RP: YSS Miharu [restart point] Mission 2, Day 1

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Asher took note of Yoroko's wet eyes, Emotional type, huh?, he thought.

"Not directly, at Taiie my ship was nearly destroyed until I was rescued by the Miharu. When I linked up with them, I fought the Black Spiral." Asher kept his eyes forward on Kotori, his eyes seemed to drift down to her chest from time to time. Though, he usually caught himself and brought his attention back to the Taisa's face.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Kai nodded a bit at many of the things Kotori said, logging them into his memory. This history of the Mishhu was interesting to him, and he thought he'd like to learn more about them. One thing he wondered was Why would they choose to kill people, why did they chse the path they went on? surely there was no real reason for them to, as obviously the Nekos had been created under the same circumstances and they aren't revolting. Could it be the creatures they were based on coming through? and why would someone use such a creature to make soldiers from, as it obviously could not be controlled. He tried to wrap his head around all these things, but it was a bit too much. Obviously, he would have to find out later.

The Yamataian man sat and looked over Kotori's face, taking in his commander and putting that to memory. he forced himself to remember the name, forgetting it would be trouble. He waited patiently for the briefing to either end or continue.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Sanjuro's face was, not surprisingly, calm and calculated during the entire briefing. Although the mixture of emotions could not be seen on his ever-straight face at all, his darkling green eyes flashed as more and more was revealed to him, boring relentlessly into Kotori as she spoke.

So...Mishhuvurthyar are actually altered nekovalkyrja... Sanjuro mused to himself when the topic came up. He had these assumptions back when he was able to access and study the information about their tentacled foes...the similarities and possibility of relation was always present in his research. However, Sanjuro had never actually believed his little musings and theories to be plausible, let alone the truth. Thus, the news wasn't that much a surprise to the Yamataian, as much as it was a not-so-pleasant reminder of just what the Star Army was fighting. He didn't bother going over the reasons or rhymes behind the Mishhuvurthyar and their existence...it wasn't his job, nor his pleasure to think of such things.

Black Spiral...I do not like the sound of that... Talks of fighting and war and strategy and the like were often lost to Sanjuro. He was not a fan of any of it, and preferred to leave the actions to the more capable men and women of Yamatai. He couldn't even remember the last time he fired a weapon, or held anything even remotely lethal other than a scalpel or a syringe of sedatives. The prospect of having to fight didn't scare the medical officer...it just didn't sit well with him in the long run. As the others began to question the Taisa, Sanjuro listened with genuine curiosity. Although he had no questions of his own at the moment, he was fully content with listening to the answers of others.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Serizawa absorbed the information that Kotori had freely given them. Although it seemed that all the information the Star Army seemed to possess about the Dark Ones was not anything he wasn't already aware of, the revelation that the Mishhuvurthyar was actually a Nekovalkyrja model based off of the form of the Dark Ones provided the scientist with a better insight into their enemy. He had also been putting together his own theories on how the psionic ability of the Dark Ones functioned and the briefing was helping him to flesh out his ideas. After all, going from having virtually no information to having a little more was a great improvement.

Though Serizawa had found the information about the SMX quite enlightening, his interest had not really been piqued by the situation with Eve and the Black Spiral. Had the Black Spiral been making their own technological advances, he might have cared a little more but they had only stolen what Yamatai had created. With the exception of the mentioning of something called Amara's Gate, which could have been any countless number of things, there was little for the scientist to use.

Glancing over at Sora when she posed her question about Melisson, he was able to see the bouncing of her busom. With his mind still on scientific matters, Serizawa wondered what laws of physics allowed her breasts to move like that. He made a note to one day, in private, to try unravel that mystery.

Turning his gaze back toward the Taisa and the display, Serizawa asked, "Is it known if Melisson is acting of her own initiative or if she is acting under orders of any surviving Dark Ones?"

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

"Thank you, Kotori-sama. I will add those recordings to my own investigation and research." Nyton replied. He continued to ponder this revelation regarding Amaya and the news of her new appearance. Perhaps any visual clues he saw would give him a better insight on the mindset of Amaya and why she would be working with Eve. I wonder if Kotori is planning on letting everyone know that Eve and Naraku are one and the same yet? he then thought.

At the same time however he could not forget the element that Melisson brought to the equation. Just because she was not their objective did not mean there would not be a chance of them encountering her. And a confrontation with her would eventually be inevitable. Nyton would have to keep such a dangerous foe in mind constantly for she could change the course of the battlefield in unexpected ways. At the same time however if she is busy consolidating her powerbase against other forces within the SMX then perhaps she would be too busy to be concerned with their campaign against Eve. Then another thought struck him. Melisson had always been cruel and very malevolent but what if she were more negotiable than the Dark Ones? Perhaps she could even be made some sort of peace with. Nyton then sighed at the thought but did not dismiss it as impossible. Just highly unlikely.

Nyton then settled in to listen to any further questions, take in more information, and hear out their objectives.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Kotori smiled to Nyton and then turned her attention to Ichi. "Melisson is a Dark One type that is tentatively classified as an Infection Queen. We have no other recorded instances of an Infection Queen and she might very well be the most powerful of her kind, certainly powerful enough to be the ruler of her species. Therefore, it is our belief that Melisson is acting of her own initiative and humoring the rank structure of the SMX so as to not paint herself as too obvious a target to be eliminated. She was proven right, seeing what happened at Hukka when Star Army Command got in their heads to cut off the head of the snake."

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

The smile Kotori gave him was not lost and Nyton thought he felt something twitch deep in his gut. However it was a different feeling than what he noticed whenever Masako smiled. There would be no time to analyze this sensation because the answer to the next question caused quite the stir in him.

For the first time in a good while, Nyton was caught by total surprise. So caught was he that he had to resist the urge to suddenly jump up out of his seat. He managed to stifle that but his face showed everything by a sharp rise in his eyebrows and a slight widening of his eyes before they narrowed down again.

"Wait a second, Kotori-sama, you mean to say that Melisson IS a Dark One herself? How can that be possible? I have actually met her in person and she did not look anything like the diagram of a Dark One we were shown. Are the Dark Ones also capable of shape shifting? Where would she put all the extra mass from her body if her true form is something that big when she shapes down to human size?" Nyton asked with an inflection in his voice that relayed his surprise.

And here all this time I thought her to merely be a highly ranked interpreter SMX. If this is the case then I have certainly underestimated her. A Dark One this whole time, damn how could I have known that back when I met her over Lor? Nyton mentally berated himself.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Miyoko took in the briefing passively, filing useful information away for later but not actively requesting any more. As far as she was concerned, the enemy motivations and movements were problems for the officers to address, not her. She'd seen enough of Melisson--both over Taiie and in the recordings she'd had to analyze--to know that the woman needed a good hard killing. Other than that, she didn't care.

The one point of the briefing that did engage her interest was the news that Black Spiral had returned to Yamatai's side. After the battle with the Meng Po, Miyoko had almost asked for Kotori's permission to recreate its crew from their ST backups--the initial briefing on the faction had led her to believe that there was enough common ground for them to negotiate, and she wasn't a fan of unnecessary killing under any circumstances. She'd dismissed the idea, though, deciding it held too much potential for danger and not enough benefits.

... now, the Yamataian was regretting her decision. With the faction back in Yamatai's fold so shortly after the battle, she once again doubted whether the act truly would be such a great risk. She stamped down the guilt, though--she could decide what to do with this new piece of information later. For now, she had to remain focused on the briefing.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

"Well, Black Spiral studied them - her - a lot and there is a diagram showing the relationships inbetween them. The Dark Mishhuvurthyar can discorporate into many smaller lifeforms like the maggot-types or the bug-types and then use a part of themselves to reform into a smaller humanoid form like the interpreter or the monstrous humanoid types." Kotori answered Nyton, then frowned a little. "I get the feeling many of you are trying to complete a puzzle with missing pieces - let me elaborate a bit on what Black Spiral is, how the Mishhuvurthyar came to be first and then you might better understand how Melisson's newly recorded type meshes into all this."

"Black Spiral was a section of SAINT whom had as their assigned responsability to monitor alien progress on genetic research." The Taisa began explaining. "These were Nekovalkyrja trained by both the Star Army and by PNUgen, that used some of the cutting-edge Nekovalkyrja models like the NH-18 and NH-27, along with those NH-25 neko-mishhu hybrids I mentioned before. The reason they managed to pull the wool over our eyes and start on this rebellion of theirs in the first place was thanks to them making a convincing case of the Mishhuvurthyar going berserk and destroying their ships. It was all very plausible."

"Then, we learned from records put under closer scrutinery that some of those details didn't add up and we started to suspect. Black Spiral had been involved in some pretty shady stuff, including viruses, secret peace talks with the Mishhuvurthyar and such... and all that stemmed from events seven years before when PNUgen developped a new genetic weapon which they wished to have outgrow the limitations humanoids had."

Kotori began slowly counting on her fingers as she brought up each point. "A nekovalkyrja mind within a more powerful, large and mobile body along with lots of hemosynthetic tentacles instead of being limited by the endoskeletal limitation of articulations. Add exoskeletal armor, flight and psionic capabilities and you get a pretty amazing test weapon as far as nekovalkyrja standards go - I'm not kidding when I compare them to tanks." The Taisa exchanged a look with Yukari before turning back to smile grimly at her audience. "Black Spiral assisted the project and started out with taking the NH-19 test weapons out to test them - by fighting them."

"So, the Mishhu got an early start on disliking us this way. At some point, the tests went wrong when the Dark Ones meddled in. The NH-19s were set free and were helped by the Dark Ones to develop their own society, speech and they developed their own starships - when things took a disastrous turn, Black Spiral managed to keep ties to those they observed, but weren't able to change a damn thing in fact of the influence of the Dark Ones... but then, it's come to be rather obvious why they were 'reporting' they could do nothing: they were sitting on their hands and letting the Dark Ones help the Mishhuvurthyar struggle for the 'freedom' of the nekovalkyrja race to make it the superior race over them."

Kotori shrugged. "Ultimately, the Mishhuvurthyar only traded one master for another, seeing that when humans disappear, the Dark Ones will be the ones controlling them. As much as we can sympathize for their plight, this has never been a conflict based on the moral axis of good and evil. There is nothing noble behind it. Our side is just as good as theirs and we are essentially forced to be the hammer instead of the anvil. It's not pretty, but it is the reality we need to face up with."

The Taisa returned her amber eyes to Nyton. "Understandably, even when Eve ended up pulling the strings, Black Spiral had an interest in continuing to observe the Mishhuvurthyar and the Dark Ones. 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer', I think the saying goes. Well, there were plenty of cues that Melisson's interpreter-type body was actually a reshaped Dark Mishhuvurthyar instead of a mishhuvurthyar mutation. With a sample of the Dark Ones close by for examination, Black Spiral did expend some time and effort trying to observe her."

"The Mishhuvurthyar incursion offers us the example of several instances where the Mishhuvurthyar have used their psychic powers to influence individuals and - through the collaborative effort - the crew of entire ships... but nothing we've ever studied had the power to subvert and completely dominate the minds of the crews of several ships, going so far as climbing up to a fleet-wide scale... and I am talking about the fleets we had back in YE 27, which numbered in thousands then."

"Black Spiral NH-17T psionics labeled Melisson as an Infection Queen due to Melisson finally providing an answer for several unexplained events which happened before," Kotori coolly went on. "Her type appears to be the only one capable of having meddled with the ego of the first NH-19s to render them receptive to the suggestion to turn against mankind; her type is the only one which would be reasonably able to seize control of minds over a fleet scale; and one strong reason that Melisson would be even bothering to micromanage her fleet would be to be in closer proximity to her Mishhuvurthyar pawns so that she could maintain her mental hold on them. She also seems to feel she can handle her own in physical combat... as she has never shown any fear or concern of being next to possibly hostile power armors despite her rather frail body. This hints either at a body which is physically more capable than it looks, to psionic abilities which can fully compensate for a lack of brawns, or to a lack of concern for her own safety due to the body she displays only representing a part of her and not a whole."

"If the Black Spiral telepaths are correct, she might have had ties to turning the Mishhuvurthyar against us in the first place, she infected them with a seed that promoted aggressivity and antipathy toward all that represents mankind and her continued presence amongst them might very well be compared to a gardener watering the seeds to make sure they flower and ultimately become the more malleable and sinister pawns which are the Ghost Mishhuvurthyar - assuming the role of a fleet commander could be just the icing on the cake to fool others in not understanding her true purpose."

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Sora listened to Kotori's explanations with a look of awe. she didn't feel sorry for the Mishhu's plight. She understood the desire for freedom but, what they did... earned no sympathy. She frowned but waited to hear what everyone else before asking any further questions.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Asher's red eyes were covered in a squint, a hint of disbelief shrouded his mind and his face.

"You're saying, we're dealing with a person err... 'Thing', who not only can control, or... say... influence the minds of the Mish', but can also do the same to our people? On a mass scale," Asher piped in, studying a bit more of Kotori's body as he spoke.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Kotori gave Asher a nod. "That's right," she used one finger to flip a long lock of black hair over the front of her shoulder so she could idly toy with it. "Such an event happened three years ago: warfleets whom were actively fighting the Mishhuvurthyar had ships within them turn upon each other. The vessel whom had investigated the incident then - the YSS Nozomi - had found only the wreckage of several hundred of our ships littering space with faint psionic signals still being broadcasted by the Mishhuvurthyar; there was no wreckage from any mishhuvurthyar vessels to be found anywhere within that area. Soon after, the Type 27 scoutship was faced with a couple of surviving Yui-5 scout destroyers and an Irim-class heavy gunship... all intent on destroying it."

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Asher's jaw dropped and leaned forward, hands on his knees., "How tha' fuck are we-...!" He caught himself, stopping on his sudden outburst. The Hei looked around for a moment, and then cleared his throat, nodding to the Taisa.

"Ahem... How are we expected to fight such an enemy?" Asher asked in a more calm tone.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

"Good question," Kotori nodded approvingly to Asher. "Fortunately, at the time, we already had a countermeasure installed in our Type-27 ships such as the Nozomi had - the Psionic Signal Controller. The incident provided incentive to make fleet-wide refits to install the system so we would no longer have that particular vulnerability, and it kept us relatively safe from psionic compulsions until very recently when-" she edged a look to Sora, "they found a way to disable that protection. Black Spiral psions have no idea how the Mishhuvurthyar manage it, but suspect they've been compensating with technology of their own... just like ECM can be countered with ECCM."

"Seeing that the Mishhuvurthyar have been bringing up new technology and ship designs ever since Melisson stepped up as a fleet commander," Kotori put extra emphasis on the last part, "I really would not be surprised if Melisson - once again - would have something to do with it."

"If the Infection Queen type truly has that ability, well, the one we know likely has only been using it sparingly. Most of her successes were due to other factors this time around. We could speculate as to why and go from her refraining out of sportsmanship, of her refraining out of a desire to not strain herself or her not practicing that ability in order to fool us into a false sense of security." The Taisa shrugged. "Whatever the case might be, I still have the intention to avoid confrontation with her while we have other equally important mission objectives to cover. If we should be forced into a confrontation with her, SAINT assured me that the Miharu had equipment that could protect our crew."

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

After the initial shock that the Mishhu had a being such as this on their side, Kai calmed himself down, and Thought Isn't that convenient that Kotori just answered some of my questions. taking it in, he wonderd who exactly this Melisson person was, and why she was the way she was. Obviously, SA command didn't exactly know either. Great, why does everything have to be a mystery? can't we just know everything about our enemy... He wondered, his mind wandering to how he'd try to help end this conflict, basicly, day-dreaming of PA battles, and missed the anecdote about the Nozomi.

At the mention of Melisson again, however, he snapped back to rality and listened intently.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Asher sighed in relief to the information, but stopped for a moment, looking at the floor for a few seconds and the back to Kotori.

"But what about Armor pilots that are operating outside of the Miharu, wouldn't they be vulnerable? And if they 'were' infected, would they still be so after returning to the safety of the Miharu?" Asher asked her, taking the moment to look her over again, as he did before.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

"I'd happily tell you... if I knew what sort of equipment besides the PSC system we had." Kotori replied, tossing the lock of hair back over her shoulder. "But the truth is, I really don't. They just assured me it wouldn't be a problem for us... hence added incentive not to put this obscure mean of defense of ours to the test and avoid the situation altogether if we can at all help it."

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

"...Before our PSC overloaded, we were given about 2 minutes warning before our systems shut down. Unfortunately, we were not in a good position to do so having been only a few meters behind a Dark One," Sora commented softly. "It was only at Hukka that we encountered the problem with the PSC overloading. We noticed it first while we were still on the Plumeria before we deployed to the compound, so it might be linked to proximity to Dark Ones." The young Ketsurui fiddled with a strand of her long red hair as she recalled the events before their shaky deployment into the Castle.

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

"This could hint that if the Dark Ones do possess the technology that its implementation might require larger pieces of hardware which would restrain its usage to fixed installations that would be planet bound... or to very large starships," Kotori speculated in turn. "Implementation also would seem non-instantaneous."

Re: [restart point] Mission 2

Asher turned and looked a Sora for a moment as she put forth her question. He took that moment to admire the woman's frame, and her massive jugulars. The Hei had to shake his head to break his gaze and return to Kotori. He thought for a moment at Kotori's last statement.

"Then why havn't any of our sensors picked up any sort of thing on their ships, or planets?" Asher asked.