EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After the Khajiit man's greeting, Meesei responded in turn. "My name is Meesei, and I hail from Black Marsh. As for what we are, that does not matter. All that matters is that we are your rescuers. We posed as slaves and slavers alike, boarded these ships under the guise of being clients, then killed them all once we were out at sea. The ones who held you captive are now dead, and we have no interest in being slavers ourselves. We do have a particular need for these ships, but we are not without mercy towards you and your family. We can bring you to the Cyrodilic city of Leyawiin. Our intent is to explain your situation to the priests of the Eight in the city's temple in the hopes that they can help you back to your home, or wherever else you want to go."

Kaleeth gave an exaggerated huff. "What, you don't think I can swim in a storm? I'm not a Human who instinctively starts flailing around as soon as they hit the water." She joked, laughing to herself. She tightened her arm around him and brought Newt to sit between them, on both of their legs. "If you really want me to hold on, I can just hold on to you."

Closing her eyes, Kaleeth rubbed the side of her head lightly against Janius' cheek. "You know, I like it when you're wet like this. It makes you nice and smooth. I wish you would stand out in the rain with me more often; I don't understand why it's so uncomfortable for you."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"That is fine, thank you. Please, have a seat." Meesei said, standing up from her chair as she waited for her words to be translated. She braced herself against one of the supports in the room, much as Gallus had been doing. Even Ri'nakhad stood up from his chair as, despite his age, the two former slaves were still in worse condition than himself.

Meesei kept a soft, polite tone as she spoke to the pair. "Now that you both have had a chance to eat and clean yourselves, I feel we should speak about what to do from here. Please, tell me your names."

To Kaleeth, Janius' concern was almost amusing. She did not see the danger that seemed apparent to him. With her waterproof scales, the rain was not nearly as cold to her as it was to him. The wind did cause her some annoyance, but it was no worse than any windy day to her. Instead of grabbing the rope, she put one arm around him and leaned her head against his shoulder with a grin. "Janius, you get too worried. It's just some water and some wind. You act like it's dangerous or something. Why are you so afraid of me falling in, anyway? It's not like the ocean is going to reach out and grab me, and even if it did, I'd be fine."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'nakhad looked carefully at the area around Leyawiin on the map in front of him. "This one thinks that is potentially a safer idea than actually docking. The greatest issue will be finding a safe place to lay anchor, which is still out of view of the city. Ri'nakhad doubts that the Legion would appreciate two Dominion vessels, even just trading vessels, suddenly stopping anywhere other than the docks."

Meesei nodded in agreement. "Yes, we will need to be cautious in either case. Avoiding the docks would keep us safely away from the port authorities, but would make us more suspicious if we are spotted. Sees-No-Colors may be able to help in that regard. I'm sure he is no stranger to hiding ships. Once this storm has passed and he isn't needed with the crew, I will ask him for his advice. Beyond that, I called for the family to come up here as soon as possible, so we should be able to speak with them shortly."

Despite Janius' concern, Kaleeth smiled as she looked at him. "Oh, I was just showing Newt the waves. All the rocking scared him below deck, but now that he can see that it's just water, he thinks the rocking is fun. Don't worry, I'm sitting down, and the waves aren't that big." She explained. With the next wave that crested on the ship's starboard side, some water did indeed wash over the deck, at which point Kaleeth calmly reached out beside her and grabbed onto the thick rope supporting the mast. After the wave washed over them, Newt once again started to laugh. "You want to sit with us?" She asked loudly, but again, calmly.

Star Wars: Coruscant Underworld [Always accepting!]

Eh, whatever works. I'm fine showing up at any time.

Mass Effect: The Face of Injustice

The young woman had briefly been seemingly placated by Raa's answer, but was obviously both surprised and confused by RK's sudden appearance. For a few seconds, she was wide eyed and speechless as she stared down at the holographic projection. But once the woman had the chance to process everything, RK's insulting and combative tone rubbed off onto her. She became offended, and scowled at the holographic projection. "I...I...no! I have a right to be afraid you stupid machine! I hear of this attack on our fleet, but no one will tell us what is happening. Then suddenly we're being packed into these shuttles and evacuated to I don't know where, for who knows how long. No one will tell me if my brother is still okay up there, and...I just want this all to be over!" She screamed, with tears in her eyes by the end of the outburst.

Nearby, one of the other passengers, attempting to distract himself from the argument on the other side of the shuttle, kept his gaze looking out of one of the shuttle's windows. Out in the distance, there were a dozen or so dots on the horizon, which were growing larger as they approached. After a few seconds he was able to make out that they were, in fact, ships. "W-what is that? Out the window? Have they found us?"

Immediately, Avatar accessed the shuttle's exterior cameras to give it a better view of the approaching vessels. Zooming in, it identified the ships as A-74 Wasp gunships: military craft designed to replace the aging Mantis gunship. They were similar in aesthetics to the Mantis, but had four vectored engines and more powerful armaments. They were used by multiple militaries, but these in particular had the markings of the Turian military.

"There are thirteen approaching craft of gunship classification. They appear to be allied vessels." Avatar explained flatly, not necessarily aware that some of the passengers might doubt its assessment of their allegiance.

Star Wars: Coruscant Underworld [Always accepting!]

I have come to realize an issue. Presently, my character would be heading home after fixing up her datapad and waiting for word from Dyno. However, if she is to go to the pit, that would require a significant timeskip for her. But, it still needs to sync up with what everyone else is doing. In a sandbox style like this, how do we go about addressing the fact that everyone is going to be doing different things that take different amounts of time, but we still need to be able to sync up that time? Preferably without requiring that people spend long amounts of time unable to do anything.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'm about to head to bed. I'll respond in the morning. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

When she had first acquired the captain's quarters, Meesei had not been sure why there were clamps on the edges of the table, or why the two chairs on either side of it were nailed to the floor, but it certainly made perfect sense now. She and Ri'nakhad, at least, were able to sit down somewhat comfortably, and the map in front of them was kept stable by the clamps.She had no objections to Gallus' suggestion. She had already been thinking along the same lines, so she nodded in agreement. "Leyawiin is the most obvious choice. It is right along our path, so we would only need to make a stop, instead of a detour. We could give them some supplies and explain their situation to the priests in the temple of the Divines in the city. Given that they do not seem to speak Cyrodilic, it would be best to get them back to their home. The temple is meant to be a charitable organization, and may be able to help them. My greatest worry is that we will need to be quick. We can stop in Leyawiin, but we cannot stay long. The last thing we want is to have to deal with the port authorities in any sort of detail. We should be able to dock without too much issue, but not if we linger, or attempt to load or unload cargo. There is much I would like to purchase from the city, but as we have stolen these ships and do not have forgeries of their paperwork, we cannot afford to submit to customs."

Outside, on the ship's starboard side near the bow, Janius would be able to see both Kaleeth and Newt. She was sitting down on the deck with her legs crossed, holding Newt in her lap. They were a moderate distance from the railing, evidently for safety, but Kaleeth did not appear to be stable enough where she was sitting regardless. Usable clothing was not plentiful among the clan at the moment, so she had gone without. The storm, despite the heavy rain and wind, did not seem to be bothering either of them in the slightest. The wind blasted the heavy raindrops against their scales, but gave them apparently no discomfort. As the ship dipped down to the right, then leveled out in the trough, Newt actually started to giggle. Since the wind was rather loud, Kaleeth did not hear Janius the first time he called out, but did recognize his voice on the second attempt. "Oh, hello there!" She shouted loudly, but surprisingly casually.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ma'tanza laughed and placed her hand gently on Tzirret's shoulder. "You're welcome, but you don't need to be so apologetic about everything, Tzirret. It's not like you meant to cause any trouble. You needed help, so Ma'tanza helped you. We're past all of that now, though. We have the ship now, so we can finally relax. How about we go pick up something to eat, then head back down to the hold? Ma'tanza doubts many want to go back down there yet, and she feels like getting away from the crowd."

---

The rest of the day was mostly spent allowing the clan to become acclimated to living on the ship. Most everyone was encouraged to head down below deck after they had a chance to get some fresh air and stretch their legs. For the most part, it left only those who were now serving as the crew on the top deck. Although, if Colors had not given that instruction, the weather would have done that for him soon enough. After an hour or so, the wind started to pick up, followed by rain. By late afternoon, it had turned to a torrential downpour. Waves crashed loudly against against the side of the ship, which rocked the ship heavily from side to side. For Colors' crew, and that of the other ship, it was a trial by fire that he certainly would not have preferred. Fortunately, there were experienced sailors other than Colors on both ships, so he was not alone in directing everyone. The majority of the clan had retreated below deck. Even the Senche were able to squeeze through the trap doors, with the exception of S'nishi. Being a Senche-raht, she was much larger than the ship had ever been designed for. As such, she had no choice but to sit out on the deck in the downpour. Since all of their clothing, leather, and hides were currently being used to make tents, she had nothing to protect her from the rain. Additionally, despite the storm, Janius would not be able to find either Kaleeth or Newt anywhere below deck.

In the captain's cabin, Meesei had called for a meeting between Gallus and Ri'nakhad, whom she had ensured was among those placed on her ship. They were both soaked, seeing as they had to walk across the top deck to reach the cabin, but for Ri'nakhad, at least, it was not worse than spending the previous night in the hold. She had also sent for the family they had discovered among the cargo, though it would likely be a few minutes before they arrived.

"I apologize about making you walk through the rain, but I believe we should discuss the matter of the family we found aboard the ship. Obviously, they cannot join us, so we need to make a decision on how to deal with them." Meesei began.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors did not budge from his position, nor did he look back at Gallus. He simply started looking down, off the side of the ship. "Look, I understand what you're trying to do, but..." He trailed off, losing himself briefly in thought. After a few more moments, he turned back around with a more neutral expression. "I'll be fine, okay? I've done worse things to better people...or, well, not really worse, just...you know what I mean. If I can get past that, I can get past this. I need to get back to work; I'm sure you have a lot to deal with too."

Colors did not so much as wait for a response before walking away, presumably to continue managing the ship's new crew.

Bheja raised up his hand and shook his head likely. "Thanks, but no need. I assume she's looking this way, right?" He commented before squeezing his way between a few of the people in front of him, over to the railing. He reached up his hand and waved over to S'nishi, now visible thanks to being at the front of the crowd. Since she was now looking, it did not take long for S'nishi to spot him as well. Of course, at this distance, there was very little wither of them could actually do to communicate with any clarity, but by merely being present, they could confirm that they were both unharmed.