RP: YSS Miharu Prologue, Day 3

"Let's dispel some potential delusions then." Kotori nodded to Mizuho. "Yamatai has roughly 800 warships in active service, with around 375 of them defending against the Mishhuvurthyar in the south quadrant. The rest need to guard Yamatai and remain spread out for internal security."

"On the other hand, we know the Mishhuvurthyar have two battlefleets out there, each roughly a thousand warships strong and that apparently excludes logistical aspects like cargo vessels, base stations and any other forces the Dark Mishhuvurthyar have not thrown at us yet that remain to guard their homeworlds."

The neko's golden eyes hardened. "Even if the Mistress Taisho mobilizes the Zero Fleet, the actual outcome seems rather obvious to me: we are slowly, but surely, losing this war."

Kotori paused for a second to allow her last sentence to sink in and then continued: "Right now the Mishhuvurthyar and the Black Spiral are more than matching the amount of hardware we can field and they are outmaneuvering us as far as intel and tactics goes. We are stretched out: Taisho Yui probably can't afford to send many ships hunting for the Black Spiral and if she sent many ships, we would be detected just like last time with the squadron-sized force Yui allowed us."

"We have our share of advantages, though." Kotori thumbed the tip of her nose lightly. "We don't share the high visibility of the Sakura. The Miharu was built at Scorpio Base and is practically an unknown; we register as a SAINT vessel for most of the other Star Army ships, so, they're turning a blind eye to us. As far as the Black Spiral is concerned, we're actually one of their ships as long as we manage to fool them with the Identification-Friend-Foe transponder codes we got from the SS Karasu. Our defensive and offensive systems leave us pretty well off against any individual non-capital vessels the Mishhu or the Spiral could send at us too..."

The neko commander put her hands on her hips akimbo. "Of course, it's not like we can face the whole of the Black Spiral's thirty-or-so-ships on our own, but then again, those thirty ships aren't clumped together waiting for the Miharu to attack. They are out there, doing something to hinder us on the warfront or meddling behind the scenes."

"The orders I got from Taisho Yui when she gave me command of the Miharu was 'Fight hard to save the Empire'; which left me with a lot of room for interpretation." Kotori chuckled. "Therefore, I determined that our standing mission goals would be to investigate the activities of the Black Spiral and actively oppose their operations; to find out about the whereabouts of this mysterious fleet Pumpkin hinted at; and finally attempt to eliminate Naraku."

Yukari said nothing. There seemed very little to say.

A thought leapt through her brain before the shocked atmosphere of the room swallowed everything: We are assassins.

"Understandably," Kotori raised one hand to caress the persistent lock of black hair which kept spilling down her shoulder. "The content of this briefing is secret, privileged knowledge and is known to very few. What was said in this room is classified and you will not refer it to anyone other than the crewmembers present today, Taisa Hanako Ketsurui, Taisa Tsuya, Shôshô Eikan Minato or Taisho Yui Ketsurui. I will also not accept demands for transfer or reassignment lightly until our assignment is complete."

"Any questions or comments before we move on?"

"Oh, yes, here!" Leutre cried and raised his hand. Sitting up in the seat, he began to speak. "Three things. First, is there a specific lead you have in mind, or are we going in blind and relying on Lady Luck? Second, since this is a black operation that we didn't sign up for, will we be recieving hazardous oversight pay or a blood money bonus upon elimination of Naraku? And third, is there an extra bonus if we manage to capture her alive instead of dead?"

"I have one." Tomi glanced up, momentarily pausing to gather her thoughts. "You said that one of the factions is comprised of nekos and derivant species who just want to obtain political equality within the empire... It seems to me that this puts them closer to our goals than to those of the ones who intend to dominate us by military force. Do you forsee any chance of negotiation or even obtaining aid from that faction? Granted," she rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly- all this talk of political subterfuge was draining, "you probably don't have the authority to promise them any radical changes- but it still seems to me that if all they want is social reform, they'd do better to ally with us than with the dark ones."

Kotori looked to Leutre. "I'll answer Veressis first. It was my intent to return to Lor, the last known site of activity of the Black Spiral, and to try and see if they wouldn't have left anything behind that could be of use to us. The great southern nebula was used as their staging areas twice now and we've yet to figure out why the Black Nozomi-class scoutship was present as well as why they'd bother trying to turn the Lorath on their side when the latter would only pose a negligible gain to their cause. I think there's more to it that we haven't taken into account and I plan on finding out why."

"On the matter of the forced assignment, I would point out that you signed up to serve in the Star Army of Yamatai and that, in a time of war, would involve a good share of combat. Your possible postings would have been either in transport and logistics, at the frontline being immersed in the continuous battles to retain Yamatai's holdings or here, where you actually know what is going on behind the scenes and can do something about it so that maybe, just maybe, less soldiers on the frontlines will have to die - so, I admit, you won't get a great deal of sympathy from me on that level." Kotori's brow became marred with a frown. "However, Star Army Personnel Command promised a substancial monetary compensation for signing up to participate in the secret operations and staying until its completion with perhaps a significant rank rise - provided we succeed and that you perform."

"Finally, while defeating Naraku would likely raise the monetary reward offered to the crew substancially, no, there is no greater reward for bringing her back alive. She slipped through the fingers of SAINT, the Emperor and Taisho Yui often enough and is right now causing a great amount of harm because she is still at large. She exhausted whatever indulgence she had a right to. I. Want. Her. Dead."

After speaking those last, detached and cold words to the young nepleslian man, Kotori turned to Tomi. "Now to answer your question, Saito-Hei: I would rather not be opposed with the faction you refer to. I actually owe Pumpkin my life, so, I would be more than willing to accommodate them if they moved to become more cooperative. However, if push comes to shove, I intend for us to be the ones whom survive if they prove obstinate. Failing to be able to reach a non-agressive disposition with them, however, I would like to capture anyone involved in this faction so that their voice might be heard when we're not all at each others throats." The Taii paused. "While I stand in opposition to their methods, I do understand and have sympathies for their stance."

Nyton had listened a lot longer this time as things began to be put together more and more. He was certainly pleased at the way Kotori had laid things out for them. Even with the dark tidings ahead he looked at it with determination rather than defeat. This won't be easy. A great burden has been placed upon us and it's going to take a lot of help from whatever divine providence is out there to see things through. At the same time I feel fortunate that such providence has guided me here so that I would be able to take part in this vital mission. A surge of pride momentarily swelled his ego as he thought of how important the success of this mission was and how much it would help to further his ambitions. After a few seconds he dispelled the allusions of grandeur and settled back into realism.

"There is a lot to consider. That PNUgen, however small the faction may be, has been involved from the beginning and created the Misshu for the purpose of making a new weapon. The Dark Ones are an alien race from which the basis of the Misshu were developed. The neko want to no longer be subservient bioweapons. In a sense even the Misshu are a form of victims in all of this." Nyton said in his typical thinking pose. A mental picture developed wherein he envisioned perhaps one day actually working together with a Type 1 Misshu. "Well this all proves my earlier conclusion about not winning this in a typical military fasion. We're being forced to think outside the box on this one."

The name Naraku had hit a chord with Nyton. Somewhere in the back of his mind there was something about that name that had a connection to another event he had cast aside. Not much was known about Naraku or this Eve but there was something that bothered him. Among all his memory files it was as though this one had been placed in a very insignificant file on purpose.

"So we are heading back to Lor to pick up where we left off. Makes sense seeing they have a history of movement there. If they are as well equipped as they have shown themselves to be then they are probably going to either move or abandon whatever facilities they have there soon. I'm sure they figure that someone in the Empire is bound to come looking for them there. I finally have a few questions. Did the science division ever figure out how they moved that planetoid on top of Lor?"

"If the lost Draconian fleet is involved and we are forced to confront another aspect of Taisho Yui, an 'official' clone so to speak, how would we go about handling her? An illegal clone is one thing but technically she would still be Taisho Yui."

"Also, how much information do we have on this Naraku and Eve? Their way of thinking? Their purposes and modus operandi? What of the missions involved in capturing them. Or her if they are indeed the same person?"

It was then that he recalled where he had first heard the name Naraku and why it had been filed as unimportant. The Kohana/Ashigari incident. Of course. Perhaps... perhaps it wasn't just some silly hoax mom uncovered. Nyton thought.

"Well, so far, we suspect the planetoid was moved through the means of a directed fold cannon." Kotori answered Nyton. "We know current transposition cannon technology does not affect an area large enough to encompass a moon, so, the Mishhuvurthyar must have done more than just reverse-engineer our Legacy cannons to have managed that feat; they probably improved on them."

"On the matter of the Yui-clone, as far as I know... she was legal in a way since her original approved of her creation." Kotori continued. "I admit I'd like to think a clone could be killed like everyone else if need be... but remember, we are also talking about a big fleet here. If the numbers remain the same, we are talking about a lot of ships like before the Star Army was force due to resource depletion to adopt the Type 29 Light Fleet plan. If we find them... negociation might serve us better than conflict: getting all those ships side with us could be just what we need to win the current conflict - provided we can have the members of the fleet believe us over whatever machinations Naraku has going."

"Eve was one of the first Nekos created, and is considered Yui's sister only because they were created at around the same time, or perhaps because they have close genetic ties. I am unsure of how Eve eventually made transition to being Naraku, but I've heard she had her share of dark deeds to make her remembered on both Yamatai, Ayenee and Nepleslia."

"The SAINT file on Naraku goes to describe her as a member of a faction called 'The Daughters of Eve'. She is described as being a girlish NH-17T nekovalkyrja with pale pinkish skin, red eyes, short blue hair and a horn on her head. She has the tendency of dressing up in tight outfit and frequently wearing skirts. Her personality is said to suffer from a bipolar disorder which can make her seem one moment as sweet and the next cruel and violent. She is very adept with weapons and very proficient at demolition and rigging traps, with a penchant for biochemical warfare."

"Naraku was involved in the assassination of Taisho Kai Ashigari aboard the Celia and apparently escaped. I also know Naraku operated on Nepleslia often in the past and that's where SAINT, with some assistance from the crew of the YSS Ongaku, managed to capture her there. She somehow apparently managed to slip away from her captors; I'm not sure how."

A question broke through Yukari's mental ice. She blurted it out.

"Black Spiral has 30 or so vessels. What classes?" She realized the question was not clear, took a breath, and tried again. "We know they already have Nozomi scout destroyers and Sakura gunships ... do they have Yuumi battleships? Chiharu superbattleships? The Miharu is only one vessel ... "

The thought trailed off as she became silent again.

"As far as I know, the Black Spiral were originally a squadron-sized force. SAINT uses primarely the Yui 5 scout-destroyer and the Fuushigi no Umi frigate; with rarer Nozomi scouts and Sakura gunships more recently added to the mix." Kotori answered Yukari. "With the time they've had at Hoshi no Iori while it was held by the Mishhuvurthyar, they should have been able to produce more vessels; thus our estimate that they have around thirty vessels now given the condition we found the construction docks in when Hoshi no Iori was reclaimed. I'd expect they would have built for themselves the sort of vessels that would match their cloak-and-dagger methods... so, I don't expect them to have a great number of capital ships."

The Taii shrugged. "Of course, that doesn't mean there couldn't be any. After all, many ships we lost to the Mishhu in YE 27 turned out to have been subverted by mind domination. It's possible some ships from those doomed warfleets could have ended up in Black Spiral hands... so, I wouldn't dismiss the possibility of encountering an older Irim, Ayame or Yuumi."

Yukari didn't feel very good about the answer. She managed a pained smile and nodded, but she rubbed her stomach a little. This is not good ...

Mizuho offered a grim smile but little comment, at first. Rather, she took in the expression of those about her. Leutre... a realist of the highest sort, it seemed. The sort who somehow despite a good grasp on reality managed a bit of optimism? Or was it feigned? It was difficult to tell. Her eyes darted on to Yukari, nervousness pervading the girl like wafting perfume, then towards Kotori who still exuded the same calm confidence that Mizuho had only managed to break once.

With the topic of Rufus.

Nyton read indifferently, she could glean little about him at a glance, all she knew was his own penchant for strategem, something they shared many veins on. And Tom, who played a game of eye-contact-cat-and-mouse with Yukari. A bit of insight was offered there, though Mizuho jumped to no conclusions yet.

After a brief pause, she spoke. "So truly, we have little idea what they may have, only what they had. I won't make any analysis of this just yet, as I lack a bit of key information. Namely, the capabilities of the Miharu." Momentarily, she held her tongue... "I also know little of Lor. I will acquaint myself further with these before I present any meaningful judgement. Is there anything further, Kotori-san?"

Nyton listened to Kotori's answers and only nodded in reply. As she concluded her explanation of Eve and Naraku he decided it would be easier to just ask for the SAINT files that covered their exploits in more detail. If we only knew just what her true objectives were. Maybe we could see a pattern or at least a direction where everything was going. As for how she escaped I think I can give you some insight on that when I get a better opportunity.

After the other's questions were asked and answered he saw that Yukari looked very disheartened at the news of Black Spiral's fleet strength. Nyton looked over and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't let the fleet size get to you Yukari Chui. Just like the Misshu have been adopting our tactics so too are we becoming more like our enemy. Our focus will be on slipping in from behind instead of facing them head on." he said in a hushed tone to her.

Yukari smiled at Nyton. 'Becoming more like them ... ' We assume we are not like them at the start of it. She looked again to Kotori and tried to summon a brave face. She was not terribly successful.

"I believe I covered everything there was to cover in the briefing. Miharu will have the files and reference material you need at your disposal for future review." Kotori answered Mizuho. "However, before I dismiss you, I wanted to address the Miharu's chain of command."

The Taii crossed her arms. "I saw plenty of deficiencies on the previous ship I served, so, I would like to avoid doing the same mistakes. Since we had a small crew on the Sakura, the Taisa ended up with all the crewmembers turning to him (or her) for intructions even in dire situations where more important matters needed attention aside from the medical officer asking if he could use a Kylie." Kotori shrugged. "The commanding officer ended up micromanaging, which rendered him deficient on the level of taking quick decisive action concerning the ship as a whole. I was there as the executive officer, but all I really ended up doing was merely counseling or taking command in the commander's off hours."

The black-haired neko frowned. "I have officers and I intend to make better use of them. I will not micromanage - I will delegate. As commander, I have ultimate decisional factors in regard to the ship's actions, logistic, distribution of duties and discipline."

"Suzuka Yukari-Chui stands as my Executive Officer and is responsible for the day-to-day responsabilities of managing the ship itself, so I can be freed up to do my job. She is the one to see if any of you have concerns, questions or complaints that you would like to see addressed. She, in turn, will direct you as well as she can given the context and will bring more serious matters to my attention at an appropriate time. In my absence, she would be in command of the ship."

Kotori gestured to Nyton Claymere. "I assign Claymere-Juni to be the ship's Second-in-Command. As I will use him as a bridge tactical officer, Suzuka-Chui and myself will leave the responsabilities of anything which would concern tactical deployments and the ship's combat readiness. He effectively is Suzuka-Chui direct subordinate and his assistant to anything regarding his field of expertise."

"Though under the direct supervision of Claymere-Juni, Kurohoshi Masako-Juni will be the Miharu's wing leader and thus, unless Claymere-Juni should step in, will be leading any ventures out the ship which would involve the use of power armor. In sorties, she will take the initiative to establish objectives given the situation's context if no instruction from the Tactical Officer or the Executive Officer would be given."

Kotori sighed. "As a rule of thumb, I only want commissioned officers or warrant officers to talk to me when we are in a crisis. Enlisted crewmembers should turn to their immediate superiors first, a warrant officer if they need their specific expertise or the executive officer if they need to deal with the ship's leadership. If you come and talk to me diectly, you better damn hope that either it's very important, or that I am off duty or-" she flexed the nailess fingers of one hand. "-I will find a way to claw your face off. I hope I'm very clear on that level."

"The only person exempt from this is the nice looking nekovalkyrja with the violet hair over there." The Commander gestured toward Mizuho. "She's a retired Star Army officer with a lot of experience under her belt. While she no longer holds any rank, meaning that she is supposed to follow any reasonable instruction given by even the lowest ranked crewmember in this room, she can talk to me directly. In fact, I pay her so she can lecture me, scold me and bury me under heaps of sarcasm if needs be for her to convey her expertise... though I admit I'd prefer friendly counseling." She smirked at the last bit.

"Those of you whom have been recently put on active duty, make sure you review the customs and regulations of the Star Army of Yamatai for proper behavior, especially around officers. Suzuka-Chui, Claymere and Kurohoshi-Juni will be in charge of watching out for those details and educating you so that proper discipline will be maintained."

The Taii glared at Leutre for a moment. "Anyone thinking that I am being harsh and unfair can come to my executive officer to discuss things out. However, I will remind you that given our mission objectives, I expect nothing less than your best. You are all Star Army soldiers whom underwent training and were made aware of what proper behavior for a soldier was as well as your obligations and duties. You knew what you were getting into when you signed on the dotted line, so now, I will hold you up to it."

Kotori then smiled. "You have the rest of the day to get settled in the ship and mull things over. Freeman-Heisho will have to think about preparing dinner. I will convey with my officers to sort your roles and duties on the Miharu: Suzuka-Chui will communicate with you tomorrow morning to communicate the specifics." She then shooed them away. "The torture is over; you are dismissed."

Masako mulled over many of the things Kotori had explained throughout the briefing with a mixture of emotions. She had been distraught and distracted by a lot of the things revealed to her, but she knew that all of it was important to know if she were to be onboard.

"Though under the direct supervision of Claymere-Juni, Kurohoshi Masako-Juni will be the Miharu's wing leader and thus, unless Claymere-Juni should step in, will be leading any ventures out the ship which would involve the use of power armor. In sorties, she will take the initiative to establish objectives given the situation's context if no instruction from the Tactical Officer or the Executive Officer would be given."

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Masako's eyes widened immeadiately as she went from inattentive to full attention at the mention of her duties. Several thoughts went through her mind almost instanteously one after the other as she processed what it meant. But overall, it seemed like her dream in the Star Army was coming true. Sure...it wasn't a team of Mindy armors she was leading, but she was to be the Wing Leader of the armors on the Miharu.

Finally coming out of her stunned silence, Masako forced her face to become impassive. She couldn't allow herself to look like some giddy new recruit with their first armor assignment for this. She had to set an example for those who would have to rely on her when needed. But, she could see herself cheering out loud when she finally figured out which room she was going to claim.

Yukari stood, bowed to Kotori, then left. She spoke to no one as she left, and looked at nothing but the floor. Her stride was firm yet uncertain; she walked like one who was lost in a memory they once knew. She went to her room, locked the door behind her, and stopped.

Her mind floated, for a moment. Everything seemed unattached as she went to her dresser with a strange, staggered limp. She put her hands on the dresser to steady herself, then looked up at the blank wall. The grey panels were darker as only dull light reflected from the Iori and planet touched the inside of her room.

"Mirror." MEGAMI did as instructed, producing a holographic mirror, which looked solid enough. Yukari looked into it. She saw her brown, wavy hair, a little bit of it coming out of one of the ponytails she'd put it in. It had slid behind her ear. She saw her green eyes, average-sized nose, her thin lips, heart-shaped face ... she saw herself.

Her mind saw nothing. Well, not nothing -- it saw the enemy.

Some of what Kotori had said, she'd known. Other parts were not revelations as much as puzzle pieces; they fit between what she knew and what she assumed to make the picture clearer. Yet, in the end ... none of it made for more brighter and more vibrant an image than that of the Mishhu hybrid.

It was the ears, she thought as her eyes darted to her own small, Geshrin-like ones. She had never made the connection. On the Iori, she'd seen Nekovalkyrja transformed into things resembling Mishhuvurthyar. It made sense that the rogue KAMI was able to do that -- somewhere in its memory, it could have known the DNA between the species was similar enough to stretch one race into the other. The hybrid just confirmed it was possible naturally.

But the ears. The long, spike-like ears on a Mishhu's skull.

Cat-like ears, pulled and stretched out.

And the eyes. Narrow, and again cat-like.

PNUgen had not even tried to hid its evil. It had counted on the citizens to never notice, and it had bet well.

As Yukari looked at herself, her mind saw the enemy. Neko, Mishhu, it was all the same. A disgusting test. She was another animal, a weapon to be put through multiple cycles before being stamped with approval. Her soul was immaterial to the process of it all.

And now, she was being put through what seemed like the final test. Assassins, she thought, turning away from the mirror. Her body didn't respond well to her mind's commands; it instead went looking for the knife in her duffle. We are assassins. We do what SAINT has failed to do. We operate above the Star Army. We are nova, draining life from our enemies slowly and painfully into bright flares of invisible hope. Yukari finally found the knife and returned to the mirror.

Nyton said:

"Just like the Mishhu have been adopting our tactics so too are we becoming more like our enemy."

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The words rain through her again and again and again. "More like our enemy," she said in Japanese, eyes wide and unfocused in front of the mirror. "We are the enemy, are we not? We fight ourselves, our image twisted by impurities in the mirrors we filter our sight with." She raised the knife in her hand. "I am ... the enemy? Am I not? I am Nekovalkyrja ... I am a maiden of death and battle, a destroyer of souls. I was never human."

She knew no one would hear her scream. The Miharu was soundproof, like any other Star Army vessel. No one would hear her as she found out how much she looked exactly like the enemy.

The knife came down into her arm, between the bones. Pain as hot as a star sent her mind far into herself, shielding her from the immediacy of what she'd done. She was not sure she screamed because her eyes and ears weren't in the Miharu anymore.



I can see the water from the deck of my beach cabin. And little Yuya, spiky hair the color of his father rising up from the water after diving a whole meter to retrieve a sand dollar. His father, blooshing through a wave behind him, ready to pounce. Yuya levitates away, however, laughing as his father snaps his fingers, knowing he is beat. Yuya flies like me, after all. But he cannot not dodge the bright white beam crashing down from the sky, for it is not aimed at him first. It hits Kyoto, then Port Xenn, then Yuya, who is gone in an instant.



"MMNNNNGAH!" Yukari screamed as she tore the knife from her arm and hurled it at her door, crashing to her knees. She grasped her arm, the pain so bad it made her cry hot, salty tears down her cheeks and into the wound. Her self-healing began to do its work with Yukari looking through smarting eyes unable to focus on anything. But after a minute or two -- her internal clock was inaccessible because of the pain -- her eyes started working again, bobbing with each sob that came from her.

And that's when she really saw her own blood for the first time she could remember. It was red. Dark red. Like a human's blood, she knew. Even as it was dissolving away on the carpet, it was still red, human-like blood.

... Like my enemy, yet like my maker, she thought through gritted teeth. Not so different after all ...

Where had the image of Ash Bay come from? It was the only thing in her brain that was still easy to see. It was still before her eyes, especially the child. And then the white beams ... aether beams.

From Mishhu warships. She did not understand where that came from, but she just suddenly knew. Mishhu warships attacking Yamatai. Unthinkable.

... Would Mishhu die to protect their offspring? Do they even have real, true offspring, made from love? She recalled the Mishhu hatchlings of Ketsurui-Taisa's, but they were made from evil, she was sure. The Taisa would not have treated them as she had were they the result of something consentual, something desired.

And as her eyes found her wound in clear focus, Yukari knew that was it. Between her sobs, she nodded. That was what she had wanted to feel, wanted to know, wanted to ask Kotori but somehow in her head knew she couldn't. What makes us different from them? Nothing but the desire of our souls. And I desire a place where a boy can grow up without mortal fear.

" ... " Yukari sniffed, drying her eyes with her upper arms, as her hands and lower arms were still covered in blood. The wound was closing; it had already stopped bleeding. Yukari was glad she had worn a sleeveless uniform for Tom; she still had a sleeved one she could use. The ship was cold anyway. No blood had reached any of her other clothes, somehow, not even her grey boots. Still clasping her arm, she turned away from the dresser and sat in her bed nest.

It had been half an hour already ... she hadn't the slightest as to how time had passed so quickly.

"Miharu-san, *sniff* where is Freeman-Heisho?" Yukari wanted to talk to him, after her wound finished healing.

As the briefing wound down Nyton made mental notes of what all he had to do. Let's see, things to do: Conference regarding duties with Kotori, congratulate Masako and assist her if she asks for any start up pointers, see if Mizuho needs anything or wants to confer, lecture Leutre on customs and discuss his options under species restriction, have SAINT files on Eve and Naraku sent to my quarters for research, set up star map depicting all Eve, Naraku, and Black Spiral activity with dates on a wall in my quarters for further research, practice my harmonica, if I have time set up my weapons training sim programs in the rec room, dinner. Not necessarily in that order. Oh and I need to find time to discuss that personal matter with Kotori. I think that covers today's plate.

Nyton had stood up and bowed to Kotori before he walked over to Masako. He had been eager to congratulate her on the new position after he had learned about it. Just as he had been excited when he was made Armor wing leader he figured Masako would feel the same.

When Nyton reached Masako's side he offered out his hand to shake hers. "Congratulations Kurohoshi-san. While I know I'm not completely removed from the Armor field at the same time I know this ship's Armor wing is in good hands. You're going to do an excellent job." he said with a proud confidence. "And don't worry about embarrassing yourself. You're allowed a little celebration. Now that you're in charge it'll be up to you to give our Armor wing a name, eh?"

"Retired, Kotori-san? You make it sound as though it were civil. Or reasonable." A wan smile. "But I will try, for your sake, to be gentle and friendly in my contemptuous lecturing. Perhaps I will even offer you a quick and utterly complete course in how to drown others in sarcasm. It is an endlessly useful skill to possess, particularly for one in command."

With a slight bow - Mizuho never did bow very deeply, and had always neglected entirely to show such courtesy to Yui - the woman turned to leave, casting as a final comment, "...if you have need of me, Kotori-san, I will be in my quarters."

Mizuho excused herself then, finding her way to quarters, sparing a moment for light-hearted glee as she burst through the zero-gravity passage. It was truly the most brilliant addition to a starship she had seen in her lifetime. And her lifetime had, indeed, seen some rather brilliant innovations in technology... She cast herself back on her bed once encapsulated in her room, and stared towards the ceiling blankly. And so she would remain for several minutes, lost in herself, in memories, in painful recursions.

"...one day... though it... might as well be some day..."

Her fingers felt their way around the hilt of the tasseled blade, and she let her eyes close.

Leutre quickly made his way out of the briefing room and let out a sigh of relief. There was just something unsettling about Kotori's piercing gaze. Apparently she still had quite a distaste for him. Well, it's not my fault she has no sense of humor. Or that she doesn't like being reminded of that fact.

As he stood outside the briefing room, he contemplated what to do next. It was always a good idea to get to know the sub deck. Double check the construction work, memorize the critical system locations for when things got messy, maybe even see if he could scavenge up some spare parts for building something.

There's nothing as therapeutic for a gearhead like being surrounded by ship systems. A ship in space was its own little world, and it was up to gearheads like him to build and maintain those worlds. That made them, in a sense, gods of sorts. "King of my own little world..." He quietly chuckled as he wandered off in search of the sub deck elevators.