RP: YSS Imperator Mission Three: Hurry Up And Wait

Mosa No Iori
Recreational Center

So, Araena had been meaning to get some extra outfits. She'd grown a bit unexpectedly, physically, over the past several months but the on-ship shopping malls had, in her words, "Nothing worth wearing unless you were part cat." So instead she'd been spending time looking through online catalogs in what little spare time she could muster, and managed to plan out her path to take-barring any construction-based detours. She didn't expect to return to the star fortress this early, and CERTAINLY not with half of her ship barely functional.

Alas, she had to get this done before someone hunted her down. Clothes are to be in the cabin before the meeting in... Ninety minutes. Take fifteen to navigate to the room, and give ten to get the clothes back on the ship. Just over an hour... The tall elysian didn't hesitate as she first made her way into a store which stereotyped her-a traditional elysian-themed boutique. She never liked the big flowing robes but some of the other things she liked- especially the long cream dress with the white detailing-subtle enough to get lost in the patters, but distinct enough to catch a distanced eye.


The engineer certainly would have been a somewhat odd sight, boarding a partially-rebuilt battleship with several outfits draped over her left shoulder, just under an hour later, but she still could pull her task off just under time. The meeting was fairly boring-hopefully it wouldn't put the angel to sleep, since she already organized most of what was to be discussed before heading out.

He frowned at her somewhat frightened demeanor, removing his shades to examine her better. With the shades removed, it was immediately noticeable how mechanical Able's eyes really were. Most of his model tended to have eyes that were built to resemble those of living people, however, he came out of production missing this feature. His camera-like ocular apparatus were obvious from a mile away, immediately giving away what he was. "Is there something wrong? You look pale. Perhaps taking a seat would be the most logical course of action..."

Before he could even finish, Ayane had finally replied to him, and as she pointed out the CAG, his gaze switched its focus from her to what would be his commanding officer.

Able shot up almost as soon as the CAG approached, saluting quickly before she gave her question. However, when she did, his stance faltered slightly, and he looked off to the side. "Hmm... Well, I have not truly been in any combat situation... However, my training simulations were specifically made to replicate them, and I did graduate top of my class." He said, doing his best to defend his case. After a moment, he added on. "Ma'am, I can promise you nothing short of my best. I am here to be of use, and I intend to do just that." He said, giving a respectful nod of his head.

Galley

Ume looked to the android with a exasperated glance before looking to Ayane, speaking over a visual-telepathic link, "Opinion?" She then looked back over to the android and seemed to look through him. "We'll have to make do. Top of the class or not, you'll learn to fly like the best or die trying. Then we'll put you back together and make you do it again."

Her demeanor was a little harsh, similar to what she had done to Ayane but a lot more tame.

Mosa no Iori
Meeting Room 18

Only a stone's throw from the docking bay at which the Imperator lay, hence the numbering, three people were standing in the meeting room. One of them was the head engineer of the fortress, a busty Neko Shosa with Hinomaru-red hair. Another looked to be her assistant, this one with steel blue hair and deep blue eyes which looked less 'gifted' by her makers.

Lastly was someone else, a Neko with silver hair and silver eyes. She wore the panels of someone in Araena's field, and carried herself like a veteran. She was looking over a datapad in the corner of the room while the fortress engineers discussed random topics. As Araena closed to the room, both of the engineers looked up while the silver-haired Neko ignored everything.

The silver-haired Neko finally looked up once Araena was barely on the threshold for the room, and simply stayed quiet.

Mosa no Iori
Meeting Room #18


Shosa Serphine gave an affirmative eye contact with the other three women present as she walked inside. The elysian settled into the room surprisngly quickly as she began to pull out her datapad-the faster this went, the sooner she could get back to her ship, its repairs, and of course, its captain. The chief engineer cleared her throat politely to speak.

"The repairs are coming along swiftly for the Imperator-much of the damaged hull and armor has been replaced and the remainder shall be finished within the next seventy-two hours. The damage to the ship's interior save for the larger blast doors has been completely replaced, and the ship should be fully combat-ready within the next five days barring any delays." Her voice sounded like an expensive recording, listing off the predetermined data and estimates seamlessly.

Both of the fortress engineers look at each other, presumably silently checking with each other about the battleship and her charges' repairs. After a few moments of silence the cheif engineer looked back to Araena and nodded.

"Is there anything needed from the fortress in regards to the repairs barring the hull?"

"At the time, no-it simply comes down to the complexity of the mechanisms for the doors, they were damaged by the Kuvexian boarders when they breached." She took another look at the third neko in the room, with the silver colorations. The cardinal shrugged, taking the assumption that they were a mentee of sorts to the station's commanders, learning how best to handle such a busy and taxing situation such as this.

"Understood."

The two fortress cheifs looked back at each other before the head picked up a datapad off the meeting room table, holding out for the Elysian to take.

"The YSS Absolution and YSS Regent along with their escort cruisers will be arriving shortly with the YSS Kyariā. The Kyariā is carrying two-hundred-forty new fighters to replace your five ship's fighter wings. These Ke-V10s are being assigned to your ship's division for battlefield testing and if suitable will be sent further around the fleets."

"Vee-tens?" The angel's lips exaggerated the letter in the fightercraft designation, perhaps a force of some habit. Picking up the pad, she briefly perused the presented information. "Yamataium hull, turbo aether, combined field... Ah- a general purpose, flexible starfighter. This information is much appreciated."

"We will inform your ship's KAMI ourselves shortly with the necessary information to pass on to your technicians and flight crew. If there is nothing else, you are dismissed." The head cheif seemed to do all the talking.

"Much appreciated, Shosa. Have a nice day, all of you." Synchronizing the datapad briefly with her own to personally review the new fighter in her own time, the birb cooly set it down before turning to exit the room, shoes impacting the flooring softly.

The fortress cheif looked to the silver haired Neko as if expecting something before looking back to her assistant. The both of them left the room with the silver haired one lagging a few feet behind.

The elysian almost completely failed to notice her follower until she had almost boarded the Imperator, only then turning to the neko and angling her head slightly to the side. "Excuse me, did you need something miss...?" She recognized her from the meeting still-that was a lot of silver for a neko, after all.

Galley

Aerlia Lei'Shela resisted the urge to sigh as her communicator beeped, alerting her that one of her subordinates needed her input. No rest for the weary, it seemed, in such violent times. Finishing one of her dumplings without chewing as she tapped her earpiece lightly, barely noticing some stunned looks from onlookers. It was almost as if they'd never seen someone eat one whole before, she almost felt amused at the idea. "Shosa, we're identifying the explosives and possible points of origin now. Just got clearance from upstairs, thought you would like to know." A voice emanated through the speaker, apparently being one of her fellow black-panels. Those sat nearby may have overheard the message but that was of little concern to the Venis. "Excellent, keep me posted." she replied in that aloof monotone, ending the call swiftly, eager to get back to her meal.

Able gave a swift nod, placing his shades back over his eyes. He had to admit, her words were intimidating. Chances were, she'd give him absolute Hell before his service was done. However, he was prepared for whatever there was to be thrown at him, and he was confident in his own ability. "I can assure you, you will not be disappointed in me." He gave his promise, face not revealing any emotion. No smugness, not even fear towards the CAG, who obviously demanded serious respect.

"Now... If I am to make a suggestion, I believe my new wingmate needs sustenance. Her lack of pigmentation indicates malnutrition and even dehydration, to some extent." He said, changing the subject. "A trip to the medical bay would serve her well also. A viral infection while on duty would be very unfortunate."

Galley

Ume looked at Ayane before sitting down next to her, lightly brushing her leg as a response. The CAG looked back at Able and shook her head, "No, she's just a bit... easily startled at times. She'll be fine." Ume had ignored what he had said about being confident, she didn't care about the past experiences. At any rate, she was going to teach him to fly like the best and ignore the rest.

She then looked at Ayane, softer than before, and then gave her a slight smile.

Mosa no Iori

The silver haired Neko looked up and seemed to jump out of her skin. She turned a little red before not responding, instead she turned around and seemed to walk with much more intensity than normal for someone who wasn't embarrassed. She turned a corner at the end of the hallway and continued on out of sight.

She seemed weird.

Mosa no Iori

"....Huh." The engineer spoke her thoughts as she returned to her own assignment. She must have mistaken me for someone else.... Somehow? The ash-winged woman shrugged to herself politely. Ah, well it would be prudent to make for the hangars, then. Seeing plans and seeing a fighter are different, and that meeting took much less time than I had expected... She made her way over to the hangar bay, not attempting to contain her eagerness for seeing the new craft.

Galley

Yamasaki Ayane gave Ume a soft smile before turning and taking a few bites of her food. After eating a small portion of what was already on her plate, Ayane decided to speak up about the new development that Ume had referred to earlier.

"What...was it about the new craft, you mentioned earlier, Fukugumi-Taii?", Ayane asked in a high-pitched and curious tone. "I do want to see it for myself...", Ayane added in a tone that indicated her hidden excitement about the new development that seemed to be going on in places where she was forbidden.

YSS Imperator
Hangar Bay

Yet while some are on their way to the hangar, a new face had already beaten everyone to the punch. While most have been hanging around in the gallery, Noboyuki Kita only stopped there an hour ago for a bread roll and one apple. He had then made another, faster, bee line directly for the hangar, and had since then been examining every possible inch of the craft that he could observe.

The eternally mumbling staff member stroke his chin repeatedly, using his own eyes to observe the beauty of the one, the only, multi-purpose fighter Ke-V10! It goes by a more common name, however; Mamushi. He will stick with that from now on.

Noboyuki, on top of merely eyeing the shiny craft, had also been examining a couple of bare-as-bones papers back-to-back. Those papers contain various statistics and vital information of the craft, in which he had picked up on his way to the hangar. They were meant for the Chief Engineer, however his curiosity got to the better of Noboyuki, and figured that sending these papers to one of his superiors could wait after he's finished nerding out over the new toy in the neighborhood.

Galley

Ume looked to Ayane with a 'huh' face before blinking it away, "Oh, right. They were hauling out the Nodachis and Hayabusas earlier, I guess the new ones must have gotten in by now. I hear that the entire division is getting them." Ume wasn't hungry, though she still seemed slightly tense all of a sudden, looking to Ayane after a moment as if to say something else before looking back to the group and putting on a neutral face.

"We can go look at them if you want, I still have to make the craft assignments anyway."

Hangar

The fortress marshaling crews had moved the Ke-V10s into the hangars below the launch deck using the elevators, creating a bunch of loud noise. The fighters were set up side by side, angled forty-five degrees to their sides to point towards the elevator to the launch deck. Ordnance crews were setting up four fighters short of the elevators for a CAP flight, taking four of the most experienced pilots on the ready roster into a quick retraining and familiarization course in the hot seat.

Behind the fighter lines were the shuttles, parked in their small indents in the inner walls to keep them out of the way as well as the three Ginga bombers parked side by side at the back wall of the massive hangar.

The papers in Noboyuki's hands were indeed for the engineer, and stated every in and out of the fighter as well as recommended setups as defined by the Ketsurui Fleet Yards testing notes. Inside as well were access codes, individual fighter ID numbers, and test results taken from the 'A' and 'B' models' testing.

YES Imperator
Small Craft Hangar

The chief engineer, Araene Serphine, winced slightly when she first entered the busy, atriumlike room. Her ears starting to adjust themselves to the chaos of sounds, Serphine meandered the room, perusing each craft briefly as she went. She sighed when she reached the three strategic bombers, old relics from the Second Mishhuvythar War which were, as it stood, simply outperformed by the new Mamushis. She entertained thoughts as she turned to head along the other side of the room, I hope Ketsuri is working on an updated variant of these that can keep with the standard... otherwise these are just wasting space.

With all the noise and chaos in the room, combined with his fascination of the small fightercraft in front of him, Kita would have had a hard time noticing the tall, silver-haired birb as she approached, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Greetings." The telepathic message felt comforting and friendly, its sender delivering her words with a visual smile. "Enjoying the fighter, I see!" As the mental words resounded clearly through the din of machinery, Araena glanced at the man's papers and chuckled a little when she saw her name and rank, but said nothing more for the time.

Hangar

Yeah I am, miss disembodiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii- Noboyuki turned his head once he spotted a gentle hand on his shoulder from his peripheral vision. A splendid looking Elysian stood behind him, donning her form-fitting red engineer- Oh no....

OHNOSHE'SSERPHINESHOSHAIFORGOTABOUTTHEPAPERSWHYWASIDOINGHEREGIVEHERPAPERSGIVEHERPAPERS! Within a split second, the clueless Minkan ripped himself from Serephine's hand, blushing profusely, and speedily backed away. That is, until shortly afterwards the back of his head hit against the Mamushi fighter with a thick klang.

Despite the new-found (literal) headache, the fresh face of the the YSS Imperator performed a solid salute before the Chief Engineer. Without a stutter, he replied back with, "Yes, Serphine-shosa! I- Well, um, I- yes! Yes, Serphine-shosa! I have papers concerning the matters of the Kv-10 Multi-Purpose Aircraft, they are for you!" He held out the thin packet of papers that he had been holding. "Precise drawings, various statistics within planetary atmospheres, space, and stock laboratory statistics that are organized in a neat little table, each Mamushi fighter access code, identification information on individual pilots, fighter load-outs recommended by a variety of sources within Ketsurui Fleet Yards, and A-B Mamushi-type testing!", he listed without fail.

Noboyuki took a breath; he had said all of that without stopping for one. The blushing nerd kept the packet out at arms length, wishing to give her the papers. "It was for you, I meant to give it to you sooner, but..." He had been standing around in one of the small hangars all this time, fanboying over the new fighter.

Stuttering doesn't make a moron; mistakes like this, but not exclusively this, make a moron what he is.

YSS Imperator
Hangar Bay

As she returned the excitable technician's salute with her own, the silver-haired Elysian frowned. "Are you alright, Shoi?" The conversation was held telepathically on her end-she hated raising her voice for any reason, and the noise in the hangar as the new fightercraft were being delivered was concerning enough that she considered checking in afterwards in case the damage needed to be repaired. Probably unlikely...

Ruffling herself slightly as she stood, Araena coolly retrieved the papers from the trembling grip of the younger officer. "Sorry about the shock- it's normally much less loud in here. And take a breath! I'm not going to space you," she said-thought with a small smile. Perusing the papers briefly, she chuckled under her own breath. "If you'd like a copy, I'll make sure to send one to you within the hour. Thank you for the delivery." Into the crook of her pale arm, the papers slid. She inhaled deeply for a moment before sighing slightly, and taking another look up at the craft. "Quite an impressive design. I myself am intrigued with how they will perform in a real combat situation."

Galley

A word had been floating around that two new pilots would be joining the squadrons for the imperator. Twins, nearly perfectly identical to each other, seemed to be among the more commonly-gleaned rumors.

Some people said they were elysians who ran away from home during the Battle of Elysia. One person was spewing a story of how they managed to fly on board the YSS Eucharis by themselves.


A sandy-haired, young-looking Elysian man walked into the galley, his rainbow-like eyes glittering as he smiled to the server at the buffet counter. After collecting his food, the man chose a table at random, which happened to be next to another newly-assigned pilot and the CAG.

Able listened in as Ayane and Ume spoke back and forth about the new fighter models that were being brought aboard. Able glanced between them as they spoke, and he found himself unable to stay quiet. "Hauling out the Nodachi and Hayabusa model fighter craft? That takes a remarkable amount of confidence in this new vessel, to entirely replace the Star Army's most efficient and reliable equipment like that." He interjected, deciding to retain an aura of cautiousness. The idea of a new craft was always a risky one... You never knew how it'd perform in battle until you were already there.

He looked over to his side, pausing as the Elysian came in, plopping down at the table next to theirs. Able seemed to stare without as much as a word for the longest time, just silently examining each of his features. Blue... Designated for fighters. He couldn't say he was aware that there were any new recruits other than himself. Either way, it was reassuring to note that he wouldn't suffer Ume's wrath alone. However, being a machine, he'd likely complain less than this other newcomer, prone to pain and those pesky emotions, as living creatures were. As Ayane called out rather loudly to him, his eyes darted in her direction, slightly caught off-guard.

He slowly turned his attention back to the Elysian, not voicing his thoughts, which were already picking apart his female wingmate. She is loud... Overly-delighted about everything as well, it seems. Is this a genetic byproduct for Nekovalkyrja? I must do more field research... On that, plus this new fighter craft... At that point, his thoughts trailed off into a series of complicated scientific and philosophical questions, which banged at the walls of his mind like a jackhammer. A phenomenon which was quite common for Able.

YSS Imperator
Hangar

The younger Shoi began to talk in telepathy as well. Sometimes he forgets minor things like telepathy and eating soup with a spoon; looking back, telepathy might be a smarter decision rather than exclaiming at the top of his Minkan lungs. Come to think of it, what are those guys even doing to those fighters to make such a racket?

Whatever, his attention span is too short to think on that.

Oh no, I've had worse!, Noboyuki said reassuringly, as he rubbed the back of his hand with a free hand to soothe the bruise. Despite that, he smiled a big smile for his superior. Don't worry about the papers, I already looked over them... A lot. Don't ask me how many, either; I think I probably forgot how many, but I don't know for certain... Owie.

Noboyuki moved up back to Serphine's side, paying no heed to the audible calamity that rocked their eardrums. His cobalt eyes laid their gaze on the craft once again. This fighter is a real beauty, Serphine-shosa; she can do so much more than any other small vessel Yamatai developed so far combined. It has great speed in space and within atmospheres, a healthy effective durability with a life span of thirty years, SPINE interfacing, all the great makings of a great vehicle for pilots!, the Minkan thought-splained (if that is even a real word) with glee, unable to keep his smile straight. True to his word, Noboyuki did spend some serious time looking over the packet.

They are nothing short but the best fighter in Ketsurui Fleet Yards, ma'am! I bet they will do great! Noboyuki was nothing short from optimistic just from getting the chance to meet the Imperator's Chief Engineer himself. She even offered him a copy of the packet in a hour, tops! It's a miracle he could hold off the urge to squeal, if it is physically possible for a man to do so.

Hangar

One of the deck chiefs walked over with two technicians. One of the techs walked over to the left side of the cockpit, climbing up the ladder and getting into the cockpit without closing the canopy. The one in the pilot's seat began writing things down, presumably getting everything through SPINE that she needed to know.

The deck chief walked with the other tech behind the fighter, observing the engines and their vectoring nozzles. The tech in the pilot's seat would move everything to full port and the two outside would confirm the vectors and did the same for the starboard side. As they went into their observations of the fighter, it was clear that they had gotten information as well. The deck chief would know for sure how everything was going, and it wouldn't be too bad to ask the CAG about how the pilots were feeling.

Galley

Ume looked between the Elysian, blinking in a slight bit of confusion. She put a stoic face back on before looking to Ayane in thought. She was taken from her said thoughts when Ayane spoke. She followed the voices before settling her eyes on the Elysian. She began to wonder how they would lay up compared to the rest of the bunch and how some of them might need more training than others. She also thought about how they flew anyway.

Wardroom

A few decks up in the officer's wardroom, Taisa Kaede sat down at one of the booths. He wasn't going to eat without Araena as that would be improper. He thought out to the Elysian engineer, stating simply "I'm in one of the wardrooms, I'm ready to eat when you are."

The wardroom itself was rather empty, a few officers eating here and there but for the most part there was near silence.

YSS Imperator
Hangar Bay

"That's what I've been told. I'll get to-" The Elysian paused momentarily before glancing hurriedly at her datapad-she'd spent so much more time than expected down here!

"Iiiineed to go, my apologies, Shoi. Have a nice day." With a salute and a turn, the endowed chief engineer was quickly hurrying down the length of the room into a smaller corridor, docking her pad with her belt as she went. "My apologies. I lost track of my time after the meeting. I'll be in shortly." The somewhat rushed, apologetic formality of Serphine's message seemed to rush towards the man, as she directed her thoughts towards MEGAMI for but a moment-locating the captain would be relatively easy.

Galley

"Hm? My clone-surely you are mistaken, I don't have a clone, miss!" The man chuckled loosely in his spot, briefly interrupting himself with a mouthful of ramen, chewed thoroughly and swallowed before he continued. "'Least, I don't think I do. There's no-one like me 'cept me! And Armin. Speaking of, where did he run off to?" The somewhat energetic birb stood up for a moment, scanning the room for several seconds before plopping down in his seat. "Bah, he'll come around eventually. Anyways- Arcturus Sargas, at your service. I didn't catch your name, miss pilot?" He turned back to his ramen as he spoke, scooping in another lightly steaming mouthful while Ayane responded.

Wardroom
Araena, somewhat recomposed, took a few deeper breaths as she made her way inside, her crimson-paneled uniform swelling slightly with the actions. She quickly found her man, prudently strutting over and sitting opposite of him. "Sorry about that, Kaede-I was discussing the new fighters with a rather excitable Shoi, and didn't notice how quickly time had moved. I hope I wasn't keeping you for too long?"