YSS Kaiyō
Bridge
5日 5月 YE 39
0800 Hours
Eden tapped her fingers going from her pinky to index in a gliding, swift motion against the arm rest of the chair of command on the bridge aboard the YSS Kaiyō. The Kaiyō enlisted crew had all been promoted one rank, Matsuvo and Akiko had gotten a Tomoyo's Kikyō each, and everyone had gotten a combat, service, survival award. Saki had gotten a command medal while Meissa had received a Red Tessen, as well. Amanozako was back with the squadron and the Kaiyo was refitted with large nest pits in many cabins per requests of the occupants, the wings had been painted an ocean blue, and some other minor changes and installations had taken place aboard the Plumeria Gunship.
Eden paused her tapping against the arm rest as a communication came in, then looked to her captain's suite where Saki was resting before her golden eyes shifted to the comms officer on the bridge with two raised black brows.
For Riku, it was business as usual, the vacation having had little impact on his ability to transition back into the seat he had grown familiar with. Though, meeting the Empress first-hand did instill a small sense of pride into the Minkan, though this train of thought was broken as he heard the urgent 'beep beep beep' of an incoming transmission. With two fingers and a swipe, he relayed the communication through MEGAMI's partitions, cleared it's authenticity, and it's signal; all within the span of a few seconds. "Eden-shosa, it's a registered Star Army of Yamatai signal, broadcasting from," The Minkan looked towards the screen to double-check, just in case. "An escape pod. Shall I put it through?"
"Of course," Teien Eden said, pushing off of her armrest with one hand and stood from her chair. "Open a channel."
His fingers, having hovered over the terminal, was swiftly swiped to the side. "The channel is open, Shosa."
"This is Shosa Teien Eden of the YSS Kaiyō, NG-X1-440. Am I speaking to a pilot of the BIES of this pod?" Eden said, ending with a question.
"Teien Eden? Am I speaking to the Teien Eden."
"Excu—" Eden began, then remembered the voice from years past.
"Sørensen Astrida?" Eden said, eyebrows knitting together. "It can't be. What are you doing far out here?" Eden then looked to Riku and asked, "Orders from the Taisa about how to proceed?"
Riku listened in to the communications, less so eavesdropping then making sure all was well. It was strange to the Minkan that they would get such a transmission, from an escape pod no less, the occupant not even a little perturbed by their current situation. Then again, it seemed the Shosa knew whom she was speaking to. At Eden's beckoning, Riku opened a channel, secured it through MEGAMI, and sent it out towards the Excalibur. "YSS Excalibur, YSS Excalibur, this is the YSS Kaiyō; we have picked up a transmission from an SAoY escape pod. Eden-shosa requests orders from Ross-taisa as to how to proceed."
The Minkan waited, a few seconds passing by with little in the way of a reply, until one finally came in the form of the Excalibur's own communications operator. "Excalibur acknowledges. Ross-taisa advises immediate SAR action in the form of the YSS Kaiyō. Break off from the formation and rendezvous post-haste with the pod in distress. Rescue all aboard. Debrief and relay what has caused their situation in the first place. YSS Excalibur, out."
Riku nodded, turning his head to speak more directly to the Shosa, "Ross-taisa has given approval of search and rescue operations within their area of space. We are to rendezvous with the escape pod, bring aboard the survivors, debrief and then inform the Captain of what caused their situation in the first place."
Astrida had waited for Eden to get her orders, then said, "That's Chusa Sørensen Astrida to you. It's a long story and it sounds like we're going to be picked up soon, anyway. We'll send out our position right now and speak to you soon, in person. Oh, and Eden?"
"Yes?" the Shosa asked.
"Good to hear your voice again," Astrida said.
Eden looked to the suite where Saki slept, then to the pilot, saying, "Engines at max. I want to get there as soon as possible."
The fresh new face on board nodded, tail softly brushing against the seat. Her ears swiveled at Eden's words.
"Okay then, Shosha." Kyoi replied. "Engines to maximum, entering FTL in five, four, three, two, one..."
0900 Hours
As the Kaiyō began to end its pursuit of the lone escape pod, Riku's panel lit up with incoming transmissions and the beep beep beep's became all the more urgent.
"Status report, Kawazoe-hei!" Eden said, black hair swinging as she turned her head to look at him.
Riku's response was immediate, though the fact he managed to catch a glimpse of the Shosa's exaggerated movement nearly broke his concentration. "Eden-shosa, another transmission from the life pod belonging to the Chusa known as Sørensen Astrida. Putting it through now." The Minkan flicked a finger and opened the transmission for her to speak into.
"Monitoring attempts have been detected by the Quantum Encryption technology of the pod's BIES," the Chusa said to Eden. "We're being stalked and the pod is unable to detect by who."
Eden gritted her teeth and nearly shouted to the pilot, "Adjust engine output to 2.5 light-years per hour! Boss," she said to the MEGAMI, "Go to condition two!"
The Kaiyō plummeted through space at speeds that were closely guarded military secrets, hurtling towards the escape pod and the unknown enemy while the infantry suited up and prepped due to the condition two status of the ship.
The Minkan communications operator, despite Eden's slight escalation in her voice decibels, somehow managed to keep his ear listening for the pod's signal. It's steady 'bing .. bing ... bing' ever present in his right ear - until it wasn't. Blinking, the Minkan attempted to pick the signal back up, trying everything his training had provided him. "Eden-shosa! The signal .. it's gone!"
"Condition one, Boss!" Eden said, standing. "How close are we to that pod?"
Kyoi's ears flattened against her head as she leaned forwards in her chair. She didn't need to care too much about the pod. She cared a little more about what she was jumping into.
Remain calm, Kyoi told herself. A steady hand and a steady mind keeps you from moving too quick or too slowly.
"Asuka, got any pings?" the Neko asked. "What's the field look like at the exit destination?"
"We've got..." Asuka said, trailing off, "Next to nothing. Circular object about four meters by four meters. It..." Asuka trailed off again, looking to Eden with her bright blue eyes. "It must be the pod."
"Seems good to me." Kyoi shrugged.
"Boss," Eden said. "Send an away team to grab the pod and bring her in!"
The MEGAMI replied, "Right away, Shosa." Boss pinged all of the crew besides bridge officers and Akiko to report to the power armor bay and suit up. She had Akiko report to the bridge, though.
"Santo Hei," Eden said to the pilot. "Bring us in close."
"Okay, orbiting one kilometer off the pod." Kyoi replied, as she input the instructions to the computer. She deftly angled the ship so that all of its guns had a clear line of fire to any hostiles approaching.
It did, however, feel a little odd to the strange-looking Neko that such a pod would... stop broadcasting. Her first thought was trap. Her second thought was it ran out of power.
"Something about how it stopped broadcasting feels weird to me..." she observed.
"Quite," Eden muttered as she looked to the door to the captain's suite one more time.
Bridge
5日 5月 YE 39
0800 Hours
Eden tapped her fingers going from her pinky to index in a gliding, swift motion against the arm rest of the chair of command on the bridge aboard the YSS Kaiyō. The Kaiyō enlisted crew had all been promoted one rank, Matsuvo and Akiko had gotten a Tomoyo's Kikyō each, and everyone had gotten a combat, service, survival award. Saki had gotten a command medal while Meissa had received a Red Tessen, as well. Amanozako was back with the squadron and the Kaiyo was refitted with large nest pits in many cabins per requests of the occupants, the wings had been painted an ocean blue, and some other minor changes and installations had taken place aboard the Plumeria Gunship.
Eden paused her tapping against the arm rest as a communication came in, then looked to her captain's suite where Saki was resting before her golden eyes shifted to the comms officer on the bridge with two raised black brows.
For Riku, it was business as usual, the vacation having had little impact on his ability to transition back into the seat he had grown familiar with. Though, meeting the Empress first-hand did instill a small sense of pride into the Minkan, though this train of thought was broken as he heard the urgent 'beep beep beep' of an incoming transmission. With two fingers and a swipe, he relayed the communication through MEGAMI's partitions, cleared it's authenticity, and it's signal; all within the span of a few seconds. "Eden-shosa, it's a registered Star Army of Yamatai signal, broadcasting from," The Minkan looked towards the screen to double-check, just in case. "An escape pod. Shall I put it through?"
"Of course," Teien Eden said, pushing off of her armrest with one hand and stood from her chair. "Open a channel."
His fingers, having hovered over the terminal, was swiftly swiped to the side. "The channel is open, Shosa."
"This is Shosa Teien Eden of the YSS Kaiyō, NG-X1-440. Am I speaking to a pilot of the BIES of this pod?" Eden said, ending with a question.
"Teien Eden? Am I speaking to the Teien Eden."
"Excu—" Eden began, then remembered the voice from years past.
"Sørensen Astrida?" Eden said, eyebrows knitting together. "It can't be. What are you doing far out here?" Eden then looked to Riku and asked, "Orders from the Taisa about how to proceed?"
Riku listened in to the communications, less so eavesdropping then making sure all was well. It was strange to the Minkan that they would get such a transmission, from an escape pod no less, the occupant not even a little perturbed by their current situation. Then again, it seemed the Shosa knew whom she was speaking to. At Eden's beckoning, Riku opened a channel, secured it through MEGAMI, and sent it out towards the Excalibur. "YSS Excalibur, YSS Excalibur, this is the YSS Kaiyō; we have picked up a transmission from an SAoY escape pod. Eden-shosa requests orders from Ross-taisa as to how to proceed."
The Minkan waited, a few seconds passing by with little in the way of a reply, until one finally came in the form of the Excalibur's own communications operator. "Excalibur acknowledges. Ross-taisa advises immediate SAR action in the form of the YSS Kaiyō. Break off from the formation and rendezvous post-haste with the pod in distress. Rescue all aboard. Debrief and relay what has caused their situation in the first place. YSS Excalibur, out."
Riku nodded, turning his head to speak more directly to the Shosa, "Ross-taisa has given approval of search and rescue operations within their area of space. We are to rendezvous with the escape pod, bring aboard the survivors, debrief and then inform the Captain of what caused their situation in the first place."
Astrida had waited for Eden to get her orders, then said, "That's Chusa Sørensen Astrida to you. It's a long story and it sounds like we're going to be picked up soon, anyway. We'll send out our position right now and speak to you soon, in person. Oh, and Eden?"
"Yes?" the Shosa asked.
"Good to hear your voice again," Astrida said.
Eden looked to the suite where Saki slept, then to the pilot, saying, "Engines at max. I want to get there as soon as possible."
The fresh new face on board nodded, tail softly brushing against the seat. Her ears swiveled at Eden's words.
"Okay then, Shosha." Kyoi replied. "Engines to maximum, entering FTL in five, four, three, two, one..."
0900 Hours
As the Kaiyō began to end its pursuit of the lone escape pod, Riku's panel lit up with incoming transmissions and the beep beep beep's became all the more urgent.
"Status report, Kawazoe-hei!" Eden said, black hair swinging as she turned her head to look at him.
Riku's response was immediate, though the fact he managed to catch a glimpse of the Shosa's exaggerated movement nearly broke his concentration. "Eden-shosa, another transmission from the life pod belonging to the Chusa known as Sørensen Astrida. Putting it through now." The Minkan flicked a finger and opened the transmission for her to speak into.
"Monitoring attempts have been detected by the Quantum Encryption technology of the pod's BIES," the Chusa said to Eden. "We're being stalked and the pod is unable to detect by who."
Eden gritted her teeth and nearly shouted to the pilot, "Adjust engine output to 2.5 light-years per hour! Boss," she said to the MEGAMI, "Go to condition two!"
The Kaiyō plummeted through space at speeds that were closely guarded military secrets, hurtling towards the escape pod and the unknown enemy while the infantry suited up and prepped due to the condition two status of the ship.
The Minkan communications operator, despite Eden's slight escalation in her voice decibels, somehow managed to keep his ear listening for the pod's signal. It's steady 'bing .. bing ... bing' ever present in his right ear - until it wasn't. Blinking, the Minkan attempted to pick the signal back up, trying everything his training had provided him. "Eden-shosa! The signal .. it's gone!"
"Condition one, Boss!" Eden said, standing. "How close are we to that pod?"
Kyoi's ears flattened against her head as she leaned forwards in her chair. She didn't need to care too much about the pod. She cared a little more about what she was jumping into.
Remain calm, Kyoi told herself. A steady hand and a steady mind keeps you from moving too quick or too slowly.
"Asuka, got any pings?" the Neko asked. "What's the field look like at the exit destination?"
"We've got..." Asuka said, trailing off, "Next to nothing. Circular object about four meters by four meters. It..." Asuka trailed off again, looking to Eden with her bright blue eyes. "It must be the pod."
"Seems good to me." Kyoi shrugged.
"Boss," Eden said. "Send an away team to grab the pod and bring her in!"
The MEGAMI replied, "Right away, Shosa." Boss pinged all of the crew besides bridge officers and Akiko to report to the power armor bay and suit up. She had Akiko report to the bridge, though.
"Santo Hei," Eden said to the pilot. "Bring us in close."
"Okay, orbiting one kilometer off the pod." Kyoi replied, as she input the instructions to the computer. She deftly angled the ship so that all of its guns had a clear line of fire to any hostiles approaching.
It did, however, feel a little odd to the strange-looking Neko that such a pod would... stop broadcasting. Her first thought was trap. Her second thought was it ran out of power.
"Something about how it stopped broadcasting feels weird to me..." she observed.
"Quite," Eden muttered as she looked to the door to the captain's suite one more time.