"Right." Dake said with a nod, he swiveled around once in his chair, sighed, and then stood up.  He was bored.

"Well, guess I'll just let ya keep on at it then.  Go team."" he added as he started to leave the bridge.  Dake had never been part of a crew before and wasn't quite sure how crew-mate etiquette worked.

And yer not part of a crew now - Kale don't want you here, remember? a stupid voice in his head reminded him.  Dake thought, to hell with that and made his way out into the ship.

[To Destiny: Dining Hall]

Connor simply nodded as Dake left the bridge, far too engrossed in his work to notice that, well, Dake had left the bridge.

He could see the final set of algorithms coming...make or break time...

Charlie stepped into the cockpit a few moments after Dake left, her bare feet barely making a sound on the metallic floors.  She stopped in the doorway for a moment, able to see just the barest outline of the pilot through the ship, shaking her head.  Shame someone has to come in and try to wreck my ship like a hun-dun Skiffer.  With a slight cluck of her tongue, she finally stepped in and leaned over the chair of the side console where Connor was working, looking over his shoulder at the screen he was staring out.

"Nah, y'see, this's all bit'f ta much 'fer me."  She shook her head, a thick bit of her hair coming unlodged from behind her ear, the engine grease catching the light.  "All'f th'numbers 'n such jes...they're all'f th'loss on me, y'know?  Keys'n bits tellin' ya stories."  He could probably hear the smile in her voice, and she smelled like the bowels of the ship.

"So wha'cha doin?"

Connor tapped one button on the keyboard, sighing, and leaned back.

"I'm trying to crack the algorithm protecting these messages we hacked off the relay station..."

He cracked his fingers.

"It's been a one gorram hell of a time trying to get the auto mode to take over for this bit, but I think I finally got it to."

"So yer sayin' tha'cha not th'brilliance that we'd all been hearin?  Next'n the list someone's gonna say tha's no more cake."  She chuckled a bit, leaning over and touching the screen, her finger leaving a smudge on the glass.  "What's th'sort of messages y've gotten off'f tha station?  Ah mean, y'probably don't know, seein's how you've not been throw'n such, an'ya probably not goin'ta be crackin' a'tha secrets n'tha verse jus'like that.  Wha's the point'f havin'm all out there if'n ya jus' reach'n pluck outta th'heart 'f desire, y'know?"

Charlie seemed unusually chatty, but the two hadn't spoken much outside of their basic works, so maybe she was always like this.  She moved her head to the other side of Connor, shrugging.  "Anyth'n ah can d'ta help?"

Connor tried to look up at her...but Charlie had already moved over to the other side of the chair. He looked over at her and shrugged.

"Uhhh, to answer in order. I like to think of myself as decently brilliant, though, to come up with the algorithm in the first place takes much more brilliance than cracking one..."

He grinned, computer talk, something he could delve into without being afraid of overstepping bounds.

"I have no idea what kind of messages we pulled, though the last one was about Rhaef, so we can only hope the other ones give us clues..."

"And, uhhhhh...unless you can magically speed up the process, I don't think so..."

"Yea..."  She smirked a little, the smile drooping a bit when he brought up Rhaef.  It'd been a while since he'd gone, and not that long since they'd finally decided that they were going after him.  Maybe that was what felt so empty about the ship.  "Ahm...ah'm not sure'f anyone's been'ta doin' all'f this, but, y'know...some's gotta.  I's just...i's jus' real nice'f ya t'be comin' onta th'boat 'n helpin' t'find Rhaef, n'all atha sorts.  I know y'didn't know'm well'r anythin, but ah've gotta attest t'tha moral'f his character'n such.  One'f th'good guys who's bein' all'f trapped'n th'body of someone's notsa good."

Charlie moved again, sitting down on the floor cross-legged next to Connor, putting her now at a lower height than him regardless of the fact that he was sitting.  She tucked the errant strand of hair back, looking up at him.  "So, y'know...ah'm just...thank ya.  Jus' sayin'it."

Connor smiled and looked at her.

"You're welcome."

"Honestly, it feels good to be doing...something. I've been on this ship for a little bit now, and I've felt like..."

He sighed.

"I dunno, I just feel like, I feel like I've been less helpful than I could have been on this ship. And things certainly haven't been calm around here, with Ren..."

Connor faltered a bit, the image of Ren flashing before his eyes.

"...and, Acacia leaving, and now we've got ourselves a new hotshot. I dunno..."

"Ah know.  Ah'm gettin' by it with th'idea jus'a not think 'bout it.  Professor'd prolly say ah'm jus' bein' all'f the escap'n, but...ah dunno.  Makes all'f me hurt in th'middle when ah'm thinkin' bout it."  She shook her head a bit, managing a shrug.  If there was one way to keep from getting all misty over this one for the millionth time, it was to change the subject.

"Ah dun'think that y'd be unhelpful'n all that, maybe all'f th'opposite at times.  Y'know, when we'd be seein' th'computer side'f things comin' up, they'd be handin' ta me'n bein' like 'Yea, Charlie, w'need y'ta be gettin' inta this'r that' and ah'd have to, y'know...be all sort'f fakin' my way through.  Ah'm knowin' more about computer's an'll that than anythin'  For 'stance, th'box we'd gotten Lei'n...there'd been all sorts'f electrics'n th'lock, so what'm I doin?  Not usin' computers, jus'found a way t'short out th'lock.  Wha'cha do's much more...clean, ah'm gonna say."

Connor laughed. Clean, the word was so funny to him.

"I may not be some hardened criminal, but trust me, the way you do it is far cleaner..."

He lapsed into silence for a moment.

"You know, computers and software aren't that complicated...at least, not to a mechanical mind. It's a lot like fixing or manipulating an engine. Not to mention, you get a sense of accomplishment when the engine is working again. You may have sweat and grease on you, but that just shows you even more that you did something. A computer can be...sterile...

"Y'can compare all'f tha stuff'n me as'f it's someway sayin' ah'm doin' all th'work here.  Y'know, t'use all'f th'computer stuff...y'gotta be smart.  Ah dun'mean like calculatin' or'f all that stuff.  Ah mean, like...yea, like bein' able t'read an all'f that stuff."  She shrugged a bit when she spoke, her shoulders doing more expressing than her face.  "Not sayin' I can't n'all, mind ya.  Don'cha be gettin' that idea.  Ah'm jus'...not all'f that good'n that stuff.  Like tryin' t'teach someone t'run 'fore they walk, y'know?"

Connor nodded.

"Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. You teach me more about the engine, and I'll teach you more about computers..."

The smile grew out of the corner of Charlie's lip at his suggestion, and she nodded, holding out a hand to him.  "Ah'll call it a deal n'all, y'know.  Ah'm holdin' ya to't."

Connor took her hand and shook it.

"Good...I wouldn't have it any other way."

The computer beeped at him, and he spun around, his hands flying back to the keys.

"Gorram algorithm!"

There was a small beeping sound and then the numbers on the screen in front of Connor shifted before beginning to load the decrypted information.  It had worked, he'd managed to hack through finally.

After a few more minutes Connor was sitting on two files.  One was an image, a map of sorts, presumably of the underground fortress that the man on the wave had been talking about.  The Bitter End Pub was clearly marked as an entrance, and there seemed to be a complex arrangement of tunnels and rooms making up the bulk of the complex.

The other file consisted of a list of guard deployments.  It appeared that whoever sent the message was expecting them.  They were deploying almost all of their guards to the entrance beneath the pub that the wave had told them to use.

However, analyzing the map showed that there were three other entrances.  Most of them were within the city but one was actually on the outside.  Destiny would even be able to land (with some fancy technical work) without the Beaumonde authorities knowing it and no record of them docking.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:39, Wed 23 Jan 2008.

Connor clapped his hands together and shouted in excitement.

"I got it!"

He grinned at Charlie before picking up the intercomm.

"Captain, if you could come to the bridge, I've got some news I think you might just like to hear..."

Connor looked at the map, then frowned it bit. Gee, a trap...who hadn't seen that coming...

[From Destiny: Dining Hall]



Dake's last words slammed into Kale like a ton of bricks.  Nate.  That's really what this was all about and both men knew it.  Kale was a bit shocked that it was Dake who had the nerve to bring it up first though.  Dake, who looked so much like this brother that sometimes Kale felt like Nate was standing there with him - it was like he was being punished.  Having to see his best friend who was gone forever over and over again.

He knew that Dake blamed him, he knew Nate's whole family blamed him.  It was why he had left Santo after the war.  There was no place for him.  They all had someone to help them deal with the grief of losing Nate.  Kale had had no one.  Kale had been ostracized, blamed.  No, Kale couldn't forgive Dake for that.  But he couldn't deal with that now either.  So he swallowed hard and ignored the comment.

"What'd we find out?" Kale said to Connor, nodded to Charlie as well, glad that she was here cause he'd be needing her opinion as well in the next few moments - he was almost sure of it.

Connor beamed as the captain came onto the bridge. He took a breath, trying to temper himself. What he'd done was good, but it wasn't the hardest part...

He pointed to the screen.

"I'm going to start with the bad news...like any tragic hero, captain, you would have been walking straight into a trap..."

He pulled up the guard deployment schedule and placing.

"As you can see, the entrance you were told to use...well, they're guarding it mighty heavily..."

Connor pulled up the overall map of the place.

"The good news is that there are three other points of entrance we can use...our best bet is to use the one on the outside of the city, here."
Connor pointed to an spot on the screen map.
"...We'd avoid Beaumonde authorities, and be in and out pretty quick I think..."

Connor waited to see what Kale had to say.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:06, Sat 26 Jan 2008.

<---From dining hall<<<

And it was hard just being here. Seeing Kale; the man who’d taken Nate away. Just snuffed him out of Dake’s life for good. Abandoning Nate…

And now he had a job to do.

Dake followed the Captain and then took up position in the pilot’s bay. He plonked himself down and nodded at Connor.

“Hey.”

He then turned to Kale and spoke, a sense of bitter discontent in his voice.

“Awaiting your orders. Captain.”

Kale wasn't exactly surprised to hear Connor's bad news.  Whoever the hell their mysterious informer was he definitely hadn't appeared on the level.  He looked at the screen the Connor had pulled up, studying the map and the guard deployment listings.

"Good work." he said with a genuine look of gratitude on his face.  The Professor had been right sending Connor his way.  The guy had proved his worth.  From the look of those codes earlier getting all this information couldn't have been easier and was obviously extremely vital.

When Dake spoke up Kale tried to contain his annoyance and without looking at the man spoke, "I'm thinkin' you got a good notion there, takin' the entrance outside 'o city limits.  We're gonna need ta adjust course to reflect that." he looked to Charlie, "Charlie girl, ya remember that bit 'o work you an' ... you an' Ren had done," Kale couldn't not say his name forever, "scramblin' up our signal so the authorities don' get a good read on us goin' in?  I'll be needin' ya to show Dake what ya did so he can land us nice an' quiet-like.  I don' want whoever it is that got Rhaef knowin' where we're comin' from."

“Shiney.” Drake replied.

And now it was time to do what he did best. The pilot began entering the coordinates before putting his hands on something that passed for a steering wheel. A little quirky, but Dake preferred this way of flying; made him feel more in control.

“You can show me your stuff any time you want Charlie-girl.”

"Yeah...ah'm na gonna show y'nothin'f mah stuff, y'know?"  Charlie had grown more quiet as they talked about finding Rhaef, her mind swirling with thoughts of both sides of the spectrum, and she was having trouble getting out a strong answer...well, until Dake had made his comment.  One side of Charlie's mind was estatic that they had found Rhaef and were going to save him, but...well, he had left for his reasons.  They had no reason to think that he wanted to be saved.  What if they found him, and he just left again?  Would he even write another note, or would they get even that?  She wasn't sure, and it made her more and more conflicted about it.  The last thing she wanted to think about was losing Rhaef twice.

"Cap'n, ah'm gonna go down t'tha engine'n bein'ta make sure we're off'n alla th'wind."  Charlie shook the thoughts out of her head, standing up from where she sat on the floor.  She brushed off the sides of her legs, looking back at Dake.  "Ah'm gonna send y'tha word, kay, an'ya do what ah'm sayin.  Ah'dun care how hots'f shot y'are as a pilot...this's my ship."  She looked back at Kale, crossing her arms.  "Anythin' else y'need, or'r we gettin' on'w this?"

Kale smiled privately as Charlie took charge and put Dake in his place in her own way.  He refrained from any comments however until Charlie turned to him.  He nodded his head to her, "We're gettin' on with it alright.  You go work yer magic, lil' Charlie.  Let's get Rhaef back."

"And here was I thinkin' this was Cap'n Kale's ship'nd all. But yes ma'am."

A little salute to Charlene and Dake turned back to his control panel. Nothing nuch to do now until he'd been given the coordinates and his 'orders' from the mechanic. Dake was beginning to get the feeling that not many people liked him on this ship. Go figure.

Dake had little to no contact with Rhaef and so was as invested in time or emotion. He just had to do his job and the meet and greet could be worried abotu at a later date. He could do without another person disliking him. For reasons such as this; Dake may not have appeared as focussed on the apparant solemnity of the task at hand.

"Hey any of y'all hungry? Rescue missions always make me hungry. Connor? How'bout you? I sure could do with some chow mein right'bout now>"

Connor gave Dake's shoulder a humored pat as he left his seat. Connor was unsure as to why, but, for some reason, this whole situation seemed humorous, given the grave circumstances surrounding it. Either way, Connor didn't have anything more to do on the bridge. He pulled up a split screen of the two messages he'd pulled up and turned to the captain.

"Kale, unless you've got something else specific for me to do, I'm going to assist Charlie in the engine room, unless she doesn't want me there. Either way, there isn't much more I can do up here, went ahead and pulled up both messages for you though..."