RP [Pisces Station] And All the Rest

Honoka nearly jumped at the voice behind her. "Eh?" Turning around, she saw the old man owner of the kitty in her arms. "Uhm, well I'll be sure not to insult her. Do you want her back? Sorry about picking her up and... yeah." Uh oh, she hoped she didn't offend the... Nepleslian? Nepleslian, by picking the kitten up. The aide couldn't help but giggle when her cheek was rubbed.

"And, Akechi-hei, Motoyoshi Tio is the crowned prince of the UOC. Even if he did leave the Yamataian Empire, do give him the respect he deserves when saying his name." It was then that a fact dawned on her. Tio was essentially the leader of the UOC, and when Honoka had first talked to Shimizu-Taisho she spoke abot how her son wouldn't open the borders for her. Wouldn't that mean that Akina's son was... Tio? Why else would Akina tell her staff to look for Tio? It all made sense now! Throughout these thought processes, Honoka absent-mindedly resumed the petting of the affectionate kitty.

Arkase, after abandoning his brief call to the Engineer, was walking around aimlessly. Seeing the Taisho's aide befriend the cat made him smile.
Seeing the new guy - and catching the later half of the conversation - piqued his interest.
He hadn't noticed the Nepleslian Senator, except for the fact that he did stand there.
He came up behind the new crew member, grinned at Honoka, and said,
"What brings you here, Smallman?" He said in an obvious parody of a star's voice.
He hoped they would take it well - and that he wasn't interrupting something.

"Duly noted, sir," Shika responded, in the respectful manner of Yamataian society. Even so, Shika mentally labeled him gramps without even realising it. The grumpy old timer had frightful old cybernetics, with artificial eyes that Shika thought leered more than anything else. A real hardened vet. "For the record, I wasn't thinking of insulting your cat at all."

Shika carefully considered Hakumei-juni's answers. "Ah. I see." Shika pursed his lips in thought. Usually he would have bristled at Hakumei-juni's gentle upbraiding on points of proper conduct, but he was too deeply settled in his thoughts to have cared for it.

That Tio. The son of the former Empress of Yamatai. His parents had discussed politics often enough, an off-tangent about their discussions for the domestic implications on their businesses. A natural rumour-mongerer, Shika had casually eavesdropped to pick up a few nuances about their dislike of the UOC, and the separation of the outer colonies from Yamatai. He personally had no grudge against non-Yamataians, but orders were orders.

Shika turned about, surprised at the newcomer's unannounced arrival. He suddenly became self-conscious of his appearance to the others, carrying his boxes of magazines and manuals and fresh new uniforms. Not to mention his volleyball.

Speaking of non-Yamataians. Shika eyed the other two men carefully. Indeed, they seemed like decent, if gruff and poorly-spoken (well, not so much the new guy!) folk. He cleared himself from his reverie, noticing a pregnant lull in the conversation. Hakumei-juni seemed lost in her own thoughts too; was it perhaps something about the UOC crowned prince and their hopefully-soon-to-be mutual CO?

For a moment, the young starship operator thought that the Nepleslian's cat eyed the heavy-grav ball as if it were pondering playing with it. Shika dropped his gear on the deck and lightly threw the ball up and down several times, watching the cat's eyes follow its trajectory with what he thought was idle interest.

"Cute little guy, although I think this ball is probably a bit too heavy for the thing to play with," Shika commented as he twirled the ball on one finger.

"'Smallman'? Ah, respect betwixt the nations at its height!" Calero caught up with his uniformed colleague, now holding a bottle of rum and a handle of vodka. It appeared he had brought the drinks, or at least picked them up recently.

Behind him, the senators' IPG guards stood big and menacing as ever. "So, Regnier, who might your new friends be?"

Arkase grinned at the new crew member. "Hey, don't worry. I won't lynch you like in that movie - anyway, I'm Arkase Oshiro." He meant the last part for both parties, Nepleslian AND Yamataian.

He looked toward the two Nepleslian Senators. "Apologies," He stepped between the guards and his crew mates. "I did not mean for it to sound like I was addressing you, Senator..s" He tacked on the last 'S' after realizing the other Nepleslian - besides the IPG Guards - was a Senator as well. He added a slight bow as well.

He carefully looked over the IPG Guards, and then the Senators in turn. It was, after all, his job to protect his crew mates. Especially with Haruto no where in sight.
He needed to at least talk to him once...

Honoka bowed deeply to both the senators, having forgotten to do it to the old man when she had first met him. How could she forget her manners, especially as she told Akechi-hei to be respectful to someone not even present! Bringing her head back up, she eyed the IPG guards cautiously. They didn't look to be the friendliest bunch in the world.

"I am Hakumei Honoka of the Fourth Standard Fleet."

Who would have thought Neplesians were like ... well, like normal people? Shika felt decidedly wary, but nevertheless he watched the exchange of playful banter between the other military personnel curiously.

Akechi quickly followed his superior's lead with a respectful bow, his volleyball held flat against his flank.

Damn it, should have dropped it you silly idiot-

"I am Akechi Shika," he stated calmly. He deliberately omitted stating any other identifier, simply because he did not wish to assume he was already assigned to the Fourth Fleet.

He gathered himself to his full height only when Hakumei-juni had done so. Only a scant few moments aboard the Pisces and he was already representing the Star Army and his people, and more importantly his ship!

Akechi swallowed nervously.

Arkase slowly gave his own name, "Santo Hei Arkase Oshiro, YSS Nadare of the Fourth Standard Fleet."
He stopped examining the IPG Guards after a quick moment, and relaxed. They wouldn't attack as long as no one started anything with them or the Senators... And he, for one, didn't want to start anything.

(Kyah, I'm falling behind.)

Drake watched the short remark from Calero and the Yamatai kid's less than tactful reply and merely shook his head. This place was headache inducing without the clash of cultures.

Well since everyone else was introducing themselves... "Drake Regneir. Senator of the Malasia system." If his voice was mechanical, it might have sounded normal. Thing is, it wasn't. And it still had that sort of ghastly echo to it. There was of course, a reason for it. But most didn't know that.

In response to Honoka, "It's fine. She's going to go where she wants to. Not much I can do about it. Just don't try to take her home with you." His cat was rather independant, but still good friends with the man.

Catching sight of the alcohol that Calero had brought, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god you have some. I remember hearing Vanderhuge whine about it from the first time he was here. You can have the heavier stuff. It doesn't take much to affect what's left of my body." Drake took the gin from him, but not drinking any yet. He planned to start drinking when the talks started to break down. (As he was sure they were going to with that idiot who mucked up the last one leading the current conference.)

Regneir eyed the other two arrivals. "I guess they were pretty desperate for guards to start bringing in recruits to do the job." That wasn't meant as an insult, but as usual, most things Drake said had a harsh, unfriendly tone to it.

"Ah, okay. Arig-... Thank you Senator." Honoka smiled. No slipping Yamataian in when talking to a Nepleslian. They probably wouldn't understand anyway.

She eyed the alcohol. Oh geez.... She remembered her thoughts about how to calm herself down from earlier. To continue to do work, the aide needed to stay sober. Besides, she didn't want to make a complete and utter fool of herself like she had back on the ship. Moving her hand back to the head of the kitten, Honoka started to pet. Anyway, this cat had done a good job to relax her.

Arkase waited for one of the Senators to say anything else, and when they didn't he turned to his crewmates.
"So, who's this, Nito Juni? And, being almost just as new as him, who are you?"
He was probably fumbling the words, but at this point, he was a bit impatient with himself for not talking to anyone from the Nadare beforehand.
Faintly, he wondered if it sounded odd to address the Taisho's aide by rank.

"Eh?" Honoka looked Arkase. Didn't she just introduce herself not even a couple minutes ago? "I'm Hakumei Honoka.... Oshiro-hei... listen closer! I just said who I was." The aide smacked Arkase lightly on the back of the head, with a stern, serious look, although it is somewhat offset by her playful and sisterly smile. Oh, and the kitten still cradled in her arm.

Arkase stumbled confusedly.
"Ow?" He said weakly, and then stood up straight.
"Introducing yourself to the Senators is one thing, Ma'am." He didn't - quite - meet her eyes, but he shot her a venomous glare.
"But I prefer someone to introduce themselves to me personally," He looked down to the ground, thinking.
"That way, I won't get blamed for 'eavesdropping'."
He looked back up to her before she could say anything and added, "I am Arkase Oshiro, Santo Hei, Protection Detail." He smiled at the Aide.
"I'm not really trying to be a jerk."

"Ah. Gomen Oshiro-Hei. You don't have to glare at me..." Honoka replied, ever-so-slightly hurt. That was no way to be talk to someone high ranked, but she let it slide if only for the sake of not getting into an argument in front of Nepleslian senators. "Just being a bit playful is all...."

'Besides, it's not as if my name is going to change from when I was introducing myself to the senators and when I introduce myself to you Akechi...' the aide thought to herself.

"Apologies, I was out of line." He said, realizing his mistake.
"Anyway... I really didn't hear your name," He said, turning to the other crew member.

The Mersina Class Cruiser ‘Long Haul’ would blink into existence within range of Pisces station. Its white hull and running lights making it show up like a star against the black void of space, a star that just so happened to have women in varying states of undress painted across its hull, chrome trim, and vectored STL engine modifications complete with the chrome outline of a nude women reclining.

“HEY PISCES!” The captain called out over the subspace radio, “This is the good ship Long Haul and its captain Richard Pound looking to dock and offload passengers and supplies.”

Dick had long sense held that the Yamtains had no sense of humor, at least until his XO took his pants off which tended to trigger uncontrollable laughing. This was a huge shame because he had been thinking of what to tell traffic controls about his cargo for some time, having had a lot of fun informing Unity station that he was carrying a load of Aether Powered Sex Droids and vegetable costumes. So instead of telling the station he was carrying a hundred tons of used schoolgirl underwear he decided to tell the truth.

“We’re carrying like a billion gallons of Mega Moonshine and I’m sending our passenger manifest now.”

"Roger Long Haul, you are cleared for Concourse D, Dock 27," the station replied.

“Ten-Four Pisces The Long Haul is coming in to dock,” came Dick’s reply as he kicked the STL drives into gear and nestled the ship into place… eventually. The process was needlessly complicated by his desire to turn off inertial dampeners when docking so that the small plastic girl doll on the navigational display would dance about.

On his way out of the ship Wazu would stop the captain, handing him another card loaded with DA. “I’d like you to stay here for a day,” He said simply before limping off into the station, sending a message to inform Yui that he had arrived.

“Right-o, your money.” Dick replied, turning back towards the ship. “HEY LEAVE THE METER RUNNING, I’M GOING TO GO GET HAMMERED!”

While the rest of the crew of the 4th Fleet were busy making friends and socializing, Aoyama Jessica, the Fleet's chief engineer, was busy satisfying one of her greatest cravings... new mechanical parts. The engineer was quite busy wasting her sallary on new engine components, cooling units, plasma vents, and a crap-tank of other gadgets and widgets. What she was planning with it all was anyone's guess.

Meanwhile, Mishima Setsuko was pretending to be a SAINT operative. The hyperactive and runty scientist of the 4th Fleet was stalking non-Nekovalkyrja members of the IRC, documenting data on their habits, behaviour, clothing, and biological functions. It was really quite interesting! With so much knowledge to be found within a single structure, it was little wonder the runty neko was running around like a headless chicken, and not quite living up to the stealth and secrecy of the agency she was trying to emulate.

(OOC: Since no one has posted since the 9th of December, I will post, if anyone wants to call me on assuming the "new crewmember" tells me his name, I will gladly edit this post - it will give me something to do with my time.)

Arkase nodded after the starship operator finished, and said "Well, if you crash into a UOC ship and start a war, let me know."
His grin - he hoped - showed he was just joking. But still he kept his voice low to avoid insulting anyone not in their little group.
Turning to the Taisho's Aide, he then said "If you will excuse me, Ma'am, I'd like to go check the sights. Haven't been to too many fancy parties like this... Most of my friends from home thought I'd cause trouble."
With that, he stepped past the Aide and walked toward one of the tables serving food -- some of it even looked good.