Re: [Main Phase: Mission 3] Silent Garden
ON, VSV Astarte
High Orbit Over Mazerin
Bukor 12, 936
7:43, Commonwealth Standard Time
"Attention, we will be entering fold in approximately ten minutes. All crew members are ordered to standby while we proceed with the operation." A voice rang out.
Eventually, the crowd around Malik was forcibly dispersed by a group of GI's and technicians would have to go to task removing him from the ceiling of the zero-gravity hallway. Although regulations might have had a word or two about it, the number of people moved away from the site of the incident was perhaps seven or eight times greater than the number of those initially involved, and made quite a noise as they were forced to leave.
Malik, on the other hand, seemed to be continuing to express his fervent hatred for the artificial humanoids that had shamed him, but could manage more than a lot of shaking and garbled yelling. As members of Bahram Wing and the crew of the Astarte moved away, they heard what sounded like powerful jets of liquid and some blood-curdling screams coming through, although one couldn't be sure if the noise was coming from a pressure device or Malik's own mouth.
With the deed done, and her guards having begun their trek towards the cargohold once more it left the NI alone for the most part. Ishtar watched as the people filed away and even winced at hearing the ugly sound, even more so at seeing where it had originated from as she decided to attach herself to one of the more familiar faces who'd been there. Namily, Mridula. The small woman tugged at one of the Solanii Rep's sleeves, trying to get her attention.
Mridula looked down at the diminutive NI and gave her a smile. "Oh, hi. Thought I lost you in all the shuffle." She turned to the girl and awkwardly ran a hand thorugh her messy, frizzled hair. "...you need something?"
"N-No...Maybe..." Ishtar rambled unsure of exactly what to say. "I-I kind of hit my head when I ran down the hall to make sure Vaybalri Rashidan hadn't been too terribly injured by my guards. T-They only took more appropriate measures after he shot one of them in the back with his sidearm."
"...ah, dreamshit. Let me see." Mridula bent down slightly to facilitate getting a better look at the top of Ishtar's head. She lifted her fingers and began to run them through the hair and all over the girl's scalp, checking for any potential injuries. "Where'd you get hit, how hard, on what?"
The stack of boxes was haphazardly made, unstable in it's foundation and structurally unsound. Usually, this would be something heard of a poorly made building, but today, that was not the case. Akjit struggled to keep a good grip, but at this rate, he was going to drop something. "Help!"
"... Saints da-" Khiyai panicked when she saw Akjit ready to fumble the boxes, and reached out with her left arm to steady his stack. In practice, she managed to steady Akjit's grip by placing his jumble of boxes a bit better, but did so at the cost of losing grip of her own pile. "... awaaaah!" She tried to retain her own ballance, but was on the cusp of spilling the boxes and their contents all over the ground, flailing around wildly as she spiraled into a tumble.
Ishtar showed Mridula exactly where she'd hit her head. It had been near her forehead, just a little off to the side. "I was running and...and...ran into a wall because I wasn't looking..." the NI confessed while looking quite embarrassed at the mishap.
Mridula laughed softly. Cute! She gently ran a thumb over the small wound on the girl's head. "...well, you seem fine, and it's not that big of a cut anyway. Don't worry, yeah?"
Ishtar nodded glumly. "I'm a little worried about the Vaybalri. My guards used their cannons on him and burned all his clothing off before glueing him to the ceiling." she rubbed at the spot, the dull ache not as sharp as it had been. "I don't know if I should punish them for their actions...or let it go."
"Eh. If you knew how he talks to half the crew, you'd think he deserves it. He needed to be smacked down a little, I think... especially after he called me a slut." Mridula rested a hand on Ishtar's shoulder. "How are your bodyguards? Are they alright?"
Alia nodded. "She's right," she muttered simply. "Malik's too much of a brazen idiot to have not done something like what happened, here's hoping that this event has taught him to think before he acts." After a moment of herself thinking on this, she shrugged her arms. "But, knowing him, he'll hold a grudge."
Her efforts to save the stack of boxes was in vain, as Akjit sacrificed the partial stability in order to catch her. He threw out a hand and caught her wrist, keeping the worst of the impact from doing anything more. However, several of Khiyai's boxes were now strewn about, the well being of the contents unknown. The Ivuori's mind started to race. 'What now? She's going to hate me! Wait...people she or any of the other mechanics hate have their Frames examined last...If I anger her enough, she could delay Nightmare's maintenance.'
His hand still grasping hers, he made his decision. "I-I'm sorry Khiyai." He was on the brink of crying; he didn't have the heart to do something cruel, he couldn't believe he thought up that plan and he truly did regret screwing up on something such as carrying boxes. He didn't have what it to properly control an NI made for war, and he most certainly shouldn't be here. Akjit loved drawing, loved watching things grow. 'Why did I join?!' he asked himself.
Khiyai rose up from a large pile of slightly jagged metal and composite parts that appeared to have been contained inside of the one box that wasn't properly sealed, and seemed to be only slightly bothered by her fall. The truth was that she had fallen on her chest, which was no small source of pain for her, and what appeared to be a hooked component had gotten itself lodged inside of her sweater, but she wasn't initially aware because of the clearly overwhelming pain of falling that way.
Her hands rose up to cup them and massage the pain away, but she was reticent. Akjit was around and he would probably get the wrong idea, and I'd be in some sort of mess with the runners of Bahram Wing! She thought to herself nervously, turning around to peer at the Ivuori to see what state he was in. "H-hey... you alright, kid?"
"Th-They're fine... The Laiz Pistol only damaged one of their cloaks. But... can I ask that one of my guards have their missing eye fixed please? When I got him... they told me he had seen combat and I had gotten him as is." Ishtar looked over her shoulder in the direction they'd gone. "Uhm... Vaytulri Osei? Why is your hair so frizzy?" the NI pointed to the woman's hair then, having let it go for sometime.
Mridula's cheeks reddened at the smaller girl's question. "I, uh... I didn't have... time to brush it after my last shower. You know how it goes." She paused. "...well, I guess you don't. How are you adjusting to life, by the way?"
"Yeah." He spoke, rubbing his eyes. 'It's my fault." Akjit's moping lead his eyes to the mess on the ground, and he started to pick up the various bits and pieces. Without looking up, he asked her, "Are you angry at me?" Inwardly though, he was more distraught over something else. 'How could I? I can't do that. I shouldn't have thought of it, but, the outcome might be the same anyways.' He forced his voice out. "You ok Khiyai?"
"Yeah... it's alright though. Accidents happ-" Although Akjit's apology seemed genuine and registered, there were more pressing issues. Khiyai looked down to see her chest, noting the large composite hook, likely a fastener for a piece of disposable plating, poking through her uniform turtleneck and immediately thought of why or how the object had gotten there.
When ships are being built, they had their own rhythms and tunes. The same could be said for people and their speech. When the technician stopped speaking, Akjit's ears perked up at the disturbance. His eyes glanced at her eyes and then followed them down. The color drained from Akjit as he knelt there in silence, the two of them mutually staring at the protrusion in her chest. "This is the hanger bay! I have someone who needs medical attention now! Of course it's bad! There's a metal rod sticking out of her chest!" Akjit immediately started to call in medical personel, though, by the time they would arrive, assuming they did, it would look like he was the one loosing blood.
"Actually. Wait a second and belay that order... it's only in my shirt right now." Khiyai reached up to her chest and pried at the piece of hardened composite. It was certainly not nearly as bad as it looked, and has just sort of poked through her shirt and gotten hooked in. Tugging away at it gingerly, she heard the distinct sounds of fabric tearing, but ignored it for the moment and attempted to pull harder. The piece wasn't coming out.
So she pulled harder, and harder. But there was a sudden ripping noise as she attempted to do so, and upon investigation, she discovered that she had neatly ripped up the front of her turtleneck, exposing the dark blue uniform bra underneath. "...Saints dammit!" Khiyai turned a furious, deep shade of red, crossing her arms over her torso and waving Akjit away, clearly embarassed by what had happened. "Err... turn away!"
Ishtar began to search her video logs privately as she continued speaking to Mridula. "Oh! I like it very much! Everything is so new. Even what normal Iromakuanhe call pain... but I don't like pain... it made my head hurt. And running... I don't like running. It makes me all hot and sweaty."
"You're learning well, then," the liaison remarked happily. "Pain is supposed to be bad, and you're supposed to get... uh... hot and sweaty..." Her mind wandered for a moment, and she forcibly tugged it back to the task at hand. "...when you run. Yes. Any problems I should know about?"
Ishtar tilted her head to the side slightly, gazing inquisitively at the Solanii Liason before her eyes went wide. "So that's why your hair is messed up! You-" the NI paused, her face going scarlet. "I had no idea such modifications had been done to Lanbalri Vandranno..."
Mridula's hands flew to her mouth, and her soft brown skin turned a bright sunburned red color. "How did you... you were recording that?! I - you - you little pervert!"
Akjit watched in fascination as Khiyai grasped and pulled on the small culprit. But he didn't expect for something like this to happen. Not one bit. He had sat there in utter silence as she unknowingly unraveled her turtleneck in front of him. Blood rushed back into the cold and pale Ivouri and brought him back to a semblance of life. And then said blood turned his cheeks red in embarrassment. She desperately tried to wave him away but he just sat there in red shock. He handed Khiyai a box. A simple cardboard box to hug and thereby cover herself with.
Ishtar just kept up her look of innocence at the suddenly embarrassed woman. "No... I record everything. Private conduct however is kept strictly private unless it violates ship rules and mandates or is directly harmful to the crew." she however seemed amazed Mridula's dark complexion could go darker with her face flushed. The NI then looked to the ground. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Then why did you... say it out loud?! It's... that's my - our private business! Nobody should even know about it!" Mridula's embarrassment was quickly giving way to anger; she knew she shouldn't get upset with the poor NI, but having her so casually spill details of her private liaisons was a little more than she could handle.
"But no one is within aural range to know. I even made sure, and pitched my voice low enough as a secondary measure." Ishtar blinked her large golden eyes, shuffling back a little from Mridula, looking a little wary. She'd stuffed her pale hands in her jacket pockets, her shoulders slumped seeming to have caught on to her indescretions.
Mu'Tasim spent the last few minutes putting his weight equipment back where he had last placed it, including his bar staff. After everything was put back in order, he grabbed his towel and walked back out into the busy corridor, where the had been disposing of Malik. The shirtless Temple Guard tightly dried his hair with his towel, slightly obscuring his eyes as he did so. He wanted to ask the FIOMNI a few more questions about the situation concerning her Nohmen. Though, the small girl was busy with the liason, so he spotted someone who wasn't busy, specifically Alia.
"Jyotsna! Are they already all done here? I was hoping to question Malik on the situation after talking with, Ishtar." said Mu'Tasim as he waved to her with one hand and continued to dry his head with the other.
Alia turned her gaze over to Mu'Tasim, pausing for a second to just stare at him. 'Those robes hide him well.' She though as she blinked and remembered what he asked. "Last I heard he was still getting cleaned off the ceiling with a high pressure hose. Though they should be about done with getting him down by now." She said, looking up slightly while crossing her arms. "I doubt he'll be in a very talkative mood though."
"Well, at any rate, I would've liked to see this situation cleared up peacefully and without the usual hot-blooded meddlings." The Temple Guard sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest, the towel nestled between his forearms. Then, he seemed to come to clarity with something before looking at Alia, an eyebrow raised. "You know, I just realized, I don't think I've ever seen you anywhere beyond the hangar bay. What are you doing down this way?"
Alia raised a hand to rub behid her head. "Actually, I came looking for Khiyai." She said, "The girl didn't wait for me to finish my work before calling it quits for the night and I kinda wanted to ask her for a drink."
Mridula looked at the nearest bulkhead, grimacing as she tucked her own hands into her pockets. "...sorry. I guess I just... didn't expect you to know. I didn't mean to get mad, and you don't know any better, so... forgive me?" She turned toward the NI again and opened her arms.
Ishtar looked up at Mridula warily then and to her outstretched arms. The NI fidgeted slightly before slowly shuffling over and into the open arms. Wether or not the older woman had intended for a hug, Ishtar had decided for her with her own smaller ones wrapping around the woman's waist.
"Well, I've not seen her down this way, though, knowing how she is with Rashidan, I would've assumed that she would be spending time with him with this free time." Mu'Tasim descerned, rubbing his beard with his hand, he eyed Alia again. "I've wondered, though, as much as Malik wants to be with her, have you seen them actually spend much of any time together? I noted back in Jarizas, that such time tended to be relative to his mental health."
"Not really, But then again, I don't see Khiyai that much out of the hanger, unless we're in mess or at the lounge together." Alia said. "The girl mostly keeps her affairs to herself unless she needs to vent about Malik doing something steriotypically himself."
"A cardboard jacket would be great, but I don't really have much choice. Just don't stare and I won't kill you or something horrible like that." Khiyai said in a shaky and dour tone of voice. The turtleneck would have to stay, at least until she could get a hold of her jacket in the office, and she simply took a few moments to pile the dropped items back into the composite-cast containers and resumed walking. "Of course, you'd be an idiot for trying to stare at me from a weird angle like that."
Luckily, a hug was exactly what Mridula had been planning. She hugged the younger girl to herself and lifted her just a scant bit off her feet, grinning. "There we go, all better."
"Ah! Malik seems to do the same to me whenever he needs guidance as well." Mu'Tasim grinned in what almost seemed a sarcastic fashion. "It seems we share similar roles in their relationship, eh? Though, in all honesty, the amount of trust he puts in my counsel makes me feel like some old man."
The Temple Guard appeared to think for a moment, before a questioning look came over his face.
"Do I look old?" he asked.
"You look refined, if that's what you mean." Alia replied.
"But..." Mu'Tasim pressured his response a little, "Do I look... old?"
"..." Alia pondered the question for a good minute. "By old, you mean fogey old, right? Not just greying hair, but still spry, old."
"Well... Do I look like I'm twenty-seven, or do I look like I'm thirty-seven?" Mu'Tasim tilted his head, a bit of pained twinge in his eyes, as if afraid of what the response would be.
"Well, you're not young, if that's what you want to hear, but honestly, I prefer a man who has lived as opposed to a hotshot idiot kid." Alia said
Ishtar squeaked in surprise at being lifted off the ground ever so slightly as she was hugged back. "... Are you still angry with me?" the FIOMNI asked while looking up at her having had her face buried in Mridula's chest before doing so.
"No. All better." Mridula smirked as she squeezed Ishtar in for a moment more, then relinquished her hold on the girl. "How are you feeling?"
"Y-yeah. I'd have to be a real weirdo or something." Akjit replied. With all the things put away, and their grim march resumed, he couldn't help but feel guilty. In an attempt to assuage his fears, he opened his mouth. "Sorry for costing you a turtleneck Khiyai. But, but, look on the bright side. I mean, not look! Not look!" Akjit tore his eyes away from her face and gazed straight forward in a rigid pose, spine straight. "I mean, sliver lining, at least the day hasn't been so mundane, right? Or...I'm sorry. I tried." He spoke, giving up.
"F-Fine!" Ishtar stuttered at the sudden physical show of affection after the Ivuori had been angry only a few scant seconds ago. "I'm just bored. Since I can regulate the fleet wirelessly but now have a body of my own it does not occupy all of my time."
"Well, I hope not 'too' old." Mu'Tasim chuckled weakly, a light blush going across his cheeks. "One of the stewards in the shrine said I reminded her of her father, and she was only seven or so years younger than me! I understand that I am not young, but I don't want to appear as an... 'old fogey', as you put it."
"Old or young, if you have energy, use it." Alia said, somewhat proudly. "It's my colony's motto, since we have to recycle so much stuff on the ship."
"Hm! That is something worth remembering!" Mu'Tasim spoke with clarity as he gave Alia a thankful nod. "Thank you, Jyotsna, now I wish I could help with locating Khiyai in return for such helpful counsel."
"It's not like I have to foot the bill on my uniform. I'll just write it off as an accident and the Commonwealth will cover the cost the quarter inch of actual bio-mesh they spend on these tops." Khiyai remarked, her initial ire at the incident starting to wear off a litte. It was hard to remain angry at someone who was genuinely apologetic about what happened.
"You should pick up a hobby, or make some friends and do things with them," Mridula suggested to the NI. "And there's always OGNEIR. Plenty of things to fill up all that free time you have!"
"Well, I kinda owe you now with all the trouble I caused you." He paused as he looked about. Just where was her office again? "If you need any more help, well, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't want it. I mean, after all this. But, well, if you need it, I'd be glad to lend a hand." He smiled. The burn scars on the side of his face twisted slightly as he did so, but it was partially out of her view. "Um. We're just going to say this didn't happen though, right? Or, what are we going to say?"
Ishtar placed a pale finger to her chin, tilting her head in thought. "I suppose... My older sisters tried to give me suggestions. But I didn't really understand them. And... " she paused pursing her lips and staring at the deck once again. "How would people accept me? I am a Fleet Intelligence. I-I kind of stand out." Ishtar wiggled her shoulders a little. "Would people find me strange?"
"Maybe a little," Mridula admitted as she pat Ishtar on the head. "But they'll get over it once they get to know you, I think. People are usually nice, and you're cute enough that I'm sure there'll be people lining up to be your friend." She smirked slightly, ruffling up Ishtar's hair.
The little NI then looked up at Mridula, eyes wide and innocent. "T-Then w-would you be my friend?"
Mridula grimaced and wobbled as the fold drive activated. She was as unused to the sensations as the rest of the crew, but she recovered quickly; they weren't that bad, after all. She seemed to have lost her train of thought for a moment, though. "Uh. Yes, yes, I'd love to be your friend, Ishtar."
"Well, how about you grab me some food? I've gotta do some paperwork before we leave fold, and I haven't had a chance to catch breakfast because of the maintenance work."
Having anticipated the jump, Ishtar had been ready for it, easily compensating as the ship transitioned into FTL flight. But when she'd heard Mridula's acceptance sent her into a small run right at the Solanii Rep. The small NI barreled into Mridula, hugging her again her head nuzzling into the older woman's chest, utterly overjoyed at the prospect of having a friend.
Mridula was barely able to catch her newest friend, but held her with a small squawk, her arms easily encircling the girl's small frame. "Ah...! You're... very enthusiastic." She lifted Ishtar up a bit so the girl wouldn't be molesting her chest so enthusiastically; asied from that, she was perfectly alright with the affection.
"Attention. We are now entering fold. Be advised, distortion fields may cause electronics to become unreliable. We... don't know." The voice that had informed the crew of the Astarte's launch moments earlier was not sounding off the start of her departure.
There was a rumble.
Space itself seemed to be the object in motion.
A quiet ripple that seemed to pass through the ship as the exterior sights seemed to bleed and melt. From an outside perspective, the vessel had vanished entirely from view, but the crew aboard the vessel could still see the space over Mazerin bleed into an unknown morass of orange, distorted into clear streams of light and pulled towards a point in the distant space behind the gold-clad vessel. This effect seemed to continue on for minutes, while the vessel itself seemed to be entirely immobile.
"Ah! I've an idea, Jyotsna!" Mu'Tasim said, an idea appearing to come to him as he looked over at Ishtar. "We have the ship's N.I. right over there! She could locate Khiyai with fair ease!"
"You have a point there." Alia said, nodding before glancing over. "Excuse me, can I ask Ishtar a question?"
Ishtar stopped her nuzzling momentarily to look at the person attempting to get her attention. It only took a split second for her to identify Alia. "Yes, Lanbalri Jyotsna?" she asked.
"Can you locate someone for me?" She asked as she walked over to the nuzzling AI. "I seem to have lost track of a co-worker."
"Uhm... I suppose I can. Whom did you wish me to find?" Ishtar asked, slipping free of Mridula's grasp and brushing out the wrinkles on her shirt and skirt.
Mridula straightened herself as well as Ishtar pulled away, grinning at the girl's interaction with Alia.
"Vayshirin Sahrzad, if it's not too much trouble." Alia said,
"Oh!" Ishtar snaped her fingers. "She is in the VANDR Frame Bay for the First and Second Squadrons."
"What?" Alia blinked. "Why's she all the way there?"
"Uhm...Uhm...moving cargo?" Ishtar responded. "Would you like me to show you there? Or do you know the way?"
"True, the crew is doing their best to organize for combat." Mu'Tasim clarified. "It may be best to have N.I. guide us, I actually do have some business in the Frame Bay, but I'm still getting lost in this ship. Haven't been here long enough, to be honest."
"Well, I might as well get an escort," Alia said, "so, lead on Ishtar."
Ishtar nodded. "O-Ok!"
It didn't take that long to reach the VANDR bay, a large chamber set with row upon row of organoid frames in sets of four, all connected to a share launch platform. Khiyai was nowhere in sight, but the lights in the office and small sounds of activity at the far from the center of the preparation area seemed to indicate that she was in that general direction.
Mridula followed behind the two of them, her hands in her pockets. She wasn't sure if she was invited, or if they wanted her along, but there wasn't anything better for her to do and she was sure she could talk her way out of a tussle if she had to.
Ishtar continued to lead them deeper into the bay, holding the Temple Guard's rough, calloused hand. While she knew exactly where Khiyai was due to her internal sensors, it was just a matter of going through all the clutter. The small group passed stacked cargo boxes of spare parts, tools and possibly munitions on their way deeper into the frame bay, even passing a few of the VANDR in their berths. It didn't take long for the little NI to lead them to their destination, which was the office for the frame bay.
Heading towards the doorway, they came upon a most curious view of the mechanist they were looking for. Through it, they saw the back of a figure of tanned skin, holding up a ruined turtleneck in one hand and a bra that appeared to have been slightly cut into by an unknown sharp object, muttering under breath about bad luck or clumsy idiots. And based on her reactions, or lack thereof, it was clear enough that she had no idea of the small congregation that had gathered nearby.
"Sahrzad?" Mu'Tasim arched a brow, still holding the FIOMNI's hand in his. Even if her back was bare, he was unaware if her chest was as bare as his.
"H-" Khiyai turned around, and experienced a delay of perhaps half a second before she covered herself with the tatters of her top. She was too angry to scream, and too shocked to move her body away from the site of the incident. Instead, with perhaps just the right combination of embarrassment and anger, she kicked the plas bucket at her feet, half-full of water and soapy grime, in Mu'Tasim's direction.
Alia smiled and waved at Khiyai.
As Mridula followed the small parade into the VANDR bay and around the boxes into the office, she looked up to see where exactly they were going - and caught an eyeful of the topless Khiyai. Though it was only her back, it was still mightily good-looking... and it was even better when she turned around. The liaison put two fingers to her lips and let out a loud wolf-whistle before her face broke into an immense grin.
"O-oh my!" Mu'Tasim yelped, shocked at the sight before him, throwing a free hand over his eyes, covering his eyes to protect his innocence from her breasts. He only stepped back slightly as the grim came to his feet, and pulled back Ishtar as well as to keep her from getting soaked as well. His grip, however, was loose.
"EVERYONE." Khiyai stomped on the ground, her balled fist tight enough to accidentally crush the plas clips of her bra into something non-functional, all the while screaming at the top of her lungs. "OU-."
Thankfully for the NI, she'd elected to come through the side door reserved for Mechanists as the front was only used for general crew. Ishtar had easily cracked the lock and stepped inside when she saw something rather odd in front of her. Seemingly fascinated the petite NI made her way over while Khiyai's attention was diverted, small pale hands making grabby gestures until they found their mark from behind.
"So females have these on their chests?" seemingly questioning no one in particular while she squeezed them. "I should have some too though! But mine are so small... This requires comparison." then the NI decided to press her own into Khiyai's back.
"..." Alia was staring at the sight, jaw agape. "The NI is groping my assistant."
"..." Mu'Tasim kept his hand over his eyes. Though, Alia's account gave him an accurate assumption of the situation. "I... this..."
"..." Khiyai frozen in place, before bellowing again her cheeks flushing a deep and flustered crimson. "Idiots... ALL OF YOU!"
END
