"That still leaves the pilot."  Dizzy responded as Maire noted the cap that Master Farhenra was wearing, "Until we find him, we have to entertain the notion that he may have been Janus's co-conspirator instead of his victim.  Play it safe."

She drew herself up straight and brought her hand up in salute to the XO, though she was content to let Maire lead that conversation for the moment.  Given the pang of responsibility she was feeling, she didn't particularly want her superior scrutinizing her too closely.

"Pilot Eastfall is dead. The Commander is alive, but barely."

He seemed a combination of weary, sad and exhausted.

"The only thing to do now is clean up the ship and see if we can get her in working order. The Commander is currently being frozen in the medical bay, which places me as the acting Commander of this mission. I expect you will all follow my orders just as you would hers."

Zenner Farhenra turns to Dizzy now.

"I understand you performed admirably on the planet's surface. You crewed the guns that took out the remaining drone fighter and saved your team members despite being unfamiliar with the technology and the weaponry. I have heard high praise of your people, Desna, and I am not disappointed." His weathered face contorts into a tired smile, something none of you have ever seen before. He holds out the hilt of the sword and offers it to you silently.

"Understood, Commander." Dizzy nodded, still standing at attention as Master Farhenra explained the new reality of their situation.  The man was shouldering a heavy burden, delivered to him with a side order of grief.  He was going to need a little time to settle into the role, a display of due difference would only help that along.  She relaxed her posture marginally as he informed her that what they needed was a clean up detail, not a search party.

"I'll save the details for the official debrief, Sir, but it was the efforts of the entire team that saw us through." she stopped short of singling out the Voidmistress's contributions for the moment, given that she was within ear shot, "I'm honored to serve alongside such capable companions."  She blinked a bit as the Master Farhenra turned the blade in his hand over and offered it to her.  She looked at it for a moment as if unsure at first, there were few things prized more highly than weapons among her people after all, receiving one as a gift was generally considered a significant act.  Still, she looked at the tired smile on his face, and accepted it with a surprisingly ginger touch.

"I am not yet deserving of such recognition." she said, though there was a slightly formal clip to it as her eyes traced over the blade . . . lighter than her people tended towards, quick, graceful, "But I will strive to become worthy of it." she finished.  It was a common enough sentiment among the Gareshi, the notion of noblesse oblige did not exist on the harsh world, tributes were traditionally passed up through the ranks rather than gifts passed down.  So, when an exception occurred, it was important to bear it with the proper humility, as it tended to imply a "superior" thought you had it within yourself to become a "peer".

Of course, she'd make a brief inquiry into the significance of the act in Farhenra's culture before jumping to any conclusions.  She glanced around for something she could use as a sheathe, not particularly wanting to stalk the berths with a naked mono-edge.

"I suppose I can start by moving these bodies to the shuttle hangar where they'll be out of the way.  Can't have the crew tripping over them while they work."

Annie looked up from her mutterings over the computer to greet Dizzy and Maire with a distressed, fake smile.

"That would be appreciated. They're upsetting Shackleton..." She didn't look at the bags, although she did glance to the left before mumbling; "not to mention me." She closed her eyes for a moment, then shook it off and pulled her goggles down over her eyes, looking to Fahrenha. "I'm going to need a few days to get everything running, but I should be able to stabilise life support and get power back online before we fall out of orbit." She reported with forced cheer, before returning to the console. "If you can spare anyone from hunting down data-thieves, there's about a mile of cabling that needs stripping out and replacing down here."

As she spoke, she was already working on restoring the systems damaged by the worm from Shubai's personal backups, assuming the Chief had been that kind of competent Engineer.

The new acting Commander looked around at the group of you.

"Grey, Hargieve, that will be all."

He turned to Maire and fixed her with a stern look.

"Come with me."

"Of course, lead the way sir." Maire said mildly, no trace of anxiety present in any part of her body.

"We're going to medical."

He starts walking without waiting for you, showing no sign of concern or tension.

---> Medical Bay

Maire followed quickly behind Master Farhenra.

---> TO Medical Bay

Dizzy nodded a bit as she was dismissed, dropping into a more relaxed position.  She blinked a bit as he told Maire to come along with him, but she didn't comment.  Instead, she leaned the blade that had been handed to her  against the wall for a moment, just long enough for her to put her arms around one of the body bags that were arranged on the floor.  With a grunt, she lifted the body up until it settled over her shoulder, keeping it balanced with one arm as she rose to her feet again.  It was a bit awkward, the rifle hanging against her side from a strap on her shoulder, the body putting her weight lopsided, and her other hand taken up with the blade, but she managed it well enough.

"If you need any unskilled hands, or just a runner for tools or materials, I'll try to keep in earshot until they get the comms up and running again." she said to the Junior Engineer with a nod.  Annabel had enough on her plate, she didn't need to be screaming to get whatever she needed on top of that.  Besides, a little simple menial work would do Dizzy good . . . she apparently had a sermon to write for three comrades, felled not by the dangers of their work, but by foul treachery.  Her mind had always worked better when her body was working as well.

Back straight, she made her way back to the shuttle bay, planning to make a detour through the Quarters to stow her weapons before she came back for the next body.

-->  Moonwing Shuttlebay -->

>> From Bridge >>

Luthar and Ludo arrived and it was clear they were mostly uninformed as to the full extent of the recent events that had unfolded in engineering.

"Egads," Ludo whispered as he examined the egregious nature of hardware and cabling that seemed to littler the area. "Wh-wh-..." he breathed deeply. "What... In all the void-"

Ludo eyed a discombobulated-looking Annabelle Grey.

"GREY!" blurted Ludo. "Logan and An'bhaird on deck." stated Astra Obvious. "What's the damage?" he asked with an odd, cold smile. [Private to Luthar An'bhaird:
Is this grimace style smile a habit when he speaks to anyone?]
[Private to Annabel Grey; Luthar An'bhaird:

Annabel, would you be so kind to briefly describe the current area? Like a recap of where we're at - with damage, etc? I know we're in downtime - but I'd like to finish RPing this through portion - get some Player on Player action :) Thanks ^_^ ]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:54, Fri 15 Feb 2013.

>>From Quarters and Mess>>

Hearing the hiss of the lift doors, Lanik looked up from adjusting his metatool and stepped into Engineering. His eyes took in the chaotic scene quickly before resting on the other inhabitants of the deck - Junior Comms officer Logan, Astra Prime An'bhaird and Junior Engineer Grey.

*Looks like a mag-train derailed in here. This isn't going to be an easy job.*

Avoiding the debris scattering the deck-plates, Lanik approached the group. "Officer Logan, Officer An'Bhaird... Officer Grey." He offers a cursory bow of the head to everyone present.

"I'm happy to help in whatever capacity you require. If you need anything from supplies, just let me know. Otherwise, I can help repair some of the machinery." He raises his right arm to show his metatool.

Luthar stared blankly at the Engineering deck.  Reson wasn't kidding when he said they needed Grey to come help.  When the Quartermaster showed up, Luthar gave a quick salute and turned back to the mess.

"Annie, what can we do?"  He had no clue where to start, but was willing to give his all to repair the ship and make it fly worthy again.

[Private to Aloysius Logan: Sometimes, yes.  Luthar tries to be a happy go lucky type though, and doesn't make cold smiles often...only in truly dire situations.]

Lanik sat in the cramped commissary office with a focused expression, going over the cargo manifests once more for good measure. In spite of his drawn appearance, his once soiled uniform was newly washed and pressed with the sort of precision that only comes from marine training. The toll of the last few weeks could still be seen in his face, drawn and pallid as it was. But despite such appearances, Lanik hadn't felt better than he had over the last week. Even in deep space, his job frequently took place behind a desk. If there was one thing he missed from his short-lived career in the corps it was the pressure. He never worked better than when under pressure.

Closing the manifest vid-'splay, Lanik raised his head and looked out at the bustle in the engineering compartment across from his office. No doubt the Shackleton would be underway soon.

Lanik was busy cataloging serial numbers on replacement parts, no doubt compiling a full damage report for the shipyard upon their return. Bureaucracy. You can't escape it, even out in the Black.

Annie stands at the jury rigged command console for the engineering unit core. So many things have been jumped, crossed, patched, re-wired, and bridged it makes her a little uncomfortable seeing it all, like she's riding a groundcar without breaks made from ration-tins.

Several warning lights are perpetually one and the software is continuing telling her the operating version for the Adjutant Protocol needs to be updated when you know very well it was updated before you left port weeks ago.

Some of the console housings still have holes in them from the bullets. Wasn't time to fabricate a new shell.

--jump drive. Start the clock. I want to be spun up and ready to drill in less than an hour. Farhenra's voice came through the comms unit. It was acting up now occasionally, not picking up the first moments of a transmission correctly. It needed to be calibrated further but there wasn't time.

Not time enough for anything out here, it seemed.

Annabel - Annie - depressed the call button, letting it click in for a couple of seconds before replying.

"Aye-aye, fukuchou" She replied. "I'll ask nicely." She released the comm, going to coax the spike drive to life. She had to wiggle a finger into one of the bullet holes to adjust a contact point between two leads, but it got the process started.

Chief Engineer. Diable, that was a scary thought. She had expected - nay, hoped - that her role would primarily be with the xenoarchaology, not patching the ship together. Her ship. Her Shackleton. She was hurting still, but time would lend them a better chance to repair things properly eventually.

Lanik looked up from his dataslate as Annabel fussed with the console

"Any idea why the computer vocalization unit went down? It's a little weird not having 'her' talk to us." He licked his cracked lips. The air humidity had dropped significantly. The scrubbers had been set to collect 300% more humidity for drinking water and the result was a stale dry atmosphere in the Shackleton

For her part, the system was coming online, if slowly. Certain processes had to be suspended or restarted to get the drive running smoothly from the software acceleration end of the process. Every rotation and pulse of energy through the main drive was timed and adjusted dynamically instantly and near perfectly to compensate for variations in the local metaspace fabrics...
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:43, Fri 03 Jan 2014.

"She's hurting." Annie shrugged slightly. "Understandable really. It's a ghost glitch, so she'll talk again when she's good and ready." She added, adjusting a control at just the right moment.

"She's a tough girl. She'll be back with us soon enough."

"We shouldn't really be heading out again. I talked to the XO, er, acting Captain and told him my concerns. We don't really have the supplies to continue this. We lack replacement parts, some of our systems require a shipyard to be fixed and regulations state we should strip several of our systems completely and have them entirely replaced. I understand that the Nighthawk-class was purpose built for redundancy, but there's only so much a starship can take." He looks worn thin, just like the rest of you. Too much work, not enough sleep, stale food and staler O2.

"Anyways, he 'noted my concerns' and ordered us to go ahead with the Spike drill anyway. By all rights, we should be returning to the Hegemony to report back, repair and get some R&R. Thing is though, I think he's bucking for a commission. If he returns after beating the odds with a load of pretech and two charted systems he'll make Star Commander without any question. Probably get some medals and his own ship."

"True... but if we go back now, the whole mission will be declared a failure and Janus' faction will have scored a huge political victory." Annie replied with a grimace. "I'm starting to see where my parents were coming from, staying Rogue." She paused, then quirked a grin under her goggles. "Maybe once she's out of drydock when we eventually do go back, we should just steal her and make for the black. Do a cosmetic refit at Medina-Cow or somewhere like it and pass her off as salvaged."

He offers you a tired grin.

"I'll pretend you didn't just suggest mutiny and piracy, Voidmistress."

His hand runs over his shaven scalp.

"Off the record though, it's not a bad idea." Lanik winks and returns to his report.

A system message pops up on your console:
[Spike Drill imminent.]
Sounds like she's ready to go...

"There we go..." Annie sing-songed, before opening the link to the bridge. She waited a moment for the comm to click in before stating, "Spike drill ready, fukuchou. Engineering repeats, spike drill ready on your mark." She finished, before releasing the button.

"Donell here. All sensors reporting within acceptable parameters. A miracle, really."

A short pause and some data comes from the bridge to your console, confirming what Officer Donell reported.

"Gravimetrics are... gravimetrics are good."

Jonesy scampers wildly across the floor at your feet and disappears into one of the access crawlspaces.

"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. OOC: make a physical save not to be sickened

Spike drives were rough, and Annabel's lifetime of experiencing them had only taught her to have a biowaste disposal receptacle ready when they performed one...

then the cat ran into the access tunnel. She thought she'd locked down all the ones that could be dangerous before spinning the engine up in the first place, but that didn't mean she wanted to be cleaning up cat sick in a cramped tunnel. She darted into the access and grabbed the cat before going back to finalise the spike.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:18, Thu 23 Jan 2014.

The spike seemed to go well, systems were running a little hotter than regulations might wish for, but otherwise within operating tolerances...

FWEEE

FWEEE

Crimson lights begin to flash throughout the ship and an alarm sounds repeatedly, alerting the crew to battle stations.

Jonesy squirms out of your arms and darts away once again.

"How Shi Sung Chung," Annabel muttered, sarcastically. Jonesy would have to take care of himself. She opened the comm to the bridge. "Fukuchou, Engineering awaiting instructions." She informed the command crew, before dropping the link and looking at Lanik. "You with me, Mr. Greist?"