LSDF Akahar, Bridge
"The plan seems sound now, sir," the New Tur'lista said after appraising and critiquing Keib's plan, offering alterations and other suggestions to keep the team covered and to cover the floorplan of the ship as efficiently as possible. In addition, since there was a Frame Pilot on the ship, she had to account for where they could help, offering fire support or using scanners to monitor their positions or perhaps getting their hands into the ship and opening passageways with the frame's huge hands.
For this mission, EVA suits at minimum were necessary. Hard vacuum was just one of the constant threats on the job - but also the easiest to address. Suits of power armour were the perfect tools for that. As for foreign threats like squatters or looters, some rudimentary firearms would do. The mission's parameters were to gather the data that lead to the
Mok'Ro's crash first, then move the ship into the Akahar's hangar or use the tow cables to keep it nearby for further examination, then call an LSDF Salvage Team to take it for themselves. At least, that's what Keib had anticipated would be the best turn of events.
Still, a sense of uneasiness was in Keib's head. This vessel had evaded him for a long time, the Brass merely egging him on like it was a snipe hunt. Even after trying to plan for what he
could anticipate, there were still many unknowns. A high-potential quantum memetic event meant that just about anything could be in there. He picked up the intercom and held it close, shaking in his hands for a few moments before he started speaking.
"
This is your Captain speaking, The LCS Mok'Ro has been located. I repeat," his grip became steady as he begun to realise the news himself, "
the LCS Mok'Ro has finally been found. There will be a meeting in the Ready Room on Deck One in half an hour, then we are to get this thing back home. Cargo Crew, make room for a Harvester Class down below. Everyone else, you know what to do. To our Freespacer contingent, if you think you can contribute, come to the meeting. You will be rewarded for your input and service."
He then put the receiver down and looked over to the doll slumped over one of the consoles, kept in place by an entanglement of wires. he looked back at his console and sent her a message.
Code:
>Mar'zhaz Keib: Aiesu, you're relieved from duty.
>Aiesu Kalopsia: You're sure? I mean... Isn't there something else I Can do?
>MK: We can speculate. What was up with the Hull?
>AK: Ours or the ...?
>MK: Mok'ro.
>AK: I'm having trouble remembering names... Chemical damage. It looks like its been
eroded, as though whatever natural processes from the faults in the metal have been
sped up exponentialy. All things considered, I'd rule out time dialation. I think its
either a chemical or biological attack.
>MK: And this is the hard vacuum of space. It'd have to be chemical, anything
biological wouldn't survive, or it'd at least be dormant.
>AK: Not necessarily. There are micillium that are known to function without
oxygen which use hydrogen and radiation to power their basic biological
processes. As for chemicals, there's all kinds of oils and residues on the
internal of the hull left by the crew and all sorts of perishables that could
serve as a food source - as well as the bodies of the crew which I think we
should inspect. But it wouldn't be life as we knew it. I'd rule in favour of a
chemical attack.
>MK: Makes sense. I hope there /are/ bodies to recover. I'll make a point
of treating them with some suspicion, getting NCB-sealed bodybags.
If there's a contaminant of any sort on there, I wouldn't want it on the Akahar.
>AK: Agreed. Whatever probe we run shouldn't be returned to the ship until
we can rule out the potential of contamination.
>MK: In that case, we'll be towing it and keeping it quarantined in space.
>AK: Makes sense. I'm not really clear with what your procedures are in
these matters though.
>MK: It's case-by-case. The tow-cables are an old retrofit for taking larger
ships that won't fit in the hull, or taking potentially contaminated ships.
There's eight anchor points on the back of the ship. A Harvester class is
fairly small, should only need two, four if it's an unstable shape.
>AK: Any news on Hakahn?
>MK: Negative.
>MK: Think he knew how to get here, or if he's been tailing us? Our
scanners would've found a small craft fitting a visual description if
there was - no sign of it though.
>AK: Same.
>AK: If its alright, I'd like to talk to you about something later.
Its... a private matter.
>MK: After the meeting and briefing, sure.
>AK: Thank-you.
>MK: Wake up now. Stretch your legs, get something to eat.
You've earned it. We would've been here for twice as long without you.
>AK: I don't... Really want to be alone. That's what I wanted to
talk to you about.
>MK: I could do with a walk too - I can hardly feel my toes.
>AK: Even though you have them? How peculiar.
>MK: Circulation.
>AK: My original doesn't even have toes. Yet she can always feel them.
>MK: Modern medicine.
>AK: Phantom limb, actually.
>MK: Hm. I remember hearing reports about soldiers having that after
getting limb replacements during my Morale Officer days.
>AK: Oh?
>MK: Yes. Phantom limb pains, like they could feel their real arms or
legs instead of the bionic, able to perceive sensations that the bionic
was incapable of, like touch for primitive replacements.
>AK: Mm. The one thing that always got me -- her -- was the itching.
>AK: You can't scratch an itch if there's nothing to scratch.
>MK: Speaking of scratching itches, I've realised I'm starving now
that I've stopped thinking about the Mok'ro. I'd rather not do the
briefing on an empty stomach. You hungry too?
>AK: ...
>MK: Need unplugging?
>AK: Yeah. I can't really move.
Keib stood up from his console and walked over to Aiesu's slouched form, cables still jutting out of her like acupuncture needles full of information. He began removing the cables one by one and pulled handfuls of them away from her, like he was trimming a hedge.
Smoothly, she felt feeling return to her fingertips and other extremities as they trembled - finally - carefully, smoothly sitting upright to glance back at him. Bags sat beneath her eyes, skin glossy in the low light, oily as her hair was, ruffled like feathers. Almost sex-hair. She took a moment to correct the balance of her glasses before bracing herself against the console and hoisting herself to her feet which had fallen asleep hours ago and soon she stood looking up at Keib. Aiesu's smile looked worn out.
Keib himself looked terrible for wear too, he'd been sleeping on the bridge in pursuit of the Mok'ro, and he'd gone through all of his clean shirts, his current shirt crumpled and stained with blotches of tea. His slate eyes looked back down at Aiesu wearily while his hair zigzagged out into barbaric curls. He had neglected the need to shave too, goatee now a lot larger and bushier while the rest of his jaw was now covered in blade-1 fuzz. There was a terrible itch on his neck from those little hairs, garrotting his concentration.
"So, what do you feel like?" he asked with a croak in his voice, looking out the bridge doors that lead to the mess hall and cafeteria.
"Shit" Aiesu said without thinking.
Keib chuckled in reply. "Me too."
"Meat." she eventually spoke up "Something thick and chewy and overdone." Keib nodded in reply as they walked down the halls and the stairs together to the mess hall.
LSDF Akahar, Mess Hall & Cafeteria
Keib found a table where he could see where his chief engineer was a moment ago - empty noodle bowl her callsign.
At the cafeteria, there were cold cuts of meat available on offer, made from different Lorath livestock as well as a rare handful of imported preserves. Jerkies, salamis, mortadellas, biltong, cold cuts and saveloy. Offered alongside it all was various salads, spreads, breads and sauces. It seemed to be sandwiches. Keib simply got some bread, sliced it open, buttered it and stuffed a tongsfull of whatever meats looked best to him, not even glancing at the salads.
Aiesu took a portion of something that appeared raw and quite undercooked, taking quite a while before making her selection. And yet curiously alongside it sat a stack of lettuce and a strange number of cherry tomatoes. She seemed to go out of her way however to find parsley and strawberries -- carefully putting most of the tomatoes back after discovering the fruits. Content, she soon sat down.
Keib sat down too, sandwich in hand, bite-mark visible in it and contents of it threatening to spill onto the table if Keib wasn't holding it so firmly. With a mouthful of food, he couldn't speak without it falling out, but he did make an 'Mmm?' towards Aiesu.
She popped a strawberry in her mouth, chewing quietly. And then another. And then another. She didn't even really seem to chew - each and every time, her eyes lighting up as if she'd never tasted one before. Before long, she'd soon run out. She shot a willfull glance back at the counter and seriously contemplated going back for more.
"Mm?" she said - now reaching for the meat.
Keib took another bite of his sandwich before nodding back at her with another, "Mmmmmm," smiling as best as he could as he chewed on the bread and meat and gulped it down. It was the first fresh meal he'd gotten. Greg had been delivering meals to the bridge prior to that, or it was nutrient paste and bars.
Aiesu's own teeth soon sunk into the meat. What Keib could have sworn was blood dripped against her plate as she squeezed her jaw slowly - pulling back a thick piece that she clumsily chewed on with her mouth open. The task was quite involving and in an odd way, she seemed to forget she was even in the room with him.
Once Keib's mouth was clear, he made a simple observation. "Shark aspectation," he nodded with some respect. Even though he didn't think much of the Lorath religion, aspectation and bonding was one of the elements that fascinated him still. Shark was one of the hardest to pull off properly if he'd heard correctly, all of the aquatics were.
Her gaze rose -- teeth still rasping at the meat. It took her a moment to realise she was there -- and then another to realise what he had said, fighting impulses older than even their own species were.
"Excuse me?"
Keib blinked for a couple of moments before looking back at his sandwich and saying, "Carry on."
And she did just that. Soon after, the piece (easily the size of her head) was reduced to bone which she'd taken to chewing on - leaving sharp tooth shaped craters for several minutes before realising there wasn't any more meat to be had: ligaments, joints and other less than hard pieces all chewed up. Now, she rolled lettuce into smooth columns, chewing thoughtfully as she flittered with them in her fingertips - her manner entirely changed within seconds.
Keib was now about halfway through his sandwich, having been reduced from a foot long to about six inches (give or take an inch) and he then tried talking to her again, "You seem to be enjoying your meal." He looked at the discarded bone, "You'd win prizes at a steak eating contest if they gave you the raw meat," he said in jest.
"My appitite is quite small -- this is about the only thing I'll eat in the next week or so" she stated, now picking at the tomatoes.
"Your meal portion's fairly big though," he replied, guessing that the large portions balanced out the time between meals. "I don't even think Al'ris could eat that much in one sitting, even after she's been killing."
"AI'ris?" Aiesu sat up, wide eyed, chewing thoughtfully.
"Yes, one of my soldiers, Fyunnen." He recited. "Got a little too bloodthirsty on a mission elsewhere and got transferred here as punishment." If Aiesu wanted to search through the reports, they'd say she killed an Occhestian hostage she was supposed to recover.
Keib now figured that he had enough sandwich to carry in one hand comfortably to the Pilot Ready room, but he waited for Aiesu to finish her meal.
She hurried back from the counter with a paper coffee cup full of strawberries and a banana in her hands. A guilty pleasure.
"Huh... Fyunnen can be scary sometimes. I don't really know many all that well, even though my original employs one. What are they like?"
"They're soldiers first and foremost, that's what they're made for, kind of like Nekovalkyrja or Nepleslian ID-SOL. They have the right mix of strength, toughness and cunning - equally good as officers or grunts. I'm expected to hide behind them though - and most ships are lead by Fyunnen or Llmanel woman, usually an officer who's been with the LSDF for about ten years or so."
The Akahar was too - but by a Fyunnen man until the command had shifted to Keib. "Other than that, they require frequent exercise and regular meals strong in carbohydrates and iron." He waved his sandwich around, it was the perfect example of a small snack for one.
"Sounds like keeping a dog" Aiesu tried not to laugh.
He looked at Aiesu's paper cup of coffee and her much more portable foodstuffs and asked, "Walk to the ready room?" and stood up from the bench seating, offering his hand to help Aiesu up. She nodded with a mouthful of strawberries, insisting on carrying herself.
LSDF Akahar, Pilot Ready Room
They moved together up the stairs to the Pilot Ready room, greeted by an empty room, chairs waiting for soldiers. Keib still had a palmful of sandwich, and saw fit to finish it off before he reached the podium. It'd be impolite to eat while giving such sensitive news.
