Beyond the Farthest Star: Deep Black Sea

[Koushou Mito]

She made a face at his explanation.

"Ugh, I'm sorry. I wasn't really thinking...."

Fine. They were both fine. Sure. They were both lying but little white ones. Less about misleading and more about not wanting to do this. Especially right now.

A pause as his tone shifted. A frown. Hesitation, and then.

She squeezed his hand back and nodded, line of her mouth setting firm.

"Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um. Hmm. Yeah, we passed one, one corner back, I saw a sign. Come on!"

Tugging him with her as she went. Not even thinking about it that was so normal.

Was this their job? Field biologists. Field. They were inexperienced but they had the drive damn it. Sure she had been expecting something more like crawling through underbrush and looking for tiny beetles on some unnamed, unknown world. But instead.... this was where they were. Mutant.... mynocks..... on a deep space station.

HUGE MUTANT MYNOCKS.

"Wait a minute," she frowned. "The bite on his shoulder wasn't that big. Not even close. So it must have been a smaller one. Honestly with how much power one that size would have to drain, the station would be having rolling black outs if there were a lot that big. So there's probably only a small number big enough to swallow a speeder in one gulp. We uh. Might want to look for the smaller ones."

A glance at him.

"You know, so we can get them back to the lab easily."

Not cause the idea of a mynock that big was honestly kinda terrifying. Okay, yeah a lot cause of that.

"Here," she paused, taking a turn where the sign indicated now, tugging him along with her.

"Maintenance lift," not like he couldn't read it just fine himself. Hitting the button, bouncing on the balls of her feet a little. "What if it's not actually THAT big but it can... unhinge its jaws? That would be absolutely stellar."

The lift chugged open and she only dropped his hand then, stepping in, eyes scanning the controls. "Okay so it says M.Pow. Main power?" Seemed likely so she hit that button. The doors chugged slowly shut again and the lift shuddered.

"Wouldn't that be neat if-"

The lights flickered.

"Um."

Then went out.

From the darkness.

"..... what was that I said about rolling black outs again?"

[member="Orin Hawke"]

 

[Samara Raine]

Gossamer​

Main Engine Room
[member="Vuie 'Srahum"] | [member="Andan Solo"] | [member="Bella Rimini"]


"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."

Finally they were getting somewhere on the fix.

"Roger that, Rimini. Engineering still standing by and green to go," Cin answered Bella Rimini, showing a bit of frustration in the whole situation. It was taking forever.... She was beginning to feel like maybe signing up for this gig wasn't the best idea... but if [member="Kyle Farnes"] and her didn't die out here, they'd have plenty of creds to throw at their dream boat. Guess it was a risk worth taking.

"Oh, hey, yeah, this is Andan Solo, one of the mechanics out here. 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."

The open channel brought even better news, and the voice on the other end wasn't so bad either. Definitely had one of those fun Core drawls, and not the terse one of the hybrid's.

"This is Engineer Cinara Vencu on the Gossamer. Copy that, Solo. Everything is good on my end to receive when you're ready."

 

[Rian Taske]

She knew when someone was checking their natural stride to be more in line with hers. Mostly because she didn't have to take two steps to his one and that was out of the ordinary. Most tall folks didn't really think about it and she was just used to having to hustle to keep up. Granted in this moment she was already going at a good clip. Still, it was noted and filed away.

At least until he stopped doing it.

If there were any doubts it was clear when he lobbed his own sally and went bounding across the hangar.

"What is he, part durni?" She muttered to herself. She could have tried to drop into a flat out run to keep up, but instead she kept her already swift pace. Boots clanging too heavily on the ramp for her size as she headed up, shifting balance slightly to account for the upward movement once he hit the button.

"Toy? If this has more capabilities than you told me, I'm pretty sure you're legally obligated to disclose," throwing him a smirk over her shoulder as she passed and headed into the cockpit.

Dropping down into the pilot's seat she strapped in, then starting flipping on pre-flight checks. Good eye paused to cast over to him when he entered.

"I dunno if the co-pilot's seat is rated for the weight of yer armor, so if it breaks, well, you've been warned. Flight over to the station is short, couple minutes. Can't risk the infestation getting over to the ship, otherwise we would have docked," a small huff of air through her nose, a sigh. "That had been the original plan anyway. Best laid and all that jazz."

She flicked a switch, kicking on the repulsor lifts and settled both hands on the control to ease them out of the hangar and into the empty space between their ship and the station.

[member="Corvus Dravere"]

 

[Bella Rimini]

​

Silk Holdings Station
Repair the Fuel Rig p6


Bella stared at the door to level seven. Tapping her fuse box with impatience.

[member="Cinara Vencu"] sounded likewise. Luckily, [member="Andan Solo"] was showing good progress. So Bella touched her com-link,

>> "Bella to Solo. You can head on over to the main box at the base of the refueling rig and start flipping switches, yeah. We should have at least half the systems up by now. And, tell me what boxes are still showing red after you hit them. Might have a few leftovers that need special care." <<

The emergency power lights in the dark tunnels suddenly flickered. Then when out completely.

>> "Ugh. And, watch for Mynocks yeah. I have a feeling until those things are cleared out? Were going to be repairing stuff till midnight. Anyway. Good luck out there. Bella out." <<

She let go of her ear piece and stood alone in the darkness. Listening to the echoing silence all around.

"Okay kiddies,.."

A sudden blue blaze stoked the darkness away and a shining blue lightsaber appeared in her hands,

*sspptt* *thrummm*

"...No more mister nice girl."

In the blue glow of the ancient tunnel, the door to level seven slide open. Then clasped shut and sealed behind her. Letting the last remnants of her blow glow slip back into the darkness. Listening to the profound silence of the tunnels all around. The door was closed. The way back was shut. Meanwhile. Through the black looking glass of the door. Blue flashes and silent flickering began to spark up, up, and down. Flashes of wings, and sabers, and screaming, and clawing razor-teethed death. Illuminating the sign "Level Seven" in blue streaks and black swatches.

Yet silence, silence. A silent war in the dark.


* * *

Mere moments past.

The last silicone creature fell burnt and crisp against the hard metallic ground. Smoke rising, bitter hot burning pieces. It's black fluids leaking out through the grating of the floor between. Bella stepped over the corpses and frowned into the blue darkness beyond. Everywhere there was black metal grating. It's narrow passageways and tight alien corridors. Tight corners and low humming ceilings. Now filled with jagged corpses and the rising fumes of it's leathery defaced dead. The stink of it all. The smoke. Ugh. It made her want to puke.

She swung her torch over to the side paneling. Eyeing the symbols scratched into the walls. Then she turned again in the blue darkness. Her scowling face illuminated only by the burning sword held low in her anxious hands. Her breath was steady and her footing was sure. She stepped over another corpse and found the last fuse box against the wall. Reaching up to wipe the black sludge splashed across it's once-white corners.

She replaced the last fuse. Then nodded towards her com,

>> "Bella Rimini to Andan Solo. All done down here. The last fuse is away. So. Mmm." She sighed and wiped her brow, "Anyway. What'cha got for me? Over." <<

She turned her pretty head slowly and kicked her wet boot against the black grate. Tiny black tunnels filled with stink and embered wings. Sweat, and death, and bile. And somehow, all of it had ended up smothering and splattered against her nice space-man's clothing. Ugh.

How desperately she held her nose and wanted a hot shower.

.

 

[Corvus Dravere]

"Legally obligated?" There was no way he'd ever believe that. His tone reflected it. Stomping up behind her seat with the click-clank of magboots sealing and resealing to the floor, he settled a palm on the headrest of the pilot's chair. "Not even you believe that." With the distortion of his helmet, it was nearly impossible to discern any amusement he might feel to match hers.

Beneath his armored head covering, his lips twitched, brief as a flickering candle.

"Risk infestation? Hell, you're already aboard."

The ride was, unsurprisingly, brief and uneventful. This far out in the black you were lucky to have a station to begin with, and traffic was another thing entirely. So, there was none, and as they made their approach he double checked his ripper was ready. "Ready to get your charge?"

[member="Rian Taske"]

 

[Matt the Radar Tech]

---

SILK HOLDINGS STATION

---

---

---

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

The return transmission from the Gossamer was a surprise, until Andan remembered he was on an open channel. He hadn't heard Engineer Cinara Vencu before, or even met her come to think of it, but he figured that was the case with most of the crew. It was a big ship. Still, updates were being given and expected in return, which was mostly the reason the Corellian had never really liked the official side of mechanics... it was so much easier just making adjustments as your own boss.

"Copy that, Vencu, you're ready to receive," Andan smirked, he made sure to add a bit of a playful tone to that one, as he began walking back along the outer hull toward 'Srahum. The area looked finished, so Andan could only presume she had finished and moved on. "Looks like all the patchwork is done out here. Waiting for new orders from Silk Holdings. Solo, out."

And while Andan walked the hull, magnetic soles clanking and disengaging in easy rhythm, Bella's voice came through the comlink. The Corellian listened, nodding, despite no one being around to see the habitual movement. Seemed the next step was simple enough, requiring him to hull-walk down to the base of the refueling rig. The main box should be obvious. So, with a tug on the floating tool belt, Andan activated the comlink in response.

"And copy that, Bella, standby while I head on down. Switch flippin' incoming." At the mention of mynocks, Andan winced. "And, uh, good luck with those suckers. Definitely ain't a fan. Solo, out."

The rest of the traversal was simple, with only a few jet boosts required to leap gaps or support pylons. The main box was adequate to spot, with the Corellian soon standing over the open panel, peering at a dozen switches. At the moment they were in a state of mad flickering, switching colors and clearly being in need of reset. Andan reached out with his gloved hands, patting the switches through the bulky suit cover, reverting them all to off... and hopefully he didn't deactivate important things, either.

"Here goes nothing."

Andan flipped the switches on, going down the rows, and watched as they changed to green. He about let out a whoop, before he saw several flicker back to red, a frown crossing his face. Then Bella contacted him again, her voice coming through the com sounding a little strained. She asked for the update.

Damn mynocks.

"Yeah, we are good here, panel shows green, basically," Andan furrowed his eyebrows, waving a hand helplessly at the red indicators. "I mean... there's maybe three or four that are red, but the others are good. Hang on, let me try something--"

Clenching a fist, Andan hit the panel with the side of his hand.

"--yeah, no, that didn't help. We've got red in sections... two, by the look of it. Label says two here."

Craning his neck, Andan saw a distant access hatch with sector two on it. Looked like the problem was fairly close. But whether he could enter with electrical faults happening remained to be seen...

"Bella, I can see the hatch for sector two not far away. I can be there in five, but it might be risky opening it. How quick can you get there?"

Deciding to save some time, Andan stood and began walking toward the hatch. After a few moments he was peering in through a narrow glasteel port, before he saw what seemed to be the problem, causing him to tsk.

"Solo here, I'm at the hatch. Looks like some electrical has come loose just inside the airlock, I don't think I can open here without risking depressurization issues... you'll have to come down here, sorry, Bella."

Andan stayed at the hatch window, peering in.

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Tess Sparrow"]

When that realization hit her Orin got relieved.

She probably felt that too.

It was one thing to set your jaw and not let fear define you. Another thing to not be afraid, while you are hunting a mynock that could swallow a car. The fact that they didn't need to hunt them down? Relief flooded through his mental state. "Oh, yeah no, that makes total sense. Easier to carry." Their eyes met as they waited for the elevator to arrive. "Besides, then we could study the base template first and determine common genetic markers!"

Glad they figured that out Orin stepped into the lift with Tess.

"Huh. Yeah, I guess, but the kind of mutation that would change the bone-structure to allow for that?" Brows furrowed as Orin thought that over. "It would have had to be insane.... ugh, we could write a paper about this, y'know?"

A grin to Tess.

"Can you imagine their faces if we have a paper to our name within two years of getting our titles?" Very pleased about that mental image. Orin did nod at her question, but was still mulling about those dreams when the lift started to run around them. So far gone into his fantasies that there wasn't even an attempt to brush the metal here. It was shaking and shuddering (obviously needed better maintenance ironically enough), but Orin didn't even notice- the lights flickered. The lad looked up, brows furrowed and glanced over to Tess.

"Wha-"

Lights died.

BLINK BLINK.

"Uuuum, I don't know, but I have a concern." Feeling around, until he found her hand. Giving it a squeeze. "You got a light? I am gonna take a look at the panel from this side." Crouching down near the panel. Once the light plopped up, he made quick-work of the casing and popped it off. "Lucky I grabbed that servo...." Ori muttered to himself as he engaged it.

His eyes grew vacant for a moment. Memories flooding into him. The grip on the servo grew tighter, more assured. Hell, even Tess would be able to feel it.

A calm professionalism taking over there.

Maneuvering the servo and starting to manipulate the dorment sonic fields with precision. Until something went- plunk. And the doors screeeched open. They got lucky too, because the lift had frozen just halfway through another level. Just enough of a gap to get through. "Alright, go in first, I will be right after you." He murmured, while working the servo further.

Keeping the doors open for her.

 

[Bella Rimini]

Silk Holdings Station
Repair the Fuel Rig p7

[member="Andan Solo"] updated Bella as to mixed electrical issues in level 2's airlock.

She seemed dumbfounded as to why an airlock would be the hardest part to access from the outside. Perhaps power problems throughout the station. Admittedly, C-70 in station command hadn't been a big help either. So maybe it was a communications issue too. Bleh.

She touched her ear and squinted in the dark,

>> "Roger that Solo. On my way." <<

She wriggled her nose and sighed at her composure. Sticky, was not how she enjoyed to be dressed.

A few minutes later and the door to level two access was slipped close behind Bella. Her black bodyglove making a squishy noise as she walked. Frowning at her matted and damp hair the whole way to the airlock. However, she hid her lightsaber back into her butt pouch. Cautious not to advertise her religious affiliations among more members of the crew. The less space magic people thought you possessed. The better.

"Let's see now. He said, it was inside the airlock right?"

Bella approached the narrow catwalk and peered through the glasteel viewport from the inside. Ah! Yes. There it was. Good.

>> "Bella to Solo. I see you. Opening the inner door now." <<

She touched the panel but it failed to respond. Then, upon a second touch. It barked a red symbol for emergency. Something something, "biological lockdown measures engaged". Huh?

>> "Uh. Solo. I don't think this door wants to open from the inside either? You got a cutting torch out there or..?" <<

She suddenly remembered her lightsaber. And, well. She also remembered that chopping your way through an airlock's seal was probably a terrible idea in the first place.

>> "Nevermind. Old habit. Anyway, can you rewire the door from outside? I'm no slicer and this panel it's working for me. Ideas?" <<

She was hesitant to call back to command and ask the crazy droid for help.

 

[Matt the Radar Tech]

---

SILK HOLDINGS STATION

---

---

---

Repair Fuel System.
[member="Bella Rimini"] | [member="Cinara Vencu"]

The wait wasn't very long, thankfully. A quick glance to the air supply of the EVA suit told Andan he had about thirty minutes remaining. It seemed like a lot, but if someone bad happened, that would quickly deplete during a situation. Still, the appearance of Bella Rimini on the other side of the airlock was pleasant enough, the Corellian raising his eyebrows as he looked at her, too.

She's pretty, too. Brains and looks.

There was a moment where both sides of the airlock area were inaccessible. Both doors were playing around, it seemed. But, when it came to fuses breaking and overloading circuits, anything was on the table as to what could go wrong. The suggestion to open the outer door made sense, since the inner door was keeping the station from being sucked out into space. It was just unfortunate the inner door wasn't functioning, was all. Yet, Andan did have what was needed, as he opened the comlink again.

"Yeah, pretty sure I do, one sec," He said, looking down as he began shuffling through the tools. A few began floating lazily, having been pulled free to dig deeper. "I... have a fusioncutter here, yeah. I'll slice open the panel, see if I can't jury rig it to pop open."

The polarizing visor assisted in dimming the sparks and light caused by the cutter, and within a few deft movements, Andan had it pried open and was looking at a mass of wires and connectors. While similar to some ship docking systems, the panel was larger and a little more complex. But, generally speaking, most electrical circuits followed a similar pattern, requiring a baseline for functionality... or so Andan hoped, as he began pulling at some wires, squinting as he tried to read some of the small aurebesh serial information on them.

"Alright, Bella, I think I'm ready to give this a shot," Andan commented, looking back in through the narrow viewport. "Oh, just one small thing beforehand, can you engage that internal emergency lock? Last thing we need is both doors opening if something goes wrong here... it would be one hell of a way to meet in person, if you're sucked out."

Along with the rest of the station.

Andan waited for the confirmation.

"Here we go."

Andan sliced some wire casings, exposing the internal wiring. He began to shift some, sparking others, before twisting several off. Finally, with the last pair in either hand, the Corellian let out a good luck mutter, before touching the ends, causing a brief flash... and grinned as the outer door opened. Gathering the tools, Andan moved inside and crouched down beside the panel that seemed to be causing the airlock issue. It looked easy enough, just some burnt out wiring, of which he had some replacements in his bag of tricks.

"This'll only take a minute."

Reaching out to the exterior panel, Andan wiggled the wires free, before pulling his arm back in quickly. The door didn't close. Fortunate. He pressed the internal panel, closing the exterior door, securing it. Pressurization began, gravity returning as it started to make the EVA suit a lot more heavy. But, there was a job to do, so Andan moved back to the burnt out wires and began to slice and add connectors, filling the damaged portions with newer lengths and letting the circuits reconnect what needed to be. And after a few minutes, the interior door showed green to open... to which Andan stood up, turned to the interior door and grinned to Bella.

"Aaaand, sorted."

 

[Koushou Mito]

Her hand squeezed his, looking up into the pitch black at the ceiling.

She knew, logically, that there wasn't anything there. Lurking. In the dark. Above their heads. Waiting.

Logically that wasn't the case.

But.

Buuuuuuuuut.

"Oh, uh. Yeah. Sec."

Letting go and fishing into her pocket, clicking on the light. Before she shined it where he needed it though? She checked the top corners of the lift. Blissfully empty.

"I'll never tell you to leave a tool behind again," she confirmed, aiming the beam of light over his shoulder to the panel.

She watched at he did the thing. He'd explained that, sometimes, especially with mechanical things that had been worked on by other people extensively, he could pick up more than just the general memories and find the specific ones related to how to use or fix an object. It was always a bit unnerving.

"Okay...." a little dubious and eyeing the gap. Up or down? Up because it was closer to how they'd come in... or down because it was closer to where they were trying to go? It seemed like everything was trying to tell them that this was a terrible idea. And yet....

Sticking the light between her teeth, she grasped the edge. She shimmied down, slipping through the lower opening and dropping down to the floor on that level.

"Oday, 'ome 'oo," she said around the flashlight, then pulled it out. "Okay come through, there's room." She called again.

Tess turned around, about to start sweeping the light through the darkened corridor when-

FLAP FLAP WHAM

"GAH."

She went down with a face full of wings

[member="Orin Hawke"]

 

[Rian Taske]

"I don't believe in a lot of things, but can't blame me for trying."

Easing them away from the ship, her lips curled into an expression half smirk, half grimace.

"Hardy har, I'd call that low hanging fruit but all fruit is low hanging to you isn't it?" A jab about his height or his sense of humor? Difficult to tell and could easily be both.

"Always," she said, distracted and absent as she focused on bringing them into the station's hangar. With a small bump and a whine from the repulsor lifts they settled and she was already pushing herself back out of the chair. A glance into the cargo bay- they didn't have a proper medical transport, but most of them had a place someone could be laid out if needed- she paused to unlatch the cot from the wall and draw it down so it'd be ready when they came back.

"Alright man-in-can, let's go."

The two disembarked, and with a check on her comm it didn't take long for them to make their way to the Devaronian and his unconscious friend.

"Medic for real or medic for fake?"

"We can talk about the issues with the second later, fill me in on what happened."

Using the scanner- "okay this is karking great tho," muttered under her breath- the Devaronian filled them in. The attack. The seizure and how long it had lasted. The two kids that had come through, which explained the question.

"Sounds like he did the right thing," she said absently. "He's stable but I don't like his vitals. The heart rate is fething wild, I have to assume it's from whatever was in the bite, but it's nothing this thing recognizes. Let's get him back to the Gossamer and the med bay."

[member="Corvus Dravere"]

 

[Bella Rimini]

Silk Holdings Station
Repair the Fuel Rig p8

[member="Andan Solo"] had slipped inside the airlock and fixed the problem. Excellent.

Bella smiled and pressed the switch on the door. Opening the inner airlock door and giving the Corellian a big thumbs up,

"Nice! That should fix it."

She touched her earpiece and connected back to command,

"C-70. This is Bella Rimini. Do you copy?"

~ "Ah! Hello human-female-I-vaguely-remember. I am happy to see you did not die to our local infestation. Or, perhaps? Are you calling me now to report of your imminent demise at the hands of a bloodthirsty beast?" ~

Bella sighed audibly, "No C. We're fine. We've just finished with an electrical problem on level two. We were hoping you could tell us if you could see the refueling system working back on your command console yet?"

~ "Oh! You actually fixed something! Splendid. Let me ch... Yes indeed. Green lights in all areas. I should be able to remotely control the refueling process once again from up here. Well done human. Your ship should now be able to refuel with us. Well. Except..." ~

Bella wrinkled her nose and looked at Andan, "Except? Except for what C?"

~ "Except! There is still a very contagious local infestation of power-eating bats swarming aboard this station. Bats who, do to their exposure for long periods of time to deep space, micro gravity, and low background radiation emissions, have probably mutated on a cellular level into all sorts of terrible augmented deviations. Which means..." ~

Bella covered her eyes with her hand and nodded, "Which means we can't bring the ship any closer. Yeah. I get you."

Rimini turned back to [member="Andan Solo"] and shrugged. So much for a quick finish.

~ "Anyway human person! Allow me to take this moment to thank you and your team for the repairs. Well done. Please don't die horribly in the meantime between the eradication of our silicone terrors and when your ship will be arriving for the refueling process. After all. I was just starting to appreciate having another sentient being with whom I could trust completely not to blow up this station. Bye bye and command out." ~

"Yep." Bella scoffed. Shaking her head and releasing her com,

"Welp. That's us Solo. ...Anyway. Why don't you com over to [member="Cinara Vencu"] and let her know where all done with the repairs. Once they bring the ship over, we can start refueling whenever."

She pursed her lips and looked back down the narrow passageways of the dark station,

"I guess it's up to the security and medical teams now."

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Tess Sparrow"]

"Knew you'd eat your words eventually." Orin murmured jokingly.

Most his attention was with the tech though.

Oh, he knew what he was doing, and knew even more with the experience flooding through him. But it was still delicate work. That could potentially be hella trouble, if Ori forked up even an inch of it. Luckily... that didn't happen. Instead Tess crawled on through. First- her words were muffled and Orin's brows furrowed in confusion. "Wha-" Then she clarified and Orin nodded quickly.

"Incoming!"

Locking down the system and started to crawl up.

Right in time for the GAH to sound and Tess to fall down. Right when Orin climbed up- causing them both to collide against one another. "AH" Orin shouted, confused, shook, then suddenly the wings and the screeching.

Trying to disentangle himself from Tess.

How Orin did it, he didn't know, but somehow he managed to get on a knee and swung. The servo connected hard with the head of the mynock. It twitched once and then dropped to the ground there. "Good fething... feth." Orin muttered. The servo dropping out of his shaking hands. "Tess?" Glancing around, crouching next to her. "Hey, you okay, nothing hurt?"

Before Orin could truly focus on her though....

In the distance they could hear more screeching. "Ah, chit." Quickly grabbing for the netting. "We can't take them down one by one, quick, we set up the trap and we should be good. You with me?"

 

[Corvus Dravere]

"It is." He replies dryly, "Though I suppose when every shelf is a mountain you're quick to make height analogies."

It was hard to tell from the even tone of his voice whether that was a joke or a jab, but at the very least he didn't seem to be taking any of this personally. Swaying only vaguely as they passed from one ship to another, and he followed after her with his weapon at the ready. He almost made a remark about being a fake medic, but she was busy, and so he kept himself quiet, maintaining overwatch for her while she ran her scans.

Tucking his rifle under one arm, the other was used to hoist the unconscious man over his shoulder. If he was going to have a seizure, it didn't matter how he was carried back. At the very least with his head dangling to the floor he wouldn't choke on his own vomit.

"As the resident fake medic," he intones as they approached the hangar bay, "I'm really surprised we're taking him back."

There was a long pause as he went up the ramp to deposit the impending-corpse onto the cot pulled down for just that purpose. "It really does look like a terminal case of the owies. I might have to put him down."

[member="Rian Taske"]

 

[Matt the Radar Tech]

---

SILK HOLDINGS STATION

---

---

---

Repair Fuel System.
[member="Bella Rimini"] | [member="Cinara Vencu"]

While Bella Rimini spoke to whoever she spoke to on the comlink, Andan went about opening the interior airlock. It was quick and simple, and soon he stood next to her and waited for the transmission to finish. There wasn't much else to say or do, so the Corellian simply stood in the now heavier EVA suit. He reached up to unclasp the helmet, pulling it free before tucking it under one arm, while running his other hand through his damp hair.

"Alright, can do," Andan said when Bella told him to contact the Gossamer to give the all clear. He activated his comlink, smirking. "Hey, Vencu, just letting you know we're all green over here. I've been told the station is ready to refuel when you are."

Andan looked back to Bella and leaned against the bulkhead, crossing one foot over the other.

"Now we wait, I guess... how long have you been stationed here?"

 

[Koushou Mito]

[member="Orin Hawke"]

"Getitoffgetitoff!"

It didn't hurt. But there was something utterly panic inducing about being battered by equally frantic wings when you remembered the last guy who got bit by one of these was currently in a coma after a seizure.

Before she could react beyond the initial panic, she felt the impact of the spanner on it, the harsh shriek of pain in her face, before it flopped to the ground. She looked up, blinking and breathing too hard at Orin.

"Um- no. I don't. I mean, I'm not hurt. Just startled. I think."

She took a moment to confirm that was true- other than a couple of scratches on her arm and the wind being partly knocked out of her from the fall she seemed perfectly fine.

"That was more fun than I ever want to have agai-"

Which of course meant that there was promise of more right around the corner.

Not really thinking about it too much- if she did the adrenaline would melt away into just shaking she was pretty sure- she reached over, grabbed the unconscious mynock and shoved it into a specimen bag. It was a lot smaller, she realized, that she'd thought it was when it was flapping convulsively in her face.

"Maybe we should leave this to the clean up crews, now that we have what we came for?" Her voice was a touch higher pitched than usual, but despite saying that she was already reaching for the other side of the netting he was holding.

 

[Rian Taske]

"When you can't reach the top shelf you take what you can get." A pause. "Or drag a stool over, but I think we're murdering the joke now."

****

"I would have gotten him, but thanks." No sarcasm or snark there, the thank you genuine as they headed back to the ship.

Her brow was furrowed, flicking through the scans at a speed that made it impossible for anyone to be actually reading them, and yet she was clearly getting something out of it. There wasn't a single read out that she liked.

"Good think you're only a fake medic then," she said absently.

She was silent for a bit there, getting the man strapped in. Taking another round of scans. Finding a command that overlaid them with the previous set. Kneeling next to the cot, she didn't get up right away.

"You're not wrong, by the way," her tone more serious than it had been at any point up until now. She didn't look at him, her attention on the unconscious man and the scans. "And there are times.... places.... where we should have left him. I honestly don't know if there's anything I can do for him, even once we get back. In the field? Would have black X'ed the fether." Quiet there for a moment, but hard.

Then a sigh, standing up.

"But it's not the field like that, and I'm here because I wanted a break from black X's." Glancing over her shoulder at him before heading into the cock pit.

"Instead I'm gonna try, cause sometimes I gotta remember why I'm doing this chit at all," muttering as she drops down into the pilot's seat.

[member="Corvus Dravere"]

 

[Bella Rimini]

Silk Holdings Station
Repair the Fuel Rig p9

[member="Andan Solo"] and Bella Rimini had done their part. Now it was up to the security and medical teams to deal with the Mynock problem aboard the station. Yet, stuck down here in the cramped quarters of level two's maintenance walkways, Bella felt far from finished.

She turned her messy shoulders towards Solo and nodded a reply to his question,

"I'm Gossamer crew. Science Officer. I heard they were looking for specialists in extra-galactic applications. So I joined up to see the world outside our home galaxy. Probably just like a lot of other people did too. Curiosity, and all that. Nothing special."

She hesitated a moment as if to ask what brought him all the way out here too. Alas, that tingling sensation remained on the back of her neck. Warning her of danger, the dark, or worse. So she turned her eyes quickly back to the empty halls of the maintenance access just beyond,

"Anyway. It's probably not safe to stick around here until we get an all-clear from security. Mm. I think the lift at the end of the catwalk can take us back up to level one. Then it's just a quick jaunt over to the hanger bay. Best to chat there, yeah?"

Bella figured it was a good a place as any to wait out the storm. More people, more guns, and ship access off-station if they needed it. Better than waiting around down here in the dark anyways. She turned back to Solo and gestured with her dirty hair,

"Spacemen first. I'll bring up the rear."

There was no sound nor motion down the tunnels to warrant her caution. Still, better safe than sorry. After all her black bodyglove was still covered in the wet entrails of recently-deceased silicone bat-things. Bleh. Bella really did not want to encounter anymore.

.

 

[Corvus Dravere]

"Stools are good for murder."

----

When she made her prognosis, he didn't respond, instead preferring to keep his silence for the moment before she went to the pilot's seat. Standing behind it, one palm gripping the back, he loomed at her back like an iron monolith. Without moving, he eventually spoke, each word setting the gauges on his suit flickering. "In your position you don't get a break from that." He replies simply.

"You are the engineer. Part of being an engineer is the knowledge that all structures, no matter how well built or sound, will one day be imploded for the safety of everything around it. You are in the unfortunate position, however, of being the engineer they call to make that assessment of safety for the greater good."

His tone was both somber and firm, "But if you don't... someone less qualified might have to try their hand. And that's when the sarlacc grows up instead of down."

[member="Rian Taske"]

 

[Matt the Radar Tech]

---

SILK HOLDINGS STATION

---

---

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Hurry Up & Wait.
[member="Bella Rimini"]

It was a little bit of a surprise when Bella Rimini said she was part of the crew, though admittedly Andan didn't know everyone on the large transport ship, so it stood to reason there would be sentients he hadn't spoken to. Still, it was nice to know, and meant he might be able to chase her down in the future to have a chat with. So far the Science Officer seemed likeable, with a touch of humor and even sarcasm that suited Andan just fine. Plus she was easy on the eyes.

"Heading up sounds like a good idea, yeah," Andan said at the suggestion, before leading the way. "And yeah, the curiosity thing sounds like a common rationality for most. Personally I was interested in the payment for the job, but to each their own."

Andan walked along the catwalk, as he reached into his suit and produced a cloth rag. He turned, holding it out, to offer to the gore covered young humanoid.

"I was trying to be polite, but honestly whatever that is on you absolutely reeks. Sorry. I imagine it's worse for you, huh. Want to use this to wipe some of it off?"