Dake was still recovering from being caught sleeping on the job when he should be there ready to take off on a moments notice like Kale said so hadn't noticed the brief moment of comm static and he straightened in his chair and got himself resituated.

"Hear something?  Uh no, why?  What'd you hear?" Dake said, looking at Connor's confused expression.

Connor shrugged.

"I swear, I heard comm static, but if you didn't hear it, then I must be going crazy...anyway to check, just to be sure?"

Dake raised his brow, "Check?" he said, "I dunno what kinda new fangle systems yer used to but there's nothing up here to check if someone tried to comm us a few minutes ago."

Dake didn't know Connor's whole story but he knew that he was the tech guy and he'd met a few of them in his time, they tended to like shiny new toys and weren't used to things that didn't do just what they wanted them to.

But Dake needed to stay on everyone's good side so he sighed and hit the comm, "I'll check in with everyone though."

He hit the comm button for Charlie's headset, "Hey, did you just try to comm in?" he said.  He waited a moment but there was no response.  He glanced at Connor, "Charlie?  You read me?" he asked.

Nothing.

"That's weird." he switched the link then to Kale's group.  He knew that Kale might have the comm's off, it was a stealth mission after all but he might as well give it a try.

"Kale, come in, you read me?" he paused and waited for a response.

Nothing.

"They probably turned the comm's off." he said to Connor to explain why no one was responding to his comm's.  He didn't sound completely convinced though, "Don' know why, Charlie would though ..." he said, more to himself then Connor.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:06, Fri 30 May 2008.

Connor swore, then shook his head.

"Somehow, I don't think Charlie would...not for just going out on the ship..."

Connor felt more and more useless just standing around.

"I'll be back, I'm heading to the cargo bay to fetch us some weaponry. Maybe I'm just being paranoid..."

Connor shrugged, then turned to head out the door. He stopped, then turned back and grabbed a comm link for himself.

"I'll be in touch, I'll check in with you once I hit the bay..."

(Connor to Cargo Bay)

Comm:"Hey Dake, I'm down in the cargo bay, I'm going to bring Kyoko and Lei back up with me..."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:38, Fri 30 May 2008.

Dake hit the comm after Connor's voice filled the bridge, "Roger that." he said.  He was a little afraid they may be over-reacting, but better safe then sorry, right?

Comm:"Hey Dake, do me a favor and come down to the cargo bay...and don't do anything stupid..."

Dake had propped his feet back up on the dash while he waited for Connor and the others to meet him up there.  The bridge would be awful crowded with anyone, but the girl was always good fun to have around and Kyoko certainly wasn't bad to look at.

When Connor's voice came through the comm again Dake stared at it and rolled his eyes as he punched the button, "I thought you just said you were bringin' them up here." Dake said.

Comm"Dake, don't do this, not now, just get down here..."

Dake's brow furrowed, "Uh ... why?" Dake said, "Now not a good time fer you?" he said sarcastically, "Look, Kale said that I needed to stay up here 'til he got back.  I'm already in the dog house with him so I'm thinkin' that I should probably stay put.  Whatever it is, have the girls help you with it, there's two of 'em down there." Dake argued with Connor.

Comm: "Dake..."

"...Look, Kyoko is down here, she wants to talk to you about what happened earlier. Uh, yeah, and she doesn't want to trek all the way up to the bridge to do it. So, let's not piss off the captain by pissing off one of his passengers. So, pretty please, could you get down here?"

Dake let out a long sigh and sat up straight, "Tian xiao de*." he cursed, "I thought all of that had been done an' settled.  She's still squawkin' about it?"

He cursed under his breath again, now really didn't seem to be the time to worry about something like this but he knew the damn companion had almost gotten him thrown off the ship so he had to play nice.

After a long pause he hit the comm again, "Fine, tell her I'm on my way, but if I get in trouble fer this, she better stick up fer me." he pushed himself up out of his seat and began cursing all the way down to the cargo bay.

_{*In the name of all that's sacred}

[To Destiny: Cargo Bay]

[From Destiny: Infirmary]

Dake had moved swiftly through the empty ship, as he ran through the cargo bay he caught a glimpse of movement outside but from the well lit bay it was hard to pierce the darkness of the Beaumonde night.  He kept moving.  They were back and he had a job: get the ship ready for lift off.  Leave the stupid heroics to men like Kale.  He wasn't gonna be the one that got people killed.  He would stoop as low as that.

So now he quickly slid into the pilots chair, his hands flying over buttons and guages.  Soon a gentle hum filled the room and he could feel the old ship vibrating all around him with life.

"We're ready, just say when." Dake said into the comm.  He rolled his shoulder and prayed that his bad arm would hold up for him if the flying got tricky.

COMM: "Let's go Dake, now!"

"Roger that." Dake said to himself.  He still had a light indicator saying the bay doors were open though.  For a brief moment he paused, wondering whether he should wait, the moment passed quickly.  If there wasn't some risk involved then it generally wasn't worth it.  Dake lifted up gently.  If there were still people on the ramp he'd hopefully avoid knocking them off.  It took a great level of control however to keep the ship steady like that as he maneuvered it straight up.  His arm throbbed as he gripped the yoke tightly, just a tiny twitch of his hand and it could jerk the ship enough to toss someone off who wasn't holding on.

Steady ... steady ... he told himself as he pooled all his focus.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:58, Thu 30 Apr 2009.

COMM: "Take us out Dake, we're leavin' this whole ruttin' planet behind."

Dake saw the indicator light blink out and sighed with relief, his whole arm was throbbing now from the effort it took to keep the ship perfectly balanced, so when he heard Kale's voice he immediately pulled out of the sustained vertical rise and pulled the ship up.

Here we go. Dake thought as he shuttled the ship towards atmo and the safety of the black.

The crew of Destiny has finally managed to get itself back on its feet.  After a trying past few months things are starting to go back to normal.  The absence of Ren and Acacia is still felt but the ships newest members have begun to find a home on board the old freighter.  Most relationships have been mended and although there are still some unanswered questions between members of the crew life has been peaceful.

However, after a few months of excitement and trials the crew has discovered that the cash flow has come to a sputtering halt.  The crew needs a job and soon.  First rule of the black is to keep flying.  Fortunately, one of Kale's contacts managed to put him in touch with the infamous Sin Twins.  The girls are probably the most ... unpredictable of contacts, one can never be quite certain what they're getting into when dealing with them.  But one thing is for certain, the pay-out is always good.  The crew has set up a meeting with the twins in a casino on Santo to get more details about the possible job.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:38, Fri 25 Apr 2014.

Dake set down the comm and clicked off the controls.  He'd just finished clearing the ship for docking at the space port here on Santo.  People sure as hell treated ship pilots a sight better then taxi drivers.  It was kinda nice.

Dake peered out the front view port, beyond the space port he could see the tall buildings of casino's and hotels.  He was back alright.  Santo ... home sweet home.  Dake hadn't hit this rock since he left nearly five years ago.  He was just happy they were on the opposite of the planet from where he grew up.  His and Kale's hometown had been a hell of a lot smaller, not one of the big cities, although he remembered quite a few days where Nate and Kale would ditch school and take off for a day of fun.  Occasionally they'd take him with them, the cities were much more Dake's speed.  Fast paced, exciting, and no one was worrying about tomorrow.

Dake pushed himself up out of the pilots seat and headed out towards the galley where he could smell food cooking.  If he remembered correctly it was Wei-Li's turn to play chef - that brought a smile to his face.

[To Destiny: Dining Hall]

[From Destiny: Cargo Bay]

Kale stepped onto the bridge and made his way directly to the controls.  Dake didn't leave things nearly so neat and orderly as Ren used to and Kale had to push the new pilots jacket off the seat to make room to sit down.  He turned on the cortex and sure enough found the files that the Sin Twins had sent him.

Kale frowned as he opened them and was greeted with a purposefully suggestive note that left his cheeks burning as he quickly deleted it and opened the attachments.  He really hoped that he could make it through this job with his dignity in tact and he knew that Callie and Allie were going to make that as difficult as possible.

"Alright, this here's the address ... an' a map of the theater.  Well that's handy." he said, pulling it up on the screen and moving slightly so Geoff could get a look.

[From: Cargo Bay]

Geoff followed Kale to the bridge quietly, having nothing to say and not feeling the urge to make conversation.  This whole situation was still painfully awkward; he'd been aware of the temporary nature of it all from the beginning.  Strangely enough, it seemed like Kale and Rhaef couldn't say the same.  Either that, or they both didn't want to realize it.  Not yet, anyway.  It irritated Geoff in a number of ways, but mainly, it felt like they were just wasting his gorram time.  Things had been a whole lot simpler when he was just the brawn, just the trigger puller.  Simpler, and more enjoyable.  If he wanted to be a first mate, he'd find another crew in need of one.  Simply put, he didn't want to be a first mate.  Not now, not ever, and especially not when the true first mate was just waiting for his moment to come again.

Kale pulled up the message from the Sin Twins, and Geoff caught a subtle sign of a creeping blush as the captain opened the attachments.  He barely suppressed a smile before leaning over Kale's chair and studying what was on screen.

"Maybe we should wait for Rhaef before coming up with any kind of plan," he said.  "You know this ain't exactly my thing, cap'n.  Makes me wonder when you're finally going to make him the first mate again."

Kale looked up in surprise at Geoff's voice behind him.  He hadn't expected the big man to say that.  Sure things had been a bit rocky since Rhaef had gotten back but ... no, no they'd been more then rocky if he was honest.  Kale was the kind of man that found it easy to get set in his ways and Rhaef had been his first mate a long time.  With him back it was all too easy to fall back into old patterns, he knew he had slipped up on more then a few occasions when it came to consulting Rhaef over Geoff about business matters.  And he shouldn't be surprised that Geoff had picked up on it, the boy may seem like some big oaf but if that were the case he wouldn't be on Kale's crew.

"I gave that job ta you." he said carefully, "An' it wasn't just 'cause Rhaef was gone - I mean, that was part 'o it, there was a vacancy.  But you deserved it an' Rhaef he -" Kale sighed heavily, "- he left."

Kale wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this, it was dragging up some feelings he had tried to forget though.  Anger, guilt, frustration.  He didn't want to take nothing away from Geoff now just cause Rhaef was finally back, it wouldn't be right.

[From: Dake's Bunk]

As Dake stepped out of his bunk, he could hear Kale and Geoff talking in the bridge.  Rather than skulk, Dake just stepped inside to get Kale's attention.

"I'm going to be out for a bit, Kale," he said.  "You got anything you need me to do before I leave or need anything while I'm out?"

Geoff smiled.  "Listen, cap'n.  You've known Rhaef far too long to stop trustin' him now.  He made a mistake that put all of us in danger, and the way I see it, you're keepin' him out in the cold 'til you find an excuse to forgive him.  But I've never been a shot-caller, Kale.  You an' I both know that.  I don't have the experience or the inclination.  I might end up makin' a mistake that gets someone hurt or worse, and neither of us wants that...me especially.  So maybe this should be a...trial run, or somethin', for our boy Rhaef.  See if his head's in the right place and ready to step back up to the plate."

He was about to continue when Dake stepped onto the bridge, using the next available lull in the conversation to address the captain.  Geoff turned to look at him as he spoke, and the look in his eye left very little to interpretation or imagination.  He would work with Dake, and if need be, he'd haul his ass out of the fire.  But if the boy kept making it his personal mission to screw with Geoff, Geoff was going to make it his personal mission to break Dake's gorram neck.

Kale actually felt his cheeks growing a bit warmer as Geoff spoke.  No one else on the ship had dared call Kale out about the tension that had been filling Destiny since Rhaef's return and here Geoff was, probably the last person he would have expected, laying it all out on the table.  Kale's mouth moved wordlessly for a moment, trying to figure out what he was going to say but settling on nothing when Dake entered and Kale was off the hook for the moment.

"Uh, no, I- I don' need nothin'." Kale stammered distractedly, "You just ... have a good time." he finished, then his eyes hit Geoff again and he saw the anger flash there.  Not good, not good at all.  There was more going on on his boat then just his tension with Rhaef and he sure as hell hoped things starting resolving themselves soon.  He waited for Dake to leave then, thinking over Geoff's words.