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RP: YSS Artemis [YSS Artemis O1I3] Wrong Side of Heaven

Glein

Well-Known Member
RP Date
6月 YE 42
RP Location
Various

Ittô Hei Elenor Herrick
<Unable to parse location data>

She had to fight to keep her calm. She was a POW. Sure, to the Kuvies, she was little more than a slave, but she was a POW. She was sure that the Artemis was looking for a way to rescue them. Especially after the ambush they stumbled upon on the last mission.

The Kuvexian's SOFT-types had been waiting for them at a mission zone they thought would be a valuable target. Of course, it turns out it had been a deliberate ploy. A ruse. A Odin worthy ambush of the Yamatai force. After the string of luck they'd had, even with the mess in the last six month tour, they were sure their luck would hold this one.

It didn't. And now half of the ground-intended force of the Artemis had been captured. All of the flesh and blood members had been put up for auction, and sold off to various wealthy-enough Kuvies... From what Elenor had been able to gather, listening in to the discussions she managed to get close to, they all appeared to be in the same region on this planet, but the problem was, of those able to potentially set up any kind of beacon for the Artemis to find them... was Bjorn.

And Elenor wasn't even sure if Bjorn's software was in a state to do that, since she was sure Bjorn was likely getting dissected by the Kuvie's techies because, why not? Bjorn was a fairly advanced combat droid, even if most of the crew had stopped seeing that in the near year they'd been on the ship together.

Nonetheless, she had to focus on her work. Even dressed, treated, and having to act a slave for some bastard with issues she'd love to beat. But the heavy collar around her neck made any physical attempts to defend herself, or try and fight back, impossible, as it would shock her into submission. This she found out the hard way. So, for now, she'd bided her time. Kept an eye open and an ear up. HUMINT. That's what she had to do now. Gather as much HUMINT as she could. She'd been doing it a month now. She was sure she could hold out a little longer.



Shosa Asleif Belemtal
Uesureyan Fortress

Between herself and her sister, the ground compliment of the Artemis were looking for replacements. For people to fill gaps that were empty, not because of being captured, but because of those who didn't want to stick around after the mess. After so many of their people getting captured, finding those willing to mount a rescue, while not hard, was also not easy. A lot of people were too shook up to want to try again. Asleif couldn't blame them.

Which is why she was here, at one of the Star Army's major Recruitment centers, not for raw recruits, but to talk with Personnel, who had a significant presence here, due to the moving of personnel around. Sure, going to Personnel's HQ would be better, but that would have been mostly paperwork, not seeing those pending assignment. Getting to know and get a feel for them. So she was sitting down talking with another Shosa about any Rangers or Ranger-adjacent that were available now, and if not Ranger themselves, trained up on route. She had a bunch of bunks to refill, and not a lot of time to do it.

After all, Fusami was as livid as the rest of them about this. Despite being Navy, those captured were still her people. Her responsibility. And the fact that unless they wanted blue on blue, they couldn't even fire on the ships holding their people. Yes, ST's were a thing, but Fusami wasn't sure if the range would have been too much for the ST to trigger, much less if the Kuvies had a way to jam or even prevent it from happening. So instead of firing on their own, they had to watch them be taken away to wherever it was the Kuvies kept POW's.

"I've a few who might fit your criteria. Most though seem to want to deploy to Rikugun units as scouts, not as part of a pure Ranger platoon. One of the ones who you might be able to get is here right now actually Ma'am. She's in one of the training rooms going through some regimens from... the Zenjinkaze Fighting High School. She scored pretty highly in the fields more typically associated with Rangers, but to my knowledge, or the paperwork, never entered that particular path." The Personnel Shosa said, looking over a file on her desk.

Asleif quirked an eyebrow. "Really now? May I see her?" She asked, getting a nod from the other woman.
 
Kara "Gravity" Sifsdottir
Uesureyan Fortress

The small blue Neko balled up her anger and fear into a little place inside her. She technically speaking already had an assignment, but when she had learned of what happened, there was only one assignment she wanted. It had taken her a bit to figure out where Asleif would be so Gravity could corner the Shosa and make someone take Gravity along. She decided to hover in the middle of the hall so that she would be impossible to miss when they left the office. One of the office workers gave the hovering tiger-striped Neko an odd look. "Why are you doing that?" They asked.

"I'm going to be assigned to the Artemis and Rescue my Girlfriend!" The blue Neko proclaimed defiantly, even though no one had told her yet she couldn't.


Sacre Ven Sassinia
<Unable to parse location data>

Sacre lay on her cot in the slave quarters and tried not to hate herself more than she already did. She had been bought by a wealthy CEO of a defense industry who was having some trouble with his harem of Separa'Shan dancers. He hoped that adding an 'older' Separa'Shan would help make them more manageable. In a way, he was right, it had. It hadn't taken long for Sacre to turn the troupe into a well-oiled machine. One that in addition to dancing and being pretty, was also collecting all of the information they could for when they were rescued by the Star Army. She was also hiding Hesskara practice as dance practice. It gave Sacre a sense of purpose, without which, Sacre was fairly certain she would have killed herself at least twice already, not including the horrible auction that she tried not to think about.

That said, she had to subject the troupe to a lot of the same things that she had hated. Their master wasn't as cruel as Poseidon, but that was like comparing a blast furnace to a blue star. Yes, the blast furnace was cooler, but only comparatively. When she could, she had taken on the punishments for her trope. So much so that he called Sacre 'his little masochist'. It wasn't true, Sacre hated the pain, hated him. But it was better than when he forced her to be the one to use a whip or an agonizer instead. Or when he told her to pick which one would go to his bed that night.

Sacre hated herself for doing it. Sariana was one of the younger dancers who had stumbled in the middle of a complex routine. The reason was partially his own fault for starving her so that she would look thinner. He had handed Sacre the lash and forced her to meet out the beating. Thirty-seven lashes. Sariana had writhed on the ground and pleaded for mercy. He had given her none and used Sacre's arm to do it.

When they got back to the slave quarters, Sacre had tried her best to undo the harm. However, something in Sariana had broken. Sacre had seen it before, the loss of hope, the blank stare. The beating though severe was survivable, but without a will to live anymore, Sariana had died. It was Sacre's fault. She should have figured out a way to smuggle more food in for Sariana. But Sariana wasn't the only one who was on a starvation diet. Sacre gave away most of her own food to the troupe.

Sacre slid one of her bone knives out of her arm and played with it. Violent images crossed her mind, hurting everyone who was responsible for this. it was impossible, and much as she hated herself, she didn't hate the corellians that lived inside her. They did their best for her. She would do her best for them. She slipped the bone knife back in so that they didn't have to make another. They were struggling as it was without the special supplements. Sacre was trying to get them what they needed in other ways, but it was never easy.

Sacre slid off of the bed and stood upright. Enough with the pity party, it was time to get something done. Slaves always found a way to do things that their masters didn't want. It had taken a while, but Sacre had figured out a way to pass notes between the various crew members of the Artimis scattered around this province. It was risky, using the other slaves who could betray them as couriers like this, but Sacre didn't see any other way.
 
OOC: Alright, here I go! I also apologize for any disturbance.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Personnel Shosa Chika Amaru got up from her seat and indicated that the other Shosa should follow her, and she led her on a brisk walk to the elevators. The location Ai told her that Makoto-hei was in the VR chamber 3 going through what the technicians say is her usual training regimen. Chika led the Ranger Commander to what could be described as an observation area, and with a push of a button, a screen activated and they could see the scene in the VR chamber.

A Kuvexian was running, followed by another when the First’s neck suddenly spontaneously burst. The Second tried to turn and run, but a flying transparent blade hit him hard at the back of the head, propelled by both Nekovalkyrja strength and gravity manipulation. The Blade suddenly was pulled from the body and seemed to levitate in mid-air as the purple blood was forced off. Asleif would have seen for a moment a visible Nekovalkyrja before she disappeared again. This only happened when she attacked, since she couldn’t focus on staying invisible and attacking at the same time.

Sensing that it’s hard to see the Neko while she’s invisible, the Shosa pressed another button, and the Neko was illuminated in a whitish hue.
The Neko was now seen looking at the two bodies, before picking up one and dropping it beside the other. Before she searched them for something she eventually found a keycard. She kept that before disposing of the bodies and began hovering and moving away, passing a cleaning drone that conveniently took care of the blood that soon disappeared.

She landed before hurrying off I should be careful, because of my noise they almost pulled the alarm. She privately thought, unaware she was being watched by two Shosas as she snuck past another Kuvexian, and made a disgusted face as she passed a Rixxlor. She wanted to kill them, but she didn’t think there would be a reason to do so.
As she turned a corner, she skidded to a stop where she saw Armored Kuvexians. She scanned the environment, seeing if she can simply fly over them. She knew her Transparent blade might not damage them, and she knew a lone unarmored Neko armed with only a Transparent blade wouldn’t damage the armor. She moved back the way she came, and crouched down, and focused.

Though she turned visible, she soon changed into a random Kuvexian decoration, something miscellaneous they would overlook, and she waited until they passed by before she scrambled past them. Note to self, maybe see if I can get a recording of their language or something, maybe a machine that can change my voice and translate, yeah that will work.

Makoto hurried, using her Nekovalkyrja agility to get to where she needed to go. The mission for the session called for her to assassinate the base commander which would “disrupt the Kuvexian forces. She could see the guy now. He looked like a Kuvexian, as greedy and mean as the others.
She hovered upwards to the ceiling of the base as she tried to find a good spot until, boom! She struck with such a fast speed, her blade forced into the Kuvexians neck using her strength and Gravity manipulation.

Around her, the walls disappeared, as did the floor, becoming the walls and floor of the VR chamber. The Transparent glade flew up into her arms. “Ok, Megumi, delete that session from memory”

The Personnel Shosa turned to the Artemis Ranger commander. “So, what do you think? want her?’ she asked.
 
Maradia
Kyoto

The cyborg woman had largely been sulking since Jericho and the others had been captured. She was able to make a narrow escape, actually, her strength, floating ability, and heavy weight made it quite impossible for the enemy to have a means to capture her. Though she normally hated them, if it weren't for her implants she would've been part of the half that was in the Kuvexians' possession. Still, since she had made it out, she blamed herself for not being able to return with the ones who didn't. Especially Sacre and Jericho. She couldn't stand the fact that the Kuvexians had taken them. Then again, she couldn't "stand" at all. She didn't have legs. And just after Maradia and Jericho had professed their love to each other too. She had her large body curled up, laying her face on her girthy tail and occasionally sighing. She would do anything to get him back, but right now it was looking rather hopeless to the artificial-armed snake. How would they even find out where the rotten Kuvvies had taken the rest of the crew to?
 
YSS Artemis
Deck 6 - VR Chamber



If one were to step into the VR deck, they'd find the aftermath of a small war. The location was a mixture of different Kuvexian facility designs. Simulated bodies littered the floor. All were Kuvexian torn up, crushed, decapitated. All dead, none of them perished cleanly. Only the lone Yamataian soldier stood.

The Daisy armor Klaus wore was dented and scratched. Shields depleted. His rifle bashed against a Kuvexian skull. One of his swords pinning a PA Kuvie. He couldn't move his left arm as the armor simulated him having lost his arm to the Kuvie elite, but he considering breaking their neck (even if simulated) a fair trade. He had only need one arm to swing his remaining sword. "Simulation over." the VR system voice echoed as the simulated enviroment and enemies vanished, leaving Klaus alone in the VR deck with his fears, exhaustion and self-loathing. Ever since he had woken up after his first death, Klaus had trained. He trained like he had never trained before. Frustration grinded at his soul like never before.

He had been weak. They took Setsuya... And he couldn't do anything about it. But he could get better. Faster, stronger, nastier. He will get Setsuya back or die trying. No matter the cost.
 
Kara "Gravity" Sifsdottir
Uesureyan Fortress

The small blue Neko balled up her anger and fear into a little place inside her. She technically speaking already had an assignment, but when she had learned of what happened, there was only one assignment she wanted. It had taken her a bit to figure out where Asleif would be so Gravity could corner the Shosa and make someone take Gravity along. She decided to hover in the middle of the hall so that she would be impossible to miss when they left the office. One of the office workers gave the hovering tiger-striped Neko an odd look. "Why are you doing that?" They asked.

"I'm going to be assigned to the Artemis and Rescue my Girlfriend!" The blue Neko proclaimed defiantly, even though no one had told her yet she couldn't.
Freydis Eiriksdottir

Uesureyan Fortress

Mission:

Freydis thought about how by chance she was able to get away by shooting her way out of the situation only to find the odds stacked against her. She managed to move forward thinking she was clearing a path for others to follow only to find to many enemies closing her gap behind her. Cut off and alone she had to find a way out of here. Using her camouflage, she followed a group of Kuvies to a cargo area running shuttles.

Seeing this as her ticket out of here she wandered to the far side away from the shuttles and wired a breaker on the radar with a time delay to explode. She knew with the Radar down what she wanted to steal would be harder to track. This distracted her enemies to reach a shuttle. With a quick interaction with the control panel given her strong skills to hack vehicles locking systems the door slides open. She strapped herself into the driver’s seat and accessed the departure log creating her own fight plan slipped into the roster. She then activated the engines and slid out with another departing shuttle.

Over time she alters her course around anomalies and planets to confuse sensors till she could get back to the Artemis. She felt guilty being forced to leave people behind but there was nothing she could do the opposing forces were so strong and up close. She had no choice but to return with a heavy heart.

Reunion:

Upon returning to the Artemis she didn’t say anything but to report what had happened giving her full report to the commanding officer, on how she managed to escape. She was picked to return home and help recruit new people for the ship and her crew. This was comforting to her as she could go home and see Blom who she considered to be an older sister.

She was solemn at the event looking to Blom for comfort you would expect from an older sibling despite the two of them not having been related. She tried to put on a brave face for Blom only to break down. Blom hugged her telling her everything is going to be alright. She looks up from the hug and to hear Blom say “The army never leaves any one behind. They are doing everything they can to bring them home safe and sound. You need to be strong and be prepared to rescue your teammates. Can you do that for me little sister?” Freydis stood in silence as during training she never called her that. Surprised by this she hugs then salutes Blom “Yes Mam!” Blom cracks a smile and says, “That’s the sister I know. Now let’s go get some sea food.”

Unexpected Encounter the Next day:

When standing in the assignment office reviewing some paperwork for potential candidates for her commanding officer she overheard a ruckus "I'm going to be assigned to the Artemis and Rescue my Girlfriend!" she turned around to see another Nekovalkyrja Female with blue skin, stripes, and tail. Freydis asked “Who do you know from the Artemis?” In her most modest voice. Waiting to see what her answer was. A fear ran down her spine thinking of teammates that had been captured that horrible day.
 
Bjorn
<Location unknown>

Bjorn was somewhere, she hadn't worked out exactly where, all she knew that her body was deconstructed. Her wiring was still connected at the moment and she could feel her body, but the Kuvies were testing parts of her body, testing how the actually body felt things and worked. They had removed her voice box and eye sensors so she didn't know what they were doing to her, but she could feel pain. Soon she had the idea and started to shut down her body so she couldn't feel the pain of what the things were doing to her.

She soon noticed things lighting up again, vision sensors, voice, she ran a full diagnostic of her body. She felt weird, it was her body, but these people have messed with it, adding things and changing the shape of her plating. She was nervous as she activated her eye sensors, for anyone outside it just looked like someone opening their eyes. The she saw it, it the mirror in from of her, what they were doing. She was shocked, but was relieved all she had activated were her vision sensors, as standing where she should be, was her, she could see the arms, her torso and her head, slightly changed but still her. Then it was her legs and waist, the Kuvies were attaching some sort of fake skin to her plating. she also noticed something that she should have. As she ran a full scan of the body she realized what they had done to her. They were making her into something more entertaining for the wealthy.

As she checked everything, she didn't want to activate any other parts of her body, they didn't seem to find her though, embedded in the processors of the 'brain' but they were trying to mess with the coding of her body. That is when the door opened and two people walked in and looked her over, a male voice came for the larger of the two "How long till she is ready idiot, I wanted her last week and you said you could make that happen." The smaller one stuttered and then calmed themselves and spoke in a feminine voice "Yes sir, we did, but in seemed like the body.... oh this could be it." The smaller one ran up to Bjorn and tapped on the eyes "Sir, she will be ready soon, she has finally started to boot up, we should be able to get them working."

She ran to the side and started to do something while the man moves in front of Bjorn and smirks "oh you will definitely be a fun addition to my collection." The woman speaks up "Booting up voice, why don't you say hello to your master, LT-7830." Bjorn was angry now, but activated the voice box herself, knowing they couldn't force it, but knew if she didn't she was most likely going to be scrapped. When it was fully activated she spoke, she hoped to say 'hello Jackass, I am going to take pleasure in killing you.' But what came out was a very organic sounding voice that spoke real sweetly "Hello master, how can please you today?" Bjorn was mortified that those words came out of her mouth to this person, the Girl that was now behind Bjorn cheered "Yay, we restricted the voice box so there are 10 voice lines she says and of course can still do grunts, moans and all of that."

Bjorn understood what they were doing, she just hoped that she could find the others and get some help. Or at least that people weren't captured and coming to rescue them, in either case, when she was free and if she was allowed to explore, she could hopefully find the others and communicate somehow so they could come up with a plan.
 
<Location Unknown>
The sounds were deafening to the Iroma, the roar of so many. Hungry for blood, raging with energy at the object they saw as saying that hunger. Lucas, and who knew how many others, all there for a forces blood sport. An arena where slave fought slave, for falsely promised riches, and only a chance to live honestly given. He had claimed his on the first day, the bodies laying across the field of bloodied dirt.

But one day was never enough, no, each day was a new bid to keep breathing. It was unfortunate in how good he was at slaying unfamiliar faces, his savagery so natural despite the face of a humble preacher. He had his own anger, his own thirst for blood as it drove him to live....no that wasn't just it.

He had to live for Elenor, the woman who had been his truest love. So he would be the animal, the demon of Vice once more. The true nature of his soul, bare for the crowd as he screamed in anger, his worn rusted blade slicing in. His opponent fell dead, even as the blade now slick, sought out the next victory.



Setsuya cried, in pain from her captor's abuse, her defiance having only made her captivity far more brutal. She was bound, muzzled, and shocked regularly. They wanted to make her their toy, at least the first buyer had, this one did too. However, he enjoyed the spark of anger she had, taking pleasure in her helpless condition as he used her as he pleased.

The neko curled up in the limited space she had been given, a box shaped space in the floor that was reinforced. It was cramped, another example of her inhumane treatment. Setsuya cried softly as she thought of Klaus, Sachiko, Suzume, mother, and even Kyoko. She had no idea if Kyoko was even alive, she could have been cut, and blasted down like Klaus had been. Maybe she could end it, and deny them the satisfaction, an idea that made her want to vomit at her own weakness.

Such thoughts would have to wait, it was time for another regular discharge of her collar.



Kyoko if anything about all this, was relieved, for the fact she had not had a saint insignia on at the time of her capture. She would have been interrogated to death for intel most likely, a very unpleasant way to go indeed. For now she played along, thankfully only used as a eye candy servant to a baron. She was not particularly busty, or massively hipped like some of the artemis women. Her level of low attractiveness was probably a saving grace.

Quietly and dutifully, she carried trays of drink and decadent foods. All the while, composing data in her head, details command would want to know if they ever returned. Yes.....if they ever did, and her mind still spared an amount to the nagging worry. If her sister was okay, if that annoying Kurogane had finally done something right and protected her. This was one of the few times she wished to doubt the fool.



Jericho gave a pained grunt as he was dropped to his knees with a boot. Cut, bleeding, bruised, and plenty of fractures from the beatings. He had killed several of the guards very early in his captivity, doing what he was made to do. Prodded for information on where he was from, what army he fought for, he killed those who asked. He hoped they would execute him, remove the compromise in security, and save him from having to break.

But the baron on his gaudy gold throne, did not leer at the clone, but give him such a look of pity. A voice in mocking trade, not at him, but the very language he now had to speak.

"Boy, you have done well so far, a pain in my ass indeed. Never have I had a prize so risky and cost inducing to take. But I should not have expect less from a weapon.", The kuvexian leader said, and all knowing uppity smirk on his blue fishy face. Those orb like eyes took him in with a look of excitement, and thinking. "So what should I do with you? I can't mount you in my prized armory, can't leave you in the slave cells, can't wastefully kill you, and I can't let such a wretch go. Quite a bother you are for me, fake human."

A well of emotions had opened up, a muddle as Jericho sorted these new thoughts and feelings. Prominently was anger, disgust, fear, and....perhaps a touch of thrill? He had an opportunity, it now screamed at him to take it, to do what he did best, and be what he knew he was. "Then let me be your living weapon, the one your enemies never see displayed, as it moves by your will to stab them in the back."

At Jericho's offer, the baron stood, laughing deeply as he began to clap. He was absolutely overly entertained at his luck, and the audacity of this pitiful tool of his. The Kuvexian spread his arm with a rather greedy smile, "An excellently unexpected answer! Good, you will be my little pawn, a poison to my competitors of such an exotic flavor. Perhaps you will prove the rest of your sad race, worthy of serving at our feet!"
 
Shosa Asleif Belemtal
Uesureyan Fortress

Asleif looked over at the neko who declared she was joining the Artemis all so she could help rescue her girlfriend. "I see. And what can you offer to us to do just that, besides another body to throw away?" She asked, while still keeping on eye on the potential recruit she was looking at getting on board. Once she was finished with her practice, Asleif grinned. "As for her, sign her onto the Artemis, now if possible. Someone willing to go that far for a training exercise, solo, is just the kind of crazy we're looking for right now." She says, already thinking of which team to slot her in. "What's her name?"

Shosa Niwa Belemtal
Uesureyan Fortress

Niwa 'Ironsides' Belemtal was also at the recruitment center, but she was there in a different part of the center, reviewing stacks of paperwork. Unlike the Rangers, which were small enough in number to be able to pull up people quickly on file, the Rikugun was massive, and so Niwa was reviewing those who were looking for a transfer, but also at the top of their game, or at least damned near it. Klaus was taking it hard as hell, as were the rest of the squad. Not that she could blame them, since the whole mission which prompted them to be back here had become a shit show. And while it was no fault of Niwa, she felt the rumors that had begun to circulate around her were now dragging even harder on her. All while she was looking for just a few more bodies to bring on because past those they needed to rescue, she was down half of her remaining personnel, and needed to refill those slots as fast a possible.
 
Station Shosa

Uesureyan Fortressi

The Shosa watched the interaction between Gravity and Asleif with some interest. She could see that Gravity truly loved this unnamed girlfriend of hers and with bravery and courage enough to volunteer to join in what could be certain death, it was admirable, but Asleif was right in her words Gravity will need to offer something to convince her.

Still, the fact that Makoto was accepted onto the ship pleased her. “Her name's Makoto Mikraitos, a Santo Hei. According to her records, she’s listed as reserved since the powers that be were uncertain where to place her. If you want her, fine with me, I’ll go get things arranged,” With that, she began leaving the two Neko.




Makoto Mikratos

Makoto was silent, contemplative as she looked at her weapon. I should get a Katana, would serve better than what I was using, and I’ll likely be able to damage Power Armor too. She went to the quartermaster and got herself a new weapon that would be better for her before she got a message which caused her to react audibly. She’d been ordered to report to the Yss Artemis, that’s a ship she knew that, it meant she’d finally be serving on a ship!

She replied with her acknowledgment and hurried to collect her things while also sending a message to her mother with the good news.




Sachiko Itatski

Uesureyan Fortressi

Sachiko stepped off the transport with a frown on her lips. Suzume had just abandoned her, and she hadn’t gotten a reply to her message she sent to her parents earlier about the location change. Suzume, her aunt who’d been looking after her, wasn’t there, though she was certain she was somewhere on the station. “Well, I suppose I'll report in,” She said, though her walk was slow, this was so she could look at the ships through the windows. ‘Wait a moment,” She said as she looked at a screen that had a list of the ships that had docked. “So many..but yes, I wasn’t seeing things!’ she said as she noticed the Artemis was listed there. She knew that she’d caught a glimpse of it on the screen, which meant that it had to be docked. “Come on Whiskers, let’s go find your grandparents!” She said with a happy giggle as she took off running.[/b][/b]
 
Kyoto, Uesureyan Fortress - Reception Room

Suzume Itatski took up the same chair in the same room she had for what felt like the hundredth time. The same receptionist; A remarkable elysian girl with skin so pale she could pass as a ghost still looked just as unnervingly at her, the tea was just as bland, and the reception space just as drab as the first time she had shown up at the fortress so long before.

How long had it truly been?

She was unsure. Time seemed to blend together for her since she got the message. Her sisters' disappearance and subsequent listing as POW/MIA had reached Suzume through Shosa Hayden by sheer coincidence when the news that Heisho Arturius; Her former team leader for the 109th had been broken to her first considering how close she had been to her surrogate second father. The shosa hadn't known that the iroma had gone on to serve on the same ship as Setsuya, but Suzume had. And it had spurred her into immediate action.

It had taken every favor she could amass from the connections she had made on the Shiroyama to not only keep the news from her ward, Sachiko, And to get enough leave and a transfer request to take her to Kyoto to search for clues before the gears of the administration department reeled her back to either the Shiroyama or some new billet when her extended leave would eventually border on being considered AWOL, and she would be forced to make a dangerous choice of termination of service or trusting in higher powers with greater resources than she could muster to hopefully resolve the situation and bring her beloved older sister home.

She would very well have done the latter had it been anyone else but her setsuya.

With their father out of contact by the time she departed, Her mother too distant, and the sister-clans connected to her own otherwise invested elsewhere it was Suzume alone who filled the role of Matriarch of the Itatski clan. That mixed with the fact that other than the patriarch of their sister Belmont clan, Suzume was the strongest so it naturally fell on her to right a wrong where anyone else would be found lacking she decided.

So here she was.

And here she still was.

Waiting.

With no results.

Despite her resolve and the righteousness of her quest, she had undertaken her lack of not only clout but rank and backing made her search for answers head a wall on the first day. She had put in for a transfer to the Artemis and knew well the ship was docked in-system, but being a lowly Hei gave her about as much pull with the bureaucratic machine as trying to pull a starship.

Sachiko could likely have made more headway; She was smarter and better with people than her, but she had left her ward behind for her own good.

It also didnt help that simply showing up at the recruitment and staffing office and making demands had likely hurt her attempts when she demanded she be placed on a particular starship before her transfer had been approved, or given a meeting with particular high-ranking officers. Her passion and natural oppressive nature intimidating most of the staff to the point a security officer was never too far away whenever she showed up likely didnt help her case either.

So she would wait today as well. Suffer through the meetings with various lower-ranking officers or clerks trying to explain to her how she was wasting her time or where they believed she could make the best with her skillset and try to get her to sign away her only chance at finding her older sister and Arturius. And she would shrug them off (or end up scaring them off unintentionally) and come back the next day.

Sooner or later someone of note would either humor her request and expedite her transfer or personally evict her from the premises and she would get her chance at a face-to-face with someone with the backing she needed one way or the other.
 
<Location Unknown>

"Mister Ryu, have a seat." a deep accented voice said in Trade. Masaharu didn't have to look up, it was the same giant alien that had isolated him from the others. He just stood there in honorable defiance, despite starving.

"Why musssssst you always be difficult." the alien said before nodding to a guard. Equally as large, the large Ehlen kicked Masaharu in the gut and sending him crashing into the chair and landing face-first next to the flipped chair. The guard afterward walks over to him and picks up the chair before then placing Masaharu into it.

*Sigh* "Now, where did we leave off... Right, tell me about your family." the Ehlen interrogator spoke in a deep monotone.

"Itto Hei Ryu Masaharu, ID number 4452-2431312. Itto Hei Ryu Masaharu, ID number 4452-2431312. Itto Hei Ryu Masaharu, ID number 4452-2431312." Masaharu repeatedly said after spitting up some coagulating blood.

The interrogator didn't seem bothered by this, raised in the concept of honor himself. He just simply reaches under his desk and then presents a well-cooked slab of Elefrin meat complemented with what looked like purple carrots, red onions, and something like potatoes. The aroma of the food started to fill Masaharu's nose, causing him to squirm a bit.

The Kuvexian allies seem to be well-versed in how to torture the Yamataian. They kept him well-hydrated, but they had barely fed him any food for the last month of his capture. Likely knowledge gained from the large supply of POWs they can experiment on. Minkans needed half the food normal humans need.

"No, no!! I will not dishonor myself!" Masaharu thought to himself as he struggled to maintain his composure. It did not last as the Ehlen let loose the next verbal volley in this mental battle.

"I hear Yoshinaga Narumi is doing well. Tell me about her." The interrogator continued yet again. He gained a toothy grin when Masaharu couldn't resist his look of shock.
 
Uesureyan Fortress

After Klaus's "training" session, he'd been ordered to stop hogging the VR Chamber and get a breath of fresh hair. As he looked at the Artemis, he saw the tech workers and enginners milling about, fixing and resupplying the Urufu-Class ship. Did it ever look so ragged? While whatever damage the ship had sustained was already repaired, the ship looked... ragged. Grim, even. He supposed it was true, that the crew was the lifeblood of the ship and that the Urufu had lost a lot of blood. Too much blood...

Sighing, the Raltian rubbed the sand out of his eyes wondering when the last time was, he'd slept. As he felt bristle coarse hair, through his hand, he recoiled. Where before he had smooth shaved skin, he had a well-defined 5 0'clock shadow. He hadn't even noticed it.

"I'm really falling apart, aren't I?" he muttered to himself, wondering how things to get any worse. That's when he saw her. 'No! Please, anybody but her! Please!' he thought as he saw the approaching form of Sachiko.
 
Uesureyan Fortress
Sachiko looked through the windows at the ships on the landing pads, some caused a frown to appear due to the state of their damage and the appearance. This made her wonder at the state of the Artemis and made her wonder why it was here. The young Neko hoped that it wasn’t too damaged, and she thought she could help with the repairs, before she remembered she was on shore leave, she shouldn’t be working on ships on shore leave.

Whiskers barked which caught her attention and she saw the dog shooting off ahead of her towards Klaus. Sachiko smiled and she ran to meet him “Papa!” She said happily. Though as she came close she noticed there was something different about him. Whiskers, was the first to notice there was something wrong when she began whimpering and she licked at Klaus.

Sachiko stood before him “Papa, have technology on the ship broke enough that you couldn’t shave? Where’s mama, she on the ship?” She asked her as a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach formed. She soon caught a glimpse of the ship, and she gasped. Though she saw crew repairing the ship, and she saw technology being loaded too. One of those was her Tech Scanner.
 
‘She doesn’t know.’ Klaus thought, as he saw Sachiko frown in worry at him. She didn’t know that her mother was taken because Klaus had been too weak, too slow, too damn foolish!

“I-I…” he began, unable to form any words. He could hear Whiskers, Sachi’s dog, whimpering and licking his hand. Tilting his head upwards to meet his daughter’s eyes, something broke in Klaus. Tear began to flow from his eyes, letting out the pain he had felt for months.

“I’m so, so sorry, Sachi! I’m so sorry! I was too weak!! I couldn’t keep your mother safe!!! I’m sorry!!! It’s all my fault!” As if the pain was physical, Klaus could no longer stand, falling to his knees, he cried and whimpered.

“They took her… and it’s all my fault.
 
Sachiko blinked her eyes as tears fell from her father’s eyes, then she learned the reason why Setsuya wasn’t out there with the two of them, possibly lecturing Klaus about his appearance. Her mother had been captured by the vile Kuvexians. Her face changed and she’d unleashed the most powerful weapon in the entire galaxy. A look so foreign to her it was unbelievable. Sachiko frowned at her father, as her breathing became shallow, and her anger rose. They had her mother and they were doing who knows what to her! She’d heard stories, seen broadcasts of how the Kuvexians had made people fight, including younglings.

She didn't stop herself from hugging her father as he cried, it's what her mother would have wanted her to do. Her mother was a person who wouldn’t want that to happen, and she knew or suspected that she didn’t want her kids to be in the military either. “Whiskers,” She said her voice full of anger “prepare to scent your new home,” She told her dog. Then to Klaus, she spoke, ”I assume you’re all going back after her, I shall be joining where is your ship’s XO or Chusa?” She asked her father as she tried to control her anger.
 
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The snakeborg slithered over to Klaus and Sachiko, overhearing their conversation. "We can't," she sighed, and her body's machine components mechanically sighed with her. "We don't know where they are, and so far we have no way to find out." The way she moved and spoke seemed to be drained of energy, given her cyborg nature it might appear that she was low on battery but she wasn't, and a glance at the back of her hair would show Klaus her low power light wasn't blinking. It pained Maradia to admit it, but the rescue plan herself and everyone else wanted was unattainable for the moment.
 
"No!" shouted Klaus, panic in his voice. "No, no, no! You aren't joining Sachiko! I can't, I will not lose you too!" Gripping Sachiko's shoulders, he pleaded. The Raltian was terrified of the possibility of the Kuvexians taking Sachiko as well.

Hearing Maradia, rage and determination welled up inside of Klaus. "No. I will save your mother, Sachiko. No matter what anyone says."
 
Uesureyan Fortress

Iomai Lightbringer had taken command of Black Wolf in Sacre's absence. The tall light-haired Patrician alighted next to her squadmates. "We know they are alive, and we know that they are waiting for us to rescue them. Doing whatever they need to in order to survive and make it easier for us. The Artemis is going back, we are going back with it. If we don't know where they are, we will discover a way to find them. If there is a battalion of enemies between us and them, we will find a way to defeat them. We need all hands for this, and I don't think we can afford to turn down anyone who wants to fight for their friends and family."
 
Bjorn
<Location unknown>

Bjorn had to accept what had happened to them now, they had been changed from a combat AI to this thing for the enjoyment of these people. Now being female she would have to work out what to fully when her crew mates rescued her, if they even recognize her anymore. She had been finished a fully working female now, wondering around the home of the person that bought her, being used for a number of different tasks and only being allowed to say a couple of words as her full mind races in silent trying to figure out a way to escape and find the others.

Every time she passed a mirror she couldn't recognize herself, pale realistic skin covering her actual old robot body, curves and more Yamataian body shape. The thing that got her the most was her face, fitted with actual eyes now, it was a weird experience being able to look around, instead of having the wide angle vision they use to have. The colours as well, her new 'master' must of had a thing for heterochromia with her now gray and pink eye. She was caked in make up that she just had to do and her hair was a weird mix of blond and pink. She always shrugged when she saw herself, knowing it wasn't the real her, but wondering what they would do when they were rescued as most of their old functions now needed all this stuff on them, unless they went back to the company and got everything reset.

As they worked they thought of ways to return to their group, wondering if they could get a distress call or beacon out to the Artemis and get them to understand what is going on, or would they be stuck here forever. They shook the thought out of their mind as 'they are coming, when I see them I will have to get to them and probably use a PDA to write to them what has happened, as I will have to have help changing this stupid voice box'. The 'master' calls for them as she was prepared to yell something obscene and horrible at the person all that came out was "Of course master, on my way now."
 
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