Log:Mutiny of the Naeshai Komatsu Da, Scene 1

Mutiny of the Naeshai Komatsu Da 2017/08/20 Indira Rick 1

The Asrani are not doing themselves any favors by calling for Indira's help during Rick's hour of sleep.

Again.

Breach stands by the Asrani teleportation beacon as he waits for the appointed hour to arrive. He yawns widely, pressing a gloved palm against his faceshield for an extended time. Eventually Rick peels his glove away and peers over at Indira.

"Remind me again. Why do they keep calling you for help in the middle of the night?"

Indira is trying her best to feign human ignorance and innocent. She widens her eyes in surprise, mouth slightly ajar at the question, her fingertips pressed together while palms remain apart.

She fails utterly.

"They must not understand the sleep patterns of humans," she explains it away to keep Rick happy, since the truth may or may not make him unhappy.

"Shyeah. Really."

Breach shakes his helmeted head, sighing a little bit while he steps away from the beacon and toward Indira. There is another broad, insistent yawn when the beacon starts to flash and beep. He doesn't even finish yawning when the familiar teleportation beam engulfs him and Indira alike. After an indeterminate period of time, our heroes rematerialize on the transport platform aboard an Asrani ship beyond the Milky Way's borders.

"... I am not ever going to get used to that, am I?"

Rick thumps his chest a couple of times with one fist, making sure his organs have remembered to keep working. He steps off of the platform before half-turning and offering a gloved hand to Indira to help her down. Shifting his head, Breach scans his mirror-hidden gaze around the transportation room while he assists Indira down from the dais. It's different from the flagship they were transported to during the Re-Spacening. An older model, Indira will easily recognize, though well-maintained and lightly modified.

Indira offers one of her apologetic "Thank you for putting up with me and my kind" smiles as she accepts his hand and steps off the platform with his help. She's prepared for this journal, wearing her form-fitting spacesuit.

Now that Rick has become more familiar with the Asrani alphabet from the writings and controls he saw during the ReSpacening, he can recognize some of the writing beneath her left collarbone, with a much different looking language above it. There is alternate writing on her shoulder along a round emblem in that secondary writing as well.

She takes a moment to look around at the interior, appraising its structure. "Oh, this is what humans would call a classic model. I have not seen one of these in a while."

This "classic model" is called a matsudaiko class. It's a workhorse of the Asrani fleet, used for pretty much anything and everything. Based on the modifications that Indira is seeing, she'd guess this is some sort of resource extraction or exploration vessel.

Breach's gaze lingers on those now familiar letters before shrugging a little bit. He releases Indira's hand and gestures for her to lead the way.

A tall Asrani, built rather like Commander Vaksoh, approaches the duo. This Asrani, unlike Vaksoh, is both female and built for endurance. Where Vaksoh emphasized oak-like strength and mass, this Asrani seems to emphasize fortitude and resilience of its apparent Earth analogue tree.

"Ambassador Paxis. Thank you for responding so swiftly to our call," intones the as yet unnamed Asrani in charge, "And... For bringing your Quel'hazan."

Indira looks a little sheepish that the Asrani addresses Rick as such. She knows it is an archaic title. Even fanciful. "News travels swift as ever," she concedes as she smiles to the Asrani and walks over to the tall Asrani with arms open for an Asrani greeting. Indira looks so much more willowy and flowery by comparison.

She embraces their host and kisses her cheeks. "I am here to serve, as always. This is Rick Mason of Earth," she turns aside after releasing the Asrani and motions to Rick.

The tall, heavy-framed Asrani embraces Indira in turn and returns the cheek kisses. She eventually straightens up, looking at Breach with a blank expression but eyes full of curiosity. Gradually the Asrani turns her attention back to Indira, a low rumble forming deep in her chest.

"I am Captain Kova Neeshe of the matsudaiko Naeshai Komatsu Da."

Breach cocks his head at the captain in a fashion that Indira knows means his eyebrows are quirked upward in a speculative posture. He isn't yet sure what he thinks of Captain Kova Neeshe. That may work in Indira's favor.

"What can we do for you, Captain?" inquires Breach, tone suspiciously neutral. He folds his arms behind his back, straightening up as well while he regards the Asrani over Indira's shoulder.

Indira knows that expression, concerned Rick feels slighted at not being granted the same greeting as she. From what he's seen, the Asrani have not greeting him in such a matter. Only their fellow race. And yet, Indira openly granted this to Rick--albeit against his wishes--when they were first introduced. Maybe someday he'll understand the significance of being greeted as an equal. As one of her own.

"Yes, we were concerned when we received your beacon," she adds to Rick's question.

"It is perhaps less thrilling than your previous beacons, Ambassador, Rick," intones the Captain.

She gestures broadly, indicating that the duo should follow her out of the transportation room. Captain Kova Neeshe has a particular way of walking. It's reminiscent of a human woman walking with a sway to her hips, but there's something artistically exaggerated about the way she moves that reminds Indira of the natives of a rimworld in the Andromeda galaxy. Tropical and nutrient rich, the planet was relatively under populated by sub-sentient plant life, but it had vast reserves of autotrophic sea life that supported a complex ecosystem of arthropods, ichthyoids, and anthropoids - similar to humans, but with subtle differences.

Breach moves along easily enough, tilting his head as he listens. He keeps his arms folded behind his back as he moves. The Undead Soldier may or may not be entranced by the motion of the Captain's hips as she leads the way toward the galley. It's not unusual for briefings to be held in the galley on ships like this.

"You cannot conceive the relief I feel to know that, Captain Neeshe. This is a resource or exploration vessel, yes? I hope this is nothing too troubling. I was unable to gather the rest of my people on such short notice." Indira hopes to never witness the terrible effects of war and what happened with the Kroexdan again. Once in an Asrani's long lifetime is enough. She glides slowly after the Captain as they head towards the galley.

"Yes. The Naeshai Komatsu Da's mission is to explore new worlds and extract resources from those worlds that don't show signs of supporting life."

Captain Neeshe rumbles again at Indira's expression of relief. She adjusts her spacesuit without stopping her movement through the comparatively short hallway to the galley. Indira may suspect there are more modifications to this ship than meets the eye, the walk to the galley is markedly shorter than she is accustomed to on a matsudaiko vessel.

Breach's head is bobbing along in time to the motion of Captain Neeshe's hips. He moves at a comfortable pace, though he lags about five steps behind the Asrani females. This is not entirely like Breach, particularly when there's more to learn about what troubles confront him in the near future.

"I apologize in advance, Madam Ambassador, but I needed to have a word with you in private. I did not expect your Quel'hazan to accompany you on this mission. I had hoped that you would arrive by yourself, without the rest of your team of hoo-mons."

"I see. I do miss exploration mission. What quadrants are you exploring?" Indira asks in small talk. She spends the short trip admiring the ship as if it were familiar and nostalgic to her as she relieves memories of her time aboard her very first Matsudaiko. It was also one of her first interplanetary flights, leaving home and striking out into the great Universe.

Just as Indira begins to see past her nostalgia to realize Breach's unusual behavior, the Captain distracts her.

"In private? I trust my...Rick...completely, if you are concerned. But I understand if you still wish to speak in private."

Rick can tell by Indira's body language that she's concerned by the Captain's request. It's the way her shoulder cants down and her lips tighten slightly in a diplomatic smile. So many of her smiles on the job are for show. But when he catches her alone, or when she's alone with him, he can tell those smiles are genuine.

Indira separates her fingers and holds her left hand off to to the side, palm up, to gesture for Captain Neeshe to lead on with the private conversation.

Breach sees Indira's body language and hears her voice, but he doesn't seem to react to them at all. All he seems to see is the Captain's swaying hips and all he hears is the blood in his ears. His mouth is even hanging slightly open, visible under the rim of his faceshield.

"Your... Your Rick seems very trustworthy, Ambassador, but I do not believe he would understand what I need to tell you."

Captain Kova Neeshe waves a hand over the scanner beside the galley door. She leads the way into the spacious room, decorated in bright wood tones and polished metal. It looks more like it was grown and fused for a much larger ship - a much nicer ship - but here it is, filling the majority of the middle deck's forward space. A tea set is arranged on a larger table near the corner of the room, steaming lightly as it awaits occupants.

"It is, I imagine, also in his best interests that he remain aboard the ship. My crew has made something of a mistake and I need your assistance to correct it, Ambassador. You are, after all, the Densai-to of Demarius iii and the... How did it go? The Turquoise Honey Blossom of Kren Drei, yes?"

Amazing what titles you can earn as an interplanetary explorer/adventurer.

Indira gives Rick a questioning look as she sees his jaw just hanging like that. He must be trying to adjust to Captain Neeshe's neurochemical affects on him...and failing.

She looks back to Kova and looks puzzled at what it is Rick may not understand. "As you say. Rick shall remain here." He might not be able to move anyway. She follows along to the galley with the Captain, gazing around at the familiar architecture. It makes her feel at home seeing it. Her eyes are soon drawn to the tea set, she she smiles at in appreciation.

"I am not sure how Rick will take to that suggestion. But if it is what is needed to help, it must be." As Captain Kova Neeshe uses her other titles from her heroic days amongst the stars, she chuckles.

"Yes, but I haven't been called those in some time," she muses at her titles. Rick might bust up laughing if he heard of how the she earned the title of Turquoise Honey Blossom. "What happened with your crew?"

"You must realize, Ambassador, that I have nothing against you or your Quel'hazan. From what I have heard, he is an exceptional human specimen."

Captain Neeshe leads the way to the table with the tea set out. She holds a seat out for Indira and then seats Breach alongside Indira. He quite abruptly slumps forward, helmet slamming against the tabletop quite solidly. Indira can hear him snoring. Quietly, Captain Kova Neeshe takes a seat across from Indira and politely begins to decant the hot water into cups for herself and Indira.

"He is, however, a human and I cannot ensure his safety on this mission. My crew was attempting to secure access to a vein of long chain carbon allotrope. Our sensors and drones did not detect the severity of the situation until it was much too late."

The Captain purses her lips and sets down the - for lack of a better word - tea kettle before she places a long, thick blue-green finger into her cup to begin making her own tea. She regards Indira thoughtfully, lips pursed as she tries to figure out how to explain herself more clearly.

Indira sits down in her seat and gets herself into a comfortable position. Her peace and comfort are interrupted, though. She cringes and jumps slightly at the sudden crack of Rick's helmet on the table. "That was not necessary. We could have just asked him to wait outside," she says with some concern, even knowing that Rick is probably alright. But he will definitely be upset about what was done for him. She just tries to console herself with the fact that he needed the rest.

"He is much more sturdy than most humans," she explains, turning towards Rick to try and position him so he'll at least be a little more comfortable for his nap. After she helps turn his head to the side and gets him as cozy as she can, she pats his helmet affectionately as one would a pet.

"Severity?" she asks, proving she's been listening as she attends to her human. She turns fully towards the Captain at last as her hand slides an empty cup towards herself. She pours herself some water as well. "Did your scanners miss any local lifeforms?" she inquires as she sets down the pot and dips her own finger in her cup. Neither she nor the Captain make any sign of being bothered by the heat of the water as they flavor it to their liking.

"I have heard of your Quel'hazan's temper. I did not wish to upset him. My ship has been through a great deal and I do not believe it can sustain one of his... Episodes," intones Captain Neeshe. She seems genuinely concerned that Breach might have damaged the ship if prevented from taking care of his charge. He does, after all, have quite a reputation for fighting with Asrani officers. Even if Indira knows the truth of the aggression...

At least Indira can comfort herself with the possibility that Rick will grow on Captain Kova during his stay on the ship. She gets the impression that she will be out of her Quel'hazan's immediate protection for long enough that proper first impressions can be made. In the manner in which Breach is most comfortable. Warrior-to-warrior.

"No. The planet's atmosphere has long since decayed. Life forms that would affect Asrani or humans cannot physically exist on the surface or in the soil near the surface. The problem is that the sensors did not detect pockets of gases and radiation in the deep soil."

Languidly, the Captain removes her finger from her tea cup. She collects the cup and takes a long sip of it while she studies Indira's face.

"The crew is safe, for now, in secured section of the mine assembly. The emergency ventilation system, however, cannot be accessed from their compartment. And I cannot leave the ship nor risk any of my remaining crew. We are too few as it is... Much, much too few."

Now that Kova Neeshe mentions it, she's the only person that Indira and Rick have met on the ship so far.

Now that, Indira can understand. She nods knowingly and draws her cup to her lips to sip silently. She sincerely doubts Rick would allow himself to be forced to stay behind if he were conscious. during this conversation. But perhaps things will improve later. He did seem to take a liking to Captain Neeshe during their walk.

"What has happened to the rest of your crew, Captain?" she asks in concern, thinking there's more to this story than is being said.

"I allowed two rescue parties to go down," gravely intones Captain Neeshe. She looks toward Breach and his helmet for long moments as she holds onto her tea cup. There is a long pause before she adds, "The crew made two other rescue attempts before I could escape the brig."

Kova Neeshe looks suddenly tired. Her eyes luminesce in a blue-violet color for a few moments as she meets Indira's eyes again. She tightens her grip on the tea cup before she adds, "I may have escaped the brig, but I am a prisoner aboard the ship until we can return to the fleet. The few members that remain have seen the error of their mutiny... But I barely have the skeleton crew I need to return this ship to a port."

Indira gasps at the sudden revelation, setting her tea on the table. "The Brig? Mutiny? Why did they turn on you?" she asks in surprise as she tries to understand.

"Even after turning on you, you would try and rescue them?" she asks, impressed.

"Because I wanted to turn this ship around and go to the nearest starbase."

Captain Kova Neeshe folds her arms on the table, setting her tea cup down while she studies Indira's face. Her expression breaks slightly at the question.

"You misapprehend the situation, Ambassador. I need help recovering my surviving crew. Those who were in the mine when the equipment ruptured into pockets of radon gas and a toxic organic gas. The rescue parties were rather less than successful. Our stocks of environment suits are depleted. Your Quel'hazan would have no protection from the gases or the radiation. You, however, have your own suit. You have equipment and experience."

Indira sighs softly at the news, and in understanding the situation. Rick wouldn't survive the planet, that is true. But he would come back to life. That wouldn't help with the mission, though.

"I understand. It wouldn't be my first rescue mission," she offers a supportive smile. She's more used to this than Rick would realize. Although in those instances, she often had some crew support.

"I will help recover your crew, Captain Neeshe. I should go immediately. We can't waste any more time." She pushes her chair back and stands up. "Is there anything else I need to know about the surface? Do you have any maps of the mines they're trapped to help guide me?"

"Your Quel'hazan is very strong. Most do not fight so hard or so long to stay free of my neurochemical attraction."

Captain Kova Neeshe slowly climbs to her feet, eyes studying Indira seriously as she considers the Asrani ambassador. She bows graciously before starting to head for the door from the galley to the intradeck lift. Moving at a comfortable, casual pace, Kova folds her arms behind her back in a fashion similar to the way Breach did before. Perhaps he's still fighting Captain Neeshe's influence in more subtle ways than is typical of the Undead Soldier.

"If you connect to the ship's computer, you will find there are a complete set of maps and survey maps for you to peruse. I pray that Kaldri has mercy upon you and these maps guide you to success, Ambassador."

"He is," Indira smiles proudly. "Though he can't resist forever."

She taps a few buttons on her suit's left forearm, using the built-in computer to connect to the ship's maps and downloading them to local storage in case there's communication interference.

Once the download is complete, she raises her hand to tap at the side of her neck. Her helmet deploys from the collar, enveloping her head in a sleek helmet design with a clear faceplate.

"Kaldri aid you in dealing with my Quel'hazan," Indira smiles gently, although she really does mean that as more than a joke. Captain Neeshe may need it. "I'm ready to be transported as close as you can get me to the crew."

"The closest I can transport you safely is the landing zone at the entrance to the mine assembly."

There is a momentary pause where Captain Kova Neeshe looks the Asrani equivalent of sheepish. Her luminous eyes glance away from Indira and her pheromones subtly shift toward embarassment.

"I hope you do not think less of me, Ambassador, but if possible, could you and the crew return the landing craft to the ship? There are already many things for us... For me... To answer for, I do not wish to add loss of resources to everything else... Particularly not for the crew, not after so many lives have been lost."

Some degree of regret lingers in Captain Neeshe's voice as she addresses Indira. This is perhaps more what Kova Neeshe wished to discuss in private with Indira than what was said over tea. Her gaze eventually returns to meeting Indira's, the larger Asrani exhales a steady stream of oxygen as she tries to determine what Indira might be thinking.