When all the crew members were back onboard, Resurgence lifted off from the dusty spaceport through swirling clouds of sand and raced upward through the skies of Valaad until the skies turned black and she was back in the voids of space. The gunship headed to the edge of the system and blinked out in a teal shimmer and a flash of light.
Onboard, it was lunch hour and Chef Rossa's galley was ready with burgers and hot wings. As the away team got settled in, Cassie gave the group a wave. "Poppy just gave me the OK to return to duty. Did I miss any fights?" she asked.
Delmira waved to Cassie. "Glad to see you are doing better."
"Thanks!" Cassie smiled. "It's not the first time my head got rattled a little."
Frank would remain silent sitting down and eating nutrient paste.
Zanven was just coming back to the galley, he was quiet on the return trip and did not talk much. He was told the Nodachi was being towed with the ship so all he could do was nod and accept it. He showered and cleaned up, he made sure his flight suit was cleaned and he checked in his sidearm. He grabbed a platter with a burger and some wings before taking a seat. He had his data pad and was going over the data from when he went out and helped the away team against the Kuvvy ship. He took a bite of his burger and blinked as he looked at the explosion caused by hitting the back of the ship, going over equations in his head he wanted to face palm, but thought better of it since it would be messy and instead chewed silently.
Yayoi yawned a little to herself as exhaustion came to her, but she forced herself to not fall asleep and waved back. “no fights so you didn’t miss anything.” She commented as she picked up her burger and licked her lips as she began savoring the smell.
Cheilith waved at Cassie as she ate her burger.
Sanda had headed straight to the showers after reporting in. What she really wanted at the moment was to just go to her room and sleep. It had been such an exhausting mission emotionally. But she was pretty hungry as well so after putting on a fresh uniform she headed to the galley.
Mochi disappeared from the group as soon as they boarded, slinking off back to his quarters. Arbs needed to be reassured that everything was fine, and the Elysian was eager to see his kids. After a while of chatting and playing, Mochi departed to his Science Lab to clean up. There were decontamination showers in there, a quick way to jump the wash-up queue. Slipping on a just-cleaned uniform and a stylish white labcoat, the science officer headed down to the canteen to meet the others.
"Hi," Pidole waved as she entered the wardroom to get lunch. She was happy to see everyone came back safely. She went over to get a burger and a couple of wings and sat next to Yayoi. Her beetle descended to the tray and took one of her wings and started rapidly stripping the meat off it.
Once back on the ship Thad had dropped off his gear and headed to get cleaned up. Since he has not done much heavy lifting, just got fresh clothes and then figured he'd wonder around and meet up with crew.
"Oh Thaddy," Mia spotted Thad and came over and gave him her biggest hug. "I'm so glad you're here!"
Frank watched the interactions of everyone still a little sore from earlier conversations with Sanda. "Glad to see some people are bubbly and not biting others heads off for once." Frank commented before taking another gulp of his nutrient paste. He wanted to ask for a burger but after what happened is just sticking to the paste.
Thad accepted the big hug, reaching around and giving her one in return. "I missed you too, glad to see your in a good mood." A grin crossing his face knowing that mood could change in an instance.
"Mia." Delmira said and gave the woman a wave. "You got a hard head Cassie."
Mochi idly watched the others, eventually deciding to get some grub for himself. Stepping up, the Taii loaded up a plate, bid thanks to the chef and took up a seat at an empty table. It appeared that Koyama was elsewhere right now - Aoba was nowhere to be seen either. So, for the time being, it was best he standby and wait to see when the debrief may happen.
"Hey boss," Euikoshi greeted Iemochi, taking a seat across from him.
Sanda entered the galley and took everything in in a glance. Part of her wanted to just grab some food and go be alone but felt that there might be some benefit to eating with everyone. She grabbed two burgers and set down across from Yayoi, nodding to the woman as she sat.
Yayoi munched on her burger silently as she observed those around her much like Frank was. Since she wasn’t spoken to, she remained silent since she didn’t have much to add to the conversation around her.
"Hey, Euikoshi-hei. Good to see you." Mochi gave a pleasant smile, poking at a morsel or two with his fork. "How did you find the away mission? Been on many before?" He offered some pleasant conversation, wondering if anyone else would join them.
"I liked it, but I wish we got to do more free exploring. I wanted to see those mines for myself," Euikoshi told Mochi.
Kalena joined the crew in the now moderately crowded wardroom. "Greetings from the bridge!" she smiled. "We are heading back to Nataria and expect a smooth journey. After that, it's onward to Halna, which is anyone's guess."
Frank would notice Cassie walking about and wave. "hows the new scar there?"
"No scars, just bruises," Cassie told Frank.
Mochi's attention switched between Euikoshi and Kalena as the announcement was made, prompting the blonde to fish a pocket watch out from his labcoat pocket and consult it. They were underway very quickly, perhaps Aoba had a special reason for the expedient departure. After a moment, Mochi caught himself and focused back on what Euikoshi had said. "Sorry- Me too. It would have been nice to explore the desert a bit. Good practice for our budding NCOs.." The Elysian smiled, leaned an elbow on the table and rested his cheek upon it. "Do you know anything about Halna?"
Zanven finished looking over the datapad and just sat it down before he leaned back and took a drink from his glass. He was watching the room for a moment as he just took it all in. In his head he was honestly thinking if this was the right place for him. He was working on finishing his burger after a bit, he was kind of an anti-social blip at the moment.
"Aoba tells me more technicians are coming to help me," Pidole told Yayoi, hoping to strike up a little conversation.
Yayoi glanced to Pidole and smiled” I’m glad to hear that, it's good that you’ll have help and won't get overworked."
"He also mentioned promotions are coming soonish," Pidole told Yayoi. "We should make sure our records are neat."
Koyama having concluded whatever business that had consumed her walked into the galley. Looking a little worn, but otherwise in a decent mood took the time to stop and look at the others. In silence, the officer grabbed something for herself absently, a plate of mystery for whatever purpose since she didn't look. But once she spotted the two rangers, Koyama made a line toward them, plate going down in front of an empty seat to which now had an occupant.
"Enjoy your first taste of command?" the Neko asked, a little amusement tinging her voice."
Mia seemed content, and just kind of hung around Thad like a puppy, gently holding on to his forearm with her hands. "So...sorry about earlier," she apologized.
Frank would throw away the paste tube when finished before walking over to Thad. "Hey big guy when you get a moment would you be interested in helping me set up my new weapon system inside my new arm?"
Thad looked to Frank and heard his idea. He then looked to Mia, then back to Frank. "I'd be interested to see what new toys you found. So plan for your entire arm to be a weapon or just have a small arm?" His eyes glowed as he spoke. Clearly this was something of interest to him.
"No." Replied Sanda. She smiled a little as she said it though. "It was a tougher experience than I thought it would be. "I think I would rather run solo than take command again but I'm grateful for the experience." She continued to eat her burger as she was very hungry.
"Excuse me Cassie." Del said and got up heading over to Mia and Thad and would give the other woman a hug. "Glad to see your doing well, was worried we would have to shoot Thad." She will eye Thad "No hugs for you." Delmira said and pulled away from Mia.
Seeing the rest of the groups congregating Zanven finished his food and picked up his datapad and tray before going to deposit the tray and dirty platter before making his way back to his bunk. He did not stick around for much longer than he needed, last time he did...he made an ass of himself in that hangar so he would do his usual solo thing. Once back into his bunk room he would begin to take apart a model of a Nodachi, before reassembling it, a mindless droning task for the moment to take his mind off of everything.
"Why don't we plan a celebration after this mission is over?" Kalena suggested to everyone.
Frank jestered to his bag unzipping it showing the light armor assault rifle and then to the case he had left at his seat. "I'm gonna need help getting this thing chopped down slightly and wired into my nervous system to fire it maybe even get the ejection port to go out the elbow, the new arm however is a old gun arm cybernetic, big but modular."
"Coming from the sniper who can't aim around a team mate. But nice try at making a jab at me." Thad turned his head towards her as he spoke. To end looking at her with a big smile on his face. "If Frank doesn't mind, maybe you can come play with the new toys too." His attention was once more pulled towards the pile of gear Frank was laying out.
As the burger part separated from the rest of the burger, Yayoi heard Pidole talking and she listened a smile formed at the thought of promotions again, she knew that meant soon she’ll be the same rank as Kiyo. “indeed, neatness is always a requirement for everything.
Koyama finally looked down at what was on her plate. It had been a burger. Her stomach wanted to do a little flip. And not for the better, so much grease! But, she went about assembling it in her peculiar fashion.
"I know the feeling," finally responded, leaving the tomato by the wayside and all but sneering at a little mayo packet. "My first command was utter hell. Not fun. Fresh Santo-Hei with a few months under me. Ended up leading a resupply mission to Asura."
Carefully, Koyama began spreading the mustard as if her life depended on it, "In an active warzone. A downed Iromakuanhe cruiser had invaded our space, shot down, and attacked by a rogue corporation spinning it to their advantage. The onsite SAINT agent was making a mess of things. And the Iromakuanhe survivor's leader very nearly gave up on any further communication
He'd take the help, but did not trust her. And believe me, she was as duplicitous as a snake could be." with a final scrape, the Neko brought a finger to her lips and sucked off the little dollop of mustard. "It all ended with a battle in orbit, an Elysian battlecruiser coming down on our heads and my sitting on an anti-matter reactor performing the calculations to keep it in a state of barely controlled overload because the ARIA unit it had been attached to was gone."
Once assembled, she took a moment for a bite. It made a crunch, followed by immediately wiping at her mouth, chewed politely and then swallowed. "We managed to just get the cruiser's shields online just before impact. So we didn't get crushed."
A smile later, Koyama put a hand on Sanda's shoulder, "Vastly different, but I know the overwhelming feeling well enough. First time is always rough. Besides, I had Thad the entire time. But here's the clencher. 'He behaved'."
"And Yeah Thad, I dont mind." Frank added.
"I know Halna is known as a home for the black market and for criminal groups, specifically Nepleslian ones," Euikoshi said. "I expect it to be significantly more shady than Valaad," Euikoshi said. "It's also a battle site where radioactive Freespacers died. I feel like the Empire is only supporting the people there because they know them from way back and they don't know the new Kuvexian groups. The groups on Halna owe Yamatai a lot of favors and know not to mess with Yamatai. It's one of those 'don't bite the hand that feeds' situations." She looked ot Kalena and nodded. "I like the idea of a crew party. But are the officers invited?" she smirked.
Thad picked up the light armor rifle and gave it a look over. "Looks to be in good shape, straight barrel and." He pulled back the gate and looked at the firing pin. "Seems to be all intact which is a good start." He then held up the weapon and placed it towards Frank. He was looking at his arm compared to the weapon. "We can make it shorter but your give up on the range. Could make the barrel foldable so it can fit in either roll." He took out his data pad and started to draw on it.
Mochi nodded along as Euikoshi recounted what she knew of the relatively unknown planet. She seemed to be surprisingly up to speed on the matter, which made Mochi wonder if she had ever visited before. "Well.. It seems almost everywhere owes Yamatai some favours." The Elysian spoke with an amused tone, popped a piece of chicken into his mouth and swallowed. "I've not met many Freespacers. Plenty of Nepleslians though." Once his fellow scientist mentioned it potentially being an enlisted-only party, Mochi grinned. "Well, I'm sure Aoba, Koyama and I will find something to do. Like bingo, or scrabble, or chess.. Whatever you guys think we do in our free time."
Delmira stuck her tounge out at Thad. "I'm still a better shot than you are."
Sanda listened to Koyama's story. She was very impressed. "Honestly Ma'am, I'd have preferred to have gotten in a fight. Ordering someone to take cover and move up the right flank seems muchísimo easier than having to correct a soldier for improper etticate." She almost choked on her burger at Koyama's last comment. She raised a skeptic eyebrow that said she clearly didn't believe it.
Koyama wore a wry expression, "Yes, he behaved. All I did was pay for his drink, say a nice word and told him to keep close to do his job. He was my guard after all." she shrugged, bit into the food again. "That fight on Asura, was my first real fight. Ended up in the cockpit of a giant Iromakuanhe... giant Mecha of some kind with the leader of the survivors."
"And I came out drenched in whatever they fill the compartment with. Helped him fight an AMX-series Winter, model 02. But enough of that,"
With a smile she put the barely eaten burger down, "I recorded everything while we were on Valaad and can backup the claim of him behaving."
Sanda had finished her first burger so her hands were free. She pointed at Koyama as though she had a pistol in her hand and said, "Who are you and what have you done to our XO?" She laughed at the craziness that Koyama had just shared. "By the way. I picked up some interesting items on Valaad. Some Kuvexian cleavers. I'd like you to take a look at them. They're kind of bulky for my taste, so I was wondering if you'd be able to work them down to a more manageable size. If not, maybe we can attach them to my bike?"
Koyama made her already large eyes go wider, "Maybe I am an intruder in disguise. And the real First Officer is still down on the planet tied up in a mop closet." her voice going low, conspiratorially. "She was too princessy."
But quickly sobered at the mention of the Kuvexians, and specifically, cleavers?
"You want to attach, and please, let me get this straight, cleavers to a motorcycle?"
Sanda really laughed out loud at the princessy comment, then shrugged. "If they can't be worked down to something I can use then the only thing I can think of to make them workable would be to attach them to a motorcycle, or rather that fancy hoverbike you keep dangling before my eyes."
"Well," Koyama tilted her head a little, cupping her chin and placing the back of her thumb against her lower lip. "How would you use something like a cleaver in the field?" with her free hand she waved it, "Or rather make it work for you in whatever fashion you might think you could shape it?"
"As for your little ride, that isn't on the ship. Sadly, Sanda, I do not trust you won't try to peek at a present that isn't finished."
Sanda shrugged, "I don't know. I'm not a tech or a scientist but I figure you could keep the aether generator in the handle and reshape the blade. Cut out all that extra bulkyness. Even if it was shaped more like scimitar it'd be easier to wield than a cleaver. If not, I figure you could do quite a bit of damage with an Aether blade slicing things as you zip by them had high speeds." She said with a mischievous smile.
Koyama had straightened her uniform after having quick as a snake, whipped a hand back, the packet she had left alone on her tray disappearing with alarming speed. Tossed and now gone. "Do you even know how to use something like that?" she asked pleasantly despite that momentary flash of fury.
"Judging from the size and weight of these things, they are made for cleaving through though materiel." Sanda's eyes narrowed as she caught the movement from Koyama's hand.
"Probably because you're in the Star Army. After some Freespacers started trying to make deals with the Mishhuvurthyar in the middle of the Mishhuvurthyar war, Yui, under Empress Katsuko's orders, sent a fleet to rough them up and it was a slaughter. Motherships destroyed, planets glassed...surviving Freespacers tend to give Yamatai a wide berth since then," Euikoshi replied to Mochi.
Frank looked over to Del as Thad worked on the designs, "You are a great shot and Sanda makes good anti sniper body armor as she did take your shot well I hear."
"Hey she walked in front of my shot." Delmira said. "She shouldn't have moved there."
"What I lack in aim I make up with more rounds. Bond to hit something if you put enough down range." Thad said as he looked up from his data pad. After a moment he gave her a wink and went back to drawing.
Yayoi glanced over as she heard the conversation between Koyama and Sanda, and smirked a little before going back to her burger and Pidole.
Pidole looked exhausted. Since the pirate battle she'd been fixing the ship non-stop and the damage wasn't exactly trivial in scope.
"One of these days I think I'll tell you guys how I became a Android. But for now I'll lettle for keeping that under wraps." Frank added as he looked over Thad's shoulder at the plans.
Delmira looked at Mia. "I think we are going to have to team up on him."
Mia looked at Delmira. "Huh?" she scratched her head.
Delmira purred and leaned into Mia's hand.
Mia was still confused, "I thought you and Kinie were girlfriends," she whispered in Delmira's ear.
"I will let you two fight over who gets top bunk. I got arms to design." Thad once more looked over the top of the tablet before looking back and drawing some more. "So how do you think we can connect this to your main system?" He asked leaning back and looked at Frank.
Delmira's ear flicks a bit "Misconception, she wants to take it slow and get to know each other more plus there a differnce in rank." She says and looks up at Mia.
Mochi hummed at Euikoshi once again showing her knowledge of history to be quite stellar. "You know, when you retire, you could easily be a historian if you wanted." The blonde grinned, "Of course, no doubt the sciences will always be your passion, mhm?" Mochi pondered, then continued. "Those wars were before my time, although I have fought NMX. Almost died to them, actually." That wasn't a very pleasant memory. "In those old wars, Yamatai was very different than it is now." The Senator wasn't exactly sure what he was allowed to say. No doubt that chatting about the blood-drenched days of old monarchs wasn't exactly 'towing the party line'.
Thad put down the datapad and looked towards Del. "I would say given my new rank that you could boss me around. Granted you have to get that past the princess and the baby mama first." He let out a light chuckle.
Frank would look to that and think before answering. "I mean the best way to do that is if we could somehow replace the trigger system to something electronic we could wire it in so that if I say wanted to turn my wrist or flip the bird the weapon would come out and fire then."
"People say I'm a good trivia partner because my head is full of a lot of stuff," Euikoshi laughed. "But that's what I think I should be as a science specialist...someone people can turn to for information and solutions. Generalists like us need to know a bit about everything. I was too young to be in those old wars myself, though."
Frank mumbled "Bird Nerds." under his breath when mochi started talking about Star Army trivia.
Mochi didn't seem to hear Frank, although others nearby probably did. Instead, he was too involved in the conversation with Euikoshi. Gesturing to her with his fork, the Elysian nodded vigorously. "That's exactly the mindset to have, Euikoshi-hei. Brilliant that you've grasped it so early in your career." Mochi smiled warmly, "We're there to leverage a wide breadth of facts and ideas to propose ways forward to our superiors. Usually, there's a smarter path than just.." Mochi made a fingergun and mimed shooting it at her a few times, a knowing expression on his face.
"Anyone need anything else?" Agrippina Rossa asked everyone, roaming around the wardroom to check on everyone.
Frank would soon find a packet of mayonnaise mysteriously smacking him in the side of the face. The originator, whoever it had been hadn't made it readily known who they were. Let alone anyone knowing who it had been.
Mia just scratched her head looking kind of dumb. She gave Delmira a sweet hug and looked at Thad. "I think Delmira is thirsty for you," she quietly told him.
Frank Looking around looking down at the mayonnaise packet caused him to grin. "screw it, ill take the punishment." Frank said before picking up a sandwich and looking at Sanda. "Food fight!" he yelled before tossing it.
"What the fuck?" Cassie scowled at Frank.
Delmira was purring away and leaned into the hug. The affectionate neko was enjoying the contact. She looked up at Mia and would look over at Frank hearing what he said and caught the aftermath of his actions. "Oh what the fuck."
Thad was grinning ear to ear as the food fight got underway. Sadly he did not have popcorn to really enjoy what was about to happen next.
Mia snapped out of her fawning over Thad to shout at Frank. "Stop it, you fucking crayon eater!" she yelled at him.
Sanda saw the burger come flying at her. She almost calmly picked up her own burger with one hand while slamming her fist down onto the corner of her tray. The tray flipped into the air and acted a shield. The burger hit the tray and both fell to the floor without spilling on her clean uniform.
Mochi acted like nothing had happened, despite the commotion and cries of anguish from behind him. He'd babysitted the kids for long enough, Koyama could take this one. The officer impaled another forkful of food and glanced back up to Euikoshi. "Of course, the higher your rank, the more you need to deal with.."
Koyama leaned back in the chair as a flying burger, coming apart smacked into the plate Sanda used as a shield followed by all the 'What the fucks.'. She had started it after all. But only on hearing Frank's naming of their Elysian scientist.
Now standing in a fury, she smacked the table, hard for one of her kind. Eyeing them all with a look of danger. "Enough!" her voice raised high as Pidole retreated past her.
Pidole tiredly but rapidly turned in her tray to the track rack and left to head back to engineering.
"Uh Mia lets go elsewhere before people start to die from stupidity." The little neko said looking up at Mia all adorable like. Demira looked at the group.
"I'm the space-maid, I have to clean this up," Mia reminded Delmira, huffing in frustration. It really was part of her duties.
"Don't worry Mia." Sanda said rather calmly while eating her other burger she had saved. "Frank is on KP duty until he passes an etiquette test anyway. He'll take care of all this."
Frank would get the cleaning supplies. "I ain't the one who started it by throwing mayonnaise packets at me but sure ride that high horse all you want."
"Speaking of did you did pick up my clothes i discarded in the hallway, i have been trying to message you about it Mia." Delmira asked the maid.
"It's called a fucking laundry bag," Mia snapped. "Use it."
"Hey now a bomb scare got called in and I had to move quickly to my power armor." Delmira said back at her.
"Okay..." Mia frowned defeatedly.
Koyama had a hand on the table, looking Frank in the eye, "Do not call try to stir the pot further, Sterling-hei. Or a maid uniform will become involved." she warned, and with a clear wireless transmission to him sent just three words: 'I heard you.' followed by 'Bird Nerds' in Frank's voice.
To Mia and Del, she shook her head, was Del still in holographic clothing? Perhaps if they got lucky, some Hei would bump into her out in the halls if so. As for Mia, she was still mulling that puzzle over.
Mochi seemed to finish his meal, letting his cutlery down with a little clatter. It was as if he had been oblivious to the goings-on in the canteen, but had clearly elected to not engage. "Cheers for the conversation, Euikoshi." The Elysian thanked her simply, rising from his place. Turning to the others with his tray still in hand, Mochi addressed them in a nonchalant tone. "I think it's about time we all got back to our duties, no? Make sure not to leave any debris behind for our dear cook and maid." Mochi concluded, although it was clear this was more of an instruction than a suggestion. Passing Koyama on his way to the tray disposal, he gave her an approving nod. She'd done well as an XO, just forceful enough to stop what would have been an embarrassing scene for the Captain to walk in on. Returning his tray, the fiery-winged Elysian swept out of the room, back to the Science Lab.
Frank would mimic Sandas voice saying hes no better than Thad. "Sorry if I'm a bit cross when being compared to someone who as Sanda explained it committed sexual harassment by the sounds of things."
Normally Thad would have jumped into the food fight. However given how things had been going fairly smoothly thought best to just ride this one out. Then he heard Frank share that Sanda had continued to spread rumors. "Would seem while I was away someone put on the big boy pants and started running their month." Thad then stood up, all 6 foot, 6 inches, back straight as an ironing board. "Care to say it while in front of me, or do you plan to hide behind your ranger badge like it is some kind of shield?"
Koyama' tearing her gaze from the android looked to the rapidly retreating Elysian, ~' You're leaving me with these... kids?!'~ her telepathic message shrill.
Mochi responded to Koyama telepathically with a poor impression of an old answering machine, not breaking his stride. ~'You have reached the CSO, please leave a message after the tone. Beeeeeep...'~
"Speaking of clothing I forgot I have nothing but holographic clothing on so I should go get something to wear soon." Delmira said and smiled at Mia.
- - - -
JP END
OOC: JP by Wes, Ajax, Charaa,Soresu, Cowboy, Miko, Ethereal, ShadowWalker,Zanven