[IC] The Galactic Ocean

[Empty Fate]

Drew listened intently to the introductions given by the rest of the crew. After all, if he was going to be in close quarters with all of these men and women, it was best that he get to know them sooner rather than later. Fortunately enough, he felt like in large part, he'd be able to get along with most of them. Despite the fact that certain members were, for lack of better word, unusual. And then it came to Oleander, as she'd introduced herself, Drew's interest was immediately piqued. She wasn't human, and that alone wasn't all that interesting to Drew, as much as the fact she wasn't alien either. Her last name, Oliveia, also rang bells. As in the Oliveia, one of the top minds in cybernetics. Drew had no idea he'd been working on an AI. Let alone an AI that could pass as a human. Most androids were quite obviously androids at first glance. Oleander, though, he'd had no idea. And if she was here, but Oliveia wasn't, Drew had to wonder what had happened. Had she killed her creator? No, Drew definitely would have heard about something like that. Was she made for an illegal purpose? No, because her programming would be centered around that purpose, and she'd have introduced herself as such. More and more questions popped into Drew's head about her, and more and more went unanswered. Drew wasn't allowed the time to read up on his future crewmates before being introduced to them. But If there was any dossier he was going to skip over now, it certainly wouldn't be hers. Drew had to admit, though, that the idea of the systems tech being a Mesocricetian wasn't exactly exciting to him. He'd never actually dealt with one in the past, but he knew about them. His university days taught him about the behavioral inhibitors of human design. Mesocricetians were always on the verge of killing the thing next to them, even one of their own species. And judging by his introduction, this guy was far from being sociable. Unfortunately for Drew, it looked like the engineering bay was going to be a huge barrel of laughs. It was about then that Lex threw down the hologram on the table and asked for a ship pilot. With only two names offered forth, Drew didn't really have input. His impression of Rose and Amelia were about the same -- neither was someone he would place a lot of trust into for now. What excited him more was the ship itself. Honestly, Drew was impressed that the alliance would give them command of a craft as advanced as the Vigilance was. He would have jumped at any chance to be able to work with alliance tech, honestly, but the Vigilance itself seemed like a powerful craft for a smaller team such as this, and there was no expense spared. Should the hologram be accurate, and why wouldn't it be? Drew was going to have the time of his life just examining the craft, let alone working on it. Impending doom aside, he could think of worse places to die. And then suddenly the last crew member spoke up. Drew had assumed that Ro'Essel, as she called herself, was just shy. But that was certainly not the case, as her introduction was much longer than everyone else's. He was forced to try his absolute hardest to not laugh as she explained that she was blue in a completely serious tone. He didn't think less of her at all, in fact, the fact she was blue probably meant something. But it was totally lost on him, and she certainly wasn't acquainted with human conversation, that much was clear. Rose turned down the offer to pilot the craft, and so it fell to Amelia. Just as well, Drew thought, it wasn't likely he'd be near the bridge all that often, anyway. Drew leaned forward in his chair, "So it's awesome that we have a pilot and all." he spoke up, "but when are we gonna get on the ship? I'd like to actually see what I'm gonna be working with." he asked.

[orichalk]

So, Rose wouldn't be the pilot. That worried Suno a little bit, but at the end of the day he'd gone into this hoping for freedom but expecting death. He just wasn't sure this was a situation where he enjoyed being right. Then the "Star of Death" started talking, and Suno could do nothing to wipe the astounded look on his face. He looked around to see if anyone was taking it seriously, just hoping, hoping, that he would never, ever have to rely on this creature, who despite seeming human appeared to be deluded and insane. Or maybe she was telling the truth -- but did it even matter? None of what she said had any connection to their mission. Amelia took the job. Suno figured they could do worse, but the way she looked at Lex creeped him out. Hopefully, on most missions, he'd be in his own credit independent of the Vigilance, where he didn't have to worry too much about Amelia doing something murderous. Then again, shipboard weapons... Suno wondered whether the bracelets were hooked up to the Vigilance itself. A mutiny or whatnot might mean a clean escape.a fun thought, but surely just a thought. If some of them were about to become amateur jewelers, he'd let others take a shot before he ever did. And far away. Drew snapped him out of his bit of plotting. Truth be told, he was getting a lit bored. Or was he anxious? Maye he just wanted not to hear anything more that made him fear for his life. A nap and some time to process everything he'd just seen would be great. There was probably about to be a tour of the ship or some other irritating formalities, though. A map and a nap. That would be fine. Anyway, Suno nodded in agreement.

[Mike Wasowski]

Silas listened as the others stated their opinions. He was a bit worried to learn that Amelia was going to be at the helm. She didn't give off a very trustworthy vibe. It didn't really matter to him though as he was not interested in being on the ship during missions. Just then the Ko'secti female rose to her feet and boasted a bunch of philosophical mumbo bumbo. He knew their species was capable of great feats but this particular one just seemed deluded. Silas kept listening. He was used to waiting for long periods of time either out in the field or waiting in line for chow. The military was all hurry up and wait. Drew just finished speaking. Silas was in agreement. Let's get a move on. He wanted so badly to look down the scope of his sniper rifle again. To feel the sweat come down his forehead while waiting patiently for his target to come into sight. He always got this rush of adrenaline right before he pulled the trigger, but with a deep breath in and out he always calmed himself and made the shot.

[Heat]

"Glad to see you're up to it. I'm sure Rose will happily be your co-helmsman." Lex said to Amelia, leaning back in chair and yawning before looking back at the crew. He hadn't gotten any sleep at all since his trial, being on the ship might actually help in that regard, he always slept better when he could hear the hum of the engines as his eyes closed. "I'd like to get onto it already, but they told me they would usher us over there when it was time. So until then we're stuck in this room along with the armored blokes bored out of their mind listening to us." Lex said as he grinned, glancing at one of the guards who was looking at the ceiling. The man glanced at Lex right as the ex smuggler looked back at his crew at the table. Suddenly, a voice came over the intercom in the room. "Attention, you are cleared to leave the room and proceed to the hangar where you will find your ship and depart. Of course you shall be escorted by several guards, any suspicious activity will not be tolerated." The voice said in a stern tone as Lex rolled his eyes, one of the guards in the room speaking to the Vigilance crew. "You heard the man, everyone to your feet!" They did as the guard asked, Lex the first one up and first one out, the group exiting the room and entering the main hallway. The station was quiet, the only people on it those that worked on it as well as some military personal and a few business men. To the left of the group was a large window which covered a noticeable portion of the wall. The planet could be seen, the crispy brown color of it clashing with the light from the nearby star to create a beautiful sight. They could not admire the sight for long as the group was ushered by the guards flanking around them. Soon enough they reached the hangar which contained the S.S. Vigilance. The two guards standing by the door to the hangar looked over the group, then one nodded to the other and opened the door, the crew moving through to find what awaited them on the other side of the door. The Vigilance in all of its glory. The ship seemed larger than the picture Lex had seen of it, yet it was the perfect size to land on a planet with no issue. He moved around, seemingly inspecting it for any flaws. He couldn't find any, it seemed to be in prime condition. Probably wouldn't last that way for much longer, it kind of surprised him that they were given such a work of technology considering that they were all criminals and as he had been told, 'A very, very low chance of survival'. He wouldn't complain though. The armament on her was the most impressive thing to him, well from the outside. The cannons were imposing, they looked like they could tear a hole in a ship twice its size. He couldn't wait to step inside of it and take command. "Well, she looks pretty damn expensive, is it up to everyone's standards?" Lex asked, turning towards his crew.

[TheYouthPastor]

The prospect of a fellow AI was intriguing to Oliveia. Was it too, going through some sort of social integration or was it, like these guards already a part of this network? What wonderful insights into life would it have!? The thought of a mentor was an incredibly enticing prospect. Her father had failed to mention that she was the only one of her kind and that all other AI were just a faint shadow of everything that she is. Without this information and the context in which to apply it, she was bathed in false hopes about what to expect. Her father had chosen to make her human obviously because he himself was human, but Oleander silently wondered what it would be like to have the frame of the small furry psychopath (her father had taught her that word) or to share the beautiful blue hues of the unit "Ro'Essel". Despite her appearance she certainly did not feel human. She did not feel like anything. If her concept of self identity were further cultivated this might have been a source of great anguish to her. However, that was one subject her father had not yet been able to teach her. Her only solace was the fact that she was blissfully unaware that she was without more than half the information he had intended to share with her. Self identity, pride, ambition, all these human qualities and the context in which to make them productive and not damaging were lost to her the day she was separated from her creators hold. She had been lost in thought, listening but not registering the conversations going on around her up until now. Which was just as well, she could go back into her audio banks and review the conversation at will. The human unit Drew spoke, and had she any concept of appropriate social reaction she might have found his comments charming. Instead she only agreed. She was eager to see her new home. The intercom announced that they were to leave now, and she could barely contain her excitement! She followed Lex closely, mimicking the way he carried himself. Aloof but confident. Her comrades seemed to like him, and she resolved to emulate her proxy as closely as possible. She wanted to be liked. Something in her craved it. Why? She was capable of taking care of herself, so it wasn't exactly self preservation. Her wealth of knowledge on psychology suggested that it could be the mental phenomena Known as "Abandonment issues" caused by losing her father. To her surprise defining the issue didn't make it any easier to accept or deal with.

[Empty Fate]

Drew sighed dejectedly as he sat back again. He'd had half a mind to kick his feet up onto the table before he reconsidered it, what with the guards standing around the room watching them so closely. Good thing he hadn't, too, as it wasn't long before the voice on the loudspeaker instructed them out of the room. It was a fairly boring walk to the hangar, nobody spoke up, which was to be expected considering they were followed out by the guards. Honestly, Drew wondered why the guards even cared at this point. They were getting ready to give the group a starship-- scratch that, they were getting ready to give them a top of the line starship and let them sail off the planet alone, but they needed armed guards to escort them to the ship? It was clearly all for show, and it seemed the guards took their job all too seriously as they were ready to shove any stragglers in the group ahead. But then they came upon the Vigilance and the excitement all came flooding back. When Lex showed the crew a hologram of the ship, he'd been excited to work on it, but a small part of him assumed that it wouldn't all be as it seemed in the diagrams. But upon reaching that hangar and seeing the ship, Drew let out a completely unintentional, "Whoah." There wasn't much doubt in his mind. He was in love. With a starship. Lex turned around to address the crew, and where Drew expected a pep talk, the man simply asked if the ship was up to their specifications. "I mean, would it matter if she wasn't?" Drew asked sarcastically, "I mean, not that she isn't. She certainly is. But... You know what I mean."

[Inuyasha]

Rose nonchalantly rose from his seat, as he waited for everyone to file out the room. He took to the tail of the line with two guards tailing him to bring up the rear. Their footsteps pounded on the linoleum floor and bounced around the empty hallway, their echoes ricocheting. Rose glanced at the bright fluorescent light that the station had lining it's hallways. He got spots in his eyes from looking at it, and immediately regretted his heinous decision. He shifted his eyes along the bright corridor, growing tired of the same old bright and clean look of the place. Suddenly, Rose stopped and stooped over. This caused the guard behind him, who was walking at a brisk pace, trip and fumble into him. "Sorry, thought I saw a nickle," muttered Rose. "Keep moving dickwad," growled the guard as he regained his balanced and pushed Rose forward. As they arrived at the ship, Rose's thoughts were confirmed. He had indeed flown a similar model of ship on one of his coke runs to Trabajas. If he recalled correctly, he jacked the ship from some smuggler and accidentally crashed it in a police pursuit, but none of that really mattered. He would be able to help pilot the thing easily enough. As Drew fumbled with words over his excitement, Rose slapped him on the back and, attempting to make acquaintance, said, "Easy there pal, don't soil your pants. If you need a change of underwear it's going to be a long while before you get it."

[RumikoOhara]

Ro'Essel couldn't resist thinking about how much she wanted to show these Drex known as guards how foolish they were to believe she was in their control by force. It would be simple for her to slip free of their anklet by just teleporting and forgetting to take it along with her. Then in the process of slipping free she'd appear beside the sleepy guard and grabbing his weapon thrust her elbow into his throat. Once she was armed she'd disappear to spread confusion among the guards after which she'd become the storm among the Jesec (Sheep) appearing at random or at least to them it would seem so. She allowed such tactics free reign in her mind as the guards escorted them to the ship modifying and adjusting as new weakness or strength presented it's self. When they arrived at the ship everyone paused to admire it form outside, this surprised an confused Ro'Essel for to her it was simply another weapon to be used in pursuit of her goals. She felt no awe nor need to admire the ship because she was not a member of it's command staff; merely cargo, a weapon waiting deployment.

[Cath]

Amelia was quite pleased when the intercom finally sounded that they were to proceed to the hangar. She'd said all she needed to say for the moment and was getting pretty anxious to see what she'd be flying for the foreseeable future. They filed out and she ended up slightly behind and to the side of this 'Rose' character. Her new co-pilot. Without really meaning to she found herself checking him out: he seemed strong and confident. A little on the unrefined side to put her at ease but he had a reasonably nice bum to make up for the very faint smell of chemicals he emitted. Reoww. Now that she thought about it, the high command hadn't done badly in assembling a good looking bunch of criminals. Looking around, everyone seemed reserved. Most were staring at the ground and shuffling forward with the gait of recently reanimated coma patients. Lex led from the front, obviously as eager as any to see the SS Vigilance for himself. Amelia also took in the variety of non-humans that she was to be serving with. Her family had always been a fairly liberal one, her father having served with them in tours around the quadrant. Her mother also got involved with illegal immigrant non-humans, who came to Earth and Mars on ancient or badly damaged spacecraft to try and find a better life. The Mesocricetian in particular caught her attention. She'd always been wary of their intensely savage tendencies. Her father loved them, saying: "As long as they keep importing Mount Sinai weaponry they can do whatever they like as far as i'm concerned." The guards were milking their last opportunity to abuse the 'criminal scum' and the pushing and verbal insults got more intense as they approached a set of doors. This must be the hanger. Amelia was determined to remain stoic as they filed through but couldn't help but let her mouth fall agape when she clapped eyes on their vessel. "Oh baby, what a hunk." She gushed, taking a few steps forward to examine it properly. It's lateral auxiliary thrusters were like something out of a work of art. It's trans-light engine was top of its class and it looked like it had been designed with low orbit combat in mind as well as ship wide close quarters combat. The bridge looked larger than normal and Amelia couldn't wait to find out why. "Oh, we are so doing a barrel roll in this bad boy." Amelia sighed, catching the captain's eye and winking.

[Heat]

"Well, no time to waste then." Lex said, grinning as he walked towards the ship, an airlock port connected to the front of the vessel, allowing anyone entering to enter the ship behind the bridge, near the escape pods. The crew did so, Lex first one inside, he turned as the others followed, then entered into the bridge. It was small for a ship of the size it was in, but it wasn't like the entire crew was cramped inside of it at all times. Two chairs at the front of the bridge, one was the pilot's, the other the co - pilot's. "It's cozy, hope it works for the two of you." He said to Rose and Amelia. Then another female voice could be heard speaking, it was the ship's onboard A.I., Eve. "All systems are ready for launch, captain. I have just sent the signal to undock the ship, we are free to leave the station at your command." "Ah, you must be the A.I., Eve, I'm surprised they included one as advanced as you on the vessel." "They spared no expense, captain. The ship possesses many useful facilities such as an armory, laboratories, firing range and more. The crew will find their requested equipment and weaponry in the crew's quarters. You have your own personal quarters, captain." Eve added, her voice welcoming. "How quaint." "If you have any inquiries about the ship or its facilities, please do not hesitate to ask." Eve added. "Well crew, you have the run of the ship, I recommend getting used to your new home. Amelia, you may launch the ship at your ready. The coordinates are already patched into the navigation computer." Lex said with a smile.

[Avanhelsing]

Jack looked around the ship as they walked towards it. This was so far beyond him, it was not even funny. He looked around the rest of the crew. There was so much to learn about them all. He could do tests on them for years and still only have a small amount of research. He had a plan to try and make algae paste that could be consumed by all organic life forms. It would not be easy but he figured that the lab on board would be more than enough for him to do so. Course the paste tasted terrible and most life forms preferred starving to eating the stuff. Still it was healthy and easy to make. One could get all their vitamins from just one taste. He liked it but everyone else he knew found it odd to be eating single called organisms. Jack walked towards the engines of the ship. There he walked into the stat if the art laboratory with Ernie on his heels. His lab was in the back near the hangars. "Alright Gregor. Let's get to work! Start program for nutrient paste. Being up program for chimera entity. "He said as the machines whirled to life. He began to manipulate a few machines as his armband, with mini AI Gregor, began to work the rest. The noise would be rather loud with him yelling and the machines working loudly.

[Empty Fate]

The pat on the back broke Drew out of his daydreaming about the ship. Despite responding to Lex, he'd almost forgotten there was an entire crew he was making himself out to be a little kid in front of. He looked back at Rose and laughed, "I think I've got a tiny bit more respect for myself than to let that happen." Drew continued talking to Rose as Lex lead them toward the airlock, "It's just, when most your actual experience is in civilian craft and the shit that black market dealers parade themselves around in, well, a state of the art ship with upgrades like this? Seventh heaven for someone like me." As they entered the bridge, Drew forced himself to remain composed. It was small, but all the bells and whistles were there, and then some. The AI spoke up and Drew took note of it's name. Eve was sure to be useful in the future. After being given leave, Drew nodded a farewell to Rose as he exited the bridge, knowing the man would likely be staying there were they to take off soon. Drew always found that the best way to learn something was through experience, and though they had an on-board AI, he figured the ship's layout would be easier to figure out if he were to just explore it on his own rather than ask. Everything looked in great condition, and the first level, for the most part was so in-order that he figured that besides briefings, there wasn't going to be a ton for him to do up here besides the old, "fix this thing!" that would inevitably come up. The armory was up here, and while weapon maintenance wasn't beyond him, he also figured someone else could do just as well. And if they wanted something modded, they'd probably just come to engineering and talk. As he passed the medical lab, he heard the familiar hum of machinery. He peeked his head in to see their resident geneticist talking at and typing into the datapad on his arm. Drew took a second to consider entering. The guy looked like he was keeping himself pretty busy, but on the other hand, Drew hadn't taken the time to get to know anybody yet. He took a step in as he looked around the room, "Getting an early start, huh? I was just taking a look around, myself." He looked toward the Chimera that had been following the doctor around like a shadow, "He friendly?" Drew asked before going any further.

[Avanhelsing]

Jack was in his own little world right now. He had a lot of work to do right now but had little time to do it. The algae was not mutating properly as of yet. There was something wrong with the DNA of the organisms. For some reason they would not add the genes he tried to put in. He looked at he display and sighed. Ernie perked his head up at his master wagging his stub tail happily. Jack leaned down and scratched his ears before the chimera turned around to look at the door. Jack turned in his chair and noticed a man standing in the doorway. It was the engineer guy, Drew. Jack always tried to remember names so as to be polite. He grinned at him. "I'm only useful if I'm in here so I figured I should get to work. Currently making an algae nutrient paste. Yes I know it sounds nasty." He joked punching in one last command so the machines would work with out him. Ernie walked over to Drew and wagged his tail happily. "He is friendly. He won't bite, I promise. "Jack said walking over towards Drew and offered the man his hand to shake. "You're Drew, right?" He asked hoping he had remembered correctly. "Just call me Jack and I feel I'm gonna be seeing you in here a lot. I can't fix my own machines to save my life. Gonna need your expertise. "He said leaning against the wall. "Come in. "He said looking him over. He was going to be seeing a lot of this guy.

[RumikoOhara]

Ro'Essel decided that now perhaps was the time to discuss with her commanding officer a few subjects which she believes need clarification. Finding him aboard the ship is easy once she opens her mind to scan the life signs aboard then like a ravager (a deadly predator that hunts using psi senses) she moves through the corridors till she comes across Captain Lex at last. Dropping to one knee before her superior with her arms out to the sides an her head bowed nearly to the deck an says I bring no weapon drawn and offer my service to you my superior She then stands to her full height her color neutral alabastor white.. Captain it is my duty to inform that certain provisions though dishonorable to assure my compliance are useless due to my ability to teleport; for myself it would be simplicity to shunt myself and leave behind all which is not part of myself. I say this not as threat or boast but in effort to correct any false assumptions. I am Blue and I am Ko'secti and to my people truth is all, knowledge is all. If you wish I offer to open all my thoughts to you to assure my loyalty

[Cath]

Amelia rushed into the Vigilance's bridge like a child finding presents on Christmas morning. It was absolutely a step up from what she was used to. The pilots' chairs alone were like miniature command centers, winged with an array of buttons and display screens; they faced a thin curved viewing window and below that huge banks of control interfaces and analytic machines. Behind the two pilots chairs sat a more ornamental Captain's chair, clad in what looked like real leather and on a raised pedestal. She turned to Lex and saluted quickly. "Yes Captain." She then turned to her co-pilot with an excited glint in her eye. "Alright Rose, lets get things off the ground. Familiarize yourself with the course and all related systems, i will begin checking the engines." A lot of people didn't understand how vital it was to get to know the vessel intimately before setting off for the first time. Not getting a feel for the spacecraft would have disastrous consequences further down the line. Amelia ran her hand over the console, finding clusters of interface that she understood. There were several holographic environments in the bridge where she could insert and use any kind of navigational operating system. She grinned like the Cheshire Cat. Rooting around in an inner pocket Amelia pulled out a memory stick with a red stripe on it, and after a few moments finding the relevant port, inserted it into the holographic environment. Immediately the hologram changed, a few million lines of code ran down it and out of sight before the familiar logo of her father's company appeared on screen. "Mount Sinai - Making things easier since 2222. Welcome to your Mount Sinai Ship Wide Systems Interface." A homogeneous female voice chirped. Amelia peeked over at Rose. "It makes our jobs easier, stop looking at me like i'm cheating an Academy exam." she said, pouting. "Scanning systems to bring you the full specification." The voice chirped. Amelia waited impatiently, drumming her fingers on the smooth chrome station. After a few seconds the SWSI churned out a mammoth display of the Vigilance's entire make-up, including blueprints and manufacturing notes from the shipyard. She studied it closely for a minute until a satisfied grunt escaped her lips. The Vigilance was fast, agile and relatively heavily armed. Quite big for such a small crew to handle though, especially a miscreant bunch of criminals. Leaving it up on screen, she sauntered back to her chair and crashed into it. "Okay, hows it going?" she shot across to Rose before activating the intercom. "This is your pilot, please keep eyes on your status screens and lock yourself in for lift off. Three minutes, i repeat three minutes."

[Heat]

"No need to bow before me, Ro'Essel, I'm no king, just the ex smuggler put in charge of this vessel." Lex said to her with a slight smile as he watched her bow before he, she was very theatrical in her ways, but he just pegged it to the different culture she was from. "'Open your thoughts?', do you mean speak your mind? Go ahead, you can speak freely here." Lex said to her, then looked over to see Amelia putting the final launches on the ship for liftoff. "Easy with her ace pilot. This is her first time, can't take things too fast." He said to Amelia from his seat, a smile on his face. The captain then looked around the bridge, trying to familiarize himself with the layout. Nothing like the little freighter he flew in his smuggling days, reminded him more of the frigate he was stationed on when he was in the Navy. Brought back some memories he had thought he forgot. "Anything I should know, Eve?" He said to the A.I, speakers were all over the ship allowing the crew to speak with her from nearly anywhere on the Vigilance. "Nothing right now, sir." The A.I. replied. "Please, call me Lex." "As you wish, Lex."

[Inuyasha]

Rose flicked toggle switches, moved dials meticulously with extreme precision, and checked flickering green lights. The ship was going to take some getting used to, but he would learn it's reigns fast due to his prior experience. He lavishly felt across the control panel, taking in the glimmering LEDs and the control valves. The ship was definitely a keeper, equipped with enough goodies to make it a Ace Pilot's wet dream. To say that the ship was wasted on Rose was an overstatement, however Rose knew that he himself did not appreciate the advanced and intricate capabilities this vessel possessed as much as some others might. To him, the S.S. Vigilance was just another big bird in the sky; means for him to get from one place to another. His thoughts were interrupted by Amelia's request for him to familiarize himself with the systems. "Relax sweets, I've flown something of this sort before. I'm not exactly out of my element here," he said, grinning at Amelia almost in a teasing way. Rose used the screen in front of him to access the Vigilance's flight plans to their first destination. Supposedly, the guards had reloaded the computer with the proper information for their first assignment. After a quick look, Rose tapped the coordinates of their assignment into the Nav system. "Our nav coordinates are a go," he said to Amelia. Amelia, almost as if in reply, stuck a flash drive into one of the ship's ports. Soon enough the framework of the Vigilance popped up in the hologram. She plopped into her chair, asking Rose how he was doing before using the ship-wide intercom to inform the passengers that they were ready for launch. "Well, considering I'm not locked in a cell twenty three of the twenty four hours in a day, I'm doing just fine," he stopped briefly to flick a last couple of switches, and suddenly a pulsing green light lit up in a fluorescent bulb overhead, "Oh, by the way, all systems are a go. We're set to fly when ever you're ready captain. And you? How are you doing?"

[RumikoOhara]

Ro'Essel looked at her Commander puzzled as she processed the analogy of speaking her mind. Ah I do remember hearing the offer to speak my mind before and find it a puzzling offer to do as all Ko'secti do; to do any less would be dishonorable. But to clarify my offer I shall restate it trying to remember your race is mostly mind blind. I offer to allow you open access to my deepest thoughts an memories by forming a telepathic link where I am defenseless against your search. she says in a soft and gentle tone. She looks Lex up an down her eyes searching his form for strength, grace and weakness. She has since losing her soul met several males of the human species but no time to study them and finds it now amusing how like the No'Hara (Hard Warrioress) Lex is. The men of Ko'sect are smaller than females and their bodies less muscled. Had Ro'Essel become Sa'leana she would have had as her mate a son of the house of heaven but now would only be able to reproduce Tez'ecc (Test tube Female/female lottery) Sad really when given thought that her daughter would never know who her mother was as had Ro'Essel. She briefly considers adding to her previous statement even going so far as to open her mouth only to close it less her thought escape without cause. She instead sighs even though it is unlike a warrior to do so. She instead conceals her frustration at being thought strange, odd and funny because she knows to these people she is.

[Heat]

"Happy to hear that, Rose. Ms. DuPont, please get us a safe distance away from the station and planet then initiate the hyperspace jump." Lex said from his seat as he tapped in something to the monitor attached to his captain's chair in the bridge. "Jump initiating." Eve pitched in. "Are you really comfortable with doing that with me? I am a convicted criminal after all, though only smuggling, I didn't blow up a planet or anything, still," Lex said to Ro'Essel as he popped out of his chair, looking her in the eyes for a moment. "If you think it will help with the mission or something and you're really okay with it, then I guess we could do it." He said before moving towards the seated pilot and co - pilot. He was about to speak when the whole ship shook, and he was tossed to the floor, sliding into the wall with a bang. "What the hell was that? Status report." Lex asked, his voice raised from its usual suave tone. He popped back to his feet, slowly, the ship no longer shaking. He looked out the ship's large front window as the hyperspace jump had began. "The space station above Minerva is gone, sir." Eve quipped, appearing as a blue orb hologram floating above a console near the pilot seats. "What do you mean gone? A space station doesn't just disappear." Lex said back to the A.I. as the window itself displayed a shot of Minerva and the space station, or where it used to be. "As you can see, all that is left is debris. If I had to guess I would say it was a bomb, an advanced, massive one at that. There was no sign of any vessels launching at the station, so the logical conclusion is an explosive that was already planted. Curious that it detonated right after we departed." Eve said, the hologram of her spinning in the middle. "Is everyone alright? It appears the space station went up in a massive explosion, unfortunately we cannot depart the jump mid flight as that could risk the ship greatly. Still, we should discuss this as well as the mission itself." Lex said into the monitor at his seat, the intercom booming his voice throughout the ship. "Please assemble in the conference room just past the medical laboratory." He added, then moved away from the seat. "We'll discuss the telepathic link telepathic link afterwards." He said to Ro'Essel, then departed the bridge. A short time later he arrived in the conference room, taking his seat at the head of the table, a serious expression on his face as he waited for his crew to file in.

[Cath]

"Yes Captain." Amelia said, looking across at Rose just as he made an appropriate quip and announced that he had prepped the ship for its maiden flight; it was game time. A green light pinged into existence on a steering pad in front of both pilots which indicated they could be used. Amelia gripped hers gleefully, making a few final adjustments to the ship's default take off pattern with one hand. "Oh i'm doing just fine." she purred as she put her fingerprint onto the scanner, firing up the engines. Rolls Royce Tamerlane spacecraft engines had the kind of reverberating boom which shook the inside of your abdomen and rattled your clenched teeth. It was as if Poseidon himself had awoken, shook off the rocks and shipwrecks which accumulate around him and begun swimming to the surface. Despite state of the art shock absorbers, the bridge shook violently for a few seconds as the Vigilance grew accustomed to having power of such epic proportions tacked onto it. She fired auxiliaries before commanding that the docking clamps be unlocked; a moment later she saw on her read out that they had been disengaged, not that she could hear over the boom of the engines. The Vigilance was now floating by itself inside the hangar. Amelia snuck a look at Rose, he was ready to back her up. Ever so slowly, she pushed forward on her steering pad. The Vigilance responded immediately, edging toward the hangar doors as they now opened for them. The subtle change in engine sound coupled with a deep vibration through her seat made Amelia emit something between an excited giggle and a moan. "Don't tease me." she whispered, pushing the Vigilance out of the Roosevelt and into the vast ocean of space. The noise died down significantly once they were into a vacuum. The captain had ordered she put a safe distance between them and the station before initiating the jump so took the opportunity to put the Vigilance through its paces. Using a holographic display Amelia began increasing the speed but barely started before there was a colossal bang and she felt Lex impact the back of her chair before sliding across the floor. Acting on instinct, Amelia initiated the hyper jump that Rose and Eve had assembled. The stars in the front visor became a white smear. The screen became one of what was left of the space station. "Ouchie." Amelia purred. The captain was speaking but she wasn't really listening. They had been five seconds away from suffering damage to their aft section. She looked at Rose. She hadn't been expecting a baptism by fire this early into their maiden flight. She busied herself by making sure the jump was locked in and calculating an estimated time for when auto-pilot would be disabled when they exited hyperspace. It displayed on a big read out between the two pilots. Two hours and seven minutes. Time for a quick meeting. Amelia released control of her steering pad and got up. Rose was still sat. "Coming?"