RP: YSS Resurgence Resurgence of Yamatai - Mission 1: Homeworld

"This is like my favorite game in real life," Euikoshi grinned. "Who's ready for a minecart ride?"

Captain Majime scratched her head. "Oh, I thought this was just a Star Army base," she admitted. "Now I'm not sure where we're going. I'm open to suggestions which sites we should visit."

"I want to see the PNUgen stuff," Euikoshi instantly suggested, "for science."

"I want to see Ketsurui Fleet Yards factories," Pidole the technician suggested.

"I wonder what the Svartalf dress like," Kalena pondered out loud. "I bet it's sexy."

"Oh Kwabba," Gabriela giggled. "How about 'What was ancient Yamatai in its prime?" she suggested.

"It was Geshrintall," Taii Meloral Subaru answered flatly.

"You ever seen an Elysian halo?" Blanche asked. "Want to?"

Captain Majime's communicator vibrated with a loud buzz and she look it out and projected a volumetric display of a woman in the air. It was Han Eun-hwa, the Ketsurui Fleet Yards representative from earlier, who Gabriela and Kwabba had met in their Ketsurui no Iori headquarters.

"I'm happy to announce your new starship is completed!" she smiled. "Everything is done and we are just moving in the furniture at this point. Did you want to do a launching ceremony?" she asked. "I hear the Empress has a special interest in this ship."

Majime thought about it for a moment and answered, "We're going to delay until we are done down on Yamatai. I will send my bridge crew to bring the ship to us."

"Sure thing," Eun-hwa nodded. "It will be ready for you by the time they get here."

After saying goodbye, she turned to her crew. "It's ready!" she grinned, bouncing up in the air. Next she found her gray-shirts. "Gabriela, Kalena, take the new shuttle up to Ketsurui Star Fortress and bring the ship to us. Eun-Kyung, did you want to go as well?"

Majime looked around at all the crew members just kind of standing around not saying anything. She figured they were just trying to avoid any extra work by attempting to blend into the scenery. She sighed out out loud and said, "We're splitting up so we can cover more ground faster. Pidole and Cassie, you go to KFY and find out about the how the war affected technology development there and any cool projects they're working on. Euikoshi and Poppy, you're visiting the old PNUgen site. "Everyone else I think we're just going to go to the ship and get settled in before we explore any further. Somehow everyone looks tired already and we've only just started."

Blanche helped them back to the elevator and back to the surface, where they went to the starship landing zone near their train and waited. Soon, the shape of their new ship came descending through the light clouds and the ship landed in front of them. It had a Star Army Blue hull with a large white striped down the center-line and red accents. The number "575" was prominently displayed on the "rollbar" connecting the two large engine nacelles.





Once the ship landed, the rear cargo ramp opened to reveal a spacious cargo bay and Kalena waving to them. "This ship is really nice!" she grinned. "Check it out!"

So this was the YSS Resurgence.

Kagura had stared at the brand new Fuji-class as it swept down from the clouds above and made its landing in front of her and the crew. She'd never seen this type of "expeditionary" gunship in person, nor had she ever seen a factory fresh vessel of any kind. Seeing the Resurgence sitting here at a landing berth, its white stripe and spotless windows reflecting the sun's brilliance off of their immaculate surfaces, was enough to make any soldier stand stunned and take in the sight. And Kagura did just that, and made sure to commit this rare moment to her memory.

"Nice!" the XO exclaimed as she jogged up the cargo ramp and into the new ship's hold. Kagura wanted to see it all — its wardroom and observation deck and absolutely huge recreation area for a ship of its size all called to her — and certainly would in due time. Even the expansive cargo bay that opened up before her as she crested the ramp was a sight to behold with the few crates of necessities that came with the ship stacked perfectly on the deck. But the bridge upon which she'd spend most of her time aboard really piqued her interest.

"How awesome's the bridge, Kohosei?" Kagura asked Kalena straightaway. "Is it just as shiny as the outside is?"

"Oh, thank the light - finally!" The pint-sized mother spoke up for the first time in a while, holding onto little Daniel's hand as he leaned against her unstably. She continued, "Erm, sorry - this is just more walking and movement than I was expecting. Tends to be a bit exhausting for me, unfortunately!"

She chuckled, a bit. Mochi knew well how his wife had been effectively immobilized in the later months of her first pregnancy, and the only way they could mitigate that was to get her a walker. This time, some helpful medical advice should keep the little lady moving wherever she needs, as long as she keeps her legs healthy.


On the other end of the spectrum, Aradia Sivins was positively estatic. Fresh off the production line! This is going to be a freaking great voyage, and the unique paint scheme had quickly grown on her. The blue was a bit rich for a traditional Yamatai vessel, but the red accents and white core set a firm, clean look on the whole vessel. "Since when did Yamatai travel in style?" she asked her cousin and in-law privately, through their own minds.

Sanda stared wide eyed at the ship. She had never been one to take a real fancy to ships, probably why she had joined the rangers. But even she was impressed by the ship. Every part of it looked brand new. Of course it was all brand new but she had never seen a ship look so pristine. She was suddenly filled with great pride that this was the ship she would be serving on.

Kwabba-an looked back and forth between the ship and Sanda. When she looked at what would be her home for the foreseeable future, she just saw a house. Though it was certainly a shiny and new house, and one that could fly. Presumably, it could even fly quite fast. Still, it was just a place for her and her crewmates to sleep. When she turned to her friend Sanda, she felt an odd mixture of happiness to share in her friend's sense of wonder, and sadness that she couldn't appreciate this part of the world in the same way.

The insectoid musician picked up her luggage, which consisted of three things: the bag that contained all the standard-issue equipment that she wasn't currently wearing, the Zesuaium bass guitar that she felt was so sturdy that she didn't bother carrying it around in a case, and a large metallic briefcase. The last object seemed heavy. Though it didn't strain her much to carry it, it clearly threw her off-balance whenever its momentum shifted.

Proceeding up the cargo ramp, she tried her best to recall where the power armour bay was in relation to the cargo bay. She was sure that she remembered it was near, but nothing more specific. After only a single wrong turn into the shuttle bay, she found it. Though she had no idea in what order anything was, she could spot her Mindy from across the room. It was uniquely built to accommodate her generously proportioned aft section, to the extent that it even opened in the back instead of the front, so that it could close down on her insect abdomen like a clamshell. When she stood next to it, she dropped her bag and her bass guitar on top but held onto the briefcase.

Admiring the craftsmanship, she closely inspected where shrapnel had torn the armour open at its seam just under her lower arm. Gingerly, she ran the tips of the fingers on her right hands where it had cracked, but she couldn't even tell it had been damaged from how well it had been repaired. Then she felt the same section on her own body. Through the fabric of her uniform, her undershirt, and even the haramaki that warmed her always-too-cold skin, she could feel the scars where the debris from an exploding starfighter had ripped her open. Kwabba-an took a quick look around to make sure she was alone before she hugged the armour. She knew it wasn't alive in the same way that she was, but she still felt it deserved appreciation for getting her home.

With that done, she finally felt free to be excited. With three hands, she horizontally levelled the big metal case she had been lugging around since she had picked it up at the Ketsurui Fleet Yards, and with her fourth hand, she unfastened it and opened the lid. Much of the space within was occupied by padding, and on top of it all, there was a dense stack of paper. On the first page of which, there was simply printed "Ke-M2-W4300 (Prototype)". She glanced at it, then pushed the papers aside. Beneath, coiled like a metallic snake, was a long section of chain that increased in width until it reached a simple handle that lay on top. Kwabba-an hesitated for a moment, then touched the handle with a smile.

Laying the case down on the ground, she lifted the handle and chain with multiple hands. Somehow it felt heavier when it wasn't in the case, and after some consideration, she decided that it was likely due to how awkward it was to hold a girthy chain. After another look around and against her better judgement, she swung the chain overhead. It was at this moment that she remembered that it weighed more than she did, so when its centre of mass moved so far away from her own, she was pulled off of her feet with a quiet "eep!"

She flailed in the air and managed to land on her feet, but the chain clattered noisily, but harmlessly onto the floor of the bay. As quickly as she could, she coiled it up, threw it back into its case, and picked up all the rest of her luggage.

"I'm okay," she stated quietly to nobody in particular as she hastily retreated to the adjoining armoury where she could stow the weapon. "Everything is fine."

raz said:

"How awesome's the bridge, Kohosei?" Kagura asked Kalena straightaway. "Is it just as shiny as the outside is?"

Click to expand...

"I don't think you're going to like it, Taii Hojo," Kalena said. "It's a weird one with multiple levels that feels crowded. There's no stations on the walls, everything is just kind of out there in the middle. The captain isn't in the center, the XO isn't near the captain, and the XO seat's in a pit in the front. It has stairs. It has a systems monitoring station and an engineering station to...monitor the systems? Don't get me wrong, it has the essentials...but it's quite different than what I'm used to. I just don't see us fully manning it with 8 people though. Maybe we should have looked at it before it ordered it because I suppose we're stuck with it."

Majime shrugged. "A command is a command. I'm sure we'll get used to it! Try to keep it positive, Kalena."

"Yes ma'am!" Kalena nodded.

"And it feels great inside," Pidole wirelessly added. Her blue beetle was happily dancing on her shoulder, glad to be out of the cold outdoor air. "Jax, come look at engineering! It's huuuuuge."

"That's funny," Kagura replied to Kalena, raising an amused eyebrow upon hearing the teal-haired cadet's description of the bridge. When she'd reviewed the ship's diagrams, a Fuji's command center looked about half as big as the cargo bay they were standing in was — and seemed anything but crowded. But now the young Taii was even more interested in what it'd be like to serve on.

"Every ship I've been assigned to had a wildly different bridge layout from the other," Kagura said. "Never even heard of a dedicated XO's seat before! That's cool for me, I guess," she added with a grin, remembering that the First Officers who'd inspired her career had rarely been given a whole station.

"Gotta get used to it just like the captain said," Kagura agreed, nodding as she spoke. "Plus, I've heard the Fuji-class's bridge has volumetric display capability all around for a seamless panoramic view across its walls. Still can't wait to scope it out. Maybe after seeing the wardroom, though. I think it's just down the hall!"

Seinosuke gently put a hand on Arbles' shoulder, squeezing it lightly while he empathised with her plight. As he was about to speak, a flash of metal reflected above them. "Honey, look at that.." The Elysian sighed, the familiar outline of a Fuji-class vessel descending from the skies. "Boy, does it take me back." Mochi grinned, looking down at his small family with pride. It was funny how all this had started on a ship not dissimilar to their new posting.

"The first time I was on a Fuji-class, her Captain found me neck deep in wiring." The scientist chuckled warmly, "Luckily I'm an old hand now." Mochi concluded as he led his family towards the vessel, although it seemed Aradia was by far the most excited of them all, going off what emotions were being conveyed telepathically. In response, he'd shoot back, "Only the best for us! Eager to get a glance of the lab. eh?"

Sanda set her bags on the deck and took a look around the hanger. Everything looked like it was straight out of a recruiting poster. So new and shiny. Her brother in law would love this. Noticing Kwabba-an lugging a big shinny case heading towards the power armor bay, Sanda decided to follow her. She kept stopping to look around at the ship, establishing routs in her mind and logging away chokepoints that could be used later in case of defending the ship against boarders. As she entered the power bay she was taken aback at the sight of her Daisy armor. She hadn't seen the thing since the Battle of Glimmergold. Truth be told, she hadn't thought about it at all. Sanda walked over to the suit and ran her fingers around the shoulder where she had been wounded. The suit looked brand new. Sanda started blinking quickly feeling her eyes starting to water at the sight of an old friend.

Sanda was startled by a loud crash and spun around to see Kwabba-an swinging what looked like a whip made of chain around. She smiled as the Kwabba-an hurriedly put the weapon away and stow it in the armory. Sanda was about to ask her about it but she suddenly felt very hungry. She also just remembered the offer she had made to the XO about helping out with the cooking until they could find a dedicated cook. If everything on the ship looked so new, she could only imagine how awesome the galley would be. Sanda looked again at her Daisy suit then called out to Kwabba-an. "Hey music bug. I'm about to go check out the galley. Want to join me?"

Kwabba-an gave another, quieter "eep" after she suddenly heard someone talking to her when she thought she was alone. Her first thought was that she was in trouble for swinging a weapon around the brand-new power armour bay, and maybe even for scuffing the floor when she lost control of her swing and the weapon (and her body) clattered to the ground. Before she had even processed any of the person's words, a part of her brain knew that it was Sanda's voice and she relaxed. Her calm was short-lived, though, because her next thought was that maybe she was in trouble with Sanda. Could she be in trouble with Sanda? She wasn't sure, so she turned to her friend and listened intently to what she was saying.

"The galley?" The insectoid considered the offer. "Yes, I would enjoy that. Let me just..."

The musician disappeared into the adjoining armoury, where she found a locker in which she felt the prototype weapon would be safe. When she returned, she was only carrying her bag and bass. She walked over to where Sanda was standing, and couldn't help but spend a moment admiring her Daisy.

"The look of your Daisy pleases me. I am not sure exactly what about it, but there is something." She turned to her friend and smiled. "I am ready to join you whenever you are ready to go."

YSS Resurgence JP Pad - We got a ship now and it's pretty

Kwabba-an reached out and touched the Daisy armour in front of her. Under the light touch of her fingertips, the green metal was warmer than she had expected. Though it wasn't warm, exactly, neither was it cold. She traced the lines of the plating and considered how different it was from her own Mindy. What was it that she liked about it? It could be the increased number of right-angles, she thought idly. The insectoid's mind began to wander, thinking about Glimmergold where her friend Sanda had piloted one of these in battle, and had doubtlessly saved her life on several occasions.

Kwabba-an's thoughts turned to the sounds she remembered from that day, and soon transitioned to the sound of the Resurgence around her. From her position in the Power Armour Bay, she could hear people loading cargo down the hall. She focused on the subtler sounds around her, like the quiet sound of the air circulating through the ventilation.

Up on the bridge, Gabriela was back in the pilot's station, with a number of glowing volumetric windows floated around her in a sphere. "Oh yeah!" she grinned, leaning back in her comfortable Type 35 starship chair. She really wanted to take the ship for another spin.

Kwabba-an's eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh no! I said I would meet someone in the crew quarters." With that, she swiftly exited the Power Armour Bay but immediately stopped in the hallway just outside. Where were the crew quarters? She took another wrong turn into the shuttle bay, then found the galley, before finally discovering the way up to the next deck. For some reason, she remembered that the crew quarters were higher up in the ship.

Kalena skipped by Kwabba naked, with a Star Army towel on her head. "There's an onsen!" she beamed, headed towards its location without stopping for anything.

Kwabba-an giggled at Kalena's sudden nudity. "Perhaps the crew quarters can wait, in that case." The insectoid diverted course and followed behind Kalena with increasing curiosity.

After a quick shower, Kalena led the way into the onsen room, where there was a floor with soft grass and islands of raked sand and rocks. A path of cobblestones led to a large gently steaming pool surrounded by large, dark rocks and a cluster of red maple bushes and bamboo. The walls were covered by volumetric displays of cherry blossoms one side and snowy mountains on the other. Kalena tied her teal hair back up into a bun and went straight into the water.

Once in the shower room, Kwabba-an stripped down and cranked up the heat of the water to its maximum. The hot water washed over her and felt so refreshing after the cold air outside that she couldn't help but sigh. Once clean, she dug through her bag to the toiletry kit within, then mimicked Kalena and wrapped one of her towels around her head and walked into the onsen with nothing else on. She was stopped in her tracks the moment she entered, struck by the beauty of the room and its volumetric imagery. "Wow," she breathed. Being easily distracted, she knelt down and touched the grass next to the cobblestone path. "This is wonderful."

"Uh-huh," Kalena grinned, holding up her arms in celebration. "We will have a little bit of Yamatai with us wherever we go! I think this is going to be my new favorite happy place," she told Kwabba.

Kwabba-an looked at Kalena and grinned at her excitement. "I think it might be mine also. I hope we can share." She stood up but instead of going to the onsen, she walked over to the raked sand and rocks. After looking around, she gave the sand a little poke with one of her clawed toes.

"Um, does the hot water mess with your exoskeletion?" Kalena asked Kwabba-an.

"Not as far as I know, but I haven't had a long soak before. Only hot showers." Bravely, Kwabba-an made her way over to the water and dipped herself in gracefully and without hesitation, careful not to let the towel slip from her head as she did so. "I love the warmth. Cold weather is so awful. If it does mess with my body, it is a price I am willing to pay."

The insectoid sighed again and closed her eyes for a moment, before realizing that she was being rude. "I have seen you around, but I'm not sure if we've spoken before. I'm the ship's musician. What do you do?"

"I'm a starship operator," Kalena said. "I am usually on weapons defense systems duty. Gabriela usually does the navigation and piloting. Together we fly the ship and handle ship-to-ship combat."

Kwabba-an nodded slowly as she listened. "Weapons defense systems sounds exciting! Did you join the Star Army so that you could get your hands on those big guns?" The musician smiled innocently. "Or did they just fall into your lap?"

"Well, I am working on earning my way toward my goal, which is being a starship captain like Taisho Hanako was. My expertise is in interstellar navigation and operating heavily automated starships like this one. I plan to keep going until I get my own. I think that when you're in charge of a starship, you can make the biggest impact on the universe and see more of it."

"Oh. Is that the same Hanako who wrote the Anthem of Yamatai? I didn't know she was a captain." Kwabba-an felt a little embarrassed about all the things she didn't know, which included much of what Kalena was now telling her.

"Her ship led the attack on the SMX that ended the First Mishhuvurthyar War," Kalena said. "She did a lot of other important things too. Nowaways you see her names on orders since she became the director of Star Army Personnel. Anyway, travelling the stars is my passion and I'm so excited to see what's out there."

Kwabba-an tried to remember, but couldn't recall what her orders said except that she was assigned to the Resurgence. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on what Kalena was telling her presently. "I have not travelled much myself, but everywhere we go there are things I have loved. I think I will enjoy travelling the stars. Do you know where we are going first?" She thought for a moment, and realized that she might be asking a question that Kalena couldn't answer. "Or is that a secret?"

"Apparently more of Yamatai for now, but I think now we have a chance to split up and send a few people places as needed instead of ground around looking like a class-sized tour group," Kalena smiled. "With a ship we can take all our things with us, too."

Kwabba-an laughed quietly. "I quite liked being part of a tour group. I find it hard to interact with people the first time I meet them, and it is easier to disappear into a group." She thought back to a conversation she vaguely remembered. "I think that we were going to visit the caverns of Hell, which sounded very exciting. Is there anywhere that you are looking forward to?"

"I am really hoping to stay on the ship for that. Hell is a dangerous, uncivilized place. I want to go to Hanako's World and go to the beaches after we kick out the Kuvexians who stole them."

"I admit that danger and lack of civilized...ness is part of the appeal in my mind." Kwabba-an gave an uncharacteristically wicked grin before she put the soft smile back on her face. "That said, beaches sound wonderful too, as long as they are nice and warm. Do you think we will see any more combat when we go to Hanako's World?"

"It depends on when we get there. I hope that is soon because there are people there who are still waiting to be rescued until though the war is basically over now. For this it's not. Not until Yamatai comes back for them."

Kwabba-an suddenly looked concerned. "I was not aware, but now that you mention it - of course there would be people who need our help. I feel bad that we are spending time being tourists when we could be helping...when people need our help."

The insectoid thought back to the fighting on the Scrapyard world and imagined herself getting caught and held prisoner. One of her hands went to hold the scar under her arm where she was injured.

"Other ships are assigned those missions right now," Kalena said. "Think about it, we are a new ship with a new, green crew. We are still learning where everything is, not really ready for a fight yet. Besides, finding the effects of the war is important too and we will probably be up against Kuvexian leftovers at some point since our mission is basically to go everywhere."

Kwabba-an was quiet for a few breaths, then nodded. "One consequence of the fact that I know so little about the world is that I can easily accept that others know better than I do." She smiled again, but her eyes were still of concern for those left behind. "Finding the effects of the war seems very valuable and it seems wise to send us on this mission." The insectoid laughed nervously. "I am sorry. I am not usually so gloomy. What do you like to do when you are not operating the ship?"

"I like to lounge around anywhere is water," Kalena answered. "I like the beach, hot springs, swimming pools. I've always loved aquatic things since I was a child. I like the way you feel almost weightless in the pool and free. I like the feel of the water and sun on my skin and the way it makes me feel kind of carefree."

Kwabba-an found herself thinking about the feel of water for perhaps the first time in her life. She put her hand on the surface, then pressed it downwards slowly. She felt the surface tension build under her fingers before it broke and her hand was submerged with a quiet sound, barely audible. She then performed the inverse operation, lifting her hand until she felt the surface of the water barely holding itself together before it snapped and her hand was above the water again. "I have never thought about it," she admitted. "I enjoy the warmth and water has always just been a means to that end."

Then the musician looked at Kalena and the wicked look was in her eyes again. With the same hand she had just a moment ago been playing with water, she made a quick motion and sent a small splash at her crewmate.

OOC: JP by @Wes and @hyralt

Sanda smiled as her friend examined her Daisy suit. "I'm quite fond of it myself. Although, I would love to spice it up some." She rolled up her sleeve, revealing the arc lighting tattoos that ran from her wrist up her forearm and continued underneath her shirt. In fact, if Sanda were to strip one would see that the arc continued up to her shoulder blades where it connected to a thick streak of lighting going down her back. More arcs extended down her legs to her feet. "I would love to style my Daisy after my own tattoo's, but I'm not sure how that will affect the systems stealth. Or even if it's allowed. This is Yamami equipment after all."

Sanda was not at all surprised to see Kwabba-an suddenly remember something and then disappear without another word. She had grown use to it. "See you around music bug." Sanda said to the empty room as she gazed at her power armor a moment longer then left to find the Galley.

It didn't take Sanda long to find it. The tall tattooed woman stood in the doorway of the galley with her eyes wide. It was one of the most beautiful kitchens she had ever seen. "Estrella would kill to have a set up like this." Everything was so shiny and brand new. Sanda walked in over to the huge range and ran her fingers around the edge. "You could cook for an army here." Then she laughed out loud. Of course you could feed an army. It was built to feed an army. She wondered over to the scullery and frowned. It just had very basic stuff. She stepped into the freezer. More basic stuff. Sanda felt very let down. Everything else on this ship was amazing and but the food selection was bare minimum. In fact, most of it looked like MREs. The Nepleslian ranger suddenly remembered that the ship was still looking for a cook. That would explain the lack of goodies here. No one had ordered anything else. Sanda made up her mind there. She couldn't stand the thought of eating basic food out as their first meal on their new ship. It needed to be something special. Sanda pulled out a commlink and send a message to the Captain and First Officer. "Shosa Ikigai and Taii Hojo. This is Santo Hei Hoshi. Since we are without a cook I would like to volunteer until one can be found. I have a lot of experience working in my sister's restaurant on Jiyuu III. With your permision, I'd like to go and pick up some supplies. I'd also like to make a special dinner to celebrate the completion of the ship. I'd also be open to having one or two people helping me out if they can be spared."

Onsen

Kalena giggled and covered her face at first and then started splashing Kwabba-an back. She was a little heavyset for a Star Army soldiers which made her body get really jiggly when she was flailing water and laughing. "This is not proper onsen etiquette!" she laughed.

Bridge

"Approved," Captain Majime answered Sanda's request with obvious enthusiasm in her voice. She had just taken her seat in her new captain's chair, a moment that filled her with mostly joy but also a small bit of anxiety because she new the responsibility of being in charge of not only the ship, but the responsibility of all the lives on it and being in command of terrific weaponry that could unleash untold destruction.

"Now that we have our ship," Majime said, "This would be a good time for us to gather the supplies we might need. I'll call Star Army Personnel Command again and see if we can get a supply specialist. Even borrowing one would do for the time being."

Medical Lab

Poppy Pink dialed the shipwide intercom from the wall communications panel and announced, "All crew members are requested to visit the medical lab sometime today for DNA sampling and creation of mind backup files." It would be good to have a baseline scan for everyone, she figured.

Kwabba-an giggled and kept splashing, seemingly undeterred by the information that it was not proper etiquette.

"Then we had better not get caught!"

The insectoid's body was much less jiggly. She only had a true exoskeleton on her antennae and her metasoma, which was her insect abdomen. The rest of her body was much more human, with light red skin covering a thin layer of fat, but underneath the adipose layer, she had a skeleton that contained her muscle. This hybrid endo/exoskeleton was responsible for her superhuman strength, and also had the side effect of giving her body a very rigid look as she moved, with some obvious exceptions where the shape of her body was primarily fatty deposits.

As they continued, she giggled and splashed and gave the occasional "eep" as Kalena got some particularly good splashes in. But before too long, she stopped and let her jiggly crewmate get the last few splashes. Kwabba-an thought it was only fair since she had started it. When Poppy's voice came in over the intercom, the insectoid nodded her head.

"I should do that before I get distracted and forget. Thank you for letting me know about this wonderful place, Kalena."

With that, she turned to leave, but paused and sighed quietly. She knew she would miss the warmth and would have to come back here as soon as she could. Then she pulled herself out of the water and walked to the showers where she had left her bags. Along the way, she used the towel on her head to start drying herself off, though it was less effective than she had hoped since it was wet from the splashing. She got dressed in her clean duty uniform and draped her wet towel from one of the straps of her bag.

After many, many wrong turns Kwabba-an found a crew cabin with an unclaimed top bunk, onto which she tossed her bag and bass. She took the wet towel and hung it up in the adjoining bathroom to dry.

When she was trying to find her way to the medical lab, she gave up trying to recall the route and simply wandered around, sometimes following other people, sometimes turning randomly down corridors. Amazingly, this seemed to work better than actually trying to find the way, and she soon found herself where she wanted to be.

"Hello, Poppy," Kwabba-an greeted her crewmate but realized that she had already forgotten why exactly she was here. "You requested that I visit?"

"Sweet, I am in business." Sanda said when she received the go ahead from the Captain. She pulled out a data slate and started making a menu of what she would serve for their first dinner onboard. You could never go wrong with Teriyaki beef, pork or chicken. Rice for sure. Some vegetables to round things out. Sushi. That was another popular dish. Not her strong suit, but doable. Sanda wrote out her menu, then made notes of what she would need to make the meal. She also made a list of food to last the ship at least a week. Fresh fruits and vegetables, rice, potatoes, eggs and such that could be easily whipped together to make a meal.

Having completed her list, Sanda headed for the hanger bay. There she would sign out one of the Type 30 light utility truck and go buy the necessary supplies. She glanced at her watch. It'd be close, but she believed she would have time to buy and prepare the food in time for dinner.

Medical Lab

"Hi Kwabba!" Poppy waved cheerfully. "My first patient! So, basically, I want to get baseline data on all of the crew before we start doing mission things. This means having scans of you and a sample of your DNA so that we can see any changes to your body more easily, and also a brain scan we can use in combination with the DNA to bring you back if you die. If we do these in advance you'll be ready for whatever comes your way later, even if it kills you! I don't expect that to happen but it's standard routine on Star Army ships. I can also give you a physical exam if you haven't had one recently."

Poppy talking about dying reminded Kwabba-an of Shosa Majime's "suicide mission" speech aboard the Presurgence just before Glimmergold. The memory was still fresh in her mind and brought along with it the same fear of imminent demise. The insectoid tried to reassure herself that she was not currently in any danger, but she didn't find herself very convincing. Changing her strategy, she hummed a quiet tune and felt herself calming down almost immediately. She smiled and tried not to dampen Poppy's enthusiasm.

"That sounds good. I never thought about it, but I guess being in space can affect your DNA." She thought about her unique body and wondered if she would be more or less unique if she started mutating. "I would like to know if that is happening to me. I believe I have not had a physical exam since I enlisted."

The pink-haired technician put on latex gloves with a snap. "I suppose I wanted to see your anatomy up close anyway," she said. "I mean I have no idea if everything is in the places I expect them to be. Where do you poop from anyway?" she asked. She said it lightheartedly but it was a serious question since Kwabba had two abdomens, one human style one and one insectoid one. She would give Kwabba a thorough inspection and, scans, and take to some DNA swabs. Then it would be time to lay on the table for the brain scanner to make a backup copy of her Kwabba's mind.

"So if something happens to you, do you want to be brought back in a copy of this body or in a Nekovalkyrja one?" Poppy asked.