Zetsumai led Misoraki through the tunnels to the set of rooms she and Kaiten had been given for their stay on Kyoto. The two of them had agreed that it would be best just to remain on the station, rather than ferry back and forth between it and the Syndicate's Storta, Brindisi, which was still in orbit around the asteroid. If all went according to plan, the destroyer would be leaving shortl anyway. They entered to find Kaiten pacing around the room while shouting into a comm headset. His face had such an incredulous look on it, coupled with his shouting and pacing, it was all fairly comical, and Zetsumai couldn't stop herself from smiling with amusement.
When he noticed them, Kaiten moved off towards one of the bedroom doors while covering the headset's microphone with his hand. "This may take awhile, go on without me." Then he shut the door behind him. Misoraki cocked her head to the side, "go on with what?" Zetsumai looked back at her. "With the main reason that Storta's in orbit. Come on, sit down, I've got something to show you." They both took a seat on the large sofa facing the room's video display. Zet pressed a few buttons on the remote and it turned on, displaying a list of photos on the datacard she had inserted earlier. Selecting the auto-play, a slideshow began. The pictures showed a Storta destroyer, much like the Brindisi, but this one showed signs of intense fighting, including a huge crater blasted into the armor plating covering the ship's topside.
"This" she began as the slideshow moved on towards photos of the ship's interior, "is the Consortium's old destroyer, the Hoshinokatana. We hadn't seen or heard from it for quite some time. We had assumed it had been destroyed until we stumbled across it a few days ago. It was drifting through the unprotected space outside the nebulae in Hokkaido. Exposure to the intense radiation, most of the ship's systems and wiring had been corroded, leaving them inoperable. A fair number of the rest we assume were destroyed during the battle."
Misoraki looked back at Zetsumai. "Crew?" Zet shook her head. "None." Her lieutenant raised an eyebrow. "Everyone died?" She shook her head a second time. "There was no crew to begin with." Zetsumai smiled. That smile she used everytime she had a diabolical little plan that meant hurting someone she didn't like. "And that's exactly why we're interested in it. You've never met her... Or rather, it, but I have. The Hoshinokatana is controlled by a self-aware artificial intelligence that calls itself Kathryn, or Kat for short. When we first recovered the ship, we couldn't talk to her. Like the rest of the computer system, she had been disabled by either the battle or the radiation exposure. We got a few of our transports together with the Megami and pulled it into the nebula, though we left it well out of range of regularly-traveled routes. We've started to replace the wiring and bringing the systems back to 'life' so-to-speak. We haven't gotten Kat back up and running yet, but we did get access to her backup memory module."
Misoraki spoke up, "you don't intend to let her take that warship back to the Consortium do you?"
Zetsumai laughed, "of course not. In fact, I don't think she wants to anyway. We took the memory module back to Matsuda and hooked it up to the ship's mainframe computer, to reconstruct the events. The radiation had hit it as well, so we got only sketchy images and a few audio samples, but the gist of what happened is there. It seems that Kat had decided to leave the Consortium, with her destroyer. They apparently attacked her in order to stop her. We have photos of the Consortium's Darak Ti being in combat against the Hoshinokatana. There isn't enough information to accurately recreate the battle, and it seems that whatever ships the Hoshinokatana took out or damaged were removed from the area afterwards, so we have no way of knowing their losses. However, I think it's safe to assume she won't be returning to them anytime soon. Some of our technical engineers are still working on her memory back at Matsuda, so they may find more."
"The point here is; she expressed a desire to leave the Consortium, and given the options of either going to the Outcasts, of whom she knows none, or working with us, I think she will choose the latter. The two of us have something of a history together, so that's a mark in our favor. Either way, that ship has to be destroyed, which means Valetta shipyard. That's where the Brindisi comes in. I've not revealed any of this to our hosts, they believe the Brindisi is here as a glorified transport, except for the Taishogun and Shogun Gok-li, who think it's here as a preventative weapon to make the Consortium think twice about trying anything, and to show the Syndicate's support for us. I also fed him a line about it being here to underline the importance of the discussion we had concerning the Consortium. While it was all true, I don't expect the Dragons to do anything about it. At best they will deny closer relations with the Consortium, at worst they will allow them full access to Kyoto. It'll present a problem in the future, but it can be dealt with in time."
"While normally we couldn't even think about using a destroyer, they are a serious drain on our resources, and they can't be used as a base or trade point like Matsuda. However, with the Hoshinokatana, crew would be unnecessary. Kat would be able to control it by herself. It would also need less supplies than one may originally expect. With little-to-no crew, food, water, oxygen, all that won't be needed. Fuel is about the only supply it would need, and we can get MOX from Bretonia easily enough. We already do for Matsuda. The other reason is that this destroyer, while retaining its combat ability, will be used mostly as a mobile headquarters and supply ship, as well as a mobile research laboratory. I plan to have Kat work on some Cardamine for us. Experiments to increase potency, fertilization, the works. I also heard from Kaiten that there may be something coming soon that will be of great importance to us, if we can get some samples."
"In the short term, it'll serve as our heavy weaponry against the Consortium, who still have two destroyers of their own. Kaiten," she flicked her eyes back towards the bedroom door he disappeared into, "may not be able to keep the Brindisi down here in Kusari, or use it as a support against the Consortium's destroyers. We'll know more about that in a day or two."
"Kat's departure from the Consortium offers a great opportunity for us, and I plan to take it. All we have to do is ensure the Consortium doesn't get its slimy palms on that destroyer or evidence of us having it until it's reached Valetta. Once there the Outcasts will be keeping it safe for us until it's ready. The arrangements with them have already been made. We also need to make sure the Blood Dragons don't learn of our using it, at least for now. I'm going to continue working on the diplomacy side of things here."
Zetsumai looked Misoraki straight in the eye. "Things may be about to get far worse than we originally planned. The Colonial Republic offered the Blood Dragons and ourselves, the Golden Chrysanthemums, a deal. I've also learned from one of the Elders themselves, that the Colonial Republic planned on creating a 'Tau Federation'. I don't know about the Blood Dragons, though I highly doubt they'd enter into something as foolish as that. I did hear from one of my contacts in the Gas Miners Guild that they were also invited to merge into this federation, but declined it on the basis that the Colonials had nothing of interest to offer them. The Elders, brain-rotted and poorly manipulative as usual, had seriously thought about accepting it. I had a bit of a talk with that Elder, and I think I got my message through; Suicide. But they also nearly accepted the Colonial's offer of neutrality, also a horrible decision for so many reasons. The rift between us is growing further and further apart." She shook her head. "It may finally be time to deal with this problem directly."
She leaned back on the sofa. "The Consortium has become their new favorite pet. Pampered, protected. With this hostility looming between those half-mans and us, it's quite possible the Elders will choose a side, and it won't be ours. You know as well as I the headaches we've caused them, and vice versa. If they find a chance to take us out, they'll take it." She smiled, "but, as usual, they'll be drastically overplaying their hand if they attempt it. We've taught them before not to take us lightly, so we shall see what they decide. Either way, we already have sworn assistance for us if that should come to pass. It may strike a fracture through our cause, but we'll mend it with time, and be far better off with ourselves in charge."
She returned her gaze to Misoraki. "So, now you know what's going on. I leave the choice of remaining and dealing with what's going on here, or going with the Brindisi to secure the Hoshinokatana and deliver it to Valetta, to you."
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