Ren nodded, "That was the plan, little one, but Kyoko's seriously concerned about some damage they did to the ship."

Ren smiled as she left, and he moved to the Cargo bag and began exploring the ship.

---> Cargo Bay

After successfully delivering the stamp to the Professor and despite the loss of their first mate, the crew of Destiny headed back into the black.  Back to work.  A few jobs later has left them with a crate from Xiaygin to be delivered to Torrance Station.  They've just docked at the space station located on the rim.

Its now been almost a month since the museum job and Rhaef leaving - the wounds are healing but they haven't been forgotten yet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:44, Sat 13 Oct 2007.

After their daring escape from Torrance Station the crew of Destiny was left broken and beaten ... and one crew member short.  The mourning had just begun for the crew but they had to press on.  They dropped the young boy which Kale, Geoff, and Wei-Li had saved off with his father and then turned to Paquin for Ren's funeral.  It was a short trip that left all of them with heavy hearts but Ren's death had effected no one as hard as Acacia.  So two weeks later found the crew of Destiny on Osiris saying goodbye to their doctor.

And although he was millions of miles away, as Destiny and her crew suffered ... so did Rhaef ...
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:44, Sat 13 Oct 2007.

Charlie laid in the hammock of the engine room, the one she'd set up when she'd finally moved out of her bunk.  It slowly swang from side to side, and she stared up at the metalwork of the ceiling, as she had been for the past few hours.  She'd said goodbye to Acacia on her way out, exchanging hugs and promises of keeping in touch...but it was a disjointed goodbye.  Acacia wasn't really there anymore after the death of Ren, and the same could be said for Charlie.  He wasn't a future husband, but they were like brother and sister, and it hurt deep inside to think about the way he'd gone.  It seemed like everyone was leaving in the past few months, and it was hard to deal with...they weren't passengers coming and going, they were people who had been crew.  It was hard to deal with.  Thankfully, there was always a few saving graces, like the quiet hum of an engine and the slow swing of her hammock...

[From Destiny: Cargo Bay]

Lei reached a small hand out and knocked on the door, "Charlie?" she asked, when no one answered Lei sighed, "I know you're in there, I can hear you." it was an odd comment considering Charlie wasn't making a sound, but it was well known now that Lei had rather exceptional hearing capabilities.

Charlie tried to ignore the sound of Lei speaking, staring at the ceiling and drowning deeper and deeper into her thoughts.  It was no longer depressing, it was just simply...elsewhere.  She closed her eyes until Lei's small voice spoke up, carrying through the metal of the ship like an echo.  I know you're in there.  It was where she lived, she had nowhere else to go.

"Yeah, ah'm...yea."  She shook her head, turning in the hammock and setting her bare feet on the warm metal of the ground.  The heat of the engine gave what was almost a warm breeze at just about the ankle height if you were close enough, and while it didn't doo much good for staying warm in space, it did make it liveable without shoes.  "Ah'm here'n all, yea."  She padded across the floor, reaching the door and opening it the rest of the way.

"Hey Lei.  Wha's th'word, ah'm gonna be late 'fer sum'thin grand?  Nah...jus' dinner, ah'd be gettin' somethin' all'f sorts when ah'm hungry, y'know?"  She managed a smile, crossing her arms a bit.  "Wha'cha need?"

Lei peered behind Charlie into the engine room.  The clean, orderly appearance confirmed Lei's suspicions that Charlie didn't have nearly as much work to do as she seemed to be letting on by how much time she was spending in the engine rooms.  Lei didn't continue that train of thought though as Charlie addressed her, she looked up and smiled slightly, "I don't need anything, Charlie, just coming to ask if you were planning on coming for dinner.  Kyoko let me help cook." she said with a shy grin, "Oh, and the Captain has a visitor - but I don't think he's too happy about it.  I think the man seems nice enough though."

"Yeah, ah'd been figurin' was gettin' bout that time."  She smirked a bit, patting Lei lightly on the head.  She looked around the room as if she was going to say "let me just get so-and-so done," but then she remembered that she hadn't been doing anything at all.  Charlie rolled her eyes at herself, stepping out of the engine room beside Lei and wiping engine grease off on the hips of her coveralls.

"Sure, yea, le's get goin'.  'Specially if we got some sort'f company, we can't keep'm waitin', y'know?  Didn't think we'd be takin' on guests a'tha last stop, all thin's considered, but...well, ah'm sure it'll be good."  She let out a sigh, starting for the dining room.  "Shame'n that no one told me all sorts'f things, but y'know...it all's what it is, ah'm supposin."


------->to Dining Hall---->

Lei just smiled slightly and followed Charlie back into the dining room, she was mostly happy to see her out and about.  Things were finally starting to get back to normal - or as close to normal as they could come given all the recent happenings.  Now the new curiosity was the Captains guest...

[To Destiny: Dining Hall]

COMM: "Fire her up, Charlie, we'll be all shut up in a second."

[From Destiny: Bridge]

Charlie was already moving about the engineroom when Kale's voice came over the comm system, flipping switches and reattaching wires she'd been fixing earlier.  Really, firing up Destiny took no time at all, she'd had nothing to do over the past few weeks and so the engine room was in better shape then it had ever been in her memory.  Which was all right an' all except for the reasoning behind the cleaning and fixing frenzy.

Charlie stoutly turned her thoughts from that though.  Rhaef was in danger - but Rhaef was alive and she had something other then sad stuff to be putting her mind to for the first time in what felt like ages.

Once Destiny was purring she hit the comm herself, "Hey Baby B-" Charlie's good mood stopped mid-sentence as her words hit her like a ton of bricks.  That wasn't Ren up in the cockpit.  She swallowed hard, "Ah'm, uh, sorry 'bout that.  I'm jus' all, um ... the engine's all fire'd up an' ready." she finished and moved away from the comm and leaned against the wall.  It really never did get any easier losing those you loved.

With the bay doors shut and Dake's capable hands at the yoke Destiny left Osiris behind - if only they could leave the painful memories there with it ...

The black was a welcome change from the core world which always made the crew uneasy.  But they all knew that peril lay ahead.  Rhaef was in danger and it there job to go save him.  However this was the most divided the crew had been since the first day Destiny took to the sky.  There was a lot of patching up to do before they reached Beaumonde and had to once again work as a team.

Charlie stepped into the Engine Room, her bare feet padding on the warm metal floor as she stepped over the doorframe.  She pushed the crates of her stuff to the walls of the room, making way for her to work on the engine.  Kale wanted something that would mask them...something that would keep the ship running silently.  It was easier said than done, because they couldn't run the ship powerless without killing the majority of the crew...but they could go down to the bare minimums.  Everyone knew the risk of being out in the black in the first place, right?

Charlie stopped the rotation of the engine, opening the control cluster's main hatch and starting to turn down the engine output.  It was warm to the touch, and most people would have flinched at the burning metal against their skin, but she had grown up around this...it was second nature.

(From Destiny:Bridge)

Connor stood in the door way. He looked around the engine room and swallowed hard. This place, a place Charlie seemed to be so at home in, struck Connor as extremely foreign. Which was, in some ways, kind of funny or ironic, in that it was odd how two people could be so different in their feelings about one room.

Connor remained in the door way, waiting for Charlie to give him orders. He was staying out of the way until that happened.

Charlie reached up and tied her hair back with an errant strand, doing so in one quick motion.  Once it was off of her face and neck, she put her hands back in the control cluster, reaching down until she found the ground that synced up both of the ship's engines.  "A'right, ya...ah've go'cha, y'know."  She smirked to herself, pulling up the cable by its thick rubber coating, her grip keeping it held despiet the grease that coated everything.  She reached into her pocket, pulling out a small knife and cutting into the coating, exposing the dozens of wires that ran inside of the cable.

"Connor, y'still in'fer help?"  She spoke while holding onto the cord, using the tip of a finger to seperate the cords.  "A'ight, need'ja t'go start power'n down systems.  Some'f th'ones gotta be'n at th'bridge, sum'f here.  Go'head and bring down power t'tha shuttles, less'f th'captain says so.  We're gon'kill power'n th'ship, so we're gonna be goin'ta run off'a lanterns.  Ask Dake how much'f tha juice he needs t'get us in."

Connor nodded.

"Shut down excess systems, shuttles, ask Dake how much power he'll need to get in...I got it."

Connor grinned and made his way back up towards the bridge. It was good to be useful.

(Connor to Destiny Bridge by way of Hallways and Dining Room)

(From Bridge)

Connor skidded into the Engine Room and looked at Charlie.

"We shut down all excess power, including the shuttles..."

He took a deep breath.

"Dake said he'll fly Destiny on whatever power you think is necessary to slip in quietly...so it's your call on that front..."

With the news from Connor Charlie safely powered down Destiny, leaving only the essentials up and running.  All around the ship, lights and other mechanical sounds came to a sudden stop.  The engine room became black and only the soft purr of the engine could be heard over the light rumbling of the ship as it entered atmo.  It was a little bumpier then normal due to the lack of systems online - but it was pretty obvious that Dake knew what he was doing.

COMM: "Charlie, I got a weird reading down by the port side landin' gear when we were comin' in.  I'm gonna be takin' Geoff and Wei out ta get Rhaef, but in the meantime I'm thinkin' that its somethin' ta be lookin' into.  I don' wanna get caught with our pants down or nothin'."

"Right."  Charlie nodded to Connor, looking down at the engine and then back at him.  "Tha's...well, tha's all'f th'most'f it, y'know."  She walked across the room, holding down the intercom and speaking up.

"A'ight."  Charlie spoke up, clearing her throat.  "We're all good, Cap'n.  Ah'll be'n under'f th'ship t'check wha's goin' on."  She wiped the sweat off her brow, looking back at Connor.  "S'e takin'ya out'n th'place, or'r ya stayin' w'me?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:35, Thu 14 Feb 2008.

COMM: "That's my girl.  You hang in there, alrigh'?  We're gonna get him back."

Connor shook his head and looked around the engine room.

"I'm staying right here, where I can be of some use...don't think I'd do anything but slow them down if I were to go along..."

Charlie nodded as the captain's voice came through the intercom, although he obviously couldn't see her.  She knew her job and what she had to do.  "A'ight, tha's sum'thin tha'd be stoppin' all'f tha outs."  She smirked a bit, looking back at Connor.  "How's bout ya go t'tha bridge, s'where th'Cap is gettin' all'f th'readin's.  Sa'd best check there, ah'll need someone t'be runnin' diagnostics'n such."

Charlie pulled a rag off of one of the hooks on the wall, wiping the dirt and grime from both of her hands.  Best to go and find what she needed now, since things were underway and she didn't want to hold them up any longer than they had to.


------->to Cargo Bay

Connor nodded to Charlie, before turning and making his way up to the bridge. Nothing really needed to be said, Connor kind of felt there was a crew wide apprehension about this job. Hell, as long as they got off this rock safely, Connor  guessed they'd all be alright...provided safely meant with their rescuee.

(Connor to Destiny: Bridge)

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 17:45, Fri 25 Apr 2014.