RP: YSS Ryūjō YSS Ryujo, Post-Mission 2

YSS Ryūjō, Mess Hall

Swimming through the crowds of disparaging individuals, one pale, pink-haired nekovalkyrja looked particularly depressed about the makeshift selection of foods. An attempt to mash noodles directly onto the pizza wasn't wholy successful, given that their left elbow was frozen rigid in a fresh cast, and they were eventually forced along by the building queue behind them...

It was the lack of meat. The one thing Eisei Eguchi hated almost as much as no food, was a lack of meat.

Spotting the big brown hero bear, though, with table space to spare; That was enough to lighten her spirits, alright.

"Mista Zima, is that you?" A clattering down of her tray, at the end of the table. Her entire body was convulsing with misplaced excitement, green-yellow eyes going wide like marbles. She was barely half his size, yet had zero fear in placing her dainty hand onto one of his huge claws. "I heard the roomas and I gotta say it's reeully brave what you did! Knowing that you were gunna get demoted, but ya still put freindship first! That's really special!"

This person had no rank pins at all, so they must have been a Yonto Hei. Upon closer examination, they also had a mouth full of nothing but canines...

Some genetic researcher back at Ketsurui Zaibatsu must have been really drunk on the job.

YSS Ryūjō, Mess Hall

Errowyn had put a lot of thought into what might have gone better, but kept running into the same walls. The enemy had the element of surprise, they had the numbers, she even suspected their pilots were more skilled (though they hadn't done anything fancy.) But the one factor that had overridden all others was that their weapons had been more effective. She wasn't sure why, but it wasn't only because they'd been able to overcome the Ryujo's fighters' defenses, they'd also resisted return fire.

The few enemy craft that had been destroyed didn't seem to be those that had been focused on the most, but rather those who'd been hit unexpectedly, or by lucky shots. What did that mean? For one thing, it meant she still didn't know what the answer was, when she asked herself what she could have done...

YSS Ryūjō
Mess Hall

Before she could stammer out a reply to the Kodian, a cute yet malevolent looking Nekovalkyrja interrupted the beginning of their conversation, prattling on incessantly about the heroics of the Kodian during the last mission. As the ostentatious Neko talked, Zdena began to slowly pick at her food, beginning to regret her anger-fueled food stockpile.

Zdena had paid little attention to the rumors, but she had learned the name of the sole Kodian on the ship through social osmosis and her own keen hearing. However, if the rumors surrounding the alleged heroics of Zima-Hei were true, then perhaps it would be worthwhile for her to develop a professional relationship with the ex-intelligence operative. In the interest of the aforementioned goal, Zdena decided to entertain the matter with the Kodian and the creepy Neko.

"Well Zima-Hei, before we begin, I am Santô Hei Zdena Nylund, formerly Nitô Hei Zdena Nylund, on account of...an incident. Anyways, I don't think I'm alone here in wanting to know the truth behind these rumors...", she stated in a plain tone.

Mess Hall

Errowyn shut off the Data Jockey as she looked up from the Datya Jockey with the data facts and questions floating her mind. She took a sip of her drink, showing more interest in these around the big bear, Fyodor. The crew was getting interesting with the variety the ship was gaining.

YSS Ryūjō, Mess Hall

Fyodor glanced at Errown, hoping she’d say something to save him from this nightmare. Not sure why, he thought, as she took her time looking at the growing crowd, not like she has much of a horse in the race. Not like she couldn’t have reloaded an earlier ST. Unable to hold back a sigh, especially after the shark-toothed Neko patted his paw, he put down his tray and carefully lowered himself onto a seat.

“Santo Hei Fyodor Zima,” he said as he put the ketchup slathered onions into the sandwiches, “And I honestly don’t see what the big deal is. “I was an idiot who thought he was a combination of a bomb defusal technician and science team, but then turned out to be incompetent at both. Kind of deserved the double rank demotion for the damage I caused and almost killing an infantry squad or two. Any heroism on my part was just making up for the mistake.”

The Kodian threw the first sandwich down his gullet, minimizing the amount of chewing he did to limit the contact it made on his tongue. Shivering at the clashing tastes, he nonetheless looked over at Zdena’s tray and asked, “You really going to eat all that?”

YSS Ryūjō
Mess Hall

Well, he had received a demotion for a reason, thought Zdena as she listened to Zima-Hei's testimony. Although she had not received official word, it was likely that she would be placed within a different squad after her friendly fire incident. If indeed her supposition was true, it was likely that she would be placed with other interesting characters and malcontent rejects such as herself, and quite possibly Zima-Hei.

"You must be in my squad then...", she said in a dejected tone as she pushed her uneaten plate of food over to the hungry Kodian. "I think it's only fair that you know the circumstances surrounding my demotion. I...started a fight after being on the receiving end of a friendly fire incident. We never came to blows but...that was it for me...", she finished, trailing off as she wallowed deeper within her shame.

YSS Ryūjō
Mess Hall

The fey neko hugged the towering Kodian entirely without reservation, arms making it about a third of the way around his side. Her lungs seemed to huff in an unnecessarily long smell of his now onion-smelling fur whilst she was at it. They really had no idea they were the third wheel in this conversation.

"Followin' what ya heart tells you is importunt! Otherwise we reaully are just keelin' macheens!" The positivity in her voice overflowed, before her body finally broke off. Plonking herself down in the seat next to him, still having trouble one-handing that tray, it was then the darker skinned neko's turn to receive a glare so heartfelt it somehow seemed to invade personal space at a distance. "Truth and honusty and justice, yes! These are importunt too! You are so right! How can we become betta people without dis things?"

A glance down at her plate, to the noodle-pizza. The neko was still smiling even through she clearly hated it, and those bugged eyes still hadn't blinked even once. Chewing it was a massive chore, but she tried her best to imagine that the jumbly texture was mince. When it hit the plate again, the woman just immediately rested her chin on her elbow, and the entire interaction can across like a housecat toying with an insect.

"...Oh, I'm Yonto-Hei Eisei Eguchi. Did iye menchun that?" Finally a blink, but the odd grin still didn't squander... If she was going to talk about her history, though, they'd be here all day. Maybe she should just summarize?...

"I did everything bad, zee~!"

Close enough!

YSS Ryūjō, Mess Hall

Fyodor reached out to snag the offered tray, but paused as he realized one of his arms was trapped. Wondering what was going on, he looked down and saw the cotton candy-haired Neko clinging on to him. Eisei Eguchi? He thought, mentally going through the ship’s personnel files until he found hers. Ohh, ‘rehabilitated’ NMX Neko. Great. Either MEGAMI or the Captain hates me. Guess it’s a question about how personal the Captain gets into personnel reassignments. But I really should let this slide. The Nigh…Nocnimura did save my life and all that, so its not like those who are usually our enemies can't turn over a new leaf, right?

Sighing as he stuffed his paranoia away, the Kodian waited until the Neko let his arm go before he pulled Zdena’s tray towards him and moved the food onto his own. “Well, now that we’ve confessed our sins, anything else we want to discuss while I kill my taste buds?” he asked, as he rolled some ramen into a strange version of a burrito and chucked it down the chute.

YSS Ryūjō
Mess Hall

How far she had fallen, that she was now associating with characters such as these. An insubordinate SAINT agent and a unintelligible Neko, both of whom seemed to be hiding something from her. However, she had hidden the details of her own calamity from them too. Despite the questionable histories of the individuals she interacted with, Zdena took comfort in the mutual sharing of grievances by everyone surrounding her.

With a deep sigh, Zdena ran her fingers through her magenta-colored hair. "No, but I will say that...we have all failed to behave professionally in the past...but, we...shouldn't focus on being professional anymore...not that professionalism isn't important but,...we should prove our worth elsewhere. Perhaps we should prove ourselves as capable warriors instead..." Zdena stated, her voice shaking as she spoke. "That being said...I'm going to do some training and personal reflection. If anyone wants to join me in the fitness center, you're welcome to come."

With that said, Zdena took up her belongings and left the table, leaving the odd group behind as she prepared to train her shame away.

YSS Ryūjō
Mess Hall

Eisei just looked at Zdena, then twiddled the fingers in her left-arm cast with pursed lips.

"Do ya wanna to do sum seword fightin? Or maybe target shootin'?" Was the answer back. Cautious, but pleased to have received the offer. "I wanna be a capabul warriur, too, yeah..."

More bites of the noodle pizza, more struggling. It was possible that they were just bad at eating.

"Do you wanna cume with, Mista Zima?" The offer was to the bear, but her eyes did seem to welcome Errowyn as well. "I... I can sho yous all my spechul moves!"

Mess Hall

Errowyn kept her face schooled in neutrality as she winched inside. She was definitely the odd one out as more infantry joined the fast forming group at the table. She finished off the last of her meal as she watched the display of affections between the Kodiak and the other. She gave Eisei a slight nod as she stood up, grabbing her tray to dispose of. She left the table with her tray, disposing it in the proper place for it.

She could use the distraction of more exercise and get to know her shipmates better.

The Ryujo's simulation bay was non-functional, and mostly roped off, though there were still some sections that could be used for target shooting and range practice, at least by those who were careful and considerate. And, from a certain point of view, care and consideration were very valuable attributes for shootists to have, when they were firing their weapons down spaceship corridors mostly filled with friendly forces and life support systems.

The story was similar for those who wished to spar in the rubble of Hangar Bay #5; there wasn't much more damage that could be done there, so long as both partners stayed away from Errowyn's Kawarime. The gym had more limited space than the dedicated training facilities that had been one of the main draws of the Ryujo's simulation bay, but there were mats for wrestling, at least. The lack of options meant that more crew would be using the facilities, but preparations for the mission ahead kept enough away in the armoury or elsewhere that the gym wasn't quite crowded, there was room enough.

YSS Ryūjō, Mess Hall

Hope it was the food and not me that drove ‘em away, Fyodor thought, shoving another improvised burrito down as Zdena and Errowyn left. Table manners probably didn’t help, but oh well. Might as well get used to that? Not like you can hide behind the black uniform anymore.

When the shark-toothed Neko asked him to come along, he shrugged and said, “Sure, I guess. Not much else I can do, since my stuff got taken.” Sighing, he stood up, picked up his tray, and started towards the garbage. He only took a few steps before he remembered that Eisei was down an arm, which poked his empathy awake enough that he turned around and picked up her tray as well. “You can do sword fighting with one arm?” he asked as he dumped the uneaten ‘food’ in the garbage, waiting for her to take the lead. Where is the gym anyway?

The technician, upon noticing the other people leaving, shivered a little and muttered about the climate control being broken still but made no move to get their attention for the time being. Finishing up what was left of her ramen, Serket cleaned up after herself efficiently and quietly.

YSS Ryūjō
Gym

After taking a stop at her cabin to change into athletic attire and to take a water bottle, Zdena entered the gym. Despite the limited space available within the gym, there seemed to be few enough people within for her to have a comfortable workout, with few disturbances. Setting her water bottle down, she sat down on one of the mats and began a stretching routine.

First she extended her legs outward and performed toe touches. These were followed by lower back stretches and gluteal stretches on her back. After finishing the ground stretches, she did a set of standing stretches off of the mat. As she stood up, she noticed Fyodor and Eisei had entered the gym.

After finishing with her stretching routine, she walked over to them to begin a possible group workout session.

"So...who wants to do...maybe a friendly wrestling match?", she asked, making an awkward attempt to bond with her future squad mates.

YSS Ryūjō, Mess Hall

"The challunges are greatest where justice is needed moste." Eisei answered, with a completely flat but earnest tone, like someone feeling ditzy after losing their keys for the millionth time. "You gotta do the hard things, or it's not worth doin', right?"

Her food was devoured quickly after that, in probably the messiest way possible.

Gym

The fey catgirl's choice of exercise gear was more like that of a ballerina, a dark blue leotard with a pink tutu... But they were also messing with a nightstick baton now, swinging it around their skinny form with a sort of idle-minded attitude. The elbow still locked away in a cast made it a bit clumsy, but that didn't stop Eisei from smiling profusely throughout the whole affair.

"Yu wanna do da wun-on-wun, then da winna gonna fight the big guye?" Slurring speech. Soft, soothing tones, garbled into a nigh-unrecognizable jumble... Were they blushing, too?... "Fightin's da purest way to get to know your sistas, you knows... So... So... I'mma show you all my best inner dreams, okayee?..."

Deck 6, Fitness Center

Found adjacent to the laundry room, to the aft of the ship on the starboard side, the Star Army Fitness Center--which could loosely be described as a gymnasium--was a room with a few treadmills and resistance machines, configurable for martial arts matches, ping pong, and other sports that didn't take up too much space. It had a mixed configuration at present; for safety reasons, no free weights, or other equipment that could be sent flying if the ship suffered a jolt was available.

It wasn't easy to provide equipment for a crew as diverse as the Ryujo, at any rate. Fyodor wasn't the only crew member who weighed more than ten Nekos combined, and there were species aboard who were weaker than baseline humans or stronger than a Kodian. Since Yamataians didn't need exercise facilities to maintain their health, but many other species did, even when the form and optimization of the equipment wasn't a concern, they often had different goals in mind.

As a result, the equipment stations were designed to serve as broad a range of species, builds, and challenge levels as possible, to the point where they could be deadly dangerous or destroyed by a mismatch, and had their controls locked out by the ship's computer to remove the potential for user error.

There were also an array of odd devices that didn't provide any meaningful exercise for most species, but allowed users to practice their hand-eye coordination in addictive ways, which had been added in part to distract crew members who otherwise would have entertained themselves by pushing the equipment as far as it could go. This had been proving moderately effective, though the captain had still been cracking down on crewmembers who tried to organize impromptu inter-species maximum press contests.

There was plenty of room on the mats at the moment, as they were only occupied by Fyodor's Azorean friend attempting a yoga pose that would probably be physiologically impossible for any other species on the ship, and unfortunately, might also be for Azoreans, too.

YSS Ryūjō
Gym

Zdena also picked up a nightstick baton from the equipment rack, moving to face the fey catgirl as she squared up her stance in anticipation for the duel.

She looked up and down Eguchi's skinny form, taking in her exercise tutu, her lithe figure, and her cast. Zdena certainly held a weight advantage over Eguchi. However, Zdena also noted how Eguchi seemed to settle into a trance as she circled idly around her opponent. It wasn't until Zdena saw Eguchi's mouth full of canines, when she slowed down.

I'm outmatched...

In a flash of movement, the duel was underway.

Deck 6, Fitness Center

Fyodor shook his head at Eisei’s choice of outfit and words as he settled on the floor. “I’d say to at least go two on one for me,” he said with a chuckle. “If you’re by yourself, then I can just sit on you and win that way.”

As the two Nekos squared off to fight, the Kodian started going over the data that the Captain gave him to go over, half paying attention to his new squadmates' actions. Apparently, I get to do my old SAINT duties despite being moved to Infantry, he thought ruefully. All the work and none of the glory. Welcome to the Star Army.

Deck 6, Fitness Center

If Fyodor had been expecting personnel files, he'd be disappointed--though he could usually find those on his own. He'd been cleared to review the post-battle reports on the status of all six security teams, from before the ship's squads were reorganized. Eisei and Zdena were among their number. Apparently, Eisei had been in squad six, and Zdena had been in squad five, with Rio and the Azorean.

Those were the details, though, and the big picture was trying to draw his attention, first:

Squad 1: 1 lightly wounded (stunned unconscious). No boarders reached the upper decks.
Notes: Security chief was incapacitated on deck 5, prior to alert status. The remainder of the squad followed their standard procedure without incident.

Squad 2: No casualties. Boarders repelled on deck 4, aft section.
Notes: Squad determined the boarders were targeting the engineering section, and made this their priority. In lieu of effective leadership from Squad 1, they provided command and control for the remaining squads.

Squad 3: 1 KIA (COD: Blunt trauma), two lightly wounded. Boarders repelled on deck 4, amidships.
Notes: Although the squad was successful in their assigned task, and went above and beyond, their casualties were self-inflicted, and the destruction of the AMTC may have been avoidable.

Squad 4: 2 lightly wounded (stunned unconscious). Boarders repelled on deck 6, port side.
Notes: [REDACTED]

Squad 5: 2 KIA (friendly fire),1 lightly wounded (stunned unconscious), 1 heavily wounded (friendly fire). Boarders on deck 5 were able to complete the majority of their suspected objectives.
Notes: Squad was present when simulation bay was subverted. Calamity ensued.

Squad 6: 1 KIA (friendly fire), 1 lightly wounded (concussion), 1 moderately wounded (pinned to wall by bayonet and stunned unconscious), 2 MIA. Boarders repelled on deck 6, starboard side.
Notes: Squad swept the shuttle bays and found nothing of interest. When deployed to the simulation bay, they were defeated in their first engagement. Recovery of the squad and its data was complicated by a series of explosions seemingly engineered for the purpose. Two bodies were never found.

Fyodor was fairly certain 'boarders' was a euphemism for 'a single infiltrator' in every instance.