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RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 3] Sunny Day on Prilisa Four

Deacon hadn't moved when Cassefin entered, he hadn't moved when she told them that they would be protecting her while she negotiated controversial cargo, and he didn't move when she left. The reasoning was simple, Tweak was still there, and therefore so would he be.

The Kohanian closed his eyes and shook his head. If he wasn't careful he was going to give himself a split personality here. He curled his legs back slightly, so that they would rest on the edge of his bed, and with amazing agility, launched himself at the floor. He had misjudged it slightly, and as his feet made contact with the metal floor, they got no purchase or traction, and he slipped and fell right on his face. Groaning slightly, he just rose to all fours and would slowly limp from the barracks, panting slightly but refusing to show how much that really hurt, both his body and his pride.
 
Dream followed Cassefin and the rest of the group without much enthusiasm, arms crossed, eying her suspiciously.

She didn't like her. But it was nothing personal. She didn't like authority in general. She didn't like power, she didn't like anyone who ordered people around.

After wearing her armored suit (without caring much for who might have seen her while changing: the concept of "privacy" was still one of those nepleslian things she hadn't quite gotten the hang of yet), she put back on her wide, colorful clothes.

She didn't pick up her rifle (she probably didn't even acknowledge such a thing as "hers"), but she had filled most of her backpack with weird things coming out of her duffel bag. Jars full of yucky stuff and various tools and instruments.

"No one lifts rocks for fun, you know, Headmaster Real~~~" She said, while following her and the rest of the team.
 
"Just 'Tweak' is fine..." said Tweak half to herself as Levi went to change. As she waited, she noticed Deacon hanging around still...did he know she was here? He hadn't looked her way ever since he got back. Was he stalking her?

The neko sighed, glanced toward the bathroom. A loud thump made her look back at the bunks, and her eyes widened and she almost laughed out loud when she saw the humanoid hyena pick himself up from the floor and obviously try to salvage some of his pride. As Tweak watched him leave, though, she knew that there was only one way to find out why he was so interested in her.

And that was to ask him.

Her mental reaction was nearly instant. I can't do that, she thought. But isn't he drawing attention? If he knows something, won't he draw attention to me? she replied to herself. Attention was something that she didn't want.

Levi came dashing out of the bathroom and out the door, so Tweak waved to Kess and Mimi (if they hadn't left yet), and started after him. "This way," she said, pulling ahead of him and easily dodging a few station crewmembers who had been strolling the corridor.
 
Himiko gulped to herself. It seemed that the Head Administrator was rather mean... The armorer decided to be careful around her. While leaving, she noticed Fitz staring in her direction. Curious, she walked over and whispered to him, "Aww, were you waiting for me? That's so cute." She smiled as she bowed to both Mimi and Kess before making her way out of the barracks with the group.
 
Dusty quickly finished his impromptu inspection of the rifle, and gave a quick nod of approval. He glanced up and noticed that most of the squad had already left the room. He slung his rifle behind him and then he quitely followed the others out of the room.
 
Cassefin did not acknowledge Dream's question immediately as she continued down the winding hallways, Squad 35 trailing behind her. After a short time, however, the Head Administrator did speak up, not bothering to turn her gaze away from the hallway or breaking her proud stride.

"Well, Captain, you seem to be lifting a lot of metal for fun. Care to explain that, and what you are doing in my armory?"
 
Fitz nodded in response, "Aye, I even remind meself as a puppy at times, though I dear think that the commander of the training camp wouldn't like to think of me when he looks at his little Doberman," he responded with a chuckle. He slide along side Himiko, and made sure to do any respectful things on the way out.
 
Serra, who was walking a stride or two behind Dream, was walking with a rather dower expression. Again, when the chance presented itself, Cassifin directly insulted the entire squad, even with the new bodies present. When she made the off handed question about Dream's renovations, Serra piped up first.

"She's converting it into a shrine to the machine god of her species' faith." The Elysian said while calmly keeping pace as best she can, bring taller then everyone present meant her stride was much larger, and as such, she's been keeping steady pace control to no overtake anyone, even at a walk. "She mentioned something about the spirit of the station being either weak or depressed. Some of the other squad and I have been helping her with decorations, mostly in repairing junk parts she finds and moving heavy things."

Serra shrugged while her arms were crossed, making her wings twitch, "to be honest, it's been the only think keeping most of us sane down here since you don't allow us into any of the rec rooms on this bucket."
 
"The CSEIA Nano-Constructainment System is not a toy, Serra," Cassefin said casually before pausing for a short amount of time. "...but, I suppose Dream can have her little...shrine, or whatever it is. I will not be using that damned room again to store anything. Just be sure, Captain," Cassefin was speaking to Dream once more. "that you are attending to this project in your spare time. I don't pay you to pray."

The walk was nearing its end; the corridor they had been traversing opened up to the lower deck of the Grand Atrium, which was absolutely bursting with movement and voices, most of which were concentrated on the large bulkhead doors leading to the Central Station's main docking bay. Near the checkpoint at the bulkhead, Squad 35 would come into view of the CSS Elite squad, checking incoming and outgoing arrivals and overseeing the processes. The CSS Elite were still clad in their improved CSS suits and rifles, which were still visibly more advanced than the vanilla armorsuits Squad 35 and the rest of the Cirrus Station Security had been assigned. All but one had their reflective glazed visors down...and when that one spotted the Head Administrator and Squad 35 approaching, he immediately smiled and walked over to meet them.

It was Guard Captain Abeck Winston, still the same friendly face the Squad had met with their first dealings with the CSS Elite. Abeck stopped short of the group and saluted Administrator Montreal.

"Ma'am, your shuttle is ready to go. Have a safe journey," was all that he said. Very formal, considering how Abeck had acted towards Squad 35.

Cassefin, however, was not as formal. When she noticed it was Captain Abeck running to meet the group, she immediately shoved her way (through several people) to meet him. "C-captain Abeck! I still think its you who should be protecting me during the transportation...I would feel much safer~" Cassefin pouted and tilted her head to the side, her gruff, holier-than-thou attitude suddenly changing.

Abeck retained his salute. "I'm sorry Head Administrator, but as I said before, the CSS Elite need to be monitoring all of the things arriving and leaving the Cirrus Research Station to ensure safety. Don't worry though, ma'am; I think you're in good hands," Abeck said, throwing a wink at the squad trailing behind her. Good Lord, did he have a wink.

"Ah...right..." Cassefin replied, turning her gaze away in disappointment. Abeck, taking that as a sign of dismissal, immediately walked over to Squad 35, his smile growing wider with each approaching step.

"Hey! It's great to see you fellas again. How do ya like the new men I assigned you, huh?" Abeck shot them all another heart-shattering wink before turning to Dream and Lucius. "Captains," Abeck shook Lucius' hand firmly, then turned to Dream. "Good luck out there, yeah? Should be an easy mission for you guys...just keep watch over the Administrator. You shouldn't see any trouble at all," he finished firmly, bending down a bit to Dreams level and rubbing the top of Dream's helmet in a circular fashion. For quite a while. A lot longer than any normal person would watch somebodies head loll around. When he was finally done with that (rather odd) display, Abeck saluted them, saluted Cassefin ("Ma'am,"), and ran back to rejoin his Elite team.

Cassefin was relatively quiet during all of this. However, when Abeck had returned to his team, her face grew a slight shade of red. "Quit gawking you monkeys. Move your asses." She spat venomously, stomping her way past the checkpoint, expecting them to follow her trail. Looks like the usual Cassefin attitude had returned.
 
MoonMan said:
"Well, Captain, you seem to be lifting a lot of metal for fun. Care to explain that, and what you are doing in my armory?"
Click to expand...

"Attending my spiritual duty." She replied, before Serra could explain exactly what was going on better than she could had ever done.
She also kinda wanted to say that the armory wasn't hers, but the station's, but the feared that Cassefin wasn't ready yet for that particular brand of Freespacer communism.

MoonMan said:
"The CSEIA Nano-Constructainment System is not a toy, Serra," Cassefin said casually before pausing for a short amount of time. "...but, I suppose Dream can have her little...shrine, or whatever it is. I will not be using that damned room again to store anything. Just be sure, Captain," Cassefin was speaking to Dream once more. "that you are attending to this project in your spare time. I don't pay you to pray."
Click to expand...

"You don't pay me, period." Dream retorted immediately, sounding very proud of that. "I'm here for the good of the universe and for the future of the people of the Free State and Nepleslia alike. Mere personal, material gains, which are anyway meaningful only in a corrupt and primitive capitalistic economy, do not interest me."

She glanced sideways to Serra, idly wondering. Dream had little idea of what her civilization and culture were like, after all.

MoonMan said:
"Hey! It's great to see you fellas again. How do ya like the new men I assigned you, huh?" Abeck shot them all another heart-shattering wink before turning to Dream and Lucius. "Captains," Abeck shook Lucius' hand firmly, then turned to Dream. "Good luck out there, yeah? Should be an easy mission for you guys...just keep watch over the Administrator. You shouldn't see any trouble at all," he finished firmly, bending down a bit to Dreams level and rubbing the top of Dream's helmet in a circular fashion. For quite a while. A lot longer than any normal person would watch somebodies head loll around. When he was finally done with that (rather odd) display, Abeck saluted them, saluted Cassefin ("Ma'am,"), and ran back to rejoin his Elite team.
Click to expand...

Dream smiled all the way. Probably her point of view was the only one under which Abeck's way of greeting her wasn't weird at all. But then, in her culture intimate physical contact was pretty much commonplace.
"Thank ya, Win. We'll do our best, as always!" She said energetically, giving him a thumbs-up.

As she kept on walking beside Cassefin, she turned around to look at all the new people in her squad.

"Now that I think about it." She thought out loud. "I still don't know most of your names, and, most of all, your tradenames. Like, what you can do, what you're good at. It's important."
 
Levi followed behind Tweak for the entire walk, not offering much in the way of conversation. Still adjusting to his newly outfitted armor, he continued to try and fasten it correctly. The standard issue rifle was slung over his shoulder, bouncing arbitrarily as he walked. He overheard his immediate crew members' chatter, but most other conversation in the group was muffled due to the dull roar that encompassed the Grand Atrium.

When the crew arrived at the main docking bay's checkpoint, Cassefin spoke with whom would've been the captain of the CSS Elite that she spoke of earlier; at least that's who Levi assumed it to be. When the Elite captain addressed Squad 35's captains, he noted the two members to whom he addressed. The only one that spoke back to him was the blue-haired freespacer, in a rather joyous manner as well. At that time the freespacer turned to face the other crew members.

Della said:
"Now that I think about it." She thought out loud. "I still don't know most of your names, and, most of all, your tradenames. Like, what you can do, what you're good at. It's important."
Click to expand...

Levi had situated himself in the back of the squad, hoping to just blend in with the rest of the recruits. But knowing that sooner or later a situation might come up in which his assistance would be needed, he stepped up to speak. Holding his helmet in his left hand, and securing his rifle strap in his right, Levi awkwardly attempted to salute with his helmet before speaking.

“Cadet Levi McDonald, ma'am. On-Board Systems Engineer with an emphasis on starship escorts and cruisers. I'm capable of maintaining and designing said ships' operating systems. I'm also well-versed in several other aspects of technology operations.”

The new recruit then stepped back, lowering his helmet back to his waist after speaking. He also immediately shifted his eyes to the ground between his two boots, hoping to avoid eye contact with any other members.
 
Dusty walked several steps behind the group the entire walk, the Large ID-SOL had a bad tendency to step on peoples feet and he really didn't want to start off the mission with someone irratated. While he walked he watched the group and the way they talked, walked, and generally interacted.

It wasn't long till they got to the Grand Atrium and Dustys focus changed to the various people hurrying about the Atrium. When they approched the CS elite team Dusty couldn't help but be jealous as he saw all there more advanced weapons and armor. He gave a quite sigh as he looked over his own equipment.

He was slightly annoyed by the way Cassefin yelled at the squad. He had only been following her around a few minutes and already he could see why people didn't like her. "This is going to be a long day." he said quitely to himself.

Dusty quickely looked away from the technician he had been watching, and turned to look at Dream after he heard her speak. He watched and listened as a cadet answered first. He flipped up his visor and then followed suite. "Dusty Rhodes, Private Third Class. I'm a Marine with extensive weapons and security training, ma'am." He replied with a nod torwards Dream.
 
Dream looked at them for a bit, shifting her gaze from Levi to Dusty and then back to Levi a couple of times. "Mhhh." She seemed preoccupied with something.

"...Your names are already quite short, so it's no use giving you a nickname." She said, sounding a bit disappointed. "Oh, well, so you're Warmonger Dusty and Codespinner Levi. Nice to meetcha." She said, without saluting nor any kind of formal military-ish gesture. "Welcome here. Let's do our best together here, ok?" She smiled. "I'm Dream, Druidess Dream Zero Zero. Just Dream's fine. I'm your priestess here, so if you need anything you can come and ask me, anytime."
She began to introduce them other squad members as she went. "This is Gearwing Serra, and this is Gearhead Tweak. Over there there are Warshaper Kez, and Techhead Cyril, and..." and she went on, introducing every other security team member by nickname and weird title.
 
The first time Dream had called her that, she couldn't help but smile.

It was after the Shambler, when she had come around to check up on her. Warshaper. Her connection with Dream's mind hadn't lasted long enough for her to draw on all the information there, but she knew what a Warmonger was. She had toyed with what her title meant, but hadn't asked Dream, wanting instead to come to her own conclusions.

Keziah needed a healthy distraction anyway. Cassefin was up to her usual self, but the way she spoke with the Elites' Captain was... hilarious, really. There had to be a woman beneath all the cold bitch, and apparently it manifested in a very, very odd way. She seemed the type to go after a mentally formidable man--or woman, if that were the case--but, then again, maybe the Captain was.

He was pretty. But that was about it. He was too sun-shiny and happy to be real, though. There was something else about him, hidden. She admired him like a gorgeous sculpture on a rocky base--ready to topple at a moment's notice.

She shrugged it off, and kept apace with everyone else. It felt good to be moving--cleared her head a little. Some time dirtside would really help, probably. Might even make me want to talk to people, she mused to herself, catching quick glances of all their newly assigned bodies.
 
Tweak watched Levi fiddle with his armor from the corner of her eye as she walked, smiling a little. She noticed that the clicking his rifle was making sounded like something was loose so she slowed a little, falling behind him and double-checked his rifle's magnetic connection to his armor's back panel. The rifle was off-balance on the panel's magnet, so she slid it down until it stopped bouncing. The neko had guessed that the the rifle-holders were electromagnets mounted in the back of the armor that were supposed to turn on when the rifle was present and off when it was removed (to keep the things from attracting any nearby piece of magnetic material), but if that was true it didn't seem like Levi's was receiving enough power to maintain a strong grip on the gun. Deciding to check it later when he was finished with the armor, Tweak continued walking, only speeding up enough to walk beside him.

The 'Spacer neko almost offered him some help with the rest of his armor when the group stopped and Cassifin revealed that there was (gasp!) someone she treated with a little respect. Although Tweak was glad to see some sort of humanity in the woman, it also caused a little disappointment too. This meant that Cassifin really _did_ think little of Squad 35, and it wasn't just because she was always that way...or was this the exception? Was she only nice to this guy?

Meanwhile Dream was introducing a few of the Squad 35 members to the new recruits and asking them about themselves. As she was introduced, Tweak watched Levi and his mannerisms, leaving her usual discomfort with being introduced to a group somewhat forgotten.

(True, most of this group may have already known her, but unwanted attention was still unwanted attention.)

After Levi introduced himself, Tweak noticed his lowered gaze and realized that he was as uncomfortable with the whole thing as she was. She looked down and smiled, then started walking again as Cassifin led the group to their destination.
 
So the ice queen does have a libido Thought Cyril as he watched the Administrator turn into a stuttering school girl when talking to Capitan Flash from the Elites And here I was thinking that they grew them in job lots. There really was no accounting for taste. wasn't there. Oh, Capitan Flash was a was a pretty man, no two ways about it. But from what Cyril had seen of him so far, the man was too nice by far. He was the sort of guy you want to fall into a sewer just to see if the shit sticks to him.

Dream's introductions snapped him away from the minor spectacle of seeing the station administrator erode some of her hard-assed mystique.

"I personally prefer 'Lord 'o the Engines', meself." Cyril piped up in his best mock-macho voice after his introduction, wearing a grin to show he was kidding. He curled his biceps, and his tail, into an exaggerated muscle-man pose for a moment before falling back into step with Keziah.
 
"Lord of the Engines sounds cool, but Tradenames must be a single word, unfortunately." Snickered Dream, following his Joke.
 
Keziah laughed quietly. "Besides, you haven't worked on any engines since you got here, unless you've been sneaking off to tinker with the Vogel drive."
 
When Dream mentioned Serra's trade name, her wings instinctively twitched, to visually remind everyone that she had a pair of large silver/white feathered appendages growing out of her shoulders.

"I'm quite proud of them too." She said with a smile.
 
Himiko smiled as they walked with the group. "Well," she said casually, "I wonder if anything interesting is going to happen on this mission.." She wasn't really expecting an answer. It was more or less just a statement.
 
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