RP: YSS Miharu Prologue, Day 3

"Oh, this." Miyoko raised a hand to the collar, absently running a finger over the engraving. "It's just a stupid pun. I guess it'd translate to something like 'riches,' and it's the middle two syllables of my name..." She trailed off, turning to float smoothly alongside him for easier conversation, changing the topic abruptly. "As for the formality, it's no issue- as I said, I was just curious. It does serve its place, but I've seen cases where it was mindlessly adhered to or used as little more than a tool to boost the superior officer's ego."

She glanced back briefly, looking a bit worried about making the admission so near her commanding officers. A bit more loudly, she announced, "But, of course, I will follow whatever standards of conduct I am expected to," as she quickly traversed the rest of the tube.

Yukari hmphed. "I was being polite," she said to Kotori, then looked up the chamber.

I have not flown yet in this body, Yukari thought. Her eyes found Kotori's feet and locked onto them.

In her Yamataian body, Yukari had pushed her flying ability ever since she had received it. It wasn't something she talked about; when she had initially been transferred to the Yamataian model, it was still considered an NH-22C and had a different anti-gravity threshold than the modern body. It made the transfer easier; she was able to get back to floating at high speeds without much trouble, though control was much more difficult. It had taken her months to regain that.

It had also taken a lot of food. Flying made her incredibly hungry, as the NH-22C body wasn't as efficient as even the Nekovalkyrja V model.

Now, as she looked up, Nyton and Miyoko were talking and floating to one side. She would have to avoid them.

The sooner I take off, the sooner I will land.

Yukari did not push from the ground; she simply started floating up. She was immediately surprised; she floated with ease. Much more ease than her Yamataian body ... and it was effortless. She curled half-around Miyoko without even looking at her, regained her original line of flight in the center of the corridor, then, with a wide smile, made a slow flip in mid-air to land next to Kotori at the lip of the corridor. Her feet flat were and her body was balanced.

She did not look at her commanding officer, but flashed a small grin just visible from the helmet. "That was enjoyable, Taii."

"Yes, it might have been. Silly too, with my executive officer parading around in her flight helmet for dubious reasons." Kotori replied, looking exasperated, though that exasperation was short lived as she made a nasty little grin and pounced on Yukari with a "Gimme that!" as she tried to wrestle the helmet off the brown-haired woman's head.

"Ah!" Yukari staggered back, Kotori's hands knocking into her head with her barely feeling it. But her feet left the ground again, and she was then behind Kotori in an instant, holding the helmet in outstretched hands.

"As you request, Taii." Yukari could not help but smile. Her feet still had not touched the ground.

"Thank you." Kotori grinned, took the helmet and hooked it over her sword handles before willing herself up the passageway.

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Through a short walk up a few stairs and a corridor with windows to the sides peering out at the recessed part of the Miharu's main hull, the Miharu's sprite lead them to a room she announced as the 'wardroom'.

Kotori and Yukari were the last to arrive. The Taii overheard, took a few more steps forward to take a better look at the room... and found herself gaping for a second.

"This isn't a wardroom. This is a very cozy shuttle hangar." She said in hushed awe. The Miharu's wardroom was a lot larger than the one on the Sakura, with plenty of small round tables, chairs, and a few rectangular tables closer to the middle of the rooms. Couches, big flower pots and coffee tables were arrayed here and there, making this also something of a relaxation spot, she figured. At the far end of the chamber were large viewports peering at the back of the vessel, showing the top of the auxiliary ship's armor plated prow, with the Star Army of Yamatai's Mindy over a red circle showing proudly on top of it; with the rest of the Scorpio-class snowflake shaped station the Miharu was docked to as well as the swirling nebula dominating the rest of the view. "Uwaaah..."

As he followed the group, Leutre couldn't help but wonder if there was a way to disable the gravity around his own bed. But there were other matters at the moment.

Noticing the sprite had stopped, Leutre finally looked up. It took a moment for his mind to register the room before him. This certainly wasn't what he had expected."You know, I think I really am in love with this ship," he murmured quietly.

The first thought that came to Masako's mind when looking at the wardroom was that it reminded her of an armor-less armor bay. Second thought was the amount of space that could have been used for something else. But then she began to think, since this was a cruiser...wouldn't there logically be more of a crew? Then, the young warrant officer looked out at the view.

"S...sugoi!!!" the neko couldn't contain her awe as she looked out at the nebula with wide eyes.

"Thanks, but there's more to me than just the wardroom." Mara grinned back to Leutre and Masako before she gestured to her right. "Over there you will find the communal baths and on this side..." she gestured toward what seemed to be the serving area of a kitchen, complete with counter atop a glass-encased buffet display. "-is the kitchen."

The sprite then pointed toward the flight of stairs close to the kitchen. "These lead to the port and starboard living areas. You'll have several quarters to choose from. Since the crew has a sizeable number of non-Nekovalkyrja, I chose the standard beds as a default configuration for each room. You'll find officer quarters at the end of each passage, along with several single-bed crew cabins, a passenger suite, a laundry room, a restroom and a recreation room."

Yukari, who had been silent with awe, chose this moment to poke her commanding officer.

"Is this the Star Army?" she said quietly in Japanese. "I feel I am going on a pleasure cruise."

"From what I've heard, the Himiko-class was supposedly designed to be a light exploratory cruiser dedicated to exploring star systems beyond 40 light years from Yamatai. But with the recent Mishhuvurthyar outbreak, necessity demanded it be retooled into a warship." Kotori replied softly to Yukari. "It would explain why the crew amenities are this good: this is meant to be home away from home."

Ahead of them, Mara brushed one hand through her sandy hair. "Well, I can't really offer you a complete ship's tour: the nodal system is still fitting parts of the main deck and sub deck; so, I would ask you not to wander anywhere else than the upper deck and the front half of the main deck. You can, however, pick a side and choose your rooms. Officer quarters are in the end of each living area," the sprite then looked directly at Kotori. "You, Taii, might want to settle in one of the passenger suites."

"I'm not a passenger." Kotori protested, reverting to english.

"I know, but the passenger suites are just the general appelation. They are meant to be for V.I.P.s and with no one else but you aboard, I'd say you'd probably fit that description, Ketsurui-Taii."

"Well, at least she didn't call me 'your Highness'." Kotori muttered and walked toward the flight of stairs climbing over to the starboard living area section.

Tom absorbed his surroundings with crossed arms and a loud whistle.

"We sure don't have these kinds of things where I come from. Pretty nifty."

He wondered if the kitchen would be this nice, then slapped himself in his imagination for thinking so dumb.

Yukari nodded at Kotori's explanation. She understood -- sometimes, necessity required changes.

"Mara-san," she said, "is the bridge accessible?" Yukari had yet to see a full map of the ship.

Mara glanced once at the departing Kotori and walked closer to the Chui.

"Not for a couple of hours. I am still working on the interior furnishings of Hoshi." Mara answered. "However, if you look here-" the sprite snapped her fingers, summoning a holowindow with the labelled deckplan of the Miharu's upperdeck. "You'll see that you still have access to my monitor room. You can operate the whole ship from there in the meantime."

James was similarly caught up in the view of the nebula. Eventually the burning pain in his chest reminded him to breathe.

"They certainly chose an interesting location for the base," he rasped. "These accomidations are classy, too. I was preparing myself for cramped quarters."

James was tempted to try out one of the couches, but that could wait. Shifting the duffelbag onto his other shoulder, he looked around.

"Unless anyone has any objections, I think I'll take up residency on the port side."

Miyoko wasted no time in proceeding to the nearest enlisted room to the far starboard. She was still adjusting to the reduced strength of the Yamataian body, and carrying around everything she owned so far made the idea of setting it down welcome indeed. Besides, she mused, only slightly trying to justify away her slight fatigue, with these long dead-end-hallways, getting first stake on the one closest to the rest of the ship can't hurt...

Besides, the room was just a place to keep her stuff, and she'd seen plenty of views like the one out the wardroom viewport. What she really wanted was to stow her belongings quickly and go take a look at the scientific lab. It looked like she was the only one with any specialization in science for the time being, so for the time being that was her turf.

Nyton admired the large wardroom and spacious accomodations the ship provided. So far everything appeared to be promising and the ship's sprite was more then helpful. Funny how ships seem to take a life of their own. Nyton mused. As James and Miyoko claimed their rooms Nyton decided to stake his own as well. "I shall take one of the rooms on the starboard side of the ship, Mara." he said and walked towards one of the officer quarters.

Leutre tilted his head in and gave the sprite a strange look. Back home he'd just sleep in the common room with everyone else aboard the ship, or rest in whatever maintenance shaft he was working in when he became tired. Having separate rooms seemed like such a waste of space.

"But those who runs with wolves must learn to howl," Leutre mumbled to himself. Shuffling forward he began to wander in searching for an unoccupied room.

Yukari thanked Mara as the map came to float in front of her. She noticed how far she would have to go if she needed to be in the monitor room in a small amount of time -- more doors would have been nice somehow. But she would have to cross several quarters, and it would be very troublesome to cover three entrances if the ship were to be boarded.

... Yukari dashed the thought and looked at the map from a more aesthetic point of view. The small explanation of the officer's quarters made her scratch her head; she had no books. Some would have to be found, at some point. She never seemed to have time to read; that pleasure had been drilled out of her earlier in life.

Perhaps now I will have time.

"Mmm ... " Yukari nodded and left the wardroom. She picked the outside starboard quarters, so she could look "outside" when she was able to. It was better than being in a shell. Her clothes were hung in the back closet soon enough, her keyboard laid out over the desk -- and that was all she had. She sighed; most of her things were still on Yamatai.

Military life, she thought. The one thing she did still have was her Type 28 MPP, which she had yet to put anywhere. And there was no hook by the door ... and she would normally want it under her pillow. The idea of a "nest bed" was intriguing to her, and it would take an hour to prepare. She thought about it a little more, pacing by the large window of her room, then nodded to herself. A nest would be nice to have.

She put her MPP in one of the dresser drawers, then left the room, silently giving the order for MEGAMI/Mara to change her room.

Kotori joined Yukari outside. "The deck's layout is somewhat peculiar." The black-haired neko noted, making an horseshoe shape with her fingers.

"Hmmmm." Yukari rubbed her head. "And we must go down long halls to reach the central corridor. Flying will be helpful ... "

She managed a pained smile. "It is a prototype, neh?"