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RP [YSS Azalea II] Episode 1: Fresh Water

YSS Azalea II
Power Armor Bay
Ancilla listened quietly like a good AI should as the conversation about the Molly happened. She especially listened as Spark had her say about the armor. She knew her partner and friend was really skilled and experienced when it came to armor. This reminded her and she did a quick check on Spark’s cybernetics, which she discovered was working well with no issues. Then Sadow Masami’s name came up, and she found herself amused. “Silly girl is on board?’ She pondered to herself, though she knew that she probably should stop calling her that, at least in person. Spark spoke of her too, so Ancilla didn’t have to.
 
7月 YE 44
Aquarius Star Fortress
Tentacle Three
Hangar Bay Two

Asami smiled at Masato. "Haven't seen you much the past two weeks." She said patting his back. "How have you been?" She asked him earnestly.
The sleek lines of the starship that lay beyond the curvaceous form of his newest commanding officer were like a blast of ice-cold water to Masato, letting him remain both motionless and speechless as he waited for a response from the aforementioned officer.

And, though he did his best to conceal it, stared at something only he could see. Orem, Sandwalker, Melody, Requiem...


...and now, Azalea II, he finished as - with an expression that was the textbook definition of "stoic" - he felt himself bow and say "Kurete arigatou, Chui" in a manner that was as practiced as it was bland and inoffensive. He knew that his complete one-eighty in attitude - from bumbling to brooding, from awkward to aloof - would probably get yet another report added to his ever-growing file once word got around to the ship's medical officer... but he'd long since stopped caring. He knew how the system worked, how to exploit the byzantine bureaucracy of Personnel and SAMA. Besides, the Minkan continued to himself as his mental autopilot took him up the walkway leading into the Azalea II's airlock, it's only a matter of time before my luck strikes again and starts this delightful cycle anew. Anyw-

The sight of a closed airlock door - and the perfectly-preserved memory of the pain that came with walking into one - was thankfully enough to yank the Shoi out of his increasingly dark line of thought. Right. Time to board, I guess.

Aquarius Star Fortress
Tentacle Three
Hangar Bay Two

YSS Azalea II


Once onboard, Masato made a beeline for Engineering, for there was an old, old nemesis of his - one that, without fail, could always be found in the aforementioned compartment - that he had to become re-acquainted with first, for there wasn't any point in checking on his "personal" gear (standard issue kit that should've arrived the day prior, courtesy of being a fluent speaker of Logistics; anything missing could be easily fabricated) or his fellow crewmates (individuals who would likely be around for another day or two at least) if they and the starship around them had been reduced to the subatomic level by a catastrophic event.

Such, thought the Minkan as the double-doored entrance to the Azalea II's heart opened with a gentle fwssssh to reveal the flower-shaped (and, thankfully, slumbering) form of his greatest foe, as an aether reactor going critical. Hello again, old 'friend'.
 
Medical Laboratory
"Your belief is interesting," Kari replied as she resumed the procedure. "Let me consider it for a moment..."

Though it seemed like she wanted to say something else, she let the words linger and then shook her head. Kari dutifully took a full-body scan of Masami, which showed nothing out of the ordinary. Then she took a DNA sample, which also showed no deviations from the baseline. Finally, she led Masami to the adjacent area in the medical lab where she took a mental backup of her, in case she needed to be restored from Soul Transfer. When she was done, she peeled off and disposed of her gloves before standing rigidly, as if at attention.

"I don't agree with your belief," Kari stated, finally answering Masami's question. "But I don't disagree with it either. It is a reasonable hypothesis. Given that I am disinclined to clone myself, the only way to perform the warranted investigation is to take the remedial classes and compare patient recovery time before and after. There is a chance that I will see no difference, but even in that case I will have gained the knowledge that patients who feel loved and supported do not heal any faster.

"Would you agree,"
Kari continued, then hesitated for a few cycles as she considered something. "Sister?"

A wild @hyralt appears. Still on break, but...trying.
 
Medical Laboratory

Masami didn't interrupt the medic as she finished the exam, followed not long after by her mental backup. Once she was done, Masami floated up from the bed and listened intently as Kari answered her question.

"I agree." Masami smiled. "You would have gained something either way." The sepia-toned Nekovalkyrja added, deciding to speak in a language that Kari seemed to understand. "That alone will make your efforts worth it." She finished.

Kari nodded curtly. "Indeed. Thank you for your suggestion," Kari said, her voice continuing to sound like someone on the edge of losing their temper. "Your examination is complete and you are free to go. But I anticipate that I will call on you later when I need further advice regarding my socialization. It does not come naturally to me."

"One more thing, sister." Masami said. "If you ever want to train together or maybe...want to refine your Mindy skills..." The sepia-toned Nekovalkyrja paused for a few moments. "Just stay in touch, okay?" She added, in a seemingly maternal tone.

"We can work together to better serve Yamatai."

When Masami mentioned training and Mindies, Kari's face remained perfectly neutral, but her tail perked up and the tip twitched excitedly. "I would enjoy that very much," she replied. It wasn't reflected in her voice, but her breathing and heart rates increased slightly as she grew excited. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she nodded her head much more slowly, almost in a bow. "For Yamatai."

Masami offered the medical specialist shallow bow, then floated off. When it came to Kari, she had a lot to contemplate.

Kari returned the bow, doing so more deeply than her senpai. There was at least one thing she had taken to heart from her socialization classes. When Masami left, she turned and retrieved her datapad from the examination room and leaned against a wall to begin reading. A ripple of fur went up Kari's tail when an intrusive thought about remedial socialization classes caught her off-guard. She was not looking forward to them. But perhaps, she thought, they might be easier if she practiced before she started.

With a decisive nod, Kari tucked the datapad under her arm and left the medical lab and proceeded to the Azalea's lounge.

Power Armor Bay

Ancilla remained quiet as she observed the socialization around her. She just felt pleased that her BFF Spark was making friends and talking to people.

Bjorn briefly glanced down at his communicator, his eyes going wide with some realization before he shifted his gaze upward, toward the diminutive Faun-like Rikgun officer and the Amazonian NDC exchange soldier. "Ah, I just realized that the regulations prevent me from issuing Star Army equipment to non-personnel." He began. "But, that doesn't prevent me from offering you a Molly, Chui." The giant Tröll added.

Ancilla felt a little disappointed, but understood, it was in the rules afterall. Spark, however, was far less understanding. "That regulation is garbage and should be ignored for the safety and security of your crew. I'll speak with the Captain on it later on, let you know what I find out. Till then, I suppose I'm rocking a prototype, unproven Revenant varient."

A grin split Pierre's face, "I'm never going to say no to trying out new gear. And best thing, I can give you a pretty detailed report about it's performance, it's my job and all that." They gave a playful wink as they spoke.

"Also, did you need a weapons loadout, sir?" Bjorn asked. He sensed that the Rikugun test officer had come to the power armor bay for that exact reason. As always, the gentle giant was more than eager to assist!

"Yeah, something like that," Pierre said, "I was looking for a more 'leaderish' package for the Mindy, but I don't know much about the Molly. I'm mostly used to stomping around in the mud in a Daisy." Their grin never left their face

"A leader package." Bjorn repeated, his features furrowed in thought. "Well, the obvious answer is the Leader Support Pack." He began. "Boosted comms, enhanced sensors, and additional electronics all for the cost of one hardpoint. However, I'd also suggest the Leg NSB launchers. The NSBs just have too much utility." The Tröll opined.

"Yeah, that's the main thing I'd settled on," Pierre said scratching behind one of their stubby antlers, "I don't know what to do with the other ones though, I figure if I have to get into armor, we're in pretty deep shit so there's theat."

"Hmm...so you need a bit more firepower too?" The Tröll added. "You'll want weapons on both shoulders then, like that tiny Neko I mentioned earlier. She came in here and asked for all my guns." Bjorn chuckled. "But I don't get the impression you're going quite that far. You strike me as a more practical type, sir." He finished.

"Shockingly, yes," Pierre said, quite aware of the extreme cosmetic choises they'd made with their Minkan body.

"Hey, Ancilla, you want to stay here, make some friends? Or would you like to stretch your legs by taking over the new Revenant suit and come hang out while I get my medical stuff done? Or something else. I dunno. My blonde is showing." Spark's voice was quiet as she spoke to the AI.

"Sure, i can take Revvy for a walk if you need to" Ancilla said to Spark in response.

"I'll take a look at the Revenant." Bjorn said to the Amazonian exchange soldier. "But I can't do much more than that unless I get some kind of clearances from you." The giant Tröll paused, his features creased in thought. "The people who brought it in told me there was some kind of security system on it." He added.

"If you don't want me working on it though, I can set up a workspace for you."

The conversation suddenly had Pierre's full attention, they'd been drinking with D.O.A.R.A.D. guys before, but to actually see a Revenant taken appart up close would be somethign else.

Looking up, Spark nodded. "Yamatai's an ally. You're going to need to train on that armor eventually, and you're probably gonna be writing the Yamatai maintenence doctrine on this new suit. So study away. I'll be able to answer any questions you have. I'm almost as good as an actual mechanic with that suit. And I'll be able to mollywop that molly if you let me."

"Eh, if it breaks, we learn something. Everything has its breaking point," Pierre said with a shrug.

Ancilla waited for Spark to transfer her to the Revanant patiently, though amused by Pierre's words She made sure all of her was in the disk that Spark held.

"Confident, are we?" Spark approached her suit, gently pulling Ancilla off her shoulder before a Geist signal opened the helmet, and she reached into the armor, setting Ancilla's disc into a docking receptacle. "You use if like you'll be able to find me before I find you."

The Revant's limbs jerked as Ancilla took control over the power armor. She stretched the Power Armor's limbs.

"I think you're missing my point," Pierre said, raising a an eyebrow, "It's not really about my pride, or Yamatai pride or any of that. Win or lose, it's all data."

"Data, hehehe" was all Ancilla had to say on the topic. Her voice now coming from the armor's communications systems which she'd set to outside mode, to allow herself to speak outside the armor. "Alright Bestie, I'll.. hmm.. where should i go?" Ancilla pondered the question a moment.

"Here, let me get you down," Spark pulled her arm out of the helmet opening, letting the faceplate close before moving behind the suit, double checking that the weapons systems were disarmed as she undid the locks holding the suit in place. "How's it fit? Just go do whatever you like, have tea with MEGAMI, go party with the cats in the lounge, stay here and listen to me roast the fuck out of some Rikugan kid, I dunno, just have fun... Without killing people."

"like a glove, is that the correct expression?' Ancilla giggled as Spark told her of the things she could do. "nah dont worry, i wont kill anyone, they are allies, while your getting your medical stuff, i'll go socialize, and then go chat with MEGAMI." She said, and with the locks deactivated she left the stand.

"I don't know if it's 'rosting' if I don't actually care," Pierre said flatly, "also tell MEGAMI I say 'hi', Ms. Ancilla."

"Fair. All the readouts look good, Ancilla. Good to see you able to stand on your own two feet." Spark nodded approvingly as she stepped back next to Pierre. "I get that, I'm just having some fun. I remember the last time I got my ass handed to me at a joint training exercise by you guys. That Daisy kicks the crap out of the old R1s. Like ain't no pilot skill saving that dumpster fire."

RevAncilla turned to Pierre and nodded "Hai, i shall" she said trying out Yamataigo a little. Then turns to Spark, listening as she told stories. "Have fun you too" She said and left the room, causing a few Personnel to gasp and jump out of the way.

"I mean when we start getting into one to one comparisons, we're missing the big picture," Pierre said, feeling a lecture coming on. "There're so many other factors that go into good gear. Most importantly, how it affects your existing doctrine and if you're even following your own doctrine. Then maintenance and logistics burdens, ergonomics, I mean the list goes on, but I'll stop. I've just seen enough people take 'state of the art' gear and end up bogged down in a ditch."

"Agreed. The Daisy is excellent for urban combat and open field fighting with that elliptoid shield. For what you Rikugun guys do, it fits really well, even if it's showing its age. The Revenant, however, well, we don't have respawn capability, and we don't have the sheer numbers, nor the economy to grind out tens of thousands of troops like that. So the Revenant was designed around soldier survivability, ease of use, and low cost. So thick armor, advanced stealth systems, good shields, and such. Till now, it couldn't effectively mount extra capabilities like those missile pods and the chaingun. That came with the endoskeleton. Sure, we can go to the same theater as a Daisy and get a kill death ratio of ten to one... At least in simulation, the intel we have is far from complete, and doesn't take into account individual skill. But you put us up against a Mindy on Mindy turf, we get shredded. It becomes a role problem."

"You didn't hear it from me," Pierre said in a conspirtorial voice, "but we should probably focuse a bit more on crew survivability too. Waking up without remembering the last few days seems like we're losing important experience. Also, It can't be great for your mental health."

"That does sound disturbing. But I mean, before we lost ST in the OSO collapse, mine was defective, so I can't. I can't even digital transfer. If I do, I just become a standard Fenrir clone. No emotions, no feelings."

"That sounds horrible," Pierre said.

"Just means I'm mortal. I came to terms with it years ago."

"I mean I can't be too hard on ST tech, without it I wouldn't have this cool body," the small fuan-shaped officer said with a wiggle of their nose.

"There is that advantage. That body's cool as fuck."

"Yeah and I can jum-, Hey, did she just take the whole suit with her?" Pierre asked noticing Ancilla had stomped off in an entire Rev Mk. III.

"Yeah. Think of it like her body. She can move around and stuff, but she started out as a prosthetics driver AI combined with a targeting system and a therapy chatterbot. I think our DOARAD director at the time thew her predecessor together in like ten minutes. She was a mess."

Bjorn looked up from the armor he was working on as the discussion moved on past the Daisy. He didn't necessarily agree with the idea that Yamatai used human wave tactics, if that was what the Chui and the exchange were implying. He wasn't quite how such an idea had arisen, but in his mind it was wrong. However, something else caught the giant Tröll attention's that immediately superseded the thought.

The Revenant was gone.

In a flash of movement, two Nekovalkyrja zoomed into the power armor bay and slid into their Mindys', before immediately heading out to deal with the lost Revenant.

"Shit."

"Am I in trouble?"

Pierre simply gave the hulking woman a shrug.

Lounge

Nas decided to enjoy what she assumed would be one of her last moments of true down time. The Gun Oil Cola reminded her of her childhood in Funky City on one hand, on the other, it brought up much less innocent memories. Thankfully there wasn't any rum in her drink this time.

Aoi and Akane entered the lounge, and waived to Nas. "Hey!" They said at the same time to her.

Asami walked into the lounge after having gotten stuff sorted with her fighter situation. She spotted Aoi and Akane. "Good you are here i have some news for you two."

"Hey, girlies," Nas said, reaching into the mini fridge and tossing the twins a pair of colas. "Oh, hey Asami. Gun Oil?"

The two caught them, and settled down. "Yhea? What is it?" Akane asked.

"One of you two may be getting a surprise promotion to squadron leader." She shook her head to Nas. "People want me to resume work on a project and i may end up leaving the ship for a bit to finish it."

"Why can't you work on it here?" Aoi asked.

"Hmm," Nas simply grunted, watching the older pilot over her cola. "This isn't about the other night right?"

"No Nas. And I don't know why i just go where I'm ordered to. i plan to return as soon as its done." Asami said to the three addressing them all at once. "Behave and don't blow the ship up when I'm gone." She said looking at the twins and teasing them.

"But what if I want to blow up the ship?" Nas said sticking her tongue out.

At 5'6", Kari's height was the first thing most noticed about the Neko. Though not as tall as a Type 33A, she was at the upper end of regular Nekos. Atop her head was a short mess of blonde hair that matched her tail, which was currently hanging low as she entered the room, nearly between her legs. She wore a Type 42 Bodysuit with a Medical Teal front panel, which almost seemed to shimmer as she looked around the room at Nas, Aoi and Akane, and Asami. With a serious look on her face, she went and stood near the others, looking from one to the other for several cycles. When it seemed like the last possible moment to say something without being awkward, she instead lifted a datapad from under her arm and began to read.

"It's bad form to blow up your carrier." Aoi pointed out.

"Am I going to have to you run you through some special drills Santo Hei Naceri?" She said and gave her a sly grin. "Maybe the twins can help."

Narrowing her eyes, Nas said, "Yes?"

Akane and Aoi grinned, "Really?" They said.

Suddnely Nasrin found herself wishing for some rum in her Guns

Looking up, Kari looked at Asami and wondered what kind of special drills she had in mind.

"Empress, that Mini-Neko is a bitch." A high-pitched voice sounded as a short-statured Nekovalkyrja entered the lounge, one Kazetani Yurina, the only Mecha Pilot on the Azalea II. "They're like fucking terriers. All bark." She grumbled, before registering the presence of the other pilots.

"Oh, so everyone was sent here." Yurina finished.

"I came here of my own volition," Kari said bluntly without looking up from her datapad. "To practice socializing."

"You work it, girl!" Yurina answered without missing a beat, a wide grin coming over her features. "Sorry I'm in a bad mood." She added, moving next to the blonde-haired Neko and taking a deep, calming breath. "The Mini-Nekos wouldn't even let me look at my mech. They screamed at me as soon as I approached and just told me to get out of the hangar bay. One even called me fat. Ugh."

"I just didn't know where to go, want a Gun Oil?" Nas said taking a sip of the acidic soda.

"Clearly I need the practice, I wasn't aware you were in a bad mood," Kari shrugged, then looked up at Nas. "I have no guns to oil. Unless that's some kind of drink?"

"Yeah, it's a Nep soda," Nas said stretching across the couch to open the fridge again, "I mean, I don't have a gun on me that needs oiling either, I'm a failure as a Nepleslian, ain't I?"

"Intriguing," Kari said, her voice devoid of any hint that she was actually intrigued. In fact, she always sounded neutrally annoyed bordering on anger. But her tail was slowly raising up out from between her legs. "I understand guns are an important part of Nepleslian culture, yes. Hand me a gun oil."

Asami gave Nas a playful flick to the forehead. "You have a multi million dollar craft, you dont need a gun."

When Kari saw Asami flicking Nas she tilted her head in confusion before turning to look at Yurina for the first time. "Why aren't you allowed to look at your mech?" Kari's eyes scanned the thick hourglass of Yurina's build from top to bottom.

"Hey, ow," Nas said scrunching up her face, "Anyway, you can always use a gun, what if you have to go EV. Either way, it's culturally insenstitve to tell a Nepleslian she doesn't need a gun." The playful tone in her voice let the other woman know she was joking.

"They called me fat and said I take up too much space in the hangar bay." Yurina answered. "I'm not fat am I? Right? Or..." The magenta-eyed Nekovalkyrja frowned.

"You are fatter than I am," Kari nodded slightly as the tip of her tail twitched languidly one way and then another. "But well within acceptable parameters for a Nekovalkyrja."

"I always love a friend who's honest." Yurina smiled. "Oh well." She added. "I guess Mini-Nekos are just like that. Do you ever wonder what they do in that Kodate all day? They must trash talk the entire ship in that thing."

"Dont worry, I still think your sexy." Akane said and Aoi nodded.

"It hadn't occurred to me that I ought to wonder what happens in a Kodate until you mentioned it just now," Kari noted, before she tucked her datapad under her arm and closed her eyes, picturing several mini-nekos in a tiny room together. She realized that without any sense of scale, they could've just as easily been regular-sized nekos in a regular-sized room, so she imagined a banana in one corner to give a sense of scale. Finally, she opened her eyes again. "I imagine they work together to better themselves that they may be more effective when they hear the clarion call of duty. Also they cuddle."

"And bang~" Yurina added, winking towards the pair of red and blue Nekovalkyrja as she did.

Kari nodded slowly, clearly taking the suggestion very seriously. "Yes, that seems reasonable," she replied. "All the better to strengthen the bonds between them."

"So what you're saying is that us tall folks should follow there lead?" Nas said, a wolfish grin creeping onto her face.

Turning back to Nas, Kari nodded again. "I see no reason not to," she agreed. "Though I am told that sex can lead to complicated emotions that might weaken bonds, I have seen no evidence of this firsthand."

A huge Revanant Power Armor entered the lounge, and the AI within used the sensors to glanced around. This looks like the lounge huh, looks a lot like ours but different. She thought and walked straight to the counter.

"Eh, I, uh," Nas mumbled shooting a glance at Asami. "Holy Sh-" her eyes popped open as a hulking black armored figure entered. "You're either the Duskarian or the villain in this movie I saw."

Kari turned to look at the Revenant. Though her face remained passive, her tail twitched with interest. "Most intriguing."

"What in the fuck." Asami said and was unsure if she should call security or not.

Ancilla blinked when it seemed she was the subject of everyone's attention. "oh!, ahem!" Suddenly she bowed but because she was close to the counter, she accidentally banged her head on it. "Konichiwa! mina-sans! I'm a Duskerian girl! and one of the two that came for the exchange!" "

Aoi raised an eyebrow at the giant mech that came in and promptly banged into the counter. "Careful, I like the wardroom as it is."

Anchilla eeped at the noise and potential damage "sorry"

"I think you need to go back to the power armor bay." Asami said looking at the power armor before walking over to a wall comm. "To who ever owns the revanant power armor its walking around and banging its head on tabes." Asami said sending a ship wide comm.

"It feels kinda rude to call for someone over the comms when they are standing right there. That said, wearing it around is probably a bad idea. We're probably not going to get attacked in the lounge." Akane noted.

"Man the army's weird," Nas muttered downing the rest of her cola like it was somethign harder.

"I apologize for the damage if there is any" Ancilla said cyber-frowning at her screw up at meeting people clearly there were rules. "er.. sorry!" She said stepping back carefully. She really hoped she hadnt caused trouble for Spark. "man i should have stayed with my idea of tea time with Megami.

"Or uploaded yourself to a more portable terminal." Asami said and walking back over.

"Hey hey, girlie, it's all good," Nas said. "It's just like what my drill instructor would say during Basic, 'Situational awarness, Naceri.'" She said the last part doing her best to mimic a gruff man's voice.

She sends a quick message to Spark's Geist I'm so sorry i may have caused a incident!

"Oh hey i need to go. Catch you all later." Asami said and would head out of the lounge.

"ALL PERSONNEL, CONDITION TWO HAS BEEN SET THROUGHOUT THE SHIP. PLEASE PROCEED TO DUTY STATIONS." A loud, feminine voice rang out over the intercom. In turn, two Mindy power armors entered the lounge in a flash of movement, forearm weapons trained on the loose Revenant!

"POWER DOWN IMMEDIATELY."

"Woah woah." Asami said as she barely got out of the way of the mindy power armors.

"oh dear" Ancilla said but not wanting problems, she powered down her limbs "I apologise for the troubles, i mean no harm" she said as she deactivated as much as she could.

Where are you? I'll be on my way momentarily. Two Mindies just jumped out of the PA bay like someone had been shot!

I'm the reason that happened, we're in the lounge
She sent back.


"That seems a bit much." Akane said, moving out of the arc of the fire of the Mindys and Aoi nodded as she joined her sister.

"So to who do we owe this over reaction you think?" Aoi added.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't go pointing guns at guests," Nas said jumping to her feet. Those two came bursting in here like 'gangbusters', well that's how her grandma would have put it.

Kari watched with rapt attention at the excitement taking place, though anyone reading her face might think she were watching something as boring as a Senate debate, it was obvious in the way the tip of her tail was flicking from side to side that she was like a cat watching mice play. "Socialization is much more interesting than it was in my classes," Kari said with an approving nod.

"Akane stand down you as well Nas, let security do there job. I wont have my pilots get flash fried for a misunderstanding." Asami said looking at the two women.

"Yes, I'm planning on standing between powered armor who might go rumbling without any myself. That sounds like a sensible thing to go." Akane said with a touch of both sarcasm and amusement as she twirled the glass in her hand.

"Situation secure, captain." One of the Nekovalkyrja said as she approached the Revenant. "Someone get Bjorn in here." She added.

"This is gonna be a mess to clean up."

"Maybe she meant your twin, no offence but I can't tell y'all apart yet either," Nas said before going to retrieve another Gun Oil.

"Are you color blind?" Akane asked.

"It's not the colors, it's like well two A names and I don't remember which of you was the red one or the blue one, I'm so sorry, I'll try to figrue it out," Nas said sheepishly.

"Well, Akane means red in Yamataian, Aoi means blue. I'm blue, she's red. No, the people who named us wasn't very clever." Aoi pointed out.

"That is a very good naming scheme," Kari said as she nodded thoughtfully at Aoi. "I like that."

"Yeah, sorry about that, I'm an immigrant ya' know, I swear I see something knew every day," she said cheeks burning, "I do like your names though."

Akane smiled and snuggled up up Nas, "Well, there is one way you can show your sorry." She suggested as Aoi flanked Nas from the other side.

Nas's cheeks burned even hotter. "My grandma told me my name means 'desert rose' in some ancient language," she muttered.

"Desert rose, that's a beautiful name to go with a beautiful girl." Aoi whispered to Nas.

Nas grunted something unintelligible as her freckles disappeared in her increasingly darkened cheeks.

Kari gave Aoi, Akane, and Nasrin each a quick visual inspection before lifting her datapad to resume reading about pharmacology.

It didn't take long for the thump of boot steps to sound from the hall, and a large human charged through the door. A pair of crimson eyes were busy scanning eyes scanning the situation before placing herself between the three suits of power armor and raising her arms. "Okay, what happened, and why did people freak out over Ancilla?"

A slight turn of her head and she gave a sweet smile to the errant power armor. "Don't worry, sweetie. I've caused bigger incidents than this in my sleep."

Trotting along behind Spark, Pierre skitted to a halt, "Everybody, stand the fuck down!" they said pumping as much authority as they could into their lilting voice. "That armor is the operator."

Ancilla was very afraid of causing more problems but had found herself in a sort of cage since she powered everything down.

Kari looked up when Pierre trotted in and though her face didn't show it, her tail twitched in ever-growing excitement. As quietly as she could, she snuck past Nasrin to open the fridge and pull out a bottle of Gun Oil. She opened it and sniffed it, and the fur on her tail stood on end when the bubbles tickled her nose. Hesitantly, she took a sip and let the acidic/sweet substance sit on her tongue as she looked around at the situation as it developed around her. "Hello, Pierre," she said, half gargling with the liquid still in her mouth before she swallowed.

Both of the twins looked over at Ancilla. "Armor is the operator?" They asked, slightly confused.

"The Revenant III includes an advanced computer system capable of harboring a sapient AI as an armor copilot. My companion AI, Ancilla, was going to use it as a body to go socialize. So if we can just sorta... I dunno, not have two fully armed mindies ready to take my unarmored head off over a harmless companion, please?" Said Spark.

"Yes, harmless, that's exactly what people think when they hear 'military power armor'." Akane snarked.

"You can power the armor back on, but it needs to go back to the bay immediately." One of the Mindy-clad Nekovalkyrja—Takagi Hana—said. "We can't have it just walking around the ship." She added.

"We'll escort it back." The other Nekovalkyrja added.

"Her, you'll escort her back, soldier." Pierre said firmly.

The two Nekovalkyrja glanced at each other, their expressions under their helmets a mixture of confusion and mild annoyance.

"Uhh, her then." Takagi Hana said.

"You two want me to get in the suit? I can show you Ancilla's sprite disc when we get back. Bonus points if there's a better option for a body."

"No. Just tell whoever is in the armor to return to the bay. The sooner the armor is back the better." Hana cut in.

"Yes, ma'am," Spark gave a small snort. "Ancilla, could you open the helmet, please?"

There came a slight hiss as the helmet was soon opened, to reveal nothing inside the armor.

"Not everything's a competition, Sargeant," Pierre said to Spark through gritted teeth.

Akane and Aoi looked a little disappointed. "We were kinda hoping there was a cute klutz inside. I guess we could find some distractions elsewhere." Aoi admitted to Nas.

Nas simply squeaked.

One of the Mindy's facepalmed.

"Just bring the armor back, please."

"Who's competing?"

"Let's get her some legs that aren't attached to a chain gun then, I guess," Pierre said flopping down onto a couch.

"Yes, ser, excellent idea. Maybe we can drop the missile pods, the forearm mounted pop out swords, and the shield cloak while we're at it." Another, sharper snort from the human. "Alright, An, up get, let's go. I'll figure out a new body for you and then we can avoid scaring people when I send you to have fun."

"Can't say I'm not jealous, they didn't let me have missile pods when I picked out this body," the T&E officer said, glad people had stopped pointing weapons at each other.

The armor slowly began to rise. "sorry for scaring you all.." Was a soft voice using a scared tone of voice.

"Their response to your presence is [i[not[/i] your fault, Ancilla." The open helmeted armor found a knife hand pointed at the camera, the twitch of Spark's brow denoting her days training recruits.

"I thought it was funny." Akane said.

"You're less scary than these twins here," Nas murmured.

Spark's face softened almost instantly. "Let's just... Remind me not to make this mistake next time, okay? A Revenant 2 walking off is normal where we're from. A prototype 3, not so much. Not here. I'm sorry for forgetting about that."

"I was not scared," Kari said before she took another small sip of the strange liquid in the Gun Oil bottle. "This was the best socializing in which I've ever participated."

"yeah.. and something different from this might be best" Ancilla agreed

"If you get a more accommodating form, I'm sure we can have fun together." Akane said with a grin.

"Hey can somebody toss me one of those," Pierre said wishing they had beer at this point.

"These?" Kari pointed to her bottle of Gun oil. Without waiting for an answer, she opened the fridge to retrieve another one and threw it into the space over his head, trying to put it within reach, but high enough that if he failed to catch it, it wouldn't hit him.

Pierre reached out and snagged the bottle, they cracked it slightly and let a bit of gas out of the bottle before drinking.
 
After what happened, Ancilla was a bit embarrassed, and ashamed in herself for not reading the rules. The incident had made her a think of a rule she needed to subtly think of a way to pass along, though she’d remembered Spark’s request, no more bull sitting on the whole fact she was sentient. Finally, the time for the tea with the ship’s Megami, and she greeted her, and did not intentionally go anywhere she wasn’t allowed.

She told her about how the NDC treated AI like they were citizens and equal, though she had to admit her fears since she’d seen what happened to another Infomorph that was not allowed to be a Power Armor AI, though she didn’t know the situation or the reasons for the denial. Ancilla was apologized too, that they hadn’t been given the special rules regarding Power Armor which Ancilla accepted and The Megami did say they won't mention her sentience to anyone but the captain, and any Ancilla was willing to confide in, before Ancilla returned to the disk sh inhabited.

after a while though, the fabricators activated and something was being built, but Ancilla was unaware of this as she’d entered rest mode. The body fell to the floor along with a note to pass the body to the Duskerian exchange officers currently on board, and instructions for the body and what to do with it.
 
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YSS Azalea II - Lounge

Pierre sat curled on the couch, hooves tucked under them, as they tapped away at their datapad. True they planned to help out testing the Molly, but if they did find themselves in a combat situation, familiar gear would definitely keep their horned head on their shoulders. Swapping one of the stock wrist blasters for a Daisy style shield and grabbing a 50mm Gauss Bazooka as a secondary weapon should help in that department. No reason to kill the right wrist gun, or the right shoulder cannon. Those were integral parts of the stock Molly. Pierre did allow themself to swap out the left shoulder for a Scalar Machine Gun. Extra active defense would be nice and a mini-missile pod would give them a nice variety of munitions to use. Finally for their pistol and rifle, they decided to requisition a pair of Taihō weapons. The 1st and 2nd Centuries were putting those weapons through their paces, and Pierre liked seeing the familiar if not SAoY standard weapon on the Molly’s gear list.

With a wide grin they punched in a last special request: “Paint a science green and logistics orange stripe running parallel from the left shoulder to the right hip” and shot it off to Wikkedson. Finally done with their armor requisition, Pierre sat back to take another sip of Gun Oil letting the concoction of caffeine and stars knew what else flow through their veins.
 
The clickity clack of Ulrix claws echoed on the deck plate as his shuttle that dropped him off just departed. Making his way to the captain the regrettably small infantryman was to report to the man or woman directly as he knocked on the door to wherever the captain was. "recruit Ulrix Lagros Reporting for duty sir!" came the squeaky response of the small winged lizard creature.
 
Behind Ulrix, a shadow of white hair and porcelain skin, doubling... no, more than that over Ulrix. She moved with an unnatural grace, holding a datapad as she moved to the lounge fridge and pulled herself a can of gun oil, going over and making small annotations to combat data she had collected over the course of the last few days' training activities.

"Evening, sir. I see we have a new recruit. I got that combat data from the last few days. Seems the security Mindies couldn't get a solid RADAR image of Ancilla. Part of the reason they freaked out so much. Turns out their AIs thought it was running active stealth. Then we ran full active stealth during training, and the ship's defenses went ape shit. Something about the electronic warfare package isn't playing nice with friendly systems. I'll have MEGAMI run a code breakdown on it later on, see if we can get the developer mode unlocked and get that sorted. By the way, any word on my new paint work and whether I can run prototype Yam gear?"
 
YSS Azalea II - Deck 1 Medbay, Deck 2 Medbay, Deck 6 Medbay

Kari spent the last few moments of her working day inspecting and cataloguing the equipment in each of the Azalea's 3 medbays. When she was fully satisfied, she grabbed her datapad and a small volumetric projector whose purpose she was dreading more than anything, then she proceeded to the zero-G passageway and gracefully jumped into it.

YSS Azalea II - Deck 3 Fabrication

As she was passing deck 3 she heard something suspiciously like a body hitting the floor, so she floated out of the passageway and set her feet down softly before walking to the fabrication room and peeking inside.

"Hello?" She asked as she looked around. "Is anyone in need of medical care?"

When she saw the freshly fabricated body, she tilted her head curiously and walked over to it. It clearly wasn't biological, but she still took care to arrange its limbs into the recovery position with its head to one side and propped up on one of its arms. The objective was to minimize the probability of choking, which didn't seem like a concern, but it still felt appropriate. Only once the body was in a comfortable-looking pose did she notice the note.

"Pass the body to Duskerian officers?" She repeated what the note said. "Very well."

As easily as a baseline human might lift a blanket, Kari lifted the body onto her shoulder in a fireman's carry. This let her use one hand for stability while her other was free to gather the note and further instructions for the Duskerians, along with her datapad and volumetric projector.

"Where would the Duskerians be?" She mused aloud. Though she had been planning to retire to the solitude of her quarters, she decided that the lounge would be her best bet. She used the zero-G passageway to float up one more floor.

YSS Azalea II - Lounge

Kari entered the lounge wearing her usual, slightly shimmering volumetric bodysuit uniform and carried a freshly-fabricated body on her shoulder. Her face remained passive, but her tail perked up and twitched playfully when she saw Pierre, but she quickly moved her attention to Ulrix and finally Spark.

"Sergeant Hartbrook-Pine, I found this body in one of the fabrication rooms on deck 3 along with a note," Kari held out the note for Spark to read. "I am to pass this to you. There are further instructions for your eyes only."
 
Letting out a small sigh, Pierre pushed themself to their feet. Whether they wanted to or not, it seemed like they were the new head of the growing infantry detachment on this boat. “Adease, both of you. Grab a seat and a cola,” Pierre said, sliding back into infantry officer mode. “Let’s definitely look into the RADAR issue, this seems like the kind of oversight that’ll bite us in the ass at some point. So, Lagros,” Pierre said, addressing the little lizard dude, “Welcome aboard, Stick with the sergeant here, she knows her way around a fire fight and you should learn some things. Barring that, she’s big enough to basically be mobile cover.”

As Kari arrived and dropped off their package, an entire mannequin it seemed, Pierre simply nodded. “Dutiful as ever, Sunde,” the officer said. They wondered if their further integration into the Azalea’s crew would mean that they’d have to limit their flirtation with the stalwart medic.
 
Flashing her cola, and shaking the can slightly, Spark moved to the medic, sliding the tablet across Pierre's table as she moved. Taking the note, she used her thumb to pop it open and read it, considering carefully. "Aah. Yeah, this is for Ancilla. Here."

She pulled Ancilla's data disc from her back pocket, sliding the disc into a slot on the android's face for whenever she decided to come back and do her thing.

"That said, you're the medic I missed an appointment with, right? We still gotta do an exam at some point. My commander handlebars will likely want my medical data."
 
Ulrix Grabbed a cola before flapping his wings to get into a seat with his feat dangling over the edge of his chair. "Sir Are you calling the sargent Fat?" He stated looking up at the rather large women. looking down at the cola he holds with both hands he uses one of his claws to open the top Taking small sips as he sat there. "is everyone on this ship as tall as her or is everyone as tall as you sir?"
 
As the disk was inserted in the head, Ancilla detected new technology attaching to the disk. This brought her out of her shy, embarrassed hiding to reactivate once more. A ring like a glowing necklace formed on the body before them and grew to cover the face and then the body before a girl materialized in its place. Her eyes opened and she looked at her hand, and then realized she was close to their size. “What?” She asked herself as she sat up and then got up. “This is… neat” she commented as she observed herself, then saw she was in the lounge again. “Hey.. before, I, uh apologize for any issues I caused” she said to the group before turning to Spark. “wow, your about the same size as me and we aren’t in the armor”
 
It was about that time when Ancilla was activating into the lounge walks Yujin, " Hey is there any professor plu.... what in the world?" he skids to a stop and looks at the body as Ancilla boots up with a tilt of his head. Then shakes his head some as he stammers " that is cool!" then blinks as she says something about any issues she caused and then blinks " ah ok that was what the ship announcement was about."


Yujin moved into the lounge and over to the fridge and looks around" ah ok there are some in here!" He exclaims as he pulls out a can of Professor plum can's and opens it as he moves over to find a place to sit down and get to know a few more of his fellow crewmates.
 
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Gently lifting Ancilla's shoulder with one hand, Spark offered the AI a soft smile. "Hey, kiddo. You got a new body. Looks good on you."

She softly scruffed the AI's hair with a soft laugh. "And I can actually give you headpats, now! You didn't cause any trouble. Actually showed us something we really needed to know about. Looks like our system doesn't play nice with Yamataian IFF and RADAR yet. So yeah. Sirs, I'd like to finally properly introduce, without the giant power armor body, my copilot. Her name's Ancilla. She's a big sweetie."
 
Kari's tail perked up as soon as Pierre said the word "dutiful" even as she continued to stare at him with the passive displeasure that seemed to be her singular facial expression. A sequence of things happened and people spoke, each of which interesting on its own, and almost overwhelming all at once. Kari simply stood and watched quietly, taking it all in.

Ulrix was a new and interesting addition to the team, whose anatomy she wanted to study, but in reviewing her previous interactions with an eye towards her subpar socialization, she realized that it was a subject that required some tact. At the other end of Kari's interest spectrum, Ancilla's new android body was of little concern for her, but she found herself feeling disappointed that there wouldn't be any more exciting incidents like the one with the power armour in the lounge.

Finally, noting Yujin's appearance made her quickly glance at the people in the room. Their heights seemed to follow a bimodal distribution with one mode around 5 feet and another at 6'3". Suddenly, Kari felt a little out of place, nearly splitting the difference at 5'6". She wasn't sure if she wanted to be taller or shorter, though.

"Sergeant Hartbrook-Pine, if it is inconvenient for you to make a detour to one of the ship's 3 medbays, then I can perform an outpatient examination," Kari offered, feeling that she was being generous even if her tone sounded impatient. "In your quarters perhaps, or here and now if privacy is not of concern. I am not aware of any Commander Handlebars. Is this a member of the NDC staff? I am not privy to the NDC roster beyond those who are on exchange on the Azalea."
 
“I think she just means me, Sunde,” Pierre said with a small smile, “And no, Lagros-Hei, the Sergeant is far from fat. Just, never mind.” The officer decided to just move on instead of explaining the joke. Instead, they extended a hand to Ancilla, “Now I can actually shake your hand. How’s the new body treating you?”
 
"No, ma'am, I just straight up forgot. Got sucked into the data. If you want to do an exam, I ain't opposed.". Spark opened her uniform jacket, letting Ancilla stand on her own two feet as she folded the jacket on the table, stripping off the tree shirt under it to reveal the overdeveloped musculature and her Duskerian Legion standard issue sport bra.

Reaching with her left hand, she undid a clasp and power connector on her right arm, twisting sharply to disconnect the cybernetic from the heavily scarred remains of her shoulder and setting that down as well. "Noticed some sluggishness in that arm. I think I tore some of the muscle strands again. Not that feeling is real reliable there. Sorry. Survived a Storm Rifle shot a few years ago. My chest and neck should be healed enough to start grafting flesh back. Maybe bring me back to unaugmented human. This arm just can't keep up, anymore."

For any who knew what a Storm Rifle could do, and how it did it, the scars made sense. The flechette that had penetrated her armor would have skated around the helm, striking her first Geist to shred her nerves and sever her connection to the armor. The one that had gone through the shoulder would have liquified bone and muscle alike, leaving scraps of skin and ruptured arteries to hold the arm together.

The abdomen would have seen the majority of the scarring, where armor had shattered, sending shrapnel through her abdominal wall. The fact that a mere human had survived was either an instant response by a dedicated AI or divine intervention. Likely both.

Small wonder, then, why Spark was so protective of Ancilla. And trusted her so much. This AI had saved Spark's life many times. And would do so many more.
 
The hair that Spark was touching didn’t feel like real hair but some kind of solid construct, almost hard like smoothed plastic, or something like smooth glass. The difference was that this could be moved and shifted at Spark’s will. She giggled at Spark’s words of being able to give her a head pat. The volumetric around her cheeks changed slightly to facilitate blushing as she did so. As Spark tried to reintroduce her to the crew, she waved and though she was able to see better she chose against owing again. “I’m honored to meet you all, ” she said to them, and immediately shook Pierre’s hand. “Pretty well, whoever designed this thing is a genius. Your Megami mentioned when I had tea with her that someone named Itatski Sachiko had designed it, but that they’d sent it to Yugumo Corporation to make it. and the Megami had its plans in the database. “ She said and glanced at her hand and noted the lack of weapons or extra things a power armor will have.

She glanced at Kari and spoke ”Co-pilot, I make sure my partner can dodge and her weapons are working, as well as other health-based issues, and ect” she said neglecting to mention that the ECT was her helping to control Spark’s berserker moods. She didn’t think they needed to hear that. With her, there won't be issues.
 
Kari spent hundreds of cycles staring at Pierre with her eyes squinted as if she were thinking about something, or plotting his murder until her face shifted into a curious expression with only a soupçon of murderous intent. She walked over to them and held up her hands next to the stubby protrusions of their antlers. As she did so, her tail perked up and danced lazily behind her. "I think I understand, but your antlers are not quite large enough for my hands. Perhaps in time they would make adequate handlebars, but for now the nickname is ill-fitting."

Kari turned to Ancilla as she spoke to her. Thinking back to her socialization training, she gave Spark's co-pilot a respectful bow. "It would appear that you and I have a goal in common, Ancilla. Namely, that we are both concerned with keeping your partner upright and fighting. I deeply appreciate your assistance in this endeavour."

Finally, Kari turned back to Spark. Her eyes traced the contours of the big woman's body as she took a step towards her and then moved her other leg as if to take another step, but instead her holographic uniform flickered as she dialed down the force of gravity on herself. A gentle sigh escaped Kari's lips as she felt herself lift into the air. Her short-cut blonde hair floated around her head as if she were back underwater at the Aquarius Star Fortress, and she let her arms float by her side in a similar way. Just as it seemed like she was going to crash into Spark, she used her tail to twist in the air and glide around to inspect the scarred remains of Spark's shoulder, now unobstructed by their difference in height. Kari held out her hands, but kept her fingers just a hair's breadth from Spark's body for the moment. "I am not a surgeon, but I would be comfortable attempting this flesh graft if you are. Otherwise, I can recommend you to a specialist. Are you in any pain? May I touch your body?"
 
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