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RP: The Wayward Unlisted (Ep. 6)

Syaoran

Retired Staff
Somewhere within the Sea of Clouds

After having installed the previous beacon, the Anbruch required repairs and resupplied. They had spent some time in the area so that the crew of the supply ship could work on repairs, as well as allowing for a few shipments to arrive from Cloud Harbor. These beacons were a vital lifeline for the operation, without them not only would contact be lost, but there would be no way of navigating.

Fortunately for the Anbruch, none of the beacons had been destroyed, and a secure route had been established as they went. So along with supplies, the two ships were able to make a change in crew.

Now the ship had been repaired and a meeting was called in the wardroom. THeir new crew was to be present as well for introductions.

Anbruch - Wardroom

Tanja was seated at the head of the table in the wardroom with both Gabi and Stefan present as well, they were waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive to begin the meeting.

Gabi was back to their calm and collected, almost shy self, with no hint of the energy that was present during the space battle.

"...and then next thing I know, I was upside down!" Stefan spoke energetically as he retold a story from his past to those present.

The captain just smirked and listened to the embellished tale.
 
Anbruch - Wardroom

Ana had been in the Wardroom, listening in on the tale. She was in a corner, keeping out of the way. Not because of her typical shyness around new people, but because she was working on TB. There was the usual smear of grease on her cheek and her hands were busy with the little details in making TB work better than he had before.

At what was most likely the climax or punchline of the storyteller, Ana couldn't help but giggle as she tried to picture the massive Stefan upside down.
 
Anbruch - Wardroom

As the little assembling group in the meeting area responded to Stefan's lively tale with a smattering of various chuckles and scoffs alike, their attention on the giant's animated gestures and raucous amusement at his own exploits, a young woman slipped in from the hallway more or less unnoticed. Long auburn hair was pulled loosely over one shoulder, ending just beyond her collarbone. A slim-fitting white undershirt was pulled taut over a trim, athletic feminine figure and tucked into a pair of faded greyish-green fatigues, cinched about her little waist by a simple, unadorned belt of black synthetic leather that was cracked and worn with age, use, or both. The legs of her pants fell over the top of equally travel-weathered work boots, their original color long since faded away. Her long face featured prominent angles that bordered on being gaunt, and there were the remains of dark circles under a pair of unreadable hazel eyes. High cheekbones framed an aquiline nose which topped a pair of full, defined lips that covered only a small portion of her oval shaped face from left to right atop a pointed chin. She was lithe and slender, but thin cords of taut muscle were faintly visible in the exposed arms below the white sleeves that ended just below her shoulders.

In all, the visage was not unpleasant; she had all the trappings of being an attractive young lady indeed, but it was sandwiched between a shroud of unhealthy neglect and, to the keenly observant, a subtle undercurrent of an off-putting, dangerous awareness that seemed oddly hidden even from the person around it, like that of a coiled viper watching potential threats with its staring, unblinking eyes, poised to strike in a millisecond if provoked. She stood just over five and a half feet tall from heel to scalp, and carried herself with a strange, almost uncertain gait that haltingly disrupted itself less than two steps beyond the doorway, the way one looked when entering a room for a purpose they'd immediately forgotten.

She stood there just inside the doorway, nervously wringing her hands together in front of her belt buckle as she surveyed the group of strangers in the room as if she'd just wandered into a thicket of thorny brambles with no obvious exit.
 
Anbruch
Cabin A-3

...Tie or no tie?

No tie.

Cuff-links?

Silver. Understated. Good look for current circumstances.

Watch?

Black leather strap and silver face. Not too showy, looks good with cuff-links.

Pistol?

Always.

Adiel rammed back the slide, flicked on the safety, and attached the suppressor to his Zen .45 and stuffed it into the holster under his left shoulder, beneath his charcoal suit jacket. A small spritz of a light cologne, and he was ready for the day.

Wardroom

Adiel strolled into the wardroom with his hands locked behind his back. He knew that there would be new people aboard, and lo and behold, he spotted one of them instantly. He looked over the auburn-haired woman with a small look of appraisal.

Fit. Excercised frequently. Former military or law enforcement. Clothing suggested that fighting was a regular part of job. Demeanor suggested she wasn't that trusting of new faces. Analysis: dangerous and competent, but probably not the friendliest.

With his little once-over complete, what little interest he had in the new arrival fell right back down to zero, and he continued on his way to his favorite armchair.




 
Anbruch - Wardroom

With the arrival of some more crew members, Stefan's story came to an end. The captain then looked up and smiled at everyone.

"Glad you all could make it, take a seat." Tanja then looked at the unfamiliar woman after she spoke. "You must be the new person from the ASE. They said they wanted to send someone with a bit more well-rounded background. I didn't expect that you would not be Abwehran though. Why don't you tell us about yourself? As much as you're willing of course."

The crew member had been given enough information by their employer that they could identify the various crewmembers, the two sitting near the captain were especially easy to identify.

One was Gabi, a red-head Douryo android that was capable of handling bridge operations but stuck mostly to piloting. There was hardly any information on them because until recently they were only a geboku class android with no personality.

The other crewman directly beside Tanja was the other ASE hire, an independent scientist who was brought on because of the scientific nature of the mention and the focus on accuracy. Despite the precise nature of his work, the man gave off a rather careless look. The strong-voiced Abwehran surfacer had a large frame and a youthful faux-hawk hairstyle. His name was Stefan, and though from the ASE as well, his employer was not the same.

"Yes, join us and tell us a story of your past," Stefan spoke in an energetic tone and offered a bright smile.

"We have to discuss our mission soon, we don't have time for another story." Gabi was next to chime in, with a voice that did not sound at all robotic, in fact, it was rather smooth, and carried a tune of life to it.
 
Anbruch - Wardroom

Ash had filed into the Wardroom just as the meeting began, sneaking in from the mess with some sort of brewed bean beverage she found. She sat in one of the chairs nearby, casually sipping from the mug. She took note of the new crewmember, noticing she seemed to be rather sickly looking. But then again she was not a medical expert, and definitely not an expert on humans. She smiled warmly at the woman, motioning for her to come inside the room and take a seat.

"Come on in, dear. We do not bite. Except for Adiel over there," she said with a smirk, pointing at the Elysian in the comfy chair.
 
Analiese looked up at the mention of a new person entering. Her smile faded as she took in the appearance and she tucked her head back down as she focused more on her work. She was still listening to the others, but unless she felt the need to add to anything, or was specifically asked any questions, she kept as quiet as she usually did.
 
A slightly raised voice floated in from the hallway as it neared the wardroom, "Yes, I know where the wardroom is." Silence. "No, I got this, seriously, why do you always have to mother me." Silence again. "Yes, I am aware that I programmed you and named you Mother."

Just then Nan abruptly entered the occupied wardroom and came to a surprised stop. He looked around at the gathered crew members with his customary broad inviting smile. "My peeps," he exclaimed as he swung his arms out as if to hug everyone in the room at once. "What are you all doing here early, that is totally unlike some of you. I'm talking about you Adiel," he said with a two finger gun point.

He suddenly tilted his head up and right as if he heard something though obviously nothing was there. He raised and shook his right hand by his ear as if shooing away a fly.
 
The young woman seemed hesitant to respond to the invitation, and for a brief instant her gaze flicked towards the doorway through which she had just entered. Whatever internal dialogue she had in that split-second was quickly resolved, it seemed, and she looked back at the group with a tight-lipped smile-that-was-not-really-a-smile. She seemed to take stock of those present, looking each of them over in turn as she processed their appearances with a look of half-recognition, apparently putting together the puzzle pieces of what information she'd been given before coming aboard and what she saw before her.

As she looked each individual crew member over, there wasn't much change in her otherwise deadpan, analytical and slightly uncomfortable expression. When her eyes swept over Ash, they paused, and one of them narrowed imperceptibly as they fixed on her horns, and she frowned just barely enough for it to be noticeable. An odd look of distant recognition crossed her face, as if something about the Iromakuanhe reminded her of something (or someone) unpleasant. But to any who even saw it, it was apparent that the link it formed in her memory was shaky and vague, and she seemed to rather quickly dismiss it. Her eyes lingered a moment longer on Adiel with wary (and somewhat quizzical) curiosity after the Iromakuanhe's comment about biting, as if uncertain how seriously it should be taken.

Finally, after just too long of a hesitation to be considered polite, she seemed to relent and accept the invitation and walked over to an unoccupied chair on the edge of the gathering crowd, keeping an empty seat between her and the nearest crew member. She sat down artlessly with a soft thud as her backside hit the cushion, kicking her legs out in front of her and crossing one ankle over the other as she shoved her hands into her pants pockets.

"Well, ah," she began in an airy mezzo-soprano voice that had a slight colouring of an offbeat drawl to it. "I'm Janelle. Janelle Jacobs," she continued without rhythm, and a shrug that seemed to suggest she wasn't really sure what other information they wanted from her. "The ASE sent me along, yeah, and I'm not Abwehran as you already can tell." She sniffed hard, scratching the side of her nose with a dirty fingernail. "I can turn a wrench and I'm good in a fight..." She trailed off, her eyes unfocusing briefly, then shrugged again, nodding towards Gabi. "She's right, though. Don't waste the spotlight on me, I'm sure there's gonna be plenty of time to--"

Nan's voice floating in from the hallway caused Janelle to trail off again as she glanced towards the door again, and watched with an increasingly puzzled look at the Minkan's mixed dialogue, not bothering to try and re-rail her train of thought.
 
Anbruch - Wardroom

Tanja looked around the room, to each person, her attention soon settled back on Janelle. It was a look like she could see right through her, perhaps it was the soft glow of her eyes and practically invisible pupils and iris. Though maybe she could see through her, she was an Abwehran after all, a species with a pheromone-based empathy. "We do not have much time, yes, but you do not need to be so tense, we are all family here." She gave a warm smile to Janelle but then turned her attention to Gabi. "Gabi?"

Gabi looked at the captain and then gave a nod. "Yes, this morning our sensors detected a solar system. We were able to enter FTL travel and arrived there shortly before this meeting."

Stefan was next to speak up, and though he was an Abwehran as well, he did not have the same sharp look in his eyes as the captain when he looked around the group. "I was able to scan the planets in the system and found one that seems to be of interest."

Tanja sat up straight once the two finished speaking. "I'm sure most of you have guessed, we're currently on our way towards said 'interesting planet'. We will take more complicated scans once we approach. But I want everyone to be ready in two hours, we should have enough data then, and I would like to go down to the surface if possible. This would be the first chance we get in the Sea of Clouds to do so."
 
Anbruch - Wardroom

Janelle shifted slightly in her seat, still visibly a bit wound up and clearly uncomfortable with the way the captain's ghostly eyes fixed on her. However, despite the way her body language conveyed restlessness, her own greenish-brown eyes locked right back on the captain's gaze, never so much as wavering. The resolute expression on her face bordered on something that couldn't quite be called defiance, and seemed to clash with the way she fidgeted every few seconds, as if the rest of her body's apparent desire to shrink into the cracks in the walls was trying very hard to overcome the stubborn head and face that controlled it. The effect was subtly bizarre; it was almost like there were two women vying for control of the same body.

The captain's reassurances did seem to have the desired effect, however, and some of the tension in Janelle's shoulders relaxed a bit. She returned the smile with a now-slightly-more-than-halfhearted one of her own, and nodded appreciatively. By now she had drawn her feet beneath her seat, ankles still crossed one over the other, but remained in that slumped posture with only her buttocks and shoulder blades making firm contact with the chair cushions. She removed her hands from her pockets and interlaced her fingers, laying them against her abdomen as she listened to the briefing, with an occasional glance around the room to gauge the rest of the gathering's reactions.
 
Ash took a sip from her mug, sitting calmly in her chair as she listened to Tanja and Gabi. She perked up at the mention of heading towards a new planet.

"Sounds exciting! Is the planet terrestrial? Do we know anything about the environment?"
 
"Ooohhh, so you must be the mysterious Janelle! I am, like, so super psyched to meet you. Welcome to our family...you may never leave," Nan spouted as he basically skipped over and beside the Anbruch's newest addition. His face clearly showed he jested over his last comment.

"In all seriousness though you have like, zero, web presence so you are either super good at covering your tracks or your a spy. Are you a spy? Could I be a spy?" Nan turned to Tanja, "You would let me be a spy right?"

Turning towards Stefan, " So why is this planet interesting? I mean is it really as interesting as being in a kingdom of flying ants, piranhas and beetles? Cause that's where I got to go." He beamed as he spoke though by now obviously everyone had heard about his cyber adventures a few times.
 
Anbruch - Wardroom

Tanja was pleased to see Janelle relax, however, it looked like Nan might quickly undo that so she spoke up and gestured for Nan to come over to her. "Nan, it's not polite to look into people's backgrounds. "

Stefan chuckled at Nan's questions about the planet but continued. "Well this planet is in the habitable zone for this star system, and we've been able to detect a large amount of organic matter on the planet. So there is life, but we're unsure of what level yet. But it's also likely that the atmosphere is breathable, and a terrestrial planet. So we might have ourselves some exploration on our hands."

Gabi spoke up softly, but sternly. "Don't sound excited about that, it's not all fun and games, the more life down there the more dangerous it is."

Tanja chuckled "That is true, we'll have to keep weapons on us just in case, but new lifeforms could mean some bonuses from the ASE."
 
From where she was sitting, Ana looked up as she watched Nan interact. A small fleeting smile briefly flitted across her lips before she listened more to Tanja, Stefan and Gabi. At the mention of weapons, Ana's nose wrinkled slightly. Though she was slowly becoming more comfortable with using one, she still had yet to feel as if she could carry one as easily and comfortably as the others.

"As long as there's nothing as large as that one bear...I think I could be okay." She lowered her gaze after she spoke to go back to working on TB, blushing for she wasn't quite comfortable at speaking up much with new people around before getting to know them.
 
Anbruch - Medbay

Quinn was busy being tardy from the meeting upstairs as he checked over the last of the medbay to make sure their previous, temporary, doctor hadn't screwed anything up. He'd taken pride in keeping his space clean, organized, stocked and in order and there wasn't any way he was going to let someone else mess that up. Besides, he might have been technically blind, but he most certainly wasn't deaf, and the voices from the Wardroom echoed enough for him to get the gist of what was going on.

Bunk -> Wardroom

He overheard the Bear comment alright, and snagged the enormous bear pelt from his bunk on the way up. It was probably one of the better things to use for a blanket on the ship given his stature and he'd kept the claws and paws on the hide when he'd had it preserved. He came in through the door, fashionably late, and wiggled the paws teasingly at Ana. Quinn draped the huge fur over her lap before he sat down next to her and pecked her cheek affectionately, tugging the rest of the fur over his own lap and settling his arm across the back of the seat behind her.

"I think, as long as you avoid trying to hug the next big extraterrestrial creature you come across, we should all be just fine. Can't say I wouldn't mind another massive steak though." He teased her gently. He turned his attention to Tanja for a moment "I'll have to get our new crew member settled in the system before we get there." The first time he'd addressed the threat in the room "But as far as I'm aware everyone's physically ready for this and I've got a few weapons available should someone not have one." Which was unlikely.

Adiel was armed like a king pin, Ana finally had her own little weapon, he had his own assortment of weaponry, Tanja and Gabi had at least the basics, Ash could be a weapon in her own right, Nan had his drones and his quirky personality, and though he hadn't been out and about with the crew during the last beacon drop Quinn was fairly certain Stefan could hold his own. As for their new crew member, Quinn was having to do some serious memory retrieval, but he couldn't shake the itch he knew her from somewhere, and her whole being told him she was much more dangerous than she tried to present.

He'd have to talk to Tanja about that later. "My apologies for my late appearance. Please, continue." He added with a charming smile to the woman.
 
Wardroom

Janelle's lips had parted hesitantly to respond to Nan's rather enthusiastic greeting, but she was not given the opportunity. The Minkan's following words came in a gush, and for all intents to those around her it looked as though they were somehow utilizing the young Nepleslian woman's lungs to feed them. Even as he spoke at an auctioneer's pace Nan never seemed to pause to draw breath, and Janelle appeared as though the mere act of listening to him, comically, was physically exhausting her.

She had tensed all over again as he approached, her fingers coming untangled from each other as she sat up in her seat, curling into loose fists at her side. It had not been an overt display of hostility, exactly, but rather more an involuntary reaction, like that of a nervous animal preparing to defend itself against an uncertain, potential threat. His comment about her lack of web presence didn't seem to surprise her, or if it did, it didn't show; rather, it only goaded a deeper expression of guarded annoyance from her as she fixed a cool stare at the happy-go-lucky hacker. When the captain scolded him for his intrusion, she gradually relaxed again, giving another small, appreciative nod in the captain's direction, and resuming her reclined posture as Nan bounded away.

Nan only continued his rambling, and quickly enough turning his attention to the captain of this vessel as if he'd altogether forgotten she was even there. Janelle's hard, wary features softened into bewildered amusement. Her mouth still hung partway open as she traced tiny circles in the air with the tip of her nose and a slight, growing smirk while Nan continued to ramble, as if she were tracing the path of a moth distracted by far too many shiny lights.

It seemed as though this crew were used to such eccentric behavior, however, as nobody else appeared to pay it any mind. With a tiny shrug to herself, Janelle folded her hands over her abdomen once more and listened wordlessly to the briefing. She didn't speak or offer any input as the others took their turns chiming in with their little thoughts one at a time, instead only turning her detached, not-quite-nonchalant gaze to each of them in turn.

During the briefing an enormously tall, dark-skinned man entered the room, and Janelle at first only gave him a cursory, disinterested sideways glance, little more than a reflex when one notices movement in their peripheral vision. No sooner than her eyes had wandered back to the briefing, however, she did a double-take, her neck snapping her head back toward Quinn like a whip. Her otherwise rather narrow greenish-brown eyes widened nearly into complete circles, and her jaw clamped down so suddenly and tightly that those sitting next to her could hear the sharp clack of her teeth snapping together inside her head. She stared in apparent disbelief and obviously displeased recognition at the tall man, and her eyes glazed over momentarily. She seemed for a couple of seconds to vacate her mind entirely, as if asleep with her eyes open (wide open, at that), then shook off the deja vu - for that was certainly what it was - with a slight but quite literal shake of her head. She said and did nothing to call attention to herself or her reaction, remaining a silent, passive observer the best she could while the briefing continued, doing her best to focus her attention where it was needed. But she couldn't keep her eyes, full of bitter contempt, from occasionally wandering back over to Quinn every now and again.
 
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Ana just barely got the broken TB out of the way before she was accosted by the pelt of the bear in question. She blushed even more at his teasing her, but her gaze was drawn to the woman that seemed to have a more keen interest in him. However, she didn't point it out, nor did she keep her gaze on the other for too long. She wanted to focus on the briefing for this next expedition. She snuggled under the blanket as best she could next to Quinn, trying her best to not get it too dirty with her oily hands and face.
 
A few hours later
Anbruch - Bridge


It had been a few hours since the briefing, and everyone was present in the bridge where they could see the planet they were headed to. Rather than a planet, however, once they were in the system their scans were more accurate and they could tell that it was actually the moon of a planet that had given the interesting readings.

The Moon in question looked habitable, but the balance of typical colors in a habitable planet was not there. Rather there was visible water occasionally dotting the surface but along with that were sprawling areas of greenery, this planet had much more vegetation than normal and it was dense, or at least looked that way. But according to Stefan's readings, a large portion of that appearance came from giant moss colonies over the surface.

This strange situation once again did not deter the captain, however, and they ordered Gabi to land the Anbruch and find a suitable location for the Anbruch to land.

Surface of Unknown Planetoid

The ship had touched down, and Tanja had gathered everyone in front of the hangar hatch. Beside her stood Stefan with several EM-G4-1 Filter mask on a cart in front of him.

"We're going to head out, I want people to group up and head out to explore. To the north, there is some kind of large formation, from above it looked to be about 70 meters in diameter and roughly 5 meters high. To the east we detected a water source, I want to see if there are any life forms inside of it. Lastly, to the south-west, we saw an area with a different look to it, more complex vegetation, so there might be life forms there as well. It would be good if we could get some fresh food supplies."

Stefan spoke up after Tanja finished. "Now, the atmosphere here is breathable, but due to the moss like nature of the dominant vegetation here, I would like everyone to wear these filter mask, so that they do not breath in possibly toxic spores."

Gabi hit a button as Stefan spoke, and the hangar opened up to reveal the scenery, with only the atmospheric shield keeping whatever was in the air outside, out of the ship.

Before them was a wide expanse, something like the plains of other worlds, just wide open space with gentle slopes to the land. The ground was entirely covered with moss, mostly green, but just a hint of blue to it. There was no a tree in sight, at least not from their facing, and the sky had a slight green coloration to the normal blue.

"Take weapons with you and keep your wits about you, make sure you're checking in periodically on the radio too." Tanja gave everyone a smile of confidence and gestured behind her to the exit. "Enjoy a never before seen world, but don't play too much."
 
Anbruch - bridge

Analiese stood in her usual spot where she could keep an eye on the readouts for the engine room while paying attention to what was going on. She had just finished up what she could do with the new and improved TB. He was sitting on the floor next to her shut off for the time being. As the ship landed, she made sure the engines cut off as needed and then she picked up TB and put him on her back like a pack before heading down to the hangar.

Hangar

Ana stood there with the others, listening to the small briefing from both Tanja and Stefan. She waited for the others to head out, chewing on her inner cheek. She had been practicing with weapons off and on during their travels, but she knew she wasn't quite as proficient as some might think her to be. Tentatively, she made her way up to the cart with the filtered masks. Though she was getting more and more used to space life, she rarely used most of the equipment. This was one that she had, at least, been trained on.

Putting on the mask, Ana took in a deep breath before she walked out of the ship. She did have a weapon, but it was in a special compartment on TB. She didn't want to make it known she had one, though she was sure Tanja or someone would wonder. The small Nepleslian looked around with wonder in her eyes as she took in the various colors that were vastly different from what she was used to. Her heterochromatic eyes took in everything at once. She didn't really pay much attention to anything more than just picking a direction different from the others and wandering off. She knew Quinn would come with her, or at least follow her to keep her protected.
 
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