This is the bridge of the IHS-Shackleton. The commander's chair sits in the center of the room overlooking the entire control deck. The pilot sits at the very fore-front of the ship in a G-cushioned couch with a neuro-helmet that covers his head entirely. His hands are covered by bulky helm-gauntlets which are connected to a nav-computer by a bundle of thick cables and wires.

There are no portholes or windows to look from but a series of large screens positioned around the chamber display various views fed by external cameras.

Star Commander Valna sits proudly behind her command console, leaning back in her chair. She wears the red-and-black of the Indari Astral Forces, still wearing her dress uniform from earlier in the day. She gives commands to those on the bridge sharply, expecting immediate obedience and setting expectations for her new crew.

To her left sits Communications Officer Donell at the Comm station with the junior comms officer both of them working to manage the In-System tightband and broadcast transmissions. Tinny voices echo in chorus throughout the room as fleet bulletins and navigation positions are being recieved and piped over the speakers.

To the right of the commander is the sensors station where the Science Officer is handling the influx of elecromagnetic spectrum data.

Executive Officer Farhenra stalks around the cramped deck, barking at junior officers and command crew, his glowing blue cybernetic eye tracking independently at uncanny speed.

There are several consoles left empty, including dedicated weapons controls which can also be handled by the pilot and the bridge engineering station.

Two smaller chairs flank Valna, one of them reserved for the executive officer and the other for the special advisor.

Over the entire ship a computerized voice reports. "Time until drill, minus five minutes."

OOC: Anyone who wants to be on the bridge right now, can be. Generally you should be performing your duties but there isn't a lot of extra room on the bridge and currently both crew shifts are on duty.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:03, Sat 19 Jan 2013.

Standing on the bridge, mostly out of the way for the time being, Luth is admiring the bridge.  So much more tech than that simple shuttle I was flying back home he thinks to himself.

He's an average looking man, standing at five feet, seven inches.  Dark brown hair falls to his shoulders, pulled back behind his ears to keep it off his face.  His green eyes scanning the crew moving about on the bridge.

One of the crew bump into him and it brings his attention back to his duties.  He looks towards the front and sees the pilot in place, nods to himself and quickly scans for the weapon controls.  As he walks towards the weapon controls system, he limps slightly on his right side.  He's not the fastest walker, but he manages to get around without to much of a hassle. He takes his place at the weapons control, looks over the console in front of him, and goes over in his mind his weapons training to familiarize himself with these controls. He looks over the status of the weapons, ensuring everything is online and fully operational.

Maire sat in her chair silently, reading a small book on some unknown subject. Her hair was tied back this morning, and glasses sat on the bridge of her nose, giving her a much more intelligent look than she normally had. As the warning for the drill went off, she sat back and closed her book, slipping it into a pocket. She began looking around the Bridge, examining everyone on it with a calculating gaze. "What excersize are we doing again, Commander Valna? It seems to have slipped my mind." She asked the commander sitting next to her, being sure to wait until she was not ordering someone around.

"The ship is about to drill through metaspace with our Spike drive. We're jumping out farther than anyone has ever been past the Dead Zone. That's why everyone looks so nervous." She allows a polite smile to play across her lips, humoring her new Special Advisor.

The Star Commander pushes at several runes floating in the holodisplay by her left hand and then gestures subtly towards the XO of the ship who quickly redirects his wrath to a different part of the bridge.

A window opened to the captain's right, bearing the image of the junior engineer, Voidmaster Grey. She pushed her green-lensed interface goggles back onto her forehead to reveal her blue eyes, sparkling as they were with humour and wonderment.

"Engineering here. Spike drive's at full capacity, everything's set for the drill. Chief's just waiting on your mark, Captain." She paused, wincing slightly at a crash from behind her as a brown-and-grey tabby Ragdoll-Siberian cross knocked over a trolley full of tools. "An Jonesy is reporting for duty... I think."

Janus slowly paced about the bridge in formal Indari attire, the crest of his minor house worn proudly on his lapel, glancing over people's shoulders for a few quick moments with little real interest in their duties. He kept his hands politely clasped behind his back so as to avoid interfering. He would occasionally glance at the commander, only to smile and nod at her if she took notice of him.

Commander Valna gives one last look around the bridge and gestures to her executive officer who quickly begins rattling off a series of commands both in person and through his wrist comm. The computer voice in the background calmly states the countdown state at regular intervals.

"Pilot, lock final calculations in. Confirm vector."

"Engineering, release safeties and increase arr-pee-em to nine-hundred kay. Confirm final output within tolerance."

He syncs up with the computer and counts down in time with it.
"All hands, prepare for Spike Drill. Drill commencing in five... four... three... two... one... SPIKE!"

The whole world jolts for you and your stomach falls into your boots as your vision swims. You've all been on spike drills before, in metaspace, but you never get used to it. A deck hand vomits onto the deck plating. OOC: make a physical save to not be sickened

All the broadcasted radio traffic winks out and suddenly space is silent. The external cameras display a bizzare swirl of lights in place of the familiar stars. The XO shuts off the external displays replacing them with a read out of the ship status on all main monitors.

"Drill successful." He sounds relieved. "ETA to Uncharted System 'Signa-21' 48 standard hours."

Maire felt a brief urge to vomit, but she believed she was succesful in burying it. She smiled broadly as the Spike finished. "Never get used to those." She said with humor in her voice.

OCC: 12:35, Today: Maire Doiteain rolled 20 using 1d20. No sick!

Luth took in a deep breath, feeling his stomach turn, and swallowed praying it would be enough to hold it back. "Will that ever get easier?" He said it mostly to himself, not realizing how loud it actually had been.

OOC: 15:41, Today: Luthar An'bhaird rolled 16 using 1d20. Sickness saving throw.

Annabel turned her head to one side and emptied her stomach into a pre-prepared waiting receptacle, before rinsing her mouth out with water. She grimaced at Jonesy, then checked her boards, referencing with the chief engineer.

ooc: failed the save.

Janus took care to note the reactions of the crew as the FTL drives of the ship activated. He himself showed no outward signs of any discomfort in response to the disorienting effect.

OOC: Rolled 12 versus 12.

The commander is a tall woman and slender. Not the ideal proportions for a spacer but the kind of qualities society might find attractive and positive. She stands from her chair and hands the bridge over to Zenner before ducking through the hatchway into the passageways of the ship.

The Shackleton hums with a kind of quiet power as it sails between the stars...

Luth flicks through a few screens on the weapons station, reading over various stats, and turns to the XO. "Commander Farhenra sir, do we have any intel on where exactly we are headed?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:02, Thu 13 Dec 2012.

Zenner turned and responded to the junior pilot, his voice still sharp as a knife, though not coated with malice as was often his custom.

"Minimal. There's a 87.8% chance that the trinary star system we're drilling into it was home to a large Federation space port. The astrogators narrowed it down to this sector and determined this system was the most likely match for the old records. They're optimistic we may encounter survivors of the Blood Wars." He licked the pucked scar on his lips and looks towards the hatch leading out of the bridge, as if following the captain's path.

"Off the record, I think we're jumping into a grave yard."

Luth nods, "Understood Sir.  A graveyard wouldn't be so bad, as long as there is something to salvage along the way. Permission to leave the bridge, Sir?"

He was wanting to go and check out the shuttle.  Get a little reminder of home, and a chance to sit in the pilot seat again, even if he wasn't actually flying anything.

"As of right now, we're back to normal shifts. All primary crew remain on station, all secondary crew are now off duty. Dismissed."

He settles down on the command chair and begins sorting through some files on a holo-display.

Luth leaves the bridge following the way the Commander had gone.  Know where was the shuttle at... he thinks to himself as he walks down the passage ways. Not use to being on such a large ship, it would be easy for him to get lost, but he also didn't want to make a fool of himself blindly wandering about.

OOC: To Engineering ---->
This message was last edited by the player at 23:32, Thu 13 Dec 2012.

Maire, after catching most of the conversation Farhena had had with the Junior officer, figured she might as well go as well. She stood and removed her glasses, tucking them into a pocket before turning to head out.

[To Shackleton: Quarters and Mess]

Janus remained on the bridge, continuing to observe the crew at their posts until things began to take on an obvious pattern. Finally, he left for his quarters to get some work done in private.

Coming out of metaspace into reality is much less painful than the initial jump, it's more akin to a roller coaster coming to a quick stop than being launched into a rock wall.

You emerge at the edge of a large star system. You are greeted by the sight of two stars, relatively close to you as your drive begins to spin down to normal propulsion.

"Very well. We've arrived." You've come to notice the effort the executive officer puts into his accent. It wasn't obvious at first but he makes an effort to appear cultured. "Astra Prime, adjust heading for an orbit around the binary system. Sensors, scan the system. Look for anything of interest, transmissions, starships, inhabited planets. This is why we're here, people."

[Private to Annabel Grey: OOC: make a postech check.]
[Private to Maire Doiteain: OOC: make a cha check.]
[Private to Janus Meyrink: OOC:Let me know if you are taking any secret actions]
[Private to Luthar An'bhaird: OOC: make a piloting check]
[Private to Dizzy Hargrieve: OOC: make a perception test]