2022-06-10: Splitting Hares
- Log: Splitting Hares
- Cast: Ryoko Subaru, Riika Sheder, Yurika Misumaru, Ruri Hoshino
- Where: The Nadesico
- OOC - IC Date: 2022-06-10
- Summary: Riika has an unlikely saviour. A very unlikely saviour.
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Subaru has posed.
~Von Braun City~
The port is mostly controlled by Anaheim Electronics, however Nergal does have a branch office in the port as evidenced by the pyramid like office looming in the background. While the two companies are competitors - they do still maintain 'cordial' relations. Hikaru is still helping the hangar crew take inventory of the resupply; when she looks strangely at a huge metal crate that's being guided into the hangar and flips through the pages on the clipboard. "Hey Uripea. This one isn't on the manifest." Uribatake adjusts his glasses as he looks at Hikaru. "Aha... don't worry about that one." "Well now you've just got me curious~ Come on..." As she pokes a finger into his shoulder, "...tell me. Tellllll meeeee~" After a moment of annoyance and defensive movements at her poking he says, "Okay okay-!" And leans in and whispers, "It's for a big project I have in mind. Research for a new Aestivalis frame."
"Aha! Well you could have just said that Uripea - though that doesn't explain why it's not on the manifest." "W-Well not all the parts are... strictly... corporate approved."
There's a pregnant pause before Hikaru breaks the silence cheerfully, "Right! I'll make sure we add a few more portable fire suppressors nearby!" "H-Hey don't you have more faith in me than that!?" "Not really!"
~Not long after leaving the port~
After the resupply at Von Braun City, Admiral Sadaaki Munetake finally erupted on the bridge as they are BACK ON THE MOON with their prisoner on the moon despite it having been WEEKS since they first picked up the prisoner here and she's STILL on the ship, accepting no more delays, no more stalling, no more diversions, they're heading Earthside to transfer Riika to the Anti-Government Detention Center IMMEDIATELY or he'll put up any dissenting crew on charges.
Minato reluctantly changed the headings - and the ship is basically on auto pilot until they hit Earth's atmosphere. Which thus requires noone on the Bridge but her and Megumi manning their stations really while the Admiral watches them like a hawk.
The whole ship knows by now other than the prisoner though, some are more upset about this than others. Some are more Federation sympathetic - others feeling strongly for ZAFT's fight to survive. Most however don't like the fact that the Federation has had them on a leash since their return from Mars... and still others are just neutral about it because it's just their job. It's a ship full of people with 'slight personality disorders' so the opinions vary widely.
Riika's cell is in fact an actual empty crewmembers quarters. Perhaps the bed is a bunk in the wall, but it's otherwise just as comfy and cozy. She's been well taken care of this whole trip given fresh albeit simple clothes that are turned over and laundered as often as the rest of the crew. She's also received books to read on a simple electronic device. Ranka, the ship's intern, delivers regular meals to her on Ms. Howmei's behalf which have all been good quality food as Ms Howmei has been doing her best to learn Riika's preferences.
... However she always arrives with a blue suited Security Guard that stands guard outside the room, and a security camera surveils the inside of her chambers 24/7 (Except for the bathroom of course, Hoary Goat has some actual class). While many are sympathetic to Riika, security is not taking any chances on risking the crew or the ship in a prisoner escape.
Now...
Yurika, Ruri, and Ryoko are in the cell, along with a single blue-uniformed security guard keeping watch. Ryoko's leaning against the wall after their entry, arms loosely crossed, "So not gonna sugar coat this... we're here to be the bearers of bad news." Though she then lets the others talk, as she fumes from her position against the wall.
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
Riika has actually been a model prisoner. She tends to be quiet and well-behaved; even though what she would really like to do is get out and talk to people, that isn't an option, and failing that she likes to be doing something useful. She doesn't sit around and do nothing very patiently.
Fortunately, Ruri 'solved' that problem, at least for a while. Which is why the little reading desk in Riika's room has a blocky object with a drop cloth on it, now.
Riika has also had a handful of visitors. One of them, Rena, left her a gift of a little, slightly outdated portable games console, which got at least some attention. For all that she doesn't like Rena, or more accurately doesn't know Rena and doesn't like Londo Bell, she appreciated it, along with all the other touches the crew provide. She's sure that she's eaten better on this ship than on any ZAFT warship.
But she's caused no problems other than those caused just by her being here, and that counts for something.
Still, she can tell when something is up. You don't need to be a Newtype to spot when people are angry (which Ryoko seems to be), plus there's the other people. Ruri visited before, and she gets a restrained smile. Yurika didn't, and she's Important; though Riika has scrupulously refrained from saluting her for obvious reasons, she knows she's the captain. (She doesn't look like the captain.)
"I can guess," Riika says, which is probably true given she has been dreading it for weeks now.
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
Yurika Misumaru was born in space - if you count Mars as that - in a place that only ever strived for peace and self-sufficiency, but which was never quite allowed to be secure in that - and now, thanks to weapons of indiscriminate destruction, will never be again.
One of her first and fondest memories was helping to spread messaging amongst the people of Mars to support coexistence with Zeon remnants fleeing to the planet. To the brass, perhaps, that was a move of pure political calculation: 'they're worth more to us as frontier cowboys left to their devices than as enemies'. But a four year old Yurika wouldn't know that. It was something she was told to say earnestly from her heart for TV, and so she did, and it worked, so it was clearly good to believe.
So there's probably a read on where her gut leads her regarding the situation with ZAFT, and with this prisoner! (She's probably the one who specifically made sure Riika's laundry was getting done - clothes are important for morale and diplomacy!)
"...Unfortunately, and despite the amenities and accomodations, the Nadesico is not a hotel," Yurika muses, perhaps trying to defuse some of the tension in the room. "...As Nergal and the Nadesico are subject to broader Earth Federation policies, we've been informed by the hard-liners that the time's come to transfer you to a proper detention facility."
The captain sits on a slightly spinny chair (which she does indeed spin from side to side), leaned just a little bit forward, those wide-open eyes of pure-hearted interrogative nature seeming to peer innocently into Riika's soul. "...Oh! Where are my manners? Hi! I'm the captain, Yurika Misumaru! Sorry sorry about not getting the time to drop by sooner, too much kept winding up a distraction! It sounded like everyone's been doing this well when I handed it off to them! That's good. I'm glad! ...But I guess this isn't a generally glad sort of occasion..."
...Truth be told, Yurika's delayed stopping by here in large part because...she doesn't have a good plan for this. A 'better' way out of this predicament is one that's wracked her brain for days, but everything she's thought of is something that'd obviously indict herself, and possibly her entire crew.
It's troublesome and morally compromising, being in a position of some amount of power, isn't it?
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I just can't stand pushy men," Minato Haruka pouts, chin resting in the heels of her hands as she watches the readouts of the helm.
"But there's not much we can do from here," Megumi Reinard sighs, a hand to her headset. "Since the computer's handling everything..."
The computer isn't terribly happy about it, either.
(All three of them have visited Riika at one point or another; Omoikane, in particular, has been a constant companion.)
---
Ryoko is fuming; Yurika is Yurika; Ruri stands beside them, one hand lifted to grasp by her opposite shoulder, and watches quietly.
"At our current course and heading, we will enter Earth's atmosphere in an hour and twenty seven minutes," is what she has to say, entirely practical, entirely focused on the extant details.
If she looks a shade melancholy, well...
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Subaru has posed.
Yurika lays it right out, at first in such a professional fashion - before then greeting her. She certainly wouldn't be able to be so professional. Her eyes flick towards the camera overhead. Her crossed arms make a clinched fist. One hour and twenty seven minutes until they enter the atmosphere.
"What a crock of...." She stops herself from finishing that, with an angry noise. She wants to apologize, tell her what a bad position they're all in right now. There's a lot of things she wants to do. She doesn't do a single one of them. Instead just tearing her eyes away. She told Eight she'd at least look her in the eye, but now she can't.
Ryoko is now looking sideways out of the room as she spies something. And right across the hall and off-center from the door is an enormous, stuffed, rabbit.
(For visual reference, it looks a little like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/144393527174)
Uncrossing her arms, she steps out of the room. Everyone hears her saying "What the hell is Usatan doing here?" As she kneels down, eyeing it. "Megumi wouldn't just leave that out here."
Ryoko hits her communicator, "Hey Megumi - come get your shit! You must have dropped it-"
Suddenly the rabbits limbs seem to elongate, as each limb just reveals two breaks, being replaced by a bodysuit that's blue and grey between the breaks in fur between its wrists and biceps as well as its thighs and feet. Ryoko never knows what hits her. A very fluffy headbutt slams into her face with surprising force, flooring her instantly. Stunned by the impact, she doesn't even get out words, as she clutches her face from her position on the ground. The security guard comes running next. The bunny shoulder tackles him full on, overpowering him as he thuds him into the wall, then produces a pistol, slamming it down on the back of his head. And he's out.
"There's no time-" The bunny that's now well over six feet tall says as he turns to Yurika, approaching her. "-I've come to rescue you, fair maiden."
There's a momentary pause as the bunny leans in towards her, then seems to squint because he can definitely barely see through the eyeholes. Then reaches to produce a picture out of one of his sleeves. Those who look closely will see it's a picture of Riika partially obscured by a much taller Coordinator soldier, just leaning out with her glasses on.
He then looks Riika's way, having to lower his eyeline down to her height. And puts a hand up to his cute little bunny mouth and coughs, "Please forgive me. Women are the treasures of a nation - and a Federation cell suits you ill. Quickly, we have to go!"
As he motions for her to flee with him.
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
Riika mentally shifts gears to keep up with Yurika. She *definitely* isn't what Riika was expecting as the captain.
"Ah, hello, Captain Misumaru," Riika says, politely enough despite the tenor of the meeting. Politeness costs nothing, and Riika likes people.
Also, the laundry is appreciated. It means that Riika is wearing a decent pair of black tights and a skirt plus a green top instead of... well, whatever. It's actually her own clothes - she had a week's worth in her luggage on the shuttle, and though most of her stuff was kept away from her, there was no harm in giving her her own clothes back once someone made sure that there wasn't anything hidden in there.
But -
"An hour and a half? We'll be in-atmosphere that soon?" That's faster than Riika expected. To do that, they must have known for a while and not told her, just because the ship didn't maneuver *that* quickly - wait, if it did, could she tell? On a Nazca-class, she'd feel the G-forces from an emergency burn, but with the Nadesico's gravity systems she's not sure she would -
Her mind is racing and not in a useful manner. Riika deliberately throttles down as Ryoko steps outside for a moment. "Well, I suppose I can't put it off any longer... thanks for telling me." She doesn't know what she'll *do*. She knew this time would come eventually, it's something she's thought about... but she never did come up with a good answer. "I..."
That's a bunny.
Well, it's a man in a rabbit costume who has just taken out two guards and declared his intention to rescue ... Yurika. No, wait, her. Does that mean he's ZAFT? she thinks. Who in ZAFT would dress up like *that* to get her out of here? Who in ZAFT even knew that she was still on the Nadesico? It's not like he knows her personally, given he didn't even recognize her. (And he just picked the worst picture of me that exists, Riika mentally adds to herself, with a sigh. Of course.)
Riika says the most appropriate thing for her to say:
"...Huh?"
She's as confused as everyone else. But she can't just - "I'm sorry!" Riika says to Ruri and Yurika. "I didn't expect this, but - thank you for treating me well, and I hope you don't get in too much trouble!" Pause. "I hope they're okay, too!" She means Ryoko and the other guard.
Riika is, apparently, going to run off with the rabbit, weird as he is. What's up with the treasures of a nation comment...? But she's a Coordinator; she may have short legs but she can really motor, at least for a while. Oh, and one more thing, which she calls out behind her: "The diorama machine is fixed!"
(It is.)
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
The rather high levels of crew comfort and open space aboard the Nadesico betray its nature as a thing conceived in part to protect corporate executives and perhaps serve as a sort of port queen - something so well equipped that the prospect of actually deploying it is a bigger threat than actually having it deployed. So of course it's given enough gravitaitonal padding that entering and exiting the atmosphere is barely noticed!
Wait hang on there's a bizarre rabbit-man suddenly attacking, this is no doctrine for a very special naval doctrine/corporate intrigue episode of Naze Nani Nadesico!
Yurika's quickly alarmed, calling out a brief 'Ryoko-chan! Are you alright?!' before the mysterious and creepy bunny-clad infiltrator is gazing directly into her eyes. The staring contest persist for a little while longer at being called a fair maiden so brazenly - then Yurika decides, "Whoever you are, that's actually extremely creepy to hear just said like that! Eeeeek!" She tries to give a big old kick to the bunny-costume man, but...she's...not very martially adept!
Indeed, such is her disposition that in the heat of the moment, Yurika's a LOT more concerned with rushing over towards the injured Ryoko, kneeling at her side. She briefly calls out, into a communicator on her mantle, "There's a break-in at the brig! ...wait, we don't actually have a brig, these are just normal rooms we stuck a guard out in front of! Aaaaah, wait, this is room number...we're on the 5th deck, hurry hurry hurry!"
Then she's checking over Ryoko, assessing her stunned state for any serious injuries. That's just how it is in the wake of an attack. All she can truly do is make sure those who trust in her are taken care of...but...
A brief glance is thrown towards the rapidly fleeing Riika, a little bit more of a stern determination in her eyes...that quickly falls away with a little sigh. "...in a way, this is I guess more serendipity than anything..."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
No one is happy about this. Ruri's fingers tighten, in her little fist.
She wants to say it isn't right.
She wants to say she told on Alexis Kerib, so they'd know Riika wasn't a bad girl.
She wants to say... she wants to say...
"Our engines are very powerful," is what Ruri says. "Since the Admiral demanded this happen at once, we're moving quickly." Well, it would be a shame if they pushed their engines and they happened to have some little failure or another in transit.
(It's not a very good plan, but Ruri was in a hurry.)
She glances to Ryoko, as she steps out, but her attention goes back to Riika soon enough. "I..." She starts, finally --
That's when the sound of fighting comes in.
Ruri startles -- which is just a matter of her eyes widening, a little gasp, the way her other hand rises up in front of her. Her first response...
... is to move behind Yurika. Ruri is very small; she knows she doesn't belong in a combat situation. What she doesn't know is why the person who enters is...
"Bunny..." Ruri blinks, flat-toned, flat-faced.
Yurika at least tries to fight the bunny-man off; Ruri is too busy staring. He's come to save Riika -- and off she goes, following the white rabbit.
"... thank you," is what Ruri thinks to say, when Riika yells that she's fixed the diorama over her shoulder. This stunned statement, it seems, is the last thing she'll manage to say to her.
She follows Yurika halfway out, looking this way and that, a frown on her face. Ruri, for her part, is reluctant to leave the safety of the doorway. "Ms. Subaru... what happened?" Ruri asks, halfway to concern.
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Subaru has posed.
~PREVIOUSLY~
In an unknown location, two youths are kneeling in what appears to be a traditional Japanese Dojo across from each other. A wall scroll with the following characters sets the backdrop of their meeting:
Retsu
Geki
Ga
In
!!
"You can't be seriously thinking of doing this!"
"I am. While the Supreme Council of our allies has chosen to disavow any knowledge of her activities. I will not let such a delicate flower wither away in the hands of those Federation devils."
He holds up a picture of Riika Sheder, partially obscured by a much taller figure standing in front of her. "It's a real shame this is the only picture they can provide for such a beauty.
"The way you're speaking... it's as if you are intent to rescue her simply to woo her."
"Don't be ridiculous." The young man tilts his head at the ceiling, to a poster of an anime woman in a pink blouse with a white collar and short hair covering the ceiling above him. "You should know better than anyone else that Miss Nanako is the only woman for me."
"Prove it. Prove that you haven't been seduced away... with your fists."
The two rise and launch themselves at each other in a furious martial arts duel into an exchange of furious fists before the knuckles of one fist connects against the knuckles of the other as the first youth repeats words hes said countless times, "...I like the way you punch."
~Back to Now~
"Creepy!?" He sounds aghast, as he lets his costume absorb the kick. "You're hysterical." He says, sounding patient and understanding - not actually doing anything in reprisal.
As he runs out of the room with Riika following, Ryoko is only just starting to recover as Yurika runs to her side and Ruri follows, "I'm-" She looks slightly dazed holding her nose as she shouts after him in a nasally way, her nose probably broken, still stunned and having trouble getting back up on her feet, "Come back here! I'll thrash you you Bastard!"
The man in the bunny suit casts a glance backwards at Ryoko, as he asides to Riika. "I'm so sorry that you had to deal with that level of vulgarity from earthling men for so long." He asides to Riika as they run.
"OH YOU ARE A DEAD MAN!"
Still set on getting up, she explains to Ruri, "The bastard bushwhacked me! I'm going after him...!" However... then it sinks in what Yurika just said, penetrating that haze of reflexive intense anger. 'Serendipity' And in a strange moment of solidarity lays herself heavily back down, "Sorry Captain... I think I'm too banged up to pursue after all."
~Not Long After~
Uribatake spills his coffee from his control room in the hangar as he sees a bunny and a woman running towards the crate of his special 'parts' as a hatch opens that he didn't know existed upon it. He immediately calls out, "Security Breach in the Hangar! There's a bunny - rabbit - something! And the prisoner entering a crate of vital supplies! Get down here before they damage anything"
A soft chuckle behind him says, "A bunny... a rabbit... cracking a crate... splitting hares!"
~Inside~
There are no vital supplies inside.
There appears to be a shuttle? It's difficult to see in here, as it's so dark. The problem is that the shuttle is really really small, and only appears to seat one... "Hold on one moment - I just have to get your seat ready."
The bunny leaps into the cockpit. And starts hitting a switch... as the only seat starts sliding back... slowly, with a buzzing hum...
... slowly...
... slowly...
"Don't worry, not much longer-!"
... sloooowllllyyyyy...
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
Riika doesn't feel guilty about escaping. She *does* feel guilty about putting Yurika and Ruri (especially Ruri) in an awkward position, given all they did to take her rather than the Britannians, to keep her away from the Britannians, to treat her well...
...but not so guilty she's not going to take a chance of escape. They'll understand, she thinks. Even if they don't agree.
"She's never been anything but kind to *me*," is Riika's response about Ryoko. Mostly she just runs to keep up. The aforementioned 'kind of short legs' means she has to work a bit to keep up, Coordinator or not, though the fact that he's wearing a mascot suit and she isn't is helping her.
They make their way to an enormous crate that proves to be holding a small shuttle. Short-range, Riika thinks to herself, with a mechanic's eye - oh, she's not a mechanic, officially, but test pilots have to know their gear and she knows enough to make tweaks to her own equipment. She's probably as skilled in practice, if not in theory, as some of the actual engineers. But they'll have to watch their air in it if it's going far.
...
"We can move it on the way!" Riika says, hopping into the shuttle after the bunny. It's a tight fit, but Riika's tiny, and though she's rarely glad for it she is now; she doesn't take up a whole lot of room, though it's not going to be anything but awkward as she moves to close the hatch behind them. "You need to start flying before they close everything down. Or I can, if you don't want to."
"And then you can explain who you are and who sent you! I didn't know ZAFT knew I was on here..." Or that they'd exert much effort to get her back, given she was captured on a decidedly unauthorized mission.
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
Yurika's going to have a lot of questions on just how exactly an interloper - and, seemingly, their means of escape - were smuggled so easily onto the Nadesico. Right now she's propping Ryoko upright, shaking her head in assurance. "You were got pretty good...that has to be the single most powerful mascot costume in the world..." Oh, what little Yurika knows.
She can't just stay here. Yurika's been consumed by thoughts of how to even resolve all this in ways favorable on a legal level to herself and the others. With a deep breath through her nose, she turns to Ruri, and declares: 'I know you're probably not all that fast a runner, Ruri-chan, so we need to do something super duper bold to catch up..."
"If we're here to pursue a bunny, we must adopt the form of a noble animal ourselves...I'll take you on the highest speed piggy-back ride I can manage!"
Yurika points dramatically in the direction Riika and her enigmatic rescuer ran off to, then appends, "...i...if you want to! If you don't I'll just...chase after them myself!!"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Ms. Subaru..." Ruri trails off, for a moment, before she steps out and dips her head to her. "Thank you for your hard work." Is that really the right thing to say in this situation? Well, it might stop her from going and starting another fight.
When she straightens, Ruri gives Yurika a flat expression.
"Captain," she points out, "you'll be able to control this situation better from the bridge."
You know, the place where you're strongest? Yurika? Remember that? The seat of your power? Where you won't have to kick bunny men in the shin ineffectually? That place? The place specifically for Yurika?
Ruri is already moving in that direction as soon as she points it out, because she can run to the bridge on her own, thank-you-very-much.
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Subaru has posed.
"Yeah... The most powerful-" Suddenly it sinks in, "-Hey wait, are you sparing my feelings just to hype up your broadcasts!?" Ryoko says as she holds her nose, still pretending to be down for the count. Before looking towards Ruri, "Got taken out like some green recruit. Wouldn't call that hard work." She grumbles, but doesn't seem... too upset...
... if anything a large part of her is cheering Riika on.
The bunny infiltrator doesn't seem to realize that she's talking about Ryoko, purely because he did not think she is a woman at all. Unable to see well and with her short hair, and her language he definitely thought she was a man. It doesn't sink in even when Riika basically outright says it as there was both a woman and a little girl in the room too.
"I apologize. My identity must remain a secret... for your safety. Know only that I will get you back to your people."
Riika leaping in behind him though causes a minor freakout, as his voice turns a touch high pitched, "Eh!?" He keeps himself in a squatting position hovering in the air as he tries to keep from accidentally touching her as he grips quite close to the wheel, "P-Please be careful, it's not proper for a woman to be so close to a man."
~Outside the Crate~
The hangar is soon flooded with blue uniformed security guards, led by Hoary Goat with an assault rifle, while another contingent passes by Yurika and Ruri as they head back towards the bridge, en route towards Ryoko's position.
"Come out. We know you're in there."
There's the cocking of numerous weapons. However there's the hum of an engine. And suddenly the crate unfolds on all four sides to reveal a tiny shuttle on top of a second crate... which then unfolds again...
... revealing that beneath the false bottom are what looks like two giant booster rockets.
Suddenly it doesn't seem that short range after all. As it just takes off towards the hangar door. Several of the security guards start firing. Hoary though, with a soldiers instincts shouts, "Everyone grab ahold of something! Hangar Crew - be ready to initiate breach containment!" Because the bunny in the cockpit hits a button, and one of the booster rockets flares to life and just starts to launch forward, smashing into the hangar door with a large detonation and a shriek of metal as a vacuum suction hits everyone inside. Thankfully most have heeded Hoary's advice and are hanging in there.
Yeah this model is only meant to have one booster rocket.
The two pass through moments before the blast door slides down to seal off the hangar's breach.
"Uripea. That was very much not as advertised." Hikaru says to Uribatake up in the hangar control room. "My precious project... someone just kill me right now." Hikaru promptly puts clothespins his nose with two fingers and puts a hand over his mouth. Struggling, he pulls himself away. "What's the big idea!?" Hikaru replies back cheerfully. "Well... you did ask!"
Ruri and Yurika reach the bridge, "What is going on here!? Status report! I need a status report right now!" Yeah... the Admiral still doesn't seem to understand what's going on. They're just in time as the shuttle runs into a big big big problem... ... ... ... ...
The telltale shimmer of the distortion field causes him to suddenly BRAKE the shuttle hard. As the two just hang in space right in front of that eggshell like translucent field. "D-Don't worry... I have a plan."
There's an awkward pause... he definitely forgot about the distortion field. Suddenly, an image of Riika and the Bunny appears in front of Megumi. "Let me speak to the man in charge of the distortion field."
Megumi promptly sends it over to Ruri, as a holographic image appears in front of Nadesico's Systems Operator.
Ruri.
"Ah. Young Lady, there seems to have been a mistake. Can you please patch me through to the man in charge of the distortion field?"
... Ooo... awkward.
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
"Well there's nowhere else for me to be!" Riika is...
Okay. You can't be annoyed with your rescuer. They're your *rescuer*, breaking in somewhere at great difficulty (she has no idea how he got onto the Nadesico, let alone got a shuttle onto it) all to save you, and she surrendered after doing something bad. It's not like they broke in somewhere and stole her away.
But she is moderately annoyed by the attitude. What year is it, pre-UC?
Either way, she just kind of wedges herself in as best she can, pulling away from the rabbit-wearing man as far as she can (not very). He's going to have to take off that helmet eventually. Surely he's not going to pilot with it on. He can't even see all that well.
Surely. The fact that he just drove through the door - that's not bad driving, though it nearly send Riika falling over, since she certainly doesn't have any way to strap in. Her balance is good, but it's not that good - fortunately he's not likely to hit anything more, what with there being nothing else to hit between them and open space -
Except a distortion field, apparently.
She is at a bad angle to see the Ruri image, though the reverse is also true, as Ruri can mostly see Riika's side. Her rescuer asks to talk to the man in charge. Now, if he'd asked to talk to the *adult* in charge, that would make sense (Ruri doesn't look like most people's idea of a systems operator), but... he asked for a man.
"It's her," Riika says. "Sorry, Ruri. I didn't mean to cause a problem. But it might be a good idea to open the field... unless you really want to shoot down an unarmed shuttle to try to bring it in. I'm not wearing a space suit." She crosses her fingers, because she doesn't know if the Nadesico has a tractor beam. "I know you'll probably get in trouble, and that's the thing I'm most sorry for - I didn't mean to cause a problem for the Nadesico. You've been nothing but kind to me, even given the - situation."
Which is true, even though 'causing a problem for the Nadesico' is probably in her job description. If they're at odds with other Federation troops, they're not helping the Federation, are they? But Riika finds she means it.
"But that's it! That's the only options here. I'd rather not die... and I'm not driving the shuttle so I don't know that he's willing to sit still for that! Can you even fire inside the field?"
Riika hesitates, and then leans in. "Excuse me," she says to the rabbit-wearing man, reaching for the microphone. She's trying to talk to Ruri so that he can't hear well. "And if you let us out," she says, quietly, "I'm going to try to find out why Alexis talked to both of us." Shinji gave her a number, and she still has it memorized, though she's not brave enough to say *that* on the radio.
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
"If you're not gonna believe in Ruri-ruri being our systems admin, then I'm the captain!" Yurika butts in, her own little holo-frame squeezing up into the shuttle's interfaces, only really managing to get 3/4 of her face. (On the actual ship, she's nice and secure at her station a whole story above the rest of the bridge.
Think, think, think...she can't just immediately make calls that let Riika and her rescuer get off scot-free. It'll look bad if she just says 'oh yeah sure they can go!'
Lightbulb goes off! Yurika cuts her own communications, then radios to the engine room: "Okay! At the rear deck - please let off Captain Yurika's 'I'll Never Take My Eyes Off You' Special!" (it's a little tracker in a barrel launched off riiiight in the path Riika's shuttle will take. probably one that'll be removed very shortly, and they probably -notice- it, but they're probably not going to remove a tracker mid-flight until they get to a safe destination!)
"They have valuable information and we'll know their immediate whereabouts for another few hours, and that's worth a lot more than letting them get smooshed against the Distortion Field! So if you do indeed go ahead and lower them down, Ruri-chan, it's a-okay! We have contingencies to pursue them! ...gununu, though Ryoko's still a bit out of sorts...Hikaru, Izumi, you'll still be able to keep an eye on them, right?"
Yurika settles back in her chair with a long little 'whoof', spinning it around once. She dashed over here far faster than she can keep up with, even if being aboard the Nadesico's had her run around quite a lot over the past few months...!
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri slips into her station, without giving the Admiral the time of day. (She has deniability. She's not the highest-ranking officer running in.)
She blinks, as the bunny man is patched through. "I am the girl in charge of the Distortion Field," Ruri says, deadpan, and it is impossible to tell whether it was supposed to be a joke or deadly serious.
"If the shuttle rams the Distortion Field, with its estimated capacity," Ruri reports, translating the data streaming over her screen, "it would sustain considerable damage. Since Ms. Sheder is not wearing a space-capable suit, she may be killed by the attempt." Ruri doesn't say anything as direct as, 'we have to let them go'. She just relays the facts.
Less practical is the way Ruri takes in a sharp breath as Riika whispers that last part -- a little widening of her eyes as her chin lifts. She's saved from responding by the Captain, muscling in on a viewscreen.
"Launching tracker," Ruri confirms, with just that language, as she inputs the commands.
"Now lowering the Distortion Field," she confirms, just the same, to the Captain's next command. She issues the command to the reactors, and the Field dissipates -- freeing the both of them.
So Alice followed the White Rabbit down a very big hole...
... I guess the story went something like that.
I don't really think that our lives are as convenient as storybooks, though.
So why did a white rabbit suddenly appear? Oh, well... I'm sure there's a foolish explanation.
<Pose Tracker> Ryoko Subaru has posed.
The bunny gives Riika a look of disbelief, "Truly!? ... The wickedness of these Federation Devils knows no bounds... conscripting a little girl into their service." Even if his attitude towards women is definitely pre-UC he may not precisely be wrong on this one. Just... for the wrong reasons.
The bunny peers at Yurika in the holo frame as she declares she's the Captain, "Really!? You're certain you are not simply teasing me?"
Still though, he leans aside and tries to let Riika have her say, as she seems to have first hand knowledge. The female mind is a mysterious thing to him, and thus who better to convince a little girl than the woman with him. .
Before he then leans aside, in fact the bunny wearing man dramatically CONTORTS to try his best to avoid ANY contact with Riika, which makes it very easy for him not to hear any part of her private conversation.
Yurika offers a deal! "While I am loathe to negotiate... I find your terms acceptable." The Admiral shouts at Yurika, "Absolutely not!!! Any information she has our interrogators will extract when we have both of them in detention."
He hears a clearing of his throat behind him, as Prospector steps to the fore, "Excuse me Admiral. No disrespect, however..." He raises up a pad of paper with his hands, "... I've already worked out a cost/benefit analysis of retrieving Ms. Sheder and the intruder within the confines of our distortion field - as per our Captain's observations."
"Let me see that-!" As he snatches it away and scans it dismissively, except he keeps scanning it in disbelief. "But-" "Read down to section 2c." The Admiral keeps reading, before suddenly sinking down heavily into a crappy chair they'd set up just so he can sit down on the bridge since he has no station. "I suppose I can't argue with that."
"I knew you were a man of reason." Prospector's glasses glint.
Despite the Admiral's objections, the distortion field lowers, the tracker is in place, and the booster rocket goes off... the white rabbit's last transmission is a simple, "You have my gratitude for your assistance in my mission of rescuing..." He offers a dramatic pause, "...the Princess."
(As if Yurika didn't just let him go.)
... the shuttle has actually fairly shocking speed attached to that rocket...
However the entire trip back to Side 2 with Riika will be super awkward because her savior insists on squatting in mid-air to prevent even the most innocent, accidental touch. Even when his legs buckle and shake from the strain of doing so.