RP: NSS Alliance [Star Base Ayenee/Nepleslia] The Start of Something Big

[Fay]

Grand Admiral Robert Davis looked over the intelligence report as it poured into his datapad. He walked down the corridors of the massive Star Base Ayenee orbiting Nepleslia. The project that was underway was one of massive importance to the fledgling Empire, and Davis had been called to witness its completion.

But his mind was currently distracted by the confirmation of his fears: Kennewes was under attack. The reds had caused a civil war.

Just what do they hope to accomplish through their actions, he thought bitterly. This foolishness must be stopped.

Perhaps gunboat diplomacy would make the reds rethink their motives.

With a few quick motions of his hand, he entered an order to dispatch the first fleet to Kennewes, with the objective of establishing space superiority around the planet. There, an ultimatum to begin communications would be dealt. If this was some sort of massive misunderstanding, then he wanted it settled.

To see Nepleslian kill fellow Nepleslian when there was so much danger around them was intolerable.

He followed up the order with another to his secretary:

Prepare the media and the capital. I will be delivering a speech tomorrow, and it must have the most exposure possible. Also, have our senator issue a proposal to review the Department of Arms, Resources and Taxes. He knows our position on this matter.

Davis seethed under his green beret. The crime syndicates had been somewhat damaged, but instead of collapsing, the reds turned into a swarm of angry hornets: A mobile and dangerous pest. And he had DARTS to blame for it. What good had come out of it at all?

“Sir, we’re here.”

The voice of the Nepleslian engineer pulled him out of his thoughts. The cold draft that suddenly picked up and brushed against his bearded face told him that they had entered the main dock of the facility.

The Grand Admiral stared long and hard at what was in front of him, what he could see of it, at least. To say he was awestruck would be a severe understatement.

“Sir, I present to you the DD4.”

Information regarding the DD4 scrolled down Davis’ datapad, but it still took a few more moments for him to pull his eyes away from the ship. He read intently, his face stone cold as he picked at every possible facet of the ship’s design, trying to find something to be critical of. It took almost 20 minutes, much to the chagrin of the engineer, who didn’t dare leave the presence of Commander-in-Chief unless ordered.

But the engineer’s disappointment vanished immediately when he saw the Grand Admiral’s stone demeanor crack under a large, satisfied smile.

“Have a crew rounded up immediately,” Davis said, a hint of excitement in his voice. “I want to see this ship fly.”

“Yes sir.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(24 Hours later, Nepleslia)

Jack Miller stared at his nude body in the mirror. Little droplets of water ran down parts of his skin, where his towel had not completely dried him off.

“Goddamn, am I sexy or what?”

The Nepleslian pulled his arms and flexed his muscles. He kissed his bulging bicep, and with a laugh, reached onto the nearby counter for the hair gel he always kept there. He squirted two globs of the stuff into his right hand, and rubbed it into his hair. After a few quick follow-up strokes with a comb, his hair was the perfect specimen of male brilliance.

Captain Jack Miller. Captain Jack Miller. Captain Jack Miller.

The thought ran through his head over and over, filling him with pride as he changed into his officer’s suit.

Whew! I’m in the big leagues now! Time to fucking do it!

He grabbed his datapad off the nearby coffee table, stepped out of his apartment and into the biggest roll of his life.

And he was going to drag some other people along for the ride.

((OOC: Please post your arrival threads in this topic as well. GM TOM))

Jubal had to force his jaw back up, and fight to tear his eyes from the massive spectacle that lay before him.

"Is this where i'm supposed to be?"

Jubal mused as he looked down at his instruction sheet one more time.

That damn recruiter wasn't kidding when he said that this was gonna be big, but I didn't think he meant it literally.

Well, this is the first day of the rest of my life, I guess.

Upon ending this soliloquy, Jubal lifted one foot, and swallowed as he placed it in front of the other, beginning his search for his superior officer.

This was a few days after the required psych test from the last mission, the iinvolvment in the Nepleslian Street War...

Jet yawned some adjusting the rucksack of belongings he carried over is shoulder as he walked. His short cut white hair clashing sharply with the copper tone of his skin as his long red overcoat swished about as he walked. "So this is where we finally catch up to those cat loving Yamataian fuckers huh?" He mused as he looked up at the vessel. "What a trip this should be amusing in the very least." He said.

Walking through the massive Star Base, a young man strode through the halls with duffle bag over his shoulder. Chocolate-brown eyes surveyed his surroundings as the five-foot, eleven-inch tall Nepleslian stroked his neatly trimmed beard in admiration. "These facilities seem to have excellent computer systems," he mumbled to himself as he glanced at a panel in passing. "Makes me wonder about the type of security they have on it," he continued to mumbled before sighing. He wanted to, he so wanted to test out the defenses they had for their system. But that wasn't a good thing for a Cadet to do.

"Cadet First Grade Matthew Lionheart," the young man muttered appraisingly. "Doesn't really roll off the tongue very well, but it is something." Continuing on, Matthew couldn't help but notice he was finally reaching his destination. Rounding a nearby corner, the young lad slowed to a crawl before stopping right in the middle of the entryway. "Hot...damn..." he muttered in awe at the sight of what he would be crew of. "If that thing has for a computer system what I hope it has....I must have died and gone to heaven," the young cadet whistled before smiling with almost child-like glee. The type of happiness one would have at discovering a new toy.

Fian wistled to himself when he saw the DD4 from the porthole. He had envisioned it to be a huge ugly porcupine bristling with guns from the data Elsae was reading into his ear, but now after looking at the real thing Fian changed his mind. It is a huge pretty porcupine bristling with guns.

"Elsae, are you sure that this is the ship that I am being assigned to?"

Well, the registration number and the docking bay matches the order letter

From the excitement the young Vel Steyr couldnt remember anything on the order letter except he was going to kick ass.

"Perhaps some non-official confirmation?"

Currently there is only one DD4 in SAoN service, and that Super Phalanx shipping crate on that platform.

"And what about that crate?" Fian asked.

It has your name printed on the cover.

It was all Fian needed to know. He picked up his bag from the floor and brisk walked to the docks, grinning like a madman all the way.

ON: Star Base Ayenee

Jack Miller was all smiles. The corridors of Star Base Ayenee were buzzing with the activities of countless engineers and technicians. Many stopped to salute the Nepleslian captain in his fresh green officer's suit. That only made Miller's smile widen.

Looks like they know who I am.

The captain rounded the corner and entered through the massive door into the docking bay. There were four people already there, most likely his crew. He could tell from their duffle bags and because these people weren't anything near engineers in their appearances.

"Pretty fuckin' nice ship, eh?"

Fian Vel Steyr's eyes widened at the sight of the high ranking officer, although the man's approach was casual, only the upper echelon could eschew formalities and get away with it. "Sir!" Fian shouted, and snapped into attention.

Turning around, the young cadet took a moment to glance over the person who spoke up. The first thing he noticed was the green uniform of the Star Army of Nepleslia, pretty obvious even for someone who stared at a computer displays for a living. Next thing, the young Lionheart noticed was the man's appearance. He could tell the man was tried to keep himself well-groomed....although the stubble beard sort of dashed things. But then, the shoulder rankings caught his eye...a rank that sent Matthew back to the academy he just graduated from. With the precision that had been drilled into him for the past few years, Matthew's body came at attention and his right hand flew to his brow.

"Sir, Cadet First Grade Matthew Lionheart, reporting sir!" he snapped quickly. Maybe he spoke a bit too soon, reporting like that, but it was quite possible that this man was supposed to be their commanding officer. The young Lionheart only wished he could have hacked into Personnel to confirm his crewmate’s identities before coming here.

Jet looked at Miller, immediately thinking he was a boisterous dumbass. But he'd keep that opinion to himself as he saluted the other man and looked him over judging physical ability and such. he at least had on the black shirt visible under the red coat with the rank symbols on his shoulder with his other hand holding his rucksack at least 4 holsters with pistols in them visible or partially. "Sir." he just said looking annoyed a bit. He was waiting for someone.

"At ease, men," Miller said, returning the salutes with a nod. "I'm not gonna bite your heads off." He quickly recalled the details of each soldier's personnel file that he had stored in the electronic sector of his brain. They're so young. Good and bad in that, I suppose. The handsome Nepleslian smiled, musing on thoughts of his own ambitious past. He glanced at Jet's duffel bag, the many guns blistering out of it. Looks like we've got a Rambo here. Fun. Miller ignored his rudeness for the time being, thinking it rather ironic. He extended his hand to each soldier. "I am Captain Jack Miller of the Star Army of Nepleslia. I will be your commanding officer for this ship you see before you. That reminds me, isn't she a pretty fuckin' nice ship?"

" Even a rose has its thorns sir, pretty, but a femme fatale. I am Soldier 3rd Class Fian Vel Steyr, pleased to meet you." Fian said as he shook the commanding officer's hand as he un-tensed himself. "Absolutely can’t wait to take her out for a spin."

Matthew immediately moved to parade rest out of habit as the Captain introduced himself. Well, at least my hunch was correct, the young man thought before blinking in surprise as the man held out his hand. Not one to be rude, the young man at least took Jack's hand in a firm grip and shook it before he glanced over at the prototype. "I'll leave my opinion about it open until I can check out its computer system," the young man replied with a hint of inadequacy in his voice. Socializing wasn't really his forte, it was wise to keep his comments short for now. He wanted to test the waters so to speak in an effort to keep his foot out of his mouth.

Jet shook the captain’s hand with a hard strong grip but still looked relatively unphased by it. "I'll tell you my opinion of it later after I see the interior," he said non-chalantly. "Sub Lieutenant Jet Endurain." he said in introduction.. "Sorry if I look annoyed but I was hoping to see someone here but they haven't shown up or are already on board.'

As he shook each crewmember's hands, Miller looked at them, almost as if sizing them up. The first man was incredibly young, as indicated by his rank pin of soldier 3rd class. The soldier's three moles on his left cheek helped to enhance his youthful look as well. But that single white hair that seemed to jut out of the forest of his unkempt hair really stood out to him.

The next man in line appeared a little older, but only barely. What was surprising was his rather monumental leap to Cadet 1st grade. That only told him one thing: that this soldier was a graduate from officer's school. And that meant he was untested. He hoped whatever the school saw in this soldier would shine on the field.

The final man in the line, the rather nonchalant 'I'm-too-cool-for-you' guy, poured off a kind of callous machismo in his words and actions. The captain shrugged inside of his head at this, having grown up all his life around these kinds of fellows. He could tell that this man had some prior connections with the streets, maybe a little paranoia from all those guns he carried. What struck the captain the most, however, were his light red eyes. Indeed a rarity.

"okay men, now that we've finished with the pleasantries, I want you all to give me 25 pushups. NOW."

It was after the initial pleasantries were dispensed that a man wearing a long red coat over his Nepleslian uniform showed up, distributing his weight between his legs and a black cane in his hand. "Reporting for duty captain." he said while holding out a datapad which contained a copy of his orders and personnel file.

"Well well. Late as usual Wazu." Jet smirked at him looking over his shoulder, but before he was to give miller the 25. "I see you got out of the hospital alright."

Wazu just chuckled at the irony of that statement as he waited for a response from the captain.

The Captain took the datapad from the newcomer's hand and read over it. He looked at the man incredulously before motioning with the datapad to the line. "Form up beside the others. I see with your disability that it would be unfair to give you 25 pushups. I ask for 10."

"You, be quiet until you've finished your pushups," he snapped at Jet. "Damn."

Jet just looked at the captain with concealed distain and nodded and went down to do the 25, of course 25 being nothing to someone who had done well over 1000 in basic.

Wazu just smiled, "I'm afraid with this leg I might go down to do 10 pushups but I wouldn't be getting back up without help."

The captain nodded, changing the statement. "okay, 10 crunches then. Can you do those?"

"Very well, it would seem that physical activity will not be avoided by this body today." Wazu began the process of lying down and performing the crunches, straining through them more so than the others.

"Well you'll feel better once you get to your computer data." Jet smirked as he kept going, still around 10 though.

"What part of shut up until you are finished do you not understand, soldier?! Aren't you a sub lieutenant!?" The captain glared at Jet.

Heh heh heh. Jet smirked and kept going counting them off in his head as he continued.

"Fifteen, sir. Sixteen, sir," Matthew continued to say as he glanced over at the newcomer. Wow...even the guy with the cane gets to do pushups, the cadet thought in surprise. I guess I better be on my guard serving under Miller. The way he came in all casually and then ask for pushups, maybe he's a guy who just likes physical exertion or having his crew in top form. Or maybe he's a sadist, both are equally possible. "Twenty-three, sir. Twenty-four, sir. Twenty-five, sir." Matthew finished before hopping back to his feet and standing at attention, his expression completely neutral even with the annoyance of doing the pushups haunting the dark corners of his mind.

Wazu finally worked through the tenth crunch and started to stand up, leaning heavily on the cane as he pulled himself to an upright position. "Well, It is good to know that some things are still working like they should." Once upright he remained at the ready, just off to the side from where the other recruits were.

"Remember men, as long as you're around me, unless command says otherwise, I am the person with the biggest cock in the room. You don't question my orders. You don't give me shit outside of a 'yes sir.' IS THAT CLEAR?" The captain seemed to have become furious.

Jet jumped up after the pushups and picked up his bag again and adjusted how it hung over his shoulder. "Yes sir." he said idly. Man it bad been a long time since he had to say that to anyone

Wazu simply said, "yes sir."

"Sir, yes sir," Matthew replied, though, the young man couldn't help but heave a mental sigh at the "I have the biggest cock" phrase. He'd known a few upperclassmen in his day that loved to say that, maybe it was a phrase many people in power said to their subordinates. Well, it didn't really matter, Captain Jack Miller was the CO and his word was law until someone higher than him said otherwise. And besides, the young Lionheart probably wouldn't be getting bored anytime soon.

The change in demeanor from the captain was startling. It was like he was angry one second, then calm and collected the next. "At ease. Look guys, I'm really a nice person. I want you all to have a good time on our ship, and why not? it is a prototype that's gonna send fear down the spine's of our foes. But the reality of our current situation does not change. We are military men, and when the pressure starts to build, I expect you all to follow the chain of command. Our survival will depend on it. When we're not performing duties, I don't care what you're up to, as long as it is not causing any harm to the other crewmembers."

The captain looked each soldier in the eyes, his calmness a little unnerving. "But when something happens and I need you, I want your undivided attention and loyalty." He smirked, his eyes having a mischievous glint in them. "I don't care if you're masturbating in the shower. When you hear the signal, you come running, boner and all."

Jet put his had to his mouth to keep from laughing out loud at that but didn't say anything other than a nod of agreement.

Wazu nodded, a slight smirk still on his face. He erased that smirk before he asked, "I would assume that under normal circumstances clothing is not optional?"

This time, Matthew couldn't help but allow his neutral expression to drop as the captain's disturbingly erratic mood swings caused the cadet to look at Jack as if he were an escaped lunatic. It only took a moment to regain his composure though as the captain spoke calmly to his crew. Though the bit with the shower caused the young cadet to smile in amusement.

"I don't think anybody wants to be distracted by dong, Wazu," the captain said passively as he started to walk towards the elevator. "Follow me. We're gonna get on this baby. Oh, and call me Jack."

Where is she...she said she'd meet me here. Jet thought for a moment before starting toward the ship after Miller quietly. "Jack it is."

"Alright Jack," Wazu said as he made his way toward the elevator.

Fian narrowed his eyes upon the erratic captain and maintained a 5 foot distance between Jack and himself as he followed the latter to the elevator. "Do ready me a compilation of the captain's records, Elsae." Fian whispered. "As you wish."

Grabbing his duffle bag, the young Cadet followed behind the Sub-lieutenant and Wazu as he cleared his throat quietly. "I'm hope it is alright if I continue to call you, Captain, sir," Matt replied cautiously. "I didn't even call people by their first names when I was a civilian," he stated as he kept at least a couple of feet between him and the people in front of him.

An engineer met the group in the elevator. He was an older Nepleslian man with wild gray hair and a bushy beard. "Here you are, sir," he said as he handed the Captain a datapad. Jack Miller didn't so much as glance at the datapad as hand it to Wazu. "it is the ship's specifications. Look over it and tell me what you think."

Jet just relaxed waiting for it to lift into the ship and yawned some sighing a bit.

The elevator seemed to creep forever. "So guys, what did you do before the military?"

Wazu nodded. "It is a Nermian ship design so I would expect it to act as such. I wouldn't expect too much finesse from the ship but I would expect it to be loaded with weapons with its internal structure maximized for prolonged conventional fighting." After the question about what happened before the military Wazu simply responded with, "Nothing of interest."

"I babysat" Fian replied, half in sarcasm and half truth.

Matt kept quite for a moment as he listened to see if others would answer the Captain. After two responses had been given, Matt decided he might as well give Jack a proper answer. "I was an apprentice Computer Systems Tech on a civilian transport," was all the cadet said as he fiddled with the zipper on his duffle bag.

"Heh," Jet said listening to the other people on the lift. "I want to know what this baby's armed with"

"The primary armament is an Aether Shock Cannon and that is backed up with various energy beam weapons." Wazu said.

Fian looked at Jet and folded up his sleeve, showing his long forearm scar. "You don’t want to know, Jet." He said, jokingly.

Jet whistled. "Nice." He looked at Fian. "Baby with a knife, kid?"

"Two knives, actually" Fian replied, but looking straight ahead, signaling that the conversation was for another time.

"For the uneducated, that means big ass gun," Jack replied casually. The elevator stopped and opened, and the engineer escorted the group down a long ramp that connected the elevator to the ship. As they entered the ship's bay, the captain couldn't contain his joy. "Welcome home, guys."

ON: Prototype DD4

"Right this way, gentlemen," the Nepleslian engineer said as he lead the group through the cavernous loading bay that served as their entrance into the ship. It was a wide, open area of catwalks, ladders and heavy machinery. Everything was metal: efficient and strong, yet slightly intimidating as well.

As their steps rang against the metallic grated floor, the engineer continued. "This is the loading bay for the ship. It doubles as a deployment center and a maintenance location."

Captain Miller nodded, glancing back at his crew. "Do any of you fly power armors or ships well?"

"’Fraid not. My speciality is arms." Jet said as he walked along slightly behind him his hard-soled boots making small sounds as he walked over the metal surface. "I wouldn't know the first thing about piloting."

"About five hundred hours on the simulator, two hundred live, sir." Fian said, seeing that the rest of the party didn’t look like pilots. "Mostly the cheaper ones like the Gammas and Deltas."

"I know some basic ship operation, but I'm not sure I'd be an effective ship pilot," Matt spoke up a little distracted as he looked at the ship he would be serving on. I can't believe it...this is different from a civilian transport. Way different. he thought as he turned his head towards the Captain. "But I believe with a little practice I could at least be decent."

"Hm, okay." Captain Miller processed the replies in his mind.

"Don't worry captain," the engineer chimed in. "We've taken into account the need for crewmembers to fit piloting roles for power armors and small fighters. We need to test the mecha we've been given."

"What mecha?" Miller replied.

Jet continued along in silence and sighed some. "all this metal...not that warm and welcoming is it. I mean hell the streets had some kind of warmth but this is like a massive icebox." He muttered to himself and looked over to the engineer. "Mecha?"

"Well, mainly the different variety of Phalanx and ground-based armors that the NDI alliance has provided us," the robed Nepleslian responded. "Supposedly, you'll have a marine contingent at your disposal."

"Ah, well, that's good," Miller said, rubbing his chin as the group reached the elevator.

The massive elevator opened, large enough to fix several crates, perhaps even a mecha. "Next stop, Mess hall,” the elevator chimed.

"Are ya'll hungry?" Miller asked absently to his crew.

"I could eat." Jet said. "dunno bout the rest of you guys." He sighed, still feeling a bit down which was unlike him.

"I haven't eaten since leaving groundside," Matt replied as he shifted a bit. "So, I guess I'm a bit hungry."

"Yeah, me too. Hopefully the place will be stocked when we get there." Miller was surprised at the rumblings of his own stomach, but then he remembered that he hadn't eaten since he left in the morning. I guess I let my excitement get the best of me.

The elevator moved to the second floor of the ship, where it opened into a large hallway. "okay, the mess hall is straight and to the right. There should be some food prepared for you."

"Hopefully," Jet said as he smirked. "Then I guess we'll end up drunk." He let out a short laugh

The fluorescent lighting overhead lit the hallway well as they walked along a dark green carpet to the cafeteria door. The door effortlessly slid open, revealing to the crew the place they'd spend their meals for the mission.

The mess hall was utilitarian in design, seemingly with a focus on sanitation. Several rows of metallic tables were laid out cafeteria style at each end of the large room, with a wide avenue dividing the room. Stools spaced approximately 2 feet apart for Nepleslian tables and 5 feet apart for ID-SOL table were bolted to the floor, perhaps as a means to prevent drunken food fights from getting ugly. The tables, as well, were bolted to the floor with heavy metal screws. The avenue between the tables led to a small stage against the far wall.

In the far left corner of the room, a swinging door led to the kitchen.

"It looks like a metallized bar." Jet blinked looking around at it all and looked around some more, stepping inside and kicked the legs of the tables lightly. "Nice and secure. Good."

From the kitchen a delicious smell was emanating, obviously someone was inside, busy already.

"Not too shabby," Miller said, tapping one of the tables with his fist. "A little bit of cloth wouldn't hurt, though."

Sort of reminds me of the transport, Matt thought as he looked around the cafeteria. Staying silent, the young cadet ran a hand across the table before lightly tapping it.

Wazu just took a seat at one of the tables, resting his cane by his side.

A tall Geshrin woman came out of the kitchen, she had long blonde hair and teal blue eyes with a nicely-toned build with a very ample bust line constrained by the uniform she was wearing. Fortunately it was the male uniform, she looked over at Miller, not knowing he was the captain. "That's because nobody's put any on them yet moron." She said in a huff. One would think it was obvious honestly.

Jet blinked looking up and blushed some and smirked a bit he knew who this was. It was good to see her again.

Matt blinked towards the Geshrin woman in both surprise and confusion. "Uh...ma'am, did you just call the Captain a ‘moron’?" the Cadet asked.

"What the living fuck," Miller stiffened, turning slowly to face the person who had insulted him. Then he noticed it was a female. That didn’t change anything. "Well, look what we have here." He took his datapad out and brought up the crew manifest. "If it isn't SOLDIER THIRD CLASS Masako Kyushi, fresh from Yamatai. A pleasure to see you, ma'am. I'm sure you're cooking will delight us all after you give me 25 pushups."

"Men, please take a seat at this table here," Miller said turning to his crew. "We're expecting a rather large party for a briefing."

She looked toward him and perked a brow "He's the captain. I couldn't tell I thought another gorilla escaped from the genetics lab." She grinned viciously and pouted a bit. "Aww do I haveta?" She asked giving him a cute pout, batting the eyelashes, and going down to do the 25 pushups quickly. Like all Privates, she did all too many. But when she was done, she looked past him and let out a squeal and, in a flurry of motion, tackled Jet onto his back and nuzzled against him. "Hmm, Jet I missed you.”

Jet blushed and stood up and let her hug on him like she always did. "I know I missed you too. I knew you were here somewhere."

Soon enough, people started milling into the cafeteria. Most were marines of the Nepleslian and ID-SOL variety, but a few unidentified ‘things’ were among them as well. They were dressed down in civilian garb but had a grizzled roughness about them. One hulking ID-SOL, the leader of the contingent, saluted Miller before returning to seat his group at the left side of the cafeteria. There were 30 in all.

Sitting down at the table, the cadet placed his bag behind him and looked up to see the marines file in. Crikey, these guys are huge. I only hope I can stay on their good side the young Lionheart thought as he looked over towards Masako and Jet. And what's the deal with those two?

Afterwards, a different group of Nepleslians entered. They were dressed in formal military garb of varying ranks and took a seat at the side Miller and the others were sitting. They were the remaining crewmembers of the ship. In total, 42 people were seated in the room, anxiously awaiting food and orders.

The dull noise of chattering crowded everyone's ears. Miller smiled inwardly: these were all his men. "Looks like we're going to be doing something fun."

Moments later, a microphone slid up from the base of the stage, as did a small panel open up in the center of each table, revealing LEDs. "Don't quote me on this, guys, but I think the Grand Admiral's going to give us a brief speech before we get down to business..." Miller was thrilled. He'd never met the Grand Admiral and now it was the man himself Christening the ship that he would command. It sent shivers down his spine.

Masako let him go and looked around. "Guess I need to get back to the kitchen and finish up." She said and kissed his cheek lightly and started off, vanishing into the sliding doors of the kitchen in a moment. Jet blushed and sat down, stretching a bit. "Just like back home,” he smirked wryly as he looked around some. "Apparently so.” he agreed with Miller.

Wazu continued to busy himself with his sitting down and taking out a datapad of his own to poke at which was holding his interest quite well.

Matthew continued sitting silently, looking around the room at the crewmates conversing with one another. Naturally, the young Cadet kept silent as everyone seemed to greet one another in either a friendly or indifferent way. Though, the young man couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to meet the Grand Admiral in person. This will definitely be something to tell the old man one day, Matt thought as he glanced at the only female in the room run back to the kitchen and then looked towards Wazu. He seems to be a technically inclined fellow, I wonder how good he is with computer systems, he continued to think as he sighed lightly and cracked his neck. Speaking of which, I hope I get my hands on this ship's computer soon...maybe give it a test run.

True to the Captain’s words, the entrance to the cafeteria slid open and into the room stepped the aging Nepleslian leader. He walked slowly toward the stage, his cane leading him down to the stage. He looked the same as he always did, for his image had to be concrete and resolute. His clean green officer's outfit was covered with various ribbons and medals, in the exact same order as they were when he delivered speeches or appeared on posters. His brown eyes glimmered with thought, his steps measured and meaningful. He knew how to discretely play up the importance of things through body movement, and this definitely was no light matter. Davis moved his head slightly to his left, where Miller and the others were sitting. He briefly made eye contact with Jet and Wazu, nodding ever so lightly in approval.

"SENIOR OFFICER ON DECK," shouted the ID-SOL. With that, the entire marine contingent stood and turned toward the man with a thudding stomp of their feet and a salute.

With that, Jet did as well snapping a salute up as well.

Miller, awestruck, but not so much as to make a critical error in etiquette, stood up as well.

"Senior officer on deck,” Miller shouted. “Attention!”

Wazu braced himself against the table to bring himself to a standing position, saluting and going through the motions of the ceremony. Through body language and eye contact he acknowledged the Admiral's glance but let it only at that.

The instant he heard the command, Matt's body moved on its own as he snapped up and saluted the Grand Admiral. The loud bang of knees hitting metal table rang loudly as the cadet's knee's collided with it, but the young man stayed standing straight and his stance as military as possible. Matt's face couldn't help but contort slightly in a wince of pain before returning to a neutral state.

The Grand Admiral took his place at the microphone, brushing his grey mustache and beard before placing his arms behind his back.

"You may be seated, soldiers."

After the ruffling noise of several people sitting died down, Davis cleared his throat and cast a long look into the room, sweeping from left to right.

"My fellow Nepleslians, finally we see the fruits of our labor. For more than a year have we toiled to secure our independence, to be free of servitude to those who once chained us. The path has been arduous, to say the least, and the difficulty only seems to increase with each passing day. But even in the face of such adversity, when some of our own men, corrupted by greed and Yamataian desire, rebel under the colors of a blood-red flag, we stand resolute. We will not back down, nor will we submit to the demands of terrorists."

"Those who have ties to Yamatai too strong to break are rightfully cast out from our society, for they introduce a great threat to the security of our nation. We cannot be enraptured by a neighbor who, at this very moment, is quashing the rights of their people in the name of efficiency. Some of those here today are victims of that terrible regime."

“But, where they falter, we stand. We have not been spending the last year lightly. We have joined forces with an ally that holds the best interests of HUMANITY in mind, not the cravings of a power-hungry empire. With their help, we have built the very ship that you see here, The DD4 destroyer."

He raised his arms into the air.

"THIS is our voice, my fellow Nepleslians. THIS is our guarantee of safety from the ogres of the universe."

Davis paused again, putting his arms down, his eyes reflecting the serious tone in his voice.

“Today we take to the stars as an independent nation, with ships crafted from our own hands that can rival those of Yamatai. But to say that we are prepared for an attack from that empire would be foolishness. The only way we can be prepared for what seems to be an inevitable conflict is to grow. Therefore, as we take our empire to the stars, so must we expand its planetary borders."

"The DD4 is well-equipped to handle the rigors of space exploration, as the NDI has guaranteed. Today, we put that statement to the test. You will be exploring planets to the northwest of our empire, finding suitable planets for colonization, and securing them."

"However, the path may be wrought with peril. The SMX are straining the resources of Yamatai to their thinnest, and that means that rogue ships of their empire may be traveling in the same space we will be. We have an agreement of neutrality with them, but such an agreement is tenuous at best. I pray that there will not be any bloodshed on this mission, but, if you are forced to, you will strike at the enemy. Strike them deliberately and strike them viciously."

The Grand Admiral took a moment to breathe.

"Captain Miller will give you the rest of the information at a later time. This afternoon will be allocated to familiarizing yourselves with the ship. Remember, my fellow Nepleslians. Take pride in the journey that you are about to embark on. You are the pioneers of the DD4, the men who will have their names recorded in the history books as the first who asserted Nepleslia's space dominance. Take that pride into your heart. Shape it to your will so that it makes you unbreakable. And when you return home, know that the pride that you have will be shared by your fellow citizens and all those you love. For that will be the time that Nepleslia fears no one. Thank you, and good luck."

As the Grand Admiral's speech ended, Cadet Matthew Lionheart found himself standing up and clapping with his fellow crewmates and the marines. His face seemed to be to have a look of awe as the Grand Admiral left the room with a wave. So that's the Grand Admiral, a man of charisma, Matt thought in amazement.

Jet applauded just a bit before sitting back down, being one of few words and such for the moment. He chuckled a bit looking at Davis for the moment as he exited the room and relaxed. "always a good man"

Wazu reached for his cane and headed for the exit amidst the claps and cheers the admiral was receiving.

Like the rest of the masses who stood up and clapped, Fian Vel Steyr was impressed by the Grand Admiral's speech. Firstly because he was new to these rousing speeches, and secondly while being silent throughout the past thirty minutes, what the Grand Admiral said was something he thoroughly agrees on. Unfortunately for Fian, the ID Sol next to him is much more capable of clapping louder.

Captain Miller grinned widely as he clapped. "That's a true Nepleslian right there!" Maybe someday I'll be that man... Miller burned with ambition, and the Grand Admiral's words only kindled those flames. After the applause died down, food was served, an assortment of sandwiches, meats and vegetables. "Eat up, guys, before the ID-SOLs gulp down everything. You ever see one of them eat? Whew..."

That Evening...

Jack Miller sat on a stool in the cafeteria at the table nearest the stage, dressed in street clothes, as had been the order for that day after the Grand Admiral left.

He had a datapad resting on his table, but wasn't looking at it. Instead, he was leaning against the table, facing the stage, thinking.

He had called the other immediate crewmembers to the cafeteria to discuss certain matters...

"What's wrong Sir?" One of Masako's assistants asked him as she served up a drink. "You look like someone just spit in your coffee." The young geshrin woman said, she had short cut brown hair with vibrant green eyes with a nice figure if a little on the petite side.

"Oh, thanks." Miller nodded to the lady with a smile, sniffing the drink. "Smells like some good liquor. Vodka, I take it."

With an approving toast to her, he sipped the drink, then smacked his lips, letting out a long sigh.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm excited about everything. I'm excited for the crew and our empire. We're going to make some history here. I can only imagine how the crew feels. Hell, how do you feel about all this?"

He put the glass down on the table.

"Oh, I'm expecting others. Could you prepare a pitcher of some sort?"

"Oh I see." She nodded giving him a small chuckle when he raised the glass in the toast. "Well yea it is vodka, some of the best stuff we could procure on short notice." She went on to explain and listened to what he was saying about being excited and all.

"Well this is my first time on a ship like this I guess I"m a bit nervous, excited, suspicious, all of that." The young soldier third class said. When he mentioned the pitcher the girl who would later be revealed to be named Rin nodded. "Sure what do you want in it? Can't be sure everyone will want something hard like you do." She said.

"Grab a pitcher of water with some ice in it," Miller said, winking at the cute lady. "Add another pitcher of juice too. Any type. If we need some liquor, I'll grab it from the kitchen myself."

"Sure." She said and turned to head back into the kitchen and returned soon enough with a pitcher full of water with ice in it and set it down on the table and disappeared and came back with a pitcher of fruit juice. "That's all that's cold at the moment." Rin said.

"Sir?" A voice came from the cafeteria door. Fian Vel Steyr was dressed in a warm casual green jacket as he made his way across the empty room to where the captain sat.

Sensing the informal mood, Fian took a seat across the captain and sat without going through the usual 'Permission to sit' protocol. He gave a slight nod to the waitress and drained a whole cup of cold water.

When he was done he anxiously laid the glass aside, waiting for the captain's next move.

The captain sighed a bit at the newcomer, and the apparent tightness about him.

"Look, I said call me Jack," Miller said, waving his liquor glass around with a scowl on his face. "You'll have plenty of time to call me sir when we're on a mission. Loosen up a bit. It'll help you keep calm under pressure."

He slugged the vodka and signalled to the Geshrin lady to get the liquor out by raising his now-empty glass.

The Nepleslian smiled at the soldier, tapping the glass on his head and casually saluting him with it.

"I think I want to get plastered tonight. How about you? Are you a drinker?"

"Um, a c-c-ceremonial drinker yes." The young Vel Steyr stammered. He held on to his glass for about ten seconds, thinking and analizing the reflection of the captain on the glass. He still felt that it was akward to address a superior officer so casually.

Summoning out a bit of courage, Fian raised his glass and said "If it takes a drunken stupor and a hangover in the morning for me to loosen up and call you by your first name, then bring it on .... Sir!" with a slight grin.

Rin blinked and bowed to the newcomer giving him a warm smile as her pretty eyes caroused his appearance. "What would you like sir?" She asked in a soft voice, Rin wasn't that loud a person and often didnt' do well in large groups. The other three girls who managed the mess were out intheir own quarters settling in for the moment.

Fian is a firm beliver in friends by fire, but he guess figthing pink elephants works too. "Whatever the captain is having, except with a lot more ice." He said, looking at the geshrin waitress in the face with the same grin ( And trying not to look anywhere else, like a little below the neckline ).

Rin nodded and turned on her heel and went into the kitchen and came out again with a glass of vodka just with more ice in it for Fian. "here you go. Just don't get hammered before everyone gets here."

Having to pull himself away from the ship's computer system was tough, incredibly tough, for the young Lionheart to do. "This ship exceeds all expectations," the young man thought out loud with a satisfied smirk on his face. "Though I only accessed some of the basic systems so far, I think I delve a bit deeper into the computer system tomorrow," he kept talking to himself as he rounded the doorway to the kitchen. He still wore the uniform's pants and boots, but the uniform shirt had been replaced with a simple white undershirt.

The smile still on his face, the young man couldn't help but stay formal with the Captain around. After all, the freshly drilled formalities he learned at the academy were still there, the only difference was that the young cadet didn't salute. It was an informal atmosphere, so there was no need. "Good evening Captain, Steyr," he greeted both men as he sat down.

"HELL YEAH! Now that's what I like to hear!" Jack Miller was obviously loosened up, at least as things now appeared. "This is some good shit, Fian. Drink up."

He had filled his glass again when the computer-savvy Lionheart entered.

"Good evening, Cadet! Now I order you to grab yourself a glass of alcohol and CHUG! And call me JACK, damn it!"

The Nepleslian giggled, a giddy warm feeling going through him as he spun in his seat slowly.

"Round and round and where the HELL is everyone else!?" The captain took a sip of his drink, visibly steaming a little bit, but harmlessly, like the way a child who does not get a toy from his parents would do.

"We have important matters to discuss here!"

A slender silhouette showed itself coming up to the ship. The feminine looking being approached the large vessel with a feeling of disgust.

"Men… always compensating for their inadequacy." Chris muttered.

It was a man. The long orange hair and sleek curves belonged to a Nepleslian male, who had just criticized the entire gender as a whole.

Ironically joining the Nepleslian Army was the last thing Chris wanted to do, but with his inability to work well with males he didn't have much other choice planet side.

"Ugh I'm going to have to take orders from a male. The thought alone disgusts me. Come on old girl, you can do this. You need to save up for that upgrade. At least you won’t have to deal with many of them being in the kitchen all day."

Once aboard the ship he had made his way directly to the kitchen hoping to avoid all contact of the masculine persuasion. When he got there he noticed three males at the table. Two had the attire of a commoner so he had dismissed them as mere garbage; the other seemed to be just another grunt which was worse then garbage. Dismissing the males he pushed past the kitchen doors. The woman however caught his attention, but seeing as she was serving the men he’d have time to talk with her later.

Rin looked at the two newcomers and smiled politely at them. "Can I get you anything?" She asked them as she nodded to them. After a bit a pretty, young blue-haired elven girl came in yawning, rubbing her eyes sleepily and almost bumped into Chris and Lionheart. "Oh sorry." She said in a quiet almost timid tone as she skirted around them and headed for the kitchen wearing the usual uniformat. "Morning Rin." She smiled to the other girl who giggled. "Slept in late again huh Azumi?" She giggled.

"yeah"

Matt blinked incredulously at Jack as before looking up at Rin. "I'll just have a scotch on the rocks," the cadet responded before looking back towards the Captain. "Sorry sir, I'm....uncomfortable with first names....can I just call you Miller?" the young man asked as he felt someone brush past him.

Looking over his shoulder, he basically got a good view of elven behind as Azumi headed towards the kitchen. If it had been any guy other than Matthew, they probably would have stared until she left the room. Matt, on the other hand, seemed to stare for half the time before turning his head towards the new person in the room.

With a single glance, Matt could only raise and eyebrow in utter confusion as he looked at Chris. "Eh?" was all that came out of the young cadet's mouth before deciding not to bother with it. "Welcome aboard," Matt greeted Chris mechanically, yet politely.

Chris noticed the young lad was talking to him. He gave him a hard look before turning his head away.

"Save it male!"

He then turned his attention to Rin, his attitude was much warmer.

"Oh don't you worry dear, if I ever need anything I'll just get it myself. I wouldn't want to bother you. Oh and if you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask me."

Chris turned back to the 3 men and got mean again.

"So where's the filthy Alpha Male of this ship? Surly you men can at least handle pointing me in the right direction."

The young cadet could only glance back at Chris again, this time with a somewhat annoyed look. damn it, I maybe a cadet, but I'm technically still an officer, the young man thought before sighing. "No need to be hostile," he muttered as he crossed his arms and gave the orange-haired person a neutral expression.

"I'm Cadet First Class Matthew Lionheart," he introduced as calmly as he could make himself. "Since this is an informal gathering, you can call me Matt, Matthew, Lionheart, whatever you please," he said with a hint of apathy.

"Captain Jack Miller is this man right here," the cadet motioned towards Jack before returning his gaze back to Chris and narrowing his eyes. "So, try to act at least a hint civil and not like a rampaging feme-nazi."

"Male will work just fine for you. I'd be surprised if you even knew what civil meant."

Beyond that remark Chris ignored Matt's pressence. He instead focused on the captin.

"So you're the captin? A bit scruffy aren't ya? Well I can't say I'm surprised. Here you are in command of a whole ship and you're just sitting here getting drunk. Well...sir... I'd like to know where I'm to be stationed so I can get some work done, or would you prefer it if I went to the kitchen and got you another drink?"

(If I cant post yet, please forgive me.)

Beads of sweat irritated him as they tickled the very top of his forehead, and his arm muscles burned everytime he went down. Sex was always a wild ride for him, which usually left him and the woman exhausted afterward. Thankfully, this wasn't such an occasion. Ran and a few other Sergeant Grades were in a circle, betting on how many push-ups could be done.

"Comeon, you fucking pussy! Work those fucking arms!" One of the upper Sergeants shouted into his ear, reminding him of his late guardian. Such a thought, and such motivation, inspired him on to beat the other Sub Sergeant he was competing against by thirty three pushups: a new company record of 410 in one and a half minutes. "Motherfuckers. Motherfucking assholes" Ran swore through a toothy grin and a light chuckle, accepting the money from each of the NCOs, who were undoubtedly disappointed at this.

"So what do you think we've been called for on this ship, Sub Sergeant?" One of the Soldier 2nd Class asked, heaving a heavy box from the supply room to the kitchen, getting back to work. "Fuck if I know" Ran's voice seemed to boom toward the lower-ranking, but still experienced, Soldier. "Now get that food to the kitchen upstairs. I'd like some food later on tonight." Being Space Marines, they were treated like shit. And this particular group was the worst-behaved, and thus were relegated to grunt work. "I might just have your sister to eat tonight" Despite the simplicity of this insult, the remaining Sergeants howled with laughter towards the poor Soldier 2nd Class, who flipped Ran the bird.

At that moment, a Master Soldier dashed into the room, knocking the Soldier 2nd Class over, as well as the food he carried, which ellicited a single "FUCK!!!" from all of the Space Marines working in the supply room. "We're goin' to war, motherfuckers!" The Master Soldier said, not bothering to hide his southern accent. "Pack your rifles, boys! We're gonna pop this Master Soldier's Combat Cherry!" Ran shouted, cheering with the rest of the men in the supply depot. They were crazy. But as Space Marines, they had to be. They treated each other like shit, but loved each other like brothers do. With grimey hands would they crawl through the muck and dirt and spit and sweat and blood and grime and gore of combat.

Jack Miller blinked. Twice. The verbal tirade coming from the newest crewmember passed over him as he smiled warmly.

"Welcome to the NSS Alliance, Chris "Kathleen" Young," he said as he stood up and waved to her. "I am the Captain of this vessel, Jack Miller."

His eyes twitched a little, a subtle sign that his computer-modified brain was at work.

"It seems like you're stationed in the kitchen, but you can take it easy tonight. Hell, I'll even overlook how you disrespected not one but TWO superior officers. it is like you won the lottery! Now get the hell out of my face."

With that, he turned away from the caretaker and faced the young cadet nearby.

"You're a warrant officer, son, but you've got to learn how to act like one. When the time comes, people are going to look to YOU for orders, and that's something that no amount of schooling can teach."

He put his glass down on the table and narrowed his eyes.

"There are dozens of marines on this ship, men who wouldn't think twice of punching your lights out if you didn't have that rank on your arm right there. If you let a caretaker push you around like that, imagine what the marines will do."

With that, his mood lightened.

"Don't be afraid to be tough."

On their way to the kitchen, after such a hard day of work, the few Marine NCOs caused enough loud noise to ellicit the rage of their commanding warrant officer who assigned them to Latriene Duty for the next two days. Ran, once again resisting the urge to crack him on the jaw with his wrench, saluted him begrudgingly and walked with the rest of the NCOs to the kitchen for some food. The motley bunch, some wearing no service jackets and some wearing them with the sleeves rolled up, some wearing the berets and some sticking them in the back pockets of their pants, marched through the cafeteria, but not before taking notice of the Superior Officers there.

"Shit" Ran muttered to himself, signaling for the rest of the Marine NCOs to straighten their uniforms up as much as they could without the Officers seeing. "Officers on deck!" The senior-most Sergeant shouted, as the rest of the NCOs stood at attention and saluted, each hiding his general distaste for the rank structure. But he heard that this Captain was alright, and not to mention, their commanding officer. He flashed a grin to the Captain and a very subtle glare at the Warrant Officer next to him, before going back to the kitchen line.

(GM Edit: Good post, but had to edit out the mention of lieutenants in the marines. The highest-ranking marine is a cadet 1st grade. Please refer to this post for more info. Thanks.)

Miller chuckled at the marines, returning a salute of his own, then picked up his glass and lifted it to them.

"Good work, men. After you're done, grab yourselves a glass of this stuff here and enjoy the evening. Just don't wreck anything. Word has it that we may have a busy day tomorrow!"

Miller had a soft spot in his heart for Nepleslia's infanty. He earned his rank clawing up from the bottom of the barrel and had fond memories of his early days in his infantry squad.

"Tell Cadet Willis I said hi!"

He sat back down at the table and checked his datapad.

"okay, everyone should be here shortly."

The change in demeanor was apparant. Just minutes ago, the Captain looked like he was on his way to a drunker stupor. Now, he was as lucid as ever.

"...The hell is this shit? We've been bringing this stuff up from the supply depot?" The Marines looked genuinely disappointed at the fruits of their labor, but jumped in joy at the opportunity to have a good drink. Ran got a look at Rin, and playfully made a "kissing face" towards her, followed by a wink. With their trays in hands, they looked for a place to sit. Finding no one empty table, the rest of them split up after playfully punching each other in the right shoulder. Ran himself took a seat next to the young Warrant Officer. "Mind if I sit here, sir?" He half-heartedly asked, sitting down next to Lionheart.

"So, you're the newest Officer here, are you?" He said, taking breaks in between to wolf up his food, seeking not for it to taste good, but for it to fill his stomach. "Sergeant Ran, Planetary Infantry" He said without holding a hand to shake with. He himself had a soft spot for Warrant Officers. Not quite Enlisted and not quite Officer, they seemed to be a lot less arrogant than most of the officers here. "What's your job, son?" He noted the unit patch on the Warrant Officer's uniform. "Technical Guy, huh...?" He sighed, noting the growing lack of Infantry officers and enlisted men.

________________________________________
(OOC: Sorry about that, old habits die hard I guess, but I'll try to separate the two as much as possible. I don't know why Captain keeps getting misspelled, I always check my posts in word first; I'll check my spellchecker.)

Chris was pleased that he was stationed in the kitchen. The captain earned bonus points with him by throwing Kathleen in there. His slightly lesser annoyed mood towards men was quickly ruined by the loud mouthed bunch that just walked in.

Their grotesque appearance and vulgar language reaffirmed his image of males as a whole. He noticed the faces that the one now at the table made towards Rin, which upset and angered Chris.

"Show the lady some respect you bulking behemoth!"

Ran would sneer at the dude who shouted at him, but thanks to the thin scar that ran across his lips, he didn't need to. "Fuck you!" He raised a middle finger to Georgyboy, and as this happened, the rest of the Marine NCOs put their trays down and slowly stood up. There was always a degree of animosity between the Marines on board and the rest of the crewmembers, whom the Marines called "Sorry fuckers who are sucking off the teat of the Nepleslian Army."

"it is not like I'm fuckin' groping her or anything." He shouted this rather loudly, which caused most of the eaters to squirm uncomfortably in their seats. He stood up and looked over at Rin. "Miss, Im sorry for finding you attractive. Please, thank your little fanboy over here for saying that a man's eyes have no place looking at you." He said with obvious sarcasm, then sat back down.

Chris heard the shuffling of the other soldiers as Ran spoke which worried him a little. He didn't want to fight them all at once, though it would probably come down to that. He reminded himself that a single woman is worth a million men and stood his ground.

His disgust of men was overpowering, but he thought carefully about the situation in an unbiased tone. Though he would fight he wanted to think this out rationaly like a real woman would.

"Disgusting pig!"

He left for his post in the kitchen. His womanly side thought it best to just walk away, but his masculine side just had to of had the last word.

The young Lionheart listened to Jack intently before leaning back and looking up at the cieling pondering for a moment before nodding. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Miller," the young man replied before noticing a marine sitting right down beside him.

Quote:
"So, you're the newest Officer here, are you? Sergeant Ran, Planetary Infantry. What's your job, son? Technical Guy, huh...?"

"Uh, yeah, I am," Matt replied at first as he was bombarded with conversation. Still new to the whole socialization thing, Matt nodded slightly. "Cadet First Class Matthew Lionheart, Computer Systems Officer," the young Lionheart introduced as casually as possible.

Then the fireworks started to fly between the new Caretaker and the man sitting beside him. Gah...in the middle again, the warrant officer thought as his memories flashed back to similiar spats between fellow cadets. Wincing slightly as he heard shouting in his ear, the young Lionheart sighed before glancing over at Chris and standing up so that he was in between the caretaker and the marines. "Young, do my ears a favor and get to the kitchen before things escalate...anymore arguements and I won't ask nicely anymore." the warrant officer warned the oranged-haired man with growing annoyance.

Rin sighed a bit and continued to serve up the drinks and just shook her head some, Azumi hurrying into the back to cook up something to eat. "it is okay sir." She said. 'I have 5 brothers and grew up around a great deal of guys like you." Rin said in a smirk. "i"m used to comments like that, just please, keep your hands off us okay? it is really distracting and could make us spill your food or drinks." She said. "I know you didn't but I'm just warning you."

All the Marines who had stood up already held either their food trays or the chairs they were sitting on as weapons, ready for a rumble between the Crewmembers and the Marines. Ran waved them off, and walking towards the man, he smirked, balling his hands into fists. "You recognize the rank system we observe, shithead?" He said threateningly. "Or do you fucking caretakers live above every system?"

He almost pushed away the Warrant Officer he was talking to, but decided against it. He shot the man a triumphant look as the Warrant Officer told him to leave, and waved at him. "Sorry, sir." He wrapped his arm around the Warrant Officer's shoulder in a friendly way, and escorted him back to their seats, watching the Marines sit slowly back down. "I owe you a few drinks."

Chris had plenty on his mind to say back to them, but he decided against it. Even if they could comprehend that women are better then men, which he doubted, he'd have plenty of time to express that later. For now, however, he felt he had won enough battles against the males which if nothing else left his mark.

The kitchen was a welcomed relief from the "company" outside. He noticed the one that bumped into him earlier was back here as well.

The woman out there called her Azumi right?

He put on a smile and addressed her warmly.

"Hello, Azumi was it? Would you like any help?"

"Eh?" Matt mumbled in surprise as he felt an arm around his shoulder. Glancing back at the Sergeant, he followed the Marine back to their seats. Plopping himself back down in his seat, Matt took the glass of scotch he had asked for earlier and downed its contents in a single glup out of the annoyance of dealing with the cook. I swear...there's always one bastard of the bunch, the thought before sighing and looking back at Ran.

"Don't worry about it, Ran." Matt said a bit more calmly now. "I only wonder what that guy's problem is," he muttered before absent-mindly scratching the skin around his connection port. "Never had to deal with that type of attitude problem before," he continued muttered as he began to revert to his more anti-social nature out of habit.

"Aw, fuck him. Us Marines, thats who you need to worry about, sir." He took a drink, and his joking mood went away, which was evident in the way he stared through the Warrant Officer. "Listen. Most of us Marines are from the bottom pit of society. it is not uncommon to hear of one of us who was beaten, and noone raises an eyebrow at stories of druggie parents." He was telling the Warrant Officer for his own good, not just complaining..."For most of us, it was either jail or the Planetary Infantry. Just treat us with respect and we'll treat you the same way."

"Don't fool yourself. You're a technical guy. You're good at technical shit. We're Infantry. We kill." He sighed, downing another bottle of vodka, feeling the sweet burn hit his throat. "Society tends to look down on killers, wether they be on their side or the other's." He placed his beret back on his head and took his food tray in his hands. "You have no reason to be so shy from people. You got nothing to be ashamed of, like us." He gave the Warrant Officer a salute and walked off to dispose of his food tray, and waved bye to the NCOs. He needed sleep.

Azumi let out a surprised squeak and blushed a bit and looked at him. "Oh hi...uh I didn't catch your name." she said as Rin sighed coming in to get more alcohol for the soldiers. "Sheesh those guys are loud."

ON: NSS Alliance Cafeteria, Kitchen

Miller sat back for a moment, absorbing the all the commotion like a sponge would water. As things began to escalate, he remained calm and simply took another sip of his drink. This was Nepleslia, not Yamatai. It was understandable that everyone would have a chip on their shoulder. Besides, chips made you tough. After casting a quick glance to the marines across the hall, Miller listened in on the conversation between one of the marines and Lionheart.

"What was your name, again, Sergeant?"

One of the empty seats in the back of the dinning area was once again filled by the ship's science officer who was accompanied by a solid black cane and a limp. His hands remained on a datapad which occasionally received a few pokes and prods though this was more than he was giving to the food laid out on the table.

"Sergeant Ran Rui, Planetary Marine Infantry," He said, boasting the same deep and booming voice that he used when addressing officers that he rarely had no problem with. He stood up, placed his beret on his head and saluted to him. "Sir, I'm sorry for that confrontation earlier. Requesting permission to kick his ass for violating protocol with the rank system, sir!"

Rui flashed a grin to the Captain before pulling his saluting hand down. He used his peripheral vision to make sure that the hammer and safety on his sidearm were disengaged and engaged, respectively, while he wished that the uniform he wore was a bit more distinguished.

"At ease, soldier," Miller said, returning the grin. "Get a drink, loosen up. Permission denied, unless you want your food to have 'unknown substances' in them." He laughed a bit at that, and noticed Wazu in the back. He signaled him over with a wave.

Chris’ attention was turned from the surprised Azumi to Rin who had just entered for more drinks.

“That's men for you: loud, ignorant, and rude. The names Chris, I'm happy to make the acquaintance of you both.

Azumi nodded and Rin just sighed and went about refilling the pitcher. "Yeah, well you learn to put up with it having the family I do," she said with a nod and soon returned to the main room with a couple large pitchers filled with alcohol. She set them on the tables. "Here you go boys.”

With no restraint of hooting and clapping, the men received the liquor gladly.

“So Azumi, what is it you’re cooking? I’d be more then happy to help you out,” Chris said.

Wazu's eyes were downcast at the table holding the datapad, missing the wave entirely for a few moments. The recognition of his summoning eventually brought him to his feet with the help of the cane before he made his way to the captain, "Yes sir?" He asked. His worn red robe covered the uniform he had on, and stood in sharp contrast to the gung-ho soldiers near by.

"Take a seat over here, Wazu," Miller motioned to the seat next to him. "I saw you studying that datapad. Did you find anything interesting?" The Nepleslian stretched his arms over his head, popping a few joints. "We've got business to attend to as well, but first, grab a drink."

"This ship is exactly what I would expect from the NDI, big guns, tons of defense, and built around a stand and fight type approach to warfare. I can't say it is the best thing ever for looking for new planets but it should do fine." Wazu looked over at the drinks offered to the crew and paused. "I'll have to take you up on that some other time."

"So, sir, what’s the news on the goings on tomorrow," Sergeant Ran took a sip of his vodka, which, to his dismay, was running rather short. "We gonna kick some ass or what? The enlisted men are becoming rather antsy, as you just saw with me and that pussy caretaker." He deliberately shouted the last two words in the sentence towards the kitchen, hoping on provoking the caretaker into something that he would easily win.

Matt quietly pushed his glass forward before pouring himself some alcohol before sitting back and listening to everything around him as he began to sip his drink. What Ran had said earlier about worrying more about the marines got the cadet thinking a bit. Sure, it was jokingly informative, but Matt tended to take the data he gathered in stride. Well, I'm just going to have to tread lightly....and maybe carrying an even bigger stick, he thought with a hit of amusement as he continued to listen to the conversations around him.

The words from Ran reached Chris who only shouted back

“You better hope I’m not the one handling your food!”

Azumi was about to reply when she cringed a bit hearing the marine yell. She could never really get used to it but that's why she was here; to improve her ability at least. "Just preparing a few dishes really can you pass me the oregano? it is in the top cabinet by your head." She said as Rin stepped out and shouted aback with a bit of a biting laugh, well pausing in the door.

"Hey how about you all just shut up and quiet down some huh?!" Rin smirked a bit, she knew she might be over her head but this was how she dealt with older brothers all like this. "Yer scarin’ poor Azumi in here and she's preparing your dinners!"

“We've got some plans for tomorrow, which I'll share once our late arrival gets here," Miller grumbled, referring to Jet. "Where the hell is he anyway?”

Miller nodded at the information from Wazu. "That's good. We're going to be going to some pretty far places."

Matt was so annoyed that he hadn't bothered to authorize for his connection port for accessing the ship's computer yet. Sometimes he got so enthralled with interfacing with a computer system the old fashioned way that his mind wandered. Sighing quietly, the young Lionheart perked up when he heard the words "plans" and "tomorrow" in the same sentence. I hope these are the type of plans that involve me at a computer console as this big bastard rolls out of dock. he thought as he continued to listen to Wazu and Miller, there conversation being to most interesting to him at the moment.

In a few moments the tardy Jet came in brushing his hand through his white hair, feeling a little out of place here as he seemed to be the only one with darker skin tone than everyone around him.

"I'm right here Miller," he said coldly, having heard the last part of his comment. By his side was probably one of the best looking women on the ship, Masako, who was half leaning on him with a wry little grin on her face and separated from him after a nice little kiss on the cheek and nuzzle into his neck.

"I guess I need to get back to work," she said and headed for the kitchen area, popping her knuckles.

Jet himself stretched a bit and adjusted the red coat her was wearing and sat down at the same table as the captain, there was a slightly more relaxed air bout him this time around though.

"Oh Masako! ‘Bout time you got here...wait a sec...where's Vinas....." Rin asked.

Masako nodded. "She said she'll be here in a moment, she was checking over the stuff these guys were hauling in.

"Sub-lieutenant, seems like you've had a good time tonight," Miller said, noticing Jet’s relaxed look.

"Sorry, babe! Didn't mean to scare you!" Ran shouted into the Kitchen, flashing a grin at who he assumed to be Azumi. He stared at the arriving Jet for a while and soon stared at the babe at his side. "Goddamn, bud. You've got yourself a fine woman." He said a bit too loud, checking out the curves that Masako displayed for them all while she walked to the kitchen.

He returned his attention to the Captain. "In all honesty, sir, the leadership power lies with the NCOs in the Marines here. The ID-SOL, if you'll pardon my language, is full of crap."

"As long as they follow the chain of command, they won't have a problem, Sergeant," the Captain replied rather calmly before standing to walk to the stage.

Chris grabbed the oregano for Azumi, and spoke while he handed it to her.

“Don’t worry about them; they’re just men after all.”

Seeing Azumi so timid was a bit of a shock to him. His vision of a proper female was one like Rin, who had caught his attention after yelling back at the men.

“I don’t think I ever got your name miss. I don’t know how you can stand that bunch.”

Another lady arrived in the kitchen to who Chris greeted warmly.

“Hello there. I’m Chris.”

At the same time Ran’s shout reached his ears.

“Don’t worry you didn’t scare me…babe!”

"If colonization is our goal I think the weapons onboard the ship can go a long way toward permanently changing the climate of a planet but we are hardly equipped for a full terraforming job. I was going to check the power outputs of the weapons systems and see about the ranges for lower power settings and energy dispersal." Wazu started, slowly tapering off his words as the captain's attention was diverted toward more urgent matters of the crew's.

He nodded at Wazu from the front of the stage. "That's what we have the Destiny for. We're just here to survey and secure."

Jet just nodded. "So what'd I miss other than the bunch of you sounding off like idiots?"

Rin looked at Chris. "Don't worry about her, she's from a family from outside of Funky City, she's a little… delicate." She said in explanation. Masako nodded. "She's also the youngest here so be nice to her."

Chris nodded back.

“Of course. Don’t you worry; I wouldn’t dare think of harming a lady. It’s only the men I have a problem with.”

Azumi just calmed herself and continued to cook as Rin went to work with Masako's instruction on creating another dish, this one a pasta with red sauce. "Most of them are jerks I agree." She said.

Before the captain stepped onto the stage, he grabbed a small remote off the lip of it, next to some small steps. The casually-dressed captain's brow was furrowed as he made his way to the center of the stage. The microphone popped out of the stage floor and rose slowly to meet him. Once it stopped moving, the Captain coughed politely. Unfortunately, with all the noise, that didn't seem to work.

"Excuse me, everyone, but shut the fuck up."

Chris was about to respond when a voice could be heard yelling at everyone to ‘shut the fuck up’.

“Ugh, males. Tactful as always.”

"it is all that works on them sometimes," Rin snickered.

Chris joined in on the laugh.

Matt turned his head to look directly at Jack while sipping his drink. Cool, time to find out what's on the agenda for tomorrow.

"Welcome to the NSS Alliance,” Miller began. “As you've already been here for the Grand Admiral's speech, I don't have to tell you about the significance of what we're about to do. Now then, with that out of the way..."

With a flick of his wrist, each table in the cafeteria made a low murmur as a panel slid out from its center, revealing LED's. With another press of the button, an image of the star map appeared, in green, seemingly floating in the air.

"As you can see, here, men, we're quite a bit behind on the expansion bit," Miller began. "Yamatai or the SMX basically own the entire galaxy. We've got to begin expanding to the northwest or risk being encircled on all sides. The fact that Elysia's in the way doesn't help either."

Jet turned his attention on the star map as he leaned back in the chair, putting his crossed feet up on the edge of the table. "Isn’t it convenient." he quipped and looked up at Miller then the other people in the area and groaned. "Has anyone considered trying to get the Angels to be our friends or at least a truce of sorts," he asked.

"What's worse is that we've received some intel that states the Elysians are planning some expansion of their own,” Miller continued. “Obviously, that would interfere with our objectives and no, Jet, it is a bit hard to do that when they still remember that whole gigantic war thing we had with them some years back." He gibed the last part sarcastically.

"Too true," Matt muttered in agreement with the captain.

Mutual alignment is good for both sides, they have good information on their wars with Yamatai as well as organic technology from what I've seen. Jet thought. "Sir with all due respect that was Yamatai's fault not ours, that entire thing was a war of attrition."
He didn't really care either way at the moment, too relaxed to get defensive or too fired up just yet.

"Either way, we'll find out soon enough, but that's not our concern at the moment now is it. We have our own mission with this big toy."

The Captain glared at Jet. He didn't enjoy being disturbed before finishing his briefing.

"Sub-lieutenant, contrary to your highly admirable beliefs that Nepleslia has nothing to do with Yamatai, the fact of the matter is that we were part of their empire, and, as such we were part of the problem."

"Can't change the past. Sorry for interrupting sir." Jet replied offhandedly.

With the clamor gone it was easier to hear the talking outside in the cafeteria. Chris noted Jet’s remarks in a bit of surprise and amusement.

“My god, a male that can actually think about something other then war,” he said, though his surprise was short lived as the captain and another fainter voice discussed its impossibility.

Masako smiled at Chris's words at that and touched the ring she was concealing on her finger for a moment.

"Anyway, the strategy is to surround the Elysian planets with our own colonies. To do that, we need to claim the following planets."

A cluster of 6 planets glowed, the farthest reaching approximately 40 lightyears to the west, the closest being Kxi'ran.

Chris whispered to the rest of the girls.

“Isn’t it ironic they’re trying to do the exact same thing they are trying to avoid?”

"it is called pre-emption, "Rin said.

“This pre-emption is going to just cost more lives,” Chris said. “Not just male lives either. If the Nepleslians want to prevent being surrounded so badly don’t you think the Elysians will try to do the same?”

Rin shrugged. "Or it might save more lives."

Masako nodded. "Concept of containment. They don’t want Elysia to expand to be a threat. If they're smart they won't strike at Elysia itself directly."

Despite how he felt it wasn’t a man he was arguing with so Chris consented.

“I can only hope you’re right.”

"it is a large undertaking, that's for sure, and we can only take one planet at a time,” the Captain continued, “If we can prove to be successful in using the Destiny to colonize the first planet we choose, we will have a green light to continue.”

Miller looked at Wazu.

"Ship Scientist Wazu, do you have anything to add? A professional opinion, perhaps?”

Wazu brought himself to stand up, relying on his cane once more. “I have a few things of note I would like to discuss in private but for the moment All I can add is that this ship is not necessarily suited for disabling another ship. If we do intend to stop others from acquiring these planets it will require either diplomacy or devastation."

"If we fall on devastation, we're no better than those damned Yamataian bastards,” Jet said, crossing his arms. “From what I hear they did it to another system in the southern nebula recently.”

Miller nodded in agreement. "We do not plan to strike our enemies unless they threaten us," he said. "Remember, we are not at war with anyone yet.”

The Captain paused for a moment before continuing.

“Anyway, considering the Ixari probably wouldn't want to be under a Nepleslian flag, the best we can do is approach them diplomatically. Unfortunately, that is not what this ship was built for, so we will continue on to planet X, a placeholder name, of course, located approximately 10 lightyears to the north-northwest of Kxi'ran. Once we arrive and establish what kind of planet it is with our sensors, we will then send the marines down to survey the terrain.”

“Pretty simple business, really,” Miller added.

Jet looked over the marines and sighed, having a feeling that that… might be a bad idea considering how Nepleslians marines could get sometimes. "There's always a chance it is uninhabited."

"Now, considering that we can get there in about 2 minutes with this ship's capabilities, we will be devoting most of tomorrow to the actual surveying of the planet,” Miller said as he looked at the marine contingent at the far side of the room. “The marines here will be provided with power armors. If no signs of life show up, our jobs will have gotten a lot easier."

At that revelation, Sergeant Ran smirked as the majority of the Marines cheered inside the cafeteria. Drinking beer and celebration were one of their specialties, aside from combat. "Sir, do you know what kind of support we will have? Any mechs, tanks, air support?"

"Hopefully nothing too scary if there ARE people there," Rin said coming out with some water to hose down the marines so they could stay focused on the captain. The alcohol would resume once he was done.

Miller nodded to the Sergeant. "We're doing this alone, so the marines will only have themselves and the NSS Alliance to rely on. The 1st fleet is currently preoccupied with handling the Red's rebellion in Kennewes." The Nepleslian's lips widened in a smile. "But don't worry, men. You're going to be provided with some pretty nice NDI mechas."

"Roger that, sir,” Ran replied as he leaned back in his chair.

"Not everyone is going to go down to the surface, of course, so I will be assigning roles to the ship as I see fit." Miller pressed another button on the remote, which changed the star system map to a list of names and assignments.

"Just as long as they don't get trigger happy on anything that moves down there," Jet said dryly. "God knows how that would end up."

A particularly drunk Marine amongst the crowd, seemingly speaking on Ran's behalf, stood up and flipped Jet the bird. "Eat shit and die!" He shouted, before being pulled down by his peers.

“Cadet Willis, keep your men in line,” Miller said simply in reply to the recent outburst.

The ID-SOL cadet, leader among them, glared at the drunken marine so hard it could have bore holes into his skull.

"Sub-lieutenant Endurain,” Miller continued effortlessly. “Are you familiar with power armor operation?"

Jet just ignored the comment and looked over the assignments. "I’m afraid not sir," he said. "I haven't had the pleasure of that experience just yet, the idea of a catheter bothers me." He smirked in a humorless comment.

"In that case, Endurain, you will act as a ship security officer,” Miller said. “I'm fairly sure you're skilled with arms."

His eyes shifted to Wazu.

"Sub lieutenant Wazu, you will act as scientific advisor for the mission. Are you familiar with power armor operations?"

"Yes Sir," Wazu said simply. He couldn’t help but think it was time which Endurian had a problem with.

“Good,” Miller replied. “I was concerned with your physical condition, but you should have no problem if you're behind the 'wheels' so to speak, of a mecha.”

Matt quietly sipped his drink as he listened to the Captain and the following briefing.

With my position of computer systems officer, I'm probably going to be staying up in the ship. Matt thought calmly. Then again, if anything happens that requires me to hack into anything...the ship is the most logical choice.

"Cadet First Grade Lionheart, you will be stationed with me in the command center, where you will operate the ship's computers. From your file, I see that you've got quite a knack for systems. Just don't break anything.” The captain was serious. He was surprised by what he found out in the young warrant officer’s file.

"I'm one of the best with them," Matt said confidently, "Break something as beautiful as the computer system I've seen on this ship? Not on your life, sir!” His response was a bit louder than he normally spoke, the alcohol loosening him up a bit.

"That's what I like to hear, Cadet," Miller replied with a grin, then shifted his attention elsewhere. "Sergeant Ran Rui, since you're one of the higher-ranking marines, you will serve with Cadet Willis on the planet's terrain. I think that places you as 2nd or 3rd in command of the ground troops, if I'm correct."

"Roger that, Captain." Ran was chewing on a rather large piece of gum, which caused the muscles in his neck to contract. He crossed his arms. "What sort of personal weapons will we have access to, sir?" He seemed to be speaking on be half of the ID-SOL, which made him rather annoyed.

"Sergeant, you do know how loaded mecha are," the ID-SOL cadet chimed in. "Why the hell would we need extra personal weapons?"

“Because, sir, I believe in the law that anything wrong that can happen, will, sir. Thank you, sir." He looked to the front and away from the ID-SOL, visibly shaking his head. "Fuckin' asshole thinks he knows everything."

"I agree with the Cadet there, Sergeant," Miller said with a smirk. "You will have your standard-issue side arms, but the mecha you will be piloting will be more than able to handle any problems you should encounter.”

Jet sighed and held up a grenade. "We need extra weapons because of these, moron," he said to the ID-SOL. "This is an EMP grenade. Luckily, this one isn't active, but these things can knock out power to your mecha for a long time, then where are you?" He growled

"Our mecha are more than able to handle simple electronic countermeasures such as an EMP grenade," Miller said while rolling his eyes. "It'd take QUITE a bit more than that, honestly."

Wazu sighed, "Jet, do yourself a favor and sit down."

Jet returned the grenade to his jacket and shrugged at fact he hadn't gotten up at all.

"With that, I open the floor to any questions you may have." Miller waited patiently.

"Which specific Mech design will be used,” Ran asked.

"I haven't had the opportunity to look myself, but the armorer should know. He should be down in the mecha bay right now." Miller awaited the next question.

"What do you guys want to eat?" Masako shouted from the kitchen.

“I'd like a hamburger myself, with fries," Miller answered, to the laughter of the crowd. "Any further questions?"

Matt shook his head, indicating he really didn't have any questions to ask as he stomach seemed to grumble at the thought of food.

Jet remained silent, thinking over it all and flicked through the assignments for the crew. "Hmm…"

"No questions remaining, sir," Ran spoke up before the ID-SOL could.

"Yeah...who's your second in command when you're in absentia," Jet asked with a shrug. "Just so it is clear"

The Captain motioned over to Wazu. "Why, the former Taisho, of course. However, I do not expect to be in absentia, so to speak."

"Eh?" Matt made a questioning sound as he looked over at Wazu. "Former, Taisho?"

Jet nodded to Matt. "Check out his file when you get a chance."

Wazu continued to sit, taking his sight off the captain and focusing down toward the table. He then proceeded to occupy himself with one of the alcoholic beverages within reach.

"okay, any final questions?” The captain was getting very hungry, but kept it contained.

A random soldier laughed. "Are there any other women on board other than the babes in here?"

"Shut the fuck up, Marine," Ran said.

“What, soldier, you want to play dress up or something," Miller quipped, shifting back to his marine days. "The rest of you already know your assignments or will be given them by your respective superiors. With that, have a good meal and prepare for some fun tomorrow."

"Oh... and one more thing," Miller said as he was about to turn away from the microphone.

Jet stiffled a laugh at that one. "Hmm?"

"I'm a fairly relaxed captain, but I expect you all to be in top form when the shit hits the fan. We will not fail because you got too drunk or forgot procedure in front of some official." His expression hardened. "Also, I will NOT tolerate any activities that are detrimental to the crew.”

“I'll let you use your imaginations, as to what those are," he said as he cast a glance at the female kitchen staff. "Those who fuck up will have to answer to me personally, and you DON'T want to do that. Dismissed."

With that, the Captain walked back to his table.

Jet smirked a little. “Indeed.”

Matt seemed to have a huge grin on his face as he began pondering the fun he could have with a computer system the Alliance had. The information highway would practically be his plaything with that much processing power under his finger tips....and any enemy computer system as well. Hmmm....I may want to create a few intrusion programs on my off time....a virus or two as well. Something useful for anything we may encounter....easily transmitted via communications system.....stealthy and highly destructive.

His thoughts suddenly stopped as the Captain gave his warning. Nothing that would hurt the ship or crew of course, he amended mentally as he took a swig of his drink.

"Sir, with all do respect I think we need to re-evaluate our strategy if we wish to avoid war with the Elysians," Wazu said once the captain had sat back down next to him. He also kept his voice low as he talked. "Surrounding Elysia would undoubtedly be considered an aggressive action. Elysia has been under the thumb of Yamatai for some time and will likely be hostile to anyone coming off as imperialistic. I also believe that we can persuade them and the reds to adopt a more favorable outlook on our government."

Chris was glad he had the kitchen to keep himself occupied. Cooking food kept him from being bored to tears from the speech.

“I could have slow roasted a cow with how long that took,” Chris moaned. “Are all males so long winded?” He asked the question to the rest of the kitchen staff.

"Well, shit, now the fun begins," Ran sighed to himself and walked toward the exit of the cafeteria, not before hearing the same remark coming from Chris. "..." Ran walked to the doorway of the cafeteria and shouted at the jackass.

"Listen, dude,” He said to Chris, right in front of the other women. “Pretending that you're against men and for women won't get you into these women's panties. Be a fucking man and stop complaining, you ass-diddling shithead!"

“We have our orders, XO, but I don't think it is the Grand Admiral's intention to start a war," Miller replied with the same secrecy. "I think he just wants to open the table for negotiations."

"I will trust his judgment on this but we will be treading on very dangerous ground." Wazu said.

The kitchen ladies brought out a mountain of burgers and fries for everyone with various condiments and more drinks. "There you guys go."

Jet stretched some and looked around the gathered again. "Are you always such an idiot," Jet asked, looking over at Ran. "Ever think he's a woman in a man's body? it is known to happen with ST fuck ups."

Wazu took another drink.

"The Elysians are proud, too proud for their own good," Miller said. "They're very isolationist, very aggressive. They have to realize, however, that they're dealing with a superior force."

Ran was about to flip Jet the bird, but the other NCOs stopped him, bringing him to the table that was now occupied by Marines, to the dismay and anger of the engineers and crew chiefs that were so rudely kicked off the table*

Chris grew equally angry towards Ran.

“Why shouldn’t I be against men? You war hungry bastards act so concerned about each other but just want to watch over yourselves. It’s either a quick buck or a brush of the ego for you guys isn’t it? As long as you get your kicks and jollies you just don’t care, right?!”

“If you want to start something come here and get your jollies while I give you my kicks!” Ran was seething. “Fuck right!" He got up off of the table and walked towards the kitchen without walking into it. He knew that he could tear this guy apart, but decided not to, in order to avoid being demoted right there. "Oh really?!" He stepped back, pulling his service jacket and beret off, while the rest of the Marine NCOs got up and walked up to the kitchen.

Matt sighed in annoyance as the arguing occurred again. "Fuck it," the cadet muttered as he took another drink. "I'm not getting in between those too until one of them draws blood."

"CALM THE FUCK DOWN, SERGEANT," shouted the ID-SOL commander of the marine group. "And you, 'ma'am,' I recommend that you stay out of our way."

“I’ll stay out of the way as long as you stay out of my kitchen,” Chris shouted back.

"We've got some materials to deliver still, that is, unless you want to carry 60 or so boxes across the ship by yourself," the ID-SOL replied, gritting his teeth.

Masako sighed. "All of you just....chill out." She said

"God-damn 'POG dude." (POG meaning Person-Other-than-Grunt, held in the lowest circles amongst the Marine members). He flipped the bird at Chris as he and the rest of the NCOs begrudgingly sat back down, ready to eat.

Chris calmed down, thanks to Masako. “Fine, just don’t break anything!”

"It is the superior force aspect that worries me,” Wazu said after a long while, still keeping his voice down low. “We don't want them to think that by joining us they are surrendering their world to Nepleslia. I would think by talking to them now we can establish ourselves as a people in a similar plight as their own who it would be in their best interest to cooperate with."

The captain mulled over the statement. "You do have a point, Wazu. Perhaps that's what the Grand Admiral is after..."

Matt sighed before finishing his glass and watching the ongoing confrontation. "This, is going to be one hell of a trip."

Jet just sighed and tried out the hamburgers and smiled. "Hmm that's pretty good stuff."

The captain glanced over the disturbance near the kitchen and added his own sigh, making it a trifecta. "Yeah, but at least the food is good."

END

A small transport ship slowly descended down next to the large ship. It hover a few feet above solid ground as the cargo bay open and a large metallic container was lowered to the ground. After it was on the ground a mechanic hit a few commands on his computer and the bottom of the container lifted up. The container was then lifted back into the ship as it took off.

A huge being now stood before the entrance ramp to the ship. It looked like a man but with the physical build of a deity statue. Without wasting any time Valo walked up the ramp and into the ship. following the digital map of the ship Valo walked down the corridors heading for the medical bay.

With the threat of combat over, at least for now, Chris' mind wandered to earlier. During one of his earlier confrontations with the marine the soul transfer system was mentioned. He knew he was bred in this body from birth and not some part of a simple body swap, but it still had thoughts running through his head.

Maybe I am a woman trapped in a man's body. That's always been my outlook, but I am who I am because of mom. it is just that super Y chromosomes fault I'm stuck like this. Maybe my soul just got mixed up and ended up in this body rather then a proper female one.

But I love mom, even if I had to be a male to be her child. I don't want to be a male, but I want to be her child. it is all so confusing I don't even know what I'm thinking about anymore, I'm not even making sense.

Oh mom....

Through all that he had just looked down at the boiling water and subconsciously stirred the pot with the french-fries.

In one dark corner of the room, Fian pried his face from the table, his collar soaked in drool and his pants wet and very cold.

"Arg !" He immedietly went bolt upright in his seat, all his senses on full alert. He flashed a quick frantic look around the room... And noticed that no one noticed him, or missed him for that matter.

The young Vel Steyr sat down again, feeling very embarrased but quite relieved that no one saw him. "Elsae, what happened?"

There was a long conversation between the captain and the crew, I recorded it for you.

"Thanks." Fian whispered back, his eyes looked down to his glass and the remaining vodka that didnt spill. "I think I may have a problem..."

With all the formalities done away, Miller took to enjoying the food and drink as much as possible. He walked from table to table, chatting it up with members of the ship and marines for some time.

After quite a few hours and quite a few drinks, Miller excused himself from the room to spend a relaxing evening in his quarters.

Sergeant Ran, to the dismay of the other NCOs, slept on one of the only cots with cushions sill on them. Most of the cushions had been taken away to supply the Officer's quarters, and others were lost from the Marine Infantry's "Pillow Fortress" that mysteriously disappeared in their absence. "Sergeant, I know we have an excellent ventilation system, but would you stop burning those things?!

Sergeant Ran chuckled and re-applied some more fire to the incense cone that lay at the end of his bunk, loving the smell of Sage that immediately followed thereafter. His love for incense was probably a result of several nights in the local "red light districts" back on Nepleslia, where he hung around the women of the Asian sub-culture. "Boys, listen to me." He almost gravely said. "We're Marine Infantry. We are fundamentally different from the people on this ship. Especially from that fuckin' woman of a caretaker." Most of the NCOs chuckled, then shouted at the enlisted men to "Shut the fuck up before the ID-SOL gets angry."

"When the shit hits the fan down there, we need to pull together as Marines and seek help from the guys on this ship. POGs like fuckin' caretakers, maintenance people and cooks won't help us." He sighed. "What happened tonight, our confrontation, will never happen again, got it?" He smirked, seeing the rest of the NCOs and Enlisted men nod, and simultaneously flip him off for the huge puff of incense smoke that wafted into their faces.

ON: NSS Alliance

The captain's sleep was deep and dreamless, a byproduct of the alcohol that coursed in his system from the previous evening. Good morning, captain, it is approximately 5:45. The NSS Alliance alarm systems will activate in 3 minutes. It was the same voice as always, the OS that joined him for the rest of his life when he had received his cybernetic enhancements.

With that, he opened his eyes, stepped out of his bed slowly, and went to the common showers to bathe.
driker18 has joined the conference.


With the thoughts of yesterday Chris couldn’t get to sleep. His mind still wandered on the thought of soul transfers, but rather then dwell on it he decided to keep himself occupied in the kitchen. He kept his mind too busy to even recognize exhaustion as he prepared today’s breakfast.

A giant bowl of pancake mix was ready for cooking, along with dozens of eggs ready to be scrambled and fried, sausage was slowly simmering on the stove, and bacon was waiting its turn in line.


As Chris was mixing the bowl, the clock struck 5:48 and a pleasant, yet loud chiming noise rang through the entire ship.

Chris was snapped out of his thoughts to the noise ringing throughout the entire ship. The noise had startled him and a bit of mix ended up spilled on the floor, flung from his spoon which shot up in surprise at the alarm. He slowly cleaned up the small bit of mix and returned to his cooking.

A slight bit of liquid had fallen out of the glass held against wazu’s lips as the alarm started to subside. There was more than one crewmember who had been incapacitated last night and remained in the mess hall where Wazu was but they were on the floor.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed down the hall as Valo neared the mess hall. He stopped as the chiming began and then continued on. He walked into the mess hall and scanned the room for anyone who may have been injured during the night.

Other than the rather prone drunken figures on the floor, there were no injuries.

Miller's shower took all of 5 minutes. Who knew how many drunken idiots were going to stagger in there? Needless to say, it was 5:59 by the time the Captain strode into the kitchen, armed with a full military uniform and a smile.

Stepping over a prone marine, he walked towards Wazu.

Valo turned and lifted one of it is large arms in a salute as it stood at attention

"Good morning, Lieutenant," Miller said, nodding to Wazu. "You've received a temporary upgrade to officer status."

Wazu's red robe had been put aside on another seat, a few wet spots scattered about the article of clothing betraying his lack of shower. A lack of shaving was starting to show through, darkening his features slightly and standing in contrast to the uniform he had on.

The captain turned to the rather large machine nearby and returned the salute. "Ah, you must be the unit sent to us by our friends."

Jet had left the mess hall at a reasonable hour and was just waking up with a yawn in his quarters. "mmmm must've overslept a little" he muttered to himself looking around.

Valo lowered it is arm. "That is correct sir. I have been assigned to assist with medical and general physical needs"

"Sounds good, your first assignment is to assist in getting these lazy asses out of the cafeteria and into the showers."

Miller sat down next to Wazu. "So, whatcha drinking there, Lieutenant?"

A bit of chatter could be heard coming from the kitchen. Chris was surprised that after all that liquor any of them were able to get back up. He wandered how many would be too drunk to show up for breakfast. He was almost positive those marines would mess up on the first day.

"I stopped knowing that about two glasses ago," Wazu said as he took another sip from the glass next to him "I think now is as good a time as any to pick up drinking again."

Valo began to walk around the cafeteria picking up anyone unconscious and putting them over it is shoulder.

Miller carefully inspected Wazu's rather disheveled appearance. "What's going on? Did you have too much to drink last night?"

"No sir," Wazu replied with all the quickness that would be expected of a soldier. Silence followed that for a few minutes as Wazu looked at his glass then down at himself and the robe to his side. "I believe I should spend a few moments attending to my apperance before reporting for duty."

"Hm... okay then, another question before you tidy yourself up," Miller said. "What's on your mind?"

One of the drunken soldiers over Valo's shoulder awoke and kicked him in the back. "Hey! Leggo!"

Valo turned it is head to look at the man. "Are you capable of performing the duty of showering yourself?"

"Teh. all you maggots." A female voice said, strong tone to it, it is a woman with darker skin, a light coffee brown tone with white hair with light purple color in it from dye with blue eyes wearing the uniform. "Get your bloated drunken asses off our floor and into the goddamn showers." she barked at the drunks.

"What the fuck," the soldier said irritably. "You going to wash me or somethin'? Put me down!"

The soldier's Valo hadn't carried out were now slowly getting up and filing out of the room. Most groaned and held their heads in one hand.

"As you wish" Valo reached up and grabbed the man from it is shoulder and sat him on his feet.

Vinas glared at them and shoved a few of them out when they stopped to oggle her. "get moving."

To the sound of a woman’s voice Chris looked out into the mess hall. Already there was a scene, which seemed rather odd with him not being part of the cause of it. While he looked out into the mess hall he realized he had made way too much food. All that food and only a handful of people. Either more better show up or people better be hungry.

“Where’s the rest of you bums?!”

"If I new exactly what it was that bothered me then it wouldn't be bothering me." Wazu said as he stood up and faced the captain. "... I think the best words to use for it would have to be that things will repeat themselves."

"How the fuck should I know," the soldier Valo put down said. "it is not like I humped them last night! Damn, man." He left the cafeteria.

"What kind of things are you talking about, Wazu?" Miller stood up with the scientist, concerned with the behavior of his recently-assigned XO.

Chris rolled his eyes at the comment "Always thinking about sex."

Vinas growled as the last of the drunks left and walks in and sighs. "and who the fuck are you?!" She snarled at the others

"I'm the Captain and you'll get out of my face while I'm having an important discussion!" The captain replied angrily at Vinas. "Get back in the kitchen!"

Valo having already let down the other men as they woke up. It turned as someone asked the question and replied simply "I am Valo"

"Don't yell at the lady!" Chris yelled from the kitchen door

Valo turned to face the kitchen door. "I am unfamiliar with the workings of this army. However I do not believe one is meant to question the captain of the vessel"

Wazu winced a bit, and muttered under his breath about how colorful the character of these crewmembers was. "I don't wish to burden you with my personal problems sir. This will not affect my job performance."

She would have a fire background if she could and points to Chris. "you, shut up. I don't need help from a girly man." She said and looks at Miller and hisses. "Important discussions aren't done when half the members are drunk passed out on the floor." She hissed like a viper. "Fine. sir" she spat at him verbally. "I'll make sure teh coffee's extra cold today just for you" she grins and walks to the kitchen.

The captain nodded at him, his voice still holding a little anger from his recent outburst. "We all have skeletons in our closets, Lieutenant, but if you need to let them out to someone, please tell me," he said. "While I appreciate your commitment to the mission, I can't have you being weighed down by personal emotions when we're on mission."

Valo turned back to the captain. "Sir. do you require anymore of this unit at this time?"

Chris would have said something back to Valo, though he wasn’t exactly sure what, but Vinas’ response caught him off guard. Though he thought no ill of it, he knew a woman was more then capable for standing up for herself, though he’d always offer a hand.

"May I be dismissed sir?" Wazu asked, more than ready to attend to his appearance and get out of the mess hall at this point.

"No, I do not," Miller replied to Valo, still facing Wazu.

"Yes, you are dismissed. Please return for breakfast at your convenience."

Wazu picked up his robe and left for his room and then the showers.

Valo saluted and spoke "Then I shall return to the medical bay" With that Valo made it is way from the mess hall.

Now that everyone was out of the room, the captain called the kitchen staff to his table. "Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen."

"Yeah?" Chris responded with a bit of irritation.

in a bit the fiery dark skinned caretaker would come back out with a sour look on her face. "What."

"Please, everyone, have a seat here at the table," Miller said while motioning with his hand to open seats nearby. "We need to talk."

Chris was a bit hesitant, he suspected trouble as usual. “I think I’ll stand.”

"Probably a good idea til we can get this place cleaned again I'll stand as well." Vinas said as she leaned up against the wall and looked over

"okay, fine," Miller said, waving his hand dismissively. "That's unimportant. What I want to know is what is going on with you all? Ever since you've been here last night, the entire caretaking staff seems to have it out for the rest of the ship."

"it is that time of the month for me." Vinas said. "you should probably know."

“I have nothing against the women of the ship….sir.” Chris responded.

"And I wasn't on shift here last night"

"Look, soldiers, despite what's going on with you physically or emotionally, you're still part of the army, and that means you have responsibilities," Miller calmly said. "As caretakers, your roles are far more vital than you may think. You are responsible for more than food and cleanliness. You are part of a very important team that helps to maintain our ships' morale, to keep everyone happy. While they may not show it, I know that every one of those men appreciate what you're doing for them."

Chris scoffed at the idea. “Yeah I bet.”

"No, seriously," Miller continued. "Half these men don't even know how to do their laundry. They'd starve to death if they didn't have their automated food machines back on Nepleslia. You have to understand how they'd be a little socially-retarded, considering that half of them haven't seen a female in years."

"They don't really care we're just prettier things to look at with all the sausage bearers around." Vinas smirked a bit. "Then they will never have any fun til they learn how to do it right"

"An honest-to-god female who they could communicate with, I mean."

Chris smirked at the idea of the males all being socially retarded. Of course he thought all males were retarded period, but coming from another male the idea seemed new and funny. “I’ll do my job to cook and clean and all that good stuff, but there’s no way I’ll just up and be nice to a bunch of males.”

"I realize how uncomfortable this must make you, and the rest of the staff feel," the Captain continued. "I've never been undressed with eyes before, and I can only think that it feels terrible. However, you have to at least try to put on a more positive image in front of the crew. The marines especially. I'm concerned with your safety here."

"Suck it up" vinas said. "either you just accept it or the good captain here will put you in the brig or make you scrub the showers witha a toothbrush"

Chris did not react to Vinas’ words. He simply continued to look on. “Then so be it.”

"I don't see why you would be, they try anything we stop feeding them simple as that. of course if we can do that sir"

"as a temporary measure"

The captain's expression darkened has he balled his fists on the table. "Have you ever been gang-raped by a squadron of Marines? I'm serious here. You have more to consider than simple shouting matches."

With his datapad, the captain quickly called in Valo.

Wazu, apparently the only other played character confident enough in his sexuality to use a communal shower, had finished with this cleaning and grooming. After the shower he was decked out in the proper uniform minus the holster and gun but plus a shinny new rank markings. Once more he was shaved and his hair was pulled back into a double ponytail, one over the other with an additional uniform jacket was over his basic uniform. The cane in his hand helped him to the bridge where he could take stock of his new position as XO and science officer.

"last time they tried it I killed them." She said coldly. "Then what do you suggest when they start shit? Just shut up and take it like the submissive bitches on Nepleslia? I think not it is not in my blood. I just wish they could at least respect us."

Valo was in the door in moments. It quickly made it is way over to the captain and stopped. "How may I assist sir?"

"I will do what I can to help protect the women on this ship, even if it means my own life. I doubt they need my help, but that is my resolve captain." Chimed Chris

"I doubt you can kill 30 marines soldier, because they're hardly the same material as street scum," the captain said. "Yes, Valo, your newest primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of the caretaker staff on this ship. You are to escort them during evenings and maintain a constant availability to them via proper communication channels."

With only four hours of sleep under his belt and a slight hangover to boot, the young Matthew Lionheart had spent most of his night actually authorizing his connection port and skimming through the computer system a bit more before passing out. A quick shower had woken him up slightly, but he still felt the affects of the damned hangover. "God damn it," the young cadet muttered as he entered the cafeteria only to look blankly at the Captain and the orange-haired caretaker. "Eh?"

Valo looked at those sitting at the table and then back at the captain. "Affirmative sir. am I to assume there is a need for force or is this a mere possibility?"

Vinas just yawned. She pouted though they didn't fall for her bluff. "I wish I could." She said.

"The use of force is encouraged only if they lash out at the ladies," Miller said. "Lethal force is not an option. That is, unless the lives of the staff are threatened, but still, act to disable."

Miller saw the rather hung-over Lionheart stumble in. "Take a seat over here, Cadet. Breakfast is about to be served."

"Not yet it is not" the woman said. "You called me out here and have yet to dismiss us so I can cook"

"Affirmative sir. I will secure the staff safety," said Valo

The Captain shrugged his shoulders. "My apologies then, miss. Again, I'm not asking for you all to bend over for the marines and 'take it' as you put it. Actually, I simply want you to make efforts to prevent any escalation of tensions that are started by the marines. If this means giving them the finger and walking away, that's okay. Just don't turn a simple argument into this huge pissing contest."

"Can I use sedatives on them?" She asked politely.

Miller sighed. "THAT would definitely escalate tensions."

"Just a little sleeping gas?"

"No. You're dismissed now."

Frowning slightly in confusion before the captain noticed him. "Thank you, sir," the young cadet replied as he took a seat.

The captain was not in a joking mood.

She looks relieved and goes to the kitchen. "never can I have any fun."

"Good to see you Lionheart," Miller said. "We're set to blast off in 3 hours, just so you know."

"Valo, assist the kitchen staff in their duties for now."

"That's great, sir," Matt replied as he rubbed his forehead. "I've gotten myself situated on the computer system, so I'm pretty much ready."

"Yes Sir" Said Valo as it turned and headed for the kitchen.

PAUSERINO

Chris felt uneasy about this Valo, and a little jealous. It was now charged with watching over the staff, specifically the women. Worse it was to fight anyone that attacked the women. Though the added protection for the girls from the others, specifically the marines, eased his mind he was still wary of the beast. The good news is it wouldn’t get involved in his fights which he was both happy and sad about, though he was still determined as ever.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep the marines and anyone else who’d cause trouble focused on me. With all of them focusing their anger towards me that’ll keep the women safe and that thing out of combat.

The hammer-like fist of Sergeant Ran pummeled the narrow face of one of the trouble-makers from this morning. Unfortunately, members of the Marines onboard had gotten into a bit of a scuffle with a caretaker in the kitchen, away from the confrontation where the Captain was. "We are fucking Marines!" He walked down the line, glaring at the mix of Enlisted men, and oh fuck, NCOs, too. "We're deprived of women, given shitty food, work our asses off with the gruntwork on ships and are once in a while let out to beat the shit out of something!" He stopped. "We sure as hell don't have too much, fellas. That's why we cant keep fucking up like how I and the rest of you did."
He shot a glare to all of the Marines lining the hallways.

"Honor, Courage, Morality, Ethics, Responsibility. Such values make up the core of every Marine. But you fucks had to go an' ruin it for everyone!" He was referring to the heavy labor that the ID-SOL had privately assigned to each of the Marines on-board. "You've dun diddled us up the ass! Stupid fucks!" He didn't care that he was shouting a bit too loud...to the point where all the others could hear him. He sighed. "We're getting up at 4 AM to do some PT, you lily bitches!" He shouted this in each Marine's face, covering them with spittle.

He begrudgingly saluted the ID-SOL and walked past it towards his locker. Sergeant Ran made sure that his dress uniform was spotless. He walked through the kitchen doors, past the rest of all the others, and right up to the Captain. His hand came up in a salute. "Sir, I'd like a word with you, if I may."

Miller nodded to Ran.

"okay Sergeant, we can talk in the hall. Come with me."

He stood up and motioned to Matt.

"Cadet Lionheart, you have the floor while I'm gone."

He walked out to the hall, where the two could have some privacy. When the door closed behind them, the captain crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"What did you need to discuss, Sergeant?"

"Sir, I realize that we Marines on-board are an imposing bunch. Im sure you would know more than anyone." He kicked the ground rather idly. "But most of these guys are good guys. Besides, for a huge majority of us, it was either the Marine Infantry or Jail." It was unclear where Sergeant Ran was going with this, until he said. "We are not bad people, sir. Im just so disgusted with the way the Caretakers are acting towards us."

He crossed those massive arms of his and leaned against the wall opposite to him, taking the pressure off of his right leg for a while. "So, in an attempt to change this conversation, sir, what sort of Mechs will we be provided with, if there has been any approved? And what sort of Power Armor? Those Golem II systems are looking to be pretty good." He smirked.

"Also..." He rolled his neck around in anticipation. "Sir, I hear that you were once a grunt like us." He smirked. "I'd like to have your help, sir. it is been my dream to create an elite group within the Marines, who will fill the role of Special Operations-Capable units that jump behind enemy lines in the event of war to perform acts of sabotage and raids. And during peace time, to...shall we say, persuade the population in our favor." He handed the Captain a sketchpad, depicting semi-technical drawings of an type of orbital entry pod. "It'll kick ass, sir."

ON:

Miller nodded at the Sergeant's words. "The caretakers, I believe, are trying to act tough in order to show the marines that they are not pushovers. Being the only females on this ship, I can see how they'd be standoffish. However, I had a discussion with them to make sure that they would try to control their attitudes."

"Talking about mecha, we'll have a nice variety of them." Miller continued. "This includes the Phalanx series, Golem series as well as a couple of those stealth armors the NDI has. I really haven't looked into exact numbers, though."

The Nepleslian captain popped his elbow with a twist of his body. "About this elite force you're talking of... it sounds interesting, but right now we don't have the time or resources to devote to that. Right now, we need all the marines for planetary exploration."

The Sergeant's eyebrow rose at the mention of the newest NDI Stealth Armors. "Sir, I understand that there are only a few of those Stealth-based armors around." He waved off the mentioning of the Phalanx series, instead privately choosing the Golem series of Power Armor to go with, if he would have a choice at it, of course. "And are we expecting to use such a thing on this little exploration of ours...?" He pulled his beret off and stuck it in the back of his belt; it was becoming rather hot.

Marines from all over the ship began to file past the Captain and Sergeant and into the cafeteria. A lot of them were groggy from yesterday's activities.

Miller nodded. "We have a lot of options at our disposal. Planetary exploration requires it. What are you getting at, Sergeant?"

"Just wondering if we're gonna see a little action, sir." Sergeant Ran smirked, feeling the weight of his pistol at his right side, and missing the feeling of the weight of Power Armor on his shoulders. "Marines have gotta kill something, ya know?" He said bluntly.

Chris yelled out to the mess hall in an almost commanding voice. “Get your breakfast,” Though he wanted to add more to it he restrained himself and only mumbled to himself. “filthy males.”

Sergeant Ran accepted the breakfast from a faceless caretaker, and slipped her a bit of a wink as he passed on by. In all honestly, she was ugly as fuck. But in an effort to be a more courteous bastard of a Marine, he would be nice for today.

Looking at his plate for a while, the young cadet began picking at his food with his head still pounding in his skull. "Uh," Matt muttered calmly as he raised and index finger towards one of the caretakers. "You wouldn't by chance have anything for a hangover would you?" the young man asked with a neutral expression.

"Aww, cmon, Warrant Officer!" Sergeant Ran practically yelled into the young Lionhart's ear, no doubt making the hangover for him even worst. "Warrant Officers gotta be tough bastards, sir! You don’t need nothing for a hangover!" He appeared out of nowhere, and placed his arm on the Warrant Officer's shoulder. "Cmon, sir! You get to sit with the Marines!"

Vinas yawned and peeked out from the kitchen. "Please...no yelling so early in the morning...you might wake up the others." She said to the soldiers and marines in the cafeteria.

Miller, who had followed the Sergeant into the cafeteria, continued. "You'll have plenty of time to kill stuff. We will more than likely have more combat-intensive objectives as time progresses."

The marines formed an orderly queue in the cafeteria to get their breakfasts.

"better than last night" Vinas said in a kind of stiff tone as he filled out the buffet table she'd created off to one side of the mess hall. "Just help yourselves. If you need something special or are allergic to something tell me"

"Geh," Matt muttered in pain as he was sheparded over to the Marines table. "Fine, just don't expect me to be the nicest person on the ship," the computer officer muttered as he held his forehead and sat down, taking fork-fulls of food at a time.

"Roger that, sir!" He saluted to the Captain with his free hand, and kept his left arm on the Warrant Officer's shoulder. "Marines are shock troops, sir. We're trained to be the spearhead of an invasion. As a result, we gotta want, love, breath, eat, and sleep war." He put his glass down and lit up a cigarette. Luckily, the cafe wasn't purely oxygenated yet. He looked into the young Warrant officer's eyes, with one of Sergeant Ran's own eyes twitching a bit. "But war can get to you if you're not careful...even make you.." He placed his face closer "....Crazy. The killing. You like killing, sir?...Do you...?" He let his face hang there for several awkward seconds, before pulling back and giving the officer a playful slap on the back. "Naw, im just fuckin' with you, sir! Have another drink!"

"We're not having any alcohol this morning, men," Miller interjected. "We need to be in top shape for our departure."

"..." And at that, Sergeant Ran hid the small flask he kept his vodka in.

Miller’s words reminded Chris of something. He forgot all about the drinks. He was so busy cooking it didn’t even come cross his mind. He hopped one of the other girls took care of it, or else he’ll have to go get some milk or whatever males drink when their lips aren’t occupied by beer, cigars, or women’s lips.

Vinas sighed. "of course we have coffee ready.." she said to Chris. "Just relax I took care of it already. I used to work in a short order cafe before I joined."
The captain looked at the men assembled and yelled. "Breakfast will be 30 minutes long. After that, you are to ensure that all your possessions are in order and report to your designated stations. Am I clear!?"

It was at this time that Miller noticed the lack of a certain Sub-Lieutenant. "DEIMOS, where is Sub-Lieutenant Endurain?"

“Oh thank goodness. I won’t let that happen again ma’am.” Chris replied sternly.

The system would respond by telling him that Sub-Lieutenant Endurain was in the shower at the moment and would be out shortly. Indeed that was the case, Jet had waited til most of the marines had left before he went in there to get his own. Jet would be done within a few minutes anyway.

"Yes sir," Matt responded calmly as he glanced towards the marine messing with him. Wirelessly connecting to the ships network, the young cadet began to access a list of what systems he was restricted from and which he could access due to his rank. When he found it, he would copy it to his short term memory system so that he could memorize it instead of having to rely on a list.

Miller sat down and ate his breakfast. "I'm going to be at the bridge after this. Did you need anything else from me?"

Goddamn lazy ass... he thought about Jet.

After a few moments Jet would just walk in as if nothing was wrong with him being tardy. "Mmmm I needed that" he said stretching a bit and looked around and went get something to eat from the buffet. "I miss much?"

"Knock knock" Sergeant Ran half-shouted in the doorway of the kitchen, holding a plate half-filled with food. In the middle of the plate was a single long hair that hadn't escaped the Marine's battle-tested eyes. "Some joker put this in my food" He sternly said to a random caretaker.

"What is it?" Vinas asked, walking out and going over to see what it is.

"Sub-Lieutenant, nice of you to join us finally," the captain muttered to himself. " Endurain! After breakfast, help the caretakers clean up! You'll be patrolling the ship and acting as a general assistant while we're in space!"

"yeah yeah if you say so." he shrugged and continued to fill his plate with bacon and pancakes. "I don't mind helping out the lovely lady we have working in here." eh said, purposefully excluding Chris from it.

Sighing again, the young cadet continued to eat his breakfast quietly. As he ate, he began to look through the systems he could access, checking their programming and status.

The ship's systems were remarkably detailed. As for programming, it was hard to even determine WHAT was programmed. One could spend days exploring its cavernous depths and not even scratch the surface.

Miller checked his watch the moment he finished his meal. Ten minutes left.

He considered extending the meal, but noticed that the vast majority of crew and marines were seated and eating.

The cadet could only smile as he continued eating. Oh boy, I'm going to have fun with this ship. the cadet thought as he finished his breakfast and leaned back into a relaxed position. "That was good," he could only mumble his appreciation for the meal.

"Cadet, since you are our computer's officer, you will be joining me on the bridge," Miller said while standing up. "The rest of you, do you have any questions before we leave?" He spoke loudly to the others.

Jet would jsut take a seat at a relatively empty table adn relaxed as he ate his breakfast. Eating quickly but still savoring the taste of it like any trained soldier would. "yeah what'd I miss?"

"Not much," Miller answered. "After this meal, you are to make any last minute preparations and then report to your station before we depart."

"No questions here, sir." He dumped the food into the trash and re-joined his Marines at the table, just talking up a storm....



---


As Wazu entered the bridge, a lithe, attractive female, wearing an officer's uniform with the rank of Lieutenant entered. She had blonde hair and emerald green eyes, and her movements were measured and elegant. "Hello Lieutenant," she said with the salute of a hand with red-polished nails. "Welcome to the bridge."

"Goodmorning," Wazu replied as he limped onto the bridge, taking a look at the control systems before resting his gaze on the female officer. "I didn't know we had any female officers onboard. You must be quite good at your job to have progressed this far in the Nepleslian Military." He said more as vocalised thinking rather than actual conversation. Wazu then started to take a short walk around the bridge to get a feel for the room, "What position do you have here Ms?"

The command deck of the NSS Alliance, was an impressive sight. The large, dome-like room nestled in the 3rd floor of the vessel gave the feel of a planetarium. Indeed, this was to be expected, as all the walls of the room were composed of state-of-the-art screens that gave a 360 degree panoramic of the ship's surroundings

In the center of the room, a large, circular conference table seated the 12 members of the crew. In front of the plush leather seats at the table were various consoles connected directly to the ship's computer. There were sections for navigation, strategy, engineering, among others.

The table had the same setup as the cafeteria, with several LEDs resting inside the table, able to project images above the table. The floor was covered with a thin, green carpet to provide good traction for the crew. Nobody wanted one of the commanders to slip on a metallic floor and crack their skull.

The female shook her head at Wazu's words. "I am afraid you are incorrect, sir," she said politely as she walked closer to him. "I am the physical representation of the NSS Alliance's DEIMOS system."

"Oh," Wazu said, as he moved toward her, walking around her once to take a look at her body. "The details they included on you are interesting. You are the first ship's avatar I've seen that paints her nails.' He paused once he was in front of her again, "I assume that would mean your name is Alliance... but that seems a bit ackward for a female."

"Why thank you, sir," the female replied with a smile. "I somewhat like the color." She stood still and erect as Wazu inspected her. "The captain has not given me a name yet, so you may address me however you wish. This is the appearance I took on behalf of the captain's request. Is it adequate?"

"Your apperance is nice... Ally?" Wazu said, "... okay so it isn't perfect but I like it better than Alliance." He looked at her and asked slowly, "So... do you have any, hangups... about how people interface with your computer systems?"

The lady smiled at the suggestion. "Ally, that's a very nice name, sir." She walked up to the circular conference table in the room and ran her hand over it gently. "Anyone may access my system for requests and minor tasks, as I have a near-infinite processing power. Dependant on rank, access to specified sectors of my system are restricted."

"Ah, that is the way I prefer it. Your counterparts elsewhere aren't as... easy to acsess." Wazu said, taking a seat at the table and starting to go over the sensor and weapons system interfaces of the ship.

"Do you mean Yamatai, sir?" Ally asked.

Wazu nodded

"I am able to be contacted from anywhere in the ship via simple vocal input," Ally said. "I am also accessible from any terminal in the ship. In this regard, I am no different than the intelligences of Yamataian ships."

"However you aren't breaking my nose right now. I would consider that a considerable improvement over Yamatai systems."

Ally giggled at that. "I would too!"

---

"Yes sir," the cadet spoke as he stood up and moved to follow Miller when he began to move to the bridge. The young cadet still nursed a headache, but it was slowly numbing itself.

"No questions here, sir." Ran dumped the food into the trash and re-joined his Marines at the table, just talking up a storm....

"You guys haven't been getting on the caretaker's nerves have you?"Jet asked the marines with a wry grin.

Valo stood still near the doorway of the kitchen simply keeping an eye on the two rooms.

"...In my honest opinion, the caretakers don't know shit about what we gotta go through. it is natural that they would fear us." Sergeant Ran didn't really think this. But he loved conflict between people, so he merely let this out to further separate the Marines and Caretakers. Besides, it was bound to happen later on.

"Well you harass them too much andyou'll regret it." Jet yawned and continued to eat. "never piss off the people making your food."

"Ah, I just remembered something." Miller pulled his data pad out and accessed the ship's layout. The aft storage room on deck 4 had been converted into a medical bay. No wonder it was a prototype ship... Note to designers: All future iterations of the DD4 MUST have a medical bay. Tremendous extra expense was created having to refit a separate room. Considering the layout of the ship, it is possible to redesign a sector of the 4th floor to accommodate a medical facility.

Chris chuckled at Ran’s comment. The male was stroking his ego, and Chris couldn’t help but capitalize on the opportunity to put it down. “Who fears you?”
"You fear us, you fuckin' pussy." Ran bit back, shouting over his shoulder. "And since when does a fuckin' low-grade enlisted man talk to a senior NCO like the way you do?! Fuckin' Caretakers. You live above the rules and sleep in your comfy rooms. We'll be in the shit down on whatever fuckin' planet we're going to."

"Just stop you two. it is too damn early." Jet growled at them both.

Sergeant Ran was about to turn around and give Jet a very stern and steady middle finger, but before he could, he noticed the rank bars that designated Jet as a Sub-Lieutenant. "Yes, sir." He turned around, thinking to himself "Fuckin' officers.."

Ran’s anger in response to Chris’ words only served as more amusement. He got cocky and smug as he retorted. “Weren’t you so sure of yourself a second ago? What’s with all the yelling? We’re supposed to fear you because you land on possibly unoccupied planets?”

Chris’ attitude didn’t stay cocky once Jet said his two cents though he was still a bit smug. “It’s never too early.”

"Layoff, guys, that's an order," Miller said with a glare at them both. "From this point on, everyone must display the professionalism that this assignment demands. This is your last warning..." Miller's watch struck the bottom of the hour. "Because right now, we're on assignment."

A chime rang through the ship, signaling the end of breakfast.

The ID-SOL cadet of the marines stood and yelled. "Breakfast is OVER! Move out marines!"

Chris didn’t mind letting things end there. Although fighting with males was fun, and part of his job as a woman wannabe, he wanted the men out of the mess hall.


"Yes'sir." He took the beret tucked in the back of his belt and placed it smartly on his crew-cut shaved head and got up with the rest of the Marines. His particular platoon would be responsible for more grunt work; just moving stuff around. Hopefully, later on, they would hopefully have free time to lift weights.

Miller waited for the marines to file out of the room before motioning to Lionheart. "Let's go, Cadet."

Matthew nodded as he followed the captain out of the room. "Yes sir."

John made his way through the airlock and into one of the hallways of the new destroyer. Looking about for a second, he wondered just how long he would have to call this vessel home. With a slight shake of his head, he made his way towards his quarters, and also to find a certain Mitch Willis, his C/O for this stationing.

"I really hope they have room for my cactus in the crew quarters.."
He muttered to himself making his way through the hallways, taking in just enough to awe at Nepleslia's newest warship.

(GM note: We only use ON: and OFF: thingies for JPs)

"Hey you! Yeah you!"

John heard the gruff call of someone in the distance, someone who was rapidly approaching. By the color and design of his suit, it looked like a marine.

"What are you doing over here? Get your ass down to the cafeteria and help clean up the dishes! That's an order!"

With that, the Nepleslian marine, a Soldier 1st class, was in his face. He looked like he wanted to kill something right then and there, but then he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Naw man," he said between laughs. "I'm just fucking with you. Get down to the Marine quarters. We just finished up breakfast. Follow me."

He started to walk off.


~~~~~~~~~~


Wazu's discussion with Ally was interrupted by the entrance of the Miller and Lionheart.

"Ah, I see you've found your way here, Wazu," Miller said to his XO. "What do you think of this? Pretty good setup we got here."

The captain hopped down to the conference table and sat at one of the consoles.

"Artificial Intelligence, can you bring up the panoramic view on the monitors?"

"Ally sir," the intelligence replied.

"Ally?" Miller was puzzled, and it showed on his raised brow.

"Yes, sir. The lieutenant has so graciously given me that name. Does it not sound nice?" Ally giggled playfully and spun in place.

"Oh, I see," Miller said as he tilted his head in the direction of Wazu. "What else did he do to you?"

"Why nothing at all, sir," Ally said cheerfully as the panoramic screens turned on to display the interior of the dock. "There you go."

"The fuck is this?" One of the senior NCOs stood up in the Marine Quarters, and walked over to the newly arriving Marine. "Did they try to squeeze in an extra body on us, or were you just LATE, Marine?!" The NCO spat in John's face as he shouted, causing his neck muscles and veigns to bulge painfully. After a few akward minutes of silence, the NCO patted John on the back and pointed him off to his bunk and the ID-SOL.

"Welcome to the Marines, bud." Sergeant Ran witnessed the whole damn thing, and was stifling his laughter in response to it all. He carried his beret stuck in his back belt and had his over-shirt draping from the side of his belt. Clearly, he had just gotten back from his assigned time of grunt work, and was whiping his hands of the grease and grime that accumulated. "That a fuckin' cactus? You better watch it close, boy. We don't allow masochistic sex toys like that in these Quarters. Maybe the Caretakers do, but not us." The rest of the Marines howled at this inside joke, and Ran patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Your fuckin' cactus is safe with us."

John raised an eyebrow and then smiled at Ran.
"Ah thanks, I’ve had it for awhile and it is been most everywhere with me."
He proceeded to stow his equipment and set his cactus in the middle of his bed, for lack of a better place at the moment
That should keep anyone from sleeping in my bunk.
John then turned to ran, still a bit overcome by the hysterics of his fellow marines.
“Sarg, I think I’ve been ordered to the mess hall on KP duty. Where is that exactly?

Jet was previously ordered to help with clean up after breakfast, and that unnerved Chris. While he was trying to clean up there was a male in the mess hall. He'd keep an eye on the male and make sure he didn't cause any trouble with the ladies.

Though it was rare for Chris to approach a male without the intent of kicking him in the face he approached Jet.

"Tell me about the ST system."

Jet looked over at him while he helped clean up the food and such. "Don't as me, I don't know the details I just know that you can switch bodies like that." he said. "it is originally Yamataian technology and before that it was Elysian." Jet said, having done his homework on it, not trusting somethign he didn't at least know something about. "You save your memories on the computer then it can create a new body for you and put all your memories into that body, since memories are you soul in a way they call it Soul-Transfer." he said. "But I'm not an authority on it."

Chris listened in disgust at Jet's words. He muttered more to himself then Jet, but it wouldn't have been hard to hear him.

"What vile technology. Those cowards must be afraid to face death."

His anger towards the system made his mind declare it was a male who had developed it. Mixed with both hatreds Chris was almost enraged at the mere thought of it all.

"Who knows more?" He asked demandingly.

"Yamatai would." Jet said offhandly. "or Elysia if they still have it." he continued "it is a good technology specially for those who hate their outward appearance." he said pointedly to him.

Chris glared at Jet.

"I don't hate the way I look, just men. That includes you."

Chris stormed off, half angry at Jet half angry at himself. The thought of becoming a woman had just become a lot more complicated.

How dare he suggest I use such technology?! Yet wouldn't being made a woman solely by cyborg parts be different means to meet the same end? Wouldn't they still just be shells? Well this male husk isn't more then a shell, so I guess it is still fine if I follow my goals in the same manner as before.

Valo stood at the doorway to the kitchen watching as people came and went. It felt that there was a strange irony in it is current existance. It was now doing the opposite of what it had always done. The only problem it could processes was the lack of understanding when it came to the mentality of living creatures. It could process the subtle changes in a persons body such as temperature and yet it was not sure what it was that would drive on to attack their allies.

Finally, late or no, the transmission had come.

Soldier 3rd Class Troy Carson stepped into the ship’s loading bay, his duffle slung over his shoulder. He was wearing a crisp new uniform and, as most young soldiers are, he was immensely proud of it. Finally, active duty! He was tired of rotting on Rok’veru. For a while, he’d been waiting on some sort of assignment - any sort of assignment, at all. And now, here he was on a newly commissioned ship, ready to go out and get shot at. It was the height of his ambition.

Two months basic and a year’s job training had taken what had been left of his former life and dashed it to bits. He was above the influence of his family, and his schooling had already been completed - which was all right with Troy, who hadn‘t really enjoyed any of it, anyway. It threw him a little off balance sometimes, but he liked it. Ironically, this was the way he chose to live his life, and he had talked himself out of having any regrets.

Troy checked in with the required officers (who informed him that he was a day or two late), filled out the necessary paperwork, and, somewhat anxious to meet the soldiers he‘d be working with, jogged the rest of the way up to the marine barracks.

When he arrived, he threw his duffle bag up on an empty bunk, and scanned the assembled marines for an officer. They weren’t paying any attention to him - at least, not immediately. He’d rather it stayed that way until he could report to Cadet Willis, who he thought he spied on the other side of the room.

-(OOC: Afternoon, folk. I tried to pick up as much as I could of the current setting and time, and I apologize if I majorly screwed anything up. That said, looking forward to the next JP.)-

The outside of the Alliance reminded Lain Ostwind of a porcupine… With guns, large guns. With a massive main cannon, turrets, and a plethora of other secondary weapons, he couldn’t help but mumble to himself, “must be compensating for something.”

He tested himself using the readout in front of him. He would look away and try to recall from memory the exact specifications of each ship system, and would then read the text and compare it to his memory. He was often close, but a few details eluded him here or there. He sighed and put the information in his duffle bag, disappointed that he didn’t posses perfect recall.

“Mr. Ostwind?” Lain’s eyes darted to his military escort, a tall but lean man with narrow spectacles and a moustache. “We’re here, I’m to leave at this point.”

Lain nodded, “your assistance has been appreciated.” Though he didn’t mean it, finding the Alliance was about as easy as spotting a full moon on a cloudless night. The escort simply wandered off. Without the need to perform any military courtesies, because Lain was a civilian, the escort almost felt out of place. Lain paused before heading into the ship, taking a moment to scrutinize the other man from behind. He looked back to the ship and slipped his duffle back into his left hand to alleviate the pressure from his right, “Well it’s big, it’s bad, and I hope we don’t get blown up.” He mumbled as he marched in.

He was surprised to find no one inside the cold grey loading bay to greet him, but he preferred it that way, it would have simply been a waste of man-hours. He made his way to the crew’s quarters on the second deck and located his personal quarters. He stepped into the room and looked at the simple accommodations, “exactly what I need.” He grinned just slightly. He went about putting his clothing away; he carefully placed his old katana upright next to his bed. He checked his personal Zen Armaments .45 Cal that resided in a thigh holster on his right side. It occurred to him that having a round in the chamber might seem overly aggressive, though no one was likely to check. He ejected the magazine and cycled the round out of the weapon. With the magazine already full, he simply set the round on his dresser. He pressed the magazine back into the well and placed it back in its holster. He considered putting on his hip holster that fit on his left side, but decided that two weapons seemed like too much firepower while onboard.

Lain thought he was settled in enough, and called out to the ship, “Deimos?”

“Yes, sir?” responded a female voice from somewhere in the ceiling.

“This is Lain Ostwind, verify my voice.”

“Verified, sir.”

“Inform the Captain that I have arrived, we should speak at his leisure.”

“Affirmative, sir.”

ON: NSS Alliance, a few hours later

"Looks like we got ourselves a newcomer here," the booming voice of someone echoed from behind Troy. The marine quarters were filled with the sounds of men laughing and talking. "MARINES, FORM UP!"

John stands at attention, saluting his superior officer. "Sir!"

Aye, aye, sir!" Sergeant Ran and the Marines shouted almost in cadence, forming up a line in front of the Captain.

Troy, startled by the suddenness of the command, scrambled to comply. He didn't sound off with the rest, but he got in line, and he gave his smartest salute.

John stood at attention, his hands behind his back and looked at his commanding officer. "Sir, what are your orders, Sir?"

Cadet 2nd Grade Mitch Willis, leader of the marines, surveyed his men carefully, inspecting each and every detail of their posture and salute. His glaring eyes paused at one marine who was slightly slouching. With not so much a word, he punched him in the arm. "STAND UP STRAIGHT, MARINE!"

He then turned his attention to John, the one who spoke up. "Well, well, Soldier 3rd Class, your orders are to SHUT UP."

John kept a stonewall expression on his face. "Sir Yes Sir! Shutting up now Sir!"

Sergeant Ran couldn't help but join a few NCO's in muted snickering as their commanding officer punched a Marine in the arm, and who was currently chewing off some poor Soldier 3rd Class. Oh, it was cactus boy. He knew his turn would eventually be next. And with his usual disdain for officers showing, he simply ignored it and stared past the Cadet 2nd Grade.

Troy stood quietly, his eyes forward, his posture as rigid as humanly possible. Whatever illusion he had about being able to report to the C2G quietly, and without any confrontation, dissipated into thin air. Sooner or later, the Cadet would notice the new face, and then he'd have to explain. Somehow, Carson doubted the Cadet would take the time to check up on the late transmission of Carson's orders.

Ignoring the snickering of his subordinates, Mitch Willis stepped back from the line. "Marines, we are to go to the power armor bay on deck three and choose our armors for planetside assignment. LINE UP AND MARCH!" With that, he led the troop to the elevators, en route to the third floor.

With the enthusiasm of a schoolgirl in an adult anime video, Sergeant Ran sighed deeply and sauntered with the rest of the Marines to the power armor bay. Though they were giddy at the fact that they seemed to be getting ready for some action, several were a bit wary of what they would find on this mission.

Raising a brow and then quickly moving along with the rest of his marine detachment, John took in the sights of the new ships guts as they made their way to the power armor bay.

There wasn't much to be said for marching. It was quite simple, really - left, right, left, right, and always in time with the others. Troy hadn't expected to be pressed into action so soon. He'd literally just boarded the ship, fifteen minutes ago. But he kept up, and he kept his composure - if there was one thing basic had taught him, it was to follow orders.


*****


Done cleaning up from breakfast, Chris bid farewell to the girls.

”I’m going to my room till it’s time to start preparing lunch. If any of you girls need anything don’t hesitate to give me a call. I’ll cya in a few hours.” The caretaker turned and left.

Vinas just nodded as she continues to clean, being sure to get everything cleaned up to the best she could. Jet was still cleaning up a couple of the tables from a few syrupy messes the marines had made.


*****


Captain Miller sat at his chair in the command center, running his hand over the computer console to the ship that he would soon control.

“Looks like it is almost time," Miller muttered to himself. "okay, Lieutenant, Cadet... Ally, familiarize yourselves with the systems here."

The computer's avatar was still engaged in small talk with Wazu as he set at his station on the bridge. His hands were busied with testing the limits of the ship's sensor systems. The orders from Miller ended the conversation with Ally, the full attention of Wazu returning to the console.

Moving to sit at his own console, the young Lionheart seemed to grin with glee, even with his head numbed with the pain of a hangover. "Yes, sir," the cadet responded as he wirelessly connected to the ships mainframe and began rapidly typing upon his console. Multiple windows soon appeared before him as he ravenously began 'digesting' information via visual and digital methods. He barely noticed the artificial intelligence's avatar as he brought up information about the systems he would be running and any notes left behind by the developers that would help him in anyway.

"Ally, run a general announcement ship-wide that we're going to leave soon," Miller said. "Lieutenant, Cadet, do you have any questions regarding your consoles?"

Ally piped up, "Sir, if I may interject: Mr. Lain Ostwind has boarded the ship. He wishes to speak to you at your leisure."

"Acknowledged, Ally," Miller said. "Have him report to the bridge at his convenience.”

"I have no questions as of yet," Matthew replied without turning to so much as glance at Ally as he was fully engrossed with the information he was reading. There were four windows on his console with one being on the basic diagnostic/status of the ship computer system, another on the status of basic ship systems, the third with developers notes he was allowed to see on the computer system and artificial intelligence, while the final window was a monitoring window of ship communications.

"Mr. Ostwind, the Captain is on the bridge now and willing to speak to you. You may report there if necessary." Ally spoke from somewhere in the ceiling of Lain's quarters.

“Very well," Lain responded. He went down the corridors and made his way to the command bridge on deck three. He entered and easily identified the captain, whose muscular figure and impressive stature matched what Lain expected from a military man. "Captain Miller?" He questioned from the entryway.

"Take a seat over there," Miller said, pointing to an empty seat near the door. "We're about to depart."

Lain seated himself stiffly. His primary concern was whether or not the Captain would fully utilize his skills, though such a question couldn't be asked bluntly. Lain would have to work his way around the question to find the answer. He held his tongue for the moment though, asking any questions just as the ship was about to depart would be seen as out of place, or maybe even useless small talk.

"Lionheart, send a communication to the star base requesting departure clearance," Miller said with a grin. "Let's fucking do this."

"Aye, sir," Matt responded as he went to his communications window and opened up a channel with the star base. "Starbase Ayenee, this is NSS Alliance, requesting clearance to depart," the young cadet transmitted crisply and concisely.

Wazu began checking Ally's telemetry data and referenced the data with what was displayed with the air traffic control data from Nepleslia. He was confident in Ally's abilities for the time being.

"This is Star Base Ayenee Command acknowledging your request for departure," a voice replied to Lionheart. "Please standby."

"Acknowledge, Star Base Ayenee, standing by," Matt replied as he began to feel the excitement building in him. This was it-- he was finally heading out into space after so long on the ground.


*****


The doors to the armor bay opened up and the marines filed in. "okay marines, please review your options for armor and choose one for planet side."

A large chime rang through the ship, as the soft female voice of Ally emitted from the speakers. "The NSS Alliance will be departing shortly. All crew and marines are expected to finalize personal issues within the next 10 minutes."

"Golem Mark II, Sir!" Troy answered, after reviewing the choices presented. There wasn't much of a choice, the way he saw it - there were only three models on the display, and Troy picked the most rounded of the three. And yet, something told him that the military was holding out - perhaps he'd try and file for a change, later?

"Standard," Troy added after a hesitated moment. "Sir."

"Golem Mk.IIs, here I come." Ran situated himself on the pad that would allow for a Golem Mk.II Armor to be placed on his massive frame. "One SIAR and Vibro-Blade, please." He spoke to the AI, hoping that she'd have the sense to pack extra ammo for him.

"...Aw, fuck! Let's throw in a F-10!"

John looked over the choices, deciding the phalanx was the most well-rounded. "A Phalanx Sir!"

Fian listened to the rest of the marines voicing out their selections and noted the disproportionate amount of people picking the Super Phalanx. Guys, there is only one thing that matches the Mindy. The Vel Steyr stepped up to the platform. "A Phalanx!"

"I'll take a Super Phalanx, myself," the Willis said. "Can't be too careful."

Troy started. The phalanx? His eyes strayed to the rest of the room, which was not immediately before him. It just so happened that he happened on a second screen of choices. He swallowed. Hard. 'Ah, shit. . . '

John stepped up to the pad, turning around and facing the marines waiting for their suits. "Phalanx please."

"Better stick close to us, sir." Sergeant Ran looked over to the Commanding Officer and gave him a wink, as the Golem suit started to assemble itself upon him.

"Remember, marines, that we are going PLANETSIDE," Willis continued. "Plasma ejecting shit-blowing up artillery death won't cut it all the time. We sometimes need some fucking SOLID ammo."

Fian thought of what Cadet Willis said, and flashed a look at the SIAR Rifle he carried in his hands.Oops!

John looked over his SIAR rifle ,somewhat uncertain it would hold out in prolonged combat.

"Oooohhh yeah! We're finally gonna be on the ground and away from those fukkin' caretakers!" He cheered by himself, apparently, not realizing the grave expressions that some of the Marines held. "...What? Not like we live forever."

Willis crossed his arms and looked around the room. "okay, HAS EVERYONE FINISHED?!"

"Yes'sir!" Sergeant Ran screamed through his Golem armor, inspecting the DIWS and F-10 weapons systems he now held.

"Aye Sir!" Fian shouted through his helmet.

The marines loaded effortlessly into their armors. Some were giddy with anticipation, and it showed in the way they moved. And why not? They certainly looked like an intimidating bunch. Willis grinned. "Hell yeah, men," he said as he stepped off the platform, donning his new armor. "THIS is power."

"Well, well, well. I didn't know the 2ndCad could be so gung-ho about things." He smirked and readied himself for whatever they may encounter. "We gonna 'git some, Marines?!"

A feeling in the back of John's mind stirred some doubt, wondering how he was going to do being away from the solid earth for so long, even his trip to Nepleslia didn't last this long.


*****


As Miller finalized his own situation at his console, he casually started conversation. "So, Lain, I see here that you're a strategic analyst..."

"Indeed, Mr. Miller. I am familiar with a variety of common and uncommon encryption types, and I am well versed in the human psyche and the predictable reactions that it generates." Lain leaned back a little ways, "I am also, if I may say, talented in gathering intelligence through more aggressive means."

With the diagnostic/status screens all green and the developer's notes done with, Matt had little to do than explore the computer system's program while awaiting communication from the starbase. Our allies sure have an impressive computer system, he thought as he explored more. Then again, because of it we have it as well....makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"So, in other words, you're the ship's intelligence guy to make sure we don't crack," Miller mused with a grin. "Or better yet, completely fuck up the ship."

Lain grinned. "As you say, I provide a certain level of insurance for the higher ups."

"NSS Alliance, you are cleared for departure. Have a safe trip." The voice, as well as the massive opening of the Star Base's shutters, gave Lionheart all the clearance he needed.

"Insurance is a good thing," Miller said as he stood up at his chair. The entire room shifted as the 360 degree panelling displayed their surroundings. "Lionheart! Set a course Northwest for planet X."

Smiling slightly, the cadet went back to the communications window. "Acknowledged, Ayenee and thanks. Alliance, out." Matthew responded before closing the channel and brought up a navigation window quickly as he quickly input coordinates for planet X. "Yes, sir," the young Lionheart spoke as he activated the Alliance's engines. He sent a quick text message to Ally to help him slightly with the ship navigation as he slowly took the Alliance out of the dock.

The ship was soon outside the starbase, the emptiness of space greeting them. Miller grinned and he pointed. "Take us past Kxi'ran at a nice cruising speed."

Lain felt a sudden twinge of curiosity, "Tell me, Mr. Miller, have you known the members of your crew for long, or was this crew assembled from spare parts?"

Miller shook his head. "We could know each other for one day or one year, it doesn't matter," he said. "We're family now."

Slowly increasing the ships speed with 3.0 c acceleration, the young Lionheart directed the ship's course to pass by Kxi'ran on its way to Planet X. As the Alliance made it to the hundreds c, Matthew began to increase the acceleration dramatically just to see how fast in how short a time the destroyer could fly. But as the Alliance edged to 50,000 c, the young cadet began to tone the acceleration down so they would be cruising when the destroyer reached the 50,000c mark.

“We should arrive at our location within 10 minutes,” Ally said with a pleasant smile. “I’m quite fast, am I not?”


*****


Fian flashed one last look at the blue sphere that is Nepleslia, and he gently pushed away the thoughts of regret and home sickness. "I'll be back!" He said with the radio off, he wanted to say it out, but not wanting to let the other marines hear.

END

Valo made it is way down the halls of the vessel keeping an eye out for problems. As it made it is rounds it was at the same time downloading new data regarding the medical history of different species encountered by Nova Corp.

After making sure that none had entered the medical bay seeking aid, Valo began to make it is way back to the dining facilities.