Into The Lion's Den

[Tomoe Natsumi]

Natsumi got all suited up as best as she was equipped to do and approached the others. (tagging anyone who doean't mind interacting with the dimunitive Saturn cutey)

"Is this all okay?" She said turning around slowly... "I am terrible at some of this stuff.." She then looked over at Neri , trying to see what her darling was up to.  She then went back to checking her own equipment, which given her preference and skills were largely medical and defense in nature.

(Oh deities...)  She thought to herself. (Let myself and my beloved family all return from this unscathed.)

[Ada Mizuno]

Ada looked at the Cataphract Armor pieces that had been unceremoniously swept under Alex's seat and felt deflated that her big project had turned out to be a big flop. She remembered Mizuki's angry outburst and Captain Marconi's rebuke. The Mizuno was deflated, but she was also more than a little angry because of the casual indifference with which those two figures had dismissed her work. Even the normally reasonable Chisana had treated her with barely concealed disdain by behaving like telling her where the toolbox was was some kind of onerous chore that she should not have to do.

It was true that Chisana was flying and did not need to be distracted, but she could have been a little kinder to the Mizuno who spent most of her time in the station's medical bay or tech lab or running around keeping the station working with copious quantities of duct tape and chicken wire.

Mizuki and the Captain were in a position to criticize Ada's creation because they had never tried to create anything.

It was easy to destroy, to tear down, to criticize. Destroying came as easily to them as swearing or breathing. Anyone could destroy something... all it took was the will and the means.

Test it more. Test it more. Test it more on who? Alex, Felix, and the Captain were the only ones who could even wear the heavy armor. All three had their own duties and did not have all day to play model in Ada's lab.

Creation was a lot harder to do. It took having an idea, having the materials, a lot of planning, and countless long hours of slow, meticulous work to make something. What would either of them know about creation?

Ada shoved those uncharitable thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on getting ready for the mission by making sure she had everything. She had her suit on, she had her bag of medical supplies, she had her weapon, and she had ammunition. All that she needed was the focus to see the mission through.

Focus.

[Alexandra Kino]

Alex looked at Ada and could tell that the latter was crushed about the public failure of her Cataphract Armor project. It was true that there was not enough testing done and the Mizuno was paying for that lack of vision. It was also true that the time and resources that had been channeled into the heavy Cataphract Armor could have been better spent on something lighter and more maneuverable. If only three people on the entire station were capable of wearing the armor, perhaps it would have been better to swallow one's pride and scale it down to something less protective but could have been more easily tested by anyone on the crew.

Still, Alex could not help but to feel bad for Ada about getting chewed out by both Mizuki and the Captain.

The Mizuno had done a lot with what little she had and it came up short. Even though she was not educated enough in science to understand what Ada had made, even the brunette knew enough to understand that it would have been amazing... if it had actually worked. As it stood it was just a pile of virtually useless metal swept under a bench.

"Maybe you can fix it before our next mission." Alex tried to comfort Ada before going over her gear one last time. Alex had her Light Machine Gun loaded with lethal ammo. She had backup belts ready to go. She had Grenade Launcher rounds in a satchel. She had the grenade launcher on her back and was wearing her suit, so it was as good as it was going to get.

Alex then walked over to Natsumi and spoke to the Tomoe.

"Hey Natsumi, are you ready for this?" Alex asked her.

[Jacob Marconi]

Jacob looked at Chi as a father would a daughter. He didn’t have kids. He had never wanted kids but then he was saddled with more than enough and a matron. He knew two things. Weapons and warriors. That’s what all of them were now except the one that sat next to him. She was different than the rest. She still had some of what made her a person. They all did in some way but she was the one that would be ok. He extended his kerchief to her.

“Take it Flight Officer Tsukino. You can’t pilot with bleary eyes. They are going to need you to get them out of here.”

A rare soft smile appeared when she mentioned wanting to ensure everything was in its proper place after the mission. He understood that and could still remember taking her to pick this ship. Well steal it as it had been part of her mother’s fleet. It was her’s either way and that meant they didn’t really need to pay for it.

“Chi when we revert to real space get the fighters to hit the support ships to pull their attention there. After that do as needed for the mission.”

He tapped the mission clock as it counted down and smiled at her. He would do what she wanted as it was her ship and she was in charge of it.

“What do you want me to do while on mission?”

[Mizuki Tsukino]

Mizuki had finished her weapon checks and was standing by for the mission. Her sister she trusted. Alex, Ada, Natsumi, Felix, Freya, William, and Hayate she trusted. They had all earned that trust. Neri clouded her judgement at times. She trusted her but she didn’t trust herself to make a sound decision concerning her. It was something a long time ago but it resurfaced at times. She closed her eyes for a moment to get her head space right for what they were going to do. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. She felt something there at the edge of her awareness that was nearly tangible but also seemed so far out reach. She let it go and when she took another breath and let it out she opened her eyes. Her mind was clear and focused. She was ready for what came.

“Last gear checks everyone. This is when it counts. Stay with your team and make sure you don’t get separated.”

Her voice was level and calm. There wasn’t any emotion to it just a cold calmness that wasn’t there prior to this and one she had learned from missions. This was the place you kept your focus.

“Ryuusei when the target is secured I want you to plant these around the area we leave from.”

She handed him a bag. It was filled with seven charges. She smiled at him.

“Just arm them after planting them. They are something special Freya made as a parting gift.”

[Ryuusei Fuushino]

He took the bag with the charges then nodded; unlike guns, he was more open to using explosives. and hearing who made them caused him to return the grin. "They on a timer, or remote?" If they were detonated remotely; it might be best to spread them out; several decent-sized explosions could do more damage than one large one...

...Especially if they passed the ship's armory.

[Chisana Usagi]

Chi cursed herself as she grabbed the kerchief. She dabbed her eyes as she felt, once more, a failure. She wanted to be just as tough as the others, yet the tears showed otherwise. She would give anything for their lives to go back to normal. It was something that she knew could never be. She placed the kerchief on the dashboard, just in case.

"Sorry sir, I didn't mean to loose my grip, just", she paused as she tried to find the word she wanted to use. "hard when you are only seen one way."

She nodded as she called out to the two fighters. It was time to return to normal space. She highly doubted that the others truly needed her. She was tolerated cause she could fly however they have two other capable pilots. She couldn't wait for when she was able to return back to the station.

"Hayate and Bill, make sure you fire on the support ships while I land the party, please. Reverting to normal space and radio silence once confirmed."

She glanced at the captain with red eyes. "I think I want you to cover my six. We can help bring down some of the fighters which will buy more time for the mission. We can try to take out of the communications array as well as defenses."

[Neri Kaioh]

Neri pinched the bridge of her nose. She had half a mind to call the mission off. She saw plenty of signs, with the biggest being the armor malfunction. She knew it was too late as they came this far. She would not leave empty handed. They were rescuing one of their own.

Her eyes watched closely as Natsumi did a slow turn. Normally, she would appreciate the view however she would not allow herself to get distracted. She would see about getting to be around the girl in a more private setting. She cleared her throat as she stood up. Her fingers expertly tightened the straps.

"There, you are good to go. Everyone remember which group they are going to and the objective? If we stick to the plan, we are all coming home." She called up front, "Chi, count us down."

[Tomoe Natsumi]

Natsumi was still fumbling with her outfit, when Alex asked if she was ready for the next step. She flashed him one of her trademark warm charming smiles and a thumbs up sign. "If I were any better I'd be twins...and that'd be scary..."

Natsumi thanked Neri for helping to check her over....she looked deep in the girl's eyes and hoped that the few seconds of contact could say more to the girl than what Natsumi had been able to say over the last many years. She had to get them all back alive, so she could come back with Neri....to look nervously in her eye once more, to try to find the words to say what she needed to say...

Until then...it was mission time.

Natsumi straightened herself and prepared to follow.

[Hayate Tenoh]

Hayate heard Chisana request that she and William fire on the support ships while she landed the party. The Tenohs would be happy to oblige. They did not get and maintain personalized space fighters just to look good and make beer runs to the convenience store. Hayate's Kyofu and William's Liberator were built and armed for battle and that was exactly what they would do.

"Understood. I'll fire on the support ships while you land the party. Hayate out." The older Tenoh confirmed before resuming radio silence as instructed. Hayate had her orders and so did William. She was sure that her brother would not miss his chance to give the middle finger to the enemy in a metaphorical way, if not literal. He hated the enemy almost as much as he did himself... or Felix Hino. The intensity with which William hated Felix was irrationally strong, but the depths of that animosity could be explored later.

Right now Hayate needed to be ready to act when the time came. She maintained radio silence and waited for William to confirm his orders while maintaining her current flight pattern.

[William Tenoh]

William frowned as he heard Chisana's voice over the radio. Oh, how he disliked that grating voice. Chisana was so confident and domineering when Mizuki was there to prop her up, but take Lady Swears-A-Lot out of the picture and what was Chisana?

A spoiled brat who folded like a bad poker hand whenever someone stood up to her on anything.

It must have been nice to be one of the destined heiresses to the entire galaxy. It must have been nice to be born to parents who actually wanted her for reasons other than having a backup plan in case the first child met with an unfortunate accident. William's teeth clenched when he thought about that. 

William was pretty sure that had she lived past the party Ocean Lady would have arranged for an "unfortunate accident" to happen to William for his continued defiance and she would sashay back to the laboratory to whip up a more pliable prince or princess with Queen Uranus.

Chisana's quirks were celebrated. The younger Tenoh's quirks, on the other hand, made him a royal pain in the ass to his parents. Queen Uranus was urged by Ocean Lady to temper her son's behavior but William refused to change who he was. It seemed like his very existence pissed her off because he was a male who stood up for himself instead of bowing and scraping every time the aqua-haired queen gave a command. No one had ever complained when Felix acted moody or Liam acted shy, so what was the problem with him being a little reckless with his Liberator?

William managed to drop that thought and focus on the present just long enough to give the spoiled pink-haired princess an answer that was delivered in a normal tone and was not insubordinate. He did not want Captain Macaroni reaching through the radio to punch him into next week, so he tempered his tone of voice. Captain Macaroni was one of the few people in existence that the Tenoh feared.

"Understood. I'll attack their support ships when the time comes. William out." William calmly replied before eagerly resuming radio silence. He would keep to his current flight pattern and wait for when the time came to do his thing.