S1:Ep1 - Time is Flea-ting

Started by Lomari, October 11, 2018, 09:06:17 PM

Barnaby Goodweather

November 06, 2018, 01:40:07 PM #20 Last Edit: February 25, 2019, 02:16:39 PM by Barnaby Goodweather
Responding non-verbally to each person as they arrived, either in the negative when asked about changes to the mission, or a just-a-minute-everything-will-be-covered-in-the-briefing; Barnaby saved his words for when everyone arrived.

With those that needed to be suited up and everyone else assembled, Barnaby beamed with pride at his crew. Everyone hopped to it without having to be asked twice, and were all ready for the greater good of the crew. Their faith in him, and his in return, fostered a positive, optimistic atmosphere that caused him to grin despite the gravity of the mission.

Barnaby took a deep breath and tipped his hat back on his head before he started speaking. Lackadaisical. Calm. "Show a hands, who's walked the Black before?" He said to the crowd, and looked for raised hands to join his, though he didn't wait for them before he continued. Space-walking wasn't as common as it used to be, he didn't reckon on many of these young folks having had much experience in it. "Well I have. Must be close to fifty times now. Good thing for a spacer to have experience with. If you keep your head and stay focused, it ain't that different from swimming."

That wasn't exactly true. When swimming you could use the water to propel yourself to and fro. Not so in Space. But most folks knew that. "You'll be tethered to the ship and to each other. Anything goes rickety we'll wheel ya in lickity." He chose not to linger on this particular point. The thought of drifting off in the Black with no way back, nobody needed to think on that for too long. "I'll be at the helm, keeping Darling niiice and steady, getcha close as I can to her and I'll keep it that way best I can. Wreck is spinnin' slow, ain't uncommon in this type wreck, but that means cargo'll be scattered. We're taking whatever we can back, ain't picky on that and I don't want you out there long enough to catalogue the lot." He said, pausing for effect.

He jutted a thumb back towards the heart of the Darling. "Grab and get. That's your mission." As if on cue, the proximity alert alarm sounded. "That's me. Any questions I'll be on Com. Space walk? More like cake walk, am I right?" A joke at this time might have been inappropriate for some, but Barnaby felt it helped take the edge off. "Preacher. Tabby cat. Clear on out so we can vent the airlock. You can join me in the cockpit if you'd like." He gave the trio of boarders one last warm look. "Good speed to ya."

With that he jogged to the cockpit and swung into the pilot's seat like he'd done it a hundred-thousand times, though it was probably more. The controls were worn and familiar to his touch, the screens and read-outs easy on his eyes. He took the yoke in his hand, turned off auto-pilot, and was proud at the lack of shudder as the ship transitioned to his control. He tapped the button and opened up the group com channel. "Cap'n to crew. Com check. 1-2-3 check." As he spoke he maneuvered the Darling closer to the wreck, the movements practiced and precise. "I'll be in position momentarily. Y'all vent the airlock at your leisure and hop out on your mark."
Dialogue Color - LightBlue

Lomari

Ship Time: 1044.
Location: The revised location of their target. Within range of the ship's proximity sensors.

The proximity alarm sounded through the ship, alerting the crew and Captain to the Darling's impending closeness with the drifting and spinning ship they had been looking for. As they neared it and its glimmering aura, from the cockpit, the makeup of this fog became clear when small pieces of it bounced harmlessly off the front every so often, although for those down below, it was still all a mystery.

For those in the hold, readying for a walk in the black, the mystery of the ship's demise would soon unfold before them. With the non-suited crew out of the airlock, it was safe for the other members of the crew to press the required sequence of buttons to vent the airlock. Soon, everything became still and silent. The only noise filling their ears was the sound of their own breathing, the noise their suits made when it connected with the ground, their bodies, or their equipment, and the comms system inside their helmets. Everything else was muffled and dim by comparison.

A red light turned in a slow oscillation near the bay doors before they creaked and began to open, the shimmering darkness of the whole of the 'Verse spreading out before them inch by inch. Out in the dark, the lights blinking on the derelict vessel as well as the Darling's directional beams lit up their target. The ship before them spun slowly and calmly, like it was normal for it to be rotating the way it was. Its glimmering halo, now closer and easier to see, was clearly made up of small pieces of metal that could have been ripped or pushed off of the ship. Small black dots of shadow peppered the exterior of the vessel, around the same size as each piece of floating debris haloing the ship.

The way Barnaby had positioned them, they weren't too far of a drift from the other boat's cargo bay doors, provided they could get them open while it was spinning the way it was. Alternately, there were a few hatches on its side, likely easier to work with as they were in the center of the ship's side and so the spin on them wasn't as severe as the front and back. There was no large debris between them, but the fog would need to be navigated wisely.
CHARACTERS
Charity ~ Melody ~ Tabitha


NARRATION
Darling ~ Iscariot

Rian Carpenter

November 20, 2018, 05:44:33 PM #22 Last Edit: November 20, 2018, 05:47:49 PM by Rian Carpenter
It seemed so obvious when Tabitha said it.

"And don't touch anything you think might be sharp. And..."

It made Rian smile. It was cute. But there he was, staring out the business end of their air lock at a lot of... sharp objects. Through which he needed to pass. That is absolutely priority number one right now.

Gorram it.

Carpenter eyed the debris and while he was pretty sure they could get around/through it, it would be a little interesting as they didn't have any sort of propulsion or navigational assistance like jets of any kind. All they had was the amazing power and danger of zero G. Once your going in one direction, it takes an equal force to stop you. The debris could be an issue but it wasn't spinning fast enough that it would tear through them with it current speed. The former crook figured if they hurled themselves at the other ship like a damn missile it could tear into their suit and possibly them if they ran afoul of the debris en route.

He wasn't about to tear off on his own, but he figured their best shot was to go slow on their approach, and go for one of the side hatches.

As they collectively stared out at the derelict he asked his XO

"Slow and steady approach, side hatches look good to me but that's what I've got more experience with."

While that experience had been when they were forcing their way onto ships that weren't expecting them. Once in a section occupied by crew. And that oxygen blows out real quick. He buried that memory of being on one of his dad's jobs. Those days were long gone.

"Debris looks like it'll be more a pain when we're offloading... but we can cross that bridge..."

He could feel the needling worries about moving their payload through the debris, or how much of a concern it might be come if they suddenly get in a hurry like if somebody got injured. Carpenter kept his eye on the wreck and took another beat to focus himself on the task, and awaited instruction. He'd never worked with breaching a ship in this kind of condition before. He was used to working with ships that still had power and all their systems. Artificial gravity and all.

Viktor Söderberg

"Preacher. Tabby Cat. Clear on out so we can vent the airlock. You can join me in the cockpit if you'd like."

Viktor didn't generally like to be a bother or feel like he was in the way, but having any of the crew on a spacewalk made him antsy - as he was sure it made everyone else. To further add to his anxiety, there was the spinning of the ship and the debris they had to contend with. He took up the offer to join the captain in the cockpit. He wouldn't be able to do much, but he might feel better with the view. Suddenly, he remembered something he'd seen on another ship. The circumstances weren't exactly the same, but it'd be worth mentioning, if only to know he did so.
He'd been walking at a normal pace but now he broke into a jog. Turns out he was too slow. The bay doors had already been opened, but no reason the crew couldn't come in for the blast and go back out again. If the captain held any weight to what he was about to say.
He was composed but obviously in a hurry when he pushed through the doorway to the cockpit.

"Cap. I know I'm not any kind of specialist or anything. Heck I've never even been on a space walk. I saw this thing on a ship before I came to the Darling..." He paused momentarily, deciding there wasn't time to tell the whole story.
"Doesn't matter the details. Anyway, they sealed off all occupied areas and blew all the remaining ship's oxygen out the airlock to clear a path. Sorta worked like a bit fan. Don't know how we'd handle the crew already being out, but might that not work for all this debris? Just a thought I had."


Viktor shrugged then, as if to say it didn't matter whether his suggestion was taken or not.

Mona Heyerdahl

Mona took a deep breath as the doors slid apart before her, revealing ever more familiar sight of the vast tapestry of the Black before her, taking the pressurized oxygen into her lungs and finding relief in the apparently steady supply. A potentially treacherous fog of space debris hung in the emptiness between herself and the other crew gathered for the spacewalk and their destination: a ship, rotating end over end as if such action passed as perfectly normal.

"Stay close to each other on approach. The debris, can't tell what it is from here - looks like ore dust but that doesn't look like a mineral freighter - probably isn't dangerous but if visual becomes a problem we ought to stay within arm's length. Follow me."

Looking the wreckage over, Mona considered the apparent points of entry. The cargo doors seemed obvious, but the way the ship tumbled like a gymnast far more graceful than herself posed a hefty challenge for Riot's mechanical knowledge and a greater contest for the former soldier's own incendiary strips if the locks proved otherwise uncooperative. Hearing Rian's suggestion, she turned her nose up for a moment at the thought of what exactly that 'experience' might fully entail before conceding to herself that the new addition's idea bore some merit. After all, she herself carried the guilt of enough black days for all three of them.

"We'll find an anchor point and feed you enough line to inspect the ports as we go, Rian." Mona nodded inside her suit, a futile attempt at silent communication in the stillness of the Black. "Aye, that's a worry for later. Now we crack the shell, then we see what's worth moving, and if the debris remains a problem upon our return... Well, I'm eager to see what you can cook up." Mona smiled awkwardly as she drove an anchor point into the ship's hull, just happy to be driving the hook into the flesh and completely unaware her words constituted any attempt at humor at all.
When the battle is lost And the slain ones are chosen The Valkyries will guide us home
We'll heed the final call A call to arms The Valkyries will guide us home
Blind Guardian. "Valkyries"

Tabitha Haemish

November 30, 2018, 11:01:42 PM #25 Last Edit: November 30, 2018, 11:06:10 PM by Lomari
“Preacher. Tabby cat. Clear on out so we can vent the airlock. You can join me in the cockpit if you’d like,” the Captain called to them before making his way out to leave the space walking to the ‘professionals’. With one more concerned look and a timid lifting of her hand, Tabby waved to the group and turned to allow herself to be ushered out of the hold and back toward the cockpit. She held her bag close but seemed chipper again, having faith in her crew and finding that as long as nothing went wrong, this was going to be an exciting adventure they could talk about around the table at dinner. She was so excited for the prospect, in fact, that she was practically skipping, light curls bouncing themselves free.

As they entered the bridge and the Captain began speaking to the crew from the pilot’s chair, she set her back down by the door and made her way to the console. Looking around, she found the switch she was looking for that would play their voices over the main speakers in the cockpit so she could hear the crew without having to be bent over Barnaby’s shoulder. She liked to hear what was going on and it made reacting to any potential medical emergencies faster and more efficient. Her head turned when Victor entered, looking like he had something on her mind, and she raised her brows curiously and smiled encouragingly, her chin nodding downward a little.

"I saw this thing on a ship before I came to the Darling...Doesn't matter the details. Anyway, they sealed off all occupied areas and blew all the remaining ship's oxygen out the airlock to clear a path. Sorta worked like a bit fan. Don't know how we'd handle the crew already being out, but might that not work for all this debris? Just a thought I had,” he explained, offering up his opinion on something that might help the crew do their job. Tabby beamed at that, her eyes alight and her smile proud and warm. He was fitting in just wonderfully.

“That’s a perfectly lovely suggestion, Viktor,” she praised honestly, using his name. Tabitha was like that, it was rare for her to call someone by their title, but it wasn’t out of any disrespect or dislike for the person or their occupation. “I just worry about the force of the…” she lifted a hand, all her fingertips converged upon the pad of her thumb. Then she opened them and made a little ‘pfft’ noise. “…force of the puff?” she offered up, not sure about the physics of it herself.

Voices filtered in over the comms and the Doctor turned her head to look first at Barnaby for his opinion before peering curiously out of the front, listening to the away team, a bit of worry returning to gnaw on her insides. Setting a hand over her belly to still it, Tabby tried to stand still, her toes curling in her boots. 

"Debris looks like it'll be more a pain when we're offloading... but we can cross that bridge..." Rian observed.

"Aye, that's a worry for later. Now we crack the shell, then we see what's worth moving, and if the debris remains a problem upon our return... Well, I'm eager to see what you can cook up,” Mona agreed and Tabitha giggled in her typical bubbly fashion at the XO’s likely unintentional joke, looking around at the cockpit’s other occupants to see if they’d caught it as well.
Dialogue Color: Pink

Barnaby Goodweather

One would think that a ship, effectively at anchor and motionless would be an easy endeavor, but it was quite the contrary and required a surprising amount of attention and effort. His off-hand tensed on the joystick, Barnaby used his right to continue to flip switches and press buttons, monitoring the stabilizers, checking the proximity radar, not to mention keeping pace with the drift of the derelict and being sure his crew was still, you know, alive and breathing- in the vacuum of space there was no such thing as "sitting still and waiting."

He heard the words they spoke and processed them. "Uh huh..." Barnaby muttered, making sure everyone felt heard. The substance of Viktor's suggestion cemented in his thoughts, as well as Tabby's own response. "I'll keep it in my back pocket, Preacher. Slow and steady for now." Barnaby turned back to Viktor on this last, to make sure he knew the Captain's sincerity. "Maybe on their way back, if we need to lightning things up a bit. Appreciate'cha."

Barnaby adjusted the controls just a bit, keeping things steady as best as he could. The sweat was already forming at his forehead, the small of his back, his palms, under his arms- "I'm gettin' sweaty. Always get sweaty when I got crew walkin' the black. Pappy always said I worry too much. Worry keeps a body breathing, I say." A slight shift in the controls. Barely noticeable by anyone other than the man holding the stick. Unusual but not unheard of. Nothing came up on his displays, Barnaby double-checked. Must've slipped, he told himself and promised not to let it happen again.

"Status check. Mona, ya'll close to breach?"
Dialogue Color - LightBlue

Lomari

December 19, 2018, 04:57:14 PM #27 Last Edit: December 19, 2018, 04:59:33 PM by Lomari
RIOT*

Riot stood with her suited arms crossed and a thoughtful look furrowing her brows, lower lip nestled between her teeth as she thought on the current situation. The Mechanic gazed out at the drifting wreck, watching it spin slowly and internally going through the possible reasons for its turning.

"Slow and steady approach, side hatches look good to me but that's what I've got more experience with,” Rian offered up.

Her helmeted head turned a little, the sound of the fabric brushing against itself filling her helmet and drowning him out for a moment. With an upward reach and the pressing of a few knobs and buttons, Riot turned up the volume on the comms seated inside her helmet.

"Debris looks like it'll be more a pain when we're offloading... but we can cross that bridge..." he added.

"Stay close to each other on approach. The debris, can't tell what it is from here - looks like ore dust but that doesn't look like a mineral freighter - probably isn't dangerous but if visual becomes a problem we ought to stay within arm's length. Follow me." Mona ordered.

Riot took a deep breath and nodded, picking up her small kit in one gloved hand and hopping forward into the black with her commanding officer. She moved carefully forward, following after Mona and using the bag to gently push aside any of the debris in her way, careful not to prick herself the way Tabby was worried they might.

"We'll find an anchor point and feed you enough line to inspect the ports as we go, Rian,” the valkyrie told them both. Riot nodded her cumbersome helmet in response and grunted as she drove her own anchor into the ship’s side.

”Status check. Mona, ya’ll close to breach?” Barnaby’s voice came over the comms and the mechanic cleared her throat a little before eying Mona as best as she could.


Ship Time: 1103.
Location: Within range of the derelict. Ship's XO, Mechanic, and Gunhand at derelict's location.

The Black:

The world was silence, darkness pressing in almost threateningly from all sides. The lights from The Darling shone out on the path to the floating metallic carcass, lighting the way for the members of the crew participating in the spacewalk.

As Mona, Rian, and Riot passed through the glimmering fog, it became far more apparent that each burst of glitter was a small shard of metal ripped or pulled form the hull of the ship. Each piece was roughly the same size, although there were pieces varying from the size of a coin to the heft of an Earth That Was baseball. The sparkling pieces moved aside easily enough to make way for those passing by, although they did require special care and attention to move through. More than one chunk of scrap was sharp enough to cut flesh, let alone poke a hole in their suits if they weren't careful.

The ship, upon closer inspection, was littered with holes and likely had no chance of any remaining atmosphere or gravity inside the vessel. While the hull was covered in small entry points, none of them would be suitable for a human, let alone a human in a space suit. Having opted for the side hatch, the crew members would not have to deal with the hazardous turning of the ship and all that stood in their way now was the hatch itself, having survived much of the apparent disaster due to its thicker and heftier metal. It'd be up to the away team to decide, then, how to proceed.

The Darling:

The ship trembled softly as it maneuvered beneath its Captain's commands, and for the briefest of moments, it seemed to pull away from its master's hands. A slip quickly corrected, and noticed by Barnaby alone, but a slip all the same.

*Riot narrated with Axe's permission.
CHARACTERS
Charity ~ Melody ~ Tabitha


NARRATION
Darling ~ Iscariot

Mona Heyerdahl

December 19, 2018, 05:52:18 PM #28 Last Edit: December 19, 2018, 05:57:26 PM by Mona Heyerdahl
Manipulating the fine tuners that served to control the suit's limited forward thrust capability, Mona leapfrogged ahead in as steady and narrow a path as her practice and will managed to muster. The shimmering debris, slowly taking the form of the shattered remnants of the wreckage's construction dusted into the Black by whatever collided into it and not the mineral dust first called into Mona's mind, hid the potential dangers of jagged edges sharp enough to cause serious problems for the trio of space walkers. Mona's eyes caught one particularly gnarled shard of blackened metal, spinning like a miniature version of the colossal mass from which it fractured. and she watched it intently as she drifted by upon the PSSH-PSSH of the miniature thrusters built in to the suit's heavy pack.

"Mind those shards. I don't think I need to explain to either of you what happens if our oxygen gets cut, or a suit ruptures." Mona intended to do her best to live up to her responsibilities in regards to returning her crew to safety of course, but cared little and less for her chances of success the farther they drifted out. Lost in her thoughts for a moment, the webs formed by memories in her mind tugged at and thrummed by the simple reminder of why her purple bellied enemies on the battlefields of planets she thought long forgotten, the Valkyrie nearly missed the spindly, fist-sized chunk of an internal waste converter drifting in Rian's direction. "Watch yourself, Rian!", she warned over the short range communicators built into the cumbersome helmet surrounding her head as she tugged on the line tethering the three of them to the Darling as well as one another. Presuming Rian's former... exploits, whatever they may have been... Mona's warning may not prove particularly necessary, but she'd learned both in trenches and tunnels that presumption often led to misfortune at best and at worst calamity. Given her position aboard the ship and in life in general, Mona hoped to see little more of either.

Approaching the rotating hull at it's least vertigo-inducing point, Mona called back to Barnaby as she drove the anchor into the hull and began to wind the others toward her on one lengthy and muscled arm. "Contact made, Barnacle." Mona blushed behind the glaring reflection of light covering her face, wondering where and why the nickname came to her and how long the Captain would oblige it. "Rian. You're up."
When the battle is lost And the slain ones are chosen The Valkyries will guide us home
We'll heed the final call A call to arms The Valkyries will guide us home
Blind Guardian. "Valkyries"

Rian Carpenter

December 19, 2018, 08:13:20 PM #29 Last Edit: December 19, 2018, 08:15:22 PM by Rian Carpenter
This is going better than I thought.

Rian was surprised.

It's just a quick stroll through some gnarly starship guts and we're off to the races.

He reminded himself this was probably the most pro-social use of his skills he's employed so far. This was his 2nd shot and if he managed not to screw this up maybe he could finally put to ease some of the lingering apprehension. Or maybe he should just tell them about his background. He'd dropped enough hints and his curious list of specialties was bound to raise some questions.

"Watch yourself, Rian!"

Carpenter was in the midst of checking his other side when he heard the XO's warning. Instinctively switching to the opposite side he went for the first thing he could think of and pulled his rifle up on its strap and held in front of his helmet helmet and it hit the action of the rifle, where spent shell casings would eject. There was no sound but he could feel the metal on metal contact all the way up through his arms into his shoulder.

"Lā shǐ!"

He yanked the piece of space junk off and tossed it aside, letting the rifle now uselessly hang off his suit. He was annoyed he'd have to replace that part, but the gunhand was grateful for the head's up.

"Good eyes, XO."

As he was pulled in he was somewhat jealous of Mona's boosters, but then again that meant she got to lead the charge face first into a bunch of spinning metal. He aimed himself as he drifted towards Mona and the hatch, he grabbed on to the outer edges of it and pulled himself close.

"Rian. You're up."

"Let's have a look at what we're working with..."

This was going to be a little more interesting because the other side wasn't pressurized. Normally, when you blow an airlock, you need just enough to momentarily breach that pressurized seal and let the air push that sucker open like a dry ice bomb. He eyed the seal. There was a bit of a lip surrounding the hatch where he'd grabbed on. It was clearly designed to be breached from the outside, but by a latching mechanism from another ship. The gunhand and part time chef didn't have that. But what he did have were breaching charges he got from an alliance surplus connection in his travels. And he brought extra in case they didn't have a good seal. But he did have to have the idea knocking around in his head the whole time he drifted through space he was doing so with explosives not terribly far from his crotch.

Pulling the first strip from a pouch on his suit, he pulled off a strip from either side, it was a thin film, but made of plastic explosive. Carefully he slid the strip on the seal and on contact with the metal it slightly liquefied and worked its way into the airlocks seal. He put down three more strips around the airlock and lays a small wire connecting each strip of thin explosive goo.

"All right, moment of truth. Fire in the hole!"

He pulled himself around the other side of the ship, grabbing onto a protrusion of metal for a viewing port.

"Three!"

Deep breath.

"Two!"

No biggie, nobody inside. Easier than picking up groceries.

"One!"

He pressed down on the detonator and the shock reverberated as the hatch popped off like a deadly champagne cork.

Viktor Söderberg

"That's a perfectly lovely suggestion, Viktor. I just worry about the force of the... force of the puff?"
He nodded and shrugged. It was a valid concern.

"Well. I don't know..." He pushed a hand through his hair but didn't have much else to add. He was equally as dodgy on the physics and probably worse in his general space knowledge. The captain acknowledged his suggestion to save for later, so maybe it was feasible, in some way, if they needed it.

"I'm gettin' sweaty. Always get sweaty when I got crew walkin' the black. Pappy always said I worry too much. Worry keeps a body breathing, I say."

He would have to agree with Barnaby's Pappy. Worry certainly didn't keep Viktor's body breathing. It left him often breathless and cold, his brain a screaming jumble. To each his own, he supposed.

"'And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?'" Viktor quoted - habit which he'd been trying to break here on the ship, but it occasionally slipped out, especially in times of stress.
"Or to theirs, Captain," he gestured vaguely in the direction of the exterior crew. "You are doing well. You will get them back in safely."

And so he stood on the bridge, feeling a bit helpless, edgy and tense as he listened to the chatter coming in and the away team navigating among the debris, hyper-aware of his hypocrisy as he felt his own worries slide into his stomach like rank grease.

"Fire in the hole! Three! Two! One!" came Rian's voice. There was a slight tremble through the Darling. A thin crackle bleed through the comm. 

Viktor heard a faint echo of "Fire in the hole!" from somewhere deep in his mind. He paled by a few degrees. There were explosions.

He shook his head.

He was fine.

There are no explosions in space. Not like that anyway.

He was fine.

A flash of soldiers running for cover, the image fading a quickly as it had come.

He was fine.

This time wasn't so bad. A mild inconvenience at best.

He was fine.

Tabitha Haemish

Tabby frowned in concern and reached down the front of her top, yanking out a frilly and hand embroidered handkerchief. Carefully, like a nurse assisting a Doctor, the ship's medic dabbed at Barnaby's forehead with the warm cloth. "Would you like me to get you some water?" she asked in typical Tabby Worry. Keeping her crew happy and healthy was important to her, even if it was just making them feel less moist.

Her attention moved up toward the comms when the Captain asked for an update, her brows furrowed, and her lips pursed. Barnaby wasn't alone in his apprehension for the crew, their Doctor was on pins and needles as well waiting for their response and eventual return. Their voices trickled in as they moved through the black toward their intended target and after gently wiping at the Captain's cheeks, Tabby straightened and held the kerchief between both hands and against her chest. She heard Mona call out for Rian to be careful, her spine straightening until she heard Rian respond, a relieved breath lowering her tensed shoulders.

"Contact made, Barnacle," their XO reported in and Tabby's brows shot up, a burst of startled laughter bubbling up past her pink lips. Sometimes Mona surprised her with intentional or accidental humor and it tickled Tabby immensely.

"Fire in the hole!" Rian announced, and Tabby leaned forward to look out the front of the ship, craning her head this way and that to try to see what was going on despite their parallel positioning. The Doctor's grip on her handkerchief tightened and she bit down on her lower lip. The comms crackled, and the barest hint of a shudder ran through the ship's flooring. She didn't hear any screaming but was eager for them to check in again.

Straightening, Tabby turned toward Viktor to offer him a reassuring smile, her own faltering at the sight of him. Her chin lowered a little and Tabitha took a small step closer to the preacher, setting a calming hand on his forearm, moving slowly as though trying not to startle a wild animal. When she had his attention, she tried another reassuring smile.
Dialogue Color: Pink

Barnaby Goodweather

As Tabby mopped his brow, Barnaby nodded his thanks to both her and the Preacher's kind words. "Ain't so bad being taken care of. Got Tabby Cat here doctorin' me, Preacher's...er... preacherin' me. Feel like I'm in good hands." Speaking of hands, Barnaby was finding it more and more difficult to hold the Darling steady. He was using both hands on the control stick, and they were tensed and tight fighting to keep her from drifting off.

"Contact made, Barnacle."

"Barnacle! Ha! Why, you're the ones hanging off the side of a ship!" The momentary reprieve of tension was much appreciated and Barnaby was reminded why he loved to do what he did. Sure, he was born into it and never really given much opportunity to do anything different. And with fifty years of experience, he was darn good at it. The comradery, though, is what kept him sane all these years. A family working towards a common goal.

"Three!"

The hair on the back of Barnaby's neck rose a bit and, with an almost sixth sense, he felt like something was wrong. The air was colder. A shiver went down his spine and he seemed to stop sweating, if only for a moment. He felt Tabby leave his shoulder and go to Viktor.

"Two!"

He couldn't bother to wonder what was wrong with the preacher at this moment. That wasn't what was setting off what he referred to as his "ESP" (Entire Ship Premonitions). Barnaby could always feel it right in his bones when there was a problem coming. With the anticipation of Rian's final word of countdown bearing down on them, Barnaby caught a small red light on the control panel flicker on out of the corner of his eye. "Folks..."

"One!"

POP went the hatch on the derelict as Rian hit the fuse.

CRACKLE went the comms as the wave of kinetic energy from the blast hit the ship.

SNAP went the tension on the joystick in Barnaby's grip, it moved loose and without control. The Darling heaved to starboard.

"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap..." Barnaby flicked the switch that went with the little red light and suddenly control was back in his hand. The Darling heaved to portside as Barnaby attempted to compensate for the fluctuation in controls. He tried to give orders as he struggled to keep the Darling even keeled. He knew what needed to be done in order to save the mission, the ship, and the crew. But it wasn't going to be easy. "Tabby. Preacher. Need you to go down to the engine room. I'll walk you through what needs fixing. Go now. Be careful." He didn't wait to see if they went but trusted they would do what they could to help.

"Mona. We got ourselves some bad luck over here." A heartbeat. "Cut the tether. I repeat. Cut the tether."
Dialogue Color - LightBlue

Lomari

December 21, 2018, 10:27:01 AM #33 Last Edit: December 21, 2018, 12:58:17 PM by Lomari
Ship Time: 1113
Location: Within range of the derelict. Ship's XO, Mechanic, Gunhand at the derelict's location.

The Darling:

Inside the engine room, a small rope of smoke coiled up from a frustratingly hard to reach crawlspace nestled among other smaller spaces. Sparks shot out almost tentatively before a low whirring noise started up on the other side of the room, another component apparently personally bothered by the first one's failing.

The turbine's slowed for a worrying second before continuing back up as they had been before, although now they made a sluggish screeching noise just low enough to avoid filling the ship with sound but audible enough to be vaguely grating on one's ears. The air outside the engine room was slightly foggy, the smoke from inside drifting out lazily, not enough to fill the room or the hall but obvious when the light shone through.

The Black:

POP – The hatch gave way to Rian's explosives easily enough, more metal flying outward to join the debris drifting lazily nearby. There was no hiss of air or inward suction, further illustrating the ship's lack of atmosphere and gravity. Inside, there was darkness, the ship's interior lights having long since burned through any backup energy the ship had generated before its death. Immediately before them was a short corridor that split left and right, one toward where they'd seen the cargo hatch and one toward the ship's nose.

Without warning, The Darling pitched starboard, pulling the tether tight and almost yanking the crew of the derelict as it violently informed them of an impending issue. The sound of metal radiated up through the tether and vibrated into their suits, making the movement of the other ship almost audible, in a way. After drifting sideways for a moment,

The Darling rocked port side, tugging once more on the tether simply from its sudden change of location. The tether itself whipped side to side, knocking dangerously against metallic shards in the debris cloud between the away team and their ship, each hit echoing up the connector into their suits and reminding them via sound of their risky situation. Finally, the Captain called to his XO over the communications system, his voice harsh against the silence of space. 
CHARACTERS
Charity ~ Melody ~ Tabitha


NARRATION
Darling ~ Iscariot

Mona Heyerdahl

Quote from: Rian Carpenter on December 19, 2018, 08:13:20 PM
"Good eyes, XO."

The ever-watchful Valkyrie nodded, her suit remaining inexpressive and hiding her response. "Many hens to look after in the War, Rian. Thankfully it's one of my old habits that's served our little family well ever since. And you may be the new addition, but you're still part of the family." Reigniting her boosters, Mona led Rian and Riot along and watched Rian work.

Quote from: Rian Carpenter on December 19, 2018, 08:13:20 PM
"Let's have a look at what we're working with..."

Mona bit her lip, trying to keep her opinions to herself as Rian went about his business. A demo expert herself, blasting trenches and tunnels for most of her adult life, the Darling's XO knew better than to be overly critical to her little hens. She noted the use of concussive charges as opposed to her own incendiary strips and found herself a little surprised - perhaps even impressed - by his preparation. 

Quote from: Rian Carpenter on December 19, 2018, 08:13:20 PM
"All right, moment of truth. Fire in the hole!"

Mona followed Rian's lead, knowing what would come next. She pulled Riot to her side, perhaps a bit too forcefully, and braced for the thunder and the fury as she held her breath. Thankfully, the sound never came despite the familiar rumbling rolling in waves through her sturdy bones.

The cover popped and floated away with little fanfare, blending in rather easily with the rest of the twisted metal once attached to the wrecked derelict ship. Mona watched the cover for a moment before releasing her breath, trying to expunge the part of her that sometimes wished to float away into the Black. She pushed that part as far away from her as she could, focusing instead on the mission as she clicked her helmet lights on and peered into the now open hole.

"Solid work, Rian! Barn, the bottle's open! We're entering n-" Mona's words were interrupted by a sudden chill welling up in her stomach. Feeling a vibration working its way up the tether cord, she turned her head back toward the Darling and watched it pitch away from them. "Oh, no."

Quote from: Barnaby Goodweather on December 21, 2018, 08:22:37 AM
"Mona. We got ourselves some bad luck over here." "Cut the tether. I repeat. Cut the tether."

Saying a silent prayer to all the gods whose names she ever learned, Mona's eyes went wide as she reached for her harness and pulled a pair of security pins from an anchor port and released the metal cable connecting the spaceborne trio to their port of safety. "Barn? Barnaby! What's happening!?" Mona looked around at Riot and Rian, sucking her breath in through gnashed teeth and trying to stave off the combat-and-blood-born rage welling inside her. "It's okay. We're okay." Mona hated lying, even when she wasn't sure she wasn't.
When the battle is lost And the slain ones are chosen The Valkyries will guide us home
We'll heed the final call A call to arms The Valkyries will guide us home
Blind Guardian. "Valkyries"

Viktor Söderberg

December 27, 2018, 10:24:50 AM #35 Last Edit: December 31, 2018, 08:32:22 AM by Viktor Söderberg
As if partially disconnected from his own body Viktor felt Tabby's hand lightly on his arm. He heard the Captain's string of faux-explatives and felt the ship pitch in one direction then another. He lost his footing and stumbled, heaving into the doctor slightly and then catching her to stop her falling.
Through the fog and panic in his brain he heard something he was eternally grateful for: orders.
"Tabby. Preacher. Need you to go down to the engine room. I'll walk you through what needs fixing. Go now. Be careful."

This was something he could focus on that wasn't his inner turmoil. He wouldn't - couldn't - let his damaged mind get the best of him now.

He raced to the engine room and saw a thin haze of smoke in the hall leading to its entrance. There was a sound coming from.... somewhere?... that, while not overly loud, set the preacher's jaw aching in a nails-chalkboard kind of way.

"Cap," he said in the direction of the comm speaker "I don't know spit about engines but I'm gunna go ahead and say this doesn't look or sound good."

Rian Carpenter

"Well...

Free of their umbilical, the wee babes now had to fend for themselves. He felt the rumble like the rest, and shared equally in their impotence in the situation. Something was wrong on The Darling, and they had the mechanic with them on a drifting piece of space garbage, and no hope of sustaining themselves past the end of their air supply. Rian hated it, but he could hear the voice of his father. The words he'd utter when his boy was frustrated, and at whit's end.

"Only a fool worries himself on what he can't fix."

Dad would then go on to belittle and insult him, but Rian stopped his memory short at the useful part. Something he did often. Condense down what was useful from his upbringing, ignore the trauma. Keep moving. Identify the problem, and solve it. The grown man who now went by Carpenter looked at his ailing ship, then the derelict on which they were clinging.

"I'm gonna breach the derelict, I ain't of much use out here."

Taking some initiative, but maybe seeming somewhat detached, the cook was back on task. Lowering himself through the opened hatch, he felt his feet push a floating piece of debris aside. Tapping a helmet mounted light to activate it and looked around, meanwhile addressing his captain then the rest of the crew. He suppressed a twinge of worry for the captain, and crew back on the ship. The best use of his time, and oxygen right now, was to get to finding their salvage, and work from the assumption they weren't going to die out here. Move forward or let yourself be overwhelmed by the present.

"Darling, I'm in."


Tabitha Haemish

"Folks..."

Tabitha turned her head to stare cautiously in their Captain's direction, a knot forming in her stomach and a cold hand gripping at her heart. She didn't like the way that sounded... And she was right not to. The ship pitched to the side and she gasped in surprised as Viktor crashed into her before saving her from falling onto the ground with his arms. Instinctively, she grabbed at the front of his shirt to steady herself, looking first at him with knit brows before her head snapped back toward Barnaby as the ship righted itself and she stumbled against the preacher once more.

"Tabby, Preacher. Need you to go down to the engine room. I'll walk you through what needs fixing. Go now. Be careful," the Captain ordered, and Viktor looked keen to obey. As the man raced away, Tabitha hurried after him, putting her hand in his so she wouldn't be left behind. "Careful," she murmured to Viktor, not wanting him to trip in his hurry and injure himself.

The sound of skittering came from the hallway behind them and briefly, she looked back to see what it was, spotting Bandit hurrying down the hall after them, roused from her nap by the pitching and rolling of the ship. Her hackles had risen, the beast instinctively sensing the danger. Tabby pulled her hand free of the preacher's and pointed toward the dog, "No no! Go back, Bandit. Go. Go lay down. Lay down. Bed. Lay down, bed, go sleep, room, lay down," she called out, furrowing her brows in her best imitation of seriousness. The great big beast paused a moment, eyed the woman with human-like skepticism, before it turned back around and walked away.

With a nod and a smile, Tabitha turned and hurried into the hazy engine room after Viktor, her hands over her ears and a frown pulling down her rosy pink lips. She hadn't been in the room to hear the Preacher's amateur prognosis, but she likely would have agreed with his opinion. It definitely did not sound good... She looked back toward the doorway, wondering if Bandit was a mechanic like Riot...
Dialogue Color: Pink

Barnaby Goodweather

December 28, 2018, 08:27:47 AM #38 Last Edit: December 28, 2018, 08:31:34 AM by Barnaby Goodweather
Crew untethered on a derelict ship. What's going on!?
Smoke in the engine room. Probably the compressor coil overheating.
Could be the lubricant pressurizer. Keep it together, Barn. Lack of joystick control.
Gravitec exchange was shaky. But we fixed that!
Systems are still malfunctioning. Gotta get the payload. People on the ship gotta be safe first.
Keeping them that's not safe, second. Getting them back on board, third.
What did we do wrong? Nothin'. Didn't do nothin' wrong.
Things just happen sometimes. You don't really believe that, do you?


Barnaby wiped at his face and forehead in vain as sweat poured from every gland. He tried to keep his breathing steady, his mind clear, but there was so much weighing on his mind in that moment. But adrenaline is a helluva drug and everything seemed to move at half speed for the Captain at his Helm. Lights flashed. Sirens blared. The ship shook with a violent tremor, and though he was alone in the cockpit, Barnaby felt strong and capable. He knew what to do. The doing of it was the tricky part.

"Mona. Mission ain't changed. We'll get this fixed in a jiffy, ya'll keep on carrying on."

He told himself that, at the moment, he had to evacuate any worry about the boarding party from his mind. They could take care of themselves; not that they had a choice at the moment. There was no reason that they shouldn't get paid just because of some minor mechanical issues. In fact, a payday after this mess would be necessary to get them to the next payday. And the next. And so on until, well, Barnaby didn't like to think that far ahead. For his Pappy, it had been retirement and handing the reigns to Barnaby. But Barnaby didn't have a Barnaby to hand off to.

Sparks flew out of one nearby console, snapping Barnaby out of his thoughts.

"Preacher. Smoke is probably from the compressor coil, the lubricant pressure is too high. Follow the smoke to the source. Try not to breathe it, smokin' ain't good for you. There should be a fire extinguisher-" A sudden drop in pressure on the joystick sent the Darling to rolling again. "Dag nabbit! Hold on." A flick of a switch and a quick correction got them back to where they needed to be, though any motion sickness sufferers on board might be having a bad time. "Got it. Fire extinguisher next to the door! Lemme know when it's out."

Barnaby breathed in and then out. One thing at a time.
Dialogue Color - LightBlue

Mona Heyerdahl

The tether drifted toward the twisting ship the spacewalking crew called home, looking like a loose hair on the surface of the water basin after a face wash. The lingering feeling it left, however, bore anything but refreshment and a feeling of clean. Little but dread remained in its wake, not unlike the momentary twinge Mona felt in her gut as she left St. Albans with naught but the misplaced aspiration of glory she hoped to find on the front lines of the Unification War. 'Momentary" described the feeling she currently experienced quite poorly. "Lingering". "Choking". "Numbing." All served to describe the emotion far more fittingly.

Quote from: Rian Carpenter on December 27, 2018, 06:54:45 PM"I'm gonna breach the derelict, I ain't of much use out here."

Caught in the dread, Mona's mind flashed back to an overzealous squad member's ill-fated charge into the trench. "Wait." She croaked, her throat suddenly parched and tight. Eyelids peeling over almond eyes as they took in The Darling's movement before her, the XO heard a scream echo in her mind and imagined it to belong to Rian.

How would she tell Barnaby she lost another member of his family?

What would she do, if that last thing she referred to the Captain who offered her forgiveness and shelter as was "Barnacle"?

Thankfully, the Captain Goodweather broke in to offer her unfaltering reassurance as usual.

Quote from: Barnaby Goodweather on December 28, 2018, 08:27:47 AM"Mona. Mission ain't changed. We'll get this fixed in a jiffy, ya'll keep on carrying on."

Rian's own voice followed, reminding Mona where - when - she actually stood.

Quote from: Rian Carpenter on December 27, 2018, 06:54:45 PM"Darling, I'm in."

Breathing for what felt like the first time in years, Mona blinked and steeled herself. Panic wouldn't do to serve Clan Hyerdahl, and sorrow did little to honor the gods. "Right, then. Rian, continue taking point. Riot, in you go. I'll take up the rear. We move quickly, but calmly. Don't waste any time with unnecessary movement, and let's keep communication to a minimum. We'll be here for the duration until The Darling can right itself to retrieve us, and we need our air to last. Good? Then carry on. As the Captain said, mission hasn't changed."

Mona nodded reassuringly, the lighting in the helmet luckily shading the grim expression upon her face. In her head, she couldn't help but feel that her last wave home may well have been her own epitaph.

"Famous last words."
When the battle is lost And the slain ones are chosen The Valkyries will guide us home
We'll heed the final call A call to arms The Valkyries will guide us home
Blind Guardian. "Valkyries"

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