RP: YSS Wakaba [YSS Wakaba] Episode 3: The Scenic Route Home.

YSS Wakaba
Bridge

Thomas smiled at Calandri. Seemed some of his idioms had gone over her head. He brushed it aside and listened to her speak of her homeworld. He knew a little of her story from her personnel file and from what he had pieced together from things the tall alien had shared. "Who knows. Maybe we'll find your homeworld out here. It sounds exactly like the kind of place we are looking for." Thomas returned her salute and said, "Not a bad idea. Some parts of the ship are still dark from so it's very possible we missed something. But stand by in case we do find a habited planet. Your knowledge of Xenography will be most useful."

Somewhere in the depths of the Wakaba

Mizumitsu Hiroshiko was not alone where she was working. Unbeknownst to the mechanic, she was dangerously close to where the NMX stowaway had set up shop. The NMX Nekovalkyrja Arta had set up sensors to alert her if anyone came into the area. She watched Hiroshiko on her view screens. A lone tech. Perhaps she could capture her and have another puppet. But she would have to be super cautions. She needed to make sure that the tech was indeed alone.

Shuttle #1
Haruka entered the building first. She held her aether rifle up and swept the area. Nothing was moving. "Clear." She said into her coms. The other two infantry along with Fletcher came up. They began examining the equipment. At a computer station, Haruka began bringing it online. "The signal we detected is an destress signal coming from here." She paused as she read the data. Even though it was in a language she didn't understand, her digital mind was able to process and translate enough to get an idea. "No, it's a warning. A warning for others to stay away. Give me a moment."

After what felt like forever, Haruka looked up. Her face was grim. "This colony was attacked by creatures matching the description of the Mishhu. The colony was infiltrated and then wiped out. It seems like there was also a pirate group that aided them. I've found a map of the surrounding sector. Data indicates that there is a NMX shipyard near here!" Her face became grimmer still. "It's located where one of the other shuttles was going to explore!"

Shuttle #2
...

Shuttle #3
While Runa lined the shuttle up for a jump, Setsunu and the others gave her cover. The large Freighter began to move closer to join in the fight. But they were too far away. They would be gone before they got into range. That is what was going through Setsunu's mind. But at that moment, the Freighter fired. A large beam of energy. It hit Kai and completely engulfed her. The energy beam disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Kai's power armor was charred black. It was reading massive critical failure. Setsunu quickly flew over to her and grabbed her. "Teleport now!" She ordered to the others. In a flash of light, they were back on the shuttle. "Go Runa!"

Setsunu actually shouted as she worked to get Kai's helmet off. The seal had melted. It took some effort but Setsunu got it off. Kai's face was covered with second degree burns. Setsunu grabbed a med pack and found a syringe. She jabbed it into Kia's neck. For a moment, Kai's eyes opened and she looked at Setsunu. Her mouth opened to speak but no sound came out. Her eyes just went blank and she was gone. Setsunu closed her eyes. Another one lost under her command. She didn't even notice when the shuttle lurch as it jumped to the safety of hyperspace.

Shuttle 3
{OOC: the following post contains rudeness my apologise]


“Copy! Breaking right! Fuck!” Runa said as she began following orders and began piloting the shuttle to do as she was ordered. “Give them hell Angels!” She said, though it was mostly to herself as she continued to pilot the shuttle “Oh Great Yui’s waste!” she said as she saw the new contact approach. And then Setsunu spoke, which made her like the woman even more, especially with the order to return to the Wakaba. “Copy that!” Runa said and began preparing the shuttle for the jump.
Then she felt the boom of teleportation and nodded slamming her fist down on the jump activation button. “FuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuck!” Runa said to repeat hoping that their enemy wouldn’t or couldn’t make a target as they teleported away.

Somewhere in Danger

Hiroshiko was indeed physically alone, but she wasn’t mentally alone as the gift from her father continued to shift through the woman’s senses and guide her the best “he” could. No technician, the entity could access the surface thoughts of her knowledge as she went about with her tasks. At this rate, “he” will be as good of a technician as Hiroshiko. But he was starting to grow into a full AI and he knew there wasn't going to be room for the both of them at this rate. He just didn't know how to get out and still be of use to her as of yet.

“Shouldn’t that be over 50%?” he asked as Hiroshiko looked over the damage control console and overlooked an indicator of the coolant reserve for the main reactor. Hiroshiko slammed her fist into the nearby wall panel and cursed loudly.

“I just fixed that!” she said before groaning. Nothing else requiring her attention, she hefted her premium repair kit unto her shoulders and made her way to double check her jury rigging. If that was sound, then there was a new problem to find. She felt like she was starting to be the only one doing anything in this section of the ship.

Bridge

Calandri nodded as she was surprised that she would be needed if they found a planet "O-of course sir, I would be happy to help with planning on ground side, if it comes to that, I am also a hunter and gatherer so I may be able to find some edible stuff on the planet of our choosing." She paused for a moment, a confused looked on her face before she shook it from her mind, gave a small bow, turned and left. Her past was best left there for now, there wouldn't be anything left of her planet or her people, killed or taken, her race was dead. She turned back when at the door "I will investigate and let you know what is happening around the ship, um call me back to the bridge if you need my xenoskills."

Shuttle #1
Fletcher returned to the shuttle and tried to raise the Wakaba. But as feared, they were out of range with the Wakaba's damaged communication relays. Haruka stayed in the command center doing a major data download. It would take about 30 mins. Haruka wasn't know for her patents and stood watching the data transfer with an increasingly fierce snarl on her face. Her foot was tapping and her fists kept clenching and unclenching. It was all she could do to not start punching the screen in front of her.

Shuttle #2
A ship scanned the debris of what was once a shuttle. No life was detected. That wasn't good. They needed to find a survivor to figure out what had happened. Suddenly a light began to flash on the console. Looks like someone was alive, barley. They would need to hurry. It didn't look as if the survivor was going to survive very long.

Shuttle #3
Setsunu was silent as the shuttle traveled through hyperspace back towards the Wakaba. She had closed Kia's eyes and placed a cloth over her face. Setsunu's face was impassionate. One might think she standing on a parade ground save for the tears that ran down her cheeks. That was the only acknowledgement of what had happened. She wasn't even aware of the tears. Her digital mind was replaying the whole event over. Putting together any and all markings that had been on the fighters and freighter. Running through an recording of their communications to each other. Translating their language so that next time they might be able to effectively communicate. She was also keeping track of the shuttle's progress back to the Wakaba. ETA: 2 mins. She would have a full report ready to give as soon as they exited hyperspace.

YSS Wakaba
Bridge

One of the Bridge officers called from her station. "Captain, we have a single ship about to exit hyperspace. Trajectory indicates its Shuttle #3." Thomas nodded. "Track steady. Launch a Mindy Screen." He glanced at the time. He had expected the shuttles to take much longer to investigate the systems they had been sent to. Either there hadn't been much in the system to see, or there had been trouble.

Shuttle #3 exited hyperspace. A squad of Mindy Armor moved quickly up to it to visually confirm it was their shuttle come home. At once Setsunu opened a direct line to the bridge. "Joto Heisho Meiosei reporting. We were attacked almost as soon as we entered the system. From what little data we were able to gather, the system is a stopping point for pirates. I am sending all the data we collected. I regret to report one KIA. Nito Hei Kia. I have notes attached to her death."

Thomas listened to Setsunu's report with some concern. Despite the clear and concise report, Thomas knew that Setsunu was upset. They had worked together far too long for him to not pick up on the most subtle difference in her voice. He knew how much she cared for her Angels. Every death was personal to the green haired warrior. And unfortunately, the Angels of Death lived up to the Death part a little too much.

"Understood. Report to Medical for a check then Stand down for the next 12 hours. You're team will need to be rested and ready to go for the next mission." Thomas ordered. He sat down in his command chair and sighed. He hoped the other two shuttles were having better luck.

Somewhere in the depths of the Wakaba

As Hiroshiko checked her repair work, another red panel came round the corner. She let out a small Eep! when she saw Hiroshiko and dropped the tools and replacement components she'd been carrying. "Sorry. I didn't know anyone else was working in this area. You scared me." The red panel picked up her tools and looked at what Hiroshiko had been working on. "Oh good, you got that fixed. I've been trying to find the break in that line for the last few days. Do you see any other damage to the line?"

Somewhere in the depths of the Wakaba

Hiroshiko eyes the technician fairly menacingly. She had gotten used to doing a share of the work for only another technician to show up after the deed had been done. She looked up and down at the fellow technician before she unconsciously decided to ping the technician with her wireless capabilities. It included the standard encrypted handshake that required knowing the rotating encryption key for the day. She needed to link her and have her return to the damage control so she could monitor the flow and refilling of the coolant.

"I don't know yet, I just got started." Hiroshiko said, not looking too deep at what the other tech was holding. Though her eyes did look at the pile afterwards. "Wait, a few days?"

Shuttle #1
"Go faster." Haruka muttered under her breath.

Will stood outside the shuttle, his rifle in his hands, his eyes roaming and looking for threats, threats that could jeopardize getting the intelligence back to the Wakaba. "Patience Haruna. Take a breath, remember there are things in our control and things out of our control. Right now, there are a lot of things out of our control like what happens to the other shuttle, how long the download will take, and what our enemies will do. The only things always under our control are our attitudes and our actions. Impatience causes us needless stress about things outside of our control." He explained calmly.

"But we know the people on the shuttle, their our friends. We've got to do something." Haruka replied.

"I know, we will help them best by getting the intelligence back to Wakaba. Rather than wasting mental energy wanting the future to be now, we spend that mental energy on what is in front of us and what can endanger what we are doing right now." Fletcher responded.

"But it's how I feel, I can't control that." Haruka complained.

"Patience is like a muscle that we build up by choosing to have a patient attitude while enduring trying situations."

"Fine, I'll try."

Shuttle #1
Haruka had done everything she could be she was on the verge of shooting the damn computer when it beeped that the data transfer had been completed. "All done!" She exclaimed as she grabbed the data stick and ran back to the shuttle. "Go! Go! Go!" she yelled at the pilot. As the shuttle took off, she plugged the data into a data slate and began running through it. "We've got a good set of star charts for this area at least." She said as she showed Fletcher the data.

Shuttle #2
Michiru eyes opened but they refused to focus. Her head hurt and she tried to put a hand to her head but couldn't. Her arms refused to move. She was lying on her back. Weakly she muttered, "What happened? Where am I?" Something moved overtop of her but still her eyes wouldn't focus. The shadow above her gently moved a strand of hair off her face.

"Joto Heisho Setsunu Meiosei?" The figure asked.

"What?"

"Are you Joto Heisho Setsunu Meiosei?" The voice asked again.

"Itto Heisho Michiru." Michiru said weakly.

"Pity. But you might still be useful."

YSS Wakaba
Shuttle #3
The shuttle landed without incident back in the Wakaba's hanger. Setsunu stood alone, watching as they took Kia's body away. Her spear was gripped tightly in her hand and she had a strong urge to slice something. Those pirates had not been any challenge at all, yet they had taken the life of one of her Angels. Of course Kia could be brought back, but the Wakaba had been running low on the crucial supplies needed to make a new body for an ST. The doctors had been forced to prioritize those who got an ST to those most necessary to keeping the Wakaba running.

Setsunu sighed. She needed to be doing something but she had been ordered to stand down for the next 12 hours. She would grab something to eat, even though it was half rations now and then take a shower. That should take all of 45 mins if she went very slowly. Maybe she'd finally get a chance to play her cello for a while.

Somewhere in the depths of the Wakaba

The tech looked confused a moment, then perked up. "Oh, this power line runs all over this deck and the next four above and below it. Its taken me awhile by myself to find it. Geeze are you jumpy. Although I can't really blame you this place gives me the creeps. I..." The tech suddenly screamed and pointed behind Hiroshiko. As Hiroshiko began to turn, out of pure reflex, the tech grabbed a large pipe and swung it at Hiroshiko head.

Somewhere in the depths of the Wakaba

Hiroshiko's expression got even more confused listening to the tech's explaination. For one the power line wasn't what she was fixing, any basic tech would know that. Two, power lines don't leak!! Well not unless it is one of those plasma lines the Reds have been rumored to have been developing awhile back.

"I know what you are thinking, but you have no proof." the voice said as Hiroshiko's confusion and general contempt for most of her fellow techs was reaching a logical conclusion.

"She's either managed to fail her way upwards like a certain Belmont or there is something else to her."

The tech's scream caused Hiroshiko's primal side to take. Over, memories of the Death Angel and the Ripper flooded her mind as she swung around with the wrench in her hand. When she saw nothing, annoyance was written all over her face. She fell for the oldest trick in the book.

The swoosh of the pipe could be heard by Hiroshiko and the voice. As Hiroshiko turned to figure what was making it, she felt the pipe land square on the back side of her head.

"Well that settles it." the voice said, even louder than usual. As Hiroshiko fought to not fade out, it was feeling like the restrictions on it were loosening.

She spun around with a truly menacing look this time. "What is your problem!?" Hiroshiko said doing her best to remain awake. Her vision was on the fritz though.

Shuttle #1
Haruka had practically shoved her team back onto the shuttle which was now making all speed back to the Wakaba. It was imperative that they warn them of what was lurking so close to them.

Unknown location
The screaming was almost unbearable to Michiru. She had been a soldier for a long time and had a distinguished record. She had not been afraid to go into battle against Mishhu, Kuvexians or any other enemy to the Star Army. But that screaming terrified her.

"Are...you...ready...to...talk...now?" Asked a voice asked, slowly and dripping with evil pleasure at the pain it was inflicting.

Michiru remained silent, save she began to hum one of her favorite classical music tunes. Instantly the screaming returned. The sharp C note that had been on Michiru's lips instantly turned to a scream of complete agony.

Wakaba
"Contact Captain. Looks like one of the shuttles have returned."

Thomas nodded and checked his display. Shuttle #1, Fletcher. Time to see what the doc had found. Before Thomas could even open a channel the shuttle was broadcasting. A very irate Haruka came over the comms. "Shuttle 1 to Wakaba. We found an abandoned mining colony. After some examination we have discovered that there is a large NMX presents in one of the neighboring systems. The system that Shuttle #2 was exploring. Data indicates there is a NMX Shipyard there!"

Somewhere in the depths of the Wakaba

The tech swung the pipe again this time at Hiroshiko's gut to try and knock the wind out of her. It wasn't a very good swing and Hiroshiko's arm blocked most of the blow. The tech was getting desperate now. The fight was lasting way too long. She stepped back and pulled out her side arm, setting it to stun.

Somewhere in the Wakaba

Calandri was just happy to have a job to do, she didn't like being left to do nothing. She had grabbed a datapad and had slid into rooms and made a not on resources and what they still had that was usable. She had moved slowly from room to room to keep an up to date list of what the Wakaba still had, broken stuff she removed from the list as it wasn't fit for purpose anymore as she shook her head, already after a few room, they were down a lot of supplies, she held out hope that they were in other places on the ship. She was moving deeper and deeper into the ship, soon the halls were empty apart from her and her thoughts, going back to when she was in training and before.

Shuttle #1

Fletcher sat back in his seat, composing the message he was going to send when they returned. The headline was clear with something they needed to perhaps act on now. So he made it its own message with a high priority flag, then created the rest of the report as a regular one, linking the two together.

Somewhere in the depths of the Wakaba

Hiroshiko was not having a good time with the repeated hits from the fellow tech. Thank goodness she had paid attention to those martial arts lessons in basic. But she didn't pay enough as she her head pointed downwards with the last hit. Not seeing her starting to pull out her pistol, Hiroshiko decided to charge at her. Engaging her inertia generators she did her best Mishhu parasite impression as she aimed to grapple the tech and put her to sleep. One of the officers would know what to do with her.

Wakaba Bridge

Thomas looked over the data sent by Fletcher. An NMX shipyard? As if they didn't have enough to worry about. Thomas sat down in his command chair, his mind trying to process the impact that this information meant. A caretaker that he had spoken with earlier came back to the bridge carrying a box that she brought to the Captain. Thomas eyed the box for a moment then opened it. Inside was short stemmed pipe. He began to pack the pipe with some tobacco. The bridge crew watched in stunned silence. They had never seen anyone smoke before, much less aboard a Star Army Warship.

As Thomas lit the pipe Inaho finally spoke up. "Captain! According to Star Army regulations..." She began listing off the article and numbers along with sub sections and everything. Thomas merely drew a deep breath on his pipe then blew out a puff of smoke. Ah that tasted good. It helped clear his head and see the problem at hand. As Inaho finished listing all the regulations he was breaking Thomas smiled grimly.

"You are more that welcome to report me if we ever make it back to Yam space. However the situation right now is far more serious that a few broken misdemeanors." The bridge was silent as they listened. "We have a report of a NMX shipyard. We've not heard much from the Mishhu since the end of the Second Mishhu War. Save some rumor's about the... Former Emperor... battling them to the Kikyo systems south." Thomas had never put much stock in those rumors. Having grown up on Nepleslia, he didn't have a very high option of the former Emperor. But from what he was seeing here, there might be some truth to the rumors.

"Regardless, a NMX shipyard poses a huge threat to not just ourselves, but to Yamatai and the galaxy as a whole. We also haven't heard anything from the second shuttle we sent, unknowingly, to that area. We need to investigate." Thomas took another draw on his pipe and blew it out his nose before standing, his pipe clenched in his teeth. "Sound Battle Stations. We are going to go investigate."

Somewhere in the depths of the Wakaba
Hiroshiko's brave attempt to tackle the tech was partly successful. She was able to tackle the tech, who dropped her side arm. But before Hiroshiko could get a sleeper hold on her, she was shot from behind by the NMX Neko Arta. Arta looked down in disgust at the tech that had attacked Hiroshiko. "That was pathetic." The tech stood, looking very unhappy but didn't dare argue with her leader.

Arta looked down at Hiroshiko. She could just kill the tech, but it might be beneficial to take her back to her base and infect her. That would be more beneficial. "Get her to the base. Quickly!"

Some time later, Hiroshiko regained consciousness. The room was dark save for a light shining in her eyes. She was strapped to a table. Arta noticed she was awake and moved over to her. "It would have been better had you stayed unconscious. The parasite is very painful when it takes control of it's host. It..." Suddenly alarms began to go off. It was the call to Battle stations. Arta looked confused. She quickly left the room leaving Hiroshiko alone.

YSS Wakaba
Port-Side Lift, Main Bridge Level

Taii Shima Haruto straightened out the jacket of her Type-42 Duty Uniform, noting with satisfaction that the regal-blue material with the grey-panelling still looked flattering on her Tennyo body. When informed that she had spent the past three months tucked away in the Wakaba's Medical Center, trapped in a healing coma, Haruto had worried that her body may have been negatively impacted by the enforced idleness. Fortunately, a quick shower and a couple of minutes spent applying her preferred volumetric makeup routines had swiftly reassured her on that count. It seemed that the Wakaba's medical personnel had indeed been up to the challenge of properly caring for her.

While she wasn't surprised that Fletcher-Shosa's people were highly competent, the navigator had been informed that the standard treatment for the condition she had arrived in was to grow a replacement body in a hemosynth tank, then re-sleeve into it so the ruined body could be recycled. Obviously, with the Wakaba's loss of access to ST technology, the standard treatments had needed revising. So, they'd given her regular boosters of nanite-rich hemosynth and allowed her body to heal on its own. That such had taken three months was more a testament to the severity of the condition she had been in. Haruto repressed a shudder as her mind flashed back to the attack.

~~~ FLASHBACK: THREE MONTHS PRIOR ~~~

Haruto bolted awake in her bed as Wakaba Inaho-Taii's ship-wide announcement of incoming any attack blared over the intercom in her Officer Quarters. Even as the navigator rolled out of bed to grab her NSP, a reflexive check of her internal chronometer showed that it had only been three hours since she had gone to sleep. It had been the equivalent of a late night for her as it was her turn in the rotation to be the duty officer during her bridge shift. So in addition to the usual reports and logs she had needed to complete and file at the end of the shift, Haruto had also had to complete the command documentation too. Haruto, like so many other officers, had quickly come to despise the torture that was paperwork - no matter how important it actually was to the smooth operation of the Star Army.

By the time her ruminations upon the evils of paperwork had ended, the neko was crossing the threshold of her quarters into the hallway outside. Her Neko Service Pistol was in hand, already switched to it's heavy mode. Until told otherwise, she'd assume the intruders were Mishhuvurthyar and wanted all the stopping power she could utilise. Her pistol's battery magazine wouldn't last for long, which was why she had both spare magazines in the hand not toting the half kilo weapon. Knowing that she'd need more firepower, not to mention something more protective than the bikini underwear and undershirt that Haruto had been using as sleepwear, the navigator's immediate plan was to head to the nearest weapons locker and upgrade her arsenal.

Heading aft from her cabin, Haruto had almost reached the nearest locker when a trio of human males, decked out in the grey coveralls of the NMX's naval personnel, came into sight, bounding down the hallway towards her. The math was simple and the neko knew her options were limited, so she shifted the sight of her pistol onto the left-most of the thralls and, after switching it to pulse mode, fully pulled the trigger. In half-a-second, the muzzle flared three times with a purple-white flash as a trio of bright, actinic bolts of energy shot towards the enemy unit.

Without waiting to witness the efficacy of the attack, Haruto shifted her aim to the next thrall and quickly sent another trio of bolts down the length of the hallway. She had just enough time to witness the first round of bolts blasting in to the torso of the first thrall, before she spotted the third thrall's 'Impaler' Particle Beam Rifle tracking towards her. The navigator dove to the deck and rolled to the side as the first blue beams began to cut through the space she had occupied only moments before. Mid roll, Haruto half-squeezed the trigger and sent a single bolt of energy racing at the third thrall before triggering her inertial controls to launch her body up off the deck. Pulling her legs up in front of her to induce her body to rotate, Haruto released her control and allowed gravity to pull her back towards the deck. Landing gracefully, she brought her pistol back around and finally spotted the third thrall.

Who, having ditched his rifle, was currently three feet away and closing fast. His face was a rictus of hate and with a scream of "Die, infidel!", finally reached the neko.

Haruto wanted to swear to herself, but ran out of time as the thrall's incoming fist smashed into her wrist, the shock of the impact enough to cause her hand to reflexively open and lose its grip upon her service pistol. Bringing her other hand around, she whipped the spare magazines at the thralls face, causing him to instinctively raise a hand in protection. The neko used this chance to land several punishing hits to the human's body, feeling at least one rib break under her assault. With a roar that was equal parts rage and pain, the thrall brought his hands down sharply, knocking Haruto off balance. As it happened, it also saved her life.

A flash of bright blue light burned through the Thrall's shoulder before lancing into Haruto's head, the energy of the Impaler's beam being diminished just enough that the glancing impact was not immediately fatal. The navigator's OS began throwing errors and alarms at her, even as she could feel her body being to shut down in response to the heavy damage and severe overheating of her digital brain. Figuring that she would soon be dead, not expecting any mercy from whichever of the thralls had survived well enough to shoot a weapon at her, Haruto sighed and closed her eyes. Wanting a better final image than the violence-filled hallway, the neko cast her mind back to better times, of taking a walk in Keiko Park back in Kyoto. Or perhaps the evening of celebration with her parents before she had reported to Ketsurui Academy for her Astro-Navigation Training. Image after image formed and Haruto smiled as she felt herself at peace as the world slipped away.

The junior Taii fell unconscious at that point, not seeing the internal bulkhead that dropped, cutting her off from the enemy before they could finish her off. She wouldn't wake again for quite some time.

~~~ FLASHBACK END ~~~

Haruto had slowly awoken less than an hour before in the Wakaba's Medical Center. It had taken most of that hour to pass the variety of tests the medical personnel had insisted on putting her though, even if the navigator was privately convinced that half of them were designed purely to irritate the patient. Once cleared and her status was automatically changed from inactive to active duty, KAMI had initiated contact with the Taii and begun an information download covering the events of the three months she had missed and ending with orders to report to Canterbury-Taisa on the Bridge as soon as she was able.

So, here Haruto was, moments from stepping out on to the Bridge of the Wakaba. She had headed to her quarters, showered and donned her duty uniform. Along with her jacket went the type 35 skirt, opaque blue tights, blue socks and black shoes. Haruto knew she had the legs to properly pull off wearing heels, but had regretfully decided that they were a little too impractical for the Wakaba's present situation. The navigator knew that all 45 kilos of her 5ft 4in slender body looked good in the Star Army Uniform - it was one of the reasons she enjoyed wearing it, after all. She had put her waist-length silky black hair into a simple braid before pinning it up into an elegant bun at the back of her head. With her pale skin tone and eyes, Haruto had chosen only a minimum of volumetric makeup - namely a little dark purple eyeliner and eye-shadow to highlight her eyes and a coat of slightly-glossy pale, pink lipstick. Conservative and tasteful were the rules, after all.

YSS Wakaba - Bridge

With a swoosh the lift doors opened, revealing to Haruto the sight of a Bridge and she was surprised at the flare of happiness she felt upon seeing it. With a nod to herself, she stepped confidently from the lift, turned to her right and climbed the steps from the main level of the bridge to the command level. Recognising Canterbury-Taisa as he sat in the command chair, Haruto felt an eyebrow raise in shocked surprise at seeing the Wakaba's Commanding Officer smoking a pipe of all things. She wondered if such a breach of regulations was normal for the man, or standards had slipped so far during her long sleep. Either way, it might presage an opportunity to advance her own situation. After all, she figured it was time to start pushing towards her next promotion. Shima Haruto-Shosa had a pleasant ring to it, after all.

Carefully keeping her face neutral, Haruto approached the command chair, coming to a halt a meter away on the port side so as to not obscure the Captain's view of the bridge. "Shima-Taii reporting as ordered, Canterbury-Taisa." The navigator crisply raised her hand to salute and held it in place until recognised by the Captain.

YSS Wakaba
Across the ship Battle Stations was sounding. The Wakaba's crew sprang into action. Everyone knew exactly where they needed to be. Most were already at their respected stations, save those who had been asleep or getting chow. Work had pretty much been non stop the last few months.

Setsunu had just finished her own meal after taking a shower. She grabbed her spear that had been propped up beside her and moved quickly towards the Armory. Even though she had been told to stand down there was no way she could if the ship was about to go into combat. As she went she reviewed her squads status. She was down another Angel. She had a few potential candidates. Santo Hei Calandri Valtok stood out to the tall Neko. She had fought fiercely when the Wakaba had been boarded a few months ago. And being a science officer made her the perfect candidate. The Angels of Death had been formed by a group of non-infantry fighters after all. She herself had been a science officer when she began her career.

As she entered the Armory, she sent a message to Calandri. "Santo Hei Valtok. Please report to the armory."

Bridge
Thomas watched the his status board light up as each department reported in. He looked up when Haruto reported in. "Glad to see you back on the bridge Shima-Taii." Thomas said with a nod to the salute. "Just in time to move us to another fight. Man your station. We shall be departing shortly."

YSS WAKABA​

Mouthy Little Devil​

Runa was silent as she climbed into the modified cockpit for one of the fighters currently in working order. Checks and rechecks were done, to make sure that the fighter was good to go. When the orders came through, Runa rolled her eyes, but then smiled. “Hey, at least I can shoot some fuckers” She said to herself, as she stretched her arms. A grin flickered onto her lips as she thought of an idea, as she activated her comms. “Runa reporting in, hey big guy, question, can we receive a prize for the most Mishuu destroyed?” she asked in a joking manner. Thomas likely was aware of her nature, but she knew he was Star Army through and through, will he joke back, or not that was the question.

Best Boy​

Exyrus whimpered as it watched his mistress enter that infernal contraption and not riding on his back like a proper drake rider should. It whimpers continued as the orders sounded, and that it will be likely its mistress would be going out in that thing. But all it could do now was guard and make sure no Mishuu would invade,like a good drake should.

YSS Wakaba
Main Bridge Level

Haruto crisply dropped her salute and bowed. "Hai, Canterbury-Taisa." Smoothly turning an about-face, the navigator rotated herself towards the port-side platform and walked up to it. Nodding to the communications officer manning the forward post, Haruto quickly settled into the empty aft chair. As the Captain had intimated they were heading in to combat, the neko wasted no time in connecting herself to the navigation station via her SPINE interface. Haruto rested her hands on the console so that in the extremely unlikely event that the SPINE interface failed, the navigator would seamlessly be able to continue performing her duties.

It was the matter of moments to access the navigation systems to bring up the projected course of the Wakaba's imminent FTL jump, the ship's KAMI responding to Haruto's requests with its usual friendly efficiency. It was nice to see some thing's hadn't changed in her absence. The Taii tutted to herself as she considered the course, spotting several inefficiencies as she downloaded and started to unpack and assimilate the latest astrogation packet. This was why the Star Army assigned navigators to their ships - any pilot could plot an acceptable course with help from the ship's computer, but stopped at such. Whereas, any navigator worth their salt could easily find a more efficient course with a little effort.

With a little hum to herself, Haruto began running multiple high-order differential equations, plugging in the necessary values from the astrogation packet and the Wakaba's engineering and sensor feeds. Nodding to herself, the neko began modelling several slight alterations to the projected course and fed the results to KAMI, who confirmed her assessment. Fortunately, it was only a relatively short journey - given her extended absence from her post, Haruto would have to spend several hours unpacking the rest of the updated stellar cartography information and updating her applicable knowledge of local phenomena.

She sent the revised course to the Captain for approval. "Canterbury-Taisa, Navigation. Course adjustments complete. New FTL course will still bring us to the edge of the target system eight light-minutes closer to the indicated target. With your approval, will forward the course to the pilots." While she was waiting for the Captain's approval, Haruto got KAMI to work on helping her pull everything she could find on the target system. The navigator was sure the Wakaba would need some precise STL manoeuvring and Haruto wanted to be ready beforehand with as many rough solutions as she could work up. That would save time later and make it easier to just fine tune and optimise when the Captain gave his orders.

YSS Wakaba

Calandri paused as she got the message and she read through it quickly. She wasn't sure what this was about, she hadn't done much, maybe they had found someone on board and they needed the extra fighter. She turned and headed to the armoury, there was a lot of options this could be about, maybe she was in trouble for how she handled the attack, she did get wounded quite badly.

Armoury

Calandri stood in the armoury as she looked around and thought about the weaponry on the wall compared to what she used to hunt with her tribe, it was a stark difference and it just made her miss her hold life more than she thought it would.

YSS Wakaba Armory

Setsunu was already suited up in her Mindy suit. She was sitting on a bench, her cello in her hands. Music filled the Armory Bay as others suited up around her. On one side side of her was her helmet, ready to be secured in an instant. On the other side of her lay Kuronosu, Setsunu's spear. She never went anywhere without it. It was an beautiful ornate weapon, yet much like Setsunu herself, was even more deadly than she was beautiful. And Setsunu was very beautiful. The spear was made of Zesuaium and has its own Aether power supply. In addition, the spear has several inertia controlling emitters. It can litterly move on its own. It has come in handy during practically fierce fights went spear and wielder have become separated.

Setsunu opened her eyes as Calandri entered. She studied the woman a moment, as if she was trying to make up her mind about her. In reality, she'd had already made up her mind, but with the most resent death to her squad it was Setsunu who was having second thoughts about inviting others to join what was becoming the deadliest both in skill and actual fatalities on the Wakaba. Well she'd leave the choice up to Calandri.

"Hello Santo Hei Valtok." Setsunu said as she lay down her bow and stood. Setsunu was tall for a Neko, but Calandri towered over her. "I have reviewed your records and footage of the Hanger bay fight. You are a very fierce fighter. You have a natural skill and a fighting style that I have never seen before." That was something coming from a woman who had spent her entire life learning every fighting style she could. "I would like to ask you to join my squad, the Angels of Death." The Angels of Death were the most fierce squad on the Wakaba. What was so interesting about them though was that more than half of them weren't infantry. They were techs or medics or science officers. Yet they all had an unstoppable fury in battle and never gave less than 110% in a fight. They would sacrifice their lives for their squamates without a seconds hesitation.

Bridge

Thomas sat silently in his command chair as he watched his ship prepare for battle. All across the ship the crew began reporting in to battle stations. There was a message from Runa asking if there was a prize for destroying the most enemy ships that made a smile crack her grim face for just a moment before disappearing. He picked up his comm and responded to Runa. "Sure, if you destroy the most enemies then I'll come up with some sort of prize."

Inaho reported. "Wakaba is at Battle Stations, Captain. Navigation as a course plotted. Batteries are primed and ready and all personal have reported at their stations." Thomas studied the board. Haruto's course was right on the money. He nodded. "Very good. Take us away."