RP: YSS Aeon [YSS Aeon] - Second Sorte

The Aeon's arrival started the real work for Hoshi. He immediately started a triage while others setup up a Type 30 Portable Shelter to use as a field hospital. He only happened to be passing through the power armor bay with his medical supplies when he saw Katae getting out of her armor. Her uniform had blood from the lower chest and running down. “Ise-Taii, you’re injured. Why did you not tell me?” Before she could respond he had his PMS-1 hypospray in hand and was injecting the nanobots. “Hoshi, trust me it looks worse than it is, I’ve had worse. It is most likely some lacerations and a broken rib.” Katae replied. “So you have decided to go into medicine Ise-Taii? You’re not indestructible Taii,” he replied looking at the scanner. “And for your information it is two broken ribs. Let’s get you up to the medbay so I can treat your wounds and bind those ribs.” He turned to Nami, “Nami, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Continue with the triage without me.” “I’ll take care of it Shoi.” Nami called heading down the ramp. Once in the medbay he got the necessary supplies, “Really Katae, you should take better care of yourself. You’re the commander of the Aeon you shouldn’t go charging into the fray at every opportunity.” “Hoshi, that’s hardly been the case. I’ve been letting the others handle stuff. But most of the crew is still pretty green. Taking down the Overseer called for combat experience. But I will see what I can do about not hurling myself into the fray. Okay?” She replied. “So how bad are the people we freed?” “Given what they’ve been enduring, there is nothing that can't be fixed with time. Good food and water will be the best for most of them. Ruri and Usaga are removing the collars as we speak.” “Once you have a chance to examine the worst let me know and I’ll add it to my report, we will need to have Logistics come out to transport these people.” Katae said as she got up and left the medbay.

Katae made her way to her cabin to grab a quick shower and put on a clean uniform. After pulling on her clean uniform, she headed for the bridge. “Eternity what’s the status of the Adventure?” she asked sitting into her chair. “The Adventure is currently on the surface of the rogue. They report numerous impact craters are present, and structures similar to those we discovered in the desert.” Eternity replied. Katae worked on her report, and request for transportation for the rescued personnel. She appended her report with the data supplied by Hoshi. The emergency field rations they had onboard were going quickly, Katae made a note to replenish them when they returned. “Ise Taii,” Eternity said interrupting her train of thought. “Sensors have detected a hyperspace fold event in system.” “Unci, that must be one of the slaver ships returning.” Attention all Aeon crew members, we have an unknown inbound. We are lifting in five minutes, Dai-Shoi, Nami-Hei, and Kahen-Juni, suit up you will be remaining here to take care of our guests. she broadcasted telepathically.

Five minutes later, with the SCC containing all the rations sitting on the pad, the Aeon leapt into the sky. As their altitude increased Katae increased the acceleration. Once free of the atmosphere, she shifted the ship to STL drive and headed to intercept. Looking around all stations on the bridge were manned and ready. “Ma’am sensors are showing a single vessel moving inbound. Eternity has identified is a Geshrinari Light Freighter variant, its energy emissions are highly erratic.” Ruiko reported. “Okay let’s open a channel and give them a chance to surrender.” Katae said. “Ma’am multiple hyperspace fold events detected.” Ruiko called out. Suddenly six ships dropped into normal space a short distance from the freighter. Without warning the lead two ships opened fire at the stricken freighter. The freighter exploded in a pyrotechnic display with debris scattering. “Cho-Tsu get me an id on those ships stat.” she ordered. “Taii, the lead two ships are similar in design to those we encountered rescuing that civilian ship. I’m scanning the other vessels as we speak” Ruiko responded. “Eternity open a channel to the Adventure.” “Channel open Taii.” “Aeon to Adventure, we have six inbound hostiles, need you here ASAP.” Katae sent. “Ise Taii, we are currently leaving the rogue, but without risking an in-system fold, we can’t get to you. And we can’t make a direct jump due to the position of the sun. We are going to execute two in-system folds. Adventure out.” the commander of the other ship responded. “Battlestations all hands, maximum weapons and shields, switching to auxiliary drives. Ruiko get me a tactical analysis of the other ships.” Katae ordered as she submerged herself into the SPINE.

Katae watched the Aeon’s configuration change to her specifications. So much for my promise to Hoshi about leaping into the fray. she thought. “All stations report battle ready Taii, I’m working on a tactical analysis of the other vessels.” Ruiko informed her.

“Let’s try diplomacy for what it is worth.” Switching the external comm system on, “This is the YSS Aeon, we are currently involved in an exploration and rescue operation. Please state your intention.” After a momentary pause, the first two ships fired a volley of missiles at the Aeon. Katae was able to dispatch them easily with the weapon pods. “Well, guess that clearly states their attention.” Katae started an evasive pattern and swung the Aeon into position to target the enemies aft section. The full firepower of the Aeon obliterated the enemy shielding and rained destruction upon the first ship. As the Katae flew past it the sensors showed the ship was dead in space.

Three of the enemy vessels pursued the ship; the other two were larger than the first, and while not as fast they appeared to have formidable fire power. As evidenced by the shields dropping significantly after their volley. Katae switched off the STL drives, and spun the Aeon on her axis. After rotating 180 degrees she re-engaged the drives. Since the drives were currently slowing the ship, it had the affect of making her ship appear to rush towards her opponents. While the Aeon plunged between the two larger ships she cut loose on the ship on the port side. The enemy vessels were limited in what they could bring to bear for fear of hitting each other. “Ruiko any sign of the Adventure.” “Negative Taii, still no sign of her sensors did detect a fold event so they must have at least made their first jump. I have identified some potential points to try targeting that could affect their power grid.” About that time a blast from the last ship struck the Aeon amidship. A energy surge caused the Systems monitoring station to blow a few panels. “Shields are down ma’am; we’ve taken damage in engineering,” Ruiko called out. “The main generator is operating at 90 percent efficiency ma’am, compensating with the fusion generators.” Usaga called out over the internal speakers, “Ruri is injured, but still able to man her station.”

The Aeon had dispatched half of the enemy vessels, but the ship had not done so without paying heavy a price. She was venting plasma from the port pylon; the port auxiliary engine was also damaged and operating at 50% of capacity. There were several hull breaches and crew injuries accompanied the last enemy volley of hits. The starboard particle cannon was offline, and the main generator was down to 60%.

“The main ship is swinging to bring their main cannon to bear Taii.” Ruiko called out. Katae adjusted the Aeon’s trajectory in an effort to keep her ship out of the line of fire of the weapon. The other two ships though damaged were still fairing better than her ship. Katae analyzed the sensor data, and tried to devise a strategy that would allow her to protect the people on the planet, destroy or disable these vessels, and just maybe allow her crew and ship to survive. She swung the ship around to fire at one of the smaller ships, the Aeon sluggishly responding to her commands. “Hyperspace event Taii.” For a moment Katae feared that more enemy vessels were arriving. The distinctive outline of a Plumeria-class gunship appeared behind the largest enemy vessel. “It’s the Adventure.” Ruiko called out.
“Sorry we couldn’t get her sooner Ise-Taii.” The commander of the other ship signaled as they fired upon the enemy.

Katae trained her ship’s weapons at the same ship. “Glad to see you Adventure. We were beginning to think you were going to miss the party.” The large ship rocked under the combined assault of the two gunships. Secondary explosions started to burst through its hull. The remaining two enemy ships put on a burst of speed heading towards the outer edge of the system. Katae pursued one of them, but the enemy ship was pulling away. She fired the main cannon and the remaining weapon pods at the aft of the target. And watched as the Adventure streaked by firing with all systems at the other ship. A shudder ran through the Aeon as the damaged auxiliary engine failed. “Adventure finish the last one, we will hold position.” A moment later the last ship flared in a brilliant explosion of expanding gases.

Katae turned her ship back towards Takara. “All hands begin damage control procedures.” She disengaged her SPINE and started to stand. “Ruiko, you….” She said before doubling over with pain, she sat back at her station. “Ruiko, coordinate the repairs, propulsion and weapons of course have priority. And check out the injuries, I’ll stay here and mind the store.”

The Aeon held position over Takara while the Adventure went down to check on the people on the surface. To be honest Ise was not sure how well the Aeon would take landing, and the zero gravity of orbit would help facilitate the emergency repairs. Ruri and Usaga had finished patching the hull, so it was now possible to move through the ship without environmental suits. The Wardroom and galley were a complete loss; the power armor bay was heavily damaged as well as the shuttle bay. Katae floated through the Aeon since the anti-grav was turned off until the main generator was repaired. She wanted to see the damage first hand, and the lack of gravity made moving easier. After seeing the damage she returned to the bridge to file reports.

Katae had transmitted her report to fleet command, and the request to Logistics to transport the survivors. She also transmitted a copy of the system data to the new Scientific Studies Service. Interesting concept, having civilians follow up and do the extended studies. she thought as she pulled up data on the organization.

Two days later the Logistic ships arrived at UX-27. The survivors were loaded in a relatively short period of time, and the group commander offered to tow the Aeon back. Katae declined the offer out of a sense of pride. While the ship was still battered, she would bring her crew home. Katae received orders for the Aeon, they were to return to Gemini Station for repairs and reassignment. The Aeon flew to the edge of the system with the Adventure. This was the last time the two vessels would travel together, as the Aeon was being assigned to the 7th Squadron, and the other ship was returning to the fourth. They both executed a hyperspace fold back towards the Ketsurui Military Sector. A few jumps later they were entering the Hanako’s Star system. A while later the Aeon was brought into the station.

Katae submitted promotions for the newest members of her crew, they were more than warranted in her opinion, and all crew members had a week of shore leave on Hanako’s world. Katae meanwhile sat in an office reviewing her orders. The Aeon was undergoing an extensive refit that included a weapons upgrade. They were also being reassigned from Exploration duty, and additional crewmembers were coming aboard. She put in a request for a Liaison person from the SSS, and a squad of Planetary Infantry was being added to the ship.

Ise looked up when the door chime to the office sounded. A quick check on the computer screen showed that it was Starns Ittô Juni the leader of the Infantry squad. She pressed the button to open the door. She watched him walk into the room. He walked in and came to attention and bowed, “Starns Jens Ittô Juni reporting ma’am.” He then snapped back to attention. She took a moment to look at him, his short blond hair framed his face nicely, and was only slightly longer than the hair in his beard. “Have a seat Starns Juni.” Katae replied pointing to the chair. He moved to the chair with the minimum about of steps and sat at attention. “At ease Starns this is just an informal meeting to get to know you, it is not an interview.” She said with a smile. “I must say I am impressed with your service docket. I came from the Infantry myself, though not planetary. Tell me a bit about your squad.”

Jens took a moment to look at the office, it was the temporary sort used when officers were passing through. It gave no sense of the occupant. “All but two of them have been with me for a while ma’am. They are good soldiers, been through some rough scraps together. The Santo Hei’s are green, but I am sure I will be able to whip them into shape.” He watched the Taii’s reaction to his comments thus far. “I am sure you will be able to. The Infantry squad is your responsibility I will leave them in your hands. I will expect you to keep me apprised of any situation that could impact their effectiveness.” Katae responded. Good, an officer who knows what it means to be infantry. “So Ise-Taii, what is the mission? What will my squad and I be facing?” He watched her look down at the papers on the desk. “You know about as much as I do Starns. The Aeon and her crew were pulled from an exploration mission and are being reassigned to patrol duty. And of course command has assigned your squad to my ship as well. I am sure that we will get more information when command sees fit to inform us. For now I have given the rest of the crew shore leave down on the planet. I want you and your squad to take some leave as well. There is no telling when we will have the opportunity again.” “Yes ma’am, sounds good to me.” He stood and bowed. “Thank you for your time ma’am. I’ll see you aboard the Aeon.”

Katae waited until Starns had left the office. Some time on a beach relaxing in the sun does sound good. Time I took my own advice. she thought. She picked up her bag that she had behind the desk. After putting the papers into the bag, she slung the strap over her shoulder and walked out of the office. Something was definitely in the wind. Even as large as Gemini station is, I can tell that there are a lot more people here since I took command of the Aeon. The fact that command assigned an infantry unit, says that they are expecting trouble. Well, whatever it is, it will have to wait. The Aeon is out of service for at least five days. So I may as well spend some time recuperating. She then boarded a shuttle to take her down to the surface.