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

Dirj looked up, wide-eyed as the Shosa and Marks-chui approached his table. Apparently, he had picked out a friend or even a relative of theirs. Was there nowhere he could go to escape their scrutiny? But Dirj was in his element now, and would not be shaken so easily. A volumetric display of his patient- Ristsuko's medical history sprung up in front of him. He read down it, looking for the information the Shosa had requested.

"Before she signed on to the Yugumo. But I doubt we'll need to send for the backup. She got here in time."

It was not said as an encouraging remark, but one of pure fact.

"You can stay with her if you like, but please try and keep out of the way."

Dirj turned to accept the armor cutters that had been brought, and with his back to the officers, he shook his head. How trite. But still, this was the Shosa. He couldn't exactly order her out of Medbay. He began carefully carving along the armor's plating.

Removing armor was not something Dirj had a great deal of experience with, yet he had seen the procedure done, and practiced it on dummies during Basic. It was not all that different from cutting away clothing. It took the same precision, only a bit more time. The last of the armor dropped away, and Dirj applied the hypodermic he had prepared, injecting it into the neck.

"Your muscles are about to tense up, but keep as still as you can." he told Ritsuko, as the depressed the pump. She closed her eyes tight, and almost immediately, her body shook once. She gasped in pain, and then relaxed. Her heart rate began to slow to a normal level. Dirj pressed a mask over her face. " Breathe normally." he said, then turned to the Shosa. "Now that she's stable, it's safe to anesthitize her." he explained.

As Kishou shifted her attention to her wing and the Yugumo she witnessed the mighty cruiser's barrage of fire as Creighton initiated his strike. She saw its failure – the battleship's fold saving it from complete destruction. Then there was silence...the WIES link failing for a moment and her swift reroute to the AIES's still guarding their flagship. Then it was over. In that single instant, they won.

Cleanup...the remaining attack pods deprived of their strategic overview quickly lost sight of the battlefield. The infinitely more coordinated armour squadrons supported by the remaining Sakura's quickly finished off the last pockets of resistance. Only the Yugumo's hulk and the derelict battleship remained still. Monoliths around which orbited dozens of fighting shapes. Like angry hornets.

Eventually, it ended. The recovery signal broadcast loud and clear on all channels. Kishou paused as her world slid back into focus. Everything slowing down. She looked at her clock and counted the seconds...no longer stranded between the ticks of lightspeed combat.

"Yatta, we did it! Roger that Yugumo, returning to base and requesting permission to land.â€

Xanatos noticed Creighton leave with the captain, but he was too happy that the battle was over to care. He hoped that his bunkmates hadn't gone and died on him before he had a chance to even get to know them. He smiled slightly. Always caring about others will get you into trouble someday... he remembered his mother telling him once when he was young. He yawned quietly as fatigue soon found him. Without the adrenaline rush from the battle, Xanatos' catnap before all of this had been too short for his body.

Roken let out a sigh of relief that the battle was over, he noticed the other fighters in his group heading back to the Yūgumo and did the same. That was something else, Roken though as made almost soft landing in the hangar. He took a deep breath before exiting the his fighter he knew he might get lectured about how he broke formation to engage the enemy at close range, so he remained silent till he was sure it was ok to speak.

He looked over a Kishou and gave her a slight smile, I wonder why she wore that suit. Roken though.

Kiyoko watched as Dirj worked on Ritsuko, she reached for Creighton's hand but he was no longer there, having slipped away just as she looked back, heading to his quarters to deal with this in his own way-she knew he would be back later and didn't worry.

Several of the ranking officers on the medical staff worked their way down to Dirj, the Chui, a short neko with red hair commented to Dirj, "Good work Santo Hei, Lets get her anesthetized and into surgery.â€

As commanded, Tesuro continuely ran scans over the remaining battleship. The gargantuan ship merely floated along in space, deprived of every last bit of its power and showing no signs of powering up. It was impossible to tell if there were even any lifeforms still functioning on the ship; the auxiliary power of the Yugumo limited Tesuro's ability to scan the enemy craft over completely. He knew all he had to do was be ready to warn Kiyoko should it power up, but he knew that was unlikely. Once it was retrieved he could relax a bit more, but not completely as he was still lingering on his thoughts. He sat at his terminal, wondering how others had felt in that moment, how they had faced off with death.

A delicate sigh escaped his lips. He was not sure what to think of himself.

Ichiro turned to the person who was helping him, making sure she could handle it. "Permission to go for a walk, freak out a bit, and calm down?" he asked who ever was currently in charge.

Kiyoe breathed a loud sigh of relief as the order to land came. Even with the area cleared of all enemies, she just couldn't calm down as long as she was out here. Her senses were still at high alert, and she found herself jerking to look at every hint of movement outside her cockpit. She stammered a brief, "O... okay. Heading back now," to the order, then quickly made her way to the Yûgumo's landing bay.

The ship touched down, but she still didn't get out just yet. Closing her eyes, she flopped back in her seat. She just now became aware that her hands were still shaking, pumped with adrenaline and still tensed up and ready for combat. Abruptly, she started laughing. Pulling her cockpit open rapidly, she pumped a fist in the air and proclaimed, "That... was incredible!" to the world at large. A few minutes ago, she'd been halfway certain that she was going to die at any moment--now, coming down off of her combat high, the details of the battle were already fading in her mind to replaced with the memory of the incredible rush that came with it.

She'd felt it plenty of times before, and it was what had led her to sign up for the military in the first place... but this, the first time people had been actively out to kill her, was in a league of its own. A small voice in the back of her head kept pointing out that she could have just as easily died out there--and, indeed, several scorched pits on the surface of her fighter verified that she wasn't immune to bad fortune just yet. Still, this time, she'd lived and felt nothing short of invincible as a result.

Sitting silently at his station, Tesuro heard amongst him the victory cries of Kiyoe blaring over the chattering voices of those who had returned from battle. Some remained quiet and reserved like himself, but others acted with great vigor and excitement. To them it was as though they had singlehandedly won the war against the Mishhuvurthyar, when in reality they had merely escaped obliteration at the hands of a mostly-disabled war machine. Again Tesuro sighed, a sign of his longing to be able to see things through their eyes. To simply be happy for the small victory they held and let out cries of joy at being granted the privilege to keep their lives. But something deep within him held that back, it told him he had no right to act in such a way; its power over him so great that he could not even emote in the slightest manner.

Then piercing through his thoughts was Akira's voice. Soothing and elegant would be the most accurate description. It cut through Tesuro's inner world as if it were nothing. His fingers stopped traveling mindlessly across his terminal, though he continued to stare at it. The sound of his voice showed great concern; he had obviously noticed Tesuro's feelings, but why did he bother himself to learn what was on his mind? He turned to face the effeminate man and could see it in his face, verifying his concern completely in Tesuro's mind.

No words came to his mouth, he did not know what to say. He had never confided in people before, opting to write his thoughts down instead, how did one start? Slowly he rose from his seat and looked Akira directly in the eyes. They were clear enough for him to see his own warped reflection in them. Seeing it almost disgusted him, for the man he saw reflected in Akira's eyes was a passionless being.

He looked down. He did not want to see that man anymore. "What..." he started, afraid of being too forward with his thoughts and making Akira think him insane. "What makes us feel?"

The question was abstract, difficult to answer. Tesuro knew this, he knew it was not fair to present such a question to this man or any other. He tried his best to be more specfic, "I...know that people fear death...I know at least part of the reason...we fear losing all we have...and...ascending or just...changing to a knew realm of existence...if such a thing is. A fear of the unknown that lies beyond death...I can handle that...but...what if..." His voice began to trail as he attempted to word his question appropriately.

"What if the fear of losing your life...not your physical self but all people and feelings that make you...what if that fear...what if that fear never surfaces?"

Kishou waved to Roken and Kiyoe as they landed – stripping the spacesuit and stretching heartily as she did so. She yawned and shook herself, absentmindedly scratching behind her ear as she switched fully back to her normal (or was that usual?) OS. For a change, compared to Kiyoe's combat kick, Kishou wasn't the bounciest person in the room. Not to say she seemed anywhere near as subdued as Roken of course. The neko clapped twice, happy as ever.

"Ah! It looks like everyone's made it back ok...though some of us by the skin of our teeth by the looks of it Kiyoe-san...â€

Caine looked over at Kishou and the others are they came up to the bridge, just as he was about to turn the bridge over to Poma as breakfast was almost ready. The sprites in the messhall were busy at work to make enough food for everyone despite the rocking, rolling and jolting the ship had done in the course of teh battle. "Great job out there you guys, and yeah." He said to them, nodding toward the doors to the briefing room. "Go on in, we'll be in there shortly." He said as he turned to the others on the bridge. "Everyone report to the briefing room as well." He said to everyone and turned to Ichiro, that was the answer to his quesiton. "I'm sure everyone here is hungry, breakfast will be served soon in there." he explained as he turned to Poma. "Poma, you have the bridge. Just continue efforts to get our ship repaired and maintain surveillance on the battleship." He said.

((OOC: with as busy as Nich is I'm moving this along, Ichiro can you send the message Saiga was supposed to before you get up?))

Ichiro nodded at the order, getting up and seemingly hopped all the way there, trying to relieve tension in his body. Getting to the door, he stopped hopping every so often, and entered, sitting down.

Almost like a ghost, Xanatos headed over to the briefing room. He knew that we had most likely taken several casualties from the battle, but he didn't think that he'd like the damage reports too much. He easily found a seat since he was one of the first to enter the room.

The lift ride was an eternity, or so it seemed-having to bypass damaged sections of the ship. Kiyoko looked at herself in the control panel, wiping the signs of her emotions away and fixing her green hair, it kept slipping from its bun, eventually getting frustrated she just pulled out the chop sticks and let her hair fall.

Yugumo, I want updates on your status every twenty minutes until the mains are restored.

The lift opened onto the bridge and Kiyoko emerged, her usual confident stride taking her straight to the doors of the Command Briefing room; she walked to the head of the table and sat down letting out a sigh; she was used to eating in the Ward room, but felt the need to be close to the bridge.

Yugumo update scanner image 05-C and project.

In the center of the table a small volumetric model of the Blrakkrashiverinth formed, Kiyoko said proudly, "A trophy of our victory...â€

Caine walked into the briefing room with Kiyoko to explain. "With the battle going on, the sprites in the kitchen have had some problems but they should be done here soon." he said as he smirked at the others in the room in appreciation for their efforts on the battlefield. To be honest, for a while there I wanted to be out there in the battle too, once a pilot always a pilot I suppose. Caine thought, not bothering to keep it to himself.

Soon after everyone got inside and settled down in their chairs and unwinding from the battle the sprites from the messhall. Like a godsend they were bringing along serving carts of food of all kinds that'd be involved in breakfast and an especially big plate of waffles for Kiyoko. "Sorry we took so long sir." one of the sprites, a pretty neko with soft black hair and dark brown eyes said as the others pushed the carts to the side of the room to let everyone just have at them.

Like the rest, Kishou entered politely and sat down. A momentary exchanged passed between the Captain and her XO. Then there was a moment's pause.

But wait!? Did you smell that? Yes, that was the sweet scent of victory wafting through the air! And the scent of victory was coated in sugary goodness. Kishou let out a slight whimper as the plates of food arrived. She could quite literally ignore sleep for days on end, but an army marched on its stomach. And today, that stomach would be filled with waffles. Along with other titbits of breakfast-style munchies.

All was indeed right with the world.

Of course, the Captain got first dibs. It was almost agony to wait until she'd been served, but endure it Kishou did. The carts were then vacated and left unattended...defenceless. A predatory gleam filled her eyes. It was eat or others would eat it. Survival of the fittest and all that.

Here's the part where Kishou would like to tell you that it was a mad dash to the food carts. Alas though, it was a bit more subdued than that – albeit with Kishou emanating a certain air of guarded hostility as she quickly picked up her food. One that quickly susided into happy land as she returned to the table.

"Bon Appétit!â€

Roken had followed the others into the briefing room and took a seat, wonder when were going to get something to eat? Roken thought. He remained silent, he was going to mention about the V4's spine when he looked over at the food that carted in, looks like now. Roken decided to wait until he was sure it was safe to get some of the food, he knew the captain and her XO would bet first dibs so he had to wait.

Roken relived to see that the wait was not to long, grabbed a plate full of the food on the cart, and returned to the table "Looks good.â€

The sprite closest to Roken giggled and winked at him, another looking in a mix of awe and shock at Kishou's possessiveness over the waffles. "Well we do work our butts off to make sure it's the best" The neko addressing Roken said with a cute grin and nod of the head that made her dark hair swish around her shoulders. Caine just got a moderate plate of sausage, bacon, eggs and a couple pieces of fruit and went to sit down to relax, he too had noticed Kishou's fidgety behavior when the food arrived and it made him chuckle a bit. He cast a momentary glance over at Kiyoe and nodded a quiet greeting to her as-for the moment- he was savoring an apple slice.