ihinka

The Nomad, a sci-fi epic.

@Catharyn@Ozymandias I'm actually planning for Mel and Ro to brake off pursuit, but I might change my mind depending on what you guys come up with I do actually want them to just get situated and negotiate some sort of permanent employment

Epic City: Starburst

@AtomicNut can also take control of Regan and the reinforcements...

I would, but Teagan has no reason to be at the docks and since Regan is a shared NPC...

@Old Amsterdam Right?

Stardust Pilgrims

I'll try to post today, after work

The Valencia - [High Fantasy, Pirates]

@LadyTabrisDo we want something special from this chat between Amia and Kossara... Or simply acknowledging her joining the crew? So I'd know how to compose my post.

The Nomad, a sci-fi epic.

As soon as their transport landed on the small moon Ro, Jack, Mel and BB disembarked to witness a hungry crowd clamoring for supplies from the cargo ship, which had landed prior to theirs on a priority landing vector.

The four ex-military observed the situation with trained eyes.

"Something's fishy here." BB muttered under his breath. "Vok, can you catch something with your optics?"

"We're not here to spy, BB." Mel interjected sternly.

The man appeared taken aback for a second or two. Mel had outranked both him and Jack when they were still enlisted.

"Fuck that, Mel!" This time it was Jack who intervened. "You can't tell me this looks legit to you!" He pointed at the cargo ship. Its cargo bay ramp lowered, a cordon of sailors keeping the colonists at bay while another group was 'busy' handing out a scarce amount of supplies. "If this was a cargo ship carrying supplies for this moon there'd be a hell of a lot more personnel unloading and a hell of a lot more supplies trading hands!"

Mel bit her lower lip. The boys were right, of course. But that still didn't mean they should get involved. They had not come here to investigate fishy cargo ships with priority landing vectors. "Do you mind?" She found herself asking however, turning to look at Ro.

"I don't mind." The Noxaara said also finding the situation to be quite unusual. "But I don't believe I'll be able to detect anything from this distance." Ro said. "And I don't believe we have reason to approach enough for my optics to detect anything of significance."

"Damn!" BB exclaimed.

"C'mon, guys." Mel urged the boys. "We gotta find either Miranda Nero or Dr Clara Lascelles to hammer out the details of our arrangement." She grabbed her bags and shouldered them. "We've only just arrived. Let's get the lay of the land first. See what's what, who's who and then maybe go spying."

Jack and BB grumbled, but both shouldered their bags and followed after Mel.

Ro also followed. "The situation on the moon appears to be quite desperate in terms of supplies." The Protector observed walking besides Mel. "If I'm allowed to contact my people I'm sure they would be glad to help with whatever they can. The Noxaara didn't suffer as much damage as the humans during the war with Nomad."

"I'm sure they'll appreciate that, Ro." Mel stated looking at her friend with a soft smile. The Noxaara were a gentle race to begin with, but the Protectors especially had this internal desire to help. It was, after all, why she, Jack and BB were still alive.

The four friends made their way to the general administration building in search of Mel's contacts. The situation on the moon appeared indeed dire. There were injured people everywhere, both military and civilian and it would appear the medical staff was struggling to tend to them all.

"Mel..." BB looked at her pleadingly, passing injured people left and right. He was a medic in the platoon during the Nomad war.

"I know, BB." She said in acknowledgement. "Let's just get situated first and then you can go and do your thing."

He nodded silently.

Ro could relate. As a Protector she had emergency medicine training as well, although not at par with BB's, certainly not where humans were concerned, but Vokeera understood his desire to help.

They approached the general area where Mel knew the offices of the head honcho's were. Ro's SEEM auditory enhancement picked up on a light buzzing sound right when they saw a group of marines in exoskeleton suits posted at equal intervals in the narrow corridor. The buzzing disappeared almost immediately.

"Cargo ship, my ass!" BB and Jack grumbled in unison.

"Behave!" Mel warned. "I agree this is fishy as hell." She added. "Let’s be smart about it. BB, Jack, see if you can find the chief of security Miranda Nero." She was about to unload her bags on the floor of the corridor when Vokeera clasped her arm to stay her movement.

Mel looked at the Noxaara questioningly. Ro indicated with a head movement towards the floor. A small swarm of Apis had taken up position on the floor, their wings now unmoving, quiet. Mell cursed under her breath.

"I feel like we've been dropped in the middle of a play to which we don't know the plot or the lines." She complained looking at the Apis swarm. "Go on, guys." She urged Jack and BB and they tracked back from whence they came. Mel turned to Ro. "By the looks of it we won't be allowed to enter the office of the Director, so let’s try Dr Lascelles's office first."

Ro nodded and the two of them made their way past Director Ogilvie's office. They stood in front of a door, its plaque reading simply 'Dr Clara Lascelles'. Mel raised her hand and nocked. There was no answer, but shortly after there was a commotion in front of Ogilvie's office. The door opened and a group of people exited the room. Some decidedly 'spook' looking individuals and a woman.

Vokeera and Mel followed the group with curious gazes.

"Should we try the Director's office now?" Ro wondered.

Mel was chewing her bottom lip again. "Let's follow them." She said out of the blue.

"Lugging our stuff while we're at it?" Ro pointed out. "We'll stick out like a sore opposable digit."

"It's a sore thumb, Ro." Mel grinned at Vokeera’s inability to accurately use human idioms. "Honestly, you've lived how many years now among humans and still cannot commit to memory our sayings and phrases! Now come on, we're following them!" She proceeded to drag the Noxaara after her.

The two of them hurried to catch up with the group that had exited the Director's office and began following them at a safe distance as to not cause suspicion.

"Jack and BB will be so miffed at you when they find out you followed the suspicious looking people, when you didn't let them snoop around." Ro whispered in Mel's ear. Melissa simply grinned. "It would also appear the Apis have the same idea as you." Vokeera indicated with a head movement the swarm of small flying creatures following the group at a respectable distance.

@Catharyn@Starlance@Ozymandias

The Nomad, a sci-fi epic.

@Fury Panda It's here

Had to edit the end of my post a bit to better mash with the previous posts.

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

240

The Nomad, a sci-fi epic.

*after the second massive edit, realizing all the 'hers' were left out of the first one* Had to make a genderless character, did you!!!

The Nomad, a sci-fi epic.

Had to do a massive edit of my post since I totally forgot Vokeera was genderless and was using female pronouns out of force of habit... It's going to be a challenge writhing my posts while avoiding the gender specific pronouns

Epic City: Starburst

Teagan awoke with a tingling sensation in her right arm. She opened her eyes and turned her head to find Megan curled up to her side for the second time since the terrible ordeal she'd been through. The young woman occupied the right side of Teagan's queen size bed. The firefighter rarely slept in the middle of the bed, even huge as it was. She might have started in the middle, but in the end always gravitated towards the left side with her right arm stretched out beside her. Which currently served as a pillow for Megan.

Teagan glanced at the digital watch on her night stand. 9 AM. She wasn't exactly a morning person when off shift, but she supposed she could do 9 AM in a pinch. She gently turned to her side and slid her arm from under Megs' head.

The young woman opened her eyes and stared at Teagan.

"Morning." The firefighter said, confident her companion would read her lips.

"Sorry I snuck into your bed." Megan signed in apology.

"Megan. Don' ever apologize for that." Tegan spoke again as she was not so confident in signing with just one hand as Megan was. "Nightmare?" She asked.

"Not this time, thankfully." Megan signed. "I just woke up and did't want to be alone in my room." She finished looking lost and hurt.

"It's okay." Teagan assured the young woman and drew her into a hug.

They stayed like that for a minute or two and then withdrew from each other.

"Do you want some breakfast?" She signed after pushing herself up into a sitting position.

"Can I cook?" Megan asked.

"I can cook you know." Teagan assured playfully getting up from the bed.

"Yeah. Firefighter grub, no, thanks!" Megan stuck her tongue out getting caught in the game.

Teagan grabbed her heart dramatically. "Argh, ye wound me, m'lady." She spoke, making sure Megan could read her lips.

"You'll live." Megan assured mercilessly, but couldn't contain a smirk.

Teagan laughed. "Go get ready. I'll grab a quick shower and than we'll see about you making us a breakfast."

Less than an hour later they had polished their breakfast and Teagan'd asked Megs to join her in the leaving room where the documents from child services still lay on the coffee table.

"We need to talk." She said looking at the file. Megan stiffened at the proclamation. But Teagan hurried to reassure her. "It's important, but it's not bad." The young woman relaxed visibly.

Teagan quickly relayed last night's events and the visit of one Mr Smith from Child Services.

"So they acknowledged Mom and Dad appointing you as my guardian. They just need this filled out and filed so that you are officially recognized as my next of kin and stuff?" Megan recapped.

"Yes." Teagan confirmed. "It seems on the level. I had a cop friend of mine verify his credentials." Regan's face popped into her head and she couldn't help but smile.

"A cop friend, huh?" Megan somehow managed to relate a playful smirk in her signing. "She hot?"

Teagan groaned. "Oh, God! Not you too!"

Megan laughed her silent laugh. "I see Aunt Martha's a few steps ahead of me. I'll have to see what she knows about this 'cop friend' of yours." She threatened.

Teagan threw her hands in defeat. "Of course you'd team up with my mum." She mock complained. Megan was smiling so she didn't mind if she wanted to gang up on her with her mother about her romantic life. Or lack thereof. But not for long. Hopefully.

Sometime later they'd signed the papers they'd decided upon. Teagan would be listed as Megan's official guardian, next of kin and emergency contact, with Martha and Rory as back ups, but she would keep her family name. Shortly after her parents had arrived to take Megan out college hunting and Martha'd offered to file the documents for her.

"We'll take care of Megan." She'd assured her daughter. "You have your own things to do." She'd winked meaningfully and Teagan'd groaned as Megan had caught it. Those two are gonna be trouble. She thought.

---

Around 1 PM she was just finishing her warm up before her daily training session when her phone buzzed. 'Had half shift today. Just finished. The Chief told me you'll be joining the SAR team permanently. Wanna show me just how proficient you are in Krav Maga?'

Teagan grinned. 'How fortunate. Just finished my warm up. Where?'

'I'll come pick you up. Give me your address, so I don't have to abuse my authority and get it myself' The text ended with a tongue-out smiley face.

Oh, very smooth. Teagan thought. And cheeky. She typed her address.

'Be there in ten. Don't get cooled off.'

I'll need a cold shower for that! Teagan thought and fought not to get overexcited at the prospect of training with Regan. She threw some stuff in her fitness bag, shot a message to her parents to let them know where she'll be and to call if they needed anything. She'd just finished preparing when the door bell rang.

Her heart skipped a beat. Jesus, Heyes. Control yourself! You're not a kid. Still she couldn't help but grin all the way to the door. She peaked through the spyhole. And grinned even more, observing Regan still in her uniform. Oh, man, that uniform! She thought, praying that her fair complexion wouldn't give her excitement away when she opened the door.

"Open up, Heyes, I know you're in there!" Regan mock threatened from outside.

Teagan deliberately unlocked as slow as she could and opened the door a fraction. "How can I help ye, Officer?"

Regan's eyes glinted playfully. She put her fisted hands on her hips and assumed an official stand, playing along. "Well, ma'am, it would appear you've been claiming a proficiency in Krav Maga and I'm here to verify or arrest you for slander if you cannot put your skills where your mouth is."

Teagan laughed out loud. Opening the door fully, she stepped out and quickly locked it. "It would appear I'm in trouble then." She continued the game.

"That you are, ma'am." Regan assured her, mock seriously.

"I am a law abiding citizen." Tegan offered her hands to be handcuffed. "I intend to fully cooperate."

At that Regan finally cracked. She burst out laughing and slapped Teagan's hands away. "Don't tempt me, Heyes." She growled and led them to her cruiser. "Come on. The Chief asked me to see what you're made of, before we put you through the official tests for the SAR team."

Teagan sobered a bit.

"Fine by me. I hadn't had to really use my training, but I've been keeping it current. I could use the practice with a partner."

"From what I saw during the swarm rats' attack. You don't appear to be out of practice." Regan assured remembering how Teagan'd reacted with lightning speed to disable the rat that had attacked them from above. Fast and swift. No fuss, no muss. Exactly what Krav Maga was all about.

---

Teagan was sprawled on the mat, face first, her right arm painfully twisted up, fingers pointing to her head. The lock was most effective and quite painful. Still, she wasn't ready to yield yet.

"Don't make me hurt you, Heyes, tap out!" Regan growled, twisting her arm up a fraction.

Teagan gave in with two short taps to the mat and her arm was immediately released and gently straightened. They'd had a very fruitful sparring session. The firefighter was pleased to find out she really wasn't as rusty as she'd thought even against an active PART officer like Regan. She turned around and lay on her back breathing heavily.

Regan flopped down next to her, her breath labored as well. She knew Teagan's ranking in Krav Maga but somehow still hadn't expected the ex firefighter to give her this much trouble. Well, she was fit as hell and a bit heavier then herself. She dared a peak at Teagan, still trying to catch her breath after their heavy sparring session. Yup, fit as hell! She was glad she was still red from the exertion, otherwise her flush at checking Teagan up would reveal itself. She sat up and tried to regain some composure.

"The sergeants at the precinct will still have to put you through the moves, but I don't see you having any trouble with the hand-to hand portion of the testing." She announced standing and extending her hand to Teagan. "You gave me a run for my money." She assured with a smile, tugging the other woman up. They ended up being really close, staring almost startled at each other. Still breathing hard. Still red from the workout. Teagan's hand still in Regan's. The moment extended impossibly, the two of them holding hands, just staying close, staring at each other.

A shrill sound tore them out of their blissful stupor.

"Shit!" Regan cursed. She lounged for her cell, answered and listened intently for a moment. After hanging up, she returned to stand in front of Teagan. "There's trouble at the docks. An officer's been killed and another one is under heavy fire. Kryptonites involvement is suspected. Our outfit has been mobilized."

The Kryptonites. Those bastards responsible for Sara and Jorge's death! Teagan thought. "Go!" She said forcefully. Fire igniting her green eyes.

"This is not over." Regan said not moving.

Both women knew what she meant.

Teagan nodded. "Go." She said it softly this time. "Stay safe, Murphy!"

This time it was Regan's turn to nod. She quickly gathered her things and sprinted towards her cruiser.

Teagan watched her leave and prayed she'd be safe. She wanted to see where this thing growing between them could lead. She quietly gathered her things and hailed a cab home. She took out a peace of paper from her gym bag. It was an appointment a week from now to get her fully tested for approval in joining the search and rescue squad of the ECPD.

@AtomicNut@Regitnui@Mercenary Lord