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RP: 5th XF [Yugumo Mission 1] Day 1: Perdition's Flames

Xanatos had to rush to get ready. Somehow, he had accidently fallen asleep. Now he was late... He hoped the Captain was forgiving... Straightening out his uniform on his way out the door, he rushed back into the bunk to get his rank pin that he had almost forgotten.

Xanatos arrived at the bridge around five minutes later. He quietly slipped in and announced timidly, "Itto Heisho Xanatos Zarthe reported for duty." He joined Roken at the ready room door.
 
Never having gone asleep, he easily heard the call for all to get to their stations if they worked this shift. Which meant that he had to get to Kiyoko; he had not been present at the briefing; something he left to his own vanity. It was of little consequence though; he had quickly caught on that Kiyoko wasn't a very strict person; and didn't take her station as some would. If he were in a position of command, he would not be one of those gritty sorts. That is not to say that he would not demand the respect, due to such a station; only in a different, more silken manner. He had been thinking about that as he read various things on the foreign powers: The Elysians, NDU, and even the Mishu. He might have opened one of his books on the Nepleslians; but he had done enough reading on them in the past months. All were very interesting; but the Elysians and especially the Mishu, he found rather loathsome.

Rising from his bed, he sat the book to t he side; his uniform still adoring his prim pearl of a body. His rank patch of Santô Hei glistened slightly in the synthetic lights. He had actually passed Kiyoe on the way out; not surprised at all in the sluggish way she awoke. She seemed to be of a rough sort. Ichiro also seemed to have a few courtesy issues; thinking about his little digit rather than the other people within the room. Except for Kiyoe of course. Hopefully however, they would get to truly like one another; for first impressions often went badly.

He looked around as he went, the synthetic air rustling his silken lockes slightly. Through those emerald jewels he noted the good and bad looks of the Takumi-Class. But he could never scrutinize one whom designed ships; for they were professionals after all. And he knew very little about that subject; only what was required of him to know, it had never interested him.

His little journey took him to Kiyoko's little office of sorts, near the bridge; not caring to speak to anyone at the moment, as they were supposed to be getting assignments. He looked upon the two other men whom seemed to wait at the door; they weren't bad looking. But truly, one was an oddity; Roken was rather largish for a Yamataian; muscles and all.

"I'm sure she won't mind if we just let ourselves in,â€
 
Nick hadn't got any sleep since he'd arrived on the Yūgumo, but he didn't really need to rest after the shuttle trip. After the Geshrin Heisho found his way to the bunkroom with the Yūgumo's assistance, he simply found a bunk, threw his luggage onto it, and begun working on the numerous personal tasks that he needed to do in preparation for his first duty shift. When the call to duty sounded, Nick was sitting in his bunk, finishing up putting the new insignia he'd received on his uniforms, carefully making sure each of the patches and pins were positioned exactly where they should be. And so he stood up, put on a clean uniform, and followed the mini-map that Yūgumo presented to him.

The Heisho didn't rush or hurry himself, but followed the ship's directions at a quick pace. Stepping through the bridge's threshold, he continued on towards the Shosa's ready room, bowing slightly as he passed the group standing around Caine. The Yūgumo was the fifth vessel that Nick would serve on, and although he'd given up being fascinated by their majesty, this ship's bridge was truly resplendent. Unlike the Goban, the Yūgumo's relatively untouched newness shone with all of the pride took in building it. As he stepped up to the ready room and through its now-open door, the young Geshrin found himself realizing how much of and honor it was to serve on this ship.

Upon entering, he bowed deeply when he saw the Shosa. "I am Nicholas Saiga-Heisho,â€
 
Xanatos blinked as the other person addressed both he and Roken. He silently followed the stranger into the ready room. A sliver of red showed on his face as he respectfully addressed the Captain, "Itto Heisho Xanatos Zarthe reporting for duty, ma'am." He had never addressed a Shosa before, so he didn't know if he had did it right or not.
 
Roken stepped in with Xan and the others and gave the commander a firm Salute. "Nitô Hei Roken Techard Reporting for duty ma'am,â€
 
Caine looked over at Tesuro then Kiyoe when she asked her question about the Namiko. "I'd rather not talk about that hell right now, I'll tell you after shift is over alright?" he said to them. "Anyone wanna share something else? Like your likes and dislikes? Kiyoe I know you like combat related things, is there anything else?" He asked her. "And Tesuro you havent' had a chance yet."
 
Xanatos was standing at attention in a corner of the room. He was not sure if he was supposed to sit somewhere or not, so he didn't want to get on the Captain's bad side by sitting somewhere where he wasn't supposed to. He made the decision to just stand there until further orders were given.
 
Once Nicholas, Xanatos, Roken, Akira joined Kishou and herself, she stood up from behind the desk. She said, "Welcome to the Yugumo, you may be at ease.â€
 
Kishou nodded solemnly as Kiyoko spoke. Those vile Mishu had certainly pulled some dirty tricks in the past few months. Come to think of it, for a Takumi-class vessel, the Yugumo did seem pretty empty. Dawning realization. No wonder command had posted her out here! They weren't attacking yet...they were preparing to attack. Rebuilding so to speak. Perhaps being onboard an exploration vessel was going to be so uneventful after all.

"Hai, Captain you can count on us!â€
 
Roken sat in one of the available seats. He was surprised that the commander did not mention there tardiness, he expected something worst not a greeting and a smile. With all that the commander told them made Roken want to be apart of the crew more than ever, the commander had an aura of confidence and she did not react negatively to his presence like his last C.O. "Yes you can count on us commander,â€
 
After Caine spoke, Tesuro merely stood by idly and listened. He did not like speaking about himself and bearing his interests and dreams to others. No, he preferred to keep those things bottled up inside for the most part. Still he kept on a light smile, so as not to imply any discontent with the questions being asked while the others spoke. Kiyoe's interest in sparring and the art of the swordplay did not come as a surprise to Tesuro and likely to anyone else; she was the only person on the ship who carried a blade around with them, and that was certainly enough to draw a basic picture of the types of things she enjoyed. Though Tesuro wanted to say something such as "Oh! You enjoy swordplay? So do I!" or "I like a good spar every now and then, how about we pair up?", but he could not force himself to say things for the simple fact of being nice and relatable. It felt too much like lying. He felt as though he should have been able to make himself more relatable, but so far it seemed like he had only been distancing himself from the people with whom he would be working.

When Ichiro spoke, he was thoroughly surprised at his interesting in the art of drawing. At first he did not seem like one who would enjoy that type of activity, but obviously Tesuro was wrong in judging him in such a way. Despite the fact that Tesuro also enjoyed many art forms, he could not bring himself to make any conversation-starting comments with Ichiro. He wanted to--he could think of things to say and things to talk about...but he could not bring himself to let the words come from his mouth. The feeling depressed him a bit; he could engage in idle smalltalk with the two but could not get himself to say anything that would open him up even the slightest bit. Only twice had he been able to do this, and in two very isolated incidents: Kishou saw Tesuro's hyper-protective persona, and Kiyoko bore witness to Tesuro's passion. Both seemed like flukes to him, but they made him feel like he was actually part of a whole rather than an individual on the outskirts of some great collective. It was a feeling he wanted again.

When Caine addressed him, he snapped back to attention. "Oh, umm..." he stuttered. What were his interests? There were many: novels, writing, biology, paintings, drawings. But he still could not force himself to say any of those things. So he held up his hand dismissively and smiled just a bit more, "There isn't really much to say about me, Ionoche-chui." And just as he finished his shy statement, Kiyoko emerged from her office with the enlistees in tow. Automatically his eyes followed her and his smile became warm and comforting, rather than obviously forced. His eyes shined with a gentle glow, a glow that was natural to him but that he always forced away. Soon he noticed the way he was looking upon her, and he quickly looked down to the floor, almost ashamed. His smile disappeared and the shimmer in his green eyes escaped with them. He scolded himself, Tesuro don't let your heart feel so fluttered when you see her, you cannot let on what happened. It was only sex, you cannot love her--you don't even truly know her. And she certainly does not love you. It's only hormones, don't fool yourself...
But there was the other side, as all people must have, that countered, Sex can mean something. Maybe she does have an eye for you. Maybe you weren't just a one night stand. Maybe she wants to get to know you better! The two sides conflicted in his mind while he stared distractedly at the floor, obviously trying to hide something. But no matter how much this battle waged in his mind, the negative, "logical" side would always beat it and his own self-esteem down to the ground.
 
Caine listened to what Tesuro had to say with a slight smile at his own interests and the like. But when Kiyoko came back out with the other soldiers and called their attention to herself to make an announcement he turned to her with a salute. "Good morning Kiyoko-Shosa." Caine smiled at her, he had noticed Tesuro's glance at her and kept his opinion to himself adn offered Kiyoko a gentle, loving smile. He hoped everyone knew to turn their attention to her.
 
"You're sure now?" Creighton sat up from one of the medbay's examination tables. "I don't want this affecting my abilities."

"Your body is still extremely new for your kind." The chief medical sprite responded; Creighton cringed at 'your kind'. The sprite, noticing his tension, sighed and continued. "Besides you are under much anxiety and stress. Your alcohol consumption went far beyond its normal parameters."

"Yes, well it was a party. I am expected to show I'm fun and-" Creighton protested.

"By resorting to alcoholism? Please Creighton-Chui, there are much better ways to respond to those situations. Maybe if you didn't act so irrationally you would have been able to sleep well." The sprite tried reasoning with him. Creighton shook his head and donned his uniform jacket, covering his undershirt. "I'm certain you'll be sleeping fine in the next few nights. You just need to let the anxiety die down."

"Alright, alright." Creighton responded as he finished dressing himself. "Is my ST backup already downloaded and set?" The Yamataian turned to the sprite as he adjusted his rank pin on his jacket.

The sprite keyed up a holographic display and played with it for a moment. She then nodded. "Yes, as of 0517 this morning we have your ST backup. Much more prompt than some of the other crew I would say."

"Give them time. Most are just arriving and those who have on ship already are quite busy." Creighton mentally asked the Yugumo for the time. Upon the response he sighed heavily. "Launch day and I'm late. Bet I'm sending good impressions to everyone."

"I'll make sure to notify the Shosa that you were with me. Medical procedures are vital to a ship's potential, not just its bridge or engineering." The sprite smiled and turned to attend to other affairs in the medbay.

Creighton left the medbay, not feeling any better when he first entered. He had been unable to sleep soundly. He awoke again around 3:10 AM and found himself unable to sleep again. It was unsettling that he should have to deal with this, but the Yugumo had responded that any medications would not be necessary.

Creighton sighed as he reached the lift at the end of the hall. He calmly keyed up the bridge and shook his head as the lift doors closed.

Barely one day in and I already feel like I need a vacation.
 
Xanatos nodded without saying a word. He had sat down in one of the chairs, but he soon found himself getting back up to follow the captain to the bridge. He waited patiently for his orders. He wasn't sure how a technical sentry like himself could help much, but he would do anything in his power to lend a hand.
 
Akira had sat when the Shosa bade, walking elegantly over to the chair and sitting down in a prim fashion. His ebony tresses shuttering slightly with each of his steps, fluttering with the shifts of his delicate weight. His eyes of deep emerald stayed focused as she spoke on what had happened to the bridge crew that were intended to work the bridge of the Takumi Class. The pressure that she was putting upon them, before them, did not bother him. In fact, there was certain elation when she said these words to them; though still a glimmer of faint sadness webbed through his eyes when he thought of how the Mishhu slaughtered those people. Even still; he could not let it keep him down so he let the feeling pass him with little consequence. His pity was on a general, universal sense any how; he knew no one on that ship. This meant that all of his accomplishments would mean so much more on this ship; he could show his worth even in the gravest of circumstances.

Which dictated that he did not speak; not at the moment any way. Though he did take a chance to examine the others whom had come to this little briefing; but he didn't get much of a chance. They were on the move almost as suddenly as she finished talking. Ready to get their jobs: He could only imagine what his might be; though he hoped it wasn't something too menial...or too crude. Though he would be able to surpass any challenge, he still had his preferences.

With that same gliding grace in which he sat, he rose; following Kishou and Kiyoko-Shosa off to the bridge. His eyes straying only for a moment to look at the sky blue-maned Tesuro; and the Ionoche-Chui Caine. He didn't know either very well; but both seemed to be an alright sort, though both were very lusty and that could become quite the distraction.

"Ready and waiting, Kiyoko-Shosa.â€
 
Several NH-12's headed up to the bridge's second level, reporting into their stations-Kiyoko addressed the senior staff. "Minor changes from yesterday people- Sasaki-Hei you are on the Navigation table under the supervisor of Itkatsu-Chui.â€
 
Kiyoe almost cheered upon hearing her assignment--almost. As it was, she seemed rather enthusiastic as she bowed. "Understood, Shosa!" As she'd been dreading an entire day of serving on the bridge, this came as a welcome surprise. And who knew, maybe they'd end up running into some action. Not that she really hoped for that... she was unfamiliar with the fighter, so she didn't like the prospect of getting into a firefight in it.

Far more energetic than she'd been when she entered the bridge, she turned and exited in the direction of the launch bay.
 
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