((liberalllama, Pippen actually received a bike because of his position in the engineering department, if you weren't sure. Everyone in security, engineering, and science received one, plus the captain, Dwan, and Colin.))
Around a thousand years ago, the kanad race looked to the stars and realized how few planets resembled their own. So few had a nitrogenous atmosphere free of oxygen, and so the filter mask came into being. So few contained oceans teeming with aquatic life, and so mass production of artificial "factory foods" began. So few were frozen wastelands of water ice, and so the kanads changed their own genetics. Yanim, like all other highbloods, had thick skin and an outstanding ability to cope with a wide range of temperatures.
But as the sizzling climate outside gradually overcame the hangar air conditioning, Yanim suddenly remembered a key detail of her previous stay on Duroma- no matter how good the scientists are in the mighty Kanad Collective, that right there is a fucking desert and a glorified land-shark does not belong out there in a pea coat and a scarf.
She took off her coat and tied it around her waist, as it would still be useful at night, and then pulled the front-most tresses of her hair back behind her ears. She tied them there using her scarf like a big bow. Next, she unlaced the upper portions of her boots and folded them over themselves, lowered her stockings a bit, and rolled up the sleeves on her undershirt. This was the best she could do, as she didn't have any light and airy clothes to change into.
Calling over Skada, she requested the YSV-82. Even though she was about to have some personal time in a safe place, she still refused to leave the Archius unarmed.
[t]http://i.imgur.com/prvMR0c.png[/t]
[quote=Engineering Bulletin]All crew: The engineering department is now operating by work-order. Please issue your maintenance requests to intranet dropbox and they will be filed in: [U]whenever[/U] hours.
Thank you.[/quote]
((Radley, if you want to have Nycho talk to Yanim, she can catch her just before she's about to leave on the ATD. This is my only post tonight, I'll be online again roughly 12 hours from the time of this post.))
[I'll get to it in the evening. Also, Days left 3. Today the returning of material starts. The end is so close I can taste it]
(( Hey Sledge is an NPC until further notice. I've got a lot of things to do over the next couple of days. I might just have to make a huge post about everything he did on the planet when I get back.
However if we're going to have a fight or something someone please kick me a Steam message so I don't miss it. ))
(On that note, Arthur will mostly be an NPC from 17th-29th, because I'll be on holiday. I'll get to a computer when I can though, if I'm really needed.)
Nycho entered the hangar and spotted Yanim. She walked over to her and examined her working proceadure. "Excuse me, Ms.Sidikan but if you don't mind me asking how come a Kanad your age become part of a ooeration like this?"
Yanim had just finished loading Skada into the ATD when Nycho appeared and asked a question.
"Hello, Ms... Shayus," she responded after taking a moment to remember her new crewmate's surname. "That's a s-strange question, no? I answered a job p-posting, just like everyone else. Had no idea it would turn out this way." She wasn't quite sure what Nycho was looking for.
Nycho smiled with her eyes. "No no, its just that it strikes me as odd that someone from the SNC would end up on a hireling ship rather than fall in line in one of their own fleets"
"They offered," Yanim replied with a sigh, "but the Batakya follows Collective d-doctrine too well. Technicians are not s-seen as individuals, but rather as a r-resource for the ship. N-no incentives are given - in fact, it is against code - for technicians t-to experiment on their own accord. Even engineers put up with lengthy approval p-process. I cannot s-stand stagnation. I see a device I d-don't understand and I m-must disassemble it."
Nycho furrowed her brows a bit. "I see. Well it is completely understandable, but Im a bit surprised hearing it from a kanad." she paused for a second. "Look, Im a horrible liar, and the reason why I wanted to discuss with you is to find out if you are trustworthy.". Nycho looked deep into Yanims eyes. "Are to be trusted?".
[I]Am[/I] I [I] trustworthy? Who the hell's asking?[/I]
Yanim blinked in disbelief at the rudeness of such a question. Suddenly, this encounter made perfect sense as she remembered that Nycho worked directly under Arthur. "I know what this is about... What a way to introduce yourself," she bitterly replied, scowling. She picked up her cane and jammed it under her coat leaving it to hang from her hip. "Maybe you should t-try asking Dr. Beasley what he stands to gain by spreading rumors." Throwing her leg over the ATD, she started the engine.
Before Nycho could clarify, Yanim aggressively pointed her finger, with one final thing to say.
"Words d-don't make trust, Ayr, actions do," she spat. "Watch and you'll s-see. [I]Watch from afar.[/I]"
With that, the ADT roared and Yanim rocketed from the hangar bay ramp onto the desert sand. She followed the traces in the sand left by the riders before her, themselves following Lion's tracks.
Dwan follows the group into the bar, sitting next to Iska. He orders himself some potable water, as he doesn't know what the bar's beverage quality is.
A strange monster-ish person came to pour in some pot water for Dwan, it glanced strangely at him then he turned to the others. The alien was very noticed for its large horns and ridged snout. "What reason you come here strange humans?" Its deep but gentle voice asked them as they drank up in the Duroma bar.
"For terra!" Yelled the four men as they raised their glasses. Lion had, to his own surprise, managed to get some syntholeum from the bar. It wasn't as good as the one from Dwan's, but it wasn't bad either.
McKinze laughed. "Feels good to relax amongst old friends once more." He shifted his eyes towards Lion.
"Now tell me son, what have you been up to lately?"
Lion chuckled. "Adventure after adventure, I can't discuss some of the details but I can share this with you: Screecher hunt on Rigel."
Both Edison's got a curious look in their faces while McKinze leaned forward. "The screechers eh? I heard they are real tough acid-spitting bugs."
Lion nodded. "Ain't that the truth. I went down into one of their sinkholes alongside my crew. It was a bloody mess, not as bloody as the Lunar siege but bloody nonetheless. We went up against a queen, tough bitch to say the least."
McKinze grinned. "So how did that end?"
Lion grinned back. "Her head is currently mounted inside the ship's bar." Sid Lion to which McKinze bursted out in laughter.
The four of them raised their glasses once more.
"Well, looks like we lost Lion for the next few hours." Varn said as the crew entered the bar.
That bar itself wasn't anything special. At least by his standards. Millions of these small spots littered the galaxy. But the bar had its charm and share of colorful folk. People who just wanted to have a good time, gangers acting though, mercenaries looking for work and even a shady character sitting in the dark corner. "That guy is probably trying to sell something." Varn thought.
"So, what's everyone's drinking order?"
As Dwan thanked the horned alien for pouring his drink, he hears Varn's question. "I just ordered water, the quality of drinks looks a bit dubious.", he says as he takes a swig.
"Well, let me help you with that." Varn turned to the barkeep."Whats your strongest drink?"
As Viper rode into the town, watching out for scout though the massive crowds that filled the streets before stopping at an clearing as the crowd was too thick for even the Sanghvi's thermal vision to see though upon the ATD.
The ATD's engine and system went dead after Viper disconnect from the tether, Viper jump down from the ATD into the sand.
Nearly sinking into it as the Sanghvi's talon like legs consistently had to move back and forth to not get suck.
Duroma's gravity was hash on the Sanghvi body, causing Viper to sway left to right but press on regardless, eager to find the scout on this miserable rock.
Hoping to be fully able again as Viper's broken shell was nearly it's tipping point, slowly creaking from within the battered inner body.
After moving though the town, looking up and down for the scout as the crowds begin to taking notice to Viper as it trekked onward, making to sure to have it's cloak cover itself as more and more begin turning their eyes on the lonely Sanghvi.
Some started to mumble to one another was already making the tired Viper very nervous.
Sanghvi's bodies are known for there value, every limb and appendage was worth their wight in credits or whatever hastily equivalent these outlaws use in this dust pit.
Nycho stepped out to the edge of the hangar ramp, the smooth desert breeze played her cape while the cool air in the hangar remained satisfactory for her. She gazed towards the cloud that followed Yanims ATD. Nycho crossed her arms, now frowning even deeper. She had suspected that a Kanad would take offence, especially a Sidikan. She concluded that this personality test had been adequit, Yanims attitude seemed far too impulsive to handle the objective she would have trusted her with.
On her way back to the quarters she sent a message to Jeremy.
[Quote]Captain Spacehawk, I have concluded that your head of engineering was not to be trusted with the plan. I understand you are in the settlement with some of the crew. Try to steer them in the right direction.
For your eyes only. N.Shayus.[/quote]
[editline]15th June 2015[/editline]
Iska glanced at Varn with a small, cocky smile.
She turned to the barkeeper. "A same for Iska" she said with a miniscule chuckle. Iska turned back to Varn, "Varn better live up to words". She grimaced and tapped him on his helmet.
The alien looked at the humans in confusion on what sort of drink they imagine he would have on this planet. He turned around and saw the collection of exotic drinks. "Strongest drink would be the all time favorite Valhalla Gin. A recipe I've gotten from another human, did some bartering with him and pressured to sell it to me. Eventually I got it." He turned his back and already got his eye on the beverage from the top shelve. He pulled out a large sized glass and some ice, preparing the drink. He grabbed the contained Valhalla and observed it, juggling it and then shaking it, popping out the yellow colored spirit into the glass.
He placed a small blue Orcaberry in the middle, the drink was finalized and came a green aura. "Don't worry human. Non-lethal, but enough to unleash your inner spirit."
The bartender also stared at the Kherigan, "Very well." He pulled out another glass for Iska, ice and another orcaberry on the counter. He shook the container once again and poured another glass of Valhalla Gin at the gates of heaven. "Good Luck to both." He muttered as he continued to serve others.
Before either Varn or Iska gave the Valhalla Gin a sip, Dwan stops them. "You don't even know how strong this drink is.", he tells the two. "Considering my background experience, I feel I'm the only one qualified to taste test this gin first.", he says.
Iska raised an eyebrow. She looked over at Varn who shrugged.
Iska jolted her head slightly, signaling Varn to hand his drink to Dwan.
After a few minutes of riding, Yanim had calmed down. At least, she was no longer thinking about the inter-department politics of the ship. Although it was frustrating to see Arthur's shade influencing an intelligent new crewmate, today was still a day off and she didn't intend to worry about things for much longer. Ahead, she could make out the buildings of a town, but she knew that she was still quite a ways outside of Bonram, the capital city.
As she got closer, she noticed the ground vehicles the crew had taken out were all parked in a straight line near a plain looking building with neon lights in the window, advertising beer and other assorted drinks. She decided to stop for water and to see what the going rate was on [I]chuapta[/I]. Joseph had told her not to drink during her recovery period, but had said nothing about ingesting some "under-the-table in a brown paper bag" painkillers.
"Is that a challenge Iska." Varn said as he made a smug smile of his own. "If so, then your on."
Before he he could take a swig, Dwan interrupted him. "Alright Dwan. Here you go." Varn gives his drink to Dwan.
Dwan grabs Varn's drink. "Let's see how this goes.", he says, as he takes a swig. He puts the glass down and crosses his hands, waiting for the effects of the drink to kick in. Keeping a continuous poker face, his eye color begins to rapidly change color, noticeably so. Dwan's face twitches a little as he crosses his legs. After a bit, his eye color changes to normal and un-crosses himself.
"Varn, Iska, do not drink this. This would probably kill both of you.", he says before slamming face first into the table, passing out unconscious.
After Dwan's episode Varn pulls the glass next to him. He looks at Iska. "So, you still wanna do this?"
Iskas jaw dropped and she turned to Varn, then to Dwan and then back to Varn again.
She stood up and was holding the laughter in, "keep eye on dwarfman" she said, a little chuckle slipping.
She exited the bar and burst into laughter. After a while she calmed down and wiped a tear from her eye.
Humans were funny, she had to give them that.
As she lit a cigarette, she saw Yanim parking her ATD. She gave her a subtle wave. "Spaska, Chief. Any news from ship?" she asked. Iska was quite glad that Yanim had followed them, she knew she needed some free time. Both Iska and Yanim had agreed on that too much work dulls the creative mind.
"No n-news, sekadera. Plenty of gossip going though. Arthur's new friend p-paid a visit just to let me know he s-still thinks of me as a misraht. <crook.>" Yanim stuck around for a minute while Iska smoked.
Iska and Yanim entered the bar. Walking behind Yanim to the counter she asked her, "and Yanim do anything to prove Arthurs rumor wrong?".
Jeb mounted his new hoverbike and got comfortable with the controls. He then accelerated at a steady clip for the bar. On his way there, he attempted to get a better handle on the handling of the machine. Turns out that the machine was made for the novice rider. Granted, his experience was more with a racing ship and a long time ago; but he felt that the way the bike handled was too much for a stable ride for his tastes. He wanted to break it loose, but the way the bike handled put a stop to that. Eventually he arrived at the bar.
As he walked into the bar, he noticed a couple of the engineers along with Varn and Dwan. Jeb called out to the engineers, "Man, I like this new machine, but it just doesn't handle to my liking. Frankly, it's way too tight and plows like a dumptruck. Any chance one of you could find a way to loosen her up?" Jeb asked.
Jeremy was busy watching the locals on this planet, praying. He found it odd to find a symbol of peace as he watched from the far distance praying in front of a grave with a cross. He didn't want to go over there and act nosy, that would be disrespectful. Then again the last he went to a grave site was the time where his father's funeral took place. Tradition was precious towards humanity and didn't really change the funeral bit much. He sighed once again and realized he felt like he was straying away from his group lately. A beep came from his holoband, his surprised demeanor.
[quote]Captain Spacehawk, I have concluded that your head of engineering was not to be trusted with the plan. I understand you are in the settlement with some of the crew. Try to steer them in the right direction.
For your eyes only. N.Shayus. [/quote]
"Where did that came from?" Jeremy immediately said out aloud. The Captain didn't know what to think of this. First it was Arthur who said Yanim couldn't be trusted, now Nycho was claiming she couldn't be trusted either. He shook his head. What exactly lead Nycho to believe that Yanim was untrusted. He was started to hate that term now, it bothered him to no end.
Surely there might be some reasons for this message. Perhaps Yanim knows more about this than him as of now. He started his ATV and went to the closest settlement.
...
[quote]"God damn, Jonas," Wuan chided. "Get your head out of your hands already. We're gonna be cooped up for this whole mission with two of the best looking babes I've seen all year."
"Yeah," Jonas replied, despondently gazing out the window. Maria and Laurel grimaced at Wuan's comment. They knew each other previously from their days in training, but this was the first time they had worked together and Wuan was already making it weird.
"Well get me another bottle of beer, 'cause I'm feeling fine," Waun said with a goofy grin. In the next seat over, Dondo popped the cap on a cold one and passed it over.
"Go ahead and get wasted," Jonas mumbled. "We've totally got time for that."
"Waste yourself," Wuan shot back. "Quit worrying about stupid shit, alright? I've got this."
Dondo interrupted, "hold on a minute- I think I remember that one," he said, pointing at Maria. Turning to Jonas, "wasn't she your bitch back at the academy?"
"Who you callin' bitch?" Maria exploded, nearly leaping out of her seat.
As the shuttle carried the five greenhorn crewmembers away from the station and toward the cargo ship they were contracted to fly to Duroma, just a day away, the computer chimed a lock-on warning from an unknown assailant.
"Very funny, Dondo, knock it off, man," said Wuan, nervously.
"It's not me, dude! There's something out there!" Dondo jolted up, pressing his face close to the glass as he scanned their surroundings for any visible foe. Jonas did the same, but neither could see anything aside from the dark surface of the asteroid Ipyk. Wuan stayed seated, still unsure of whether his peers were trying to punk him.
"If only we had some kind of weapons in this hooptie," Jonas whined. "Is the comm open?"
Laurel switched on the intercom but was unable to contact the station. They were being jammed and had no way to fight back. The outdated shuttle was already throttled to maximum but their destination, 'the Desert Star,' seemed practically stationary. Sweat was beading from Wuan's forehead as he tried to remember what he was supposed to do in this situation. "Throttle down!" he snapped. Dondo had to hear the order repeated before he complied. "If they were going to attack they'd have done it by now. They're gonna have demands for us. Check all the frequencies."
Just as he predicted, as Laurel dialed in, a voice could be heard through the static, requesting confirmation that its message was being heard. When Laurel replied, it continued. "Attention, intended crew of the 'Desert Star,' your vessel is being appropriated for State Security purposes. You will not be harmed if you cooperate. Your mission will be carried out and you will be compensated at market rates."
"Oh goddammit," Jonas grumbled. "First real job and then this happens... Where are we staying?"
"You'll be sequestered in our care on Tredet until the completion of the mission," replied the voice.
"That'll take weeks," Wuan said under his breath. Everyone was frustrated by the sense of helplessness. They had been warned many times about the activities of State Security in this area- usually "borrowing" ships to move about incogneto. Suddenly, Wuan sat up and pressed the comm button, as if struck by a great idea. "Hey, you guys better do a little better than market rates if you expect us to keep quiet about this."
"You're lucky to receive any accomodation in the first place," the voice responded, dismissively. "Exposing us would be ill-advised. Remember that we have found you helpless, unable to run or hide. It can happen again, anywhere, anytime."[/quote]
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
