RP Curio Squad: The Star Called Nowhere

[Ametheliana]

RP Date

2月45年

RP Location

Astral Cluster

Northern Space
YSS Kishū

The stars of the northern part of the sector seemed to not exist within a portion of it. Flat and long like a book, the black carrier ebbed from Yamataian space in a continuum distortion field. For now it jettisoned into the unkown with stealth of a kuro neko under a moonless night sky, discernible only in the shadowy bubble it left where the eyes would expect distant starshine.

Well within the hull of the YSS Kishū, Zanven walked alongside Miko. They had already been transported to this mighty Heitan-class ship and then deposited their personal baggage in the cabin they’d be sharing. As they set about to alpha launch bay for a briefing, a woman in a glossy Type 32 pilot’s suit with black and white hair split down the crown of her head leapt from a corridor in order to walk alongside the two.

“It’s not everyday someone outside of intelligence sees a black Heitan-class,” the pilot said in a snapping tone that was both to the point and friendly. “Actually, it’s all of never happened. You an ace or something? Why’d they pull you for this?”

Her jump onto their path had been just as accosting as her sudden remark. She looked at the long-haired man with her twinkling eyes of the palest blue before they slid to the other man walking. The cyan glow from her suit's neck gave her eyes and skin a striking visage of glacial ice the moment it cracked and toppled into the sea. Or that of a specter.

 

[Zanven Brax]

45.2
Astral Cluster-Northern Space
YSS Kishū

The shuttle was quick, after receiving mission acceptance and help from his fellow Task Force member Miko, he chuckled before he quickly dropped off his bag at the shared cabin Zanven dressed in his flight suit and set out. The space they were in was beautiful as most of the universe typically was, and there was a lot to do...this was clandestine and they were at the mercy of SAINT now...the stealth cruiser that prowled about the cluster was evidence of that. "Looks like we will have our work cut out for us this time...though I guess after being attacked by drones, splattered with radioactive paint, and being in cahoots with a war crime or two...every day our work is cut out for us." He said to Miko before waiting on his partner so they could leave.

As they were walking a woman leaped from her apparent perch and approached the pair. Zanven at first did not say a word, she, of course, took the lead as they were near the briefing room. She questioned Zanven a little as he was not a part of the Intelligence of Star Army, even going as far as to ask him if he was an Ace, earning her a chuckle from the pilot as he decided that he needed to give the ribbing back just as he got it. "Not an Ace, I am just a pilot that takes the jobs and missions nobody else will do unless volunteered. Guess you could say I have a death wish...if you truly wanted, but you would be wrong. My file speaks for itself gorgeous, I am going to do what nobody else seems to be able to do. Once we are done though...let me know if you wanna catch a drink." He said with a wink, it was a mindless flirt and he did not mean anything by it, but he could not help but be forward.

He waited for Miko to do his usual talking as he pulled out a datapad and began to go over preliminary readings of the cluster.

 

[Miko]

45.2
Astral Cluster-Northern Space
YSS Kishū

Mikodimus smile bright as he walked along side Zan. He enjoyed his time with him in the prior mission and felt they would be someone to get to know better. He felt he could be trusted, and this was something very important when you're going to battle. "Lets get a move on and see what fun they have planned for us."

"Hiya, nice to meet you. I am Miko." He said to the young woman. "You shall learn that when a Belmont is around, we tend to be first in a lot of things." He said with a grin followed by a big smile. It was true this was Miko's first time being on an Heitan-class for Saint. "I am here to help my good friend Zan. I am also best ace you have ever seen. You put a stick in my hands, and I promise, I will whip up something you never seen before." He gave Zan a quick wink so he'd know he wasn't planning on taking his seat as the ace. Miko was only there to gather information. So while this was rare to happen, Miko figured that even Saint knew how well the Belmonts were at gathering information.

 

[Ametheliana]

YSS Kishū
Alpha Bay

"Miko? Like a shrine priestess?" she asked, her tone was a slow simmer. "Sound like a trustworthy pair, really. The commander of the reconnaissance wing surely has their work cut out for them with you two," she said with a tilt of her head so that hewhite and black bangs shifted into one another. "I hear she's flying in your squadron."

Within the launch bay, they could see the Teisatsu-patterned Super Kawarime fighters stacked at their berths. Forward of the ship where the berths ended was the launch bay whose open hangar door was huge. It was protected by a light blue force field whose energy ran in shimmering lines. In front of the force field between the lines of the launch bay, a group of pilots fouled the deck as they milled about in a grouping, ready to brief.

"Commander on deck!" said the pink-haired Taii that had been assigned to Zan and Miko as she looked directly at them.

"Here, here." The woman that had been chatting with them strode to the pilots and squatted down to rest on her heels. The pilots gathered around her, some noting Zanven and Miko like schoolchildren would the new kids with mild curiosity before their attention turned to the black and white-haired woman more fully.

"I'm Chusa Kamikaze, to those of you that don't know me. We're going into a highly unstable part of the galaxy. Navigating the Astral Cluster is so impossible for even its inhabitants that they had no information to give even on the region we'll be going, let alone on the rumors that have recently originated from there."

Pulling a communicator from the pouch on her belt, she set it to show a fairly odd section of space. Not all of it was mapped, the blank spots were fairly obvious amongst the chaotic topographical peaks and plateaus. The Kikyo sector's star charts didn't have anything like this.

"Unfortunately it's unlikely we'll be able to traverse this strange part of space in our craft," Kamikaze looked forlorn as the mapping shifted to a picture of a planet, hand drawn as if from an educational course and not an intelligence organization.

"We'll be going planetside. Our duty," she went on, "Is to investigate the planet here labeled Balcora. Little information on it is in our hands. It's a pretty southerly planet of the Astral Cluster- close to the Kikyo Sector. A number of groups that are unhappy with the annexation and integration by the Commonwealth -the Iromakuanhe Astral Commonwealth- have begun amassing resources on it. Some of them are unimportant while some... more meaningful. The rumors that have come from there have to do with refining the naturally occurring zesuaium on their planet."

She let those words sink in. Zesuaium was manufactured only by Ketsurui Zaibatsu and even they couldn't refine the Lor worlds made into solid hunks of zesu. But apparently some rogue Iromakuanhe could.

"Just rumors, right?" Kamikaze asked rhetorically. "Either way, the Commonwealth would look more like the bad guys the diaspora is making them out to be by sneaking a peak and Star Army isn't ready to have rogues in the neighborhood outfitted with impervious starships and such. We're coming out here to check it out. Oh, and... any involvement between us and the Iromakuanhe government is strictly off the books."

"Questions?" Taii Tsubei Kyoka asked with wide eyes as she looked between those gathered. "Questions before we start flight checks?"

 

[Zanven Brax]

Seeing that she ignored Zanven mostly made the male shrug as he did not care one way or another...it was a job after all, but hearing that the commander of the reconnaissance wing was flying in their squadron made him want to do some more research. He walked into the hangar with the pair beside him, the lines of Ke-V8 waiting for the mission told him that they expected resistance. When it was announced that the commander was on deck he understood that the woman that was mentioned before was none other than the commander herself and he wanted to let out a rather dumb laugh, but he kept to himself as Miko was likely feeling the same way. The glares that he and Miko received were nothing new, but as the commander came up and pulled a comm unit out to give a briefing all the pilots gathered around.

The briefing was exactly as the initial job entailed as Chusa Kamikaze showed that there was a lot of the current sector unmapped and that was a big security risk as she said that they will be going to recon a planet labeled as Balcora. The intelligence wing has received valuable intel that the Commonwealth has begun to amass resources that could be deemed as potentially hazardous and some as assets. However, all of this stemmed from rumors so in order to gain more knowledge they would need to go planetside and investigate.

Upon hearing that Zesuaium was in play many eyes went wide as the issues that would cause would be...well it was a good thing the eyes were more on Gashmere for now. Zanven looked at Miko as he was not having issues with the mission, but he did raise his hand. "Once planetside is there some sort of FoB we are arriving to, or are we going to be left to our own investigations with...these fighters?" Zanven asked as he looked up at Kamikaze with a serious look, he always asked the obvious questions in case someone did not understand.

 

[Miko]

Miko was looking the commanding officer over from head to toe. It took him a few moments but then it clicked what he was seeing in her. The long black and white hair, being in charge. It was like Alastair had changed into a woman and was standing before him. He chuckled to himself knowing this was just his mind having fun with him. He listened to the details and it started to click why they would want outsider. They would do best to blend in and be able to gather information. Though he'd leave the Zesuaium talk up to Zan. Miko on the other hand was looking forward to trying new dishes.

Miko leaned into the person who had been talking with them. "If said shrine priestess likes to cook in an apron, then yes, very much so." He said with a smile. "Though if you get nervous when around Kamikaze, feel free to hold my hand. Distraction hand holding is super effective."

 

[Ametheliana]

"This is strictly a starfighter reconnaissance mission. Best case scenario, nobody even knows we were there," Tsubei said, hoping that answered Zanven's question as she brushed a hand through her dusty pink hair.

"We barely have enough intel to get us there." Kamikaze said, crossing her arms. "If we had something set up on the planet, we wouldn't have a mission on our hands at all. We're going into the unknown."

Someone piped up, thinking off of Zanven's quesiton, "So we won't be getting out of our craft?"

"If we have to get out of our craft, we're up shit creek." Kamikaze said. "We're flying Super Kawarime with state of the art sensor upgrade packages, so trust in your vehicles. They're more than top of the line and suited more for the job than some of you. Any other questions or understood?"

As she waited for the answers, she turned to Miko, "I'm not nervous around myself, just under-performers. Am I in the presence of one now or do we not need handholding?"

 

[Zanven Brax]

Hearing it was strictly a recon mission Zanven nodded, he felt that he needed to ask it, as for the question about the FoB he did not bat an eye at the answer he received. The commander was right, but at the same time, a base could still have gone dark and or be in need of the answers they were grabbing because of their position. He did not need to voice his questions or opinions anymore as another pilot spoke up and asked about landing for anything.

Kamakazie's answer was blunt and gave the pilots an affirmation that was needed. When she turned to Miko who spoke earlier, flirting as he seemed to do without a fucking thought Zanven shook his head and was about to speak for Miko, but instead chose to let his co-pilot get out of this little matter himself. After all...he did hit on her before they walked in as well.

 

[Miko]

Miko reached up and rubbed his thumb across his chin. "No madam, I am able to whip up a meal so good it will blow your clothes clean off. Also noted that for this mission we are to be hands off. Got it, fully understood and thank you for the feedback." He took a step back and gave her a strong salute. He had gotten use to being far too relaxed since his last deployment but knew when it was time to put on the game face. They were going into unknown area and might face unknown dangers. "Looking forward to seeing what can be learned. And hope for a safe return."

 

[Ametheliana]

"If everything's good with the squadrons, let's get a pre-flight check and clear the deck," Tsubei said. Kamikaze, too baffled by Miko to respond with anything other than a nod of acknowledgment, buddied up next to the Taii. The pink-haired Tsubei said in a soft chiming voice, "You know I'm stupid for trusting you."

"Then I'm stupid for taking you up." Kamikaze replied. Her tone had melted before boiling over again as she added, "And just stupid enough to chase some Dream Sleeper spirits, too."

"Following the MO doesn't make you stupid. Thinking the locals are insane or lying about ghosts would. Remember Winsonville? There was a threat, even if there weren't actual..." Tsubei looked like she wanted to say more, but her purple eyes had slid to the two men Kamikaze had been talking to. Their fighter was next to Miko's and Zanven's and she started taking out gear like their helmets from the locker near them without saying any more.

"The Kawarime's got a lot of the Teisatsu's old stealth capabilities. Be sure to enable active cloaking, the xilurium plating's got you covered the rest of the way. Let's see what you can do in the skies." Kamikaze had called over to Zanven as she climbed up to the cockpit with her helmet at her side, Tsubei floating demurely behind her.

"Ready up," Kamikaze said over comms after getting her helmet on and began doing the same preflight checklist the rest of the squadrons would be going over.

 

[Zanven Brax]

Hearing Tsubei cut in and order a pre-flight check and for the deck to be cleared Zanven nudged Miko and began to walk towards their ship. The rest of the squad nodded and began to head to their ships as well, Kamikaze and Tsubei seemed to have a moment which the Minkan caught out of the corner of his eye, but he did not want to enter another verbal foray with the leader for now.

Zanven approached the locker and removed a flight suit, he was quick to change over there, grabbing his helmet as the final piece of the ensemble. Kamikaze called over about the Kawarime's stealth capabilities and the pilot nodded as he knew enough about the ship since it felt and had a similar look to the Nodachi he once piloted for the Resurgence. "Got it, and don't worry...I will do my best to not show you up once we are planetside." He would then climb up into the main pilot's seat before pulling the straps of the harness over his shoulders, connecting his SPINE system as he put his helmet on. "Everything looks like it will be just a normal day at the office...easy peasy right?" He said to himself as he checked the yokes and throttle as he wanted to make sure there were no hiccups before he started up. So far everything seemed well kept up.

The HUD began to come to life as he interfaced with the fighter, he waited on Miko, beginning preliminary preflight checks as he wanted to ensure the success of the recon he did not need any surprises once off of the ship. Once Miko would be inside the canopy would close as the cabin would pressurize and the systems would engage for artificial gravity. When Kamikazie came over the comms and told everyone to ready up, Zanven buckled his straps as he started the ship's final pre-flight checks. "Solo and the Chef checking in, systems are green, electronics are golden, and the ship is a nice shade of lavender." He said before talking directly to Miko through the personal comms. "Hey buddy, you got all serious after being called out by the commander, guess that means you can sober up from your usual self eh?" He said as he kept his eyes straight ahead as he was waiting for Kamikaze to give the orders to move the squadron.

 

[Ametheliana]

Because Kamikaze and Zan were the 14th squadron, they were the first two to shoot out of the launch bay. They headed the pack as they passed through space, headed for the planet. The Heitan had stayed pulled back from the planet in case the Iromakuanhe rebel's equipment would notice them. It gave Miko and Zan time to talk as they shot through the oddly nonuniform hunk of space surrounding Balcora.

Out of nowhere, the magnetic instruments started to shift uncontrollably. Though the artificial gravity controlled what was inside the craft, the visuals they were getting showed the Kawarime was being pushed and pulled around. The planet and stars around them were no longer fixed but jostling around as the craft was being shaken a few feet to either direction.

Kamikaze called to those behind them, "High-energy disruption up ahead. Veer off." To Zan, whose instruments were closer to the phenomena they may all have to pass through eventually, she said, "Engage doppler RADAR and try to track the energy pulses. We want to avoid what's hot. I'm doing the same."

 

[Zanven Brax]

Following Kamikaze's Kawarime out he quickly moved into formation and was moving at an even pace as the rest of the formation took shape. The planet was already in view as Zanven lit up his comms once more as he spoke in general. "Just another marble out in the vast open area where one shift can be game over, let's just hope the player that is playing the game does not let the jack fall down too fast." He chimed in, making a light joke as they began to descend toward the planet. As the squad moved to engage their stealth systems Zanven flipped a couple of switches before speaking to Miko in the co-pilot seat. "Engage the survey sensors and give me a read if there is something that pops up with a higher frequency than 165 khz." He said as he listened and kept a close watch on his own sensor readings, so far...so good.

Just like with ANYTHING that seemingly goes well, the sensors began to shift and act erratically, even simple life support functions were being affected. With the ship vibrating and shifting about in formation he looked out the canopy to see he was not the only one infected. He was quick to go into the terminal to his left and enter the common flight codes for manual operations. "Switching back to manual overrides, engaging a simple recalibration protocol to overcome the feedback. Recon squad, regain manual overrides, and go to your sequencing terminal on your left. Code 777.336.01.000 That will tell the CIES to maintain stable feed-to-life support and basic radar. Co-pilots we are going to rely on you for more support," He would say over the comms as Kamikaze quickly chimed in with her own orders to veer off and avoid the high-energy disruption.

She then chimed in telling them all to switch to doppler RADARS and to track the energy pulses so that way they could avoid them as they showed up. "Commander, if there are high-energy pules, those are likely sources of either mining operations, or perhaps military targets...Avoiding them may be more problematic if we do not investigate. Perhaps some ships should switch to Infrared, doppler will only pick up atmospheric conditions and debris...how copy?" He questioned the commander, but he was still on course, the ship was taking readings and recording all it could, and he only hoped Miko was keeping up.

 

[Miko]

Miko was hanging out in his own world till things started to turn side ways. He did his part by adjusting and keeping pace with the incoming interference. "Life support stable, sensors are, well, look like a dance rave." He sent over comms to Zan. Miko had flipped over to infrared and thermal. Doppler was going as well though the readings were all over the place. He was doing his part to figure out if this was manmade or not.

"Glad your flying is better than these sensors. I am sending over details to your nav HUD to aid in avoiding whatever these energy blasts are."

 

[Ametheliana]

Kamikaze took in Zanven's words, "This area of space is highly unstable, we know that. Assuming it's the enemy could take time away from our actual investigation. I'll have the squadrons behind us scan in infrared to be safe, though. For now, push forward and find a way forward with what I said. Doppler'll work just fine outside of atmosphere with wave fronts like these that contain particles," she chuckled. "They just need something to bounce off of, no atmo necessary."

"He is definitely not going to show you up," Tsubei said in a chiming tone as she did scans of her own.

"Still time for that, just the Planes of Balcora living up to their name." Kamikaze said, "What are the shifts coming back from the doppler scans showing?" Just like those of Miko, they uncovered that there were a lot of energized particles soaring in the same direction between them and the planet. The planet's protective exospheres and magnetic field acted like a barrier to the winds which flowed around the planet like ocean waves beating against a rock on the jetty. Two points at the equator seemed to take less of a bashing while further out in the system, space was fuming and fluttering like winds on a steppe would. Far away from their direct path, the energized particles being carried on the wings lessened.

There was still thirty million kilometers between them and the planet. A distance the Super Kawarime should have been able to cover in the next four minutes now looked like it would take another half an hour on the detour.

As the sensors scanned the different wavelengths of the electromagnetic shifts, they showed a clearer picture of the problem. There were some areas of gust fronts and microbursts of energy particles carried by the space winds, places that would at best push the fighters. But at worst could tear them apart; they looked that strong. There were also pockets where the winds were lighter, though they were ephemeral and shifting by the millisecond.

Tsubei relayed the data to the Chusa, who wondered if everybody could fly through that shifting minefield.

"Any ideas about how to make it planetside?" Kamikaze asked the ship shuddering against the winds with her. She was looking for another option while hoping she'd get to fly the near-death and dangerous path ahead of her.

 

[Miko]

Miko reached out in front of himself and cracked his fingers. He was getting the readings and this look as bad as burnt dinner. The reading were all over the place but he could make out the faint tug and pull of the energy winds. He'd see a pocket, then it would close and another would open not far from it. This was about to get real and knew timing was everything. Which for him was one of his strong points, able to within milliseconds time steps to making the perfect dish. If he could make the perfect chili for Hoshi which required no mistakes, this would be a cake walk.

"Zan, got some bad news and worse news. So if we mess this up I am confident we are dead. Worse news, we'd have to explain to Saint how we busted up their pretty little ship." He said over the comms with a chuckle in his voice. "This is going to take both our efforts on this, but I hope you like surfing because we got some air waves to caught." As he finished talking, he sent the course plan over to Zan. It indicated the locations of the pockets forming, how long estimated to stay open and the next areas to move into. The timing had no room for error. The following routing showed if they missed the windows, they would quickly be overrun. There was little way to get ahead once you'd fall behind. "So what do you think boss? Ready to show Kamikaze just how good and or crazy we are as a team?" He sent Zan an emoji of a winky face.

 

[Zanven Brax]

Hearing Kamikaze's words he sighed as he adhered to what she said, the energy readings were clear across the board...if they went in without changing direction or altering exactly which waves they rode...they were dead in the water and the mission was going to be a bust. Kamikaze did interject as she was looking for ideas to get through the field, as at that time Miko spoke up and revealed the readings. IF they went on their way currently, they were likely to just shake and bake...BUT with what Miko just sent to Zanven and explained further, they could surf through pockets as they come in and out of existence, the math was sound and he was impressed by his co-pilot. They had a window of about five minutes. He heard Miko's question on what to do and he opened the comms to Kamikaze again. "Looks like Miko is quite the pilot himself, sending over a new flight path, it is risky but if we move as a single tight unit when the windows open, it will be just like moving through locking canals in a waterway. So the choice is your boss, me and Miko can do this...or we can all go at once?" He said rather bluntly as Miko could hear everything, the flight plan was passed to all the main pilots of the squad to look over.

"Miko you did good and I value your work, thanks for having my back. We will show these Saint agents that we are more than capable of handling ourselves." He said as he continued to wait, he had a timer start as he was looking at the remaining moments until the window of opportunity was lost.

 

[Ametheliana]

"What has he cooked up?" Kamikaze asked speculatively. Her tone turned light-hearted as she asked, "Is this going to tear my clothes off like he threatened before? Squadrons 10-7, fall back and take the detour I'm providing. Don't want all of us losing our pants just to get there, " She chuckled into the comms, saying no more as she got into a deeply meditative mindset.

"With the fluctuations in the space winds, we're not all going to be able to take the same path," Tsubei chimed in to Miko and Zanven's fighter. "I'm directing the rest of squadron 14 as well as 13 to follow you. We'll set a different course for those in 11 and 12. On your mark and safe sailing."

Tsubei Kyoka relayed the same information to those behind them and not a moment after the fighters had formed behind her, Kamikaze's engines glowed teal. She was off into a pocket of stable space with them on their tail. There were only a few feet in which her nose could jam into another pocket, avoiding a flow of particles that would turn her equipment into space junk. The fighter followed in a close formation. Those in the back took the full brunt of the changes in winds at times. Like the way the person at the back of a bobsled took the most G-force, they shuddered but clung to their team's rear.

 

[Zanven Brax]

Hearing that Kamikaze was at least interested he did his best to explain, the joke that she gave was something that would have earned a chuckle from him had he actually been a little more wanting a good time, but for now, he was going to do his best to complete the mission. "I do not think it will do that, well if we get caught losing our clothes will be the least of our worries." He said in a quick retort as she quickly radioed Squadrons 10-7 and told them to take a new path she provided meanwhile he and Miko were going to spearhead the next course. He raised a hand up for a fist bump to Miko as he chimed in on their local frequency. "Good work, looks like there may be a dinner date for the two of you should this work out, just...don't wow the pants off of her yet." He said sarcastically before he gave the squad a countdown timer. Then as she said he gave the go-ahead and they were racing off.

They hit turbulence of course, but nobody even spoke as they continued to move according to the plan, some quick twists and downward shots they found themselves weaving through the never-ending segment of torment. One wrong move would spell disaster, but after what felt like an eternity as Zanven was sure the other main pilots were white-knuckled during this and they shot out, over the planet, in the shadow of a celestial body that was in the vicinity. "You know what, I think I am going to need a drink when this is all over...Thanks again Miko for the flight plan, but our uniforms are not brown...I think it probably could have ended badly had we missed even one window." He said as he looked around him, the canopy showed that all of the squadron made it through that took the flight plan, now they were just short of the ones that took the long route.

 

[Miko]

"Team if we make it through, I will be the first to toss my pants off in celebration." He said with a chuckle. Miko noticed the fist and gave it a bump. "I call dibs on making the meal." He said in reply to Zan.

Miko held on tight while Zan worked his magic to get them through the storm. It was tight but they managed to get through it without issue. "Good work on flying through that mess. Though honestly the tearing the clothes off is the least of our concerns." Miko commented as he sent more data over to Zan. "I noticed the pockets have an odd shifting behavior, so can look correctly but quickly closes in on itself. So is more important to hit the right hole than not." He said laughing over the comms.

"Kamikaze, you still alive out there? Clothes optional." He called out over comms to the near by wings.