RP: The Wayward New Heights (Ep4)

Bridge

Ana smiled a bit at that, relief showing in her eyes. She nodded, "Oh, I do want to help with the beacon! I can't wait to see how it works!" She reached out and squeezed Tanja's arm before she headed out to the hangar to get herself ready to go with those who were doing the beacon. She knew that she'd need to know how the other things worked...even if just to ensure that they functioned for everyone else. And, as Tanja said...just in case.

Hangar

Ana made her way with TB into the hangar, getting herself into the suit that would allow her to space walk with TB strapped in. She had gotten used to using this particular suit, so for her it was like what most would consider 'riding a bicycle'...whatever that was.

Hangar

Everyone was suited up in either an EM-G7 or their own personal suit within the hangar, where there were several small craft just waiting to be operated. Stefan was suited up as well in a suit that would accommodate his four arms. He was the pilot for the Onset shuttle that most would be riding in, but he made his way over to the fighter craft and Adiel first.

Standing next to the sleekly designed craft that had been painted gray he spoke up. "The captain put a training program inside that's in Trade, you should be able to handle it. It'll take you through the start up first and then launch procedures. I'll have the shuttle up and out of the way for you so you can have it clear." He gave the Elysian a rough pat on the back before he walked off to the Onset.

"Okay everyone do a quick check of your propulsion and then hop in." The Abwehran scientist opened the hatch to the shuttle and then moved to the cockpit and began the preflight check.

Hangar

Ana took her time after getting into her suit to make her way to the shuttle. She wanted to first take at least a closer look at the other suits and fighters. Her focus was first, though, on the fighters. She walked up to one and walked all around it, studying it from the outside. She had seen similar ones before, but never this close.

As she inspected it, she tentatively ran a hand over the outside of it, her odd colored eyes taking in each detail. TB looked over her shoulder and beeped at her in a curious manner. She smiled a bit and shook her head, "We're not gonna be in one today. But perhaps, when there's some downtime, we can get in one to see how it works later."

Hangar

Brigid immediately dashed towards the frames in her EM suit, grinning. "I'm learning to pilot one of these." She said excitedly. After inspecting it some more, she sighed. "Okay, maybe not right now exactly, but I will get inside you," she told the frame.

Instead of climbing in, she walked back to the shuttle. "I'm riding in the shuttle for now." She informed the others. Brigid noticed the adorable mechanic checking out the fighter. She didn't really know much about any of these people. Hopefully, they would open up a bit soon.

Adiel and Ash seemed like the most promising prospects for some more intimate fun, although she wasn't sure Ash enjoyed the company of other women like she did. Adiel she was almost 100% sure would be up for it. She smirked at the thought and checked all of the suit's systems. Then she checked to make sure her gun and knife were secured to her utility belt. Satisfied everything was in order, she boarded the shuttle and found a seat.

Hangar

Ana made her way to the shuttle itself and noticed Brigid there. She gave the woman a small, shy smile as she climbed in. TB chirped before going back to his dormant position on Ana's back. Softly she spoke to the Doctor. "Umm...so you took the place of Quinn." She bit her lip as she added in a bit of a rush, "Just so you know...I don't like needles." She quickly moved into a seat near the back of the shuttle and hunkered down, not sure if Brigid would respond or not...nor how.

Hangar

Ash was surprised by the turnout at the shuttle. She had assumed most of the crew would leap at the chance to pilot the armors or the fighters, but then she shrugged and made her way into the shuttle as well. The shuttle was very quickly filling up, and she crammed her six-foot plus frame inside.

"Party in the shuttle it seems?" she quipped as she pushed toward the front of the shuttle, standing behind Stefan, but leaving the co-pilot seat open. She nodded at him with a smirk and then turned back to the others in the back.

"Sooo...raise of hands, who here has actually walked in the void before? Because I certainly have," she said with a grin. " If it's your first time, let me know. I should be able to give you some pointers."

Hangar

A little queasy and not at all comfortable with the prospect of rough and tumble work, Saku Hana realized she was not cut out for this. She wanted to leave. She wanted to find some other way to make money. She wanted to barf.

"Er..." she said to everybody, muttering under her breath. "Does anyone else want to just hang out on the ship?"

Shuttle

Ash looked down at Hana. "Aww, where is the fun in that?" she said with a smirk. "Tanja wants us to all to learn what we can to prepare for our journey out here. Who knows if you're gonna have to space walk all by yourself?"

"Besides, you're one of those Neko-cat things. Don't you automatically have training for this type of thing or something?"

Hangar

A devilish smirk crossed Adiel's lips, as if he were finally realizing what sort of destructive tool he'd been handed. With this machine, he could cause untold havoc! He could disintegrate entire starships to nothing but molten slag. He could turn cities into burning heaps of fire and rubble. Yet here he was, simply starring at the metal beast, with naught a city or enemy starship for light years.

He chuckled lowly and climbed into the cockpit, having to take a moment to adjust the seat to accommodate his wings. Once settled in, he switched on the console, which immediately began spewing a sickeningly Yamataian cartoon tutorial complete with animated, chibi catgirls screeching at him in obnoxiously bubbly tones of voice on how to operate the ship.

After about five seconds, Adiel mashed the skip button. His dignity could only take so much. He was smart. Hell, he was the smartest person he knew! He could figure this out, easily.

A button. A rather large button. Flashing red. The only button flashing on the entire control panel. That one.

Adiel pressed it, and his ears were filled with a dull roar as the beast awoke from its slumber. The seat began to vibrate with pure power.

Oh, how he wanted to fly. The void called to him, begging him to slam the throttle forward and rocket off into the nebula like an avenging spirit. But he couldn't.

"Slower traffic to the right, please." he muttered over the comms to the shuttle, annoyance clear in his voice, for they still had not left yet!

Hangar

Stefan let everyone get inside the shuttle and sit on the benches. After making sure everyone was situated he eased the shuttle through and launched, the process was so smooth that hardly any motion was felt inside the cabin. "Hana was it? This is gonna seem pretty hectic at first, but it's not that bad. It's like scuba diving." Stefan spoke as he continued his piloting, moving the shuttle to the other side of the ship, where a probe was being launched. "We're just going to install this and go back. Nothing to worry about."

The shuttle eased up to the probe and attached a decide to it to secure it and then made its move towards the asteroid to prepare for installation. It was a short trip, only a few minutes before the shuttle stopped and eased the probe down.

"Those of you who haven't bene in space before stick close to those who have." Stefan stood up after his words and did a final on the air seals and oxygen levels in his suit. Once everyone had done the same he opened the shuttle up to let them out.

"We need to use the rigging structure and drive anchor spikes into the asteroid, then we need to boot it and calibrate it and it should be good to go."

As for Adiel, the ship started up but that was only the start, a guide in trade began to play to show him how to taxi onto a runway and prepare for launch. The ship had delicate controls that made it able to perform some fancy maneuvers in combat, but it was still a fighter ship and was a bit jerky with its normal movements. However, the shuttle was now gone and clear of the ship, after activating the radar it was easy to tell. It also looked like there were some flight patterns to practice using the conventional systems and for use when aided by the inertia system onboard the craft.

Shuttle

Saku Hana said nothing to Ash and held her hand in her lap during the ride. She was a Neko-cat thing. She should have control over her emotions. She should have control over the world around her. Moreover, she should have control over her body. After she had secured her air seals and oxygen levels she went up to the Iromakuanhe and groped for her hand to hold.

She looked up into Ash's eyes and asked the Mazerin-born, "Would you be my space-buddy?"

Shuttle

When it was time, Ash slipped on her helmet and secured the air seal with familiar ease. Satisfied her helmet was secure, she turned and smiled at Hana from behind the faceplate of her helmet.

"Sure thing. You have nothing to worry about," she said, reaching over and gripping the Neko's hand firmly. She stepped to the edge of the ramp and looked back at Hana.

"Ready? Hold on tight and do not let go," she said. She then leaned out into the void and pushed off from the shuttle with her legs, sending her and Hana floating over towards the probe. Ash used her thrusters to make minor adjustments, but she was pretty much on target with her inital push.

"If you're are feeling sick, try to focus on something and keep looking at it,"said Ash, somersaulting with ease as she swam through the void. She flipped so that the two of them would land feet-first instead of crashing head-first into the asteroid. In no time, the two of them had arrived on (relatively) solid ground.

"See, that wasn't too bad, was it?"

Shuttle - Asteroid

Ana sat quietly as the others prepared to go out into space. She put the final touches on her suit to ensure she could breathe before she headed out by herself towards the asteroid, trying to stay close to the satellite as possible so that she could be there to help calibrate it when needed. She didn't say much of anything, but she was still a bit wary of Stefan.

Hangar

Adiel realized with a sigh of resignation that he would have to endure the next video, since he still didn't know how to actually operate the craft. So, he leaned back in the chair and drummed his fingers impatiently.

Space...

Suddenly, a blurred shape rocketed from the hangar of the Anbruch like a bat out of Hell. At full throttle, the fighter shot by a mere one hundred yards from the shuttle and the asteroid, performing a roll. It streaked off into the nebula, becoming a speck, then disappearing.

Then, laughter over the comms.

Adiel's laughter. A sound never heard before by most. Its tone held no malice, simply pure, unbridled joy.

Swordbreaker...

Adiel's hands gripped the stick so hard that his knuckles turned even more white. His pupils were dilated as the fluorescent gases whizzed by around him, the Elysian having decided to use the cockpit's bubble to view the outside world. His heart pounded, and he had to fight back the urge to whoop and cheer like a child.

He... He was flying! Not merely riding along as a passenger on another's ship, but flying! Something he'd dreamed of since watching the patricians doing it as a young plebian on the small, isolated mining colony of his youth.

The console was instructing him on how to bank, and so he did, pulling a one-eighty and screaming back to the rest of the crew.

Shuttle -> Asteroid

Brigid smiled at the other redhead. "I will be gentle with you." She hoped the girl would be less shy. Coming on too strong would push this one away, she thought. Best to just be friendly and let her approach me.

In response to Ashtoreth's question, she raised her hand. "I was an NSMC Medic before I got my doctorate. I could do this in my sleep." She explained.

Brigid checked her oxygen and made sure her suit didn't have any leaks. Her comfort with the situation showed when it was time to exit the shuttle. She launched herself out of the airlock, shooting past the other girls.

Hana's reaction to space threw up red flags. She remembered whispers in the Nepleslian underworld about bootleg Nekos. Could just be a strange one, but if that's what Hana was, she would have to rethink her evaluation of the second most shy member of the crew.

In truth, she was glad she didn't need to coddle the mechanic like Ash did with Hana. She slowed down as she approached, flipping over to land feet-first on the surface. Adiel's laughter echoed in her ears. Yep, going to have fun with that one, she thought.

Asteroid

Saku Hana looked up to Ash with a gleam in her big blue eyes as she squeezed the Iromakuanhe woman's hand.

"Thank you..." Hana said. "That was wonderful."

She was a little less than self-aware and not keen enough of an observer to know that she should perhaps be a little more clandestine about her fears. It was a good thing she wasn't, though. It saved the little Neko from the embarrassment of knowing she was being judged for what she was afraid of.

Installation Site

After letting everyone out and having given them the time they needed to situate themselves, Stefan spoke up on the comms that were tied through the Watch Communicators everyone had. "I'm going to position the probe. Once it's in place we'll have to secure the four anchors, boot the system and then run a check." After he spoke he gave everyone a little more time before the shuttle lifted up once more and resituated the probe to make sure it was in an optimal spot, then disconnected from it.

The first step would be to secure the anchor rods, a system of pneumatic stakes to drive deep into the asteroid's crust. However, they were in space, the force from the action would push back on the probe and send it away, so they would have to first secure it with temporary cable and piton, a bit of a tedious task, but they had all the equipment they needed to do it.

Wild Ride through space

As Adiel pulled off his banking maneuver he noticed a few indicators go off on his console, he skipped the basic systems tutorial but luckily the advanced display gave detailed readouts so even without knowing exactly what everything did it was still possible to get the jist of it. The actual report was not so positive however, it was rather strange in fact, the sensors had picked up considerable quantities of processed metal about 15 kilometers away.

Probe 1

Analiese had heard the laughter coming through from Adiel. She was far enough away from the others that she could allow herself a small smile as she heard him. One day, she thought to herself. One day I will be able to find as much joy in such things.

As soon as the probe was in position, Ana went over and secured it temporarily to the asteroid. She remembered reading up on how to do this in the manual that they were given access to before. TB helped her in making sure it was ready and steady before they did the permanent anchor, timing it to match the others.

"Would you mind if I watch as you program it so that I can do it next time?" She asked hesitantly.

Top Gun - But in Space

Adiel glanced down at his display, and noted the readout.

The Elysian slowed as he approached the asteroid, holding the fighter in a hover above the surface.

"Ms. Dunst," he announced over the comms. "During my- ahem- test flight... My sensors picked up an unusual reading several thousand kilometers due galactic east of our location. Processed metal. Now, unless there is some odd, natural process that can create such a material, I believe I have discovered a sign of advanced life. We should investigate once you're all done planting the beacon."

Ash gently floated over towards the probe, and then released her grip on Hana's hand.

"Stick close, ok?" she said. She then turned toward the probe, taking out a small drill, a hammer, and a piton from a bag lashed to the side of the device. She pulled out a coil of cable from the bag and secured it to the probe proper before she put her arm through it to carry it over to a proper anchoring site.
The Iromakuanhe floated over towards a location opposite where Ana had placed down her piton. She knelt down onto the bedrock and pulled out the small drill, putting a small hole into the rock of the asteroid. She then carefully began tapping the piton into place with the hammer, being careful to not exert too much force and send herself floating away.
The piton planted, Ash pulled the cable taut and secured it. She then pushed over gently back to the probe, looking over at Ana.

"Probe is secured. Are we ready for the anchors?"