Short Leave On Return

Started by Desertpuma, April 23, 2018, 10:27:12 PM

Desertpuma

The Brass Ferret had broken away from the gravity well of the star. As they accelerated away, behind them, the shuttle gave up the fight without any power. Before it could be absorbed by the star, it exploded in pieces, none of which left its orbit. Whatever had been left on board was utterly destroyed.

Up ahead, the icy rings of Beylix could be seen. It was a good thing too. The fuel gauge was showing at less then ten percent due to the short refuel. The comm came to life as they circled closer to the planet. "Brass Ferret, this Fractured Field. There was a flash near the store. Are you receiving? Come back."


Sienna Cole

Quote"Hi. Yeah. I'm... I'm ok. I just had one of- ... I had a nightmare, is all. I get them when I don't- ... When I stay in one place for to long. Sorry. Freya was showing me a breathing exercise to help me calm down." She looked back at the girl crouching over her. "And it helped. Thank you."

Sienna nodded, still slightly concerned with Freya's 'breathing exercise,' and E.V.'s overall state. But things seemed calmer than the initial holler she had heard from the galley. She looked over at Freya with a small smile, it was lucky they had her on the boat, she was an odd one but had some hidden talents it seemed.  Freya didn't even seem to register what happened or if something was wrong. Sienna shook her head, a small smile forming,

Quote"They made breakfast," she informed her, remembering why she'd come in her in the first place. "It's probably good, it smelled good. Could be terrible, I wouldn't know,"

Chuckling, Sienna walked in further towards the two, she took a stood by Vee looked at Freya who was still right up in the comp tech's face.

"Yes, there is, and perhaps we should go get some, " Looking down at the exhausted red head Sienna stuck out a hand, "Need a hand there m'lady." She grinned and nodded her head toward the door."

David Maverick

Briar and David managed to pull the Brass Ferret out of the pull of the star and get her turned about back in the direction of Beylix. Auto-pilot would give them about a half hour until they would need to be back in the cockpit to break atmo and land back at the Salvage yard.

"Well, that went well," David remarked with a satisfied smirk. "Shall we go meet the damsel in distress?"

As he stood, the shouts from the sleeping quarters floated through the galley and reached the cockpit. David's brow furrowed; his hand went to the Alliance-issue handgun at his hip. He moved steathily through into the galley, purposely keeping himself in front of Briar to protect her if something was happening.

He arrived at the doorway to the sleeping quarters behind Sienna to hear EV explain that she had been having a nightmare. He'd heard EV shout in her sleep before, so it wasn't surprising.

As for breakfast, he'd passed it in the galley already set out on the table by Carrie.

"Oh, it's definitely good," David affirmed, with a quick grin to Carrie. He was already back to his relaxed, care-free demeanour as if he hadn't been concerned for even a second. He leaned one arm up along the doorframe and leaned inside.

"So this is the Wisp," he commented with a smile at Freya. "Welcome aboard." As usual, he had that curious look on his face - as if he was reading her thoughts and found them quite amusing.

"Come on," he encouraged as he headed back into the galley and took a seat. "Let's eat and get to know each other with some semblance of decorum.

Evelyn Vell

Quote"They made breakfast," Freya informed her, "It's probably good, it smelled good. Could be terrible, I wouldn't know,"

As if on queue, E.V.'s stomach growled. Oh... yeah. Haven't eaten anything since... what, last night? Food suddenly sounded like a fantastic idea. Sienna walked over, and E.V. looked up at her with tired hopefulness.

Quote"Yes, there is, and perhaps we should go get some, " Looking down at the exhausted red head Sienna stuck out a hand, "Need a hand there m'lady."

E.V. gave a snort of laughter and nodded, reaching up to take Sienna's offered hand. "Why yes, I seem to have fallen and am in need of assistance. Thank you." she said in a mock aristocratic accent. Once back on her feet she may have let her hand linger in Sienna's a moment longer than necessary. Easy there, down girl.

David had also entered the room, no doubt drawn by her waking yell. Once she was fully awake again she always got so embarrassed when there were people around when she had her nightmares. Freya had seemed to be totally unfazed, minus the pillow to the face she had given Vee. And Sienna was... Mmm. No, down girl. Down! And even though David had been around for one of Vee's dreams in the past, she felt her cheeks start to redden a little, hoping no one else was going to come in to check on her.

Quote"Come on," David said as he turned and headed back into the galley to take a seat. "Let's eat and get to know each other with some semblance of decorum."

E.V. nodded. "Yes, food would definitely be good." She said, her stomach agreeing by way of another rumble. She followed Sienna and Freya back out into the Galley and took a seat.
Dialogue color: hotpink

Freya

July 21, 2018, 10:19:45 PM #124 Last Edit: July 21, 2018, 10:25:11 PM by Freya
"Need a hand there m'lady?" Sienna asked, extending her hand to E.V. "Why yes, I seem to have fallen and am in need of assistance. Thank you," E.V answered, setting her hand in Sienna's.

Freya nodded solemnly and placed her hand atop the one Vee placed in Sienna's palm, grabbing them both and using them to get herself up into a standing position. "Yes, yes I do," she answered, trying at being as graceful as the title 'm'lady' demanded. When she was up, she took her hand back and stared at E.V and Sienna, absolutely noticing how long they were holding hands. Blinking curiously, the girl looked up at the women and squinted in thought.

"So this is the Wisp. Welcome aboard," came a man's voice and the girl whipped her head around to spot the Captain leaning into the room, his smile disarming her.  Very slowly, she smiled back at him in return, his use of her nickname making her like him almost immediately. A wild blush colored her cheeks and she slapped her hands over them to hide it, the toes of one foot digging against the ground sheepishly. "Thank you," she answered, looking at the ground, then up at him again... wait, where'd he go? She froze, hearing his voice coming from the hall just outside the door.

"Come on, Let's eat and get to know each other with some semblance of decorum," he said.

Freya rushed past Sienna and E.V, practically scrambling after the man. On her way, the blanket she'd tossed aside earlier tangled about her feet and the world came crashing down around her. The wisp landed with a thud half in and half out of the sleeping quarters, her face pressed against the floor and her hands up above her head, resting palms down on the ground. Hoping David hadn't seen that, she flailed and kicked to get the blankets off of her, scowling at them as though they'd done this on purpose. With one more kick, she was free and used the doorway to pull herself back to her feet.

Once in the galley, Freya brushed off the front of her shirt, straightened her mess of a mane, and cleared her throat. She brushed her nose with the side of her index finger knuckle and conveniently found a seat next to the Captain, her gaze on the food at the table as though it were occupying her thoughts and she hadn't at all meant to sit next to him.
Dialogue color: teal

Sienna Cole

Quote"Oh, it's definitely good," David affirmed, with a quick grin to Carrie. He was already back to his relaxed, care-free demeanour as if he hadn't been concerned for even a second. He leaned one arm up along the doorframe and leaned inside.

"So this is the Wisp," he commented with a smile at Freya. "Welcome aboard."

Sienna looked back at David who had miraculously managed to pull them out of the star's grip.  Of which she was grateful, however his jovial mood was still odd for her, "Quite the flying you managed back there Sir.  Glad to be alive.  This is our new...passenger Freya, Wisp. Yes. Quite the survivor." She smiled looking down at the girl on the floor she shook her head.  Sienna nodded in acknowledgement as David headed to the galley.

Quote"Why yes, I seem to have fallen and am in need of assistance. Thank you."
Grinning, Sienna pulled up the red headed beauty, looking down at her hand she noticed Vee letting it stay a bit longer.  She looked back at Vee with a small smirk on her lips.

Feya extending the hold by putting her's on top and hoisting her self up. The girl unphased but what was going on around her. Though she didn't mind the extra time with Vee.  Who clearly wasn't a fan of being the center of attention, at least not in this instance. She gave Vee's hand a reassuring squeeze and left to follow the captain, to finally get some food. 

Quote"Let's eat and get to know each other with some semblance of decorum.

Sienna took a seat, smirking at David, "Now what fun would that be sir?

David Maverick

July 23, 2018, 05:18:08 AM #126 Last Edit: July 27, 2018, 12:04:12 PM by PurpleRiver
Hearing the light thump as Freya tripped on her blanket and fell to the ground, David turned back and moved with the intention of going to the girl. He was worried she might have hurt herself but his concern seemed to be unnecessary as she somewhat comically shook herself free of the blanket and back to her feet.

As for the compliment on his flying, David shrugged his shoulder and grinned. He waved away the compliment but in such a way that he was making a show of modesty, as if he loved hearing how great he was but was trying to appear like he didn't. Of course, those with insight knew that when he actually was responsible for a great feat of flying he was cool and quiet. This was his purposely exaggerated reaction to praise he did not feel was necessary.

"Well, tuck in," he encouraged as he reached out to fill his plate with breakfast. To make a little more room at the table, he scooted his chair closer to Freya to make space for his co-pilot.

Desertpuma

The fuel gauge was dropping more quickly than expected and showed less then five percent due to the short refuel. The comm cracked again as they got closer to the planet. "Brass Ferret, this is Fractured Field Industries. There was a flash near the star. David, are you receiving? Come back."


Briar Williams

It was such a close call that Briar didn't even feel relief after it was over, per se, just vaguely dizzy, like she was coming down from anesthetics. She'd been in dangerous situations before, but somehow shootouts were a lot less scary than being sucked into a star. A lot less... cosmic in scale.

"Well, that went well. Shall we go meet the damsel in distress?"

David was looking chipper as ever, so Briar put on her cheeriest smile as well and just nodded. As she stood up, she suddenly realized her legs had gone slightly wobbly from all the excitement. She lost her balance for a moment and gripped the back of the chair to adjust to the sensation of standing upright. She was just about to follow David out of the cockpit when the comms behind her crackled to life.

"Brass Ferret, this is Fractured Field Industries. There was a flash near the star. David, are you receiving? Come back."

Briar briefly wondered if she should call out to David -- he was the captain, after all. But then again, what was the point of that? She was just as qualified to send out comm messages as he was. She slid back into her chair to respond.

"Yes, hello, this is Brass Ferret, co-pilot Briar Williams speaking," she said, putting on her best official voice. "We successfully rescued a... civilian -" (civilian? what was this, the War?) "- from a broken-down shuttle near the star. We're all safe and on our way back now, ETA is in about... 45 minutes, give or take."

Her eyes flickered towards the fuel gauge. Now, a sense of relief did wash over her: a sense of relief over the fact that at least they weren't going to be in the star's pull when their fuel ran out. Still, it wasn't good.

"Uhh... Our fuel situation's not looking good. We might be needin' a hand. Or not, if we're lucky. Stay tuned."
Dialogue color: peachpuff

Evelyn Vell

E.V. had to admit, this Freya girl was really growing on her. In spite of her glacier hands. The way she grabbed Vee's and Sienna's clasped hands to lift herself up like that was a perfectly normal thing. Or how she gravitated to a chair next to David when there were several others available... it was adorable.

Vee was about to nudge Sienna and say something along the lines of "Can we keep her?", when the full aromas of the food finally hit her nostrils. Maybe it was the fact she hadn't eaten in far to long, or maybe it was the semi delusional state of exhaustion she was in, but it smelled like the best food she'd ever smelled. Her stomach gurgled in agreement, which she would have been mildly embarrassed about, but currently she couldn't care less.

She barely registered Davids "Tuck in!", and did indeed tuck in. She had to force herself not to gobble it all down in a distinctly unladylike manor. She was so focused on that and the deliciousness of the food that she barely noticed any of the immediately following conversation, or even who was or was not at the table. Probably for a good 5 minutes.
Dialogue color: hotpink

Sienna Cole

Sienna looked back at Vee an smiled nodding at her nudge. The same thing had crossed her mind.  Freya was certainly growing on her,  but no more than Vee.  Sienna nudged her back and slid in next to the red head at the table. The food while slightly cold still smelled amazing at this time.

She grinned as Vee clearly tried to restrain herself from inhaling the food in front of her.  Sienna grabbed her own plate of food and looked back at David,

"So Sir, what's the plan? Now that we've seemed to escape the death star."

Freya

A bright red blush crept up Freya's neck, coloring her cheeks and a bit of the bridge of her nose as David scooted closer to her. Hands grasped at the sides of the seat and her body tensed up, shoulders up around her ears. The girl tried not to look over at the Captain obviously, thinking that the hundreds of little tiny glances she shot in his direction were more subtle.

"Well, tuck in," the Captain invited.

With a deep breath, Freya reached forward to pull her plate closer, but had to stop to watch E.V's impression of a vacuum. Her eyes widened, clearly impressed, and she froze in place, absolutely enthralled at how much food was disappearing into the slender woman. Where did it all go?!  Very carefully, moving slow so as not to startle the hungry animal, Freya began scooping the food off her own plate and across the way onto Vee's, both to feed the starving creature and to see if she'd notice.

"So Sir, what's the plan? Now that we've seemed to escape the death star," Sienna asked.

The question barely reached her through her focus, but she slowly tore her gaze off E.V to stare at Sienna, her features still screwed up in morbid fascination. With an exhale, Freya turned her head to level her gaze upon the Captain, still slowly shoveling food onto Vee's plate from her own.
Dialogue color: teal

David Maverick

July 27, 2018, 12:15:01 PM #132 Last Edit: July 27, 2018, 12:16:23 PM by PurpleRiver
As David ate, he was running some numbers in the back of his head. Pulling out of the gravity well of the star had taken more than he had expected. They hadn't had time to fully refuel.

He noticed Freya slightly tense up and regretted moving his chair closer to her. She was probably frightened and overwhelmed enough already.

Sienna asked about their plans. "Back to Beylix," he replied between bites. "Figure out how to get this little one home," he added. "Then back to work as usual."

He probably shouldn't have called her 'little one' but it slipped out. Normally he'd never risk saying anything that could possibly be taken offense to, but he wasn't fully concentrating.

The more his mind did its background calculations, the less appetite he had. He might need to go run some actual numbers because his rough estimates were much too close for comfort.

He took a couple more forkfuls to fill his mouth, wiped it with a napkin and stood from the table.

"We seem to be missing our new pilot," he stated, hiding his real reason for vacating the galley. "I'm going to go collect her." He smiled, as he always did.

When he stepped into the bridge, he closed the airlock between the cockpit and the galley. Not a normal thing to do if he was just "collecting the pilot" as he had said.

In a quiet, all-serious voice, he looked at Briar. Reading his thoughts on her face. "How's our fuel?" he asked her, though he was about to get that answer from the computer. There should have been some kind of warning if they had entered a route that didn't equate with the amount of fuel they had. If the ship didn't have enough fuel for the route entered into the autopilot, it should have given them a notification when it was input. All the same, David wanted to run the numbers for sure.

Briar Williams

When Briar heard David enter she turned in her chair to face him.

"How's our fuel?" he looked and sounded more serious now than he had back when they'd been in immediate danger of getting sucked into a star and being horribly burned alive. That was slightly troubling on several levels.

"Just dipped below five percent", she said, gesturing toward the gauge. "I'm assuming that's not quite enough for the trip back, is it? But hey, at least we ain't in the star's pull anymore. And, uh, if we do run out of gas, can't they just, y'know, send a shuttle full of guys in jumpsuits our way to take care of the problem? Ain't that how proper companies do things?"

She realized she was doing the rambling thing again, and slumped back in her chair.

"Sorry. I've never actually worked for a proper company before, can you tell?" she flashed a brief sheepish smile before turning every bit as serious as he'd been upon entering. "What do we do, Captain?"
Dialogue color: peachpuff

Evelyn Vell

E.V. was indeed so engrossed with eating her food that she didn't notice Freya slowly scooping more food onto her plate, at least at first. After a couple minutes something in her brain finally realized that the food level on her plate wasn't... going... down. The table and her surroundings whooshed back into her frame of consciousness, and she looked up to see Freya with a spoon full of food half way to Vee's plate. Okay, that settles it, we have to keep her. She swallowed her current mouthful and then gave Freya a grin. "I think I've got enough now, thank you love." She paused and looked around. "Sorry, guess I needed food more than I realized, what did-, Oh, where did David go?" She burped, and quickly covered her mouth, a little color showing in her cheeks. "Sorry."
Dialogue color: hotpink

Sienna Cole

Sienna nodded as David left to find Briar, she was taking an awfully long time. Hopefully nothing had gone wrong. She looked over at Freya, not really keen on the idea of letting her go, and Vee didn't seem to want to either...they could use the help as well. She seemed like she could be taught.  Sienna shot a look to Vee, and looked back at Freya,

"Freya, how old are you exactly?" She knew there were laws about child labor etc. But perhaps they could forge something, she knew Vee had the skills she took some of the food off her own plate and give it to Freya.  As she had given the majority of her own to Vee.

Freya

"Figure out how to get this little one home," David informed them.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, trying hard not to look like she was hanging off his every word. She didn't mind being called little. She was little. Facts didn't bother her much and she took no offense at the title. In all honesty, he could have called her anything and she'd have found a way for it to be a good thing. Messy? She was adventurous and didn't mind getting her hands dirty. Crazy? She lived life on the edge and was open to new opportunities. A creepy space child? She was a free spirit, a child of the universe. A gentle, love sick sigh escaped her, lowering her shoulders a little and raising her eyebrows.

"I'm going to go collect her," the Captain informed them as he headed off, much to the disappointment of the Wisp.

"I think I've got enough now, thank you love," E.V told her.

Again, Freya looked baffled. She'd been called cute, had her cheek pinched, and was now referred to as 'love'. This was all new territory for her and she wasn't entirely sure how she was supposed to respond to things like this. Growing up alone in the black, moving from cargo hold to cargo hold, had left her a little inexperienced when it came to social interactions. Which might have been why she seemed to flail about in life and had very little in the way of social finesse.

"Freya, how old are you exactly?" Sienna asked.

The girl looked down at her food, surprised to see that there was more there (thanks to Sienna). Her stomach grumbled angrily and she finally set to sating its voracious need. With a mouthful of breakfast, she thought over the answer, doing some math in her head. "Thirty," she answered, grinning lopsidedly. Obviously, her math was a little off. Looking down again, she held her spoon in her left hand and used the index finger of her right to write out invisible numbers on the table top, trying to redo the math. Her braids slid over her shoulder, surrounding her face in a curtain of knotted brown ropes. "Sixteen?" she finally guessed, looking back up at the two women.
Dialogue color: teal

Desertpuma

"Briar, we are not showing your fuel alert registering at all. Are you sure there is a problem?" Almost as if on cue, the entire interior of the Brass Ferret was bathed in red light as a warning klaxon started ringing inside the ship.

"EHNNT! EHNNT! EHNNT! EHNNT!"

The fuel gauge had dropped to four percent as they were just shy of Beylix's atmosphere. Maneuvering thrusters would still be needed to dodge the ice crystals surrounding the planet. The pull of the planet could be felt on the ship. It was dramatically less than the star had been but the weight on the controls was evident. "What help did you need getting down without crashing?"




David Maverick

August 06, 2018, 07:26:35 AM #138 Last Edit: August 06, 2018, 07:28:22 AM by PurpleRiver
Yup, there it was. The alarm warning.

David shut it off as quickly as it had started.

"Uh, what are the chances nobody heard that?" he asked Briar with a cheerful expression, as if they were nothing more than a pair of kids trying to sneak out of the house late at night without their parents knowing.

There should have been an alert long before this when they plotted the course to let them know that the fuel was insufficient. Either there was a mechanical failure or something had been incorrectly calibrated. David was not about blame - they'd figure out why it happened later.

He chuckled at the voice from base asking what help they needed to get down without crashing. That was funny.

"Options:" he thought aloud, for Briar's benefit and his own. "We use the fuel we've got to break atmo and then glide her down like a very heavy, clunky, metal leaf on the wind... very risky. Two, we wait in orbit for someone to come rescue us... rather emasculating but the safest option, by far."

He had made his decision but paused, for Briar to speak up with any suggestion she might have.

To Base, he spoke again, "You're going to have to send someone up that can refuel us. We don't have enough to make a safe rentry and landing. We can use our remaining fuel to get clear of the crystal field and avoid the gravity of Beylix... and the star..."

He hesitated as he did some calculations.

Evelyn Vell

Quote"Freya, how old are you exactly?"

Vee had caught the look Sienna sent her way. Oh good thinking, brains AND beauty, shes quite the combo... oh gods, down girl, come on now... It was a great idea though, maybe they could get Freya hired on the Ferret?

Quote"Thirty," Freya answered, grinning lopsidedly. She looking down again, she held her spoon in her left hand and used the index finger of her right to write out invisible numbers on the table top, trying to redo the math. Her braids slid over her shoulder, surrounding her face in a curtain of knotted brown ropes. "Sixteen?" she finally guessed, looking back up at the two women.

Thirty? That clearly cant be right. Her head cocked a little to the side as she watched Freya attempt her math a second time and then voice her second guess. Vee grinned. 16 was definitely old enough to work, at least just about most places. "Would you be looking to work on a boat like this maybe? I'm sure we could convince Davi-"

Quote"EHNNT! EHNNT! EHNNT! EHNNT!"

Her train of thought was abruptly cut short as the warning klaxon sounded, and the interior lights switched to red. She blinked and opened her mouth to speak loudly over the noise. "WONDERFUL, THAT'S NOT-" as abruptly as it had started the alarm was quieted and suddenly she was speaking much to loudly. "-A GOOD SOU-... sorry. That's not a good sound. I didn't feel anything hit us... maybe something with the engines..?" But she could still feel the slight vibrations through the hull... what else could it be? Collision warning? But they weren't doing any evasive maneuvering... She looked to Sienna to see if she had any ideas.
Dialogue color: hotpink

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