RP: LSDF Val'ta [Prologue] - Sing about the Valleys

[Archander]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

Such excitement found it's way to the Observation area/bar of the ship, to which Ix'ion had hoped the Goddess would have sent anywhere else but there. But of course, his prayer was not answered as he wished it would have been, marked by the appearance of and drama that one known as Akemi brought with them. Watching the stars and the space scape was rather enjoyable for the few moments of peace he had, however the male Neko disrupted that with an altercation between himself and a Nepleslian with deepened color in his deep colored cheeks.

A long audible sigh followed a deep inhale, to which Ix'ion rose from his seat and made his way over toward the two quarreling males. "I would hope things can be handled in a better manner than this, especially away from the confines of the Iron Church where physical altercations can play out without consequence. Not that I do not enjoy a good fight or proving the honor of one's self, I can not say that I feel this is the time... nor the place... to do so gentlemen."

Ix'ion stood cross-armed in front of the two nearby Aran'ya, his face more neutral than serious, with hair hanging just in front of his right eye. Over his right shoulder was the hilt of his sword. Not that he would use it, at least readily do so, it was there if in the unlikely event someone needed to be put down it would be done.

 

[Luca]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar
Someone could be heard emerging from the back room of the bar, walking behind the counter and roused by the sound of chattering voices. A uniformed lmanel woman of average height, plain features, fair skin and simmering, unflappable demeanour. The band on her right arm indicated that she was part of the Morale team on the Val'ta. Ergo, her purview was to provide merriment, physical or chemical.

"Evening ladies and gentlemen," she said, looking out the window with a smile, accent from the Southern hemisphere of Lor, "I'll start serving drinks once we're at cruise speed. That should loosen things up, right?" She turned around, and clapped her hands thrice at what looked like a wall behind the bar. The walls rolled open, and on a series of glass shelves were all of the bottles, and glasses. "Now don't you try that yourselves or the Data Strip will throw your ass out, y'hear?"

A hard-light hologram of a burly looking, indistinct humanoid came out of the wall where the bar could be accessed. It flexed its digital muscles threateningly. Maybe they went to the Iron Church a lot. Could hard-light holograms get buff? Or did they merely appear buff? Was there progression or programming at work here?

Suddenly, the room seemed to light up. At the doors of the bar was the Captain - Porrim! Well, first thing was first, she was admiring the view out into space first, and then looked down at the soldiers, Aran'ya, Akemi, Ix'ion and - she had to read the nametag - Berhane, "My goodness, Ursula, have you already got patrons?" She asked, able to reciprocate the Southern drawl.

"Eyup. Like the view, I see?"

"Mmm!" Porrim looked back out into the window at the stars, sighing contentedly at the space scenery. It never got old. "We're definitely cruising along~!" She then looked down at the four soldiers. "Keeping our noses clean, Akemi?" The captain smiled wryly at them, before her eyes looked over to the two Lorath, Aran'ya and Ix'ion, "the kitty's giving you no trouble, I hope?"


LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Iron Church's Locker Room
Ghost got her boots on quickly, and her belongings together. As she left she wove past a half naked New Tur'listan man who thought it was the perfect time to shower after some workouts. Their workouts targeted both the mind and the body. Nobody really batted an eyelid at the small Helashio, but she couldn't help but feel there was some questions as to why a Helashio had a rank beyond 'manservant'.

It'd been about three years since Akahar, and the rumblings amongst the soldiers could never really agree on what exactly happened to the ship, but the constants were that the crew managed to escape alive, some had to be 'disinfected' (whatever that meant), and that the ship was a writeoff. The exact causes changed from story to story - as well as the identities of the people on board. Well, all except for Keib, wherever he was.

 

[Eistheid]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck 3, Iron Church

At the question of where they would be bunking Mirage helplessly rolled her shoulders in an empathetic shrug. After a moment of thought she admitted aloud, "I have no idea if we have segregated bunks, or whether we can just choose an empty spot... Or negotiate. I suppose I can always try out the... Data Strip and interrogate the Val'ta's computer. Should we find Ghost first? Or do we her her to finding her own way?" It was clear that Mirage was in no rush, and felt no particular need to take charge of the situation. They were idle, much like the rest of the ship, and they had little intention of stirring that up.

 

[Firebrand]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

Menelik had been aghast at Akemi's behavior and words, his confusion evident on his face up until the Neko had the gall to put his face practically in the woman's rear; a quite shapely one at that. And then he'd smugly implied with looks alone that Mene would never do anything with that rear- not that he was letting the fact that it was nice guide his actions or anything, but it was still... Insulting! Combined with Akemi's attempts to make -him- look bad it was enough to be infuriating as well, and the man's actual cry for help from the Lorath woman, Aran'ya, just... it made the normally peaceful man's blood rise from the sheer gall of it all. Were all Yamataians like this fop? Was this how Lorath women liked to be treated? What the FU-

That train of thought was thankfully derailed by the timely arrival of Ix'ion, letting Menelik take a mental step back and collect himself. Damn, he'd actually gotten suckered in by the cat, and his cheeks had been practically burning with a mixture of embarrassment over clearly making a fool of himself on this new ship and anger at Akemi's behavior. Normally he didn't react like this, and he never should've gotten involved, but with the way Akemi had been acting he couldn't keep his head down and quiet. What reason did he have, though, to get involved? He was a foreigner who knew nothing about the customs of either of these people, but still he'd gotten his goat about what he saw. Not a good way to make a first impression with people at all. Suitably cowed and with a bag of ice dumped on his emotions, Menelik took a step back.

"He's right, and I'm sorry for interrupting on your date," He looked at Aran'ya and saluted her, "Sir, I apologize for getting in the way of your date, Sir," A shift turn towards Akemi... though it wasn't much of a turn, "Sir I apologize for ruining your attempts to woo her, Sir." Menelik took the chance to step back, and was ready to excuse himself when the captain walked in. Not actually expecting to ever see the Captain, he snapped a salute at the officer and held it.

 

[Gallant]

Deck 3 Iron Church -> Deck 2 Starboard GBR (Group Bunk Room)


Ghost made good on her new namesake, slipping out with a departing group of soldiers, and soon found herself following the data strips along the corridor, which led her to 2rd Deck’s Group Bunk Rooms, on the Starboard side, which Ghost found to be more or less reserved for the ground crew.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be around them, Ghost assured herself. She could be social when she wanted to. It simply nagged at her that she had set them to doing that, and that she had wanted, so very strongly, to hurt both of them. If Ghost had been fighting, she would not have thought, like Ash, to not hurt Mirage, and if she had been Mirage, she might have been harsher on Ash. And she worried over the Lorath who had heard her coaching, and wondered if she should have ever humored that tingly feeling in her tail at all.

Best not to think about it, and best to allow a minute or two to let the whole thing slide off into forgetfulness.

Quite a few Lorath had already staked out bunks when she arrived. So had the Nepleslians. But there were still plenty of empty bunks, and Ghost picked out a set of three near the forward inner corner. She touched the datastrip next to one, claiming it, and then finally unloaded her gear and made her bunk. Other soldiers had brought their own footlockers. Ghost didn’t have one, so she took one of the standard ones that weren’t in use and locked it to the floor. Afterwards the unloading process did not take her long. Ghost owned very few things in the world, and all of them happened to be standard issue except for the switchblade knife.

She considered putting it into the footlocker, and then thought better of it. Its press against her ankle comforted her in a way she couldn’t quite explain. Still, she palmed it as she removed her boots, and then—exercising remarkable agility—latched onto one of the rungs of the ladder and, with a half-step start, swung into the top rack feet-first.

The racks were of a uniform size. Hers wouldn’t be big to a Lorath, but to Ghost it felt as though she might need to fill the barren, gray cavern with something more than just a pillow and blanket to sleep comfortably. Still, she stretched out languidly, untying her hair and laying on her stomach to wait.

If either Mirage or Ash complained, Ghost thought, perhaps she would pick a lower rack, but given her size it seemed to the Helashio that it would simply be easier for her to have it. She shifted around so that she could watch the other soldiers through a crack in the privacy screen. Two of the humans had found the table. They were playing with cards, while a few curious Lorath soldiers of varying caste watched along with one Yamataian woman in a colorful blue-panel uniform. There didn’t seem to be a single other helashio, but Ghost hadn’t expected to be anything other than singular anyway. The bunk rooms only housed around twenty or so people.

She watched them, toying with the switchblade, and wondered if she should be watching these bunks. Perhaps they would bunk elsewhere. Did she want to shoo off other soldiers? Could she?

 

[Amaryllis]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

"Of course I'm not giving them any trouble!" Akemi hastily spoke from the safety of his soft, plump cover. He glanced at it to assess its structural integrity. "I was just looking to show Aran'ya here a good time. Maybe by the end of things she'd start sounding like you wonderful ladies with your ever so enchanting eyups and y'alls." The Neko stood and took a seat again beside his impromptu shield since he was no longer worried about the mammoth man mountain. "Not that you aren't plenty charming," he clarified, turning to her for a moment. Then he looked at the bartender and spotted her patch. "How does one become a morale helper?"

 

[Syaoran]

Deck 3 Gym -> Deck 2 Secondary Science

Ny'za had spent more time in the gymnasium than she had originally planned, just watching what everyone was doing. There were a few places she needed to see before anything really got going on the ship and she had ended up behind schedule. With only a few stops to ask the data-strip for directions she made her way to the secondary science facility on the ship.

This was the biggest reason she had signed up for the Val'ta of all ships. Animals would be researched form the different planets, and she had gotten permission to bring some to Yabeu if they were safe enough. With a grin on her face she arrived at the entrance.

Rhiq at her shoulder spoke up once more with soft chittering sounds that caused Ny'za to giggle.

"You're still my favorite, and you always will be." She gave the gif'elm a pat on the head and then stepped into the science room.

 

[paladinrpg]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

As Menelik reached over to grab Akemi and got very defensive about the wisdom of accepting drinks from him, and the Nekovalkyrja likewise seemed to intensely shower her with flattery and praises, the L'manel woman at the center of the growing action could not help but find this all very amusing in that moment. She knew she was in no real danger, and like any true Lorath woman she was always in subtle control of the males around her. "Is that right? I believe you may have it backwards," began Aran'ya with a mischievous look, as she studied the face of her would-be rescuer, "I could detect poisons flawlessly. I'd say the troublemaker here should be more worried about the drinks I order for him." Akemi already knew she was quote experienced with venoms and chemicals, after all, by the way he was going on about her experiences and nearly had some direct ones when she was within a hair of biting him.

The urge to do so was rising again when the slippery little Nekovalkyrja suddenly nestled himself under the shield of Aran'ya's black uniformed backside and lanky legs like a protective cage as he taunted the tall foreigner to the point of boiling over. The appearance of Ixion thankfully threw a bit of cool Fyunnen ice on the situation between the two men, though the arachnid-aspected L'manel couldn't immediately thank him for the save with more than a relieved glance as she had other immediate problems. "Oh no you don't...!" she growled, reaching down with her long arms to forcefully yank Akemi from his lascivious hiding spot before he decided to poke and prod her own more 'sensitive' spots away from prying eyes. The cat-man's senses distinctly noticed a faint tropical aroma from the dark corners of the woman before he was ripped away abruptly back to his chair.

Then the apologies came from the Nepleslian, as he suddenly changed his tune and conceded that they were on a 'date' and the fool was 'wooing' her. Widow scoffed at this idea. "If you say so. Personally, I think it's worse than hunting an eytis, the way they change the direction they run every minute." Though it was delivered in her own sarcastic fashion, Akemi could pick up on the fact that she hadn't entirely stopped chasing him, either. Still, talking to the other guy was all part of her plan to test his reactions. "What's your name, anyway?" the medic inquired, sensing something 'off' about Menelik she couldn't quite put her finger on, her partially faceted eyes seeming to have hints of orange in them as they met his for a moment.

She didn't have much more time for analysis, though, as the Captain Porrim herself waltzed in and the bar was opened up by her subordinate in a dazzling display, like a play that was beginning to start. It certainly seemed like all the 'characters' were here... now all Akemi needed was a jester's hat and the imagery would be complete. Aran'ya lazily saluted the superior as she reached out with a glass, looking a bit weary of all the attention. A part of her instincts were feeling the desire to just find a dark corner in the science lab to enjoy a drink alone. "I think I'm doing a fair job as a babysitter, if that's what you mean, ma'am. Had to run him off to where he wouldn't make too much trouble."

 

[Amaryllis]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

"Herding me? Now you all sound like a bunch of Nepleslian cattle wranglers," Akemi said, swooning and swaying to the side to gently rub shoulders with the spider woman as if he was already intoxicated. "You've totally got me lassoed." He paused for a moment trying to come up with some more annoying things to say. "I wouldn't mind being drugged so long as you eat the right part of me when you take me to your lair."

 

[Ashlinn]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck 3, Iron Church

Ash stretched a bit to get comfortable in her uniform once more. She was starting to realize that standard conventions...weren't here. She couldn't wait to get to their bunks and unpack so she could dig out her duty uniform and ditch her skirt for a real, working, uniform. She'd grown fond of her distinction as a 'ground pounder' amongst a primarily space based army, and here, she was finding the culture amongst ground crews was nearly universal as she delayed replying to Mirage long enough to pick out a few faces in the crowd. turning towards Mirage she'd grin, Recent events seemingly swept under the rug and forgotten quite cheerfully, "I'm not sure about you, but, I'm of the opinion, If I'm going to be training and working here, I'd rather be in a Real uniform instead of skirts and hosiery when it comes time to start the real work." She'd head out into the hall after hoisting her duffel up over a shoulder and running a hand over the datastrip out there. This was going to take some time to get used to as she started, haltingly, and stiltedly making inqueries into the system about housing for ground crews. The back and forth would probably be considered a form of torture on more civilized worlds.

 

[Eistheid]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck 3, Iron Church

Given that Ashlinn seemed content to make her own investigations, Mirage found that she had little better to do than familiarize herself with the data strip. With less on her mind Mirage settled for inquiring after the options relating to where a soldier could choose to sleep, before on a whim requesting the locale of one small entity, Petra, or "Ghost" as she had insisted Ashlinn call her. Even if the Helashio had wanted to venture off on her own Mirage couldn't help but feel compelled to check in on them if she could. Better to know they weren't stuffed in a closet somewhere she supposed.

 

[Moogle]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

"Now, now. No interspecies relationships!" A syrupy voice came from behind the small group of folks, clearly overhearing Akemi's innuendoes. J'ann had materialized at some point behind them, rubbing his hands together like a greeter while his morale armband glinted in the moody lighting of the room.

He wasn't wearing gloves anymore.

"At least, until after the first mission. Don't want you to get eaten by a monster or blown to pieces by some leftover trap after you make a connection, after all. It would be very tragic, wouldn't you think?"

J'ann's hips shimmied as he moved to gently place his hands at the base of Mene's and Akemi's necks, smiling like the devil himself while he looked back and forth between the two.

"But where are my manners? You may call me J'ann or Pulse. I'll be taking -very- good care of you while you're on board," he said through his soft features and stiff expression.

 

[Gallant]

LSDF Val’ta, Deck 3, Iron Church (Viewing Deck 2, Stbd Berthing)



Elm roused from her cat-nap, to find that her sleeping area gently glowed. The divider had closed more or less by itself, and she had dozed. She touched the glowing spot, and acknowledged it. It had not taken long for them to notice her absence; Elm had thought they might stay in the Gym for longer, after the exercise.

She checked the time and realized that she had only been dozing absentmindedly for around ten minutes.

Then again, she hadn’t wanted to disappear, forever, anyway. “I got us racks,” she explained quietly to the hard light panel. It felt a little invasive, speaking to a transparent panel that could interrupt her dozing. On the other hand, she had recently discovered that the computer could put her into a dreamless sleep as well, without the trouble of transitioning from wakefulness, and that had been extremely welcome.

The fact it could wake her up almost immediately, though, could be useful she supposed. Positive thinking.

“Can you see the compartment number?”

 

[Amaryllis]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

"I'm afraid I'm already taken here with this lovely company," Akemi responded, casting a look at the three women around him, "but I'll hold you to that and ask you take care of this guy." He pointed to Menelik. "Whatever comfort you can provide him would also be mine as I'd like nothing more at the moment than to see him happy." As nice as J'ann might look with some kaserine Akemi did not like that super spooky smile directed his way. He also certainly didn't need any guys potentially moseying in on his fun with his spider pal.

 

[paladinrpg]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

While Aran'ya waited to see what the Nepleslian would do next, she felt the rubbing of the shoulders and briefly her wing tip with Akemi as he reasserted his will in the battle for her attentions. A surprisingly strong white hand reached out to steady him back on his seat, as the L'manel followed it with a darker chuckle he remembered from when they first locked wills in the briefing theater. "Hmm. Tying you up in a dark corner doesn't sound too bad. But would you prefer I go for white meat first... or dark?" Her shifting eyes looked him over in that predatory fashion. "There's so little on you, it's hard to decide..." Knowing Widow's attitude, she just might not entirely be joking.

Then J'ann showed his face, the morale officer an entirely different type of grinning devil. His sudden warning struck a bit of a chord in Aran'ya though, as the others probably noticed her visibly get a bit paler and quieter where she was joking around only a moment beforehand. Being so close to her Akemi knew it had to have something to do with her past and some terrible event, Akahar or otherwise.

The Medic mumbled somewhat to herself, "Yeah, really tragic," before looking away, closing her eyes with a brief sigh... she could really use that sedative wine right about now.

 

[Amaryllis]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

"There's no way I'm going to die." Akemi sat erect and thrust his chest forward striking a triumphant pose. "I'm so unkillable if my head came off you could just reattach it. As for where to start, I know I've got an idea."

 

[Archander]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

"Ah, Captain... A pleasure to see you here. The cat is mostly just noisy, but it has yet to really cause actual trouble. Of course, I offered a bit of friendly advice to our two very spirited personalities in the way of behaving themselves." Ix'ion saluted Porrim, offering a bit of small talk but nothing substantial. As he spoke of the personalities, he regarded the offenders with a not so subtle glance. Neither Akemi nor Menelik were really thrown under a bus so to speak, but the warning still hung in the air.

With the appearance of J'ann, Ix'ion had little in the way of further concern about any more potential conflicts between Mene and Akemi, especially not with the Porrim there as well. Mild confusion took hold of Ix'ion as he regarded J'ann and his feminine figure, the shaking of his hips as if they were on a woman raising an eyebrow. As quickly as the confusion came it left as much stranger things were known to happen, expected to happen, on Lor.

"What can I have the honor of getting you to drink, Captain?" Ix'ion asked Porrim, hoping to get within her good graces a bit more.

 

[Luca]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar
The first to get the captain's attention was the one who used the most words when they could've use just a couple. "Oh, just give me some lemonade to start with," she said as she walked over to the best seat in the house, "something simple to enjoy this wonderful view."

On the way there, she meandered past J'ann, Menelik, and Akemi. The dancer could feel a pinch in the right buttock as the captain walked past, hoping the dancer had something to think about, and the startled jump (she hoped) would cause a chain reaction. A little organised chaos to break the tension. "Come on all, sit down, let's enjoy this." The Captain ordered before looking over to the bar and snapping her fingers. "Ursula!"

"Yeah sugar?" Ursula replied, looking at the array of people assembled and beginning to pre-empt orders. She could see the spider one was distinctly despondent, and figured a good wine would fix her mood up. She was already to work on something behind the bar, perhaps the Captain's order.

"Start taking requests!" However, before she got settled in on the comfy seating, Porrim pulled the inhaler seen earlier out of her top pocket, gave it a few shakes and inhaled the contents. She pocketed it quickly and looked at the coffee table in front of her. The middle beam that divided the two areas of shelf looked a little more solid than the rest of the table, and it appeared to be embedded into the ground.

A cup materialised - shooting out of the middle of the table from a hole, and it was full of lemonade with ice cubes, a slice of lemon, and a bendy straw. The captain took it, held it aloft and looked over to Ursula. "Cheers!" she said, before looking over to Ix'ion, "sorry hun, this place serves you. Its their job."


LSDF Val'ta, Deck Two, Port Science
The first thing immediately noticeable about this science room was the direct access to the airlock, and into space on the wall facing Port. Perhaps it was a design choice inspired by one bad experiment too many, and the need to be able to space something quickly if it grew out of control. Then again, the entire science area could be spaced if something horrible went down. As a countermeasure, it was cold - but it was better than letting something horrible spread.

As Ny'za stepped into the science room, she found that its focus was on biology and botany. Cages for small animals were present to her left, twelve cages in all with heat lamps, food, water, and monitoring of life forms within. The interiors were currently clean, with shredded newspaper lining the bottom and transparent plastic doors with holes drilled into them for breathing. Or, the holes could be plugged in case something needed to remain contained. In addition, there were two larger cages off to one side, one on top of the other for storing larger life forms. Just beside the cages, a neat desk with a comfortable office chair and a computer was sitting nearby. Ample desk space was available for keeping paper, books, or equipment.

In the middle of the room was an island countertop, with drawers and cabinets full of equipment and power supply. Sinks were present, as was chemical and biological waste disposal facilities. To Ny'za's right was the botany study area, with shelves of soil - currently native Lorath soil, waiting to have something planted. A feature of this shelf array was self containment - each sample of soil and the plant within could be sealed off and given controlled conditions - so as to replicate the atmosphere of the planet it came from. Various machines for analysing plant life and soil were on a counter beside the shelves. Perhaps it was possible to feed whatever animals were acquired with the plants found. Maybe that's why the two locations were so close to each other.

The last thing Ny'za noticed, and best of all perhaps, there was pet bedding at the back of the room. They really did consider everything. The Starboard secondary science area was intended for soil slice analysis, and making sure information from the primary science area near the bottom of the ship was within reach of the bridge.

 

[Eistheid]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck 3, Iron Church

The Val'ta's computer proved amicable and the information sought was easy enough to acquire, as such Mirage knew exactly where Petra had gone and why. Dismissing her own translucent panel Mirage turned her attention to Ashliin and inquired pleasantly, "Are you going to tag along still? Ghost found some free bunks in one of the communal areas unless you have other accommodations that you have to be reporting to?" There was no way to avoid the questioning stance that Mirage had forced upon herself, even so she'd already signalled to Petra that she'd be on her way whether or not Ashlinn decided that she too wanted to remain with them would be her choice to make.

 

[Firebrand]

LSDF Val'ta, Deck Three, Observation Bar

Things were simply getting... weird for Menelik. Besides his anger and frustration with Akemi's behavior and the miffed feeling he got at Aran'ya seemingly encouraging it, he was utterly confused by the addition of the new... Woman? Man? No, no, this new person, the 'morale officer' apparently, was a man it seemed. Menelik was pretty sure that J'ann was a man, but in his mind he was tearing through all preconceived notions of things thanks to his exposure to these aliens. Well, aliens isn't the right world. People is a much better fit, because even with how absolutely WEIRD they all were- with the apparent exception of Ix`ion who seemed complete normal and stol - Did the captain just pinch J'ann's butt? He had barely glimpsed it, but Menelik was 100% sure that the captain had done it.

There was a brief pause from the Nepleslian man as his mind processed information, looking at the gathered Lorath and singular cat. He wasn't really thirsty or hungry, was he? No, not really. And it wasn't really his business to get involved with this kind of stuff anyway, was it? Maybe Lorath women liked being treated the way Akemi acted towards them. Mene didn't know, and there were certainly better places for him to be right now than possibly causing an international incident.

"Sorry sir for the lack of introductions." Mene said and saluted curtly. "Private Menelik Berhane, Nepleslian Marine Corps... And If you'll excuse me, I'll have to take my leave." For a man of his size he could move surprisingly fast without actually running or jogging, and Menelik did so as he briskly made his leave before things got weirder or he managed to piss off Captain Porrim.