RP: YSS Resurgence Resurgence of Yamatai - Mission 2: Lost But Never Forgotten

[Cowboy]

"So Sanda, I guess this means I owe you one once we get back to the ship huh? Though next time please don't stand in plain site, that is a good way to get taken out. We both know had I had to carry you back to the ship princess style the crew would have never let you hear the end of it." Sanda shook her head in disbelief. "How the hell is that any different than what you just did? Don't stand there and lecture me on..." Sanda stopped talking as she saw Koyama storming towards them. Uh oh, now they were in trouble.

Sanda was relived that Thad seemed to be the main focus of the XO's wrath. In truth, she felt guilty about letting Benna slip past her. She was suppose to be the great Ranger. The truth was Benna had survived 2 years alone up there which counted for a lot but Sanda was very proud of her skills and abilities and to her it felt like a rookie mistake. She'd have to really up her game now.

Sanda kept her eyes on their surroundings and pretended not to listen to the exchange between Thad and Koyama. Although when Thad was defending his actions and mentioned live and death situation Sanda blew out a raspberry. The only life and death situation is weather Koyama kills you here or not. The Ranger thought to herself.

Back at the campsite Sanda wanted to gather as much intel as possible, though she expected Benna might not have much to give. "So you've just been up here all by yourself for 2 years? Have you not had contact with anyone else at all? There's no underground resistance? No Rikigun forces? I thought there was a H-bunker on Dragon Island? What about kuvvys? Any patrols or activity up here?" Sanda knew that these were a lot of questions but for them to operate at max efficiently they needed answers to these questions. They hadn't come all this way to just rescue on person.

 

[Wes]

"If there are bunkers this far North I haven't seen them. I haven't run into anyone up here either. You have no idea how lonely it's been. But I really have no idea what's happening on the rest of the planet. My strategy was to just lay low and wait it out until help came. I scouted back to the South once each Spring to see if I could see any friendlies and link up, but I didn't see anything good so I just went back into hiding," Benna answered Sanda. "I'm sorry I can't tell you more."

Meanwhile, Beryl found a flat-ish spot of flat granite where she set the shuttle down nearby. In ten minutes they were able to load up some of Benna's essentials and get everyone back in the air with their first successfully rescued MIA soldier safely strapped in a seat.

Beryl called the ship to update the captain on their progress. "Resurgence actual, this is away team, we have our first rescue completed and one officer aboard. We are resuming the search. Please send us any more leads the science team comes up with."

"Excellent," captain Aoba's voice came back of the speakers. "We are still holding position in orbit. I will have them send you any tips they have."

 

[Soresu]

Koyama's expression turned thoughtful, then serene as Thad tried to simultaneously mock, and state something in the same sentence. "Hei, I have been in the Star Army for eight years including before, and after the war. The Chui and I share a similar rank which I respect and acknowledge. She has the better lay of the land and information on the planet than we do. And as such command would largely be shared." with a raised eyebrow, the woman added, "And if I believed ninety percent of what you just said and meant it then I am a princess of the Empire."

Showing a pair of daintily pronounced canines to the taller man as they sat comfortably on the shuttle. Her data slate in hand, the Neko's ears had remained flat for the majority of the exchange to, and leading up to getting on the shuttle. Finding what she wished, the Chui moved swiftly from her seat and offered Benna the slate. On it was a summary of what the woman had missed, in brief of course lest they be there all day and night.

"Your survival behind enemy lines is quite... impressive, Chui. The experience must have been harrowing." finally the Neko's ears unfolded themselves slowly at first, then fully once more. "I am sorry we have not been able to arrive sooner, Benna-Chui. It is only recently we have been able to muster a rescue operation however small it may be."

Resting a comforting hand on one of the Anthro woman's she tried to offer a small smile. "But, however lonely things may have gotten, you survived. And your perseverance paid off. And with hope, we can find others and bring them home as well."

Taking a seat beside the woman her smile was still there, "And when we are able, should you have family or friends, we will inform them of your survival if you so wish. In the meantime would you allow Poppy-hei to ask you some cursory medical questions? I do not doubt you've taken care of yourself, but it may be worthwhile all the same. Please?"

 

[Wes]

Chui Benna nodded, her furred ears folding neatly back into her head. "There is something I feel you should see as well. It's... personal, and perhaps you could spare the time? I have been keeping it near me for some time." Turning her attention to her host, an inquisitive gaze focused on the slate in her hand. "It's... it's the journal I made during my trip into the Dragon Island, to find out what I could about the land here." Benna's tone and expression suggested a combination of hope and fear. "I made this... well, it's more a... log, really. I wrote down everything I saw and encountered, and made charts, and... " Her voice faltered slightly. "And," Benna said, "this may or may not be useful, but I wanted to keep it safe for whoever rescued me." She set the journal onto the seat next to her as Poppy gave her an inspection. "Near the beginning things were pretty rough and I lost everyone I linked up with. I'll feel a lot safer once I'm on a space station or starship."

 

[Miko]

"Well princess Koyama, I do look up to you as my XO so is truth is everything I said. Don't forget we still have our date after the mission were you plan to teach me." He then turned his attention towards Sanda. "And also I'd look to gain more training from you as well. The way you moved through the fog was impressive." He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair. For the first time since they touched down his body relaxed and he shank into the seat.

"So team, anything note worthy in those notes?" He asked as he put focus onto Benna and Koyama. "My boom stick still has some loven to hand out to some kuvvies." He said with a grin as he racked the shotgun and ejected a shell out into his hand.

 

[Cowboy]

Aboard shuttle

Sanda smirked at Thad, "No way. Professional secrets." Besides I doubt you'll live long enough for me to teach you anything Sanda added in her mind. The Lightning tattooed Ranger was quite agitated by their mission. Thaddaeus's mouth accounted for about 75% of that annoyance but even without that Sanda was unhappy. Sure they had rescued Benna, but that was one person out of a planet that had a population of 220 mil. Her hunch about Dragon Island being remote had been on the money, but she would have sworn that it would have been far more populated than just one person. Had the whole planet really been completely taken? Was there no resistance of any kind by surviving Star Army personal?

Sanda got up from her seat and moved away from the general conversation so she'd be able to hear clearer. "Resurgence, this is Nito Hoshi. Have you been monitoring the coms traffic on Hanako's world? I suggest you take a listen to the Kuvexians communications. See what they're doing ground side. See if they are especially anointed with one part of the planet or other. Also see if you can pick up any evidence of resistance."

 

[Soresu]

Koyama removed her hand at the attempted comforting of Benna to allow the resident medic to perform her function. At the journal, she picked it up, flipping past the cover and began going through the written entries with all the speed one could expect of a Nekovalkyrja with their digital minds. To Thaddaeus, she merely ignored. Although the CORRECT term was Hime, and not 'Princess' an error on her part as well as his own. With a mental sniff at the self-admonishment, and a reminder of her ambitions she continued to speed read. With each word, diagram and sketch of charts made, the XO of the Resurgence committed it all to memory. And from that, transmitted it to her bracelet and then finally to the shuttle's onboard computer array to be sent up to the Resurgence for Aoba's review when convenient.

"I find the lack of Rikugun presence disturbing... however that is to be expected if they've begun guerilla-style warfare," she said aloud while continuing to flip through the journal.

"If any of the present legion have remained active, Star Army supplies may have begun to become stretched even with the H-Bunkers depending on population size. They were not usually stocked with state-of-the-art weapons systems and more for resistance. However, typical caches consisted of simple rifles... those Chiharu awful Mass Production Pistols and perhaps a vehicle or two with ration supplies, generators and tool kits. Unless the planetary governor and local forces upgraded the caches to more current standards."

Closing the book, Koyama placed it in her lap with a thoughtful look. "They are well hidden. Several meters underground at the very least. And most covered in salvaged Zesuaium plating for additional protection beyond the rebar reinforced concrete. It would serve well against bombardment but also act in the secondary function of assisting in remaining hidden from EM-based sensors. The downside? Zesuaium is incredibly dense beyond that of even Nepleslian made Nerimium and could theoretically show up on mass-detection scans if they were performing such in-depth sweeps with a sizeable return. Geological scans however may simply show the concrete as dense sand and gravel deposits. And on this planet there is no lack of sand."

With a raised hand she continued before anyone said anything else: "But this also serves to assist us as well in locating them beyond our detailed maps. We know exactly what to look for. I can also crack the encryptions on the bunker access and computer systems if needed."

On her feet then, the small Neko tapped Sanda on the shoulder, as silent as ever, and held out the journal with a nod. It seemed the furry-eared female had found some of it rather interesting and wanted to pass it on.

With a glance over her shoulder to Benna, she offered that same small smile, "We will have you shipboard as soon as we are able, Benna-chui. For now rest easy. You're amongst friends again. And then we will take you home." with a half-turn, the book still held out to Sanda, she looked to the pink-haired medic.

"How is she doing, Poppy-hei?"

 

[Wes]

"She seems in good condition," Poppy replied to Koyama, tapping her medical data pad. "She's physically fit for duty,"

"I have been eating a lot of emergency ration pills daily for the vitamins," Benna explained. "On a bad day they were all I had. On good days, I foraged and hunted and made stews. There's not a lot of vegetation but fish are great in the Dragon Island area. Thank you for rescuing me."

"Hoshi, this is Euikoshi," came the crackling reply over the radio, "It looks like most of the activity is around New Kyoto. I am going to set up the ship's computer to look at the non-encrypted traffic since she can make sense of it better than I can, but there's also a lot of transmissions we can't decode. In any case, we need time to do an in-depth analysis. Given the situation I don't know if we'll get much time. We could try calling the H-bunkers, but it might make the ship more prone to getting spotted. I'll ask the captain what he wants to do. Wait one, over."

A moment later she came back on, "Hoshi, this is Euikoshi, we got permission to try it, so every H-bunker on the planet now has its phone ringing, and we'll get you a list of respondents shortly. Beryl has all the bunkers on her map. Most of them are around the cities and towns. There should be some resistance cells..."

 

[Charaa]

At that moment Yayoi entered an H-Bunker, with an exhausted body and bloody blades, especially her hidden one in her mechanical limb. She sat herself down at a table that had a radio that was left ignored since she hadn’t expected to get any kind of contact from it. “Alright girl, time to rest and clean, ” she was saying and had proceeded to clean her weapon when the radio activated. “What?” She glanced at it, her eyes widened in shock. “That’s not…” she said to herself and immediately she grabbed the receiver. She didn’t know if it was the enemy or allies. “Hello, this is The Ranger Santo Hei café, how do you like your Kuvexian and Rix dish, charred, chopped, or shot at repeatedly? We here at the café provide an enthusiastic work environment and we do take orders”

She waited for the response. If it was the Kuvexians, she knew to expect insults and threats of violence, but if it was anything other than Resistance HQ, she didn’t know how they’d react. But She’d been on Hanako’s world a while, and while she was strong, there might be counselors who think she might need therapy.

 

[Wes]

"Previous respondent, this is Shosa Aoba Kuranosuke of the Yamataian gunship Resurgence. Recognition code A8K9MZ. We are seeking to assist friendly forces. Identify yourself and provide recognition codes if you have them, over."

"Patching the signal into the away team's channel," Kalena grinned. "Away team, be advised we have a possible resistance member on the line."

 

[Charaa]

When she heard that response, she felt glee explode within her. It was a ship, sure it was a gunship but they could be of help Yamatai was here. She allowed her breathing to calm enough for her to speak clearly. “Copy That, Greetings Shosa, I am Asakura-Hei of the Ranger division, currently one of the resistance members, unfortunately, I do not have a recognition code at the moment, and If I may say, I am really pleased to hear your voice, and I uh apologize for my earlier statement, when the radio rang I was uncertain if it was them, or my fellow resistance members or who so I had to make sure.”

 

[Miko]

Aboard shuttle

Thaddeaus was relaxing while everyone else on the ship was busy with something. Be it the medical team checking over the new member or Koyama asking Brenna a million questions. Like damn, give her a break already. She had been stuck on that island away from the known world. Breath Koyama breath!! He could not help but smile as he watched the two of them.

He had been going over the events for the first rescue. It was a success but sloppy only begins to describe what took place. Though most was not directly their fault either. They walked like solders, they sheathed like solders, everything about them just screamed Star Army. Which in most cases would be a good thing but if they were trying not to draw attention that would need a new plan.

"Excuse me Koyama, sorry to interrupt but I have a suggestion." He took a moment to gather his thoughts as he did not wish to come off in the wrong way. "So I feel our next mission will take us deep into Kuvvy areas. I suggest that you allow me to go in first." He took a moment to let the request sink in before he continued. "Our enemy knows Star Army like the back of their hand, however I am recently enlisted. How I operate is just different and feel I'd blend in more during the scouting." He leaned in closer waiting on her to reply.

 

[Cowboy]

Shuttle

Sanda felt the tap on her shoulder and almost swung a fist around, sure that it was Thad. She was quite surprised to see it was the XO. "You move to damn quietly to be an engineer.... Ma'am." Sanda muttered as she took the offered book and began to flip through it while waiting on the Resurgence to answer. There was some interesting details about the terrain that interested her, but for the most part it didn't seem to hold a lot of answers to her questions. She noticed one entry that looked promising when the coms beeped and it was the Resurgence. Saying they were going to try to ring the H-bunkers.

Sanda hated waiting. In the field she had the patience to wait indefinitely but on a shuttle, waiting for something to happen her patience was very short. Without even realizing she was doing it she had drawn her straight silver dagger and had begun running through some drills when the ship responded. The Ranger was quite pleased to hear that they had made contact with another Ranger. Now they could get some useful intel. Sanda was about to speak when she stopped. How secure was this line? Probably not 100%. Best not to say too much to give the shuttle or the H-bunker away. "Asakura-Hei, Hoshi-Hei, Rangers. Glad to see someone down there has some fight in them. We need to exchange notes but this line isn't secure. Best to do face to face. Can you give us a meeting location?" Sanda paused. If the Kuvies were listening sending a location would be stupid, but maybe... "Just somewhere around." Rangers were trained to function completely cut off from ally forces. They were also trained to use any means necessary to complete their objective. Sometimes that meant sending information on unsecure lines. Rangers had a list of battle cant that they used for such times. Sanda saying Just somewhere around meant whatever coordinates Asakura gave would be read backwards to give the correct location. It wasn't full proof, but it would give them a slight edge if someone was indeed listening.

 

[Soresu]

Flyin' Across the Ocean

Koyama lifted an eyebrow at Sanda's sudden tension and readying to strike. While the Neko hadn't moved from her holding the journal out, the Ranger might have taken notice of the dangerous, warning glint within those smoldering gold eyes. But with the casual, slow blink of one comfortable in their environment, or rather something very akin to the 'cats' as it were when they did not feel threatened, it was gone as soon as they opened again. A shrug of her slender shoulders was all the answer she received at first. As the taller woman read through Benna's notes, the XO's voice suddenly took on a silky smooth quality.

"Haha is, or rather was an Eihei-no-insen. A Stealth Sentinel amongst the Ketsurui Clan's Samurai before becoming a Sensei of her budô. Or way of martial combat." the shorter woman said as if this solved the issue. And hoped her use of the more humble wording for 'Mother' in Yamataigo was understood.

"I grew up within Samurai House and was... naturally inclined to learn to move in silence." another small shrug later and she glanced to Thaddaeus over her shoulder. Her face taking on the expressionless look so seldom seen among the warrior women of the ruling Clan's personal guard. He'd already moved on from using her rank, calling her royalty, and then straight to simply utilizing her personal name all in one afternoon. If the man survived before the tattooed Ranger got to him, she may well be selfish and skin him herself.

"If you wish to go first into the fire, by my guest. However, as Sanda-hei is the Ranger that decision is also hers to make. I am more or less here for my technical expertise, rank, and to be the 'face' if we encounter other Yamataian personnel."

With an added grimace she also added, "And the Shosa believed it would be 'Good experience' for me to be in the field." and in an uncharacteristic fashion she snorted at that before whipping her head around at the incoming communication. The Chui wanted to roll her eyes but resisted the impulse as she pretty much shared Sanda's paranoia about the communique's security. Though she mouthed the words, 'No recognition code' to herself, then groaned inwardly as Aoba all but had given his over a channel that may not be one hundred percent safe.

Her inner SAINT training wanted her to bang her head against a bulkhead while the more rational, if also more optimistic Koyama took the possibility of others on this island world still loyal to the Empire with increased interest.

 

[Charaa]

Yayoi heard another voice speaking up, and she opened her mouth before she realized what exactly this new voice just said. She didn’t know who this new person was, but she decided she’ll use the callsign Kawaii since the voice sounded cute to her. She allowed herself to calm herself as her mind returned to her ranger training. “Hai,” she said, and she might have said something that sounded like Kawaii-Chan. Though she hoped they would forget it as she spoke the codes “w2632743-n388422 s38432 e432845’, she said, giving the location code that would work. While the code from the front to back gave them a beach location, the backward version gave them the location of a secure underground area, specifically a subway tunnel that the city workers use when they need to make repairs or something.

“See you there, Hot dogs,” she said, which might have given any listening the impression that she wanted to meet at a beach by a hot dog stand. With those words spoken, she pulled back her hidden knife and then reached down to awaken Fang, who was instructed to follow her. Fang being a dog would have a far greater sense of smell than she did, and they would not only be able to detect traps but also danger, like if the people she’ll be meeting were Yamataian, ad not Kuvexian.

Cyborg Neko and dog hurried out of the bunker and undercover. The two made their way to a manhole cover where they quickly made their way to the location they were going to meet who might show up. If they are Yamatai, then I might get my arm back, but I am still going to keep my eye red. She thought and then took a seat before glancing at Fang, who, it turned out, had found a bone to chew on. The appearance of the bone looked to be Kuvexian, causing her to smile. “Good girl” She held her weapon and waited for the guests to arrive.

 

[Miko]

Shuttle

Thad was getting use to the coldness that came from Koyama. A front one had to put on when you carried a rank like hers. Even a small sign of warmth or concern could be taken as weakness. He understood this completely and admired this about her. The colder her heart felt, the warmer his would be in return.

"I shall get permission from Sanda-hei to be the first to charge into the gauntlet. Least to ensure the face of this party stays pretty and pure." A warm grin crossing his face. "Though that serious face of yours is cute too." He flashed a quick wink to match his sly grin.

He stood up and made his way towards Sanda. He'd be curious what plan of attack they could come up with this time. He'd like to avoid having to be the bait all the time just to keep his team safe. "So, I was asked to consult you about this next sortie if I could go in first this time." He asked in a soft voice.

 

[Soban]

Shuttle

Cheilith Sat across from Thad and studied Koyyama as well, being raised in the Samurai house wasn't something every neko did. She was unique, unlike Cheilith.

 

[Wes]

"I'm adjusting course to take us to the coordinates," Beryl told the team. The shuttle flew low over the ocean, leaving a spray behind it as it zipped over the waves. "We will be passing near Harbor Town on the way," she added. When they got closer to New Kyoto, it was clear to see there was a lot of traffic around and that the area had become a sort of commercial hub for the Kuvexians and their associates during the war. They could see light cargo ships, gunboats, and a lot of personal craft in the area, along with plentiful starports. Beryl tried to blend in as much as possible and kept the stealth systems at maximum effectiveness. "How close do you want to get, Chui?"

In the back of the shuttle, Cassie said, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

 

[Soresu]

Still Zoomin'

Koyama took in what Beryl had begun pointing out with an impassive expression. With New Kyoto on the horizon, it would be suicide to simply fly in and drop them off without setting off some sort of alarm. The Neko fed the local maps of the surrounding area into her mind from the shuttle's onboard storage with a frown finally creasing her lips.

"Was Harbor Town not primarily a farming community with some commercial aspects?" with another slow blink, the Chui looked to Sanda then even as the earlier question had been directed at their pilot. "The other... Ranger, you know where they are?" she asked. Given time, she may have cracked it but didn't want to steal the woman's thunder. Even if the thought was a bit of a terrible pun. "If so, I would suggest several klicks out at the very least. Preferably somewhere secluded enough for us to disembark without much attention. I would rather not have to deal with any Kuvexians or their client races if possible."

Although her outward expression changed little at Thaddaeus' seemingly good-natured... nature, she wondered if there would be any tannins, salts or fish oil on hand. If the man's hide was to be tanned after being flayed off, it was best to live off the land and use its bounty for the process. Although an ear flitted back and forth seemingly at random.

"What... does it mean to be called a hot dog exactly?" the woman asked aloud, Cassie's outlook on their potential future seemingly not at the forefront in that moment.

 

[Cowboy]

Shuttle

Sanda quickly entered in the coordinates that the groundside Ranger had sent her. She smiled as she entered them both in forwards and backwards. "Chica inteligente... I've got her." Sanda declared triumphantly as she pulled up a map display on a side console so those in the shuttle could see. "I agree with you Ma'am. I don't think its a good idea to take the shuttle directly to her location. For obvious reasons." Sanda widened the map and overlaid recon pictures that the drones they had launched earlier had shown. She studied the two a moment, her mind trying to imagine how it would look from the ground. Finally she pointed to an area 5 klicks from their randevu point. "Here. Maps say its a park of some kind. Areal scans show it is still a park, though not upkept. Almost looks abandoned and overgrown. Good place to drop out of the shuttle and move on on foot."

The tall woman looked up at Thad and scolded. She had so far been very unimpressed with Thad's conduct. To her, he acted like he was some big hunk who was constantly 'saving' the woman in the group by doing something stupid and reckless. She hated it and hated how he kept going on and on like he was trying to be a good soldier and lay down his life for their 'pretty smile'. She hated, even in jest, that she might need help or rescuing. Sanda was a Ranger, the best of the best. She knew the risks and consequences of her actions. That is what it meant to be a soldier. She especially hated the implication that she was anything less than that. That was where Thad had really gotten under her skin.

She stared up at him, her mind a flood of emotion. Just as her hand began to move upwards to grab her knife she regained control of her anger and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through her nose. "Thank you.... Maximus-Hei for volunteering." She said, very coldly. "However, we are going to proceed the Ranger way. Not the video game character hero way. We go in quietly, we do our absolute best to not be seen or attract attention. Our objective, which is of greater value than even our lives, is to link up with the underground resistance on the planet and get them linked up with the fleet. That is how we can help reclaim this world and save the inhabitants from slavery." Sanda held up a finger and looked Thaddaeus dead in the eyes. "I don't want to hear any hair brain plans or insulting backstories from you. I have been insulted and angered at some of your causal remarks and I am telling you now I want it to stop or I will be lodging a complaint with the captain. We are soldiers. I expect you to act like one and me to be treated like one."