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Post by Charlie Willow on Jan 21, 2015 15:08:23 GMT -5
Charlie reared back,"Ahhhhh," half-lidded her eyes, "AHHHH-CHOO!" and luckily caught another sneeze in her left elbow. "Whoa. Ow. Excuse me." Wiped her nose right on that same arm, then again with her stump for good measure. "Oof. Grab something? Uhhh..." Her eyes rest on Silas, and she scampers right on up to the woman's side. "Wouldn't wanna mess up Cate's stuff, right?" And with that, she very carefully tried to interlock her arm around Silas's. Grinning.
"This is so exciting!" Sniffle.
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on Jan 21, 2015 23:01:21 GMT -5
Silas blinked at all the enthusiasm, but did nothing to deter it. "If we find the time, I'll help you practice your aim and whatnot. I have an old training mat we can use . . . somewhere. Might be in the cargo hold," she muttered, trying to recall where she left the blasting sheet last. She was snapped back to reality at the sound of Charlie sneezing, blinking again at the girl, then making a face as she hooked her sneezed on arm around her own. Gross.
"Boundless enthusiasm. Remember when we were like that, Cate?" Maybe Cate still had the enthusiasm. Silas on the other hand and grown sarcastically cynical. At least she did so with a smile.
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Post by Cate Baxter on Jan 21, 2015 23:12:04 GMT -5
Cate laughed, fully aware that the state of everything in the cockpit could already be considered messed up in one way or another. "As long as ya don't go touching the console up here I don't think there's much for ya to mess up."
Her hands flew down over the last few buttons and switches as the Paragon jolted out of FTL travel. There was no such thing as a smooth transition back to normal space, the spaceship equivalent of stumbling on a sudden lip when walking, but Cate and the Paragon caught themselves quicker than most. "I don't know what you're talkin' about Si. My enthusiasm's as boundless as the stars." She replied with a sweeping gesture out the viewport.
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Post by The Tired God on Jan 21, 2015 23:35:32 GMT -5
The Paragon jolted, slowing considerably in a split second, coming out of FTL travel better than most might. She was a ship designed for speed and elegance, and under Cate's control, she met her full potential and more.
Immediately after slipping out of hyperspace, their objective came into view. They still had a fair distance to go, and a nebula to cross before their communications could reach it, but with their advanced sensors―one part supplied by their "generous" benefactor, one part cross-wired with Narid software―they could pierce the veil of the purple mist and make out the station beyond it.
It was a modestly sized space station, by no means a hotspot for trade or commerce. Better suited for a research team and little more, orbiting a medium sized gas giant. All in all the operation seemed quaint, but there was no denying its importance if they had been sent all the way out here to check up on things.
A few more minutes of flight would put them in the crackling nebula, a storm of static that would do nothing worse than scramble their communications and sensors, both short and long range. Five more after entering to exit, and then they might hail the station.
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Post by Charlie Willow on Jan 22, 2015 22:29:55 GMT -5
" Teach me?" Charlie glanced down at the SD-12, now on her hip. A half-chuckle slipped out. "I've been told I'm a pretty good student. Should be fun--I'll just try not to have to shoot anything for this one, I guess?" A smirk shot up toward Silas, then around the room. "Cate, I can tell there's some kinda system here. It looks like my half of the quarters back, uh... home?" She fell silent, staring out the front of the Paragon as it dropped out of FTL.
Charlie's jaw dropped. She didn't even sneeze again (just a sniffle). Even as the jolt knocked her back against the wall--albeit gently--she could only marvel out into the nebula. If the young engineer could possibly run out of enthusiasm, it didn't seem like it would happen anytime soon. Evidence included the fact that she was now actively jumping in place. The girl had lost an arm, for space's sake, and she told the station's paramedics about how cool the new mining machine was. The new mining machine that had just lopped off her arm.
"I've read about this and thought I could imagine it. Nope. No way." She slowly shook her head, over and over, the occasional incredulous chuckle thrown in. "Space is actually more than distant stars and the same dumb rocks."
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Post by Cate Baxter on Jan 23, 2015 9:03:25 GMT -5
With the ship now out of FTL, and merely cruising toward their destination Cate's attention no longer needed to be so focused on her various screens. The chair swiveled around to face Charlie and Silas as the young pilot looked up and down her room. "...Important stuff where I can reach it an' everythin' else where it lands? That the sorta system ya meant?" Her laugh came out again, though she rarely seemed far from laughter.
"Space is everythin' in between them stars and rocks. An' lemme tell ya Charlie. There's some neat things out here. Well. Maybe less out here, here. I mean, it's pretty uncharted really but there ain't no life or nothin' besides what's out on that station. Still, stick with us an' I'm sure you'll be seein' some neat things in no time. Ain't that right Si?"
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on Jan 23, 2015 23:56:28 GMT -5
Silas stood her ground against the turbulence of coming out of FTL. She was properly grounded for it, one leg in front of the other, braced and ready to go. "It's a strategic mess. You ever drop a wrench on a box when it could go somewhere else, but you know it'll be there when you get back? Narid do a lot of that. You'll find power cells in the bathroom, and depth charges in the crew quarters. Narid ships have six yokes, too," she commented, following the topic in the only way she knew how, by comparing what she assumed the conversation was about to the unnecessary complexity of Narid technology.
"Maybe I'll show her how to shoot as good as me, and you'll show her how to fly a quarter as good as you?" she joked, knowing full well that Cate would never let anyone fly her baby but her. "If we're going to be touring her across the Milky Way, might as well bring her up to speed as a spacer while sight seeing, yeah?"
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Post by Charlie Willow on Jan 24, 2015 18:03:06 GMT -5
Bearings regained, Charlie made a fairly belated attempt to stay casual and lean on the wall she landed against. Totally nonchalant, and trying to stifle the grin that was fighting to steal face real estate. "Well, I fully intend to stick with you guys, especially if there's even more than just other space stations out there."
Her fingers idly tapped on the side of her new pistol still, exploring the grooves of the metal, making mental notes of how to play (read: take apart and put back together, but neatly unlike SOME people) with it later. "Speaking of up-to-speed, what exactly do we plan to do when we get there?" She looked a mix of anxious and curious, pointing out the front of the ship toward their destination. "Just so I can try to be useful from the get-go."
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on Jan 24, 2015 20:34:58 GMT -5
Silas directed her attention to Charlie, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she explained the plan again. What was this, three times now? "We hail them, dock onto their station, and board. We're inspecting. I'll do most of the talking, and try to figure out what's . . . wrong, I guess. A beacon was tripped, that's all we really were told. We just have to make sure nothing is reaching critical mass, and that they're not trying to cover it up."
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Post by Cate Baxter on Jan 24, 2015 20:37:41 GMT -5
"If it's some sorta defect I'm sure you'll be a much welcome er... hand to have. Better'n our old bot, that's for sure." Cate barely stumbled over her awkward choice of word, though she didn't seem too caught up on it either as she spun back toward her controls. "If we're lucky your tools'll be worth a lot more than that gun Si handed ya. Aaaaand I won't need to stick around on their station that long at all."
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Post by Charlie Willow on Jan 25, 2015 22:12:20 GMT -5
Charlie nodded along, a slight slant toward anxious making her unconsciously fiddle with the hem of her tank top. "Okay. Yeah. I got it. First mission! Yeah. Got it. Cool." She kept muttering affirmatives to herself, eyes locked fluttering between the front glass of the ship and Cate's screens. "I gotta write this in my diary." Still mumbling and fiddling. "I gotta start keeping a diary."
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on Jan 26, 2015 1:43:16 GMT -5
Silas ruffled Charlie's hair as she started to leave the cockpit. "I'm going to finish getting dressed and ready to go. ETA, Cate?" she asked, having to yell from her cabin to have her voice be heard. Nevermind that there was an intercom. Silas clearly didn't mind shouting across the ship.
While she waited for Cate's calculated answer, she collected her gear and started the long process of fastening her blastvest and getting her holsters attached to her hips.
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Post by Cate Baxter on Jan 27, 2015 19:43:12 GMT -5
A flick of a switch, a slight shift as the ship altered its course a bit, and a few taps at a side screen followed Silas leaving the room. "We're looking at T-minus four minutes an' forty eight seconds until we're hitting their sensors. Another ten an' we'll be nuzzlin' right up alongside them snug as a babe." Cate's answer rang out, knowing that Silas hadn't moved so far that she would need the intercom to yell to her.
"Which means ya have plenty o' time to suit up an' I have..." She held the last word, spinning her chair back to look over the assorted mess in the cockpit. "Jus' enough time to find somethin' proper-like to wear. Since pajamas ain't all appropriate for representin' Soline." The way she said the latter sentence made it clear she'd heard a lecture on the subject before.
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Post by Charlie Willow on Jan 27, 2015 22:38:19 GMT -5
Charlie muttered her way right out the door, scribbling various diary-related things in marker on her right elbow. "I'll go put on something warm and... presentable!" She at least knew her dad's old jacket didn't have more than a few oil and grease stains on it. "Be back in five!" Her relatively urgent scurry turned to a boot-clanking run back to her 'quarters'.
It was more of a closet that happened to be empty in the engine room. It had just about everything she needed: A cot, a lamp, a dusty, old alarm clock+music player, and her bag of clothes. In that bag was an old military-esque jacket, obvious to some that it was meant to look retro. Very retro. With it's color an odd mix of brown and forest green and many pockets, Charlie could think of no place more comfortable to be in during her first ever SPACE MISSION.
She tossed it over her shoulders, stowed a few extra things in it's many compartments (including the sealed right forearm), and plopped onto her minimal bed. "Dear future diary, I think it's finally hitting me that I'm on a starship crew. Actually a little speechless. Been fixing it for days, but it only just occurred to me that we actually left the station." She popped a peanut in her mouth from her breast pocket and waited with her own thoughts.
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on Jan 28, 2015 16:19:02 GMT -5
Silas didn't bother returning to the cockpit once she was all suited up. She figured Cate might be changing, so best not interrupt her need for privacy as she did that. Not everyone on board was open to onlookers, after all. Instead she left for the conference room, where all their communications went through by default. The cockpit was usually too messy to be a proper place for important business discussions, believe it or not.
Once there, she tapped on the intercom to broadcast across the ship. "Once we're in range, go ahead and send me the details to conference. I'll hail them from there," she ordered, her tone sounding more like a suggestion, just so she didn't come across as bossy. Silas wasn't the captain, and she knew that better than others. She was just the one with the most experience.
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