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Post by The Wake Angels on Mar 3, 2018 14:06:33 GMT 10
"I think you will find, Kasuga-sama, that those particular kami are quite fond of those who wear the Wake Angel mon. Moreover, fortune favors the brave," Ariel says over the coms as he flicks through his scrolls for the appropriate prayers. "For every jump we travel, the enemy gains a lead. There is no advantage to be gained snapping at their heels. Let us rather be as the falcon, and strike swiftly and surely."
There is a brief moment of silence over the coms.
Ketaan leans over his console and clicks a private channel. "You prepared that didn't you?"
Ariel follows suit, though he does not know it. "It's a good line!"
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Post by Daigotsu Enshiro on Mar 4, 2018 8:58:54 GMT 10
"For now, we only have a sense of where our enemies probably are. We can certainly try to strike as a falcon, though it is certainly a gamble: as Kasuga-san said, the kami are fickle things. Even if they get us where we ask, where we ask to go probably won't be where the station is. On top of this, even if we are correct and manage to find the station, we have no grasp on how enemy numbers, nor the capabilities of these forces. We would be jumping in blind, which is certainly not ideal. Is there at least some way that we could gather information? A better inkling on their numbers, power, or location?"
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Post by M'thack-kir on Mar 4, 2018 20:41:25 GMT 10
(OOC: From a mechanical perspective, you’d require either void magic, deep space surveillance (not known to exist to any member of the party, nor Rokugan at large), or divination through water kami, although the shugenja in the group would be well aware that communing with water kami to divine space/locations whilst not around an actual body of water, in the vast nothingness of space, HAS inflicted literal insanity on unfortunate shugenja in the past, as the water kami show too many images at once to be processed by the human mind.)
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Post by emeralddragon on Mar 5, 2018 2:36:41 GMT 10
As the party debates where they are going to jump, how they are going to jump and potentially what they are going to jump into, a knock occurs at the door.
Once permission has been given to enter, the ship's Silkworm Navigator enters. Balhae So wore Extravagant robes of red, and purple, with only the tiniest touch of black, of a style that most would never have seen before but the Asako would recognize from history books from the War of the Tao era 500 years ago. A very slight smile graced her lips, her face full of the ever present giddiness that was so out of place on a Spider ship, and yet never seemed to leave her.
Bowing to all those present she spoke with the quiet voice, "Forgive the interruption, Daigotsu-sama, Mina-sama." The smile got slightly wider and eagerness leaked in her voice, "I have to inform you that we have been given a rare blessing. We have been given the rare permission to walk the pathways of the True Void for our next journey, wherever that may be. The Silence between all things seems to imply we are late to a beginning and thus we are exactly when we need to be but not when we want to been. I think."
She paused for a second before adding, "And no....I don't know what that means either. Not an Ishiken, can't understand and don't want the madness that comes with trying. Still the permission is clear." Her grin got wider, and you could almost feel the excitement radiating off her as she bows again.
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Post by Daigotsu Enshiro on Mar 5, 2018 17:56:12 GMT 10
"It is no issue, Balhae-san. In fact, I think you have settled our predicament. We will walk the way of the True Void... unless there are any here that would deny this blessing?" Daigotsu says, turning to gauge the reactions of the others.
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Post by The Wake Angels on Mar 5, 2018 18:47:56 GMT 10
"Are we really going to,"
"Tai-Wen..."
"Darling..."
"...trust the mission and our own well being to baseless superstition? I only caught half of that and I am hardly convinced that the Navi knows which way is up. We've been given permission to fly blind, is what I heard."
"...Well it was going to come up sooner or later. Apologies, everyone."
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Post by Kasuga Naosuko on Mar 6, 2018 2:06:58 GMT 10
"It would seem that our destination is.. pre-destined." Naosuko pulls in closer to the Spider Cruiser. "If it's all the same, I'd rather let the Ishiken have direct control over my ship's direction anyways. Permission to dock and come aboard for the ride, Daigotsu-sama."
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Post by emeralddragon on Mar 6, 2018 4:33:02 GMT 10
Balhae So's face never slips, but she can't ignore what Tai-Wen said. With a confused voice, like a complex puzzle is before her she asks, "Superstition Koshuud-sama? I don't understand what you mean. Our talents are well documented, and even if you deny the tales of captains in space, the history of Balhae-shiryo and for that matter the war against Motonari is exceptionally well documented. What is their to doubt?"
"Or do you doubt the existence of that which when closed earned us the right to become a minor Clan?" A slight raise of an eyebrow, a touch a curiosity, a wonder if she has found a true disbeliever in the wild of space.
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Post by The Wake Angels on Mar 6, 2018 14:48:54 GMT 10
"Tai-Wen, please..."
"No, this needs to be said. You got fucking lucky. Trusting that luck was what drove us headwise into a solar flare not an hour ago. Now you say you want to gamble on firing my squad into a supernova because the Void told you it's fine?" Tai-Wen leans on the volume control, muffling her squadmate's protests, and continues, dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, I'm sorry. You didn't even get told you'd make it. You got permission to gamble with all our lives. Am I the only one who's got a hull-blasted problem with this?"
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Post by Daigotsu Enshiro on Mar 6, 2018 20:04:50 GMT 10
"Of course, Kasuga-san. Permission granted."
Enshiro pauses in consideration of Tai-Wen's words. "Lucky? No. All of us were chosen for this. Trusting in our own abilities and relying on each others' skills and expertise is what got us through that battle unscathed. It is what got us through the trials of this system. It is what has provided us with the leads we now have against our enemy. It is what will bring us victory. Every path now open to us is fraught with danger. Regardless of which path we choose, there will be risk. To travel upon the True Void, it is a calculated risk. It is not some light-hearted gamble which guides my hand in this decision, but the lives of countless Rokugani citizens. For now, we are merely chasing at our enemy's debris in the vastness of space. 'Let us rather be as the falcon, and strike swiftly and surely.'"
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Post by emeralddragon on Mar 7, 2018 1:35:57 GMT 10
Still the smile doesn't waver, "Oh you are suggesting a should have memorized the stellar activity of every star, even those outside the Empire, Koshuud-sama? Especially given you entered the system independently to us. The fact that all vessels were equally effected by this means we all were equally prepared no?"
If anything her smile grows slightly bigger although when she spoke again her voice became darker, almost haunted, "Would you ask your Shugenja to seek the advice of the water kami on a place with no water? To peer into the darkness, to find those tiny drops of water that have not flowed for centuries? Or to stare through the eyes of a comet as it falls towards a star, frozen and yet burning, always shining and burning." She closed her eyes, "No...I am sure you wouldn't. That way lays madness."
"Space has never been friendly to man, Koshuud-sama. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness."
Her eyes opened and her tone brightened and the giddy girl was back, "And besides, its not a supernova....its just a highly active system. Like a young student on the day of its Genpuku, it is all energy and excitement, eager to shed the last of its planetary nebula and reveal itself a full grown star. Give it a million years or so and it will calm down."
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Post by Kasuga Naosuko on Mar 7, 2018 2:28:34 GMT 10
"Dhanyavaad," Naosuko responds to Enshiro, letting the disbeliever and the shugenja argue about fate. She makes the appropriate maneuvers to come in close to one of the docking ports. Much like a lamprey attaches itself to a shark, the Nochirasu attaches itself to the cruiser, and Naosuko begins securing the ship for transport. She begins, of course, by locking down her own FTL so it does not interfere with the delicate work of the navigator.
Listening to them discuss the Void is a nice soundtrack to her work.
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Post by The Wake Angels on Mar 7, 2018 19:34:19 GMT 10
"That way lies madness. Void-suckers all say the same thing. Well you know what? I'm not fucking buying it."
"Tai-Wen, really..."
"I'm not done! Yeah, Silky, we did jump in independent. We had to stick by the Cruiser because a tub that big supposedly needs your way. Thing is? We don't. Our horses can go without your kind, and you know why that is? Because the Koshuud saw a problem, and we fixed it. Then we wrote it down. We showed our Fortunes-damned work and signed it in triplicate until even a new grad with sparkling clean gloves could replicate it. You and yours keep your secrets, say that some horrible fate awaits those who attempt them, and society goes fucking nowhere. But we'll figure it out. We'll did it the first time, and we'll do it again. We'll put your fancy rituals into the history books where they belong, and go see those eager nebulas first hand. The horizon is no limit for us, and if all you can offer is easily duplicated by off the shelf tech, then you'd best update or moulder with the rest of the relics on some forgotten archive shelf."
She glances out the view port at a certain chunk of battered gleaming metal being reeled in to the Spider Cruiser. "Besides, we don't need to beg fortune of the water kami. We've got the power of radio on our side. Program the aimbot to tightbeam its cams, punt it through the loop first. Might lose a minute or two to transmission lag, but we'll scout without putting a single meaningful ship in danger."
"...Much as I hate to interject, Tai-Wen raises a good point. More information is always better, and we did happen to lay hands on a bit of unconventional scouting tech."
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Post by emeralddragon on Mar 8, 2018 3:41:58 GMT 10
"It is a good idea," So replied, agreeing with Tai-Wan and Ariel, "Although I shouldn't hear anymore for obvious reasons. Neutrality works best if you avoid secrets. Regardless, while slower, it should work. I am no expert on Gaijin artifacts."
She bows to everyone in the room, before turning back to Koshuud, "If you would like we can talk about this again latter. Although I do believe that Commune is a prayer common amongst all Clans. We hide nothing....we simply advise. Advise and offer to help when we are allowed to."
Her smile fades for the first time since entering the room, and continues, "Of course it would be a meeting between someone who doesn't want to listen and someone who is only half listening. One ear and two mouths does not a productive conversation make. But maybe an amusing one." A giggle slips from her lips and she turned back to Enshiro she said, "Should I pass a message onto the chief Engineer, Daigotsu-Sama?"
A slight pause, "And where are we sending the probe again? I am a slight bit forgetful at times, so I can't remember what destination you had decided upon when I entered the room."
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Post by Kasuga Naosuko on Mar 9, 2018 3:21:51 GMT 10
Naosuko snorts privately with her mic off, where indeed. Enabling the comm unit, she adds her own little twist. "I believe that we were going to try to follow the Obsidianite trail, Balhae-sama. Through a portal.. somehow..." She shrugs at the camera, "I'm not an expert on Opening the Way, if only we had a specialist that we could consult on such things."
"Koshuud-sama seems to have some knowledge on those mechanics, perhaps she would share with us."
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