Beyond the Farthest Star: Deep Black Sea

[Atlas Drake]

Mission: Determine the Best Course
Location: Gossamer Bridge, Ready Room

---

"Ah, Miss Starchaser. Miss Highwind."

Atlas nodded at both of the Gossamer navigators, diverted from his conversation with [member="Kirie Ito"] and [member="Bryce Bantam"] at the sight of new arrivals. With more of the ready room beginning to fill up, Captain Drake figured they may as well begin. The others would just have to play catch up when they arrived. Activating the conference table's central holodisplay unit, a crude stellar map of the Maccabree region appeared, luminescent.

"Welcome to Firefist. We've just about made it," Atlas waited for the usual joviality at this reminder to subside, before pressing on, "And with that comes our first choice. The Maccabree are in a sense gatekeepers to this spiral arm of the galaxy. Its no secret that by all accounts this is a very aggressive, warlike species and choosing to risk interaction could very well pose a danger to this crew. However, avoiding their territory would mean skirting along the outer edge of this spiral for many lightyears, risking lesser known and potentially unsafe hyperlanes, and resupplying where we can on backwater worlds beneath the Maccabree's notice."

He paced as he relayed this information to those gathered with him. It was his hope in particular that [member="Kaia Starchaser"] and [member="Tera Highwind"] could examine the cost of such a detour and what new potential hazards this could represent.

"Now I have my reservations, but one of our diplomats and a native to the area, Miss Nihl has come to me with a proposal that could expedite matters. I am certain she will be here shortly to argue her case, but according to Kaiah her people are ancient allies of the Maccabree. If we could use her contacts on Nagi to facilitate some type of meetup, it could be a risk worth taking."

AUTOMATED WAYSTATION​

​

"Hey Jace! Stay where I can see you, I don't want anyone wandering off."

The Devaronian security officer shined his torch down the unlit side corridor, just barely able to make out the outline of his Corellian counterpart. They were both part of the second team, but while the others were busy purging mynocks or securing supplies they had been selected to descend into the station's lower levels, and visually inspect the station's fuel tanks to be sure there weren't any nasty surprises waiting for the refueling team not visible from the exterior.

"What's the matter, Kel? You heard Corek, its only a bunch of myno-ow!"

At the sound of blaster fire, Kel raced to his companion's side, "What is it?!"

"The hell do you think it is? Fething mynock bit me, that's all. Got the sucker, though."

"Come on," the nervous looking Devaronian motioned for him to follow. After a few steps, he realized his partner wasn't following, "Jace?"

Shining his flashlight on the Corellian's face, to his horror Kel saw that his eyes were rolled up into the back of his head and he was convulsing. The bitten man collapsed to the deck, writhing in apparent agony.

"Kel to Gossamer, medical emergency!" (Suggested crew roles: Medical Officers, Science Officers, Security Officers)

[SIZE=11pt]ATTN: CREW[/SIZE]

Spoiler

• [SIZE=11pt]Captain: Atlas Drake[/SIZE]
• [SIZE=11pt]Executive Officer: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][member="Dax Fyre"][/SIZE]
• [SIZE=11pt]Security Officers: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][member="Noah Corek"][/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] (quartermaster), [member="[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][FONT=arial]Davin Skirata[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][FONT=arial]"] (local guide), [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][member="Subject 5"][/SIZE]
• [SIZE=11pt]Medical Officers: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][member="Rian Taske"][/SIZE], [member="Nida Perl"]
• [SIZE=11pt]Tactical Officer: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][member="Bryce Bantam"][/SIZE]
• [SIZE=11pt]Science Officer: [member="[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][FONT=arial]Bella Rimini"][/SIZE], [member="Corvus Dravere"], [member="Tess Sparrow"], [member="Orin Hawke"]
• [SIZE=11pt]Communications Officers: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][member="Kaiah Nihl"][/SIZE] (diplomat/local guide), [member="Faye Irithiel"] (diplomat), [member="Kirie Ito"]
• [SIZE=11pt]Navigators: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][member="Tera Highwind"][/SIZE], [member="Kaia Starchaser"], [member="Aeshi Tillian"]
• [SIZE=11pt]Shuttle/Fighter Pilots: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Tera Highwind[/SIZE] (secondary role), Cinara Vencu (secondary role), [member="Kyle Farnes"], [member="Andan Solo"], Aeshi Tillian[SIZE=11pt] (secondary role)[/SIZE]
• [SIZE=11pt]Engineers: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][member="Vuie 'Srahum"][/SIZE], [member="Cinara Vencu"]
• [SIZE=11pt]Other: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt][member="Yusuf Dar"][/SIZE] (stowaway), [member="Sedge"][SIZE=11pt] (deckhand)[/SIZE]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Atlas Drake"] | [member="Tess Sparrow"]

"Alright, two out of three, winner gets to sit their ass down and the loser needs to haul all the crap."

Expression focused and at ready there. Tip of the tongue stuck between his teeth, brows furrowed, staring at their fists as they got ready. He mouthed, one, two, three. Then cursed, because paper beat rock and that one went to Tess. One, two, three. "BOOM, suck on that!" He mumbled, but focused even more there. It was one on one. The next one decided their fate. Orin tried to get his mind into Tess'. What would she do next? What decision would she make-

Except... maybe she'd do the exact opposite.

Knowing that Orin would figure it out. Ha! What a sneaky one. Wise, but foolish. Ori saw through her ploy. They shook their fists one... more.... TIME! "Feth." He cursed and sighed. "Fine, fine, you got it. I really thought you'd be going for rock there, to be honest."

"Oh, well."

Ori saluted her and was off, letting her pick a spot for them.

That was how easy as it went with him. One moment intense and competitive. The next already forgetting about it. It took about five minutes to gather up everything they'd need. Honestly, Orin probably could have done it in two. But then he wouldn't have talked to about five different people at the same time. "Alright, here we go." Plopping next to her and strapping himself in. "Got us bags, catching gear, some analysis devices. You know, the usual." He relaxed there, breathing in and out of his nose. Calming his nerves. This was gonna be awesome. "Also- apparently some dude already got bit over there. We might wanna check that out first. I got us a medic pack, there should be medics on-site, but best to be safe."

The shuttle already lifted off.

Drifting through the cold void of space and towards the transit station. The hangar on the other side was less crowded. Most of the crew had already spread- each doing their own thing, or making repairs in space.

"Lower levels, the elevators should still be operational though."

 

[Rian Taske]

She held out her arm, tipping her head up to watch what he was doing with clear interest.

"Okay this is karking great though. More? Nah this is perfect. I'd been expecting something with a backpack half my weight where as soon as I'm unbalanced I fall over like a snap beetle, waving my legs in the air fitfully."

Looking down at it, other hand starting to cycle through the controls.

"Yeah, I'll bring it back when I'm done," a bit absently, her attention on what was, frankly, the best toy she'd gotten in a while. 'Done' was fairly ambiguous.

The communicator on her hip crackled.

"Kel to Gossamer, medical emergency!"

"Chiiiiiiit this is why I told them to WAIT but NO. Gotta go thanks!"

She'd come back and catch his name later. Some things couldn't wait.

[member="Corvus Dravere"]

 

[Koushou Mito]

In contrast, Tess wasn't over thinking it. If she did she'd end up feeling what he was going to throw and she had rules about that. So no thoughts here, just do. Boom, splat, boom. A cheerful grin.

"How do you like THEM meilooruns, Hawke," she crowed.

She picked her way into the shuttle, scanning. It took a minute to find two seats together, it was already pretty full with people making the trip over. She managed to snag the last two right before a bothan was about to drop down into it, practically sprawling over the pair of seats.

"Um. Sorry."

A grumble in what she could only assume was the language with the same name, and she sat up, wiggling back and forth a bit, but the seats were hard and uncomfortable. She had to fend the seat off twice after that, and was starting to get worried that he wasn't going to get back before they had to leave. The look of relief on her face when he ducked into the shuttle was clear. Raising a hand over her head, she waved him over.

"Thought you'd gotten lost," she commented, taking one of the packs from him as he sat. Starting to rifle through and then- a blink- "Wait what there was?" She looked down, checked her comm, had she forgotten to turn it on- feck she had. "How bad is it?"

The doors closed and the shuttle shuddered. They were off.

Her hands fidgeted in her lap, eyes casting between him and the small window as they slid out into empty space. "I dunno if we'll be much help. I took that one first aid class but it's not really the SAME, you know? I have a doctorate, that's not the same as being a MEDICAL doctor?" A pause, a horrified look over at him. "They know that, right?"

[member="Orin Hawke"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Tess Sparrow"]

"I am more into jogans these days.... I think." A lazy, half-hearted grumble over his shoulder. They were about to go on an adventure! There was no time for being grumpy.

-

"Nah, just a lot of folks, you know? Was also trying to see if someone around here knew who the spanner belongs to." Waving it around, frowning at it. It felt... heavy. Not the weight. It was okay in that way. Just, looking at it was giving him a mild headache. Like there was something going on just beyond the surface. It was odd. Not something he had encountered before. Orin wasn't really sure what to do with it. Right now? It meant just putting it in the bag. Might as well sort it out later. "Not great- details are sketchy, but sounded like a seizure. I got some shots that should stabilize him."

Should.

He had followed a few more courses that touched on the basic medical stuff. More than Tess, anyway, but that still didn't mean much.

A quick nod. Orin reached out, petting her hand. "Hey, it's fine. They know. Other medics are en-route, but we are closer right now. So... we give the shots, see how bad it is. Then leave the rest up to the experts. That will buy them time." Squeezing her hand for a moment, before pulling back. The shuttle shuddered around them and Ori gulped. "Not sure I will ever get used to that though."

It wasn't a phobia. Nothing as irrational as that. Just... a bit anxious about it. This wasn't a shuttle he had personally inspected. Didn't know the metal they had used- Oh. His hand, subtly, brushed against the hull behind him and there Orin delved. His eyes closing for a moment. Tuning out all the rest. Letting the feel of the engineering wash over him. Location, duration, the amount of pressure. The people involved. It slowly flowed into him and then Ori breathed out.

"Okay, the shuttle's fine." He relayed over to Tess, as if she was waiting on a status report. "Good ol' fashion Corellian durasteel. Can't go wrong with that."

They stepped out.

Didn't take long before they got into the elevator. It was a rinky dink thing. Scrapped, they could see the innards of the station as the elevator descended down. Shuddering around them. "Man, they could oil it up sometime, look at that rust though." Orin murmured. While they waited for the elevator to settle, he already got out his scanner from the bag. "We should do a few bio-scans of his body first. Make sure nothing the mynock secretes interferes with the shots. Last thing we need is to cause more damage."

This was their moment to shine.

To prove themselves.

Bumping his hip against hers. "We will catchu a mynock after we stabilize the guy. Medics are en-route." Already their ear-piece filtered through with that update. They'd be fine. Allll fiiiine.

 

[Samara Raine]

Gossamer​

Main Engine Room
_______________________________________________________
[member="Kyle Farnes"] | [member="Vuie 'Srahum"] | [member="Andan Solo"] | [member="Atlas Drake"] | [member="Bella Rimini"]


"Yep, mynocks. Damnable creatures those avians are, but no worries, cyar'ika... It just means you're a little out of shape is all. I'm sure we can work on that endurance of yours," Cin paused with a playful waggle of her blondish-brown eyebrows as her fingers walked up Kyle Farnes' chest lazily, " ...in the ship's gym later," the blonde grinned with mirth etched in those blue pools of hers, then she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled the man in for that kiss he had asked for.

"Now shoo and be productive... I've got work here," the Mando mechanic smiled brightly with a soft chuckle, giving a gentle push to her partner to send him on his way.

"Well, if anyone ever gets back to me from up top that is," she grumbled a bit in frustration under her breath as the bridge still had not acknowledged her call to them with the engine room status report.

Cinara stepped back up to the work station once again and toggled over to the other engineer's frequency, then keyed the comm hopefully to speak directly to Vuie 'Srahum, not realizing the Xanti hybrid had company in that of another mechanic out there on the EVA mission being one Andan Solo. He was a new face the grease monkey had yet to meet as many on the ship being stuck mostly in the belly of the beast.

"Engineering to 'Srahum. This is Vencu. What's your sitrep at the station and ETA on the repair to the fuel rig, over."

 

[Tera Highwind]

The green-haired navigator nodded at the captain, settling her datapad down on the table, glancing up at the captain in his seat at the head of the table. Despite her best intentions her arm twitched up before she could catch herself in an aborted salute. The woman's cheeks flushed a pale pink as she settled for nodding at the Captain, "Sir, errr I'm glad we managed to make it in time." Tera slipped into her seat, grabbing at her datapad, engrossing herself in the figures scrolling across the screen in front of her face, willing the deck to open up and swallow her, or failing that for no-one else to look at her.

Only, she didn't get much time to rest and recover from her near mishap earlier as Atlas began talking about the various variable that would influence their path, her fingers flying over the datapad as she pulled up the data she'd loaded before, expanding it out as she deftly traced out hte various paths that they might have to deal with, the tip of her tongue emerging from the corner of her mouth as she worked. "If I can Sir?" lost in the elements of her work the woman had pushed her earlier embarrassment out of her mind as she stood, fingers flicking at the screen of the datapad, transferring her draft to the projector that burst to life a map of the local area floating in the middle of hte room. Tera stepped forward, pressing up against hte side of the table so that she was half submerged by the sea of stars as she raised one finger, pointing at a star, "We're right here," A touch of the datapad had the star pulse brightly as a blue line slid forward through space, bouncing from star to star, drawing a line directly through the Maccabree's territory. "As you said, it's well known and easy to resupply and well repair." She glanced over at Atlas and gave him an apologetic shrug, "There's always a problem on a long distance ship like this. If we run into trouble it might be nice to have planets capable of supporting us nearby." A touch of the datapad and a route skirting the territory appeared, and then a third route, cutting through the Maccabree's territory, but not straight, wending it's way through the territory. "I built this in case we don't get permission from them then we can cut through their territory, just avoiding the main routes if needed."

[member="Atlas Drake"] | [member="Kirie Ito"] | [member="Bryce Bantam"] | [member="Kaia Starchaser"]​

 

[Bella Rimini]

​

Silk Holdings Station
Repair the Fuel Rig p5

Things quickly changed.

Bella was just finishing up her repair work on level six when both a medical emergency was issued and [member="Cinara Vencu"] came over the engineering coms line. She opted speak to Vencu, [member="Andan Solo"] , and [member="Vuie 'Srahum"] first,

>> "This is Science Officer Bella Rimini to Engineering. I've just finished patching broken fuses over here on the station level six. Ten minutes until I'm done. When 'Srahum finishes with her pipe work outside, we can flip the switch and see if that fixed it. Rimini out." <<

There. At least now Vencu was sort-of caught up.

Bella turned her com back over to station command now,

"C-70. Come in. What's the sit-rep on that emergency?"

Garbled static filled her com, ~ "This is C-70 to Officer Rimini. We've had a small mynock problem on the station. The Gossamer was helping us fix it. Alas. There seems to have been a problem containing the situation. All I know is that medical officers have been dispatched to the station's interior." ~

"Wait. There are mynocks on this station?" Bella seemed baffled.

~ "Erm. Yes. In fact. You're probably in terrible peril, come to think of it." ~

"What!?"

~ "Right. Sorry. Figured you already knew about the Gossamer's efforts to help us. You're very brave to go solo down into those tunnels, by the way. My circuits actually envy your lack of self-preservation protocols. Good show. Soild 50-50 on your survival. Very nice so far." ~

"Damn it all C! What am I suppose to do now? I've still got fuses to apply downstairs."

~ "Oh right. About level seven. Um. I just checked the cameras and... Bad news. There are mynocks nesting down there. Sorry human. They might be troubling the refueling process too. Thought you should know since it's on your way. Do you... Um. Do you have a plan for getting past them alive? Just wondering, ya know." ~

"Ugghh." Bella sighed and threw up her arms in defeat. Dropped her fuse box and cutting off her com channel,

"...Well. Poo. Now what am I going to do?"

.

 

[Koushou Mito]

"I mean, it's just a spanner? It probably belongs to the ship? Like, not LITERALLY the ship itself but, the ship's supplies." She didn't fully get why he was worried about that.

She glanced back over at him, looking vaguely alarmed.

"Seizure? Should stabilize him? What do you mean SHOULD."

This all was sounding more and more like the kind of doctor she had deliberately NOT become. Despite his reassurances it sounded very much not okay indeed.

And then he did the THING.

It wasn't the psychometry in general. It was the reason in this situations. She squeezed his hand back.

"Orin hun, sometimes you gotta trust that whoever built it did okay," she said gently. Sometimes, like now, it was fine. Sometimes? He found unpleasantness. Things that had nothing to do with their safety on a ship, but past events that didn't even matter anymore. Those could leave him shaking if they were bad enough, and Tess hated watching and being unable to help him when that happened.

Sometimes she wanted to put mittens on him and keep him from touching anything, but she kept that to herself. She was his friend not his mother.

Tess was quiet as they headed in. She'd been excited but between their sudden rope in as first responders and everything else?

"Maybe it'd be better if I stuck to the lab next time," she said, tone a little tense. And her tone wasn't the only thing. "I just.... maybe I'm not cut out for field work, you know?"

Second guessing. Doubt. Not new weights for her.

They rounded a corner and caught sight of the Devaronian who looked up, flashing his light at them. A glance between them and they picked up their pace. She fell back a step though as Orin reached them, clicking her own flash light and shining it about, up into the corners.

"About time," the Devaronian huffed, but Tess could tell in an instant that it wasn't personal. He was worried.

"He stopped seizing a minute ago and just.... he's breathing but I....."

[member="Orin Hawke"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Tess Sparrow"]

Just a shrug at her question.

A general I don't know, Tess, I am just repeating what I was told, you know? before they continued on. He didn't react to her comment about the build. Orin knew. She knew that he knew. He knew that she knew that he knew that she knew. That he knew. Or something. Either way- the point was that this wasn't the first time. It wouldn't be the last time. He squeezed her hand back, but stayed quiet. A bit sheepish, because Tess was right in this situation.

Always had been.

But that hadn't ever stopped him from reaching out to explore. It was like second nature, like a nervous reflex that calmed him down. Unless... well... unless it turned into a mess. "I am okay." Ori muttered. A little bit defensive, but not overly so.

A glance over at her for that next bit. "Tess, you are fine, we are fine. We inject him with this," Shaking it in front of them a bit. "Monitor him for a moment, but then leave it to the actual medics." The expedition knew that this wasn't in their wheelhouse. Not even close. "A cocktail blend of kolto-" One of the few healing agents that was still readily available. They were lucky that the Sith Empire hadn't burned down Manaan. Well. Not that burning down an ocean planet was in the cards, but you know. "-anti-inflammation agents, things like that. It will buy him time until the closest medic makes their way to him."

Something close to burning it down.

Orin ignored the Devaronian there, instead stepping past him and crouching next to the collapsed Corellian.

Hands going through the motions- checking pulse, checking pupil reflex, doing a scan with his gear. "Bite wound in his shoulder," Orin muttered to Tess. "Grab the tape and patch from the medic pack, will you?" It was still bleeding and would need to get fixed.

Last thing they needed was for him to bleed out, while the medic was en-route.

"If you fix up the wound, I will inject him, Tess."

Give her something straightforward to do. Patching up a wound was 101 for them at least.

 

[Koushou Mito]

"Tess?"

But when he looked up she was already gone. Slipped off sometime between their arrival and his last words.

The Devaronian looked at Orin, then over his shoulder down the darkened hallway, then back at Orin.

"I'll do that part," he said quietly. "Not safe to wander around alone with those things loose."

The pair worked together, and while the wrapping was clumsy, it was sufficient to the task. The Devaronian would stay until the actual medics arrive, he assured, settling down next to his partner.

*****

It wasn't as simple as 'I'm not THAT kind of Doctor.' As soon as Orin had knelt there and she'd stepped one step closer, she'd started to feel it. Burning pain. Like acid in her veins. It was visceral and deeper than any conscious emotions could be. While she had gotten good over the years at being careful and keeping it in check so she wasn't constantly feeling every surface emotion the people around her were experiencing, there were some things that cut through that like a knife. Physical pain was one of those things. It left her lightheaded and nauseous. She didn't handle physical pain herself particularly well (one of her siblings called her a big baby when it came to that sort of thing), but someone else's? For some reason it was immeasurably worse.

It wasn't just that she wasn't a medical professional.

It was that she had avoided that path for a reason.

It didn't stop at physical pain. Tess was quick to avoid the emotional pain of others as well if she could manage. The worry and fear that had radiated off of the Devoronian had been sharp and sour. It was one of the reasons she wished Orin wasn't as paranoid about mechanical things when they traveled. But she knew him, cared about him. She could tolerate it there when she had to. A small price to pay for the friendship they had. But from strangers? No.

Tess had drifted down the hall as the two had been bent over the injured man, her flashlight sweeping the high corners before she turned and vanished from sight. Breathing easier the farther away she got. She rationalized it by the fact that Orin had studied that area more than she had, and he had all of the supplies. He didn't really need her on this one.

[member="Orin Hawke"]

 

[Kyle Farnes]

The Mandalorian shook his head. Cin was a lot better at keeping on task than he was. Maybe it was because he just was the type of person who flew from place to place in his previous life. Former smuggler, and hot-rodder with his starships, but now he was more than that. A Warden of the Sky, and a Mandalorian, that meant switching vessels, keeping his YT-1300 in shape, but running a Pursuer when it was needed. A gun hand, and a wild jock on the stick, he preferred to keep himself moving. And this mission? It was going to be something different.

“Yeah yeah yeah.” He shook his head and laughed. “I’ll see you tonight.” He winked.

“This is Farnes to away team. Hear we have a Mynock issue? Who needs a hand?” He placed his helmet on his head as he made his way from the engine room, grabbing his carbine on the way out. “Heading to the station from the Goss, and ready, willing and able.”

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Tess Sparrow"]

He left some more medical supplies with the Devoronian.

It should be okay, but if it wasn't? Then at least he had some more patches and another injection. Should be okay though. It had been a tense moment, especially when Tess just slipped away, but Orin couldn't rationalize just dropping them to catch up with her. Was she okay? She would have said something, if there was something wrong, right? By the time that Ori caught up with her -- hands shaking slightly, twitch in his brow, seeing has he had brushed the metal a few more times to figure out which way to go -- they had left the other two some distance away.

"You know, it was kinda awkward there once you left." Ori said by way of a greeting. He hid the shaking, pushing his fists deep into his pockets. "You okay? Was suddenly gone, so I wasn't... sure..."

His attention slipped off of her towards the wiring on the walls.

Chewed through.

There were still sparks coming off the edge. Brows furrowed. "No wonder they call it an infestation." Coming a bit closer to it. Still in a safe distance though. "Chewed right through them. See the gap here?" Fingers (still shaking) pointing towards where the metal plates had been torn apart slightly. Enough for something small to crawl through. "They managed to get into the station's structure. No wonder nothing is working properly." They were probably looking for a source of heat, which he said as much to Tess.

"You okay to go on? We could go back, take a breather, maybe have something to eat. This won't be a one-day solution by the looks of it anyway."

Glancing back at her worried.

At the very least his hands had stopped shaking now.

 

[Bryce Bantam]

Gossemer - Ready Room

[member="Atlas Drake"] [member="Tera Highwind"] [member="Kirie Ito"]

Bryce had spaced out as usual, but the years of training had taught him to do this while giving the impression on paying close attention to everything the speakers were saying.

"Long story short is we need eyes in this sector, out in front leading the way whatever path we take. How about this, it is something we did way back to help scout the First Order. We took an old Y wing, stripped the feth out of it and added extra fuel, sensors, while removing all weapons and most of its shields and armor. Making it a super fast scout, but chit for anything else. If we retrofit one or two of our fighters in this configuration we could have them patrol out in front, if they find anything scan it then burn like the devil out of there before jumping to safety. Thoughts?"

 

[Corvus Dravere]

She left in a hurry, and he shook his head. There was no way she was planning on bringing the device back - at least not without a reminder. But a medical emergency? Already? Hell, maybe they were overgrown mynocks. Hell, that'd be something. No glory in it, but killing was killing he supposed. Going to the weapons locker he kept in the lab (he wasn't one to trust consolidating ships weapons into an armory,) he grabbed the antique ripper rifle that had been passed down through his family. It's body was detailed with intricate, swirling designs reminiscent of swirls of oil in water, and a moment later he was hot at her heels. You couldn't be quite in that much armor, especially since it was designed to be functional for frontline use, not for sneaking about.

He wasn't even sure where he was going. Hell, she probably didn't either.

But if he followed her, well, they'd both get there eventually.

[member="Rian Taske"]

 

[Koushou Mito]

When he found her she was peering with deeply furrowed brow up into a corner, head tilting, trying to gauge the radius of the bite marks. She had her empathy tamped down as hard as she could, but she still heard him coming down the corridor, so his arrival didn't startle her.

"Um. Yeah. I just. You had it," she laughed awkwardly. "You didn't. You know. Really need me. I'm not... not good. With that- hey did you see the size of the bite radius?"

By the faith she REALLY didn't want to talk about that right now.

She paused though, frown deepening.

Reaching out with her free hand, she caught his.

"You're hands are shaking- are you okay?"

He wasn't, she just wasn't sure why without trying to pick up more of it than she wanted to. Part of it was privacy for her friend yes, but, selfishly, part of it was also her own comfort.

"Me? Oh yeah, yeah I'm fine. Fiiiiiiiiiine," she made a phhht noise and shooed him off. "Just. Thought I saw something. And yeah, you had it. But maybe you're right. Maybe we should wait for.... for someone else to bring one back for us." Looking doubtful. It had seemed like a big grand adventure at first, but seeing the man on the floor, feeling what he was experiencing in that spike of pain and nausea.... "Might be better."

[member="Orin Hawke"]

 

[Rian Taske]

Oh yeah no she wasn't going to bring it back.

Partly because there was a chance in the hubbub she'd genuinely forget.

But also later she'd use that as an excuse to keep it.

Rian moved fast for someone with such short legs, but she was only just making the first turn around a corner when the man-in-a-can came stumping out of the lab behind her. Halfway down the next hall and he had caught up. She checked a step, let him get one ahead, then crossed behind him to the other side before a double hop to catch back up herself. Glancing at him sidelong, one good eye gave him the once over, twice, from toes to top before she said anything.

"If you want to take a field trip you're gonna need a signed permission slip from your mom, and I won't be responsible if you put down your toy and forget where you left it."

She glanced back down at her communicator as it blipped, the location of the emergency coming through and then groaned.

"Of COURSE it's over there. Come on, I'm driving."

Another turn into a hangar, Rian making a beeline to one of the smaller shuttles.

[member="Corvus Dravere"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Tess Sparrow"]

She got a weird glance from him, but Orin dropped it.

After all these years he had a pretty good handle on when Tess didn't want to talk about something. "See it? It is practically large enough to swallow us whole!" Ori murmured. Looking away from her and back towards the bite. It was absolutely huge. Far larger than the jaws of a regular mynock would have been able to make. Somehow that didn't seem to worry him. Now anyway. It would probably start worrying him, when they were being chased by those jaws.

Oh well.

"I wonder if the mutations-" Then he got interrupted by her hand on his. Brows furrow and they coasted down, then back up to her. "Oh.. um, yeah, am fine. Had to figure out where you were, so... y'know." Stroked a line against the walls, until he found an impression of her. There was enough other chit there though.

"Anywaaaaaaaaay, am fiiiiiine too." A soft laugh there as they echoed one another. He squeezed her hand. "Ugh, we are a gorram mess, aren't we?"

He set his jaw there though.

"You know what? No. Look, we worked our ass off to get here, right?"

Meeting her eyes for confirmation.

"We got a job to do here. We got the sonic webbing, got the canisters. We can do this. We gotta." Pushing down his heavy feels. Determination instead flooding around him. One thing Orin had always been good at. Not torture himself with residual feels. Once he knew it was up? He could put it behind him easier. "Look at the teeth marks, the way they angle." Focusing back on the bites for now. Still holding her hand though, holding that squeeze for now.

"They are sloping down. I think they might be chewing their way to a lower point, is there a maintenance shaft anywhere here you saw?"

Maybe there were exhaust vents somewhere deeper down.

A source of heat.

 

[Corvus Dravere]

He ran comfortably, well used to the weight of his armor as he moved. Her sudden shift in sides was somewhat amusing, but she was shorter than him by a wide margin. Yet, her words spoke to a depth of confidence that created a bit of a chip on her shoulder - it was either bluster, or something hard-won. Either way, it wouldn't matter. He'd find out the truth of it soon enough. A smile curled his lips beneath his helmet, and he paced himself to her speed, not wanting to swallow the ground beneath him just to make her try and keep up. When he was younger, sure, he might have done something like that; a silent acceptance of the challenge in her words.

In his growing age, though, he found it didn't bother him so much.

"You're the one holding the toy." He replies, and he bounded across the hangar at ground-eating strides. Stopping at the top for her to catch up, he hit the button to raise the ramp while activating the magnetic locks on his boots to keep him in place for the ride.

"Ready to go."

[member="Rian Taske"]

 

[Matt the Radar Tech]

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SILK HOLDINGS STATION

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---

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Repair Fuel System.
[member="Vuie 'Srahum"] | [member="Bella Rimini"]

'Srahum was too busy working to respond, so Andan did the next best thing - he decided to look elsewhere for damage to repair.

Walking along the outer hull of the station, the Corellian dragged his bag of tools behind. He kept the hydrospanner in gloved hand, though, absently twirling it in front of him as he moved. Within a short span, Andan saw another hole in the metallic plating, cringing as he peered inside. The damage didn't appear too bad, though the pipe within was indented and could have caused a buildup. Reaching inside the opening, careful not to rip his suit, Andan began feeling around for anything that might have been loose or dislodged but otherwise out of sight... and inclined his head when he heard a voice through his helmet comlink.

"Oh, hey, yeah, this is Andan Solo, one of the mechanics out here," Andan said to the Science Officer. "By the look of it, 'Srahum is about done, and I'm just beating a pipe into shape... should only be a few whacks, so give me a minute."

In the background of the call, there was a dull thudding heard. It was mostly from the vibrations up Andan's arm from the hydrospanner, rather than sound from the impact itself in space. Still, with some good old elbow grease, the pipe soon resembled what it once had been, even if it was a little less pristine. The indent was gone, either way, so any potential of a clog or buildup was basically removed.

"All done, Bella," Andan said, standing straight as he flipped the tool back into his bag holder. "What's the next step? We flipping switches?"

Andan liked flipping switches. Had it been ten minutes yet? Maybe there were still fuses to be fixed internally...