Central Uesureya, Planet Yamatai
Candon stood face to face with his new armor as it hung on the rack. Training in it had gone well, though several deep, thin black scratches in its flawlessly white paint told the story of growing pains. Having been an armor operator his entire life his vast experience in the suit had made transition almost seemless. Those scratches hadn't come as a result of collision or sparring, which the infantry hadn't practiced yet. Those squad building sessions had been just that and Candon had been mostly observing from his armor during those excercises.
No, those scratches had been the result of a far more difficult taming effort. His new sword,
KokΕ« Ken had left those gouges. It was time to finish the taming of KokΕ« Ken, Candon wouldn't dare bring a weapon into battle without gaining control of it first and that morning he'd had an epiphany. He'd hidden himself behind his armor every time he'd practice, today that would change.
With a deep breath he withdrew from his armor, located in the center-most rack, and kneeled in the middle of the empty armor bay. Tamahagane had cut steel blocks to demonstrate the power of this weapon. Candon knew what the problem was, why it would cause him more harm than good. For the first time in years he was afraid of his weapon and fear was to him nothing more than a distraction.
It was time to leave it behind.
With another deep breath to clear his head he rose to his feet once more, the door to the armor bay locked. At about this time Hanako had appeared in the cargo bay door. Suites had completed his inspection of the ship, submitted the proper paperwork, and personally oversaw the delivery of the Mindy 4's. There was only one thing left to do.
He opened the telepathic link to KokΕ« Ken and reached his hand behind him to hold the Yarvex grip. The saya split open releasing its weightless Ninjato for Candon to hold it two-handed, as a proper sword aught to be held.
"Okayβ¦ let's do thisβ¦"
He released his grip on the sword letting it hover, suspended in a lattice of manipulated gravity. With just a thought it slowly floated to the starboard bay door and then to the port, passing behind him as it slowly took its position.
He paused for what felt like an hour. It was the part that had left each scratch and gouge in his chest plate. With no armor he had no choice but to make this work. He began using the only method of deep focus he knew of, sniper breaths.
He recalled the sword at the bottom of his third breath. It was an odd sensation as his life was on the line. The grip made forceful contact but never pushed against him. He opened his eyes, not even realizing how tightly he'd shut them. There it was, the sword had returned to his hand.
"Hmm," he mused, "that wasn't so bad." The entry door unlocked as he returned the sword to its saya, or attempted to, to be specific. Reaching his left hand behind him he pushed the blade close enough to the saya for it to guide the sword in the rest of the way. Brushing his hands together he- um- he realized that he'd just made what most people referred to as a really stupid mistake.
He knelt down and picked his index and middle fingers off the floor.
"MEGAMI, alert Taharial that her presence is needed in Medical," he spoke aloud as he made his way to the Butcher's den.