RP: The Wayward New Heights (Ep4)

Rot Mädchen

"Hm? Oh, yes, everything is quite alright," Adiel whispered in return. Not that he would let everyone know about his little "game". "Just... getting a feel for the new recruits, is all. By the way, I've noticed that you've made great strides in improving yourself. Not quite there yet, but... baby steps, I suppose... congratulations." he said, referring to Ana's slightly more outgoing tendencies.

To everyone but Adiel, that probably sounded immeasurably rude. Sadly, that was just the way he thought. He empathized with Ana, a fellow "former slave". For once, he'd been a subservient, obedient little Plebian, serving the Patricians. He'd spent years molding himself into something "greater", and he appreciated those who strove to do the same. When he'd first joined the Anbruch, Ana had frustrated him with her mousy ways. He could never comprehend why someone would choose to remain so... weak after being freed from their shackles.

Ana shoo her head, "I wouldn't say great strides. But...thanks. And yes...baby steps. I...I still fear that this is just...too good to be true." She sipped at her tea once more, not sure if she should say anything more.

Rot Mädchen

Adiel nodded, and swirled his glass around.

"I understand. I felt the same way when I gained my Caelisolan body, and left Elysia. You fear that your new freedom is all a sick joke, and that someday you'll become enslaved again once your old masters have had their fun, correct?"

Rot Mädchen

Ana kept her gaze down as she replied softly, "Yes. Though I know that those who had enslaved me can't get to me easily..." She shuddered slightly and took in a deep breath. "I'm safe. And I won't go without a fight."

Rot Mädchen

Adiel raised an eyebrow. This was a new side of the mechanic that he'd discovered. Perhaps she wasn't as weak as he'd perceived. However, it was easy to talk about fighting. It was a different matter entirely to actually fight. Come to think of it, he'd never seen her fight. During their excursion to the space station a while ago, he recalled seeing her react to hostiles by hiding and waiting for Ash, Tanja, and he to come to the rescue. That irked him. When someone intended to do you harm, you killed them, with no remorse, with any weapon at your disposal. She hadn't even done so much as tried to bash their brains in with a wrench. Not really an efficient way to do it, but it could get the job done in a pinch. Alas, Adiel was terrified to see what would happen if her former owners came back.

"Yet, you do not carry a weapon..." he mused, downing the rest of his drink. He then stood and held out a hand to Ana. "Come, we shall rectify that immediately."

Rot Mäadchen

"Thank you for that," Saku Hana said to the captain. "I would appreciate it greatly." Her eyes went to a seat and she took it, growing quiet as she drank from the glass in front of her. Not knowing if she could shoot was something she hadn't ever had to question. Maybe, she thought, just maybe she was getting in over her head.

At the thought, she gulped the drink down a little audibly and her eyes widened as she stared at a part of the table absentmindedly.

Rot Mädchen

Tanja sat back in her own seat and smiled to the two women that were prospects for the crew. "I want to take you to the ship, but before that I want to discuss what we're going to be doing in more detail. Adiel and Analiese already know." She relaxed her posture a little and quickly sifted through some screens on her PHC. "You're probably wondering why we're getting government based insurance as independent contractors. Well the Empire has discovered an unexplored region of space,well at least not explored by anyone in this sector. We are going to explore that region at the empire's request, they will be providing us with a lot of heavy equipment as well as compensation for discoveries and insurance. The reason for this is that it's likely there is sentient life there, but the empire doesn't want the first thing they see to be military ships, it might start a war."

Rot Mädchen

Ana looked up at Adiel, her eyes wide a bit. "N-No...I don't...have a weapon. At least..not anything more than a knife..." She stood with him and chewed on her lip, "I'm not sure I can shoot anyone...let alone anything!"

She looked down a bit. "I know...I'm not as strong as you or the others. And though I may not go willingly with my former slavers...I still don't like fighting...ya know?"

Rot Mädchen

Adiel's feathers ruffled just slightly, and the Elysian grit his teeth. He wasn't used to dealing with... people like her. So timid, so unsure of themselves. He tampered down his frustration and made sure it didn't show through. Patience was key. He placed a hand on Ana's shoulder and leaned down slightly.

"No one likes fighting. Fighting is painful, and truth be told, rather terrifying. That is why people carry weapons; to minimize the time they spend fighting, because sometimes you cannot avoid it." Adiel whispered with a somber expression. Was he showing... compassion?! How odd. "Do not sell yourself short. Never think so lowly of yourself. You are stronger than you realize. Strength is not measured by one's love of fighting, but by their willingness to fight for who or what they care about. I have full confidence that you would fight for this crew if we found ourselves in danger."

The angel leaned away and jerked his head towards the door.

"That is why I insist that we at least purchase you something, Ana. Nothing complicated, at least a small pistol. If you never have to use it, splendid. If you only have to use it once, it was a worthwhile investment. We know not what we may encounter on the frontier, so it is better to have and not need, than need and not have. Come."

She couldn't refute that logic. Oh no. With a small sigh, Ana nodded and then looked back up at Adriel. "Thanks. I think...but you do realize that I've never used anything like that...right...?"

She bit her lip as she followed him out into the main thoroughfare.

Rot Mädchen

Saku Hana breathed out a word in a near-whisper, "Aliens?"

Sure there were aliens all around her. There were species she had never seen before even in this bar. But species that the Empire hadn't seen before was another story. Which Empire she was a little unsure of. Abwehren or Yamataian, though, it didn't matter to Saku Hana. She was interested. Not vaguely nor marginally. No, she was intensely interested.

Chomping at the bit, she said, "I'm happy to help, captain!"

Rot Mädchen

Brigid's blue eyes sparkled. She had always wanted to discover a new species. Her previous work had been fun, but she was getting older and she wanted to make a mark in the world. Something that people would remember her for. There might even be a little action if things went south, which was probably inevitable.

"I'm even more intrigued now, my beautiful new Captain. Don't worry, I promise not to sleep with any princesses." She said with a wink, then downed the rest of her drink. "Tell me, in addition to the money, will I receive credit for anything I happen to discover? It's not a dealbreaker, but I'm not getting any younger. Kids aren't my thing, too loud and annoying. This is my chance to leave a legacy."

Rot Mädchen

Tanja glanced over to Analise and Adiel as they left the building and smiled softly, Ana was opening up a bit and that made her happy. However she didn't ignore the two new members and turned her attention back to them. "Credit for discoveries will be handled appropriately." She typed a quick message on her communicator and sent it to Adiel and Ana. "So don't expect to be credited for discovering an entire star system on your own. But if you find new plants or animals or minerals then it could be credited specifically towards you." She offered a smile towards her two new crew members. "Would you like to see the ship? We have a few new toys on board as well."

Outside

Both Adiel and Ana received a simple message from Tanja on their watch communicators, telling them to head back to the ship once they were done shopping around.

Because they were in a restaurant district there were quite a few people up and about, looking for a nice place to eat at. However this was not their first time here, in fact Tanja had a tendency to frequent this station whenever they were in the area, so the two would know their way around fairly well if they tried to remember.

The station was mainly a tourist location, but there was a small gun shop tucked away in the shopping district. It was run by a somewhat fussy Abwehran man named Gregor who for some reason opened the shop, despite thinking any gun that wasn't a massdriver was 'for kids'. He always had a decent selection of foreign weaponry though, especially handguns, his place might have been worth a visit.

Rot Mädchen

Hana was nodding fervently, saying, "I do like toys." She had more than a few in her bags. Statuettes of princesses and pop culture stars, chrome eggs, the works. She wondered if she would get her own cabin to use them as she had been used to using them at home.

At the thought, she sighed deeply. She already missed home. But her debts had run her into the ground and this was one of her only out. To perk herself back up, she spoke again.

"I can't wait to go aboard!" She went on, "Hopefully your ship is as nice as you are, Captain!"

Rot Mädchen

The Nepleslian woman nodded. "I'm more interested in discovering new species of plants and animals. Astronomy doesn't interest me." She said. Her eyebrow raised at Hana's response. Can't say I disagree with her, she thought. Maybe we can play together sometime.

"I'm a fan of toys too, Hana. I'll have to show you mine sometime." Brigid said, grinning at the odd Neko. "I'd love to see her. Before we leave the station I should take a look at the stock of medical supplies, make sure we have everything we need," she replied in a more serious tone. "Will we be getting our own cabins, or will we need to share? I don't mind sharing, I'm very flexible."

Rot Mädchen

Tanja smiled at their response and stood up once more. "We have six single cabins and six double cabins. So you can have your own room right now if you want." She then turned her attention to Veronica.

"Put their drinks on my tab Veronica."

The red head waved to all three of them with a smile. "Try not to have too much fun out there you should all come back and order a feast to celebrate."

Tanja chuckled and waved back. "You just want to boost sales." She then made her way out, with a gesture for the two new members to follow. "The ship isn't too far from here."

Space Dock to Anbruch

It really wasn't much of a walk to the Anbruch, Tanja made a habit of getting as close as she could to the Rot Mädchen whenever she would arrive, to the point that hardly anyone used that specific dock except her.

"Before we get on there's two things I want to tell you. The first is you'll both get a communicator. It's nothing special but I want you to use that for communicating between crew, if you like another device better, run the call through it first. It has a tracking feature on it so as long as you have that on you, the crew can find you, and trust me you don't want to get lost where we're going." She then with the press of a button opened the port to the ship and made her way in.

"The second thing is that I keep the lights a little dim, I'm a Night walker, I can't take bright lights without my goggles." The inside of the ship was notably dimmer than the station, but things could still be seen well. "I brought some lights that are supposed to be easier on my eyes, but full power is still too much when they're so close, unlike at the station. You can do what you want with the lighting in your rooms and the infirmary though."

They were were outside of what looked like a gym area that was walled off with plexiglass for safety purposes.

Anbruch

"I like a little mood lighting," Saku said with a smile. "I think I'll be happy to have the lights in my room dim, in case you ever want to peek in without the brightness getting to you." She had difficulty getting her luggage to stay straight behind her for a moment and struggled with it. "Darn... You..." she muttered as she righted it. The luggage fell to the side of her and she worked to fix it, then said as it fell further, "Oh, not good..."

She picked up all of the pieces of luggage, one on top of the other, and floated off of her feet, speaking to Tanja from behind the baggage, all stacked precariously in her arms.

"I hope my cabin isn't too far from here!"

Anbruch

Engine Room

Sounds could be heard just down the corridor from the gym-like area. Loud banging for the most part. Oddly, though, a somewhat familiar voice could be heard shouting. "Toolbox! No! I told you that the capacitor was fixed! What are you doing there when you should be working on the shield deflectors?"

Back in her own element, Analiese was a lot more comfortable surrounded by the engine room. The only place she really called 'home'. Though she was timid and shy around others, in her milieu she was much more confident. The mechanic grumbled as she hit her robotic companion that she had made to help her and shook her head. "Perhaps I need to work on your programming some more..."

Cabin A-3

Adiel hung up his suit jacket, then his shoulder holster. Finally, there was the Little Killer that he'd purchased for Ana. To be fair, she'd told him to "put it away", yet she'd never specifically told him not to purchase it. She'd probably hate him for that, but he thought it a worthy price to pay.

Starring at the gun for a few moments, he ultimately shoved it into a drawer on his nightstand. Adiel leisurely rolled the sleeves on his navy dress shirt to elbow length and grabbed a datapad, as well as a bottle of Mazrit brandy.

Wardroom

Adiel moved to his favorite armchair, kicked up his feet, and poured himself a few fingers of his favorite brandy. Switching on his datapad, he began silently reading, occasionally sipping the drink. He allowed his wings to drape loosely over the sides of the chair.

Down below, he heard the airlock being cycled. No doubt Tanja and the new crew were coming aboard. In just mere minutes, they would jet off into the unknown for lord-knows how long. No one aboard but himself and three women.

Now, under normal circumstances, that would have been a pleasant detail to the Elysian, but after taking a glimpse at the redhead doctor, he was left with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, which he quickly washed away with another drink.

Space Dock to Anbruch

"I don't mind sharing," Brigid said as she followed Tanja and Hana to the ship with her suitcase and duffel bag. She was amazed at how much the Neko brought with her. It looked like she had brought enough with her to clothe a whole planet. She started to wonder if this was a mistake. Her freedom to do as she pleased was about to go out the window, and living this close to four other people could be a challenge. It's not like she could just leave the ship if they annoyed her.

When they reached the ship, she felt a little better. Her second thoughts were normal considering she had spent a few years on the surface of a planet before coming out here. The dim lights didn't bother her much, she was used to working in near darkness. "Hana, are those all clothes?" She finally asked, curiosity getting the better of her. The idea that anyone could own that many outfits baffled her, but bringing so much with her seemed even more unbelievable.