Kick It In The Sticks
Reservoir
Orbit of Vice
Star Traveller
Once the Icarus docked and locked with the Star Traveller, the Star Traveller began orienting itself away from the orbital star port. Maneuvering into a slow lane of out bound travel, it engaged its drives. A great shudder reverberated through the ship before it settled on a modest near quarter earth gravity acceleration, the general standard applied to all Kingdom computations. Once underway to the outbound jump lanes, Chuan messaged Dav. As she was still in her business attire and position, she spoke with a formality drilled in from years of military service. She said, "Lochagos, we are underway. Do we have a destination in mind?" Dav picked up on the continued formality and responded in kind, knowing he would likely pay for any slight or social transgression. Dav said, "Capitan Yates, call a briefing in four hours for all command and frame pilots. I will forward our destination to your personal files and let you make any required notifications and preparations. I will be in the main briefing room if you have need of my presence or of any of my skills." He said that last part with a wink to Chuan, both as a promise as well as a small barb. She knew he preferred a more lax command and communication structure, believing a well oiled machine had no need of strict formal boundaries. She ... disagreed. It was a long running difference of opinions, which usually worked out if he let her run things in her way as it pertained to Aerospace operations and she let him run ground operations his way. As for integrated operations, it depended on who you wanted to adjudicate the issue. This usually lent more weight towards Dav as choice of arbiter, as he was the nominal boss and more likely to take other factors into consideration. But he would just as likely take his own some would say radical position as a moral compass and rule in favor of neither. He would often decide on a third decision, much to the despair of a pair of techs arguing about seniority. Both ended up in the bilge pumps and as bunk mates.
Chuan received the coordinates and punched them into the navigation AI computer. She was somewhat shocked of their destination. Dav knew the importance this place played in her history. Dav knew it would be hard for her to return there, the start of her journey to this new life. A painful memory quickly passed before she stiffly acknowledged her command. She would do her duty, as both the captain of the Star Traveller as well as the spouse of the man who was determined to upend every facet in her life, over and over.
Muk was in the mech bay running a check on the Doomcrakka’s systems and practicing interfacing with the AI. He sat in the cockpit with the neural jack in while his mechanic Braindaggah went over the mech with a metaphorical fine-toothed comb. Some of the information was beginning to reach him. The system was designed with a human brain in mind, so the AI was having difficulty mapping his neural pathways. He could now feel that the right arm wasn’t getting full power from the reactor and the targeting cameras were overcompensating by five degrees.
Satisfied with his progress, he unplugged from the mech and climbed out of the cockpit. Braindaggah greeted him at the bottom of the ladder. “’Ello, boss.” The oil-stained old Atraxian said. He held up a big cup of water for Muk. “What ya find out?”
“Need ta check the power to da right arm and fix the targeting cameras. They’s off by five degrees vertically an’ horizontally.” Muk said, taking the massive cup and gulping it down. “Gonna go wash off.”
Muk returned the cup to Braindaggah and went back to his room to take a shower. The humans appreciated it if he took a bath more often, he’d learned, and the book of Bro’seif advised cleanliness.
As Muk went up to his room, Lyon caught him in the hallway. The bearing teeth and the green skin still took some getting used to even after months of working together, but Lyon believed the Atraxian to be friendly, hopefully. "Hey Muk, can I get your men to help me modify the Secretary for combat?" He brought up a hologram with his data pad. "I need the interior overhauled and some armaments lifted and installed onto the surface."
Muk looked down at Lyon. He thought about it for a second and nodded, glancing back at Braindaggah. “’Ey Braindaggah! Get da boys. You guys help Birdman get ‘is mech ready.” He bellowed across the room. The mechanic acknowledged the order with a thumbs up.
Muk grunted at Lyon. “Ya got interesting tricks on dat thing. My boys’ll be waiting for ya. Give da design to Braindaggah and walk him through it, he’ll get em working. Best watch em like a hawk, though.”
Lyon nodded. "Thanks for the help. I don't think I'd be able to get all this refurbishing done in time before the next mission, by myself."
Once Icarus was locked down on the Star Traveler, Xir unbuckled itself and went to check on the security detail on the ship. Xir trusted that Beast would still be where it was left and Xir had a lot to do before the briefing. Just to be safe, Xir sent it's security in pairs to start combing the ship to make sure there are no stowaways. Rats always seemed to sneak on board when at port or space station and this would be a good to get the new teams to work together. With plenty of time to spare Xir made it to the briefing room and positioned itself where it normally sits, not far away from the entry door.
Jack took one look at his mech's new paint job and decided it would have to do. The new and very messy red and silver stripes did not mesh well with the bare steel grays the rest of the mech sported and even less with the half scraped away warning labels that still clung to the frame. He hoped it would be enough for him to avoid friendly fire in combat but doubted it. Returning the spray cans to wherever he found it he nearly fell flat on his face as his left leg seized on his way back to the Galvaneer.
Grumbling about crazy pilots and high G maneuvers the entire way back to his mech he sat himself down on one if its oversized toes so he could remove the limb in question. The problem was pretty obvious once he had the maintenance hatches opened, the repair itself was less so. One of the control boards had been rattled out of its connectors, it was that annoying one behind the thigh actuator.
As Jack was toiled away at his mech, Lyon and the Atraxians were busy converting the Secretary from an old science rover to something that could take a hit on the battlefield. The engines and suspension, the electronics were rugged enough, but decades of care lacking has left the rover's interior structure in a sorry state. Lyon's belongings were piled up on boxes and set aside while the Secretary's compartments were carved clean, replaced by support beams, armor, and redundant systems.
Reservoir
Orbit of Vice
Star Traveller
Once the Icarus docked and locked with the Star Traveller, the Star Traveller began orienting itself away from the orbital star port. Maneuvering into a slow lane of out bound travel, it engaged its drives. A great shudder reverberated through the ship before it settled on a modest near quarter earth gravity acceleration, the general standard applied to all Kingdom computations. Once underway to the outbound jump lanes, Chuan messaged Dav. As she was still in her business attire and position, she spoke with a formality drilled in from years of military service. She said, "Lochagos, we are underway. Do we have a destination in mind?" Dav picked up on the continued formality and responded in kind, knowing he would likely pay for any slight or social transgression. Dav said, "Capitan Yates, call a briefing in four hours for all command and frame pilots. I will forward our destination to your personal files and let you make any required notifications and preparations. I will be in the main briefing room if you have need of my presence or of any of my skills." He said that last part with a wink to Chuan, both as a promise as well as a small barb. She knew he preferred a more lax command and communication structure, believing a well oiled machine had no need of strict formal boundaries. She ... disagreed. It was a long running difference of opinions, which usually worked out if he let her run things in her way as it pertained to Aerospace operations and she let him run ground operations his way. As for integrated operations, it depended on who you wanted to adjudicate the issue. This usually lent more weight towards Dav as choice of arbiter, as he was the nominal boss and more likely to take other factors into consideration. But he would just as likely take his own some would say radical position as a moral compass and rule in favor of neither. He would often decide on a third decision, much to the despair of a pair of techs arguing about seniority. Both ended up in the bilge pumps and as bunk mates.
Chuan received the coordinates and punched them into the navigation AI computer. She was somewhat shocked of their destination. Dav knew the importance this place played in her history. Dav knew it would be hard for her to return there, the start of her journey to this new life. A painful memory quickly passed before she stiffly acknowledged her command. She would do her duty, as both the captain of the Star Traveller as well as the spouse of the man who was determined to upend every facet in her life, over and over.
Muk was in the mech bay running a check on the Doomcrakka’s systems and practicing interfacing with the AI. He sat in the cockpit with the neural jack in while his mechanic Braindaggah went over the mech with a metaphorical fine-toothed comb. Some of the information was beginning to reach him. The system was designed with a human brain in mind, so the AI was having difficulty mapping his neural pathways. He could now feel that the right arm wasn’t getting full power from the reactor and the targeting cameras were overcompensating by five degrees.
Satisfied with his progress, he unplugged from the mech and climbed out of the cockpit. Braindaggah greeted him at the bottom of the ladder. “’Ello, boss.” The oil-stained old Atraxian said. He held up a big cup of water for Muk. “What ya find out?”
“Need ta check the power to da right arm and fix the targeting cameras. They’s off by five degrees vertically an’ horizontally.” Muk said, taking the massive cup and gulping it down. “Gonna go wash off.”
Muk returned the cup to Braindaggah and went back to his room to take a shower. The humans appreciated it if he took a bath more often, he’d learned, and the book of Bro’seif advised cleanliness.
As Muk went up to his room, Lyon caught him in the hallway. The bearing teeth and the green skin still took some getting used to even after months of working together, but Lyon believed the Atraxian to be friendly, hopefully. "Hey Muk, can I get your men to help me modify the Secretary for combat?" He brought up a hologram with his data pad. "I need the interior overhauled and some armaments lifted and installed onto the surface."
Muk looked down at Lyon. He thought about it for a second and nodded, glancing back at Braindaggah. “’Ey Braindaggah! Get da boys. You guys help Birdman get ‘is mech ready.” He bellowed across the room. The mechanic acknowledged the order with a thumbs up.
Muk grunted at Lyon. “Ya got interesting tricks on dat thing. My boys’ll be waiting for ya. Give da design to Braindaggah and walk him through it, he’ll get em working. Best watch em like a hawk, though.”
Lyon nodded. "Thanks for the help. I don't think I'd be able to get all this refurbishing done in time before the next mission, by myself."
Once Icarus was locked down on the Star Traveler, Xir unbuckled itself and went to check on the security detail on the ship. Xir trusted that Beast would still be where it was left and Xir had a lot to do before the briefing. Just to be safe, Xir sent it's security in pairs to start combing the ship to make sure there are no stowaways. Rats always seemed to sneak on board when at port or space station and this would be a good to get the new teams to work together. With plenty of time to spare Xir made it to the briefing room and positioned itself where it normally sits, not far away from the entry door.
Jack took one look at his mech's new paint job and decided it would have to do. The new and very messy red and silver stripes did not mesh well with the bare steel grays the rest of the mech sported and even less with the half scraped away warning labels that still clung to the frame. He hoped it would be enough for him to avoid friendly fire in combat but doubted it. Returning the spray cans to wherever he found it he nearly fell flat on his face as his left leg seized on his way back to the Galvaneer.
Grumbling about crazy pilots and high G maneuvers the entire way back to his mech he sat himself down on one if its oversized toes so he could remove the limb in question. The problem was pretty obvious once he had the maintenance hatches opened, the repair itself was less so. One of the control boards had been rattled out of its connectors, it was that annoying one behind the thigh actuator.
As Jack was toiled away at his mech, Lyon and the Atraxians were busy converting the Secretary from an old science rover to something that could take a hit on the battlefield. The engines and suspension, the electronics were rugged enough, but decades of care lacking has left the rover's interior structure in a sorry state. Lyon's belongings were piled up on boxes and set aside while the Secretary's compartments were carved clean, replaced by support beams, armor, and redundant systems.
