Michiya came around the corner and stumbled upon the exchange. She sharply stopped, made eye contact with Misaki, then with Chenzo, then with Misaki again.
"Konbanwa!" -She nodded gracefully- "Should I be worried about any illicit trade, hmmm?"
She tried to keep a staight face, but couldn't hold her laugh for more than five seconds.
"Ha! I'm just teasing you! Also, uh...Misaki...I wouldn't mind a sip of whatever is in that bottle, you still owe me a drink for that...uh...thing we did! Anyhow, I've got places to be, ta ta, lovebirds!"
She winked at Misaki and swiftly continued on her way.
The foreign customs of Misaki was not something he expected of the Gen'an Cell as a whole, however it was apparent they were able to let loose a lot more than his commanded ships crews. A slight worry fell over Chenzo as he didn't want discipline of his own to be affected. Downtime was something he didn't entertain himself, but from the bottle of Gin made readily available from the crew itself, it was clear they did. Chenzo was glad they had, this Orange pearl presented in trade made him think deeper into things.
Chenzo turns with a frown on his face, he'd not met Michiya in person yet either.
Chenzo: "She seems delightful, as is this pearl."
He turns to commander Commander Perez and asks for enough bottles for a social gathering of the numbers expected. Perez sends four men back into the Dominus and clinking can be heard as bottles were placed into bags, a new light into the crew's personal social structure was emerging that Chenzo was not aware of prior.
Chenzo: "Senorita, intoxicants are strictly prohibited whilst in command of any ship. The art of combat of any ship effectively is not to be left to chance of spilling of drinks, despite your reasonings holding some ground. Capital warfare is mostly about strategic positioning and trusting everyone around you to do the best they possibly can with absolute focus."
The stern look which presented across his face morphed into a smile as he realised the harshness in which it fell.
Chenzo: "Forgive me Senorita, I take combat ability very seriously and hold each man and woman under my command to the same line of zero error as myself. Given that Commander Perez is arranging for a few more bottles of Gin to accompany us, might I suggest you hide the one your clasping somewhere for another evening? We should have enough for proceedings. Kindly lead us to where we are supposed to be?"
As he finished speaking, the crew members sent to collect Gin emerge from the Dominus and fall back into formation.
Misaki listened to Chenzo's words about the alcohol prohibition and the request to hide it. She looked around and didn't see an immediate spot.
"Eh, yes, okay. Do do have some advice on how to not spill drinks during combat though. Just quickly drink it before you get shot at."
She kept holding it in her hand as she preceeded down to the section below. Walking down the stairs, she kept looking around on where to put it. Eventually she figured it out and placed the bottle on a rock near the pond with koi fish. Then she went into the nearby door and came out with a napkin. She wrote something on it before placing it besides the bottle:
[Misaki's. Do not touch.]
She looked at Chenzo again and saw he was becoming impatient.
"The hangar area is the other way, but I wanted to secure the bottle first. Let's go to Yume."
Chenzo had assumed that he meant she should take the bottle to her personal quarters, out of sight. Misaki was indeed an intriguing individual, he wondered what it was she was in charge of. What had gone from total certainty of what was to happen in the best time possible moved to Chenzo thinking perhaps this could be a well needed break from his personal endeavours which were always so serious. The crew of the Dominus were clearly keen on this too, given the amount of alcohol they had packed.
Chenzo's expression whilst he thinks were unpredictable, often totally different to what was actually going on inside his mind. He was blindly following Misaki, leading the crew of the Dominus behind him.
Misaki stopping to talk brought Chenzo out of his trance like state and to attention, he crew follow suite.
Chenzo: "Si, package secured. After you, Senorita"
He steps aside to allow Misaki past to lead in the correct direction. With a nod, Commander Perez takes closest lead to Misaki as Chenzo takes final post. Smoothing the orange pearl now within his pocket.
Misaki lead Chenzo and his men over the long walkway towards where a group of GC were waiting. She looked over her shoulder to Chenzo while walking.
"See those two over there?" she pointed. "That is Ikeda, the XO of the Akechi. And that person over there..." she pointed to the other woman. "That Is Adachi, the CO of the Murasaki." She then waved to the both of them.
"You know... It is always fun meeting new people. Especially when they give me bottles of alcohol. Reminds me of that rogue whose stuff I stole just because I could. I gave it back though. Was just for laughs. And once I accidentily set a bar on fire. Makes you wonder why I was given bar duties on the cruiser. Then again, it was a kind of brawl because of Cadillac Frank. I wonder how he is doing by the way. Anyway, here we are."
Adachi looks at Misaki with a playful smile, "You know, Misaki always manages to bring me something interesting, that's why she runs my bar." She then looks over to Chenzo and bows slightly, "It is nice to finally meet you Tomodachi, I trust you are enjoying your stay with us?"
Before he can answer, she starts to pour drinks of rum for the two of them and continues to talk. "No need to open that nice new bottle Misaki-san, here, take this." She hands Misaki a glass. "And, here you take this one." Chenzo reaches out to take the glass and nods slightly.
Adachi continues, "You know, Chenzo, Misaki here has the funniest way of finding trouble, but likewise, she always can find booze." She laughs and smiles at Misaki, hitting her on the arm in a playful manner. "Oh careful, don't drop that bottle!" Adachi says to Misaki jokingly.
Adachi had been relaxing when Misaki and Chenzo walked up. She completed her inspections of the Murasaki early and had already consumed several glasses of rum in celebration. Needless to say, she was in a very good mood, and it showed.
Chenzo and the crew of the Dominus had not met Adachi in person either, truth be told he'd never seen any of the Cell outside of a ship before, all that time. He pondered the thought that all this time he'd thought of each person as the ships they command, rather than the individual piloting it. Time in space had clearly taken it's toll
Looking across at all the new faces starting with Adachi, he speaks
Chenzo :Well, it all of us have just arrived and please take no offence when I suggest the crew offload the bottles we have with us and take tonight as a mixer, get everyone well acquainted & begin training when we've all recovered? Is this idea welcomed?"
A more stern look falls over his face
Chenzo : "Just before though, can I take a look over the manifests of what has been loaded onto these ships? I'd like to check on what's been packed to best suite and advise if necessary"
"Nice to finally meet you in person, Chenzo-san," Yume said, greeting him.
"Your idea fits into our schedule. It will take some preparing for the ships to take off. We are running the last systems checks, but in the end, we go for optimisation. We would like the suggestions of you experts in this as well. Seems were on the same line regarding this."
Beckoning one of the crew over, the one holding the manifest, Yume requested the list from her. Afterwards she handed it to Chenzo.
"This is the manifest of the Akechi. We need it back though, as there haven't been made any copies yet."
Unsure of the exact interpersonal customs in the way to address the leader of one of Malta's primary allies, Chenzo bow's to Yume as she speaks to him, holding the manifest with care he looks over it. Many items and quantities listed which his warships crew's did not take note of as they were just 'a given' to have certain levels of supplies. His eyes casting further and further down the list. As he comes to end and see's nothing essential missing, he hands the list to Commander Perez with a nod, as if to double check and confirm his thoughts
"Senorita Yume, nice indeed and I can assure you we are honoured to be here.
We have three warships here, three lots of crew. I'd like to split each of the Dominus's crew with two of yours, it doesn't matter what ship we're in. On that thought, are both of yours exactly the same in their function? It may be prudent for my crew to take one of your ships up for an hour for a ground test to ensure things being taught are the same as what we are to preach?"
Yume returned the bow, almost feeling embarrased that Chenzo took the initiative. She had thought the Maltese wouldn't have bothered with the formalities.
"The honour is ours. I have to thank you again for taking the effort to increase our combat effectiveness."
As for the ships. They are both outfitted with standard Maltese primary cannons. Experimental repeater cannons were installed on either ships. You will also find that the engines have been modified to run our more abundant Hydrogen fuel. The only difference between the two ships is that the Akechi uses missile weaponary, while the Murasaku has a mortar mounted on the same location. This can be adjusted in the future.
Perhaps Adachi-san can show you around on the Murasaki."
![[Image: Implosion90.gif]](http://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Implosion90.gif)
![[Image: 330px-Flag-liberty.png]](https://discoverygc.com/wiki/images/thumb/f/fe/Flag-liberty.png/330px-Flag-liberty.png)
![[Image: 5SPjwNr.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/5SPjwNr.gif)