Nodoka Hanamura | Diary

[Nodoka Hanamura]

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AUTHOR: Nodoka Hanamura ENTRY NO.: 02-001 ENTRY TITLE: Picture ENTRY DATE: August 22nd, 834 AS | 0922 Sirian Universal Coordinated Time ENTRY LOCALE: OCS Utsunomiya, The Barrier ENTRY TYPE: Video The flag quarters in the early morning, is home to Hanamura at this point. The woman was more than used to deskwork, as much as she preferred action to reading debriefs. Warm green tea on her desk, laced with honey, as she tends to prefer. Her day is the same old, same old, since returning to the land of the living. Wake up from nightmares, grab a drink to arouse herself to life, fill out paperwork and go over reports, consult with her adjutants, and essentially pretend to be busy when she's done. Morale in Ouroboros is a mixed bag. Some are wanting to leave, whilst others are rearing to vent their frustrations on their new enemies in Liberty and some even wish to forgo the slow approach, and start blasting Kusari ships. The feed shifts to Jae-un and Brett heading towards Hanamura's quarters, discussing matters in the somewhat quiet command deck. the two are due to meet with Setsuna and Hanamura to discuss matters, it having been two weeks since their briefing. "So you don't know anything about Alaska?" Jae-un asks her Sanzu contemporary, the Libertonian answering with a defeated nod. "Yeah. I only served for about a year, and my clearance didn't let me into Alaska. Closest I got was Chadwick, and that was under heavy monitoring. You gotta understand, Song - the LSF doesn't mess around with counter-intelligence." "Then why did they let Ootori just come by and take pictures? Did they mistake it for a lost tourist?" she retorts jokingly. Brett scratches his head, the young man's jet black hair ruffling as it does. "Nah. I haven't the foggiest. Maybe with all the EW they have going on in Zone 21, and Ootori's own onboard jammers, they couldn't pick it up through all the noise. They're reliant on EOTS to detect threats inside the zone, the Jamming is that bad - they are literally jamming themselves so no one else can use radar to do SAR scans of the region." "Damn. I've heard of defensive ECM, but that's obsessive, not defensive." Bride says, surprised at the lengths Liberty will go to keep their secrets secret. "Welcome to House-grade counter-intelligence. If they could kill anyone who even thinks about what goes on in Alaska, chances are they probably would." He responds, before the air goes silent, leaving him to ask her something. "Weren't you in Auxesia at some point? How'd you end up with those techno-gooks?" Jae-un answers the question succinctly. "Long story short, before Ouroboros I was part of a freelance mercenary group. Leader decided out of the blue to take up an offer from Auxesia to join their ranks. I had it rough at first, but thanks to it I've got a better head on my shoulders. Much more fit for command, even if I've never seen a command role." Kensington stops her. "Wait - you are the head of our combat forces, and yet you've never been in a C2 position - not even a junior role? Why? Is Hanamura playing favorites?" "I served as FCO on the ZCV Rathgrith, ZCV Dragostea - later OCS Abdicant Seraphine, OCS Rathgrith II, and have been trusted as a fire control AI by Hanamura for years. Mieko may have been the more strategic of the two of us, but I learned a thing or two from both her, and Hanamura, as well as seeing others in the field strut their stuff. You don't exactly see very many NCO-grade combat vets in our ranks these days, do you?" Brett sighs. "Yeah.. guess you're right. At least you AI learn quick. I'll give you that." "Hey, as long as you treat me like any other meatbag, we're good." Bride answers, shrugging. "I don't see why not. You've got more emotion than the other AI in CENTCOM." Kensington retorts, pointing his thumb back towards Mercury's quarters. "Mercury? Yeah. She's one of the Erlanger-class AIs. Got her and her sister Cassiopeia, off an old Zoner Whale of all things. Still not the foggiest how they came to be.. God, just saying Cass' name has me missing the Harpies." Jae-un elucidates. The tale of the Harpies' AI does resonate a slight bit with her contemporary. "Yea.. if it weren't for him berating me for dropping out of the academy, I'd be missing my dad right about now. Him and I were close - he wanted me to join the LSF, carry on the torch." The two reflect momentarily on their feelings, before Bride takes a swig from a water bottle attached to her hip, placing it back down and speaking again with Brett. "Sorry to hear that. Does he know about where you were before all this?" Brett looks a bit dejected. He responds, regardless. "Yeah. He uh.. he wasn't a fan." "I bet." Another break of silence. "Why'd you come here, anyways?" "That broadcast on the Neural Net Hanamura made. Hearing she came from Sol of all things. She kinda inspired me to do what she did - start again, y'know?" Bride scoffs a bit before retorting. "Got a lot of better places to start over than a Kusari revolutionary movement that's gone to shit, man." Defensively, Brett chides back. "Well it didn't go to shit until the Miners knocked on our door. I can tell you right now half of what's left of Sanzu wants Namura's head on a pike outside Niigata." Jae-un answers back, albeit a bit more positively. "Yeah. Here's hoping we'll have the muscle to make that happen. That or at least give the GMG the mother of all bloody noses." The two sit there, before Brett chimes in. "So.. Yoruha. She's your sister." "Technically we're just of the same batch of AIs, but in a way.. yeah, she is." "You proud of her?" Jae-un smiles and looks to him. "Hell yeah. My sister whooping Liberty's ass? Rolling with Auxesia? I couldn't be prouder." She says to him, feeling happiness in knowing her sister has managed to succeed in her absence. She felt a bit of jealousy, but it was easily washed out by that familial pride. Setsuna approaches the group, briefcase in tow. The modest woman adorned in the usual standard woman officer's uniform, a dark teal skirt and officer's blazer, with underlying pantyhose and flats. "Good to see the both of you are jovial." The two turn towards her, the ex-Chrysanthemum's smile somewhat addicting. "You're in a good mood, Kobayashi." "Well, being able to do what I do best gives me a good mood, even if we've yet to hear back from anyone, save the Mollies." She says, slightly tilting her head, and continuing the smile. "God, if Seline hears Ouroboros is friends with the Mollies, she's gonna have Hanamura's neck." Jae-un says, hand cupped over her forehead loosely. "I doubt that will be an issue. Intelligence suggests she is occupied working for Graham Industries in Bretonia - the same firm that Elena operates now." she says to Bride, with the aforementioned raising an eyebrow. "Since when did Birdie have a corporate firm under her?" "Since.. 828 AS." Setsuna recalls. ".. Shit. First I was upset I didn't get to be there for her to grow up.. now I'm upset I didn't get to be there for her to succeed." Jae-un says, dejectedly. Setsuna seems to share the sentiment. "If it is any consolation, my obaa-san died last year. So.. suffice to say - you are not the only one with regrets." Brett falls in line with the feeling of regret. "Don't think anyone here is, Kobayashi." Setsuna looks to him, curious. "What did you lose, Kensington-san?" The death of his mother, his naievete to the plight of Liberty, his career with the LSF, the love of his father, among other things, run through Kensington's mind. "... a lot, long before Ouroboros." Setsuna looks to him, concerned, before wistfully looking out into the white gassy nebula surrounding the ship out a nearby window. ".. a recurring theme, I've noticed. The meeting should be any minute, yes? Is Alexei joining us?" She continues, before Jae-un continues. "Nah, he's occupied on the Didact - apparently their comms array went out last night and they needed to shuttle him and some guys over to unfuck it. He says that the moment we hit Sirius, the fleet needs maintenance, desperately - we've expended the nanobot stores fixing everything wrong with the whole fleet while Mercury was running the show." "Quite concerning. Any word on our Auxesian contacts?" Jae-un shrugs at Setsuna's inquiry. "Nope. Hanamura's reached out to Leviathan and that Megiddo guy." "What about Sapphire Raven? She is one of the other leaders." Another shrug from Bride. "Yes and no. Auxesia had a shakeup a few years back, they're Navarches now, sorta like a company's CVO - they help run the show but at the same time they don't call the shots anymore. At least, that's from what Mieko's been telling us." "Then who is the Keeper?" Setsuna asks again, irritated. "Your guess is as good as ours. Our guys in Sanzu have tried running SIGINT against the packets we intercepted while we flew past Valravn. Whatever Auxesia uses, it's extremely resilient against most of our deciphering capabilities." Brett answers, rubbing his temples at the end, a bit irritated - with Bride chipping in. "Well, no shit - It's Auxesia - Transhumanists - only fuckers I bet could go toe to toe with them in cyberspace are Lane Hackers." The three stop for a moment, as Jae-un concludes bluntly. Setsuna chimes in. "I wonder if Hanamura-taichou would like us to consult other organizations that could allow us access to their shipyards." Bride, sensing the dire straits they remain in, looks to her with contempt. "Like who? Who with a shipyard worth a damn is gonna host us? Livadia won't touch us with a barge pole. Invergordon probably will expect that we'll flake again and refuse us or screw us, and if Auxesia turns out to be dead in the water or they refuse to let us get fixed up at Valravn, who do we turn to?" Setsuna tries to assauge Bride's frustrations with what she knows. ".. Well, if Hanamura-taichou and I can.. we have two choices. We can appeal to the Mollies for access to their shipyards, or reach out to the IMG and see if utilization of Singapore Shipyard is an option. Both seem viable." She says, before Brett shuts down half of the solutions Setsuna offered. "Mollies probably will tell us no. They're in a warzone. Can't afford non-combatants anything unless they're on fire." Brett scoffs, before a distant explosion goes off. Shinta's voice is shortly heard over the intercom. "Maintenance Team C to Hydraulics Bay 3! Fluid line flammable burst, advise CBRN gear, thank you!" "That enough of a fire for em?" Bride retorts. "No. I'm talking on the verge of --" Brett says, before the door opens, revealing Hanamura. "Good to see you all are early." She says, before Jae-un interjects. "What about the Hydraulic--" "It's being taken care of, just a small detonation on an anciliary line. Not the end of the world." Hanamura signals to the group to come inside, waving her hand inward as she heads into her quarters. She returns to her desk, as the three step inside, the door closing behind them and locking. "That aside.. what do you have for me. Jae-un, you first." "Snubcraft squadrons are at about 52% combat capability. A lot of our fighters are needing maintenance done on them, and I think some are so worse for wear that we'd be better off swapping them out for new ships." "What about our Infantry?" "Lieutenant Miyazono says his men are not to the level he'd like, but they're effective for defensive roles against anything that isn't a house boarding action." "I see. Have Alexei when he comes back, send some men to do a thorough audit of the snubcraft fleet and see what we can salvage from ships that are too far gone to repair the ones still spaceworthy." Hanamura orders, before looking to Setsuna. "I know I tasked you with the Mollies, but I felt it best to approach them personally. I hope you understand." Setsuna nods, retaining a slight smile. "Suffice to say I'm pleased by your diplomatic efforts, Hanamura-taichou. It's a far cry from the Crayter disaster last time. Question is -- how do we approach Crayter?" "We don't. I talked with Mieko on the matter last night. Auxesia and Crayter at are odds with one another. And there was a lot more we did not know about their situation back then, that we know now." Hanamura says, looking to Kensington. Setsuna and Jae-un look to him as well. "Crayter's had several treaties fall through with Auxesia, all of them in violation by the former. Suffice to say, Ouroboros shouldn't have been befriending Crayter lest it piss of the Technocrats." He answers, elucidating for Hanamura. Setsuna groans a bit. "Mou... Had I known that, I would have told them to go stuff their mouths with wasabi." Brett grimaces. "Jeeze, okay Satan." he says, before Hanamura nods in affirmation of Brett's statement. "Any word from Der Plattform?" she asks of Setsuna. "Iie. Nothing yet. They probably are occupied. I wouldn't rule them out yet.. If it weren't for being stuck in deep space still, I'd say send envoies out to Rheinland to make direct contact." "In that case, Setsuna - I would like you to put that on hold, and work the IMG and any affiliated factions. Any of note?" "There is one.. the Kongsi Syndicate. Little is known about them but they seem to be an offshoot of the IMG, run as a anarchist group, much like Der Plattform. Not entirely relevant in the grander scheme of things, but still, having contacts with them will further secure our interests in the Taus." Setsuna says, looking over her tablet. "Very well. Hail the Guildmaster of the IMG and the Kongsi Syndicate. Do not approach them about requesting maintenance until we know for certain that Valravn is out of the question." Hanamura looks to Brett. "What's our intel on Bretonia and Liberty looking like?" "Liberty's not changed much since we left, only things of note are that the Mississippi is no longer in service, it's a training ship that's permanently in mothballs at West Point. That and Pennsylvania is a shitshow, but I sent you the detailed report on that the moment it was compiled." He answers, before Nodoka looks over her tablet to review the matter in question. Setsuna shortly thereafter, interjects. "Hanamura-taichou, might I suggest making contact with the PLF?" Hanamura shakes her head in the negative. "Zoner society at large is a very sensitive matter for us, and unfortunately Setsuna, I must be the one to answer for it. We owe the Zoners quite a bit for the Seraphine. It was a betrayal of the trust of the COF to take it yes.. but they afforded me the chance to find my footing here in Sirius. The least I can do is own up to it and make personal assurances that Ouroboros will stand behind them and the rest of the Zoners." Setsuna, understanding it entirely, nods, conceding that responsibility to her. "In that case.. should we bother to make contact with any Kusari entities?" "No. The Blood Dragons after what happened to Mei, will definitely not want anything to do with us, and with the Gen'an still running around with that loon Megaera at the helm, the criminal sphere of Kusari is closed to us." "What about the Alliance? They could --" "The Alliance is a footnote. Answer me, Bride - since you can compute it for us - have we *ever* come across any meaningful Farmers Alliance movements in Kusari? Or any of their friends in the Landwirtrechtbewegung? Last time I checked, we haven't." Jae-un answers succinctly. "Nope. Hell, I don't think we've even seen a single ship of theirs on sorties back in the day." Hanamura looks back to Setsuna, who seems to be defeated. "We're not going to have much of an inroad into Kusari if we don't try to work with *someone*, Hanamura-taichou." she retorts back at Hanamura's stare. "I know that." she says, rubbing her temples, annoyed. "Look, work with Brett's men on doing some probes into Kusari, find me any sect, any group - in the opposition to the government, who would be even remotely in line with our values." Brett clears his throat, getting the group's attention. "If I can make a suggestion. Some of the intel I have from my days back with the LSF, that I can recall - shows that there's more to Rheinland then just The Platform. What about working with ALG?" The women in the group tilt their heads in disbelief. "A garbage company." Jae-un answers, taking the words out of Setsuna and Hanamura's mouths. "What does a waste disposal firm have anything to do with our aspirations?" Setsuna asks, bewildered at the question. "ALG's got a bit of a history of backing Rheinlandic liberal and other seedier groups from what I remember. I was supposed -- to be tasked with working with a division operating in Bering and the sort, but that fell through after I fucked off - I know a little bit about their operations. I'd suggest at least giving them a shot. Nothing like a jab in the arm from a friendly corporation to help us out." Hanamura claps her hands together, and points them to Setsuna. "Talk to the trash men." she says with a smile. "Yes, Hanamura-taichou." Setsuna answers, not exactly keen on the idea, but obeying regardless. "I do have to ask.. what about the Order? Do we still consider them a major problem?" Setsuna continues, getting a chuckle from Brett. "The Order - I don't think they'll be a problem for us." he says, before Hanamura explains. "In recent years the Overwatch has fallen into disarray, it's much weaker than it once was, at least, going off of OSINT. Fewer reports of activity in the houses, and the only thing of note, is that Lazurith figure somehow managing to piss them off to the point of garnering a bounty worth what would be 100 million credits 10 years ago. Golanski's not been heard from in a while. Our doctrine with the Order is straightforward - ignore unless they give us reason not to. They pick a fight with Auxesia, we sic the hounds on them. They lurk in the darkness and watch over our affairs - we gouge their eyes out, slit their throats and deliver their agents' heads to Michal in a box. But otherwise, we do not bother. We have more important things, bigger fish to fry." The three nod in affirmation of Hanamura's directive. "Now that we've gone over diplomacy and a bit of our intelligence picture.. We are possibly going to set up shop in Inverness, given Auxesia permits as such - establishing a more solid footing for ourselves. At least in Inverness, we won't have to fret over the natives trying to attack us." she says, before Brett interjects. "Uh - ma'am.. What about the LSF and Crayter? Or the LFR?" "The Xenos' little microstate has as much force projection in Inverness, as the Liberty Navy has on Pluto. None. Mieko told me what happened the last time they tried to attack Valravn - Auxesia deleted every last one of them." she says, before continuing. "And even then, if they try anything, chances are, Leviathan will have our backs in the best case scenario." "And in the worst?" Setsuna objects. "Worst case scenario, we find some hole somewhere in the Borderworlds or Independent Worlds to set up shop in. I see no reason to believe, unless somehow, Leviathan has been turned against us, that we would be left out in the cold by them." "Our connections with the IMG and ALG, if you can work them sufficiently enough Setsuna, should bode well. Speaking of.. one more group I need you to look into." Setsuna nods, awaiting the directive. "There's traces of discussion of a Lane Hacker sect called the 'Lovelace Circle' on the Neural Net. They're no Stefan Pomerov, but they should be of use if we need help with any.. cyberwarfare-related matters." Begrudgingly, Setsuna obliges. "Yes, Hanamura-taichou.." Hanamura's gaze pierces her. "Look - I get you don't like the Hackers. Or the GC. Or the Outcasts. But in this line of work, we don't get to pick our friends. We make and build camaraderie where we can find it. It's why we're working with the RPA - even if Seline was here, I'd still tell her to shove it as well. As much as I love them, the Harpies leaving was just as much a blessing as it was a curse." Hanamura sighs, depressed. "Where's Akira-kun when I need him." she says, reclining in her chair, looking up at the fan above. The trio continue to stand before her. awaiting further word. Hanamura returns to an upright position moments later, before continuing. "Setsuna, go ahead and start reaching out to the IMG and Kongsi. We'll wait to reach out to ALG once we're back in Sirius. Same goes for Lovelace. Brett, have your men continue scouring for OSINT. Have Ootori loiter around Inverness. Let me know the moment we've got a viable RTC connection to the drone. I'd like to speak to Leviathan personally if it can be done. Same with this Megiddo figure, or anyone else in Prometheus." The two flanking Jae-un salute Hanamura, before being ordered at ease. Hanamura looks to Jae-un. "Bride, I want you to put the men into simulations for dogfights, Block off Deck D, Sections 5 through 9 - that's all dormant anyways - use it for practicing augmented reality combat simulations. I want our men ready as can be to hold off any kind of funny business from whoever might come our way." Hanamura directs, with Jae-un responding with a nod, followed by a salute. "You're dismissed." she orders once more, as the three proceed out the door. Before she does, Jae-un, trailing, stops in the doorway, and turns to Hanamura. "Uh.. Nodoka. I.. I wanted to ask you something." Hanamura utters a brief hmm inquisitively. "I wanted to ask. If sometime before the end of the year. I could get 2 weeks leave to spend time with Mark. I.. I hope you understand why." Jae-un says, hoping for the best to see her boyfriend again, after so long. "Of course. I can't say when, just yet. But you'll get your two weeks. Just see to it you do your best." Jae-un nods and heads out, the door closing behind her. Hanamura looks over the tablet and paperwork on the desk. She breathes in heavily. "Soon. I'm coming to get you, nee-chan. Just hold out, a while longer." she says, before the feed cuts to black. ATTACHMENTS: NONE

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