RP [Yamatai] Star Army Recruiting Center (YE 43)

[Wes]

RP Date

YE 43

RP Location

Uesureyan Fortress (Kyoto, Yamatai)

The Uesureyan Fortress was a black, hulking castle of a building that looked like it had been through hell, because it had. Its fire-blackened stone walls had witness the destruction of Geshrinopolis and the birth of the Kyoto Megacity around them, and had watched over Yamatai for generations as empires rose and fell. Each brick in the wall was the size of a car, standing three stories with parapets lining the top ready for archers or rifle-nekos, and accompanied by multi-barreled anti-air guns turrets.

Now in the center of downtown Kyoto, the fortress sat at the intersection of the gray, utilitarian buildings and spires of West Kyoto's military district, the fancy white marble walls of Kyoto's government center, and the seemingly endless gleaming skyscrapers of civilian East Kyoto. At its entrance were giant brass-covered doors big enough for a truck to go through, and an engraved stone archway that said "ARMY OF UESUREYA" above the door. The old sign was contradicted by a newer, larger sign out front that said "STAR ARMY OF YAMATAI - RECRUITING DEPOT - MILITARY DISTRICT OF KYOTO." At street-level the walls around the entrance were decorated with with recruiting posters saying "ENLIST INSIDE!"

Inside the recruiting center there was a security checkpoint, and then a large interior lobby that was filled with bored people sitting in moderate musky recycled starship chairs and filling out questionnaires. Viewscreens on the walls played informational videos about the various available job occupations of the Star Army of Yamatai. A series of electronic signs gave directions to the applicants, who were all assigned ticket numbers that were occasionally called over the intercom. A row of vending machines lined one of the walls ready to dispense snacks, soda, or hot drinks, but the coffee aroma from the vending machine only partially masked the room that smelled primarily like sweat and dusty carpet.

 

[hyralt]

Outside the fortress stood a woman. Or at least she presented as a woman. Her bulbous abdomen, antennae, clawed feet, and slightly misshapen smile made it abundantly clear that she wasn't human. Even were it not for her more attention-grabbing assets, the dark patterns that decorated her face, shoulders, chest, elbows and ankles would have betrayed her status as "other." Not that much of her patterning was visible, as she was bundled up against the winter cold in fluffy boots, thick jeans, a parka, and mittens. Even her abdomen had a knitted cozy.

This woman was taking a moment to stare up and appreciate the Brutalist architecture in front of her, and the wabi-sabi 侘寂 decision to leave the stone walls blackened from fire. The imperfection adds to its beauty, she thought, then shivered, and entered.

Once inside the building, she did not proceed immediately through security. Instead, she took her time to remove her outer layers, until she was dressed only in boots, jeans, and a halter top. The rest of her clothing she piled on top of an older man who had been quietly following behind her and who waited in the lobby while she went through security and into the waiting area.

Her antennae visibly recoiled as the smell hit her delicate sensory appendages, and she frowned with the displeasure of someone who was suddenly intimately aware of the constituent parts of the scent that assailed her.

"Ugh."

 

[Wes]

The receptionist, an old cyborg Nepleslian man with a metal arm, gave the insectoid anthro a slip of paper with the number A-224 on it. "Starting a new life in YE 43 are we?" he asked. "Maybe if you're lucky you'll get out of training before the war ends, see some real action."

 

[hyralt]

Kwabba-an took the slip of paper with a smile and silently nodded to the receptionist. In truth, action was the last thing she wanted, but there was absolutely no way she was going to discuss it if she could simply get away with smiling and nodding. Instead, she turned and walked back to the masses huddled together in the waiting room.

After a few minutes of searching, she saw an empty spot towards the middle of a row of seats towards which she apologized and excused her way through the already numerous crowd of enlistees. When she finally arrived at the seat, she stared at it a moment, then wiggled her abdomen in frustration that the world was so misshapen for someone of her anatomy.

Instead of sitting down on the chair like everyone else, she put her knees up where a rear-end would normally go, and knelt in the chair. This allowed her abdomen to hang in the space normally occupied by a sitter's knees. It was not particularly comfortable, but she expected it would be a long wait and that it would be better than standing or squatting. What made her more uncomfortable was how it made her feel different from those around her, when she just wanted to blend in. Finally, the icing on the cake of her discomfort was the fact that her kneeling position put the back of someone else's head directly in her face.

Kwabba-an grumbled quietly to herself, and resumed a pastime in which she partook nearly every time she went out in public: trying in vain to become invisible.

 

[Commissar Farzi]

Following a small car, having a convinced a neko to act as a ground guide-with that disgusting outfit of all things was the Warden, ancient and battered-trundling up to the massive, imposing fortress. He appreciated the aesthetic-it reminded him of home. Though now that he thought about it, Steiner should've undertaken the appeal for asylum like the crew of the ship he had been picked up on had suggested. But he had been rather doubtful. "We're almost there big guy." Came the profligate's all too cheery voice over the comms. He simply grunted his thanks, not bothering to speak with her any longer than necessary. As he reached the entrance, he made a note of the large number of anti-air turrets, and doubtless had either manned or hidden weapon systems.

"Please remain put. I will be a moment." Fabricating a small, flying drone-looing like an x with four small propellers combined with a camera, audio transmitter/receiver, and manipulator system. Connecting it via radio control, he reached over, gently opening the door and sending it in. He needed to find a receptionist. He made of note of the number of unusual species in here-aliens were a rare sight where he was from-perhaps it would be prudent to find someone in charge. The Warden itself moved back, trying to stay as far out of the way as possible in order to avoid blocking traffic.

"So, when am I going to get that outfit?" The neko sounded impatient, "Because I don't have all day." He groaned mentally-praying for the patience that he didn't have at the moment. "When I have concluded my business here you will receive your payment-you have my word." He had told her this-six times already.

 

[hyralt]

Advertisements for different occupations played on dozens of screens around her, but Kwabba-an couldn't imagine being less interested in them. There were very few things she was actually good at. This was something she had accepted about herself long ago, much to her mother's disapproval. Most Star Army occupations involved activity in which she took no interest, but she happened to be informed about a little-known occupation that was the subject of no recruitment propaganda and would let her achieve her life goals from well within her comfort zone. At least, so she thought.

It was this boredom that led her to scan her surroundings, otherwise she may have missed a quadracopter drone pull a door open and fly inside. Kwabba-an tilted her head and wondered if this was a usual occurrence here. After all, this was her first (and likely only) time visiting the recruitment centre. She could imagine that the little bot might be part of the security team whose presence she had felt moments before as she passed through the checkpoint on the way to the waiting room. Being as it was the most interesting thing around, she continued to watch the device fly around, curious to figure out its purpose.

 

[Wes]

"This some terrorist shit?" the cyborg Nepelslian receptionist growled, grabbing a prodigiously-sized handgun from his side immediately when the drone came in. "Come get some, killbot!" he said, aiming at the drone. A small panic ensued as humans and aliens vacated the entrance area. A rapid response squad of Nekovalkyrja military police officers in power armor quickly burst into the hall from side doors.

"What's going on out here?" the lead Nekovalkyrja MP asked.

Kwabba-an could see from the waiting area that there was a bit of a commotion as some people were running towards the front and some people were running away from it, and the bot seemed to be the center of attention.

 

[hyralt]

Kwabba-an watched in rapt fascination at the disparate sets of people, one of which running towards the drone, and the other running away. For a moment, she wondered if her father would join either the fleers or the chargers. But she realized he would dutifully continue to hold her outer vestments in the area inside the entrance to the building but outside of the secured waiting area, at least until he was in immediate danger.

Aha, she thought. That's probably not a security drone.

 

[Commissar Farzi]

The sudden panic that the drone had started was...not the intended effect Steiner had meant to have. He would need to de-escalate the situation, and fast. The speaker cackled to life, static crackling as it tuned into the correct frequency. "My apologies, I did not mean to cause such a disturbance." He maintained a steady, or at least he hoped he seemed calm, "I had sent the drone in due being unable to enter the facility myself."

The drone turned towards the receptionist. "It would be appreciated if you would not shoot my drone down, as I while can make another in short order, it would be rather inconvenient at the moment. You are not in any danger, you have my word."

 

[SageShooter]

The deep sigh that stretched from the doorway behind the receptionist and the sudden burst in of military police, it had all just done wonders to draw on the woman's nerves as she watched from the back. She had come out to get her next candidate for induction when the power armors had come trundling in, the drone, and the rather normal response from the Nepleslian receptionist, the blonde nekovalkyrja woman in her sharp black paneled uniform, denoting SAINT, and the rank of Itto Juni on her shoulder, Hoshiko crossed her arms with a small scowl on her face as she scanned the room.

"... A-224? I need A-224 to follow me. A-224..." Her tone was full of disinterest at the situation in the room currently, her care more on the absolute abject bordom she found herself in lately after she had been moved now to recruiting. She scanned the room to see just who was going to come to her as she rolled her eyes after a second, figuring someone else would handle the excitement in the main area, someone with an actual officer ranking rather than her.

 

[hyralt]

Awoken from the scene that so mesmerized her, Kwabba-an was suddenly aware of a voice calling a letter and number combination. Her ticket! She looked down and saw A-224 printed on the slip of paper she'd lined up for after passing through security.

"Uh!" She raised her hand and waved to the blonde nekovalkyrja who was calling her number. She proceeded to step backwards from her kneeling position on the old chair, which made her realize how much her shins hurt at sitting so awkwardly. With only a slight wobble, she navigated her way out from between the rows of people sitting down and waiting for their numbers to be called, and soon found herself standing next to the receptionist.

With a nervous smile, she held out her ticket that read A-224.

 

[SageShooter]

Hoshiko's eyes took in the form of the being that walked closer to her and as she gave her a small finger crook to follow her and turned on her heel, she rolled her eyes hidden now as led the Kwabba-an back to one of the side rooms for induction and processing. The room was simple and small, a desk in the middle of the room with a pair of chairs in front of the desk, black leather, a small book case to the side against the wall, and several flags that lined the walls, one for the Star Army, one for Yamatai, and one for SAINT being the three largest, while there were several smaller pendants for the different fleets. In the back corner of the room was a coat rack that held a heavy black coat and a hat, both seeming to be in the Uniformed style of the Star Army for in-climate weather.

The blonde Neko walked around the desk and took a seat in the chair and leaned back as she motioned to one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Thank you for showing an interest in joining the Yamataian Star Army. I just have a few questions for you before we begin and a few different pre-requisites, though it seems like those are all passed... Are you currently a citizen of the Yamataian empire?" Hoshiko asked as she crossed her fingers in front of her chest and rested her elbows on the arm rests. Blue eyes flicked to the volumetric screen that hovered to her right just out of the direct eye line with Kwabba-an as she waited.

 

[hyralt]

Kwabba-an followed along quietly, then took in the room slowly, her gaze meandering around the objects within before finally falling upon the chair that the blonde Neko motioned towards. She sighed quietly to herself, then approached, spun it around so it was backwards against the table, and sat down on it with her legs straddling the back of the chair in a most unladylike fashion. Doing so allowed her insectoid abdomen to hang freely behind her in the air as she did her best to maintain eye contact with the receptionist across from her.

"Y-yes," she stammered. "I am."

 

[SageShooter]

Hoshiko did her best to hid the look she wanted to give but nodded and sat forward. After a moment and a finger swipe, a list of questions appeared before Kwabba-an with two small boxes next to each one.

"Just a few quick questions we need to run through in order to determine your eligibility to join the Star Army, and once we get this handled, we will get you through medical and shipped off to basic..."

The questions appeared in bulleted form, each one read off by Hoshiko in quick fashion.

• Are you currently employed by any foreign government or military?
• Have you been employed by one in the past?
• Also do you have a criminal record in any nation or are under investigation or accusation of any crimes?
• Have you been a member of any religious or political group or any gang in the last ten years?
• Have you ever spoken to a Mishhuvurthyar, Kuvexian, or their known allies?
• Have you ever been diagnosed with or had reason to believe you had a physical, mental, or other disability mental illness, behavioral issue, or substance addiction?
• Do you have over 1,000,000 KS in net worth including real estate and stocks?
• Do you have any outstanding debts over 10,000 KS?
• How long do you plan to stay in the Star Army and what do you plan to do afterwards?

As she finished, Hoshiko simply sat back and watched her, waiting for her responses.

 

[hyralt]

Kwabba-an followed along, answering in the negative to each question in turn. She tried to get away with shaking her head as much as possible, but if pressed would give a quiet "no." Until it came to the question about Mishhuvurthyar and Kuvexians, at which she tilted her head to one side and gave a blank stare.

"I don't know," she said, finally offering a sentence of more than a single syllable. "I don't think so. What do they look like? Are there many here in Kyoto or in Ternifac? I haven't traveled except between here and there."

 

[SageShooter]

Hoshiko narrowed her eyes slightly as she heard the girl respond and tilted her head a little.

"Our last two major wars have been against the Mishhuvurthyar and Kuvexians... The Kuvexians are who you are going to go fight. Might want to know about that."

Hoshiko let out a small sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose for a moment, but shook her head. Kwabba-an would learn all about it during basic...

"So, Give me some information about you. Strengths, weaknesses, experience?"

 

[hyralt]

The ant anthro felt her cheeks fill with warmth, and she looked down at the table between them. After several times the maximum length of time that most would allow a polite conversation to fall silent, she spoke again.

"I am a musician," she said quietly, her voice barely louder than a whisper now. "I have studied the repertoire of string instruments at the Kyoto Academy for the Arts. While I was there I also learned vocal techniques and about the design and construction of musical instruments, but my final recital was a collection of pieces on various string instruments. And I have three years of experience as a session and gig musician."

Kwabba-an's cheeks only seemed to darken.

"That," she interrupted herself with an inhalation of breath that almost warbled in her throat. "That probably doesn't seem very useful."

After another drawn-out pause, she put all four hands on the table.

"I have four arms and can lift ten times my body weight," she said finally, looking up at the interviewer to see if this was the sort of strength she was hoping for.

"As for weaknesses," she swallowed. "I guess I don't like the cold very much."

 

[SageShooter]

"So we will start you as a combat arms, and see where you go from there..." Hoshiko half muttered half explained to her as she reached forward toward the volumetric screen and flicked it toward Kwabba-an. As it came up before her, it was fairly simple and straight forward, a contract to be signed and an oath to be taken.

"I, (state your name), have truthfully, honorably, and voluntarily enlisted myself as a soldier in the Star Army of Yamatai for the full length of my commitment. I vow to protect the peoples of Yamatai, to follow the orders of the Empress and the officers appointed over me, to live by the Star Army Creed, to obey Star Army rules and regulations, and to destroy the enemies of Yamatai."

 

[hyralt]

Kwabba-an flinched a little as the volumetric display came up in front of her, but she quickly read through it in her head and finally seemed to relax. After signing it, she read the oath aloud, thinking of it as a tuneless song to be performed in front of a very small audience.

"I, !Kwabba-an Ternifac-xuralkhi," she started. The pronunciation of the first part of her name included a click sound on its first consonant which she made with a set of vestigial mandibles inside her mouth. "Have truthfully, honorably, and voluntarily enlisted myself as a soldier in the Star Army of Yamatai for the full length of my commitment. I vow to protect the peoples of Yamatai, to follow the orders of the Empress and the officers appointed over me, to live by the Star Army Creed, to obey Star Army rules and regulations, and to destroy the enemies of Yamatai."

 

[SageShooter]

"Very well. Out the door, take a right, end of the hallway another right and you'll hit medical. They will do a physical, get you ready, and send you on your way. Welcome to the glorious Star Army of Yamatai." Hoshiko stood and gave a salute, a small offer to the woman before her before she offered her hand out to show her the way out. As she left, she would head back to the front to find the next person and bring them back.