Kaya was quite relieved that O'Bannon had dropped the personal questions: at least that way she wouldn't have had to decide to tell the truth or lie, both options being unpalatable for various reasons. The young woman listened attentively to the Major's briefing, but she had some troubles understanding what this was all about. Granted, a smuggler might be of interest to the navy. But an egg smuggler? Not only she had trouble imagining that eggs would be something to be smuggled - at least for cooking purposes - but she couldn't imagine why the navy would care about stuff like that.

The next part of the briefing, pertaining to the Millstocks, explained it of course, in between the disparaging remarks. At least she wasn't the only target of those, so she supposed it was an O'Bannon special and didn't have much to do with her specifically, which was something she supposed. Though thinking a bit more about it, she was puzzled.

Not that she wished anything bad to happen to Georgia - even though she had to admit a pang of envy - but... Why would the navy involve itself in this problem? Sure, if the ones doing the kidnapping were pirates or foreign forces, the navy would be called upon. But a small time smuggler? It didn't really make any sense. Unless it was some kind of political move and considering who was involved, that seemed very likely she supposed.

The only question that remained was to know why she was involved. Granted, while not a Marine, she was good with a lot of weapons but that was mostly her genes doing the talking. She was very decent in hand to hand combat, but there were many better at it than she was and she definitely was not special forces. Not that she couldn't be with the proper training, but she didn't have the proper training. Only the basics of it: she was a pilot, nothing else. But... Maybe the point was to tell her that she wasn't going to be "just" a pilot...

Or maybe it was all just an excuse to give her a ship. It was something she was really excited about of course for at least two reasons: not only she would finally be piloting something, but it was an independent command which, assuming she didn't mess up, was going to do wonders for her career. And she supposed that was the whole point. Or at least part of it.

For now though, Kaya decided she didn't care about anything else but the pin in O'Bannon's hands. Yes, her ship would be a small one, pretty much the smallest hyper-capable ship in the whole navy in fact. But small as it was, it was hyper-capable, and being in command of one of those was prestigious, even though she was nothing more than a 'mere' Lieutenant.

As O'Bannon asked her if she had any questions, Kaya's gaze went with some difficulty from the pin to its original place on the wall behind O'Bannon. Questions? Well, yes, she had a ton of questions. Starting with how by the stars she was supposed to determine if Georgia Millstock had been kidnapped or somehow coerced. She could only hope someone in her crew would know a lot more than she did about those kind of operations...

Since her questions where about the how, the why or the who and not the what however, she simply answered “Ma'am, no Ma'am.”

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 5):

O'Bannon blinks but finally shrugs.  A few more taps and the screen changes again.

A woman's face pops up on the screen.  Short brown hair.  Green eyes.  A scar across her nose.
A few years older than you.  AI ports obvious on her shoulder.

The screen gives her name and bio.  Perri Von Helmon.  Pilot second class.  Your co-pilot.  Four years flying experience, two in the Kinimin system revolution that ended last year.

The screen flips.

An man this time.  Maybe as old as Perri.  He has a haggard look about him.  His eyes look bloodshot.  Dark skin and darker hair.  Aarav Shashidar Engineer second class.  Looks like he and Perri know each other.  They served on the same command during Kinimin.  But Aarav was transferred out eight months prior to the end of the war.

Another man.  Older.  Thick neck and graying brown hair.  He's the only one thus far smiling.  Rokzi Polovich.  Special Forces Sargent.  Combat experience for the last eighteen years.  He's obviously the muscle on your ship.

One more rolls up.  Another woman.  She looks small.  Delicate.  Yamahato Rei.  Or would that be Rei Yamahato?  Some people of Asian descent still list their family name first.  A nurse.  She doesn't have any combat experience.  In fact she's listed as a contractor.  Medic.

O'Bannon downloads the information to your personal comm.

"Your crew.  Any questions on them?"

Kaya studied attentively the faces of all of those who were to be her crew. Of those, the one she studied the most was the co-pilot. The presence of one was to be expected…and while she really hoped everything would work fine between the two of them she didn't hope Von Helmon would have a lot of respect for her: all Kaya had working for her was her rank. Her co-pilot had the best part of four years on her and combat experience… and they would both know it. Well, no one said being in command was going to be easy: and this would likely just be the first time she'd have to prove herself.

The engineer concerned her, but for another reason entirely: the haggard air, the bloodshot eyes… Had she been given one of the navy's problem children as her engineer? And he was familiar with Von Helmon… Well, she supposed she had to see the upside of it: if she convinced one, she'd probably convince both. Unless they hated each others guts, which would be an entirely different problem.

She was however extremely glad to see the next entry. Not that she was too trusting of the smile, but he was Special Forces. Which meant he would likely know how they would be able to proceed for a lot of things that had her stumped and he had a lot of experience to top it off. Hopefully he wasn't an ass, because if there was someone she was going to have to rely on, no matter what happened, it would be him.

The last one surprised her though. A medic? For as small a crew as they were? That was surprising. Especially a civilian one. Was she there for when - or if… - they got Georgia Millstock back?

This time, asked if she asked questions, she nodded. “Yes Ma'am. Why a civilian nurse? And how were they all chosen?” She wasn't expecting the best of the best, but… Kaya really hoped it wasn't a rehabilitation cruise for any of them.

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 7):

O'Bannon glances at Rei's picture and then shuts off the screen.

"We're short on medical staff.  And the orders about you require you have a medic on your crew roster.  So we found you the best one we could.

"As for the others...Perri and Aarav were assigned from HQ.  I tacked on Rokzi.  I've worked with him before.  Good man.  And you'll need someone with know how when it comes to certain parts of your job.  Also...no offense...but you don't seem the type who'd be able to fight her way out of a paper sack if the sack were made out of cheese and you were a rat.  Just don't back down with him.  Once you get Rockzi on your side, he's on your side."

She gives you a once over and then shrugs.  "You probably need somebody on your side.  Anyway.  Your ship's in dry dock.  Your crew will assemble tomorrow oh-eight-hundred standard time in Deck D briefing room. You can round them up then.  I want your ship outta my hangar by ten hundred tomorrow.

"Questions?"

Wanted to give Kaya a chance to do anything she wanted to do on base.  If there's nothing, I will move us to the briefing room.

And yes, you can go inspect the ship.  Feel free to narrate that yourself if you like.
 Thanks.

Kaya wasn't sure she liked the bit about the medic being needed for her. Not that it didn't make sense of course, but she wasn't fond of being reminded of her likely future.

She really hoped that 'by HQ' what O'Bannon truly meant - even if she didn't know it - was 'by Ogadi'. As for Rokzi, she was relieved to hear he had been picked for his skills. Not so much that he'd try to push, but that was to be expected she supposed. For a moment, she considered mentioning that was in fact able to hold her own in a fight - thanks to her genes if nothing else - but... There was a point where skills trumped genes.

This time again, she nodded when asked if she had questions, “Is the ship in dry dock following a refit or some repairs?” Because if that was the case, the first things she'd have to do was to make sure that nothing was going to come loose before they went too far. After all, no matter how a ship was tested before it was released to its crew following its completion or even some repairs, there was always things to fix. Or so she had heard anyway...

Once she had her answer, Kaya saluted then left to go see her ship. The first thing she did once out of the office though was to place her command pin where it belonged. Then, trying not to smile too much, she went to her ship.

She spent the next hours both going over it and studying the materials she had been given about her mission and her crew: she wanted to be at the briefing knowing everything there was to know down to the smallest details without having to look anything up. First impressions were going to matter, which was also why she paid very close attention to her appearance before she stepped into the briefing room at 1000 sharp.

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 9):

"Refit.  Since we have two pilots with different...methodoligies...we needed to make sure you both had adequate control functionality.  You'll see but there's a co-pilot chair as well as a pilot.  And the two have different layouts."

You confirm exactly that.  When you get aboard, you find the two control centers.  Yours is set up for your style.  You'll need to make some adjustments.  But the controls are fairly modular.

Perri's chair is more the standard AI aug block.  Ports for her to patch in.  Multi display screens.  Not a lot of manual controls.  Well.  She flies by electric impulses after all.

As you're studying her board, you hear a voice behind you.

"Hey.  Who the hell are you?"

Turning, you see Aarav standing in the doorway.  He's wearing standard issue coveralls.  There's a couple of stains of fresh grease on them.

He doesn't seem to recognize you.  Maybe, even though you've seen his picture, he hasn't seen yours?

The tired look is gone from his eyes.  But they're still bloodshot.

He has a wrench in one hand you can see he's tightening a grip on.

As she studied the pilot and co-pilot stations, Kaya could only agree that a refit made sense. She'd have to thoroughly test her own station though: she wasn't worried about the co-pilot one, but she seriously doubted the engineers had had many people available to test hers. If something was wrong, she wanted to be made aware as soon as possible, preferably while they could still do something about it.

As she was interrupted by a voice behind her, she turned around to see who it was, only to find Aarav. She studied him for a couple of seconds, noting his bloodshot eyes - but without any obvious exhaustion this time - and the way he gripped his wrench. She supposed he had been working on the ship, either as part of the refit or simply to make sure that everything worked as intended before they left for their mission.

For all answer to his question, she tapped her shiny new captain's pin on her right breast: it would explain all there was to know, and doing more would just embarrass the both of them. It wouldn't have mattered all that much to her, but Aarav might have resented it and that wasn't exactly the right way to start a working relationship.

After that, she asked a couple of questions of her own. “Is she ready? What's your opinion on her?”

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 11):

He seems to peer at the button, and it seems to take a moment for him to register what it means.  He makes eye contact again, an eyebrow raised.  "You're the captain?  Huh."

He shuffles the wrench to the other hand and gives you a rather sloppy salute.  He then looks around the bridge, scratching the side of his cheek.  "Ready?  More or less.  I'm not a huge fan of these Archer models.  They tend to get wonky at the high end range of thrust.  Ventilation systems a bit of a mess too."

He thinks a moment and then shrugs, gesturing at the pilot seats.  "Kinda curious what that's all about.  I've not seen two seperate set ups like that before.  That one,"  he points at your comm seat, "Is like some kinda low end rumble seat.  Who flies AI-less anymore?"

He shrugs again.  "I guess should ask your name.  Sorry.  Not the most social guy."

“I am.” Kaya confirmed, then nodded to acknowledge the sloppy salute. It was a far cry for perfect, but since he was wearing coveralls she wasn't going to ask for more.

She listened attentively to his opinion, noting that she would have to test that "high-end range of thrust" issue. As for the ventilation system, well, there wasn't much she was going to be able to do. Something to keep in mind, but nothing she would be able to do about it. “Kaya Wilden.” She answered his second question. “As for flying 'AI-less',” she smiled, “We'll have time to see about that, same as with introductions tomorrow.”

“You came here straight from Kinimin?”
This message was last edited by the player at 18:52, Fri 23 Apr 2021.

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 13):

He frowns slightly. "You read my file huh?"

He shrugs. Aarav shifts his weight to the back of his feet.  He seems more relaxed.

"Nah.  Well yeah. But no, as in not like you mean."  Another shrug.  This one likes to shrug.  "I had a med leave.  By the time I was cleared, war was over."

That wasn't in his file.  It just said he had been transferred out.  Now that you think about it, it was kind of vague on the details concerning that "transfer".

"What about you?  Where'd they haul you in from?"

Kaya simply nodded but didn't comment on either the file reading she had done - which was still very limited - or the medical leave, which wasn't any of her business...as long as he was back at 100%. Which she could only assume he was, otherwise he wouldn't have been here in the first place. or so she hoped anyway.

“They didn't have to look very far for me: I've been here for a few months since I graduated from the academy.” Not something she was too fond of saying obviously, but it wasn't like that part of her file was any kind of secret. It was in fact rather public. Still, she really didn't want him to distrust her, she added “So I'll be counting on you to point anything about the ship that one can't learn from test runs or simulators. Stuff like the high range of thrust thing or the ventilation system and whatnot.”

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 15):

He frowns.  Obviously the 'just out of academy' doesn't impress him.

But he doesn't say anything about it.  He just shrugs and gestures with the wrench behind him.

"You want the tour?  I'm going over the engineering diagnostics now.  I don't tend to trust dock crews.  They tell you everything's 100%, usually around their break time."

He points at your comm seat.  "I'm not real familiar with that set up.  It's kinda...ancient.  No disrespect intended.  But I thought some Grandpa was gonna come aboard and use it.  You not AI compaitible?"

As he asks, there's a blip from the command chair.  A glance confirms someone just cycled the airlock.  Checking the camera shows it's Rokzi.  He's got a couple of duffels and what looks like a couple of gun cases.  He walks in and looks around the airlock like he's not sure about it.

He stares at the camera and must notice it's live.  He waves.  "Anyone there?  Permission to come aboard?...though I'm supposed ta come aboard."

Kaya merely smiled at his frown, but didn't explain more than that: there were things she was really confident of as far as ship command went, but her piloting skills weren't one of them. While saying it was the only thing she was confident about would be exaggerated, it was definitely the one she was the most confident about.

“Sure.” The young lieutenant nodded when he asked about a tour. She had intended to make one at some point before the briefing, and she supposed it made more sense, not less, to do so with the ship's engineer. She briefly hesitated when he asked his question about her chair, then shook her head. “It's more complicated than that.” Before she could elaborate on it though, her chair beeped, signaling someone in the airlock.

“I'm supposed to meet everyone at the briefing tomorrow, not right now…” Kaya grumbled, then pushed a button, “Permission granted.” She answered Rokzi, before adding, “Though for next time, the ship not being considered active duty just yet you don't need permission to come aboard.” She released the button, “I better go see what this is all about… Hopefully we'll go on that tour just after I've seen him.” She grumbled, then headed to the airlock.

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 17):

"Come back to engineering when you're ready," Aarav says as you pass him by.  "Just head towards the back of the ship."

Rokzi has more bags than the ones you saw on camera before.  He's stacking them up just inside the airlock door.

He looks up when you open the shipside lock door and grins.

"Hey there.  Name's Rokzi.  I'm on this boat.  You know if the captain's on-"

He stops, apparently seeing your insignia.  He frowns, but only for a moment, and then gives you a fairly crisp salute.

"Sorry ma'am.  No one told me who my new CO was.  Nice to meetcha."

“Welcome aboard.” Kaya's smile was a bit strained as she returned the salute. “Not expecting a still wet behind the ears, milk dripping nose, baby faced lieutenant as your new captain?” She cocked an eyebrow for a second, but continued before he could embarrass them both by disagreeing to what was quite close to the truth… or worse, agree. “It's alright, I guess I should expect to have to deal with it for quite some time.” After all, with prolong treatments she'd keep that face for a while…

“I'm not expecting you to be wowed by me right now. All I'm asking is that you give me a chance to prove myself before you decide I'm useless.” She looked Rokzi up and down for a second, before adding, “By the same token, I'll leave you a chance to prove that you're not barely sentient muscles like so many people seem to think of those of your profession.” After all, he would have to prove himself to her too, and she wasn't going to let him think otherwise, much less that he could walk all over her. Especially since she would have to rely on him a lot considering the mission.

“Just do me the courtesy of assuming I know what I'm talking about as far as the ship is concerned and I'll rely on you to advise me for…well, pretty much everything else. If you think I'm making a mistake, overlooking something or missing something, I expect you to tell and teach me. Preferably before I make something we'll all regret, and in private when possible. And I promise to listen.” After all, she might not agree. Though she didn't see that happen much where his area of expertise was concerned. He had loads of experience after all, and she would be foolish to not use it and make the most of it. Plus, it was important that he knew that too. “Deal?”

After his nod, she waved at the bags, “So, what's all this?”

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 19):

"Wow. Defensive much?  But yes ma'am.  Deal."  He laughs.  It's a big booming kind of laugh, which fits him perfectly.

He looks at all the gear you're pointing to.

"Mostly it's armaments.  Got me a Oh Four Eighteen K Kibitzer special.  Call her Mildred after the nun that used to kick my ass in high school.

"This one is a Multidirectional V N One Oh Two.  Call this one the Cheek Spreader cos once I activate it, that's what everyone might as well do.

"And these boxes here are my assault armor.  No name for it yet.  But maybe this trip.

"There's a whole bunch a' other shoot 'em up stuff.  Oh.  And I brought a change of underwear."

He grins at you and then leans close, his voice dropping to a whisper.  <small>"And I frowned cos...well.  You just don't look like I imagined an Ace would look."

He stands up and smiles.  "They told me quite a bit about you Cap'n."

“Yeah, well.” Kaya shrugged, obviously unrepentent: it might not have been completely necessary, but at least now they both knew where they stood. Or at least, she hoped she had managed to convey her desires well enough, withouth sounding too insecure. Or hardass. Or bitchy. Or… Well… Hmm. Anyway.

She listened a bit distractedly while he explained everything, but squinted hard when he mentioned her being an Ace. “But they still managed to forget to mention what I looked like, I wonder why.” After a couple of seconds, she shook her head, “I suppose I shouldn't be surprised… You'll have to tell me how you thought an Ace should look like.”

Before he could answer though, she continued, “But right now, I'm more interested in this.” She pointed at the bags. “I don't suppose your weapons, much less your armour could pass as anything else than fleet issue, am I wrong?” She cocked an eyebrow, then added, “Well, given this mission's parameters…” She shook her head, “You'll need armour and weapons that don't scream 'marine', but more… I don't know… Smuggler's bodyguard or something along those lines. What do you need to get that by tomorrow morning at the latest? More importantly, what do you need to get me one set too? Should I com' Major O'Bannon's office or are you authorized to get all of that on your captain's orders?”

Not that she couldn't find the procedure if she wanted, but it would take her a bit of time. More worrisome, it would likely then take quite a bit of time to go through all the proper channel. Considering Rokzi's experience though, she was betting he knew people. And ways to get what he needed faster than if she were to do it…especially if he did so without having to worry it'd get him in hot waters with his CO.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:10, Wed 28 Apr 2021.

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 21):

Rokzi does open his mouth to answer your first question, but shuts it when you continue speaking.  He at least seems smart enough to knw when to shut up.

He frowns when you mention O'Bannon.  "Uhm.  I don't think she'd go out of her way to help me.  But if we're going for the more covert angle...yeah.  I got it covered."

He waggles his eyebrows.  "I got friends at depo.  They'll hook us up.  Just sign the req forms they send you.  Do you...uh...you got a side arm?  I mean...an actual good one?  Not the piece of crap U82 they standard issue.  You want me to get you a couple of decent pieces while I'm down there?"

---

Aarav looks up when you head into engineering.  It might give you a moment's pause.  He's pulled off two access panels and appears to have pulled out most of the wiring and some of the circuit boards.

"Oh yeah.  You ready for your tour?"  He seems to have lost the wrench.  He stands up, wiping some lubricant off his fingers and onto a towel.  Looks like he was oiling up some part of balancer core.

"By the way...Am I supposed to be servicing all those drones too?"

At your puzzled look, he indicates one of the hatches on the side of the engine room.  It opens onto a small drone bay.  There's just enough room to get from the door to the control desk and torpedo tube used to launch drones out of the ship.  The rest of the space is jammed up with drones.  All kinds of types too.  Most are about the size of your forearm, but there are a couple the size of your chest and a bucket of what appears to be ones about as long as your finger.

Ships like yours usually has a few drones at most.  The inventory og Aarav found lists 84 of them.

Kaya didn't comment about O'Bannon helping or not, but filed the information away for later: maybe it was just that Rokzi didn't know the Major was the one who had assigned him there but there could many different reasons for him to think so. Though none of them truly mattered at the moment. Shaking her head, she answered his first question. “I don't have a good side arm no.” As a matter of fact, she didn't have a side arm at all, nevermind a good one. “I'd want a side arm, a riffle - better to have it and not need it rather than the other way around - and an armour, all of which must not give away that we're fleet. As for the specifics…” She shrugged, “Take what you think is best considering what you know of me. I'm pretty good with two swords by the way.” Dual sword training was after all an excellent way to train Aces to master their own body. For a normal human, it was pretty much never a good idea - unless the goal was just to show off - but for an Ace it was another thing entirely even though it was mostly just used to improve coordination, spatial awareness, reflexes and so on and not for active combat.

She concluded by nodding, “I'll read the forms and sign them when they get sent. Just don't go overboard, we're not going into a war. I've sent you my biometrics to fit all that.” After all, as much as she didn't like it she had small girly hands which meant a lot of weapons - particularly in the side arm category - wouldn't fit her. She had the power for them, that wasn't the issue: she just didn't have the grip for them. And of course while she was pretty tall for a girl, she was much thinner than probably any marine, which meant armour would need to be fitted carefully. Not that she expected him to get her a custom one of course: not only those were far too much for what she needed, but there was no way they were going to pass as anything but fleet.

Plus, now that she though about it, those were made with implants in mind…which she didn't have. Maybe she'd have to look at some point if there was a special Ace model in the files…

---

“That's what I'm here for.” Kaya considered the opened panels doubtfully, but didn't say anything about it right then. She'd trust him to have everything back in order by the time they were to leave the next day. As she looked at the drones, she frowned, “Hmm… Unless those are Polovich's, I'd say yes, they'd be yours to take care of, but obviously it's less urgent than the ship.”

She glanced at the inventory then asked, obviously puzzled, “What are they for anyway? I'd have expected half a dozen at most, not,” she looked at the total and cocked a surprise eyebrow, “84?”

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 23):

Aarav frowns when he hears he's in charge of them, but doesn't complain.  Out loud.

He scratches the back of his head and glances around the stacks and stacks of drones.

"Honestly...I'm only familiar with about half these models.  Most of them are standard.  Scientific.  Bomb planters.  Remote controlled surgical strike models.  The other half...I'm gonna have to read through the manuals.  It's gonna take me a little while.  So go easy on me with the drones until I can get up to speed.  'kay?"

He takes you back to the engines and points at two large tubes, each running the side of the ship.  "And that's the problem children right there.  Fuel injection system has a design flaw.  They say it doesn't, but everyone knows it is.  Supposedly they're gonna have a new system on the new models.  But that's just cos.  Not cos anything's wrong with the current one."

He laughs.

"At high speeds, the injection system gets wonky.  It doesn't regulate as well.  So you're speed won't remain even.  Makes the ship shake.  It can really play hell with the gunner in the turret.  Also wouldn't recommend trying to get too fancy on the maneuvers.  The rattling can get so bad the nav program can't compensate...Oh.  Yeah.  You don't use one."  He seems to have forgotten you aren't AI.

"And before you ask...no. I can't fix it.  Not unless I gut the injection system and half the intake system and reinstall it with parts I'd have to make fit."

He shrugs.  "Anyway.  The Archers do handle well at low speed.  They're really designed for travel in asteroid belts.  So they can corner on a playing card.  At low speed."

He wipes his mouth and looks at you.  "Any questions Cap'n?"

Kaya nodded, “I'm sure we'll have some time to figure it all out.” Bomb planters though? What was that all about? “I've no idea why they're here though, our mission parameters shouldn't call for most - if any - of them…” After a second she shook her head - it was a puzzle for another time - and followed Aarav for the small tour.

As she considered the fuel injection system, the young lieutenant frowned and it was pretty obvious she wasn't all that happy about what she was hearing. “No, I don't suppose I can ask you to rebuild it.” Not that she didn't want to but they simply didn't have the time…assuming they'd even have gotten the authorization for it which she seriously doubted.

“I can't say I'm too fond of a ship that only works well at low speed…” And that was quite the understatement. “I mean, low speed maneuvering is nice and all, but it's rarely what truly matters in most circumstances…” And depending on what happened with the smuggler, they might have to give chase. She certainly hoped not, but…

“Well, it is what it is. We'll have to learn to do with what we have and not what we wished we had.” And since she was already pretty glad to have something, she wasn't going to complain too hard. “Does this 'rattling' diminish our stealth? I'll ask Major O'Bannon to give us a couple of slots in the obstacle course over at they yard for tomorrow, I trust you'll have everything ready by then?” Not that she was aiming for any kind of record - of even performance - even though she was certainly going to try - she was a pilot after all… - but she needed to see what the problems were before they left for the mission. And maybe look for something she could do to compensate.

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 25):

Aarav shrugs, looking around.  "Yeah.  I'm mostly just doing maintenance at the moment.  Stuff the dock monkeys won't really do.  I only have a couple more hours of work to go."

O'Bannon's office sends you a 10 Hundred slot for the obstacle course.  Considering you're supposed to have your official meet and greet staff meeting at 9 hundred, you'll have a busy monrning.

Of course, you've met half your crew already.

Maybe you should bring doughnuts?

Anything you want to do before 9 00?

O'Bannon said the briefing was at 08:00? Were you trying to get Kaya in trouble by making her be late at her own briefing?
Or it got delayed and it's 0900?

“Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then.” Kaya left him with a nod without saying more: considering his experience, he most likely knew much better than she did how best to spend his time the night before a deployment.

When it came, Kaya considered the message from O'Bannon's office with a slight grimace. Two hours to take care of the briefing, board the ship and get all the way to the obstacle course… Well, she'd have to make sure the "meet & greet" didn't take long. After a few seconds to ponder the situation, Kaya shrugged: it was as it was, and there was nothing she could do to change it. She'd just have to do her best.

When she exited the ship, she headed straight for the nearest simulator: she hated those - in no small part because she always did a lot better in "real life" than in simulations - but she needed to have an idea of how an Archer-class ship handled, and the best way to do that, short of piloting one, was to get some simulation time. And while she was confident in her skills, she wanted to look and be ready - and above all, not embarass herself - when she flew one for the first time. In front of her first crew. And no doubt, some other discreet observers…

A couple of hours later, she studied the files of her crew and ship and approved the requests that came from the depo after a quick read to at least know what had been picked, ordered a collation to be delivered for 0800 in the briefing room - it wouldn't do for the CO to bring croissants after all, but to make sure that her crew had food and drinks available certainly would - prepared her bag then went to bed.

Kaya woke up an hour before the briefing, took care of whatever messages she had received during the night then went to enjoy a nice long shower and got dressed, paying close attention to make sure that everything was were it should be. Not that there was much that could go wrong considering that she had very few distinctions besides her pilot wings and the captain's pin, but still.

After a last look at her room to make sure that she had left nothing that wouldn't go to storage, she called a bot to bring her pack to the ship, her ship, then headed to the briefing room, making sure she'd have at least 5 minutes for the last couple of meters: she wanted to enter the room at precisely 0800…while still make sure she'd have a cushion to handle any surprise on the way.

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 27):

Sorry.  Had 9 on the brain when I wrote that.  It's at 8

Rokzi didn't go too wild at the depo.  At least in terms of number of items.  Some of what he requested you have never heard of.  But none of it seems ordinary.  They're also all 'decomm'd'.  He's basically picking up decommissioned stock.  Maybe he's trying to be thrifty?

Other than usual messsages you would expect after picking up a ship and a crew, there's nothing that seems out of the ordinary.  The only odd ball message concerns Rei.

It's from Command.  Since she's a civie, there are certain protocols you'll have to keep in mind, like making sure she doesn't have access to high security comm channels.  But there is also a medical order.  She is apparently a diabetic.  That wasn't listed on the chart O'Bannon gave you on her.

Rei's a non-conform when it comes to biotech.  Her body will try to reject any and all prosthetics or nanos introduced.  So she has to handle her blood sugar the old fashioned way.  You'll need to make sure she is keeping her blood sugar in check. A civie dying on a military tug is always a bad thing.

One problem with simulators is that they tend to sugar coat performance issues.  But you can get an idea of what Aarav is talking about.  The Archer sim does shake at higher speeds.  It's not awful in the simulator.  But that means it's probably at the distracting level in real life.  The obstacle course run should give you a better idea.

---

Aarav and Rokzi are sitting at one end of the long table in the briefing room.  Rokzi is smiling at Rei, who's seated halfway down, apparently chatting her up.  Aarav looks like he's pretending he's not there.

Rei stands when you walk in and nods her head.  "You're Captain Wilden?  Hi.  Rei.  I'll be handling your medical."

"Which is good," Rokzi scratches the side of his face.  "I tend ta get hurt a lot."

As you're about to respond to Rei, Perri walks in behind you.  She checks the clock, showing there's still two minutes until the briefing starts.  She glances around the room, stopping at Aarav.  The two frown at each other.  Perri nods at you, Rei, and Rokzi, before heading to the other end of the table.

"So," she says as she starts to take her seat.  "Anyone laid eyes on the captain yet?"

No worries :)

“Indeed.” Kaya answered Rei's two questions. She briefly considered talking more about the medical aspect of things but since some of it was private, and the rest would have to wait for the last member of her crew, she simply stopped there for the time being. Plus, she still had no idea how she was expected to "make sure Rei kept her blood sugar in check".

When Péri asked if anyone had seen the captain, she was briefly, but intensely, tempted to say no and prompt her copilot to share what she expected. However while the answer would likely have been entertaining, despite her young age and inexperience Kaya wasn't about to make Peri the victim of a bad joke, especially considering that none of the other had gone through it.

Plus, considering the look her copilot and her engineer had exchanged... Well... So instead, she simply answered with a “That would be me.” Kaya walked to the front, giving some time for Peri to get over her surprise.

“Major O'Bannon scheduled a slot for us at the yard's obstacle course at 1000 so we'll keep it short for the time being. We'll have plenty of time later on to go over everything that needs to be addressed.” She paused to quickly look at everyone. “I am Lieutenant Wilden and I'll be your captain. Pilot second-class Von Helmon will be the copilot, Engineer second-class Shashidar is our engineer, Sergent Polovich will be in charge of ground operations and finally Ms Yamahato is the ship's doctor. We have been assigned to the Archer-class Gryffin.”

She paused for a second, then resumed, “Our first mission is to find Georgia Millstock who was allegedly kidnapped a year ago.” She displayed an image of the woman, “I say allegedly because she has resurfaced in the system of Little Giant, apparently free.” Georgia's picture was replaced by the footage from the Terminal 2 gate in the Vanilla space port. “The man's name is Wexler Wineburger. He is a small time smuggler, apparently with a specialization in eggs. Quail eggs at the moment to be precise. Don't ask, I don't know.” She shrugged, “Anyway, we are to first assess Ms. Millstock's situation both to confirm her identity and determine if she is still held hostage or if something else is going on.”

“If we do determine that she is still hostage, we are to rescue her,” Her gaze turned to Rokzi, “and do so without giving any indication that Fleet is involved. At least until she is returned to her family anyway. If however she appears to follow Mr. Wineburger on her own free will we are to report and follow until further orders.” And who knew where that could take them all.

“Questions?”