RP: YSS Miharu Prologue, Day 2

Most nekos wouldn't have minded the 'mother' part Leutre mentioned, but Kotori happened to have been born a youngling instead of having come out of a hemosynthetic tank: she had a mother. She made a slightly irritated huff and grabbed a chair, unfolding it with a small kick before turning to sit on it. She spared the table a glance, but the absence of both riceballs and tuna (which had been entirely eaten by then) made her look away in disinterest. Her eyes met the brunette's and she gave her the 'go ahead'.

The curly haired Juni nodded and looked to the rest of the group. "Your simulated battle was a team deathmatch against a superior force. The set was an alternate version of Funky City under hypothetical NDI occupation which had been pacified by a nuke. Your units were set down and given a warm up period to defeat a trio of Setsuna power armors. Once this was done, a full platoon of NDI units was spread out in the city and it began sweeping the area. Aries group made contact with your units and combat was joined."

The Juni looked back to Kotori for a second. The Taii nodded and the brunette continued: "The scenario was a battle of attrition. You were supposed to fight and defeat as many units as possible. I told your XO that there was no backup... but when the first mobile frame showed up, she sent an emergency communication out. Your commanding officer asked me to make the scenario as harsh as possible, but I figured there would have had been some unit which would have, in theory, dropped your group in the mission zone. After contacting Ketsurui-Taii, we judged the Kansashi-class dropship Hoshi would still be in orbit."

The neko grabbed a glass of water resting on a small table next to her couch, took a swallow and set it down. "Due to the possible artillery fire the Diamondback hovertanks could send, the Hoshi was in ill position to come and provide support with its armament. - it could ill afford to reveal its position, since the NDI could have had hypothetically ships nearby as well. The ship stealthily creeped down to your assigned extraction point, but sent out a Mindy power armor to assist against the Mobile Frames you would have had a hard time outrunning." She daintily crossed one leg over the other. "With only one casuality, you made it to the extraction point and succeeded a scenario your commanding officer intended to have you all fight to the last soldier."

"I always felt making training harsher than reality would be was the best preparation for the real thing." Kotori added.

The Juni smiled. "I think it helped their morale that you allowed them a way to win, Taii. The battlefield isn't just about killing." Not wanting to give the discussion more of a grim turn, the Juni gave a small shrug. "I can start giving each of one a review, but I'd appreciate it if each of you-" she looked at Leutre, whom had just finished his push ups, "-well, those of you whom were there... you used the M5-1A Harpy, the M6-1A Daisy and the M2-2A Mindy. I would appreciate if you could give some feedback on the units themselves, any critiques about how they performed that I could return to our R&D team."

Yukari leaned forward a little, looked at Nyton, then at the Juni. Her look was rather blank.

"The Harpy should be used as a stealth unit only. It is a poor fighter. Its armor is too weak, its weapons limited and flight capability too slow. It should have inertial redirection instead of a simple gravity unit, and should be limited to Neko only. In enemy territory, Yamataians might lack the endurance to maintain battle readiness."

She took a moment, then continued. "The armor is useful for its designed purpose. Some improvements could be made. But the armor is most important -- should it be faced with direct combat, the Harpy will lose."

She looked down a little. "In my defense, the communication was a feint, to stress the pilot of the Ocelot-class armor."

With that, she stopped and pushed her plate of tuna to Kotori, having seen she was not eating. "Gomen," she sent to her CO weakly.

Kotori made a small happy sound and began picking bits and pieces of the tuna to nibble on.

As the details of the simulation were presented to the group, Tom crossed one leg over the other and listened closely to every detail. At the mention of attrition, his brow furrowed.

So it was meant to be that hard in the first place. Hmph.

Tom wasn't appreciative of that, even with Kotori's justification, but the Yamataian would never question his commanding officer's experience in these matters.

He pushed those emotions out of the way to answer the Juni's question.

"Well, I can only speak from my perspective, but I thought the Daisy to be rather efficient at what it does. It has a solid missile payload and the plasma rifle can do damage when needed. I do wish that the LASR grenade launcher had more space for rounds in it, though, as that seemed to be a particularly effective weapon for me."

Tom rubbed his hand on his chin.

"Also, I really like the AIES. It helps a TON. I suppose my only complaint is how helpless the thing feels once its grav system is severely damaged. There needs to be some kind of backup maneuvering system, because, without it, the Daisy is a sitting duck, and an enemy will likely pick up on that."

The Yamataian shrugged.

"But, eh, I'm just speaking from my point of view. I'm sure Nyton or Masako would have a much more realistic perspective on things."

The neko with the brown curls grinned as she typed down Yukari's and Tom's comments. "The Sylph 1A is being phased out in favor of a new M4-2A configuration for NH-12s, so, I think they'll have some andrium plating handy to give the Harpy. There's also word that they might try to get the Daisy's fusion pack compatible with the Harpy for the increased speed. As for you," The Juni looked to Tom, "The Daisy actually has a backup gravimetric engine that was at your disposal. Furthermore, we do have six round SLAG grenade packs... all you really need to do is talk to the officers dealing with the ship logistic and ask for some equipment to be around and you should be able to have access to that."

"Freeman-Hei is correct when he stated that the Daisy is an effective ground armor," the young warrant officer spoke up. "I would say it's a well-rounded piece of equipment both in durability and velocity as well as having a large array of armanent it is able to carry," the raven-haired neko continued.

"Personally though, I would rather pilot a Mindy but I would gladly pilot a Daisy if the need arose." Masako finished as she went back to eating her ever diminishing pile of food.

"... And, ugh, 40." Leutre sat up and moved into a cross legged position on the floor. Pausing in rest for a moment, he looked up at the others as the spoke among themselves. I really have to learn to keep my mouth shut. Dad was right, I'm probably going to end up getting shot some day because of my blunt manners.

Standing up, he silently reached for his plate and began inspecting his food once more. He carefully listened to the conversation as he picked at his plate. 'They must be talking about that simulation they were in. Thank goodness! If I can't join the conversation, theres no reason for me to open my mouth. No reason to speak means no unwittingly offending anyone! Mmm, this one looks good.'

Stabbing a piece of ham with his knife, he brought it to his mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. 'Perhaps I should have spent less time studying quantum theory and more time learning Yamataian culture.'

Nyton waited to hear the other's remarks before he finally spoke his opinions on the hardware. After Masako was done he closed his eyes before he set his plate on the table. He assumed his thinking pose and settled in.

"The Daisy I feel has excellent handling. Regardless of not being able to use the SPINE system, I did not sense any slowdown. The defensive systems certainly functioned well and I believe they kept all of us very much alive throughout the battle. The weapons payload 'seemed' to be adequate. With the proper coordination we were able to destroy heavily armored opponents quite easily. Even fortified positions could be overtaken with the missle and grenade launchers. The AIES is a superior tactical system then even the SLICS. I felt a lot more aware of the battle space then with previous systems. Again this is a very good ground combat Armor."

Nyton then paused and inhaled a little before he continued.

"Despite what I said about the weapon payload, performance wise I felt that the LASR weapon, while broadened in capability thanks to the SLAG system, is too weak to be of consistent use. The SLAG may serve better being attached to the plasma rifle. Also the lack of melee weapons leaves this Armor exposed in close quarters. The hand to hand durability is something of a liability. Maybe replace the LASR with a melee weapon of some sort or build one into the hands to reduce carrying load. The missle launchers leave you somewhat exposed. The signature of the incoming missles can be easily tracked and if you're fighting something big enough to require missles to take down then we may already be in over our heads. Not a bad holdoff weapon but we can't go toe to toe with enemies that large for very long. This Armor almost necessitates some kind of heavy support from either a drop ship or a reserve space Armor of some kind."

Nyton finally released his positiion and eased down again. He reached for the last combination he had on his plate and began to consume it. Mmm. Pepperoni and pepperjack cheese. Delicious.

Kotori grinned. "The Mindy I piloted almost seemed custom-made for me. There was a lot I liked in its configuration."

"The Mindy II was made to fill for both the Mindy and Kylie roles; not only can a roughly neko-sized yamataian now fit inside and pilot it, but it has swappable hardpoints that can mount different arrays of weaponry. Yours was set to the most common configuration which is meant as a balanced anti-armor package."

The Taii nodded. She shared a look with Masako and Yukari before saying: "It was really nice. Are they simulation-only, or are there a few suits already made?"

"Enough models to afford dropping a handful in your armor bay." The Juni replied, figuring that was what Kotori was really after. "Well, now..."

The Project Inoue receptionist glanced over to James to see if the geshrin wanted to add something, but the man was buying himself with food. Not wanting to disturb someone intent on eating and pretty content with the feedback she obtained so far. She scrolled down the information on the database.

"Suzuka Yukari-Chui," she began reciting. "Piloting Ke-M5-1A Harpy. Third best performance in the group. Good awareness of the combat environment and situation, impressive accuracy with ranged weapons and excellent leadership skills while under pressure. Aside from a post-traumatic panic attack, being prone to being very verbose with Tom Freeman in a combat situation and piloting a scout-type armor, you were pivotal in cementing the teamwork of your group and harnessing their talents to have all of you survive." The neko looked at Yuka in the eyes. "You might be more comfortable in support roles, but I think you are better than you'd like to think. I'd have liked to see how you would have had handled yourself in the Daisy."

"Nitô Hei Kamiyama Morita," she continued. "Piloting Ke-M6-1A Daisy. Difficulty in interfacing with a power armor, mostly due to ignorance of how they operate in the first place. Significant lack of common sense on the level of using the right tool for the right job. Very reckless and lack of staying power to the point of fainting inside a simulator run and not waking up until its conclusion, more than thirty minutes later." She scowled at Kotori. "Whom was this guy?"

"He mentioned he skipped tactical training, but that he was fair at hand-to-hand."

The Juni grunted. "I'd recommend he skip this assignment and get back to train for at least one more year. As he is, he's not only a danger to himself but also to the rest of the people whom have to cover for him when he shows he's not to be counted on."

Kotori gave a slight nod in return.

"Jôtô Hei Tom Freeman," she continued. "Piloting Ke-M6-1A Daisy. Fair combat skill - with probably a good potential to get better due to his next positive trait: he is a very good team player. Marked synergy with Suzuka-Chui, at the price of often being too verbose on the comm channel for his own good in a stiff combat situation. Strained combat situations shows that he is liable to act on his own disregarding orders of his superiors to try to be chivalric - in conditions where going kamikaze would have had doubtfully beneficial results." The Juni looked at Tom. "My advice: concentrate on staying alive, keeping your friends alive and trying to act in concert with them."

"Santô Hei James Dige," she moved on. "Piloting Ke-M6-1A Daisy. Overall best fighting performance of the group. Displays good reaction and judgement, very willing to act in concert and very dependable under pressure. Quickly responded to the needs of his group, from holding a stand off with 3 NDI armors to helping teammates escape. Daring, but not recklessly so." She gave a smile to James, whom was wided eyed at the praised.

"Nitô Juni Nyton Claymere, Piloting Ke-M6-1A Daisy. Good fighting capabilities and judgement: offing that Phalanx quickly with a full missile spread was somewhat wasteful, but it quickly got rid of what could have been a very potent threat. Was a marked figure of authority and was good at reminding the group of what they needed to do: get to the extraction point. However, not intuitive and responsive enough to have them act effectively as a team, unlike Suzuka-Chui." She gave Nyton a frown. "I suspect you suffer from a slight case of god complex: the belief that you can't die on the battlefield and that you'll succeed at everything you'll try to do. Overconfidence can be deadly in battle, especially when you walked your crippled Daisy two kilometers ahead of the rest of the group to allow yourself to be singled out and destroyed by a mobile frame. I suggest to rely more on your teammates. You really didn't have to die."

"Santô Juni Kurohoshi Masako, Piloting Ke-M6-1A Daisy." The brunette looked over to the Miharu's younger Juni. "Decent fighting skills, good ability to interact/coordinate with a group and to crisply follow orders. I noticed you adapted to the Daisy very well even though it was pretty obvious that you would have prefered a Mindy: this actually speaks well of you, for it shows that you are capable of being very efficient even with limited gear. More importantly, you did the non-glamorous job of helping your crippled and fallen teammates get out of the combat zone alive and well... not to mention it kept you in good enough condition to assist against the Phalanxes and the Firehawk II later on when the others were battered." The Juni shook her datapad Masako's way. "You care for your friends, that's why you rank as a close second to James Dige, whom had been here for all the simulation."

"I'm not in the top three?" Kotori giggled.

"You piloted a Mindy: that was essentially cheating." The Juni rebuked, drawing a chuckle from Kotori. "However, you might want to be a little less triggerhappy on your countermeasures. If you have kept one or two anti-wormhole missiles, that last Firehawk might have been beaten more easily, possibly preserving Claymere-Juni's life."

The Juni appraised the Miharu's crew and then offered to answer any questions or comments they might have.

Masako couldn't help but blink in surprise at the Juni's observations and review of her performance. Of all the things anyone had said to her, that review was probably the most flattering thing she had ever heard....except for the time another enlisted man had tried to hit on her. Being ranked second on the whole exercise and singling her out just made a light pinkish tone creep up on her cheeks. To be honest, she had been so worried about being seen/feeling useless that she just reacted on her feelings and instinct for the most part. And the part about caring for her friends also hit her hard. She had barely spoken to anyone here other than Kotori, could they really consider her to be their friend? Maybe the reason she cared enough to save them was because she felt guilty for not being able to socialize with her previous crews well enough.

A little embarassed about the whole thing, Masako continued to eat her food. Only to notice that the next bite was her last bit. Looking around at her crewmates, she focused onto Yukari and James. She was quite impressed that the Santô Hei had distinguished himself in the simulator. Not only was it quite impressive for what she believed to be his first assignment, but he handled himself well in a damaged armor as well. To think, she actually had to come to the rescue for him. Though...she did have a habit of doing that it seemed. Still not knowing whether or not to socialize with her crewmates yet, the young, raven-haired neko kept her silence.

Yukari didn't know what to say. She had only done what had seemed necessary. She could not help but smile a little at Tom.

"I believe next time, I will prefer the Daisy," Yukari said outloud toward the Juni. She still felt the Juni was a bit cruel ... but she had to do her job. Yukari could relate, in that sense.

"The LASR system ... it seemed insufficient for any task beyond medium power armor, even at maximum velocity. But the plasma rifle ... is rather large. Is there an inbetween weapon?"

Tom blinked a few times, stretching in his seat as he listened to the performance report.

When it was completed, he spoke up.

"Eheh, in my defense, I wasn't intending to die a chivalric death," he said. "But I do see what you mean there. I'd have probably been kablammoed there for sure. And yeah, you nailed me there on the whole chatter-box thing. I find it keeps me calm."

He shrugged with a smile.

"I just hope that we don't have an opportunity to put our lives on the line like that. I'd like our journey to be as peaceful as possible."

He looked at everyone in the room, taking care to make eye contact with each person. He returned Yukari's smile.

"But, should the need arise, I will do my best to support you all. Let's all do our best."

After giving the trademark goofy thumbs up with the toothy grin, he nodded to Kotori.

"Thanks for your help, ma'am. You saved Yukari, Nyton and I, probably all of us. With your permission, ma'am, could I speak with you briefly after the debriefing?"

"Don't mention it." Kotori stood up and addressed her crew. "You all have the rest of the day off: I believe that was enough excitement for one day. If any of you need anything, come to Suzuka-Chui is you need any assistance; she is my executive officer, after all."

The neko refrained from sighing: she really wanted to catch up on yamataian law, but Tom's request reminded her that she still had a few matters to attend to. "Freeman-Hei, please drop by my quarters by 1500 hours. Suzuka-Chui, I would like you to come by at 1600 hours. I have things to discuss with the both of you."

Kotori thanked the Juni for her time and bade the rest of them a good night - she would see them again the next morning.

James swallowed the last of his food and grinned, rubbing the back of his head in obvious sheepishness at the attention he was getting..

Aaah, I never was good with praise. I don't see how the Juni rated me so well.

"Well, I certainly think that we all learned a bit about each other while we were in there. I, for one, am honored to have fought with you all."

Standing up, he bowed to Kotori as she left and turned to face the rest of the crew.

"So, anyone up for exploring? I'm interested in finding the gym and squeezing in a little bit of a workout. I'm stuffed!"

"Ooh, invited to her personal quarters. Sounds like you too are in for a scolding." He couldn't help but chuckle, "Well, no worries mates. If it makes you feel any better, they kicked me out of the armour training program before I could even earn certification."

He put down his fork and let out a quiet sigh. "Apparently, 'I was bored' is not a legitimate excuse for anything done with a beam rifle or high explosive ordnance. After that little incident they wouldn't certify me for anything even remotely dangerous."

Leutre picked up his knife and began scratching at the table. Glancing up at James he continued, "But back on topic, I think he's right. Some recreation sounds like a grand plan, and I'm sure some of you could use a distraction after your apparently horrendous performance in the simulator. I'm game with... erm, it's Dirge, right?"

Tom bowed deeply to Kotori as she left.

"Yes, ma'am."

After the door closed behind Kotori, Tom turned to face Leutre and his words.

"Leutre, I trust your judgement of the captain's character completely, considering both your charming personality and ability to deliver a proper greeting earned you 40 pushups," Tom retorted sarcastically, a witty smirk marked on his face. "And who said we did horrible? We survived a mission programmed to destroy us all. Weren't you paying attention?"

He shook his head at the offer.

"But seriously, I'll have to catch up later with ya'll. I really need to bathe and change clothes right now."

Yukari stood and bowed as Kotori left, then looked about the room. Everyone seemed engaged.

She took the opportunity to slip out of the room as well and (with some help from a KAMI map) made her way to her temporary quarters. They were quite sparse, but at least her things had been delivered there with care, laying on the small couch next to the cutout portal in the wall she could tell led to the bathroom.

Bathroom. That's what mattered right now. She snapped up her keyboard from the couch and dashed into the bathroom. The perks of being an officer finally seemed to pay off -- her bathroom was at least twice the size of a normal hotel bathroom. It was almost as big as the one at home. But this one was full of sterile plastic-lined walls and off-white ceramic tile embedded in plastic grout. Not exactly elegant, but Yukari hardly paid it any notice.

Her boots were uncerimoniously tossed off of her feet. Next, her heavy pistol belt, with the GSP and subcompact NSP hanging from a small rack by the door. She unzipped the front of the bodysuit hurriedly, realizing she still had Sakura patches on it. The clammy stockings were peeled off one after another; Yukari swore then and there to avoid the top stocking as it clung to her. She was sure she could find a dress uniform somewhere. Once her underwear and bra were added to the pile, she unfolded her keyboard and made it play a easy tune for her to relax to in the plastic-lined shower.

Ooooooooh ... Warm water. Yukari undid her ponytail and let out a long, thoroughly pleasant sigh. Her skin turned a slight pink as she just stood in front of the showerhead, for once not thinking of anything. The tune in the background was one she knew a little, but she hadn't practiced singing it yet.

There'd be time later. She still had a performance to give at some point, if Kotori was to be taken seriously. Right now, the sweat was melting off of her and everything else was entirely secondary. She reached under the showerhead for the standard-issue fragrant soap and began to wash herself slowly, letting the fragrance permeate her. After all, she had a date tonight.

Ack. She realized her not-so-sudden problem -- date. She had a date. I am going to have a date. I am sure I have not had one before. What did one do to prepare for a date? Was she supposed to dress up? She'd not brought that many clothes with her, and only one yukata. Dressing up didn't seem appropriate anyway -- surely he wasn't going to. She liked him in uniform anyway; the red went well with his hair.

Ack! Yukari shook her head, the soap fully rinsed off of her. She'd been soaping the whole time and now smelled quite nice indeed. Shaking her hair a little to spread it out, Yukari turned her back to the water and shivered as it soaked her. No dates. No armors. Only water.

She shampooed her hair as slowly as she had soaped herself, taking the time to enjoy it. She looked up to get the shampoo near her hairline, then down to get the tips better. A smile spread across her lips -- she looked good, smelled good, sounded good. She was a fine Yamataian specimen.

... Must not think about that. She would worry about it later; she felt sure enough in her decision. For now, water was best. And song -- her keyboard had switched to one she knew. It seemed fitting.

"I wandered 'round, with nothing more than time on my hands ... "

Nyton listened to his performance review and took it all in quietly. He tried to extract all he could to improve his performance. Again I need to learn how to work better with others. A most unfortunate failing I am finding in myself. Could this be why I'm so terrible at chess? He looked over at the Juni and grinned. "A god complex eh? Maybe I am a little too confident. I had not meant to use up all my missles on that Phalanx but I admit the urgency of the threat it posed made me a little excited. But this moment you say I left myself open. Do you mean when we were performing the coordinated attack on the Firehawk? I thought it would have been more prudent to not be next to James when he fired off his missle spread in case it got lucky and targeted us before it could be finished off." he replied.

Nyton looked over at his crewmates and smiled pleasantly. "Good job out there James, Kurohoshi. Congratulations. And to you too Yukari Chui. A marked improvement from those space maneuvers back on the Sakura." he said as he stood up. "I'd say a very educational experience. Well fought everyone."

Leutre's remarks earned a cold glance from Nyton which he quickly hid with a neutral expression. Quite the talker. It's not him being a new recruit. It's just him. I'll have to keep an eye on this one.

After Kotori departed and everyone began to announce their plans for the rest of the day Nyton walked over to the Juni. "If it's alright I would like a copy of the battle footage. I could use it for future reference study."

The curly-haired brunette shrugged to Nyton as she stood up. "I was planning to submit the data from each simulated AIES to your ship's computer once it was operational. Not only would you get your battle footage, but you'd also have access to AIES units whom would know you better."

Nyton smiled warmly. "How very helpful. I appreciate it." he replied. "Perhaps if you're interested when you're off duty we could do some evaluations of a more personal matter then?" he asked in a low voice with a quick wink to the Juni.