RP: The Silent Horizon Mission 0.0 - Dream Her Wide Awake

Muck Bay​

Adrin had worked with many different personality types over time, Nola was certainly one of the ones he was going to remember. He could already tell that since she boarded at Solitude that she was set in her ways. He turned around from where he had been watching the shuttle, and said, "It is too late for you to get geared up anyway, in the future though I expect to see some flexibility on your part. Job descriptions are one thing, and rebel ship or not things have to be done, you have to be ready for circumstances where you have to step out of the comfort zone of your skillset. " If she wanted to investigate the malfunctions he was not going to get in the way of that, he somehow imagined that faced with large xenobiological monsters she was probably best kept on the ship. He would need to gauge her combat abilities at another time.

"Adrin to Curunir, We're about to get out of here. I am sending Nola to engineering with you and the admiral. She wants to assist with your investigation into the strange malfunctions the ship has been experiencing....Which by the way we experienced another event in the launch bay." Adrin said over the comm.

Curunir answered right away, "As you wish, send her down. The mindhive can direct her if she don't know the way. Good travels my friend, call if you need us."

The communication channel closed and Adrin looked to Nola. "You heard the man, you can report to engineering and lend assistance." he said and then raised his voice, "Lets go team, shuttle is leaving. Ryllae you seem to have the most current certification, Atae you can sit second chair and I will join the others in the cabin." Adrin then moved out of the doorway and went all the way into the launch bay and walked up the ramp to the shuttle. "Shuttle to Njord, leaving in five minutes!" he called out from within the cabin of the shuttle. He then looked back, intent on giving Ves some instruction, but she had disappeared. He shrugged to himself, her going or not was not a hill worth dying on.

Bridge​

Haeun studied the profiles of the ship's limited crew and company. It was hard to believe a ship with only hundreds on board was designed for thousands. She swung her legs up and down a bit as she continued to sit in the command throne. "Well it looks like the old man is not incompetent after all...." she said as she had the mindhive close the projections out. It was then as the chair turned that she noticed Sephrielle and Tenea. She sat up quickly and walked over to them and just cleared her throat and looked at them, her arms crossed just below her breasts.

Engineering​

Aphelion looked to Curunir with a questioning look and said, "Looks like we're going to have some company." She was at the main console seated and going over diagnostic records from the ship. "You would think if this was a malfunction...it would show up in the damn logs," She then swiped the projection away with a sigh.

"Wanting to get me alone or something?" Curunir questioned with a smirk as he reviewed the technical schematics for the ship. "What if it is not an error, what if it was supposed to happen?" he suggested as he continued to scroll through the projected schematics in front of him. "We probably should not forget it was Tetsuya that designed this ship, he likely obsessed over it like he did everything else. If it was something he did, it probably would not show up on the diagnostics because the mindhive and LUMEN both detect normal operation. He was grasping at straws, but if every possible option had been extinguished it was time to aim for the impossible.

"Yes, Curunir. I wanted to get you alone. Does this look like a venue I would take my clothes off in?" she grumbled about what he had said, and what he had suggested.

Curunir stopped looking through the schematics and walked over to her, "See, now you're the one thinking about taking your clothes off...." He didn't even flinch as she swatted at his face.

Norjd​

Grandmaster's Gantry

Tacho chuckled as Steiner suggested she could get lockjaw for drinking out of the old can," I know a few knuckleheads that would celebrate if my jaw locked up," she said in a sassy tone before she took another swig. She set the old tin cup back down on the workbench and shook her head. "You know these Norians don't seem exactly in a position to bark about me supposedly being AWOL. They're rebels now, and as much fun as I have seeing the Eitans face a situation where the shoe is on the other foot as you would say, I will treat them properly. We might get lucky and this will be some grand turning point in the Imperium's history." She hopped back, and sat on the work bench top. "I doubt it though, Imperials never seem to get tired of that line that divides them from anyone else." She had said her peace, hopefully that would satisfy her for the time being.

"The eye is great, I can't wait to see their reactions. I Tacho...the Cultural Exchange Officer, has now mutilated my beauty!" she said sarcastically, "Seriously tough, it is fine. The insert in my armor keeps the infection out of it at least. Helps when half my blood is mead lately for the pain. I like it and I am keeping it." she added as she continued to sit there.

Muck Bay
Ilae looked from her grandfather to her elder brother and finally Ryllae as they spoke of their certification on piloting. The young girl herself didn’t have one, and she began thinking she should figure out something that she could do other than play the Zol’rausir that could be useful to the ship. For now, she decided to follow orders like a good girl. The white haired musician had turned, wanting to speak to Ryllae wanting to thank her for talking to Atae about helping her into the armor, and making sure she was safe.

But she was distracted from this when another member of the crew, Nola she just learned the name of appeared. Her eyes widened at the womans words, surprised by it all visibly. “couldn’t hurt to have a specialist of any kind on the ship” she said with a frown on her face before Adrin spoke to her, giving her new orders. this allowed Ilae to return to what she was going to do.

Ilae turned to Ryllae, and through vesper, she spoke to her “thanks, you spoke to Atae about helping me with the armor and to double check on the sun screen right? thanks I apreciate it!” Ilae had sent, along with feelings of pleasure, and apreciation to theship mother. The youngest member shifted the case containing her Zol’rausir on her back, to make it comfortable for her to carry to reduce the distraction.

Norjd
Grandmaster's Gantry
Auli’I sighed as she heard commotion, aparently from what she heard a ship was detected. The short fox turned and grabbed Nara’s hand “come on, lets go talk to gramps” she told her as she pulled or tried to pull her along with her as she lead the way to Steiner’s Gantry. “hey mom, grampa, Yappers been saying we got Norians in bound?’ she asked them. Yappers was her nickname for the talk of the inbound ship and the announcement. The fox was a little worried about what these Norians might want to do to Tacho, or Nara.

Muck Bay

The executive officer's violet hues ripped over to Nola as she entered. What in the fuckery was going on here? Did the woman have zero common sense? No knowledge of United Norian Navy training in any field that would have been covered during mandatory service? Who in their right mind arrives late and not only disregards the chain of command, but then also approached the commanding officer with zero respect whatsoever. Ryllae was fuming internally, any outward expression expertly masked by over a century of putting up with people's nonsense. Now she had seen her fair share of differences in crew throughout her time, but this was without a doubt the absolute worst she had ever worked with. Was this "Nola" the kind to ignore the chain of command for everything and go right to the top like a grade "a" butt kisser? Indeed it seemed so, with a complete absence of tact in addition. That woman would be problems and Ryllae knew it.

A specialist? How could this woman cry about job descriptions on a ship of literal outlaws being hunted by politically corrupt leaders. That kind of behavior would see the woman swiftly punted out an airlock after one round for each of Nola's two hearts and lungs. This exhibited the kind of actions that would not only endanger their operation here, but the safety of the Eitans whom she was duty bound to protect. "Docs, you two open to discreetly adding the ship as a patient? I have my doubts about this "specialist," Ryllae vespered privately to Tenea and Iare. Both medical personnel responded they had no issue doing so and would keep things private. Satisfied with the Drenai women keeping a discreet eye on things Ryllae turned her attentions to the auditory onslaught that was ongoing. The norian veteran was inwardly aghast at this disrespect for everything in their culture, basic medics? Basic medics had more respect for their work than this woman appeared to have. She waited for orders from Adrin, ready to follow in his lead on this.

With a relief of small blessings she listened as Adrin delivered the verdict. Wisely the issue was punted to Aphelion and Curunir, though it remained to be seen how useful this Nola would be. She hoped for the best, but as always had prepared for the worst. With her trust firmly in the Drenai twins should anything go sideways. Their ysi had worked alongside the Akhais in service to the Eitans and were more likely to be trusted off the bat. Ryllae acknowledged Adrin's orders, "Aye Captain" she responded waiting a split second for Atae to catch up to her as she turned to head towards the shuttle. Ilae's vesper caught her off guard on the way, though pleasant as it was. Had she unwittingly put herself in position as ship's mother? The protective emotions that were brewing in response made her feel odd, motherly was never a position she thought to ever be in. "The armor, yes. Everything else Atae did of his own accord," she vespered to Ilae with as much caring protective emotions that she could muster.

Shuttle

When she got to the shuttle she paused outside, allowing Atae to enter first, permitting her a glance back to see if the errant Nola had actually followed orders that Adrin had given. After a moment she ducked in after Atae and slipped into the pilots seat and secured herself before looking over to her co-pilot. "Ready?" she vespered to him as she began preparing the shuttle for take off.

Bridge

Tenea was caught off guard by Haeun's appearance as she had turned to leave the bridge. She had been so caught up in checking on Sephielle that for one reason or another she had not noticed the woman's arrival, though she did recall after the fact hearing the mindhive ID her as Haeun Eitan. Swiftly Tenea rendered a norian salute to Haeun. She did not know what rank or position Haeun held, but as an Eitan is was enough to warrant a salute from the Drenai woman. Especially given the manner in which Haeun approached them. "I was just heading back to medical Ma'am, is there something I may help you with?" Tenea asked curiously.

Muck Bay

Nola looks to the captain as he make his point and she slowly nods and gives a lazy salute"Understood however I would like to point out that the entire point of having specialists is to help free up people in other semi-related area's so that they may focus on other tasks they can do so that the specialist can focus on their specialty that way you make the most of their talents, this is even more so required on a Ship with so little hands to go around, for instance an engineer going with the group may be a good Idea so I assume you have one with you. conversely what good would a Leviathan and Sylph specialist have on a mission away from all the tech they would be an expert in? Especially when there seems to be an issue with the Leviathan that is our crews only current means of extended habitation and travel?"

She looked over the team heading out and then looked back to the captain "As for flexibility and stepping out of my comfort zone, I am quite able to do so, however do not expect the same level of expertise as others may have when it comes to things like combat, I told you when you first picked me up that my role was mostly rear echelon as a scientist I was given basic training then shunted into a role that best suited my skills" she turned as the group got into the shuttle and gave a half hearted wave over her shoulder to them as she left the Muck Bay.

Corridors

Walking down the hall Nola let her hand gently caress the wall as she walked and mumbled in an almost gentle tone "Lets go find out what's wrong with you... if anything actually is.." she looked around checking things as she walked, so it took some time for her to reach her destination but as she got there she checked the access way a moment, anything could give a hit after all. Then with that she took a deep breath and steeled herself to have to deal with more undesirables.

Engineering

Nola entered and looked to the two already there "What have you found so far? I don't want to go looking over what was already looked to... Though honestly given our Difference in occupation I doubt you have checked anything that I would normally.. but gathering any knowledge is best before proceeding" she drawled as she walked over to the two of them and looked at the console a moment then she turned and looked at the schematics quickly not enough to actually read anything but enough to get an Idea of at least the last things the two looked into. So she waited for their reports as she connected to the mindhive of the ship or rather tried to communicate with it.

"Okay... Tell me what's wrong with you.. The others have seen some things they consider strange and wonder if your malfunctioning.. so let me ask you directly rather then just going through some logs or looking at schematics like you were some machine... are you trying to deliver a message? tell us something you have no normal means of informing us of?" Unlike her tone when talking to people, her tone now was softer, almost bordering on gentle as she asked her questions. She then waited for the ship to reply as well as she looked at the consoles, there was only so much that alone could tell someone about these kinds of things after all.

Njord
Grandmaster's Gantry

NARA

Nara let Auli'i pull her along towards Steiner's Gantry. She wondered what kind of ship had been detected and why they chose to arrive here on Njord of all places. The heat still made her miserable, though she was attempting to acclimate herself to her new home. She at this moment in time did not intend on ever returning to Yamatai. Her ears twitched as they approached the others.

"Norians?" she questioned. "What flavor of norians are we talking about here?" Nara asked rather frankly. There had been chatter about the unfriendly kind over in the United Norian Imperium, she was hoping it was not them. If it was Tsenlanese norians, she'd be much less concerned. Either way once she knew what was going on she would likely find a way to get a secure message to Aelya to give her a heads up if necessary.

Muck Bay

Only through years of practice at schooling his expression was Atae able to keep his face neutral in response to the blatant disrespect shown to Adrin by the late arrival. He wasn't entirely sure which facet of it aggrieved him the most: showing disrespect to the former Emperor; showing disrespect to an Elder of the Eitan Ysi; showing disrespect to an Admiral of the Navy; showing disrespect to the Captain of the ship; or showing disrespect to his grandfather. That was the sort of behaviour Norians filed under 'social suicide' and was so anathema to their culture that Atae immediately put Nola on his shortlist of suspected enemy agents.

Feelings aside, he wouldn't act to eliminate the threat without evidence and he wasn't sure how his mother's people could have missed such an obvious malcontent amongst those they had hand-picked for inclusion in this crew. Atae was sure he wouldn't be the only individual incensed by her behaviour though and the analyst honestly wondered if antagonising and alienating the rest of the crew was really what she had had in mind. At any rate, he had less troubling considerations to focus on and turned his attention back to the shuttle as Adrin made his will known.

Shuttle

Atae nodded to Ryllae before entering into the shuttle and making his way forward to the cockpit. He stowed his weaponry and took a seat, securing himself as he reached out both physically and, via his sthibon symbiote, mentally to start running down the pre-flight checklist. //"Ready, but we'll need to have a serious conversation about our specialist after the mission."// After vespering his reply to the XO, Atae began speaking out loud.

"Transponder, instruments and comms checked and set for Njord Approach frequencies. Fuel gauges and pumps, checked and set to auto." He listened as the shuttle door closed and sealed itself, turning his head to visually confirm it's closure. "Shuttle sealed. Atmospheric integrity... holding." He nodded as more information became available. "Engines are alive, output increasing. Fuel flow is steady, temperature and pressures all green." He nodded to himself before placing his hands on the controls. While Ryllae was the nominated pilot, Atae knew he had to be ready to assist or take over at a moment's notice, especially during the more dangerous take off and landing portions of the flight. "Pre-flight checklist complete, sir."

Shuttle

Ryllae's eyes burned with rage when she heard the utter disrespect that this little scum delivered to her captain. This woman was less than half a century old and proclaimed to be an expert on her topic of interest. Not only that, Nola addressed a former emperor, Chancellor of Ayenee, and an experienced veteran in this manner. "Specialist," she thought as she used up all her patience to control herself from outright gutting the bitch then and there. Ryllae chuckled, this woman was not only demented but also delusional. The first officer had access to the record and this "Nola" was not hand picked for anything. She just had happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. The sheer audacity to demand special treatment on a ship of outlaws.

"Admiral, I know you don't need help. If Nola gives you trouble Tenea and Iare will step in to help in her stead, if you so wish Ma'am." she vespered to Aphelion with respect before shaking her head. "Ayem'vu ly'thir," she cursed under her breath in nira'las. She nodded to Atae as he passed, following in behind him. "Agreed. Whatever happens as a result, I'll take the heat for it. If you do it, just make sure it looks plausible that it was me. That thing is going to get us all killed and I won't let that happen to you or your sister while there is breath in my lungs." Ryllae vespered with a bit of frustration leaking over to Atae.

The norian woman knew he likely would not understand why she was protective, given her rough approach to most things. Her ysi was one that served and sacrificed themselves at the side of Eitan's since the Akhai ysi's inception. There was no chance that would be changing anytime soon. Not to mention these were not just any Eitans, these were her commanding officer's grandchildren. While she never planned on having a family herself, she knew what they meant to him and she would protect them at all costs.

"Navigation set for flight-path provided by our hosts." Ryllae chimed in after Atae completed the pre-flight checklist. Though she cast an amused glance towards him for a split second, "Is he calling me sir?" she thought. The idea dismissed as soon as it entered, chocking it up to Atae likely addressing Adrin. "Everyone here? Let's get this show on the road." she said aloud. Ryllae began take off once it was confirmed that all parties that were supposed to be on the shuttle were onboard and secured.

"Thank you," Steiner replied, the drones swapped out the magnetic panels within the fusion reactor before sealing the interior, "And I doubt it, for all their achievements, glory, and claims to wisdom the majority of your kinsmen are quick to forget the lessons of the past." Wasn't that the truth-they got along with them well enough, but the Norian peoples on both sides seemed to have forgotten that not that long ago they had been on the precipice of oblivion, and now not even 2 years after the war they were quick to test one another.

Not to mention the reports he'd received recently...but the less said the better.

As Auli'i called him grandfather, he sighed internally but otherwise ignored her and returned to the conversation at hand. "Unless the situation dictates otherwise, our mission still remains the same in regard to the civil war," The old mechanoid continued as the drones finished up the last of their repairs and inserted a fresh gas canister, "Do our best to minimize casualties among non-combatants, evacuate as needed, and protect them from reprisals on both sides." He fired up the Wrath, the fusion plant humming as he sealed his Warden-he reckoned his reasoning was sound; Commonweath or Imperium, no matter what their commanders ordered there would be those that were drunk on victory and fueled by anger and grief over lost comrades seeking to blame those who had nothing to do with the conflict directly save for having been on the wrong side.

Situations like those often led to tragedy; he couldn't count how many times he'd had to rein his own men in at times to keep them from doing something truly heinous...nor forget the trials for those who'd committed such acts.

----

Balruc and his squad had just geared up, lances and rifles at the ready for patrol-his sergeant gave the order, and they were off, the thuroks shooting forward hissing and snarling all the while...

Adrin - Shuttle Cabin​

Adrin was glad that vesper was a willful engagement, otherwise someone might of heard the string of curses that went through her head. If he had buttons, Nola had pressed them like someone trying to get a stuck candy from a vending machine. He just nodded as she spoke, then he watched her head off to engineering. "Scientists..." he muttered to himself. He had just got a dose of why he had lived where he did for so many years. He could deal with dozens in combat, yet there she was a scientist explaining how special her particular field was. Things had changed since his day in the fleets, someone that spoke like that to their CO would of taken a walk out the airlock without a suit. He eventually was going to have to get this crew handled, they may be on the other side of this whole war thing - but the ship had it's needs. "Hopefully we get a bit of a break down there. I can't remember the last time I slept.." he grumbled.

//"Let's get out of here."// he vespered both Ryllae and Atae.

His ears twitched as he heard what Ryllae cursed, His hearing was well tuned, but there was reasons for that. "Now talking about shithole, that planet definitely is worse than anything this place can offer up. It really is a shame, I thought for sure after...Daelan, my son would of turned that entire system into a debris field." He was obviously more informed than they thought. His back was not turned for -all- of those years.

It was a lot more than sleep he needed. Did the woman really irritate him? Or was he just fed up with having to sort his grieving emotions out. He let out a deep breath and looked around when he noticed that Sephielle was missing, he didn't blame her - not that he really understood. He was just cut from different cloth. He closed his eyes and leaned over in the seat and rested his head against the transparent pane of the viewport nest to his seat. "I think we're all here. We ill have to work out a chain of command. We can't have everyone running amuck and creating chaos," he stretched his neck aa bit then leaned it back against the high back of the seat. People just appeared to wander off, eat when they wanted, sleep when they wanted, not that it was not good to have that kind of freedom. It didn't belong on a warship. He let out another deep breath, he couldn't help but think to himself that things would of better if Kendra had not died.

Corridor​

The mindhive responded, "Wrong with me?" It was not a question designed to be answered however.

Aphelion and Curunir​

Aphelion tilted her head slightly to the right, her eyes said it all 'What? did you say?' She turned around, the palm of her hand connected with his forehead with a loud smack, "You're not getting anything from me until I know how you got on this ship...or did you forget that you still have not explained it?" she questioned, but before Curunir could answer her Nola had arrived.

"So you're the specialist? I don't remember seeing you get on at Solitude. Anyway, the mindhive and LUMEN both come back with a clean bill of health." LUMEN was the computers they used to enhance the mindhive's functions and make up for something that would be slow, like targeting. "Well welcome in..." he voice trailed off as Curunir spoke up having recovered from the live fire face palm he got.

"I told you, miss. There is nothing wrong with me. By biological portions are receiving optimum nutrition...My companion (How mindhives describe the computer mentioned before) here don't have anything wrong with them either. We are doing as we have been bred and designed for.

"Uh. yeah hello," Curunir said, his luminous gold orbs tracked the girl as she decided to get involved. Another strange character in it all. He couldn't wait...if he could only figure out what he was waiting for.

"Messages?" then mindhive questioned. "This ship receives frequent messages. Can I assist with something? Also not to interrupt, but you should really intake more water. You are approaching dehydration." The mindhive reported her status too since she had done it to her..

Njord - Grandmaster's Gantry​

"War has its benefits, when it wants to anyway. Not that i can argue a point about it, nor would I defend them. Just so far we've seen this war is different. None of us can argue that." Tacho said and she looked at Steiner, and then heard Nara and said, "Fuck, I won't be tasting to find out what kind of flavor they are. Let's just hope things go well...I mean it. As long as no one fucks up." When he fired up his wrath, Tacho just went quiet and looked toward Nara briefly and then to the fox next to her. The cultural exchange bitch was gong to have to dig down deep to keep herself in line. She inwardly smiled though, perhaps if nice enough they will let he go for a brief trip through one of their armories.

​

Launch Bay​

After the Shuttle left

The interior bay lights shut down once more. The sound of music filled the bay, the two images that had been faded and distorted clarified. The volumetric images of Ves and Tetsuya clarified. Ves swayed gently to the rhythm of the song, her voice soft but filled with emotion, each note weaving a spell that drew him closer. The words of her song carried a haunting, melodic beauty, the language foreign yet somehow resonant, as if it spoke directly to the soul:

"Sse fozeh sin nobe gsam gse noom ah ig dsihkebh go gse hum,
Sonegineh wbeanh abe mog wbeanh ag aff, quhg a berfexgiom or dobfwh.
By gse bizeb seb fire xsamtew robezeb, seb wehibe go seaf yexane a wehibe go foze."

Her hands found his as she sang, their fingers intertwining naturally, effortlessly. Their gazes locked, and in that moment, the world seemed to fall away. It was as though the universe itself had paused to honor the profound connection between them.

He pulled her gently closer, his movements in perfect harmony with hers, as though the dance was an unspoken language only they could understand. She continued to sing, her voice carrying the tender ache of love and devotion:

"He fozeh seb nobe gsam gse dimw gsag buhgfeh gsbouts gse robehg,
Sonegineh dihseh abe mog emouts, ezemguaffy foze rimwh ig'h day.
By gse bizeb sih fire xsamtew robezeb, sih enkgimehh go seaf rbon a fozimt gouxs."

His eyes shimmered with admiration as he brushed a strand of hair from her face, his touch as delicate as a whisper. There was no mistaking the depth of affection in his expression, a love so profound it radiated from every movement, every glance.

As she sang the final verse, her voice quivered slightly with the weight of her emotions, but her gaze never wavered. They moved as one, their steps slow and deliberate, as if savoring every precious second of the moment. He leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers, their breaths mingling, and the world seemed to hold its breath alongside them.

"I've never felt more alive," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper but carrying the sincerity of his heart.

She smiled, her song fading into a soft hum as she rested her head against his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

Engineering

Nola stood in the engineering area still connected to the ship as she listened to the ship and she nodded slowly "Hmm.. yes but there was some strange happening on the bridge while we had our meeting, it looked like a message tried to play, prerecorded or sent from the planet I am not sure which, but I seen it myself, the others were worried that you or the system attached to you had some sort of malfunction or something wrong. I thought perhaps there was a message that you tried to show us or something to that effect, let me show you.." she said through her symbiont and Vesper to the ship sharing with it, what they had seen on the bridge.

"If you have no explanation for this that is fine however if you have any inkling as to why it happened I would be happy to hear it." she continued through the Vesper with a gentle tone to her thoughts, a bedside manner that she would never show to a Norian. Then she looked to the two with her and she "There are a lot of questions, however without the dedicated facilities an in depth check can't be done, while I wait for a response best we can do is keep an eye on things and record any odd happenings if they happen again. I have a few hypothesis however without more information I can't narrow down what it might be, if anything at all"

"Also I will take into consideration having things to drink, thank you" she messaged to the ship for it's concern on her status, though if anything what she lacked was sleep, not that she would be getting any after this, she had some research to catch up on, and some samples to make use of. Blinking a moment she nodded to herself "For the time being I will be in my lab... I have other work to do as well, but I have a few things in there meant for diagnostics which I can set to keep an eye on things as well.. keep me updated, we are basically the ones who have to look after Alyelume and tend to any issues that might crop up, as much as they look after us we need to return the favor to the best of our abilities" she then headed out with out much else said to them.

Corridor

"If you are in fact perfectly fine, perhaps the image we seen in the bridge was a daydream? A dream? A form of hallucination? Hard to say since I wasn't actively monitoring you, but I had to reason to do that as for the most part, as you have said, you seem perfectly healthy. however I hope you don't mind me monitoring you for a bit now as the others have raised concerns, and while I feel they may be over caution, I think doing this may set their minds at ease, with your consent of course" she said to the ship as she let her hand gently caress the wall as she walked down the hallway. in what she hoped was a reassuring way, she really wasn't sure as she really never used such a tone or show of concern, she was sure it was clunky though.

Nola's Lab

Having returned to her Lab Nola got back to her research for the time being, checking on her notes that she had on the assumed reaction a specimen would have if she merged two differing samples together together, Leviathan Strain and something else, this wasn't her first time considering this, but it was the first time she did so with the proper equipment to possibly try her hypothesis, she would need a sample of Material, both from a Leviathan and another source, though she already had a source considered and so she started to work on her coded notes once more as she waited for more info on the situation with Alyelume.

Engineering​

Tenea had departed from the bridge, making her way to engineering after checking in with her sister Iare. She was just going to dip her head in to see if she could be of assistance and ascertain a little bit about what this Nola woman was like. Though she did half-expect that she might be kicked out by the admiral if there was too many cooks in the kitchen. Tenea entered engineering right as Curunir said "Uh. Yeah hello." She threw him a confused look, "Hello to you to? Oh, not me. Nevermind then." The surgeon had spotted Nola and ascertained that Curunir had likely been speaking to the woman who had butted right on into things.

As Tenea looked around trying to find a spot to post up at she spotted what she thought was a red palm print on his forehead. Immediately she stopped in front of him to carefully examine his forehead. "Who did you manage to piss off?" Tenea asked as she leaned in just a touch closer to make sure that she was not hallucinating. "Do you have any pain, auditory disturbances or hallucinations?" she questioned with a mildly concerned expression on her face.

Alyelume​

Nola's Laboratory

"You mentioned images on the bridge. Do you have a time index?" the mindhive inquired, its tone neutral but attentive, the resonance of its voice filling the air around Nola like a soft hum of precision. "LUMEN retains log records of all diagnostic readouts since my activation. Would you prefer them displayed here or transmitted through your neural link via the symbiote?" There was no undertone of defensiveness, no suggestion of concealment from the mindhive or the leviathan it served. Transparency marked its every word. "I have also prepared an active update record," Alyelume continued, its smooth cadence unwavering. "All future diagnostics will be automatically reported to you, Adrin, and Supreme User Three."

The cooperative gesture reflected the mindhive’s intent ~ a seamless interface with Nola, ensuring she could monitor every nuance of Alyelume’s functions, from its connection to LUMEN to the avatar it operated within. It waited in patient silence, its presence both unintrusive and undeniably there, as though offering her control while subtly reinforcing its reliability.

Engineering​

Curunir blinked after Nola as she strode out of engineering, her words still hanging in the air. "What is it with these scientists? It’s like they’re speaking some completely alien language," he grumbled, half to himself, half to Aphelion.

Aphelion didn’t look up from the engineering logs she was scrolling through. The conventionally built sections of the ship required a level of scrutiny that left no room for distractions like Curunir’s commentary ~ or the whims of scientists. "Scientists," she said with a resigned shake of her head, "always getting underfoot. And people wonder why I retired. Now I’ve got two prime examples in a row. Your stupid commentary, and whatever that was." She gestured vaguely in the direction Nola had gone. "Now, can we focus? Just for that, you’re taking her our results when we’re done here."

Aphelion waved Tenea over. "Ignore him," she said flatly. "He has a gift for verbalizing things that would be better left unsaid ~ or confined to the privacy of his quarters."

Curunir, unperturbed, leaned casually against the console and cast a sidelong glance at Tenea. "Yeah, well, I do have a pain in my ass," he said, smirking. "But if she’s a hallucination, I’d bet she’d let me~"

He caught Aphelion’s glare mid-sentence, her narrowed eyes promising consequences if he finished that thought. He coughed awkwardly. "~ Let me, uh, get back to work. Yeah, that."

"Aye, aye, Retired Admiral Ma’am," he added in mock obedience, throwing her a two-fingered salute as he turned back to his station. Under his breath, he muttered, "Can take the admiralty from the girl…"

Despite his feigned grumpiness, his attention drifted briefly to Tenea again. "So, uh, what brings someone like you to this corner of the chaos? You here to keep us in line, or just to remind us how much better we could be doing?" His grin was roguish, his tone teetering between teasing and flirtation.

Aphelion snorted. "You’re not nearly as charming as you think, Curunir."

"That’s why I keep trying," he shot back, before turning back to his work.

Engineering​

Tenea's hand flew to her mouth as she struggled to stifle a laugh. The purple haired surgeon coughed to clear her throat as she rested her hand back at her side. "Don't worry if you need someone to hold your hand and walk you down there," she paused mid joke when she heard Aphelion speak. "I am sure we could find someone," she said with a cheery smile and sassy glance while she brushed past him to approach the retired admiral as beckoned.

"Perhaps he needs to stop and see Iare in medical. He might have a serious medical condition." she said semi-seriously. Tenea was not sure what medication they would have on hand to chill him out other than maybe a tranquilizer. Though she found Curunir's behavior to be rather entertaining. After his hallucination outburst she almost smacked him herself, instead she had lifted her foot to subtly kick his. She stopped short of doing so and set her foot silently back on the ground.

As she turned to try focusing on what Aphelion waved her over for she was distracted again by mister ladies man over at his station. "I am sure you say that to all the pretty women Curunir. If you want my undivided attention you better be on my operation table in surgery." she said in a joking tone. If he was going to distract them from their work she figured turn about was fair play. She vespered him the most obscenely lewd things she'd done alone in her quarters, as if he was watching it in person. While doing so she had turned her focus back to working with Aphelion, simultaneously being a teasing little chaos goblin to Curunir. "How can I help?" she asked the retired admiral in a professional sweet tone.

"Alright, enough tarrying," Steiner said, opening the main gantry door and gesturing to them to follow, "Let us go meet our guests." The mechanoid began his steady trundle, servos complaining all the while-he wondered for a moment if he was going to need a new machine-then dismissed the notion. It had lasted over 50 years, it would last for a while longer...

----

Balruc's patrol thundered through the underbrush-they were currently hunting a large insectoid creature that had decided that one of their workers would make a good snack-it was about to learn otherwise. The sergeant indicated the large creature-long segmented legs with a sleek, almost predatory body rushing back with the corpse of his comrade. Likely to feed its young. ("Lances forward lads-CHARGE!") They spurred their mounts onwards, hunched forward with weapons lowered as they urged their mounts into formation in an attempt to overrun the creature...

Nola's Lab

Nola started to set up some additional monitoring equipment, something that could passively watch, but then the Alyelume offered to give her full access, equal to the captain? and some other user, that would be much better for diagnostic purposes and would make her job much easier in the long run, so she put the equipment away and thought on the pros and cons.

On the one hand she would have a lot of information flowing into her at all times, but it was information she was trained to handle, parse and understand, so she doubted she would be overwhelmed by it. It would also make a fair bit of sense to be well connected to the Leviathan to better understand any issues that might arise later as they voyage, and any problems could be identified much sooner before they become a major issue, while the captain likely had some knowledge, she wasn't sure he or anyone else on the ship was as specialized in Leviathans as she was. it was possible granted, however everyone else seemed more spread out in their skill sets, at least from what she observed, she never really actually asked.

One thing did bother her though "very well please transmit the information through the symbiote, it would be faster, at the same time I will give you access to the information about the time index for the image we seen on the bridge when the meeting was taking place. On top of that, I would like to know the Identity of super user three, and if possible if you could change their profile to match there name, for security reasons I think it would be best to know the names of all the people that have such high access or higher rather then a vague name, while I don't mind overly much I would have to assume the captain and whoever does security around here likely would prefer a more accurate account..."

Nola stopped to think for a moment before continuing "Also give me all information you have from as far back as you have access to, if you have anything from before the LUMEN was installed. farther back even then that if possible, there is a possibility this could all just be some left over test they did when you were forming, unlikely but best to rule out that if possible. if you agree of course" she replied as she put away her coded notes for the time being and took out something to take new notes with since she was about to get a whole lot of new information she would need to sift through .

Shuttle​

The shuttle made a sharp through the thick grey clouds at the edge of one of Njord's tropical storms as it swept toward the surface. Rain pelted the armor of the small craft as it was tugged and bumped by the air turbulence lightning streaked across the low hanging cloud ceiling that almost touched the first layer of jungle canopy. The transponder for their assigned landing position was on a continuous repeat. One second it was the flames of entry and the next it was the hard pelt of the pouring rain. In the distance ahead of them was what to most would of appeared primitive, yet entirely functional. Stacks of massive shipping containers stacked and fused together to form everything from roadside shops to barracks housing for the company. Thunder followed each claw-like reach of the lightning discharges, it was yet another beautiful day in Skaditown, the largest of Njord's Iron Company settlements.

Njord, Skaditown​

Tacho nodded to Steiner as he decided it was time to go and meet their new arrivals. "Ah. Here we go again...Fuck!" The rain started, from nothing to pouring in seconds. Tacho huffed as she followed the Grandmaster, half tempted to put her helmet back on as the torrential downpour tippy-tapped against her head. As usual the knuckleheads were running about like crazed animals as tarps were thrown and awnings lowered, "You would think it didn't do this four or five times a day" she muttered as she watched two knuckleheads collide one of their new mechs into the side of the main workshop. "Yes, that's the way. Let's appear to be incompetent when we're having company." she grumbled.

Nola's Lab​

"INFORMATION SENT VIA LUMEN-MINDHIVE-SYMBIOTE NOLA"

[Bulk Log File 45.1/1] [DELETED] [Bulk Log File 45.1/2] [DELETED] [Bulk Log File 45.1/3] [ACTIVATED - GROWTH CENTER 55 - LUX AURORA- HUSK COMPLETED]
[Bulk Log File 45.1/4] [DELETED] [Bulk Log File 45.1/5] [DELETE"D] [Bulk Log File 45.1/6] [DELETED] [ACTIVATE-BREECH DRIVE - COORDINATES(LOCK)/HIDDEN - IA/B+]
[Bulk Log File 45.1/7] [LUMEN - FRG] [Bulk Log File 45.1/2] [ [LUMEN - FRG]] [Bulk Log File 45.1/3] [LOCKED - IA/B+]
[Bulk Log File 45.1/1] [LOCKED - IA/B+] [Bulk Log File 45.1/2] [LOCKED - IA/B+] [Bulk Log File 45.1/3] [LOCKED - IA/B+]
[Bulk Log File 45.2/1] [DELETED][Bulk Log File 45.2/2] [DELETED][Bulk Log File 45.2/3] [DELETED]
[LOCKED SECTOR 45.2/4 THRU 45.9/4 - IA/B+] [LUMEN TO SILENT/HIDDEN]
[Bulk Log File 46.1/1] [CONNECTION MINDHIVE - LUMEN/SHIP LAID DOWN] [Bulk Log File 46.1/2] [ACTIVATE-BREECH DRIVE - COORDINATES(LOCK)/HIDDEN - IA/B+] [Bulk Log File 46.1/3] [DELETED]
[Bulk Log File 46.1/4] [DELETED] [Bulk Log File 46.2/1] [DELETED] [Bulk Log File 46.2/2] [TANK 07 DRAIN-BODY#CLASSIFIED/EITAN, TETSUYA]
[Bulk Log File 46.2/3] [DELETED] [Bulk Log File 46.2/4] [LOCKED - IA/B+] [Bulk Log File 46.3/1] [GS SCAN - PLANETARY BODY UNKNOWN / STAR CHART UNKNOWN - NAVIGATION UNDEFINED]
[Bulk Log File 46.2/4] [DELETED] [Bulk Log File 46.3/1] [DELETED] [Bulk Log File 46.3/2] [DELETED]
[Bulk Log File 46.3/3] [DELETED] [Bulk Log File 46.3/4] [REMOTE ACCESS I0+] [Bulk Log File 46.4/1] [REMOTE ACCESS - EITAN,TETSUYA]
[Bulk Log File 46.4/2] [[ACTIVATE-BREECH DRIVE - COORDINATES NORIA CITADEL] [Bulk Log File 46.4/3] [DELETED] [Bulk Log File 46.4/4] [DELETED]
[LOCKED SECTOR 45.5/1 THRU 45.8/1 - IA/B+] [LUMEN TO SILENT/HIDDEN][Bulk Log File 46.8/2] [DELETED][Bulk Log File 46.8/3] [BOND I0/EITAN, ADRIN - SHIP LAUNCH]
ACTIVATE-BREECH DRIVE - COORDINATES(LOCK):KIKYO SEC/NJORD] [Bulk Log File 46.8/4] [IN USE - BRIDGE/CIC - SUPERUSER ]

Click to expand...

"Analysis is as follows;"

Ship Laid Down Date - Mindhive Growth- DISCREPENCY/ Ship Launch Date - Mindhive Activation - DISCREPENCY"/LEVIATHAN GROWTH RATE - DISCREPENCY/DATE ERROR

Click to expand...

The mindhive delivered its findings with mechanical precision, “Hull scan confirms a date discrepancy. Ship completion date recorded as 46.1 ACTUAL; evidence of breach drive use indicates ship has been on transuniversal transit prior to launch date—ACTUAL 45.1.”

The subtle hum of the ship's systems seemed to pause as the mindhive continued. “Locked files require Access Level 1A/B or higher. Scanning... One user aboard the UNN Alyelume possesses the required access credentials: Superuser.”

There was a moment of silence as the crew absorbed the information, and then the AI added, its tone almost conversational in its conclusion: “The log file from the LUMEN interface has been transmitted, along with the analysis and resolution needed to access the locked files, Nola. I trust this information aligns with your requirements. As promised, all authorized entries have adhered to the protocol and access level mandates.”

Engineering​

"His last girlfriend probably was some kind of android, possibly a broken one, " Aphelion said in amusement. It was nice to have help to pester the gold haired fiend. "Speaking of things that happen too quickly, Curunir are you going to explain why you were already on the ship? Or do we need to put a call into Katara so she can come scramble what few brain cells you haven't suffocated?"

Curunir shook his head and first replied to Tenea, "You know if you wanted to play doctor with me, all you had to do was ask..." He grinned smugly, somehow unaware of the fact that the two women had already won this little exchange of words. "Just for that, you will have to find out when I tell Adrin," Unbeknown to Curunir, the ship's volumetric system activated behind him, there was a faint outline of a man - the armor may of been made out if one squinted and really looked at the malformed shape as it held it's right hand out as if it was holding a weapon, yet there was no weapon.

"What ...doing? Which... detail are ...to? ZRRT... ID badges?" the poorly shaped projection spoke in broken and scrambled bits and then faded.

Aphelion just stared past Curunir, then looked to Tenea, "More? The little man on the bridge was not enough I guess? Where is that mindhive specialist anyway? She should fix this thing before it accidently opens an airlock in someone's quarters."

Nola's Lab

Nola's eyes narrowed as she went through the information that was put into her mind, Deleted information, falsified information on start up date, and locked files that only one person on the ship could access they were on the bridge at the time not to long ago "Alyelume, I have given you access to the time index through the Symbiont, contrast the information given of the image shown to your senses on the bridge and give me that information via the symbiont, also give me a list of personnel on the bridge at the time index where Bulk Log File forty-six point eight slash four was recorded as in use, cross reference with crew manifest and remove any members on the bridge that have lower access then myself, the captain and the super user, if any have more then one access level and one is above or equal to mine or the captains leave them on the list, and track their locations for me keeping me updated on where their signatures are. and prepare to tether communications to the captain I will need to inform him of my findings.."

Nola grabbed her pistol and slipped it onto her waist under her lab coat making sure to note her findings thus far in her code as she started to head down to engineering "Someone has been messing with the Files, locking them and perhaps pruning them without the knowledge of the captain, I will have to verify with him, but at the moment I will have to assume the worst, someone on this ship is keeping secrets and trying to cover something up, I'll inform the captain of my findings directly, then I will confront the super user, hopefully it will not come to anything hostile... however Alyelume if my life signs cease can I ask you to transmit my findings to the captain, and a log of what has been happening?"

Corridor

As she left the lab she knew it was a long shot After all the one labeled as Super user likely already knew she was aware of them, or they could simply prune out or lock the report she wants sent out, they had higher authority then the captain after all. She didn't know the reason behind it, she wasn't informed of anything of this sort, and in reality she knew there was no reason to let her know, she was just a last minute addition to the crew, and just a scientist at that, no need to inform her on security matters, however she was tasked with seeing if anything was wrong with Alyelume, and someone locking files and perhaps deleting them would count as something wrong in her book.

As she walked though she needed to confirm a few things "Alyelume, while the logs were deleted is there record of what profile gave the deletion request and order? since there is some remaining record of the bulk files existing and record of them being deleted that means they didn't do a clean job and likely left traces, please transfer this information to me via symbiont as well"

Njord - Grandmaster's Gantry

NARA

A smirk crossed Nara's face when Tacho stated her stance on tasting norians. "Nor will I. Tasting anything that is not food or alcohol is firmly out of the equation." she responded. She cast a very brief glance towards Tacho, catching her gaze for just a moment. The blonde norian was pleased that Tacho had not out right murdered her for taking care of her armor's mindhive while she was incapacitated. Though it certainly remained a possibility.

Nara's slender pointed ears twitched a bit as she listened to Steiner's words. As he spoke she felt the gravity of his words hit her. There were many across all of the places she had been, that seemed to forget that very lesson. Though she would never vocalize it, she was forever grateful that the Grandmaster had let her join the Iron Company. She could not stand remaining in Tsenlan, Yamatai just was not for her. As far as it was, something there was missing for her.

Her hand gently squeezed Auli'i's paw then released it, slipping over to plant her rump firmly on a seat. She crossed one leg over the other, her arms crossed across her chest while she listened to Steiner speak about their mission. Nara nodded in acknowledgement of their mission, regardless of the outcome. Nara's nose wrinkled a bit as she uncross her arms and stood as she readied to go see these guests.

When she stood the rain hit her head first, wetting her hair. "Oh for fuck sake!" she hissed quietly as the moist stench hit her nostrils. She followed Tacho and Steiner as their walk to the guests now turned into a very uncomfortable walk through sludge like stew. "When we get back from this I am stripping this off and air drying in my space. If anyone besides the boss interrupts or comments I will conduct war crimes," she thought to herself.

Engineering​

TENEA

A pure wholehearted laugh escaped Tenea's lips when she heard Aphelion's quip. "Oh my," she said quietly when she was enlightened to the fact that Curunir had been there before the others. "Tell you what," she said with a smirk as she approached the golden haired man. "If you tell the nice woman what she wants to know I will ask to play doctor," she said as she came close to him and traced her fingers softly along Curunir's jawline while she walked in front of him. She hopped up placing her rump firmly on the position in front of him, careful not to hit any controls. "What do you say hmm?" she said with a mischievous grin giving him a saucy little wink.

If he spilled she had all the intentions of fulfilling her promise, only if Aphelion was satisfied with his response. Aphelion would feel a gently prod of her vesper, "If he does not respond to your satisfaction, he gets nothing." Tenea's blue eyes widened in horror as she scooted forward towards Curnir, not looking at him but over his shoulder.

Her gaze flitted from over Curunir's shoulder to Aphelion as she was just a breath away from him while she sat in front of him. "If I had to venture a guess, its not the ship itself but something else entirely" Gently she reached out to the ship through her sthibon symbiote gently with much care. "Would you be willing to send me any logs you have, as far back as you have record of? How are you feeling about all of the things happening onboard?" she asked the mindhive in a loving manner.

Shuttle​

RYLLAE

"Fucking hells," Ryllae whispered under her breath as she bounced along with the turbulence. "Prepare to land," she said gruffly to Atae as she began landing procedures for their shuttle. "Ground Control, this is the shuttle from Alyelume. We've arrived at the designated location and are landing now." she popped off quickly through comms. That rain outside was honestly the least of her concerns at the moment. There was so much flooding through her head, their mission and hoping that Nola had not managed to destroy Alyelume before they got back. When the shuttle landed she stood, "Alright ladies, gents and other. We have arrived, don't do anything stupid while we are here." she said in a very matter of fact tone for all to hear. "If you need time alone when we get back, I will make sure no one disturbs you." she vespered to Adrin as she remembered his shithole outburst from earlier. It was likely that he might have been exhausted with all he had to deal with, though it was not her position to care for him unless he asked her to. The least she could do was offer what she had, so that he might have some peace to sort things out.

"Good ride, you did well," she vespered to Atae as she turned and stood to the side of the cockpit. She double checked her helmet and the rest of her equipment as she readied herself to leave the shuttle. "Welcome to Njord." she said as she glanced to Atae then to the others.