Super Robot Wars Null

Winning Vote:
[X] A photo of a young woman with short blonde hair and amber colored eyes accompanied by a single line of text: 'My little sister will be coming over in a few months to help you and give some answers. Don't worry, unlike us, she'll stick around.'

---

March UE 0083
Nadesico, heading towards Mars

You've settled in for the journey to Mars, and are currently mulling over the small bit of data that the Destiny Gundam sent to you at the end of the fight with the Unknowns. In the photo was what you presume to be the woman's name: Stella Loussier. You can only assume that she'll appear somewhere around the Earth Sphere in a few months time, although given that you're going to Mars at the moment, you can't really worry about that right now. You can only hope that when you meet her, you'll be able to get some answers about the Unknowns and why they seem to hate you.

You shake your head to clear your thoughts. You managed to get the Rose girls their own room, and they seem pretty happy about it. For now, you're letting them rest and getting to know the Nadesico. You want to talk to Yurika to formalize some kind of arrangement about them, so you head to the bridge. When you open the door, you find Yurika, Ruri, and Megumi at their stations. Ruri is playing some kind of game that involves matching Japanese kanji together. Megumi is reading a magazine, and Yurika is in the Captain's chair looking bored out of her mind.

"Ai. Ai. Ai. Ai. Looks like the ayes have it in this level." Ruri says to herself. Looks like the level designer decided to be a smartass about how different kanji can be pronounced the same. Yurika turns toward you as you enter the bridge.

"Oh, Mira! Did you want to talk about something?" Yurika asks, eager to break the monotony.
"I wanted to see if we could come up with some kind of formal arrangement regarding the Rose and the girls. We have sort of an informal agreement now, and it'll probably be good for Mars, but I don't want the girls to get screwed when we get back." You explain.
"Ah, I see. Well, as captain of this vessel, you have my word that we won't try anything to violate the rights and privacy of Nina Wärter, Lucia Aion, and Yukari Tsukiumi on this voyage too and from Mars. If you want to cover what'll happen after we get back, you'll have to talk to Mr. Prospector, he's the one who knows all of the legal stuff." Yurika says in a chipper but somewhat serious tone.
"Thanks, I'll talk to him the first chance I get." You turn to leave when an alarm sounds.
"Incoming enemy attack." Ruri intones.
"What? From where? Intercept!" Yurika immediately springs into action.
"Not needed. Distortion Field is operating normally." Ruri says. "The Grasshoppers haven't mounted an attack since we rendezvoused with Ms. Subaru and her Aestivalis team. They will most likely continue taking pot shots at us until they have ascertained this ship's capabilities, and then mount an assault in greater numbers. Given how few Minovsky particles are present in this region of space, we'll be able to see an attack like that coming with plenty of time to prepare. What are your thoughts on this, Captain?" While Ruri was explaining things, Yurika had walked down to Ruri's station, kneeling down to be at eye level with her.
"You're certainly sharp for a kid." Yurika says with a hint of admiration.
"I'm a young girl." Ruri rebuts. She snaps her head forward. "Second wave of attack incoming, field strength stable." Yurika sighs in relief.
"It looks like we won't have much to do until we get to Mars then." Yurika then glances over at Megumi. After a few seconds, Yurika blushes heavily. Alarm bells go off in your head, but you decide to let things play out.
"Captain, is something wrong?" Megumi asks.
"Oh, it just seemed to me like you were really happy." Yurika says while shuffling in place awkardly.
"Ah, you could tell?" Megumi cheerfully replies.

Yurika doesn't know how to respond to that, opting to briskly walk out of the bridge after a few seconds. You bury your face in your hand and sigh.
"Miss Ayana, is something the matter?" Ruri asks you.
"It's nothing, I might talk to the Captain later if she's up for it." You decide to keep your answer vague.
"Ah, I understand. Mr. Prospector is down in his office, I trust you know the way there?" Ruri says. You nod before leaving the bridge.

---

You meet with Mr. Prospector to discuss the Rose girls' situation. You've made it clear in no uncertain terms that you won't allow any kind of agreement that will make them indebted to Nergal in any way, or anything that could be construed as agreeing to indentured servitude.

"I understand your protectiveness of them, Ms. Ayana. Do not worry, we are not Anaheim Electronics, we believe in fair compensation and benefits. I have come up with a way we can address this situation which would be beneficial to them, and you." Mr. Prospector takes out an old-fashioned manila folder.
"We simply state that they are guests onboard the Nadesico, rescued in deep space after we found them adrift aboard their Super Robot. They volunteered to supplement the fighting forces of the ship, and we graciously accepted their offer. You were the only available pilot at the time, and as such, you are the designated pilot of their Super Robot. They will be freed of all obligations once we return from Mars and released into your custody. This has the benefit of being closest to the truth, and given your status as a former ace of the EFF, I assume you have enough clout to prevent the girls from being forcibly drafted by the EFF?" You nod.
"Excellent, I'll put it down in writing immediately." Mr. Prospector claps his hands. You leave to break the news to the girls.

---

The girls aren't in their room, so you leave a note explaining things on the desk. You're called down to the hangar by Uribitake, he wants to talk to you about the Rose and the wreck of the Big Horn.

Uribitake tries to make sense of the Blühende Rose-DC 18
Roll 1d10 + 5 (Mechanic) + 3 (Experience with Distortion Field and Phase Transition tech) + 3 (Mech Otaku-access to sanitized versions of the theses of Juzo Kabuto and Professor Saotome, full access to Minovsky's original paper on the eponymous particle) - 3 (Black Box)
Roll 8
8 + 5 + 3 + 3 - 3 = 16
FAILURE

Uribitake analyzes wreck of the Big Horn-DC 20
Roll 1d10 + 5 (Mechanic) + 3 (Experience with Distortion Field and Phase Transition tech) + 3 (Mech Otaku-access to sanitized versions of the theses of Juzo Kabuto and Professor Saotome, full access to Minovsky's original paper on the eponymous particle) + 2 (seen in action) - 3 (Black Box) - 5 (Half-destroyed and missing the power source)
Roll 6
6 + 5 + 3 + 3 + 2 - 3 - 5 = 10
FAILURE

You get down to the hangar and find Uribitake waiting for you. Judging from his expression, he's annoyed and frustrated.
"So I take it you weren't able to figure anything out based on the look on your face." You deadpan. Uribitake huffs.
"You don't have to rub it in. The best I can tell you is what these machines aren't. I'll start with the Rose, since that's what you're using now." He gestures to the Blühende Rose.
"To state the obvious, the Diffusion Crystal Drive does in fact need crystals of some kind to function. There's a case of the things, and they're each around this long in a glass tube." Uribitake uses his arm to give an approximation of the length. "They're all blue or green, so definitely not sakuradite or fold quartz. We took a peak at the Drive itself, and based on what I remember of the public versions of the earliest papers about Photon Energy and Getter Rays, it's not based on either of those principals. It's sure as hell not a Minovsky reactor either, no helium-3 involved as far as we could tell. The best I can say is this: don't screw with the internals, and it should run just fine." Uribitake then turns toward the wreck of the Big Horn.
"As for that sucker, we know even less. Doesn't help that most of the upper torso is gone, and the power source went up when the Destiny Gundam torched it. The only things that me and the boys were able to determine is that the circuitry is different from the Blühende Rose, and the armor plating is a different material. Couldn't figure out anything else." Uribitake shrugs.
"Thanks anyway. Maybe I can get someone from Photon Power Labs to take a look at the Blühende Rose when we get back from Mars." You joke. Uribitake laughs.

---

You have two weeks of travel time until the Nadesico arrives at Mars. What will you do for the first week? (Pick THREE actions, and vote by plan)

[ ] Spend time with your copilots
-Like it or not, the trio of girls that came with the Blühende Rose are now your copilots. You might as well get to know them better, you can't effectively pilot a Super Robot alongside them if you don't know them at all.

[ ] Spend time with Yurika
-Apparently Yurika is taking the fact that Akito and Megumi kissed very badly-she's gone on sabbatical and sequestered herself in the ship's meditation room. You might be able to break her out of her funk if you talk to her.

[ ] Spend time with Ruri
-Ruri's always open to talk, whenever the Grasshoppers aren't attacking, she usually spends her time on the bridge playing video games. You get along with her well enough, why not get to know her more?

[ ] Catch up with Akito and Gai
-Gai is ecstatic after witnessing what happened during the last battle. Akito, meanwhile, has gotten a bit more withdrawn. Pick their brains and find out why they're on this voyage. You suspect Gai's reasons will be predictable, but you have no idea about Akito, and you're curious.

[ ] Socialize with Ryoko's team
-Ryoko seems to have gained a measure of respect for you after the last battle, and her squad mates are a bit curious about you. Despite reservations about Hikaru and Izumi's eccentricities, you feel like you'd get along with them.

[ ] Spend time with the Jeeg team and Build Angels
-Compared to the crew of the Nadesico, the people from the SARI seem sane, and that's taking Kenji's perverted tendencies into account. You doubt they can tell you any more about Jeeg or the origins of the SARI, but at the least you'll be able to get their opinion on the Blühende Rose.

---

A/N: Sorry for the shorter length, this is mostly a set-up for the other parts of the turn. As stated above, PLEASE PLAN VOTE THIS TIME. Anyway, vote, discuss, and critique, have I kept everyone in-character so far?

Winning Vote:
[X] Plan RomCom Shenanigans
-Spend time with your copilots
-Spend time with Yurika
-Catch up with Akito and Gai

---

March UE 0083
Deep Space, en-route to Mars

Your decide that your first order of business is going to be to get to know your copilots better. You're the pilot of the Blühende Rose now, and it won't function without one of the three of them with you. On the way to their room, you hear a...moan of pleasure? You turn down a different hallway and are greeted by the sight of Nina and Yukari passionately kissing and groping each other in sensitive places. You're so shocked by what you see that you forget that you wanted to talk to them for a few seconds. A high pitched moan from Yukari breaks you out of your confusion, and you decide to rap hard on the wall when you realize they're starting to undress each other. The pair turn toward you in alarm and their eyes widen in surprise and fear. At the very least they have enough grace to look embarrassed as Yukari buttons her shirt and Nina pulls her skirt back up.

"Where's Lucia?" You ask.
"In our room." Yukari says apprehensively.
"Good, that simplifies things. I wanted to talk with the three of you, and given what I just saw, it looks like I'm going to have to set some ground rules." You jerk your thumb in the direction of the Rose girls' room. Nina and Yukari visibly deflate as they fall in line behind you.

It's a short walk back to the girls' room, and you open the door to find Lucia lying down on her bed reading a magazine. She glances up and frowns slightly when she sees Yukari and Nina with you. She sits up on the edge of her bed as Yukari and Nina sit down.

"Let's just get this out of the way now. How long have the two of you been together?" You turn toward Nina and Yukari.
"Since before we escaped." Yukari says.
"We were put in a room with each other. At first we didn't trust one another, but when we realized we were in the same boat, we got to know each other." Nina elaborates.
"We started...doing things to each other in order to pass the time between rounds of experiments, and to keep our minds off our situation. At first it was sort of a 'we might as well since we don't know if we'll still be alive much longer' kind of thing, but we grew to love each other as time passed." Yukari says while staring at the ground. Nina puts a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. You honestly can't blame them, given what they told you, they didn't have many ways to cope while in captivity. You glance at Lucia.
"I take it you knew about this. Are you part of it too?" You ask.
"Not quite. They offered to let me join in once. I accepted, but it didn't feel right. It's not that I don't swing that way, I'm open to both. It's just that I realized I view them more as sisters than anything else, and I didn't want to do anything that would make that relationship awkward." Lucia glances toward Nina and Yukari, and they smile back. You sigh.
"Heartwarming as this is, I'm going to have to set some ground rules. First, no screwing in public areas. Second, no advertising this relationship to others on the ship." Yukari and Nina make noises of protest, but you raise a hand as you explain further. "It's not that I have anything against your relationship. It has to do with the Nadesico. All the crewmembers of this ship signed a contract before they came on board. Part of the contract states that any acts of intimacy beyond holding hands are expressly forbidden. Now, you girls are guests aboard the Nadesico, so this technically doesn't apply to you, but I don't want the crew getting jealous and causing a ruckus as a result."

Nina and Yukari share a worried glance before nodding in unison.

"Good, now that that's out of the way, we can get to what I wanted to talk about. I want to get to know each of you a bit better. We're piloting the Blühende Rose now, and it would be stupid to do that when we're complete strangers to each other." You say. A bit of tension seeps out of the girls.
"Well, there's not a lot we can tell you about us. We don't even really know our pasts before we were with...them." Lucia says.
"We might as well tell her about the cybernetics." Yukari blurts out.
"Yeah, they would have found out anyway after a medical exam." Nina agrees. You furrow your brow in concern.
"Cybernetics? But you all look like normal humans." You say in confusion.
"Well, most of them are internal. I'll go first." Nina says. "Apparently my body had lost the ability to store and process fat when they found me. They showed me a picture of what I looked like when I was first brought in, and it was NOT pretty. They gave me gene therapy and replaced basically all the muscle in my body after that didn't solve the problem. The only good thing that came out of that was that they gave me this sexy body, and given what they say I had to work with before, this is definitely an improvement." She runs her hands over her body as she says this, relishing her healthy, beautiful form.
"I'll go next." Yukari raises her hand.
"When they brought me in, I had in inoperable brain tumor. Normally, they would have used nanomachines to get rid of the tumor, but it had metastasized and grown so large it would have taken too long for them to work. So they cut my head open and ripped out the tumor. They put cybernetic implants in my head to repair the brain damage that was caused by the operation, and replaced a few organs that the cancer cells had settled into with cybernetic replacements while purging the rest of it with nanomachines." Yukari taps her head as she finishes explaining.
Lucia stares at the floor for a good while.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." You say gently.
"No, I can handle it." Lucia says. She takes a deep breath.
"I have the most cybernetics out of the three of us. Given what they told me I had suffered from when they found me, it makes sense. According to them, I was a survivor of some kind of nerve gas attack. I was alive, but I had suffered enough brain damage to reduce me to an infantile state with basically no personality. In addition to that, the nerve gas had blinded me in one eye, and my other eye had damage from a glaucoma and a premature cataract. Most of my internal organs were damaged as well, and I'd also been rendered infertile. My right arm and left leg had developed so much necrotic tissue that they deemed it more efficient to cut off those limbs and replace them with cybernetics. Honestly, it was a miracle that they found me alive when my body was in such horrible condition." Lucia shudders.

You take a closer look at Lucia's right arm and left leg. Lucia rolls up her right sleeve and takes off the stocking on her left leg.
"They don't look cybernetic." That's the only thing you can come up with.
"Sometimes even I forget that these are cybernetic." Lucia admits as she examines her right arm, something she's probably done countless times before in moments of introspection. "They also made my stomach more elastic to accommodate the amount of food I have to eat to keep everything running."

You take a moment to process what the three of them have told you. Three girls, each with a broken or failing body. Extremely invasive procedures done to make their bodies perfect for their captors' purposes. No knowledge of their past, their only memories spotty recollections of captivity and experimentation. Thrust into an unknown situation after escaping, relying on the charity of a corporate warship and its crew.

You're overcome with a surge of pity and sympathy in equal measure as you bring the three of them into a tight hug.

"Don't worry. Whatever happens from here on out, I'll protect you. All of you." You say with as much sincerity as you can muster while trying not to cry.

The girls return the hug, tears of happiness streaming down their faces. The four of you stay like that for a good while before you leave.

---

You spend the next two days helping the girls settle in and get to know the Nadesico. Thankfully, Nina and Yukari have taken your warning to heart, as you haven't seen or heard them doing anything beyond holding hands tightly whenever they're not in their room.

As you walk out of the cafeteria after lunch, you realize you haven't seen Yurika for the last few days. You head up to the bridge to see if she's burying herself in 'work' to take her mind off of things. Instead you find only Ruri, playing some kind of fighting game pitting the Japanese kanji for 'left' and 'right' against each other.

"Hey Ruri. I haven't seen the captain in a while. Do you know where she is?" You ask.
"Officer Reinard probably scared her away. I'm worried. Let's take a look." Ruri activates the crew search function.
"Ah, there she is." You point to the blinking dot on the ship map.
"No, that's Ms. Minato." Ruri corrects you. "Where's the captain?"
The map of the ship shifts.
"The meditation room?" You read off the label you see in confusion.
"It appears the captain has gone on sabbatical." Ruri deadpans.
"I'll go see if I can talk some sense into her." You say. Ruri nods.

You make your way down to the meditation room after changing into a yoga outfit. You see the kanji for 'meditating' in brightly lit light above the door, indicating that Yurika is still trying to achieve enlightenment. A few seconds later, the light blinks off. You open the door to find Yurika in a gym outfit. She yelps in surprise as she sees you.

"Ah, Miss Ayana! What are you doing down here?" She asks in embarrassment.
"I just wanted to check on how you were doing. Nobody on the ship has seen you for the last few days, and Ruri was getting worried." You shrug.
"Ah, well, I'm just, you know, trying to destress." Yurika says nervously. You don't buy that for a second, you know she's trying to keep her mind off of Akito and Megumi's kiss.
"You mind if I join you?" You ask casually.
"Ah, o-o-o-o-of course not! Here, be my guest!" Yurika indicates the space beside her.

The both of you settle into place and begin meditating.

Mira meditates-DC 8
1d10 + 3 (sanguine) + 2 (relaxed)
Roll 5
5 + 3 + 2 = 10
New Spirit Command unlocked!

You breathe in and clear your head. It's surprisingly easy to do even with the revelations of the Rose girls' pasts, such as they are. You find yourself settling into a void within your mind. You wouldn't call it enlightenment, but it's something close.

You're promptly broken out of your meditation by a sharp thwack. You open eyes and see that a robot with a bamboo pole has hit Yurika on the head.

"Cast aside extraneous thoughts. Cast aside extraneous thoughts. They are reflected in your brain waves. Very bad. Cast aside extraneous thoughts." The robot intones before backing up and turning forward. Yurika sighs.

"It's no use. I've been trying to cast aside by worldly passions and desires in order to reach enlightenment like Siddhartha Gautama did, but my mind keeps going back to Akito! It always ends with me imagining him being swept off his feet by Ryoko, Hikaru, and Izumi, or seeing him and Megumi k-k-k-k-"
"Kissing?" You interrupt. Yurika sputters before glaring at you. You remain unfazed, and she can't maintain the glare before sighing again.
"It's hopeless. I can't reach enlightenment like this." Yurika says despondently.
"Maybe you're going about this the wrong way. Why not just tell Akito how you feel? No flowery romantic language, no declarations of him being your knight, just give it to him straight." You say.

Mira attempts to make Yurika see sense-DC 8
Roll 1d10 - 2 (Hopeless romantic)
Roll 6
6 - 2 = 4
FAILURE

"No! Akito-" Yurika doesn't even finish her sentence before the robot comes back and begins rapping her on the head, intoning, 'Worldly Passions. Worldly Passions.' repeatedly. Yurika sighs in defeat while clutching her head. You bury your face in your hands.

"Look, this is obviously going nowhere for you. Why not do something else? Maybe you'll be inspired in a good way." You suggest. Yurika deflates.
"I guess you're right." She says resignedly.

The two of you get up and leave the meditation room.

---

The next day, you decide you need a change of pace and decide to check in with Gai and Akito. You walk into Gai's room to find the two of them embracing in a manly hug as the credits for an episode of Gekiganger 3 play. After they break contact, they notice you.

"Ah, Ayana-san! The prodigal hero deigns to speak with us!" Gai says enthusiastically as he stands up to shake your hand. Akito gives a subdued wave in contrast.
"Why do you say that Gai?" You ask.
"The manner in which you obtained your robot of course! A mysterious robot with three beautiful young ladies comes forth from seemingly nowhere, and you are the only pilot fit to use the machine! Anyone who obtains a piloted mech in such a manner is destined for greatness!" Gai pumps his fist, and you half expect a flaming or sparkling background to appear behind him. "Anyway, what did you want to talk with us about?"
"I just wanted to find out what your reasons were for going on this trip to Mars." You shrug.
"Hah, you even need to ask? I joined so that I could bring protect the innocent of Mars and fight in the name of Justice!" Gai says enthusiastically.
"My, how droll.' You jokingly stick your tongue out at Gai. Gai feigns shock and hurtfulness before the two of you high five.
"What about you Akito?" You ask him.
"Well, I wanted to go back to Mars." He says. You raise an eyebrow.
"Go back?" You ask.
"Yeah, I was actually born on Mars. I lived in the Utopia settlement for most of my childhood. There was a terrorist attack on the settlement, and I don't remember what happened after that, but I found myself on Earth. I was saving up to go back to Mars when I ran into Yurika the night before the Nadesico first launched, and now here I am." Akito explains.
"Ah, the desire to protect one's homeland! Akito, you are surely a noble soul." Gai praises Akito. Akito chuckles, but doesn't seem to disagree with Gai.
"Do you wish to join us in watching an episode of Gekiganger 3? This is the stuff that heroes use to inspire each other!" Gai says.
"Sure, why not?" You shrug before grabbing a snack and settling down into a comfortable sitting position.

The episode is cheesy and over the top, but nonetheless you find it enjoyable.

---

Results:

You have established a closer bond with your copilots- +1 to your relationship with all three of them
You have obtained a new Spirit Command-Persist
You have gotten to know Yurika Misumaru a bit better and at least gotten her to stop hogging the meditation room
You've bonded with Akito and Gai

You have one more week before you arrive at Mars. What will you do to pass the time? (Pick THREE actions and vote by plan)

[ ] Bond with one of your copilots (You may pick this action twice)
-The Rose girls have told you as much of their past as they can remember. Now it's up to you to further the bond you've established with them individually. Play games, enjoy the amenities of the Nadesico together, eat together in the cafeteria, there are a myriad of ways to get to know them better.
-[ ] Nina
-[ ] Yukari
-[ ] Lucia

[ ] Look into the names supplied by Section 1 of the Disaster Aversion Manual
-Even this far out in deep space, the Nadesico has access to numerous public records. Try looking into the names you were provided to see if you can find any leads on them.

[ ] Socialize with Ryoko's team
-Ryoko seems to have gained a measure of respect for you after the last battle, and her squad mates are a bit curious about you. Despite reservations about Hikaru and Izumi's eccentricities, you feel like you'd get along with them.

[ ] Try to clear the air between Akito and Yurika
-Yurika is avoiding Akito at every opportunity. Akito is pondering life whenever he's not working in the kitchen. Watching the situation between them unfold like this is painful. You feel like you should do something about it.

[ ] Relax
-Take a load off. Everyone else on the ship is, why shouldn't you?

---

A/N: And here is the update as promised! I apologize in advance if the section with Gai and Akito seems short, I invested most of my brainpower into the first two sections. Also, you didn't think I was going to lift a character appearance from Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid and not make the character in question a lesbian did you?
Anyway, vote, discuss, and critique! Did I keep everyone in character? And I apologize some stuff in the first section comes across as tasteless or out of place.