Blood Mage Apologist
New Laean Shipyards, New Laean system
Sylrath was not having a good day.
He had started what had promised to be an eventful evening by falling out of bed when his alarm decided that "quiet" meant "loud enough to wake the dead." His tail still hurt.
Then, he had found out that someone had screwed up his order for his new Officer's Service Uniform. Apparently, they couldn't tell the difference between someone with a tail, and someone without.
But of course, his dress uniform had arrived right on time. So he had been stuck with that.
Getting dressed had been murder. He hated dressing up- it restricted his movement far, far too much for his tastes. What if he needed to apply composite gel to an energy burn, or inject a fallen friend with a stimulant?
Well, to be fair, there were barely any chances of any of that actually happening, but it could.
Then on his way to the ship that he'd been assigned too, he had been knocked over four times. Only two of the humans had actually apologized- apparently you could get away with mistreating a Medical Officer if he was an alien. '
Thankfully, nothing really terrible had happened. He hadn't forgotten his medical bag, nor his gear bag.
No one had attempted to mug him, and there hadn't been any last minute psych evaluations like last time he'd gone outside.
A delayed flight wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, and for that he had been grateful. Keeping his head down, the black Drakon hadn't conversed much with his new "friends" while waiting for the shuttle to leave, nor during the flight itself.
As he followed them through de-contamination procedures, Sylrath picked out at least three mistakes. He didn't point them out, but he felt slightly smug knowing that he could have.
What he also noticed as he walked into the landing bay, though, was that everyone else was taller than him.
Again.
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
Servant of the People
Mal’s eyes moved back and forth over her computer tablet as she stepped out of the shuttle onto the orbital docks. She was reviewing the crew manifest of her assignment. About halfway down the list and there were no surprises. She had family spread out through the fleet, some of them so distant that it was ridiculous that they’d approach her as if they were siblings.
If it weren’t for her brother’s meddling she’d still be just another enlisted soldier. Below her station sure, but she was unlikely to run into a thirteenth cousin twice removed from her mother’s side among them who’d introduce themselves through proposing marriage. This might seem ridiculous, but it happened to Mal before. Twice.
She was praying for not adding a third.
She got a blip from her message server. A letter from her brother Gaius had arrived. He was stationed at the Capital, serving as a royal advisor or something. Gaius had almost ten years on Mal, and was a commander before Mal even finished filling out the paperwork to enlist.
His message was quick and blunt, without any formality. It simply read: “The Empire or Nothing”
“Right,” Mal said to herself. She knew what he expected of her. The only question was, did she care? After this tour was over, she was going to retire to her place on Nicea (wherever that was) and relax far, far away from all the nonsense that was the her family.
edited 20th Feb '17 3:41:42 PM by bluefire_phoenix
People are not simple. They are an intricate web of contradictions, emotions, and motives playing off People with equally convoluted webs
The Best Worst Psychonaut
This was it. A new posting. And with a new posting, would come new responsibilities. With new responsibilities would come an advanced need for unity. Cohesion. Mutual respect would be of the utmost importance. These were all thoughts that cycled the mind of Ki Gaz for the entire day. From the moment she had gotten out of bed, first impressions were everything. She'd even ironed her new service uniform twice, having previously made absolutely sure with the uniform department that it was the right size for her larger-than-normal frame.
...She had to be honest with herself, she did feel even more conspicuous than usual at the moment. From where she was standing, her head was so high up that her eyes were in the dark, and she had trouble seeing the people around her. These were her new Sendisk, she knew, and this the place was the worst to be making a fool of herself. She had planned on letting the captain judge her, preferably by her ability, but she could not be certain. She knew how some Imperial officers operated. If this was an ideal crew, the captain's judgement would resonate with his or her subordinates.
Unfortunately, however, the importance of first impressions was lost on her little brother. Even now, her sensitive ears picked up a subtle 'ping' on her tablet; the small, fiddly one hooked up to her belt. As focused as she was, she couldn't help but smile a bit. It wasn't the right thing to be doing, but it was impossible to get mad at Ki Gem. He just had a certain... air about him.
"Eh... nupulesh-nydki? Musku plaskeku Impi nydki... mu nukad 'PULESH-NYDKI' Gaz, son? Hehehe... egh." Translation Gem's message read as she unhooked the tablet and held it up to her eyes. This just made her smile even more. All of a sudden, she was glad she towered over everyone else; meant her non-regulation grin was literally overshadowed. But how could she help herself?
She began to frown when reading the last part of the message, though. She knew better than anyone that her little brother was the talkative type, not like her. He'd have been using voice commands to type all of that in. That laughter at the end... it worried her.
"Inokzyn, plasmuni?" Translation she typed back in response. Within about a minute, another response came through.
"Non! Nononon. Ii... nu zu-abyd, send kangukalsk. Nydkeshkalsk. Mu? Yiinson. Musend yiinpulkonyd ton kanzyn shendz, mukada." Translation
Gaz sighed to herself. Her brother always had self-confidence issues. Always felt he wasn't important. But he'd evidently been listening too much to the aristocrats. They were blinding him.
"Noninokzyn... yiinpulkon, kanpulkon... kan eshyn." Translation was all she typed back.
His next answer couldn't have come any sooner. "Son, ii... nunydki-hok. Nuka magneshyd! Magneshyd Impatesh!" Translation
Gaz huffed to herself again. He still had that spirit. The one she was afraid she would lose.
"Hokpul Impeshi nydkeshi? Hmph. Yiinson. ...Ii... muyiinzyn. Nonvankii. Nu sendyd lanhokpul nu plaskynbayzyn, onmusku revenzyn." Translation
As she finished typing that up, she could feel a slight clunk, shortly followed by the loud hissing from the airlock going through standard decontamination procedure. She'd have to be quick. A shame. Sometimes she secretly hated having to cut off her own brother in the middle of conversation, but priorities were everything. He knew that about her. He's smarter than he looks.
"Mu-onmunin Impateshi zolpulkon, mu lanhokpulyd. Mu-onunin maghokpulkadyd, son?" Translation she finalised in text.
"Sonson... lanu, Gaz. :)" Translation
"Lanu, Gem." Translation
As the doors slid open, Gaz made a dash to put her tablet back where it was and place her hooves behind her back. Remember, first impressions. ...She couldn't help but briefly raise a brow at her brother, though. What was that strange symbol he always added onto the end of his texts? As far as she knew, it was nonsense, but it had some significance to the humans...
"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
The Flamebringer
That didn't make the delay any easier.
She sighed, brushing a piece of dirt off her otherwise-immaculate white uniform. Whoever's idea it had been to make the XO's uniform white was an idiot, she thought. Sure, white worked for a dress uniform, but dear gods was it a pain to keep clean as a standard-purpose uniform.
She sighed, giving a slight chuckle. She'd obviously done well for herself if her biggest complaint at the moment was how hard it was to keep her uniform pristine. It nicely matched her hair, though. So that was nice. She scrolled down the crew manifest, sighing. The senior staff was filled with people with… interesting service histories, to say the least. Points for diversity, she supposed. A few names she recognized, people she’d met earlier in her career or at parties or what have you. A few people close enough to call relatives.
Not much conversation around the shuttle for the new senior staff. Eventually, the shuttle landed. Finally. After going through the standard decontamination procedure, she put on her hat and stepped out to the waiting figure of the captain, clasping her hands behind her back, standing with feet hip-width apart.
She nodded to Captain Takuma.
All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.
Full-Conversion Cyborg
A few hours before
"Anxiety is normal. You're joining the senior staff of a Grand Navy battleship - this is a major change in your life, Xarok. Possibly the biggest since your- your...."
"Transcendence." Xarok finished. The administrative synth was always hesitant to use the word, which bothered him to no end. She of all people should realize how much greater his current form was than his old flesh.
"...Yes," she begrudgingly allowed, "But what is the source of your anxious feelings, exactly? Are you worried about the danger?"
"No," nothing can harm me. "It is the people. I prefer to work alone." This psychological evaluation was going on longer than Xarok would like.
"Why is that?"
"Others get in the way. I will have to ensure their safety rather than focusing on the mission. It is why I have not been assigned to rescue missions in the last four years."
"I don't think that's the real reason," she dismissed.
Xarok narrowed his optics, "For what?"
She opened her mouth to speak but something invisible to Xarok caught the administrative synth's attention, causing her instead to reply, "I'm sorry, that's all the time we have. You'd better go catch your shuttle."
Present
If anyone looked Xarok's way in the airlock, he would meet their gaze with his three glowing, primary optics and hold it for as long as they would. Eye contact was important, as the psychologist always reminded him, though Xarok never felt like it helped with anything but intimidation. The supplementary optics arrayed about his body allowed him to get a 360° view of the small space, looking over and silently judging the rest of his would-be colleagues.
Two women, one short, one tall, largely unremarkable, save that the latter was wearing the white uniform of an XO. He took their pictures in case he forgot their faces as he so often did, and assigned their nametags to the images. S. Venora and F. d'Rigel.
Xarok was about to write off the only remaining human, a tattooed man, as "unremarkable" as well, until he detected the bionic eye and ears. He would endeavor to discover the origin of A. Astra's augments, particularly given his Chief Engineer's uniform.
Two aliens, again one short, one very tall. Almost exactly nine feet, if his HUD was to be believed. Xarok was unaccustomed to not being the tallest person in a room. "G. Ki" was furred and long-necked, not quite like anything he'd seen since leaving Stygia. He was sure he could still take them, if a fight were to occur.
The other was reptilian, and somewhat bulky. Even scaled and horned, next to Helmsmen Ki, "S. Al'kin" wasn't immediately intimidating, but something about him told Xarok he was the most dangerous of the bunch, whether for good or ill.
The airlock chimed the all-clear and the doors slid open.
edited 27th Feb '17 6:24:42 PM by StygianEmperor
Flesh is a design flaw.
The Wildest of Ronins
Auren Sol Astra fidgeted as they waited for the shuttle to reach its destination. He wasn't sure why he had been picked to be Chief Engineer for a brand new ship. He certainly had the skill at engineering true, but not the bearing of an officer. Well, he couldn't really complain, it did mean he'd get a bigger paycheck, and he could have other people do the more boring routine stuff.
Still he felt like an oddity in the group. Most of the other human officers were rather normal looking where as what little flesh his uniform exposed was crisscrossed with glowing blue circuit lines. At that thought he adjusted the setting on his tattoos dimming them to the point they were basically invisible. Not much he could do about his blue hair but at least that wasn't glowing. That and it looked like he was the youngest officer to be had. Admittedly he couldn't be 100 percent sure with the various non-humans, and even then comparing ages to them could be inaccurate given differing rates of development and divergent life spans.
He stared briefly at the 9 foot tall helmswoman. Normally he didn't care about who was taller then who, but seeing someone tower over him by such a wide margin was enough to get him feeling self conscious about his height. He ignored that thought for the moment instead linking his eye to his data tablet and putting names to faces.
Most of his focus however ended up being on the wardroid, through a quick dig through the personal files revealed Xarok to in fact be a full conversion cyborg. Now that was interesting. He was certainly a rarity to say the least.
He placed the tablet away as decontamination started and muttered to himself, "...this is certainly going to be an interesting new assignment."
Once decon was done, he made sure his uniform was nice and orderly as the doors opened for them to meet their new captain.
Click Click Boom Boom
Sanity not included
"Officers," Takua greeted them bluntly. "Captain Takua, your new Commanding Officer." He held up a hand to cut off any reply. "Formal introductions can wait. We need to be on this station's command deck yesterday and the next tram leaves now; either we're on it, or we're running to the ship," he explained plainly. "Double time it, and stick together. Cuffs and caps when we're aboard. Let's move it, people! Tram's just down the hall" he ordered, pointing down the corridor (the same one he'd been pacing for the past hour), where a crowd was quickly developing, as marines, navy officers, and civilian crew hurried to claim their seats aboard the newly arrived shuttle.
edited 21st Feb '17 8:13:56 PM by Dragon573
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.
The Flamebringer
edited 21st Feb '17 8:19:44 PM by Izshta
All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.
Full-Conversion Cyborg
Xarok fell in line behind Siri, easily keeping pace. If the crowd did not comply with her order, he would adjust his voice to a very loud volume and bellow, "Move."
edited 21st Feb '17 10:57:35 PM by StygianEmperor
Flesh is a design flaw.
The Best Worst Psychonaut
Gaz had listened intently to the Captain's very brief introduction, not moving a muscle. The signs were all good so far. Very quick and to the point. No messing around with formalities. She definitely appreciated that. Perhaps there'd be formalities later, but that was not important right now.
Glancing down at the crowd ahead of her, she noticed a few of them were stopping to gaze up at her as she approached; probably never seen one of the Kynzi before. This was not good; if they stuck around too long, they'd get in the way.
Once the XO in her white uniform had made her announcement to the crowd, Gaz stepped into line behind her and took slow but long and powerful strides. She gestured to the crowd by holding out one hand, slanting it vertically and parting an imaginary curtain, making sure to glance disapprovingly at any of the stragglers who were gazing at her specifically. It'd work out well for everyone, that way. They'd be holding up not only the captain, but also everyone trying to get into the shuttle behind them.
edited 21st Feb '17 9:42:45 PM by PresidentStalkeyes
"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
The Wildest of Ronins
Auren just shrugged as Xarok and Gaz proceeded to clear a path. It wasn't exactly difficult to just trail along behind them. Admittedly, he did have to jog somewhat to keep up with their much greater strides. He briefly pondered hitching a piggy back on the full conversion cyborg's back, but that would probably be considered rude.
Click Click Boom Boom
Blood Mage Apologist
Sylrath studied the captain carefully. He was human, but he had a certain air of importance around him. He was blunt, too. That was a nice touch. They would get along just fine.
After the captain had finished speaking, Sylrath followed the much-taller synthetic and alien, somewhat grateful that they were clearing a path.
Crowds generally tended to push him aside, after all, people barreling through him on their way to wherever they were going. Having the bigger Officers in front made a lot of difference.
A human nearly knocked him over, almost causing him to drop his medical bag. He shot a glare her way, before hurrying to catch up with the rest of the group.
Getting separated would not end well for him. He was fast, but he didn't have the size to push through a crowd of this size in a timely fashion.
edited 22nd Feb '17 4:16:39 AM by Cwest5538
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
Sanity not included
Almost before Siri had finished her sentence, most of the personnel were tripping over each other to remove themselves from her path, and the few that weren't were being dragged aside by their more compliant compatriots.
"Nicely done, Commander," Captain Takua acknowledged, nodding his approval.
Unhindered by the crowd, the group quickly arrived at the tram, the last of its old passengers filing out and allowing them to enter with time to spare.
A chime sounded, and the doors began to slide closed. "Stand clear of the closing doors. This tram is now departing for the Station Command Deck," the soft, female voice of the tram's PA system announced. As the doors sealed themselves and the tram glided into motion, Captain Takua removed his cap, brushing his hair back once again.
"Remember," he told them, replacing his cap and straightening it using his reflection in the window. "When we reach the command deck, the order of the day is 'smile and wave.' Let the civilians bask in it for a while. The Kissili hit this world hard; they took tens of thousands, and returned a few hundred. The locals need all the heroes they can get."
Siri's assisted persuasion: 36 vs 15. Rolled triples, surpassed target by 20+, and hit more than double the target. Still not sure how crits are going to work, but I'm calling this a crit on simple principle. Siri gains +5 morale, everyone else gets +2
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.
Full-Conversion Cyborg
Xarok was impressed by his XO's commanding presence, and was glad his sort of support wouldn't be needed to clear the tram.
"Smile and wave," the captain had said. Xarok supposed he could at least do one of those things, if it would really help.
Flesh is a design flaw.
Blood Mage Apologist
The Tram
Smile and wave. Hilarious.
When fangs were your most noticeable facial feature to a human, smiling wasn't that high on Sylrath's to-do-list.
Especially when he had to do it in front of as many people as there were undoubtedly going to be.
Still, despite his annoyance at being asked to do something that went against his nature (he was a doctor, not a performer or consort) he was grateful that they had made it without any further difficultly.
The reptilian humanoid relaxed slightly, breathing in and out.
Nothing catastrophic had happened. They were fine. All he needed to do was act pretty for the crowd.
Easy.
... He was going to hate this job, wasn't he?
edited 23rd Feb '17 1:42:51 PM by Cwest5538
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
The Flamebringer
Siri was pleasantly surprised that the crowd parted so easily. She returned the Captain's nod, boarding the tram. "Thank you, sir."
She leaned against the wall of the train, adjusting her cap and making sure her uniform was in order, looking out the windows of the tram. They were on their way to a party and she'd look her best, goddamnit.
Smile and wave, huh? She could do that.
All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.
The Wildest of Ronins
Auren wasn't a people person, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to screw up smiling and waving. Mostly sure. Maybe. Probably. As long as he didn't turn his tattoos back on it would probably be fine. Or maybe he should. He did like glowing. But, glancing at the Captain and the XO, he had a feeling that wouldn't be well received. The regulations might not be against it, but they wanted to present a serious heroic image. Having the chief engineer look like some young punk... well more of a young punk probably wasn't something they wanted. Probably meant he shouldn't do the eye gag either. Shame.
Click Click Boom Boom
The Best Worst Psychonaut
The top of the tram was a bit shorter than Gaz was, forcing her to duck down as she got inside. Not exactly the most dignified position to be in, but not something she could avoid. Instead, she tried her best to stand away from the window and habitually dusted off her uniform. All things considered, that went rather well. Gaz had a feeling she was going to get along with the XO.
"Smile and wave" the captain said shortly afterwards. "The locals need all the heroes they can get." Gaz thought it over.
Smiling wasn't exactly her strong point, especially if it's ingenuine. Her brother was always the more smiley of the two. She wasn't quite sure if it'd be a good idea; if she looked too ingenuine, that might actually hurt morale. Perhaps it'd be a better idea to appear somber and respectful, she thought. Show some solidarity with the locals, even if she hadn't shared their exact hardships. Besides, she wasn't one for 'heroes'; that's placing one on a pedestal over the others. Better to get down on the same level as them... figuratively, if not literally. There was always the chance that they'd be too in awe of her advanced height to even notice much else about her.
She took another look at the captain. She'd only just met him, but she had a gut feeling; he seemed like a trustworthy fellow. Reasonable. She was sure he'd understand her reasons for taking a different approach to the party they were about to attend.
edited 23rd Feb '17 7:00:28 PM by PresidentStalkeyes
"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
Servant of the People
Mal looked up during Siri's brief speech. She'd recognize a Verona any where in the galaxy. Of all the people on the ship, Siri was probably the closest familial relation ship she had. Though she couldn't put her finger on how close they were.
Mal put aside her tablet and found a seat on the tram, eagerly awaiting the chance the take off.
People are not simple. They are an intricate web of contradictions, emotions, and motives playing off People with equally convoluted webs
Sanity not included
As the tram sped along to its destination, Takua rolled his shoulders,
Just take the sword, say something that sounds nice, do the systems check when we're aboard, then take a nice, slow cruise around the system before linking up with the fleet. Easy.
"Smile and wave," he murmured.
Through the windows in the Tram, the space station's interior could be seen, allowing the crew a view of the crew decks, as well as the void of space, visible through the station's windows. A squadron of Lancer interceptors blazed past, fast enough that blinking nearly caused the captain to miss it. The orbital defense platforms were plainly visible, each made up of a long, central mass driver surrounded by the rest of the station's facilities.
"You know, the Archon of this system didn't want orbital defense platforms before the war broke out, right up until the Kissili started raiding." Captain Takua piped up, mostly to fill the time. "She didn't like the idea of having a Grand Navy presence in orbit, calling it 'a threat to our already limited sovereignty.'" He gave a brief, bitter chuckle. "Then, slavers start raiding, kidnapping people and bombarding cities, and she's screaming at us, wondering why we aren't stopping them, and we have to tell her that we're trying to muster a battlegroup, but we've got a dozen other planets we're defending, so she'll just have to hold out as best she can." He shook his head. "The outer systems never want our guns until they have someone else's guns pointed at... them..." his voice trailed off, his eyes locked on something.
Anyone who followed his gaze would recognize the source of his hesitation immediately. The sleek, graceful profile of a matte-black Stalker-class Corvette, the trademark ship of the Department of Internal Security and their counterparts, the Inquisitors.
"What the hell are they doing here?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Do you know anything about this, Warrant Officer?" he asked, glancing at Xarok over his shoulder.
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.
Blood Mage Apologist
The Tram
Sylrath stared at the Corvette, glancing at Xarok and at his captain. He wasn't a fan of the Inquisitors or Internal Security. He didn't hate or dislike them, really, but a visit from them never brought good tidings.
"Captain, I highly doubt that our Warrant Officer would have any real reason to call on the Inquisitors or their allies, all things considered," he argued.
"So unless someone has done something to attract their attention," the Drakon continued, his tail lashing nervously, "I believe that no-one here specifically is responsible for their presence."
As an afterthought, he added, "Sir."
Despite his apparent conviction, Sylrath tugged his medical and supply bags closer to him, reaching a claw inside and grasping his Beam Scalpel like a security blanket.
He was somewhat sure that he was correct, but having something capable of cutting through powered armor had always reassured him.
edited 25th Feb '17 9:52:26 AM by Cwest5538
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
Full-Conversion Cyborg
Xarok's head swiveled slightly between the captain and the ensign. "No," he concurred, in his metallic peal.
It would be the first time he had any interaction with the Inquisition at all, actually. "Who else of import is at this station?"
Flesh is a design flaw.
The Best Worst Psychonaut
Gaz had silently nodded at the captain's speech before the Corvette showed up; she had plenty of first-hand experience with the sort of foolhardy types who were too proud to accept help when they really needed it. If it weren't for Imperial guns, she and her brother might have been killed in a crossfire in the civil war back on Zolat. But once the Corvette showed up and everyone said their piece...
"Their business, their business. Ours? Not." Gaz said, speaking for the first time that day. In Imperial Standard, anyway. She had a feeling she still needed to adjust to its grammar.
She folded her arms as she eyed the corvette outside, squinting with a neutral expression. She wasn't a huge fan of the lack of transparency these Inquisitors operated with, but it clearly maintained order. ...At least, she assumed it maintained order. Otherwise there would be no point, surely.
"If you think like a child, you will do a child's work."
Servant of the People
Mal's head cocked to the side, staring at the black craft. The Inquisition was an interesting organization to say the least. But they made even her nervous. Her family were "honorable" warrior types so the Inquisition never appealed to them. Mal wasn't against them and would have been pleased to work with them given the chance.
People are not simple. They are an intricate web of contradictions, emotions, and motives playing off People with equally convoluted webs
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New Laean Shipyards, New Laean system
On every public viewscreen in the Imperial Alignment, the first few bars of the Imperial Anthem blared forth as they displaying the sigil of the Imperial Alignment. After a brief interlude, the iconic news room of the Imperial Alignment News Network flashed onscreen, with the familiar face of senior correspondent Bellatrix Jervaise. Her blonde hair, as always, was styled into an elaborate updo, and she wore a gunmetal grey uniform, reflecting the news broadcast's military focus.
"Hello, and welcome to I.A.N.N., your Official Imperial Alignment News Network! I'm Bellatrix Jervaise. Today is truly a momentous occasion for the Imperial Alignment, as we welcome The Immobilizer, the latest of our Desolator-Class Battleships, into service. As we speak, the Imperial Marines are loading into the crew sections, while the newly promoted Captain Collins Fenrir Takua and his officers, hand-picked from the best and brightest the Imperial Navy has to offer, are making the necessary preparations for the maiden voyage of this awe-inspiring vessel! In just a few short minutes, the officers will arrive to be welcomed into the Forth Fleet by Admiral DiGaza. In other news, the Imperial Carrier Civic Malfeasance has been deployed to pacify colonies in the Bastion Sector. This marks the third deployment of Imperial Peacekeepers to these colonies in two Imperial Years. When asked for comment, Supreme Commandant Talon, had this to say."
The screen cut to Talon, garbed in full peacekeeper riot-control gear; black armor plating with a dull, matte finish. Between his close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair, his hard, steely gaze, and the scars along the side of his face, he was the very picture of a career peacekeeper.
"Unrest in the outlying sectors is nothing new," he shrugged. "And we understand that adjusting to the responsibilities and realities of your new place on the galactic stage is a difficult process. But this is getting out of hand. We have been more than tolerant with you, and you have repaid our leniency with indolence, sabotage, and even bloodshed. You claim to be protecting your people, yet you kill those same people when they choose to live as Imperials. How many of them do you have to kill to keep them safe?" He took a deep breath, shifting his feet into a slightly wider stance. "I have just spoken with Her Preeminence, Empress Melak III, and she has agreed with my assessment that this situation is unacceptable. As such, she has authorized me to deal with this, and any other insurrection in the system as I see fit." He paused briefly, to let the implications sink in. "To put it plainly, our patience is expended, and we are done messing around. Sort yourselves out before we arrive, or I will gladly do it for you!"
The image cut back to the news room, where Bellatrix nodded approvingly. "Strong words from a strong leader. In other news, allegations of corruption continue to shake the Coalition senate, the latest in a long series of-"
A loud beep jolted Captain Takua back to the present as he stood in the landing bay of the New Laean Shipyards. Pulling his comm unit from his pocket, he flipped it open "Takua here, go ahead," He asked, reaching up with his free hand to check his pulse. His heart was hammering from the momentary shock.
''Master, the Admiral has politely requested that I contact you to obtain an ETA," his daughter's familiar voice greeted him. "We're running out of ceremonies we can do without the Captain!"
"I can't help if the storms delayed shuttle departures. Explain the situation and give the Admiral my profuse apologies for the delay."
"I did."
Takua winced. "How'd she take that?"
"True to previous behavioral patterns, she was not happy with this response. When she pressed the issue, I politely informed her that she had the Captain's full permission to teleport the officers aboard the station, if she had the ability."
Takua paled as he realized his daughter was mouthing off to his superior officer.
"Master?"
"How did she... respond?" he forced out, ice-water flowing through his veins.
"With laughter, as expected. A few of her staff were indignant, but she found the remark, and I quote, 'damn funny.' She has been much more agreeable since that exchange."
A chime not unlike the one that had alerted him to an incoming call sounded through the landing area. A glance at a nearby screen told him it was priority flight 291.
"Tell the Admiral their shuttle just docked. I'll need a moment to make introductions, then we'll be on that bridge within 5 minutes."
This time, it was the gravelly voice of Admiral DiGaza that replied. "Glad to hear it, Captain."
Takua gulped reflexively.
"We're ready as soon as you arrive. Here's your daughter back. DiGaza out."
Takua stared at the ground, without really seeing anything.
"Master, are you alright?"
"How long was she listening?"
"The whole time," his daughter confirmed. "Is this troublesome?"
"She heard you calling me 'Master' the whole time, so... yes."
"You needn't worry. I have already explained the background of that particular title to her."
"How'd she take that?"
"In accordance with previous behavioral patterns; she laughed at that, as well."
Takua let out a sigh of relief, removing his officer's cap with his free hand and brushing back his brown hair. "Thanks, sweetheart."
"I would advise haste, in the meantime. The Admiral has just stated her intention to eat your slice of the cake if you're late."
The hissing of a nearby airlock alerted him that his staff had finished the decontamination process, and were being permitted onto the station. "I have to go, sweetheart. I love you."
"I love you too, Dad."
Takua straightened noticeably as he put the comm away and replaced his cap. "Showtime..." he murmured, assuming the rigid posture expected of a Captain, just before the doors glided open.
edited 20th Feb '17 3:18:47 PM by Dragon573
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.