches. "What the..." Then his Aunty Eden started to dance and stretch, and the Nepleslian mentally facepalmed himself.

There was no way he was joining in. Even if he wanted to, which he didn't btw, his armor wouldn't allow his body to properly stretch. Which again, he wanted no part of. He began to browse through his mindware again, distracting himself with a new song.

He cranked up the volume and closed his eyes as the lyrics began to pump through his speakers.

YSS Kaiyo II
Power Armor Bay

The golden-eyed, drab-toned Neko looked on as there were some sort of shenanigans going on in the power armor bay. One of them had begun to do some sort of awkward stretching routine, followed by another, until a few of those present had joined in. Others were doing normal, sane things such as having conversations or ignoring what was going on altogether. Coconut decided that she would take the latter position, instead opting to examine the new rifle that she had acquired in greater detail, and ponder how she could bring along more ammunition without having to take a bulky, awkwad backpack. Perhaps emptying a butt pack and stuffing it full of a few spare magazines? She would subsequently head back to the armory and attempt just that.

YSS Kaiyo II
Engineering

Odo finished checking the other conduits and walked back to his station. He ran one last check, and confirmed that all systems were currently showing green. I guess we are ready to do this, he thought to himself.

He hit the intercom to the bridge. “Bridge, engineering. All systems show green, we are all clear.”