YSS Takamagahara, Bridge - Command Level
So much for this being a simple shakedown cruise... thought Hitomi as she heard the klaxons indicating 'Condition One' come to life with a modest (but definitely noticeable) wail.
Now, time to get to work. "Acknowledged, Shosa. Perhaps we sh...." Noticing the doors of the
Bridge's Lift open in her peripheral vision, the Taii paused - then let out a sigh of exasperation moments later as the lift's sole occupant, a Shoi by the name of Ise Atago, flew into the spacious room atop a EM-J5-1a drone.
For the love of...what in the blazes are those ignorant Training Administration bakas teaching Nekos these days? I swear, back in my day, things like this would have never occurred....though at least she remembered to bow thought Hitomi, scowling as she acknowledged the aforementioned bow with a curt nod and an ice-cold glare.
Then the FARS drone spoke (its accent a source of annoyance, but tolerable) and Ise-Shoi had the gall to
kick it - and report to the Shosa as if
nothing had happened.
Does she even have the faintest idea of what she just did? Bloody hell, one of the first things taught in Basic is that you do not mistreat your equipment. Ever.
Facepalming, the only thing that prevented Hitomi from calling out the Shoi (who'd since made a beeline for her station) right then and there was the
Takamagahara's Condition One status; because of it, all non-combat activities (including, unfortunately in Hitomi's opinion, those pertaining to discipline) were cast to the wayside. Sighing one more, the Neko turned towards Ise-Shosa and was about to resume where she'd left off when the never-to-sufficiently-be-cursed niece of the latter dropped the
other proverbial shoe by announcing the presence a malfunction in the battleship's sixth dorsal turret.
Unacceptable. Simply unacceptable!
Her eyes alight with anger and frighteningly cold rage, Hitomi practically teleported over to her own console located in the center of the compartment; throwing herself into the sinfully comfortable chair, the Taii proceeded to send a rather scathing message to Miiko via telepathy.
Code:
Nitô Heisho Uehera Miiko, may I ask why you and your team have chosen to endanger the lives of your fellow crewmates by allowing a newly commissioned Sharie-class Battleship to enter combat with a defective main armament? Surely you must be aware of the consequences for "endanger[ing] other soldiers through disobedience, neglect, or intentional misconduct."
Taii Nakadai Hitomi
That done, Hitomi - a slightly calmer expression on her face - unlocked her chair and swiveled back around in the direction of the Command Level, opening several volumetric windows related to fighter deployment as she did so.
This is what happens when drills aren't run beforehand. Confusion, inefficiency, disorder - all things that can easily be corrected, and all things that can kill. That turret, for example - a malfunction with it should have been detected prior to launch during any one of the IES che-wait a second.
The mahogany-haired Neko's line of thought came to a sudden halt as she noticed something while looking towards the aft of the Bridge, or to be more precise, the
lack of something.
Specifically, the lack of one midnight blue-haired Information Specialist manning the IES Management Station.
You have got to be kidding me.
Her fury back in full strength, Hitomi whipped the chair back around and sent another telepathic message, this time to Aki.
Code:
Jôtô Hei Amaterasu Aki, report to the Bridge immediately and assume your station. Failure to comply will be construed as "Abandon[ing]....[your]....place of duty."
Taii Nakadai Hitomi
After spending a moment wondering why so many of her shipmates were incompetent, Hitomi re-opened the volumetric windows she'd been viewing; a little over a minute later, the Taii - having ran over numerous possible deployments for the ship's Spacy Powered Armor forces and fighter squadrons in her head - began inputting orders, her fingers rapidly dancing over the keys while she did so.
Code:
TO: SQUAD_LEAD[ALL], FLIGHTCON[ALL], CO, TACTICAL
***BEGIN MESSAGE***
*ORDERS ARE AS FOLLOWS*
>SQUADRONS 1 THROUGH 4 are to be ACTIVE FOR DEPLOYMENT within 10 MINUTES FROM RECEIPT OF MESSAGE. SQUADRON 5 is to be on STANDBY FOR DEPLOYMENT within 10 MINUTES FROM RECEIPT OF MESSAGE
>TACTICAL FORMATION IS DELTA_3 *TARGET: TAKAMAGAHARA ACTUAL*, REPEAT: DELTA_3 *TARGET: TAKAMAGAHARA ACTUAL*
>SQUADRON FORMATION: SQUAD LEAD's DISCRETION
>RULES OF ENGAGEMENT: PLAN BRAVO, REPEAT: PLAN BRAVO
>LAUNCH ORDER: STANDARD.
***END MESSAGE***
Code:
TO: WING_LEAD[ALL], CO, TACTICAL
***BEGIN MESSAGE***
*ORDERS ARE AS FOLLOWS*
>WINGS 1 THROUGH 4 are to be ACTIVE FOR DEPLOYMENT within 10 MINUTES FROM RECEIPT OF MESSAGE. WING 5 is to be on STANDBY FOR DEPLOYMENT within 10 MINUTES FROM RECEIPT OF MESSAGE
>FORMATION IS BETA_1 *TARGET: TAKAMAGAHARA*, REPEAT: BETA_1 *TARGET: TAKAMAGAHARA*
>RULES OF ENGAGEMENT: PLAN BRAVO, REPEAT: PLAN BRAVO
>LAUNCH ORDER: STANDARD.
***END MESSAGE***
As she sent off the last of the orders to the
Takamagahara's vast armada of forces, Hitomi froze for a split-second as an inexplicably vivid feeling of déjà vu washed over her.
W-wierd. Shaking her head as if to clear it, the Taii rotated her chair until she was facing Momoe once more. "Shosa, I've finished issuing orders to our forces and have forwarded copies of them to your terminal. Might I suggest that we should equip into our AMES suits?"
