Look inside, you'll find a deeper love
The kind that only comes from high above
If you'll ever meet your inner child, don't cry, no, no
Tell them everything is gonna be alright
Bob Sinclair - World, Hold On
Lor's Orbit, An LSDF Spaceport
Shore Leave!
Wonderful, plentiful, shore leave. Soldier's best friend, where they're let off the leash of regulations, of expectations, of protocol. Friends who knew each other too well never let a thing like protocol get in the way of how they felt about each other's company. Expectations from both soldiers and from peers on the job were also noticeably slackened, only rearing their ugly heads again when the days to zero and back to the job like it'd never happened. A drunken memory everyone but the soldiers remember clearly.
Finally, regulations, things like not building an army of robots in your dormitory to dance to Yamataian Para-Para music, not building a still and distilling your own Duq-based liquor, being forced to wear an oh-so-stiff collar that always chafed against the fur, or having to guess what rank the approaching Sergeant was, exactly. Between Sergeants, Staff Sergeants, Sergeant Majors, or First Sergeants - woe betide the soldier who got the prefix wrong.
None of that had to be observed during shore leave.
Jiji would be in her dorm room, trying to do some upgrades to Doll-3, she wasn't one to party, or really enjoy shore leave as much as someone else would. She instead was content in dealing with her own affairs. She was in the zone though this day, she had her tools, her work space, everything set to neat standards. Her hair was put up in a ponytail, and she was in nothing more then a pair of panties and a shirt. She had Doll-3's back open and the sounds of electro-cutters and who knows what else coming from her room...
Soldiers were trusted to spend their shore leave, what precious time of it they had between assignments, wisely. Doing the things that made them feel whole, and making sure it didn't harm anybody, or themselves. Even with advanced medical technology, there was nothing relaxing about having to mend a broken limb or dislodge a foreign object in the body - and it was usually quite embarrassing. Not shameful in any way with the Lorath perception of being unashamed of what you do unlike the Yamataians or Nepleslians who wore it like a badge, but humorous all the same.
There was a knock on the door of the dormitory, two knocks. Since the Akahar incident, someone was assigned to keep an eye on their recovery after decontamination. Looking at the clock, it seemed to be about the right time for them to swing by.
Jiji stared at the Doll she was working on and then slowly looked up and looked towards the time and paused a moment.She sighed a bit and reattached what's important and closed up Doll-3's back and then turned him back on. She stood up, and placed him on her shoulder as he booted up, before turning and putting a pair of shorts on and heading to the door before opening it. She looked at the person in question and then smiled; "Hello."
The man at the door was a Lmanel man in uniform wearing the medical insignia on their right shoulder, assigned as a medic, but also specialising in long term therapy for particularly traumatic incidents. The Akahar's fallout was treated as such a situation, and it wasn't treated as anything patronising to have help assigned.
From the reports that were given to Psychologist Im'ot Yrsk 'Wave' Lmanel, heavily censored, he knew that whatever happened on the Akahar must've been horrid for the patient. "Good afternoon, Ji'xa," he said with a smile, looking at the doll on their shoulder and giving them a pat on the shoulder with his finger, "enjoying some time with Doll-3 today?"
Doll-3 looked up at being patted and the electronic display showed a smile and then he waved at the doctor.
Jiji, however, simply kept smiling at the man. "Yes... I was performing some upgrades to his CPU and Memory. I want him to become something that can help inventors everywhere, but I have to keep upgrading him to make sure he can help to the best of his abilities." She stepped aside and motioned. "Would you like to come in, Doctor Im'ot?" She then turned and headed inside her room once more, which by the way was rather messy, and took a seat back at her desk turning to look at him.
Watching his step as he moved inside, Im'ot made sure he didn't disturb anything on the floor lest he aggravate his patient as he grabbed the secondary chair on the opposite side of the room and put it down. Again, he made sure nothing was disturbed in the cluttered room, and sat down, feet under the chair, and legs crossed at the calves while his hands were in his lap, looking at the Lmanel.
"Your records have been good recently. Your commander wrote a good report about your performance on the LSDF Usk'um," he said, the Usk'um being the ship Jiji was serving on prior to leave, and had spent the last month away from. "I think you've recovered well."
He always had to state the good news first, and good news last, sandwiching anything less palatable between them since only the starts and ends of things were truly memorable, much like the end of the Akahar.
Jiji slowly looked up at him mentioning the Usk'um, personally she would prefer to be there now, rather than on shoreleave. But she took a breath and began speaking to the man; "I still have nightmares though... I see those horrid events over, and over again in my head at times. Its difficult to forget... Is it normal to not forget?"
She had never been through such a traumatic experience before she joined the Akahar, and hopefully she wouldn't go through it again. Doll-3 looked at her for a moment and raised one of its tiny hands and patted her on the ear. "It'll be okay, Jiji!" He said happily.
The doctor knew about the nightmares. The calls he'd get from the medical personnel aboard other ships - some nights, she wouldn't stop crying - yelling about the beast. Something only briefly alluded to in his notes, and sketched out. Wide grinned, snaggle-toothed, clawed and furred.
"It can be difficult to let go of certain situations," he admitted, "The thought of the Moon Drop keeps me awake some nights, though I made it out unscathed, just like you did from the Akahar."
He tried to plumb for more information on the Akahar's fate, but he kept getting his requests denied by a Dr. Kalopsia. There were hundreds of Kalopsias running around nowadays, it seemed - he saw at least one in every job. Maybe the Kalopsia family, analogous to a Nepleslian John or Jane Smith, were prolific in breeding. "What happened on the Akahar, was in no part, your fault," he continued as he grabbed his datapad and started to take notes. "You have been remembering to take your prescription, haven't you?"
Jiji listened to the man speak. Yes, the moonfall was a pretty horrible experience, and it was one of the reasons that she had connected with him enough to speak to him so openly. She relaxed a bit in her seat as she closed her eyes. "Doc...I was the reason people died, sure they were invading our ship, but my actions caused three people to die when we could've saved them... No matter what you may say, that was my fault, my doing. I couldn't... I was scared, and I panicked which is unbecoming of a soldier in the military."
She gritted her teeth a bit, remembering the two freespacers that were killed by the beast because she opened that door, and the final freespacer that was murdered by her own team because she pointed out the sounds coming from the airducts. She slowly opened her eyes once more at being asked the final question, had she been taking her medicine? "Yes, Doc... I have. The medicine has helped me quite a bit, and it does seem to be alleviating some of the issues I have been having, such as the anxiety, the hallucinations, and the nightmares..."
Still holding onto responsibility. The ultimate responsibility rested with a man absent. "Jiji, if you feel bad, remember that your commanding officer at the time, a Mar'zhaz Keib, deserted everyone the moment he was physically fit and back on Lor." He recalled the incident wherein he escaped from treatment before the LSDF could prosecute him for questioning with how deep his involvement with Lazarus went, though it was all circumstantial, and no ties with Lazarus could be established.
All a witch hunt which drew too many uncomfortable parallels to previous prosecution he couldn't handle, and his reputation didn't make it out intact. "I'm still surprised he stuck with the crew for so long, even after his Commanding Officer," whose name was even more mud than Keib's, "made an escape prior to you being assigned."
Jiji looked angry at him, saying Keib had abandoned them, she respected the man, whether what the doctor said was true or not. "If it wasn't for Keib, we'd have died upon that ship. I don't care if he abandoned us soon after or not... That man saved our lives." She looked down for a moment before coming back to eye contact. "...I'm sorry I know its not your fault, that is only what you've been told. But that man is not a traitor, nor is he worthy of the reputation he has gotten in recent years. He took the mantle of captain and saved everyone he could, and for that he should be revered as a hero."
She took a moment to calm herself before taking a breath and smiling. "Of course there is nothing I can or could do about that. I am a soldier, I do as the Matriarchy commands."
"Perhaps. It was not my place to judge at all," the doctor said solemnly, "but the Matriarchy did not judge in his favour." Accounts from other crew members did favour him, and painted a good picture, but it was unknown how much of Lazarus' shadow was cast over him and painted his actions. "I did hear good things though, and treasure them. Unlike the rest of the Matriarchy, you saw his actions first hand. Nobody can take that from you."
There was another knock at the door, an unexpected knock as the door opened itself and a woman, one of the staff handlers for the station had a datapad in her hands. "Excuse us, we're in the middle of a session, ma'am," the doctor spoke out, trying to divert things.
The woman, a fyunnen, would not be diverted. "I have news about your future assignment, Ji'xa 'Bright' Seurik Lmanel." She didn't sound particularly solemn about it, but she was relaying news all the same - and for some reason, it had to be in person.
Jiji paused for a moment and stared at the Fyunnen, she had extreme dislike for their kind, especially after she was introduced to the last fyunnen... the Chaplain. That guy would've preferred them to die from radiation then save them. But she tried to allow herself to not immediately hate this woman for something someone else did. "...I assume that it can't wait until the end of my session, if its so important..." There was a little hostility in her voice, but it was suppressed enough that it probably wasn't threatening. "What is it?"
The woman, unperturbed, spoke her piece. "You have been reassigned to a deep-space, long-distance exploration vessel called the LSDF Val'ta. You are to commence briefing within the month, and report to Captain Mil'ana Porrim 'Sightseer' Lmanel. The length of the mission is currently undetermined."
She looked up from her pad and looked down at JiJi, "Congratulations." With a little more breath, some joy probably could be heard in her voice if you really examined it hard. "The vessel itself is the very first of an experimental line of ships."
The doctor meanwhile wasn't sure what to make of this news. Changing circumstances suddenly could be detrimental to the patient's well-being after all, but he had to see how JiJi reacted.
For a moment, Jiji just stayed quiet, on one hand she finally got into a stable environment where she knew nothing bad would happen, on the other she was being invited upon an experimental ship which she would be able to study, and make notes on, and stuff. It really made her inquisitive side bloom. After a moment of staying silent, she looked at the woman again and nodded. "Yes Ma'am." Was all she had said before looking back to the doctor. "Now...where were we?"
The woman closed the door as she left, still looking at Jiji as the door slid shut. Dr. Im'ot gathered his marbles and senses and continued with the session as planned. The usual topics and questions were bought up and answered truthfully. As the session drew to a close though, Im'ot asked a question.
"How do you feel about working on a new vessel, all of the sudden?" he asked, not intending to incorporate it into his usual routine.
Jiji stared at him a moment, mulling his question over in her head. She sighed and shrugged a bit. "Just another day as a Soldier, I suppose..." She would state plainly. She was unsure what to think at the time, but she would go, and she would do her job as would any other slave of the Matriarch.
Her datapad made a beeping noise. A new message had arrived. Im'ot looked up from his own datapad and wanted to see how JiJi reacted. When it rained for her, it seemed to pour.
Jiji picked up the datapad and looks to see what was on it, she opened up the message and read. The message was as followed:
Jiji paused for a moment and scratched her head a bit, she took a moment to allow that message to sink in, before looking at Im'ot. "Seems I got promoted to Trooper, Doc." She seemed...detatched from that, as if the rank held no real meaning really. "Yay." She said dully.
Im'ot leaned over and gave her a pat on the shoulder not occupied by DOLL-3. "If its all the same, I believe you deserved better," he sighed before sitting back down and checking his own datapad. "Our session's nearly up, do you have any plans for the rest of the day, or anything else to discuss quickly?"
Behind him, the sound of JiJi's medicine for the next fortnight was lining up, the pill trays getting resupplied with a shake and clatter of little pills.
Jiji thought for a moment and shrugged. "I'll probably head to Yabeu-"something Im'ot knew was run by another former Akahar servicewoman "-and do a little work down there, before coming back here and finishing my upgrades to Doll-3. Outside of that, I don't know... I guess I'll start preparing to head to the Val'ta sometime soon." She idly fumbled her fingers across one another before she looked back towards Im'ot.
"Well, you've still got a couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy your time down at Yabeu," he said, standing up and handing JiJi her assortment of pills for the fortnight. There weren't a lot of them, but the ones that were there were for all a myriad purposes.
He stood up and extended his hand to shake JiJi's hand, swallowing a lump in his throat as the severity of the news dawned on him. "Be well, and good luck on your next assignment."
Jiji watched him for a moment, and then slowly took his hand and shook it ever so slightly, almost meekly. "I don't believe in luck... only numbers Dr. Im'ot." She said with a slightly twisted smile, perhaps some cynicism in there as well. Once he was gone, and had closed the door behind him, she gathered up her things and Doll-3 before putting him in her bag, and moved to make her way down towards the shuttle bay that would take her to the location she sought.
The trip down to the shuttle bay went smoothly. JiJi saw other soldiers of the LSDF going about their business, occasionally spotting even Jiyuuians in their midst, speaking fluent Lorath and getting on with business. Once down in the Shuttle Bay, JiJi could charter a shuttle to Hici'emi IV, where Yabeu was.
If nothing else, it'd be nice to see a friendly face again.
Jiji watched all the happy, or at least content people with scorn, she wasn't one to hate easily... but it was hard to ignore them being all happy while she had suffered, and gone through so much. She took a breath and moved over to the station's personnel logistics office and got a spot on a ship heading towards Hici'emi IV.
She hadn't seen Ny'za outside of random sporadic visits, E-Mail, or Video Chats over the last couple of years. When she had heard of Yabeu she felt it was a chance for her and Ny'za to work together again, so she had offered Ny'za her services as a technician and electronics expert to help out with the security of the place.
The thought of being with Ny'za again brought joy to her heart, it was rare for her to feel joy nowadays, but when it came to Ny'za one might say that it brought her heart back to life. She wouldn't say she loved her... But it was definitely something damn close to it. She sat down and spent most of her time day dreaming about the time she and Ny'za would spend together. So lost in thought was she, that she almost missed the call for her shuttle. She quickly stood up and gathered her things before running into the shuttle, claiming her seat.
"Please strap yourselves in, and have a pleasant flight." The pilot said over intercom as the other personnel on the shuttle were already settled in, drumming fingers against armrests, kicking their bags under their seats, looking at datapads, or giving each other small talk. Some of them were holding rifles, barrels pointing upwards as the stocks were against the ground.
The familiar hum of the engines begun to rise and soon, the shuttle was off towards Hici'emi IV as it left the space station, and soon left the perimeter of the Space Station and into space. The trip would take a few hours at least.
The kind that only comes from high above
If you'll ever meet your inner child, don't cry, no, no
Tell them everything is gonna be alright
Bob Sinclair - World, Hold On
Lor's Orbit, An LSDF Spaceport
Shore Leave!
Wonderful, plentiful, shore leave. Soldier's best friend, where they're let off the leash of regulations, of expectations, of protocol. Friends who knew each other too well never let a thing like protocol get in the way of how they felt about each other's company. Expectations from both soldiers and from peers on the job were also noticeably slackened, only rearing their ugly heads again when the days to zero and back to the job like it'd never happened. A drunken memory everyone but the soldiers remember clearly.
Finally, regulations, things like not building an army of robots in your dormitory to dance to Yamataian Para-Para music, not building a still and distilling your own Duq-based liquor, being forced to wear an oh-so-stiff collar that always chafed against the fur, or having to guess what rank the approaching Sergeant was, exactly. Between Sergeants, Staff Sergeants, Sergeant Majors, or First Sergeants - woe betide the soldier who got the prefix wrong.
None of that had to be observed during shore leave.
Jiji would be in her dorm room, trying to do some upgrades to Doll-3, she wasn't one to party, or really enjoy shore leave as much as someone else would. She instead was content in dealing with her own affairs. She was in the zone though this day, she had her tools, her work space, everything set to neat standards. Her hair was put up in a ponytail, and she was in nothing more then a pair of panties and a shirt. She had Doll-3's back open and the sounds of electro-cutters and who knows what else coming from her room...
Soldiers were trusted to spend their shore leave, what precious time of it they had between assignments, wisely. Doing the things that made them feel whole, and making sure it didn't harm anybody, or themselves. Even with advanced medical technology, there was nothing relaxing about having to mend a broken limb or dislodge a foreign object in the body - and it was usually quite embarrassing. Not shameful in any way with the Lorath perception of being unashamed of what you do unlike the Yamataians or Nepleslians who wore it like a badge, but humorous all the same.
There was a knock on the door of the dormitory, two knocks. Since the Akahar incident, someone was assigned to keep an eye on their recovery after decontamination. Looking at the clock, it seemed to be about the right time for them to swing by.
Jiji stared at the Doll she was working on and then slowly looked up and looked towards the time and paused a moment.She sighed a bit and reattached what's important and closed up Doll-3's back and then turned him back on. She stood up, and placed him on her shoulder as he booted up, before turning and putting a pair of shorts on and heading to the door before opening it. She looked at the person in question and then smiled; "Hello."
The man at the door was a Lmanel man in uniform wearing the medical insignia on their right shoulder, assigned as a medic, but also specialising in long term therapy for particularly traumatic incidents. The Akahar's fallout was treated as such a situation, and it wasn't treated as anything patronising to have help assigned.
From the reports that were given to Psychologist Im'ot Yrsk 'Wave' Lmanel, heavily censored, he knew that whatever happened on the Akahar must've been horrid for the patient. "Good afternoon, Ji'xa," he said with a smile, looking at the doll on their shoulder and giving them a pat on the shoulder with his finger, "enjoying some time with Doll-3 today?"
Doll-3 looked up at being patted and the electronic display showed a smile and then he waved at the doctor.
Jiji, however, simply kept smiling at the man. "Yes... I was performing some upgrades to his CPU and Memory. I want him to become something that can help inventors everywhere, but I have to keep upgrading him to make sure he can help to the best of his abilities." She stepped aside and motioned. "Would you like to come in, Doctor Im'ot?" She then turned and headed inside her room once more, which by the way was rather messy, and took a seat back at her desk turning to look at him.
Watching his step as he moved inside, Im'ot made sure he didn't disturb anything on the floor lest he aggravate his patient as he grabbed the secondary chair on the opposite side of the room and put it down. Again, he made sure nothing was disturbed in the cluttered room, and sat down, feet under the chair, and legs crossed at the calves while his hands were in his lap, looking at the Lmanel.
"Your records have been good recently. Your commander wrote a good report about your performance on the LSDF Usk'um," he said, the Usk'um being the ship Jiji was serving on prior to leave, and had spent the last month away from. "I think you've recovered well."
He always had to state the good news first, and good news last, sandwiching anything less palatable between them since only the starts and ends of things were truly memorable, much like the end of the Akahar.
Jiji slowly looked up at him mentioning the Usk'um, personally she would prefer to be there now, rather than on shoreleave. But she took a breath and began speaking to the man; "I still have nightmares though... I see those horrid events over, and over again in my head at times. Its difficult to forget... Is it normal to not forget?"
She had never been through such a traumatic experience before she joined the Akahar, and hopefully she wouldn't go through it again. Doll-3 looked at her for a moment and raised one of its tiny hands and patted her on the ear. "It'll be okay, Jiji!" He said happily.
The doctor knew about the nightmares. The calls he'd get from the medical personnel aboard other ships - some nights, she wouldn't stop crying - yelling about the beast. Something only briefly alluded to in his notes, and sketched out. Wide grinned, snaggle-toothed, clawed and furred.
"It can be difficult to let go of certain situations," he admitted, "The thought of the Moon Drop keeps me awake some nights, though I made it out unscathed, just like you did from the Akahar."
He tried to plumb for more information on the Akahar's fate, but he kept getting his requests denied by a Dr. Kalopsia. There were hundreds of Kalopsias running around nowadays, it seemed - he saw at least one in every job. Maybe the Kalopsia family, analogous to a Nepleslian John or Jane Smith, were prolific in breeding. "What happened on the Akahar, was in no part, your fault," he continued as he grabbed his datapad and started to take notes. "You have been remembering to take your prescription, haven't you?"
Jiji listened to the man speak. Yes, the moonfall was a pretty horrible experience, and it was one of the reasons that she had connected with him enough to speak to him so openly. She relaxed a bit in her seat as she closed her eyes. "Doc...I was the reason people died, sure they were invading our ship, but my actions caused three people to die when we could've saved them... No matter what you may say, that was my fault, my doing. I couldn't... I was scared, and I panicked which is unbecoming of a soldier in the military."
She gritted her teeth a bit, remembering the two freespacers that were killed by the beast because she opened that door, and the final freespacer that was murdered by her own team because she pointed out the sounds coming from the airducts. She slowly opened her eyes once more at being asked the final question, had she been taking her medicine? "Yes, Doc... I have. The medicine has helped me quite a bit, and it does seem to be alleviating some of the issues I have been having, such as the anxiety, the hallucinations, and the nightmares..."
Still holding onto responsibility. The ultimate responsibility rested with a man absent. "Jiji, if you feel bad, remember that your commanding officer at the time, a Mar'zhaz Keib, deserted everyone the moment he was physically fit and back on Lor." He recalled the incident wherein he escaped from treatment before the LSDF could prosecute him for questioning with how deep his involvement with Lazarus went, though it was all circumstantial, and no ties with Lazarus could be established.
All a witch hunt which drew too many uncomfortable parallels to previous prosecution he couldn't handle, and his reputation didn't make it out intact. "I'm still surprised he stuck with the crew for so long, even after his Commanding Officer," whose name was even more mud than Keib's, "made an escape prior to you being assigned."
Jiji looked angry at him, saying Keib had abandoned them, she respected the man, whether what the doctor said was true or not. "If it wasn't for Keib, we'd have died upon that ship. I don't care if he abandoned us soon after or not... That man saved our lives." She looked down for a moment before coming back to eye contact. "...I'm sorry I know its not your fault, that is only what you've been told. But that man is not a traitor, nor is he worthy of the reputation he has gotten in recent years. He took the mantle of captain and saved everyone he could, and for that he should be revered as a hero."
She took a moment to calm herself before taking a breath and smiling. "Of course there is nothing I can or could do about that. I am a soldier, I do as the Matriarchy commands."
"Perhaps. It was not my place to judge at all," the doctor said solemnly, "but the Matriarchy did not judge in his favour." Accounts from other crew members did favour him, and painted a good picture, but it was unknown how much of Lazarus' shadow was cast over him and painted his actions. "I did hear good things though, and treasure them. Unlike the rest of the Matriarchy, you saw his actions first hand. Nobody can take that from you."
There was another knock at the door, an unexpected knock as the door opened itself and a woman, one of the staff handlers for the station had a datapad in her hands. "Excuse us, we're in the middle of a session, ma'am," the doctor spoke out, trying to divert things.
The woman, a fyunnen, would not be diverted. "I have news about your future assignment, Ji'xa 'Bright' Seurik Lmanel." She didn't sound particularly solemn about it, but she was relaying news all the same - and for some reason, it had to be in person.
Jiji paused for a moment and stared at the Fyunnen, she had extreme dislike for their kind, especially after she was introduced to the last fyunnen... the Chaplain. That guy would've preferred them to die from radiation then save them. But she tried to allow herself to not immediately hate this woman for something someone else did. "...I assume that it can't wait until the end of my session, if its so important..." There was a little hostility in her voice, but it was suppressed enough that it probably wasn't threatening. "What is it?"
The woman, unperturbed, spoke her piece. "You have been reassigned to a deep-space, long-distance exploration vessel called the LSDF Val'ta. You are to commence briefing within the month, and report to Captain Mil'ana Porrim 'Sightseer' Lmanel. The length of the mission is currently undetermined."
She looked up from her pad and looked down at JiJi, "Congratulations." With a little more breath, some joy probably could be heard in her voice if you really examined it hard. "The vessel itself is the very first of an experimental line of ships."
The doctor meanwhile wasn't sure what to make of this news. Changing circumstances suddenly could be detrimental to the patient's well-being after all, but he had to see how JiJi reacted.
For a moment, Jiji just stayed quiet, on one hand she finally got into a stable environment where she knew nothing bad would happen, on the other she was being invited upon an experimental ship which she would be able to study, and make notes on, and stuff. It really made her inquisitive side bloom. After a moment of staying silent, she looked at the woman again and nodded. "Yes Ma'am." Was all she had said before looking back to the doctor. "Now...where were we?"
The woman closed the door as she left, still looking at Jiji as the door slid shut. Dr. Im'ot gathered his marbles and senses and continued with the session as planned. The usual topics and questions were bought up and answered truthfully. As the session drew to a close though, Im'ot asked a question.
"How do you feel about working on a new vessel, all of the sudden?" he asked, not intending to incorporate it into his usual routine.
Jiji stared at him a moment, mulling his question over in her head. She sighed and shrugged a bit. "Just another day as a Soldier, I suppose..." She would state plainly. She was unsure what to think at the time, but she would go, and she would do her job as would any other slave of the Matriarch.
Her datapad made a beeping noise. A new message had arrived. Im'ot looked up from his own datapad and wanted to see how JiJi reacted. When it rained for her, it seemed to pour.
Jiji picked up the datapad and looks to see what was on it, she opened up the message and read. The message was as followed:
Code:
TITLE: [Command] Congratulations, Trooper!
FROM: LSDF Personnel Command and Control
==MESSAGE START==
You have been promoted to the rank of: Trooper.
Citation: Long Service to the Lorath Matriarchy under the LSDF Usk'um, LSDF Ral'vo, LSDF Akahar
Citation: Exceptional engineering work
Sincerely,
LSDF Personnel Command and Control
==MESSAGE END==Jiji paused for a moment and scratched her head a bit, she took a moment to allow that message to sink in, before looking at Im'ot. "Seems I got promoted to Trooper, Doc." She seemed...detatched from that, as if the rank held no real meaning really. "Yay." She said dully.
Im'ot leaned over and gave her a pat on the shoulder not occupied by DOLL-3. "If its all the same, I believe you deserved better," he sighed before sitting back down and checking his own datapad. "Our session's nearly up, do you have any plans for the rest of the day, or anything else to discuss quickly?"
Behind him, the sound of JiJi's medicine for the next fortnight was lining up, the pill trays getting resupplied with a shake and clatter of little pills.
Jiji thought for a moment and shrugged. "I'll probably head to Yabeu-"something Im'ot knew was run by another former Akahar servicewoman "-and do a little work down there, before coming back here and finishing my upgrades to Doll-3. Outside of that, I don't know... I guess I'll start preparing to head to the Val'ta sometime soon." She idly fumbled her fingers across one another before she looked back towards Im'ot.
"Well, you've still got a couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy your time down at Yabeu," he said, standing up and handing JiJi her assortment of pills for the fortnight. There weren't a lot of them, but the ones that were there were for all a myriad purposes.
He stood up and extended his hand to shake JiJi's hand, swallowing a lump in his throat as the severity of the news dawned on him. "Be well, and good luck on your next assignment."
Jiji watched him for a moment, and then slowly took his hand and shook it ever so slightly, almost meekly. "I don't believe in luck... only numbers Dr. Im'ot." She said with a slightly twisted smile, perhaps some cynicism in there as well. Once he was gone, and had closed the door behind him, she gathered up her things and Doll-3 before putting him in her bag, and moved to make her way down towards the shuttle bay that would take her to the location she sought.
The trip down to the shuttle bay went smoothly. JiJi saw other soldiers of the LSDF going about their business, occasionally spotting even Jiyuuians in their midst, speaking fluent Lorath and getting on with business. Once down in the Shuttle Bay, JiJi could charter a shuttle to Hici'emi IV, where Yabeu was.
If nothing else, it'd be nice to see a friendly face again.
Jiji watched all the happy, or at least content people with scorn, she wasn't one to hate easily... but it was hard to ignore them being all happy while she had suffered, and gone through so much. She took a breath and moved over to the station's personnel logistics office and got a spot on a ship heading towards Hici'emi IV.
She hadn't seen Ny'za outside of random sporadic visits, E-Mail, or Video Chats over the last couple of years. When she had heard of Yabeu she felt it was a chance for her and Ny'za to work together again, so she had offered Ny'za her services as a technician and electronics expert to help out with the security of the place.
The thought of being with Ny'za again brought joy to her heart, it was rare for her to feel joy nowadays, but when it came to Ny'za one might say that it brought her heart back to life. She wouldn't say she loved her... But it was definitely something damn close to it. She sat down and spent most of her time day dreaming about the time she and Ny'za would spend together. So lost in thought was she, that she almost missed the call for her shuttle. She quickly stood up and gathered her things before running into the shuttle, claiming her seat.
"Please strap yourselves in, and have a pleasant flight." The pilot said over intercom as the other personnel on the shuttle were already settled in, drumming fingers against armrests, kicking their bags under their seats, looking at datapads, or giving each other small talk. Some of them were holding rifles, barrels pointing upwards as the stocks were against the ground.
The familiar hum of the engines begun to rise and soon, the shuttle was off towards Hici'emi IV as it left the space station, and soon left the perimeter of the Space Station and into space. The trip would take a few hours at least.
