[hr][center][code][/code][/center][hr] "Are you all grown up yet, Zekha?" The captain chided. "Everyone can cook and clean up after themselves. If you can't cook, you can make an arrangement with another crew member who does or you can deal with nutripaste, which is in the ship's larders. There's enough of that garbage to last for months. Emergencies... just look at this way: the less you help, the more likely all of us are going to die in the middle of outer space." The captain looked back and forth between the crew, his expression matter-of-factly, with his arms stretched out in a sort of fashion as if he were asking everyone, "well, what did you expect?" With the rest of the crew silent, and [code][/code] questions answered, he turned back around and led everyone up the staircase to the upper level of the ship, where they finally set foot on the bridge. The bridge itself, like the rest of the ship, has probably seen better days but looked better maintained than the cargo hold was. It was almost as though this part of the ship was not apart of the original blueprints, if judging by appearance alone. The fore side of the bridge had two seats up front which were unmistakably the piloting controls. They two were identical, so it did not matter much where the pilot chose to sit unless one side happened to be locked out. There were two other seats on the bridge, one port and one starboard. The port side seemed to be a communications panel and galaxy map, and the starboard side was linked to the ship's weapons system. The latter was rather simplistic and unimpressive - after all, the ship only had one medium laser cannon. [code], The cockpit didn't seem like anything that was necessarily fancy, but the aesthetic wasn't the tell-tale sign of a good ship. Whatever you might think about the rest of the ship, you could tell at a glance that the controls were fine-tuned and optimized. Nothing was missing, no lights were flickering, bent or rusted levers, no weird sounds of humming - while somewhat worn, they were still polished and didn't look like they were falling apart. , No need to fear. The windows were already replaced. No suffocating deep in the black for you, no sir. Not yet, anyway.[/code] "Here is your bridge." Varen said. "These two seats up front are for the pilot and co-pilot - it doesn't matter which. Port side, you have your communications, galaxy map, life support controls - so on and so forth - for the ship. Starboard side, the controls and targeting system for the medium laser cannon. It sometimes works. Just hope we won't need it." [hider=PARTY AWARENESS CHECK] [code][/code] [b]Check:[/b] Awareness [b]Dice:[/b] 1d20 [b]Roll:[/b] 15 [b]Bonus:[/b] +5 [b]Result:[/b] [color=green]20 (SUCCESS)[/color][hr] [code][/code] [b]Check:[/b] Awareness [b]Dice:[/b] 1d20 [b]Roll:[/b] 8 [b]Bonus:[/b] +3 [b]Result:[/b] [color=red]11 (FAIL)[/color][hr] [code][/code] [b]Check:[/b] Awareness [b]Dice:[/b] 1d20 [b]Roll:[/b] [color=red]1[/color] [b]Bonus:[/b] [color=red]--[/color] [b]Result:[/b] [color=red](CRITICAL FAIL)[/color] [code]lol get fucked[/code][hr] [code][/code] [b]Check:[/b] Awareness [b]Dice:[/b] 1d20 [b]Roll:[/b] 15 [b]Bonus:[/b] 0 [b]Result:[/b] [color=green]15 (SUCCESS)[/color][hr] [code][/code] [b]Check:[/b] Awareness [b]Dice:[/b] 1d20 [b]Roll:[/b] 2 [b]Bonus:[/b] +2 [b]Result:[/b] [color=red]4 (FAIL)[/color] [code]What the fuck, you guys?[/code][/hider] [code] and , you two managed to see through the captain's bluff. It was probably the first sign of a sense of humor anyone has seen since all of you boarded the ship. The rest of you however? Evidently not quite as quick to pick up on the joke, but who can blame you? The captain has been all business since you met him! Perhaps there was a sudden wave of dread washing over you or maybe you just weren't that impressed with the awful condition the ship was in and how your own means of defense was inoperable half the time. Even more troubling, the implication of the even requiring a cannon on this job was haunting in its own right. , ordinarily, I might say the wookie is flipping out right about now, but you're also zen like all the freaking time. Then there's the catch where you're not even experienced with interstellar travel or ship cannons anyway. You're more likely to wonder why we even need a cannon. Regardless of what you think about ships and guns, you've taken Varen's word entirely to heart. He's been straightforward, serious, and honest so far, why has that got to change now?[/code] The captain moved on from the bridge after giving the crew a moment to take in the information and look around the cockpits. There was another flight of stairs going up on the starboard side of the ship heading towards the aft end of the Phoenix. Climbing those, the crew then found themselves in the crew lounge. There wasn't much, and it was only just spacious enough to fit everybody. Still, most of the food supplies were here, there was a refresher, and a round table with a long booth circling around it pushed against the portside wall. "If you're hungry, you get food here. The refresher works fine." Varen explained. He turned to face the aft side of the ship, where there were three entryways. "Left side is cabin one, there are two bunks. In the middle, here, is an air lock with a dorsal hatch that brings you outside to the top of the ship. Right side, cabin number two. Two bunks, and there's another door in that cabin that brings you to the engine room." He pressed a button at the side of cabin two's door and it smoothly rolled open on generously oiled tracks, exposing the inside of the cabin. Two bunks, and indeed, a another door on the other side of the cabin by the foot of the bed. Varen marched through the cabin and opened the next door, inviting the hum of the engine and the hyperdrive. Naturally, this would be a lot louder once in flight and zipping through space. There was a panel with an array of control on the wall opposite of the engine. A slew of numbers, from the dew point to the kW to mW measurements, temperatures, fuel, revolutions per second, and so on. "The engine is a little old, but she runs fine. The hyperdrive purrs like a kitten. Try to get your numbers on rounds every twelve hours or so, make three copies to give to the pilot and myself, and one to keep." [code], purring like a kitten indeed. The hum of the hyperdrive had barely the faintest palpitations, with highs and lows in the tone like sounds of tenor followed by sounds of alto in a repeating pattern. There wasn't any real risk or danger to it, but it could affect fuel and energy efficiency - you just had to investigate what the problem was. It was faint, but as someone who worked on engines and drives for many years, you could pick it out pretty quickly. The engines themselves were an old model and outdated by even some of the cheaper parts on the market. The panel on the walls seemed straightforward enough, but some of the kWs had some outliers. Where most hovered just above the 500 mark while the ship was powered, but was just at rest, the kW reading for artificial gravity generator was as high as 800. That could mean that the corresponding part isn't getting enough power or that the reading was off and had to be calibrated or the part replaced. Granted, some outputs were probably different because different parts required different input. Still, it was reading the block cooling output for the generator and might be worth investigating. If the reading wasn't lying, that meant that generator was getting too hot and the cooling system was working extra hard to maintain its target temperature. It looks like you'll have just enough work to keep you busy.[/code] "So that's the ship. If there are any questions, save them for later. Man your stations, everyone! I want this ship off the ground in ten minutes. Liak'ykam, Shai, help Zekha with whatever he needs until we break atmosphere. Wear ear plugs if you can. Baarsuth, Bo, I'll be on the bridge with you to make sure there aren't any problems." [code]With that, the party dispersed. and leave the engine room with Varen Kray and and stay with , who will be lending the engineer a helping hand with some of the take-off procedures that the pilots don't have much control over or if something goes wrong. Anyways, it's quite clear that Varen is on a schedule and was eager to get off of Alderaan. Perhaps that was something you could relate to, eh ? Speaking of whom, it was after a few minutes did the pilots get accustomed with the controls. had taken to it almost intuitively, and it was thanks to some of your guidance that got used to the cockpit as quickly as he did. Varen manned the control panel and monitored the ship's systems. The ship lifted into the air slowly, but before long, the Phoenix was soaring through the air and aimed towards the horizon. The engine room, though purring before, was now a loud and almost-deafening roar as the ship picked up more and more speed. The ship itself was holding together even through the turbulence of entering the atmosphere, and eventually, into space.[/code]