March UE 0083 Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture Nergal Heavy Industries drydock facility

You draw your jacket tighter around yourself to ward off the chill. You were unable to fly to Sasebo directly, the closest you could get by commercial airline was Nagasaki Airport. After that, Nergal had booked a Green Carriage for you on the fastest train that was available. You had stayed a night in Tokyo first in an attempt to ward off any potential jet lag, but that had turned out to be a mistake, and given that Sasebo was only 33 km away from Nagasaki, you had fallen asleep on the train and nearly missed your stop. Even now you’re struggling to stay awake, the only thing preventing you from nodding off again a news program you’ve brought up on your phone.

"A group calling themselves Celestial Being has claimed responsibility for the attack that occurred during the demonstration of the Enact, a new mobile suit developed by a subsidiary of Anaheim Electronics."

Your eyes glaze over as the news cuts to low quality footage of the ‘battle’ that occurred, with Celestial Being’s mobile suit, a blue and white Gundam of some kind, hacking off the Enact’s right arm, not with a beam saber, but a massive solid blade.

In a more clear state of mind, you would have noticed that the Gundam in question doesn’t appear to run on a Minovsky Drive, and in fact there are no visible thrusters. As it is, you only note that unlike the Enact’s blade, the Gundam’s sword doesn’t appear to be a vibration weapon.

You’re brought out of your fugue when a secretary walks up to you.

"Apologies for making you wait outside, frauelein Ayana, Mr. Prospector will see you now."

You raise your eyebrows at the use of German, but follow her inside.

Mr. Prospector looks just the same as the last time you saw him over the video conference. Orange yellow rectangular glasses, a dress shirt with purple tie, an orange vest over all of that, and a haircut you swear was considered outdated even during its heyday in the 1980s of the pre-UE era. You’re not surprised to see him typing something into a calculator.

"Ah, frauelein Ayana! A pleasure to finally meet you in person." He gets up and eagerly shakes your hand. "The pleasure is mine, Mr. Prospector." You see no reason not to reciprocate. "I apologize for bringing you in so suddenly once you accepted, but we’ve been forced to move things forward more quickly than we’d like." Mr. Prospector adjusts his glasses. "And what reason would that be?" You ask with a raised eyebrow. "We believe that the Federation has found out about the existence of the warship Nadesico." He replied. "And you’re afraid that they’ll move to seize it?" You ask. "Precisely. The reason that we built the *Nadesico *in the first place was because our company offices on Mars expressed concern about the lack of security there. We petitioned the EFF to station a larger garrison there, or at least send a patrol fleet periodically, but all our requests have either been denied or outright ignored. So, the board of directors decided to take matters into their own hands." Mr. Prospector explained. "Okay, but how do I figure into this?" You cross your arms. "We’ve already found a willing crew for the ship. However, although highly competent, the command crew is somewhat...eclectic. The company president himself demanded that I find someone who could balance out the...eccentricities of the bridge crew."

It takes a few seconds for the implications to sink in. "You want me to babysit the bridge crew of your warship?" You say in half-disbelief. "Ah, I think you misunderstand, the bridge crew is projected to perform extraordinarily well under combat conditions. It’s the potential for what occurs outside of combat that has everyone worried. We believe that having The Silver Bulwark in their midst ought to ground them somewhat."

You flinch. "Please don’t call me that." You don’t quite growl the words out, but Mr. Prospector can clearly tell he’s struck a nerve. "My apologies, Miss Ayana." He bows in the manner of a traditional Japanese apology. "Why don’t you get some rest? The captain of the ship is arriving tomorrow, along with most of the other bridge crew. There is also another matter that you wished to discuss that I feel can wait until then." "Thanks, don’t mind if I do then."

Your sleep is thankfully dreamless that night. You wake up the next day and feel like you’ve shaken off the worst of the jet lag. After having breakfast, you meet with Seiya Uribitake, the chief mechanic of the *Nadesico. *He takes great pride in showing you the ReZel that Nergal procured on your behalf, and he’s customized it to your specifications.

What extras did you request? (Pick ONE)

[ ] A megaparticle cannon It took some doing, but Uribitake has managed to cram a hand-held megaparticle cannon onto the structure of the ReZel, and he assures you that you’ll be able to transform into Waverider mode without having to dump the weapon.

[ ] A Defenser b-Unit An add-on usually reserved for the ReZel command type, the Defenser b pack has additional boosters and beam cannons optimized for mid to long range combat. Uribitake reminds you, however, that the Defenser b pack was originally designed for use in space, and deploying with it in atmosphere might gimp your mobility if you forget to take it off.

[ ] Full armor, Thunderbolt Sector style Taking a cue from the renowned Io Fleming, you decided to bolt on as much armor and extra missile launchers as you could manage without causing the ReZel to collapse under its own weight, in addition to the thrusters required to actually move with so much additional mass. Uribitake warns you that if you deploy with the Full Armor pack, you won’t be able to use Waverider mode unless you dump ALL of the extra armor.

You look over the ReZel custom with a satisfied nod, and Uribitake flashes you a thumbs up in return. You’ll forgive the man his obsession with scale models and collectable figurines, as his raw skill more than makes up for his eccentricities.

It’s time for your meeting with Mr. Prospector about the matter you wanted to discuss with him yesterday. You had agreed to join, but with a stipulation: Nergal would have to help you figure out what happened to you in your blank year. Mr. Prospector meets you in a room that he assures you has no listening or recording devices, and for good measure activates a white noise generator once you’ve closed the door. He clears his throat before opening a briefcase filled with sealed documents.

Mr. Prospector investigates your blank year-DC 10 1d10 + 5 (professional accountant) + 2 (Nergal PIs) + 3 (free access to your bank statements and credit card records) - 2 (investigating circumstances that are not recent) Roll 3 + 5 + 2 + 3 -2 = 11 BARE SUCCESS

"I apologize, but even with the substantial resources of Nergal Heavy Industries, I’m afraid our investigation into what happened to you during your blank year was...less than enlightening." He hands you the first sealed document. It’s a copy of all of your bank statements from your blank year.

"We started with your bank statements. We had hoped to find transactions that we could trace to specific locations, but aside from tax payments, the only transactions that occurred during the blank year were cash withdrawals. Your credit cards were entirely unused." He hands you another document. It’s a passenger list for an ocean liner called The Blue Danube. Your name is highlighted as an occupant of an economy class cabin. The travel plan states that the ship was to depart from Juneau, Alaska to Okinawa. The departure date is listed as February 7, over a month after your blank year started. The last you remember, in December of the previous year, you were still living in Oberndorf, Germany.

"Our private investigators interviewed the crew of the ship, and they told us that you stayed in your cabin for most of the voyage, only leaving to eat in the canteen. They didn’t really notice anything about the way you behaved, other than the fact that you avoided interacting with the other passengers and crew unless it was physically or socially unavoidable."

"Was I with anyone?" You ask with a raised eyebrow.

"According to the manifest and the crew, you were the only one in that cabin for the entire voyage. Unfortunately, the trail goes cold from there. We were able to trace the location of some of the cash withdrawals, but the ATM camera footage has long since been deleted. The locations themselves aren’t much help, they’re all over the globe, and based on the dates, we have a rough idea of what your path was, but there’s so much time in between most of the withdrawals that you could have gone anywhere in between them." He hands you a map with several lines drawn across it.

The map is revealing, but less than you hoped it would be. Oberndorf, Germany is obviously marked as the starting point. Switzerland is your first stop, followed by Algeria, and then Toronto, Canada. From there, your forgotten journey takes you on a roundabout path south, going to New York city, Chicago, St. Louis, and Atlanta, before jumping to Mexico city, and then Juneau, Alaska. The route the *Blue Danube *took to get to Okinawa is traced across the Pacific, and after you arrive in Okinawa you suddenly find yourself in Indonesia, apparently. You jump from there to Shanghai, then the Philippines, then back to mainland China in Nanjing, taking a detour to Macau, and then going back across Asia to Moscow before seeming to warp to Cape Town in South Africa. The longest gap between cash withdrawals occurs, which you assume you spent traipsing about Africa, as your next cash withdrawal occurs in Ethiopia. From there you somehow get to Cairo, and your journey apparently ends in Greece, specifically Athens, as that is where your last cash withdrawal took place. You have no idea how you got back to Germany, as your first coherent memory after the blank year is waking up naked in a hideously expensive hotel in Berlin.

"Again, I apologize on behalf of Nergal for not being able to piece together more." Mr. Prospector says apologetically.

"It’s not a problem, I wasn’t expecting all the answers from the start anyway." You say.

"If you wish, I can make an excuse for you not to meet the bridge crew of the Nadesico." He says.

"No, it’s fine, I can look over the rest on my own time. Besides, if Uribitake is any indication, you might have exaggerated the crew’s...quirks." You smile. It quickly fades when Mr. Prospector winces.

A few hours later after lunch, you quickly realize that meeting Uribitake skewed your expectations too low.

"Hi! I’m Yurika Misumaru! I didn’t actually believe it when Prospector told me he’d hired The Silver Bulwark as our security consultant! V!" Yurika Misumaru flashes a v for victory sign with her left hand. You already feel a headache forming.

"Please don’t call me that. I look forward to working with you, Captain Misumaru." You hesitatingly hold out your hand. Yurika shakes it perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. You turn to the white haired child beside her.

"Ruri Hoshino. Pleased to meet you, Miss Ayana. It’s good to see that there’s going to be at least one other person on this crew who’s not an idiot." You don’t know whether to laugh or panic at that declaration. At this point, Yurika is gushing about how the long lost love of her life, one Akito Tenkawa, was delivered to her by ‘destiny’ the previous night in a chance encounter. You are pretty sure, no, absolutely sure that she’s exaggerating, if not misinterpreting what happened that night. You quickly learn to tune her out.

"Is she always like this?" You ask Ruri in a whisper.

"Whenever she talks about Akito Tenkawa? Yes, unfortunately so." Ruri responds in a deadpan tone. You’re starting to hope you don’t regret taking this job. In search of a source of relative sanity, you cast your eyes about the room.

Who do you decide to talk to?

[ ] There’s a tall woman with long brown hair, brown eyes, an orange uniform, pink earrings, and an undershirt that she’s parted to reveal quite a bit of cleavage. The description matches the one you were given of Minato Haruka, the helmsman of the Nadesico.

[ ] A woman with purple hair done in a braided ponytail and orange uniform is chatting animatedly with a man that has short cut black hair and is wearing a white uniform similar to that of Yurika’s. Based on the descriptions you were given, they are Megumi Reinard, the communications officer, and Jun Aoi, the XO of the ship.

[ ] A man with killer sideburns has done his hair up in a way that reminds you of an obscure anime that you watched on a whim a few years ago. As he’s wearing some kind of pilot suit, you assume he must be Jiro Yamada, one of the designated Aestivalis pilots.

A/N:* And here’s the start of the first turn! I hope I kept everyone in character, constructive criticism is welcome! No plan voting please, but do vote for every item in a single post. I welcome discussion, debate and speculation! The next threadmark will be the combat tutorial, so look forward to that!*