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Post by GuardsGhost on Sept 1, 2015 14:38:55 GMT -5
It had been a few days since Maverick had left the sunny islands of Hakawa for the void of space, and so far all had gone well on the ship. The journey to the outpost they were supposed to assist with its pirate problem had gone off without a hitch, and morale was high on the Alderaanian Wraith. Captain Orion had paused them for a day at a spaceport on some outer rim world, and sent his men down to the planets surface to gather some extra supplies for the ship after there was an unexpected mechanical failure. The engineers had been hard at work on it however, trying to get the Mavericks to their destination.
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Perseval was lying in his bunk, humming a tune to himself as he browsed the holonet. The young pilot was the very face of high morale on the ship, constantly cheerful as of late. How could he not be? He was officially on deployment with a Republic elite X-Wing Squadron, and he had befriended his wingmate. Life was good.
However, he suddenly shut off his pad and leaned out of his bed to glance up at his wingmate in the top bunk. "Hey, cloudhead. Want to go get some food and liquid down at the mess? I'm pretty hungry. The cooks from Corellia too, so he knows exactly what the good stuff is like."
Without really waiting for her response, he slid out of his bunk and headed towards the door to their quarters, still humming that tune of his. He was heading out the door when he bumped into the new crewman/engineer on the ship, Miles. By bumped, he literally bumped into the man. Miles had had his head in a datapad, and had not noticed as Perseval came out of his room. The pilot went sprawling back into the doorway of his quarters, and Perseval couldn't help but let out a yelp at the unexpected contact. Miles didn't even look up from his pad, and just kept walking.
"You need better situation awareness flyboy." Was the surly response that rung in Persevals ears for a bit. The gruff engineer just continued on his way.
Perseval rubbed his back, sitting up on the floor. "Man, that guy needs to lighten up a bit. Hey, Bel, wonder if his face would shatter if he smiled?"
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Captain Orion was in command on the bridge, staring out the bridges glass viewing port at space. He was aloof and withdrawn, almost Imperial with the air he gave off while he stood infront of his subordinates with his hands folded behind his back. The rookie members of the bridge crew even seemed nervous. However..even the Veterans had an uneasy feeling about the silence of their Captain.
The man heaved out a sigh, and turned to his chair, pressing a button on the arm and speaking over the intercom. "Crew of the Alderaanian Wraith, this is your Captain speaking. We are preparing to leave the planet now. One more jump and we should reach the outpost that we're supposed to take a look at." He hesitated a few moments, and then let go of the intercoms button.
Not yet.
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ThreeDawg
Administrator
Voice of the Wastes
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Post by ThreeDawg on Sept 1, 2015 15:28:44 GMT -5
It had been a few days since Bel had come out of her hangover. She'd tried her hardest not to show just how hard she'd partied on their final day in Hakawa - but so much bootleg Talusian Whiskey later... Well the first 'day' out in Space had been a slow one. Painfully slow. In her mind, she'd only really shown it back in their new quarters. She'd immediately pegged top bunk, and immediately collapsed into a heap until she was needed for anything but sleeping. Well that was a few days ago, now? Now Bel had found herself a novel to read. She'd snatched a copy from one of the engineers on board, traded a couple of Creds for it. The Engineer had been adamant that it was a "Steamy love novel about the relationship between a Zeltron Slave and a Twi'lek Bounty Hunter and their quest to find each other across the Galaxy."
It was crap.
Bel had gotten about a quarter of the way through the book when she came to that decision. If this was supposed to be love, it was terrible. The Zeltron was as bland a character as she'd ever read, who seemed to use her pheramones to constantly attract every character around her and pull them into rather... Crude scenes. Sure she'd expected about as much from a novel that had only gotten a two out of five from Hesperidium Herald's reviewer. Even the Twi'lek, who was about the only redeeming character to the novel, was dragging his Lekku all around the galaxy following the trail on this 'woman' that kept throwing her lustful emotions on every other sentient species she came across! Eugh! She didn't know why she was still reading it, but she was glad when Pers jumped out of bunk.
Bel was growing more to like the Corellian, he wasn't that bad to share quarters with and he wasn't that bad behind an X-Wing either. He was still a Corellian though, which means he was about as up there as a Jawa. "Cloudhead?" She called down to him, clicking off her pad and putting it down on her bunk. She swung her legs over the edge of the bunk in a single move and dangled them from the edge. "I'll show you cloudhead!" She kicked out at him as he walked to the door, she missed (she meant to, but sssh), but the 'woosh' of her heavy kick was plenty audible as a threat.
She dropped down to the floor with a hearty thud, right as Pers did the exact same with one of the Wraith's Engineers. "What an ass..." she mumbled to herself as he walked away, a frown etched on her face as she watched the Engineer slide out of her vision. She came up to Pers and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, putting on a mock mothering voice. "Oh little Cloudskimmer, did the nasty Engineer give you some hurts? I don't know about his face shattering from a smile, I think you almost shattered yourself when you bumped him!"
She pulled away with a grin, backing out into the corridor outside their quarters. "How about you and me go get that food and you can talk about how he hurt your feelings while I pretend to listen?" With that, she was off.
"Onwards, to the Mess!"
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Post by aardvarklord on Sept 2, 2015 5:36:53 GMT -5
"We were debating names for her. Cheron was suggesting naming her after you--but I think you won't complain if I veto that."
"At least it wasn't Karlin wanting to name 'him' Throckmorton."
"Hey! That was my father's name! I thought it was fine until you mentioned it."
"Say that out loud. You thought the name 'Throckmorton' was okay."
".........Shut up."
Erin chuckled lightly as she gazed at her datapad, idly picking away at her food with a gentle smile on her face. She hadn't even been paying attention to what she was eating or what was going on around her, to the point that on occasion she bit down on her fork only to find it empty. Not that she cared though: she was too happy to have her mail from home. On the screen was all but one of the guys from the 204th, most of them just in some common clothing or something grime-smudged, though Adre was still in a nice business suit, having apparently just gotten home. The couple of the hour though was Shane and his fiance, Kani, her belly slightly pudgy from their first baby. She'd known about the two for a while, in fact she had met Lisa and the two considered each other friends, but this message was the first she'd heard about their engagement and the child. Still, she was more than happy to share in the joy, and while she might have been a little sad that this deployment was likely going to keep her from attending any of the special events soon to come, she was glad for them regardless. Actually, it was kind of surreal, constantly getting messages about their lives but being unable to participate.
Still, as for the person missing... well there was a damn good reason for it. "Cam said he was sorry he couldn't be here, but he's been working pretty damn hard on his job. You know how it is once rumors start to spread, yeah?" Even though they couldn't see her, she instinctively nodded sympathetically, biting her lip at the thought. Poor Cam had been outed as a former Imp by his employer, and while he wasn't fired, he was being squeezed for every drop he was worth, to the point that he wasn't even able to work up the energy to send messages anymore. "Anywho, I think that's about it," Cheron said lightly, looking around at the others for confirmation before turning back to her, "So, take care of yourself out there E, hoping to hear from you soon. Until then, take care!"
"BYE!"
Chuckling as she let the video finish, Erin let out a contented sigh as she set her datapad down, finally considering her food. She loved 'her boys,' they might not have been the most sane folks out there, but they were downright sweethearts when they put their minds to it. And it was so nice to see one of them finally finding someone to settle down with. Erin had half-expected for Shane and Kani to break up just due to their similar, bull-headed attitudes, but apparently they figured out how to make it work. She'd have to go ahead and send a message back to them once she was in private.
The days since leaving Hakawa were pretty typical in the sense of what was done. The pilots got settled in, the crews set up for the long haul, shifts arranged, ships examined on a regular basis, morale high thanks to being fresh on the run, etc. etc. etc. Nothing too special for fresh hands to combat. Erin, for her part, was actually rather bored, as while she had plenty of minor busy work to do and she coordinated with Vesil and Orion on some of the maneuvers and training, none of it really had much to do. Erin loved going on deployment--there was just something about being on starships that soothed her--but in the past she had been able to interact with her wingman or the rest of the crew. However, she had an appearance to keep up, and while she was friendly enough with everyone, she couldn't really talk too about her own life, and the knowledge that these poor sods were probably going to be dying on mass was something which always kept her from getting to know the pilots on a deeper basis. Sure, there were the two Corellians, or... one and a half she supposed... but even then there was only so much that one could talk about a homeland she hadn't returned to in a decade.
And there was Orion. Now, the old man gave her the willies to begin with, especially considering he was Alderaanian and all that meant for her. But lately he had been just downright frightening. She didn't know if there was some dark cloud hanging over him (more than usual) or if he was specifically angry at someone, but it made her nervous. The one recurring nightmare she had was of him gathering up a lynch mob to hunt her down. She wasn't afraid of dying in combat--she'd faced that concern for a long time--but being tortured and brutally murdered by vengeful, mad Alderaanians just for picking the wrong side? THAT was something she was definitely afraid of.
Shaking the thought off, she went about continuing her meal, starting to set up everything for a return message. The place wasn't particularly active at the moment, though there were a few cooks chatting as they made sure the food still available was reasonably palatable and that what was left was kept on standby. A few people were eating, but they seemed to come and go in a relaxed trickle rather than the usual absurd lunch rush that some ships had. Stretching and letting out a long groan as she cracked her back, Erin felt reasonably comfortable around everyone present, though at the moment she wasn't really sitting with everyone; she generally seemed to be left alone, what with her being a 'spook' and all. At about the time the 'Corellians' waddled in, she noticed she had a text-based message from Cam waiting for her. Continuing to eat, she hit and started reading over it.
Dear Auntie,
Sorry for not contacting you lately. Life has been hectic. I'm sure the other fellas told you about my work. I'm still kind of struggling to collect myself, and after a couple of failed attempts to speak a message to you, I sat down and decided to start whittling away at this thing for a few hours. Anyways, I'm always happy to hear from you. Hopefully I'll soon be able to find a job that won't punish me so I can get some rest. Heard you were on a 'secret deployment.' No need to explain yourself, I think we all know the feeling, but I just hope you're careful. The Republic may not be the darkest bunch around, but I'm sure they still have their share of skeletons. The others may not say it, but we all worry about you. We miss you and hope that you come back to us.
On a brighter note, the guys are trying to set me up on a blind date. Don't really know why, it's not like I'm the only one without a significant other. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Still, I suppose it might be nice. Would've preferred it if they waited until I had enough energy to actually show the lass a good time, but what the hell. I'll let you know how it goes. I may wind up asking for advice. I don't trust those jokers to tell me the truth and it doesn't feel right asking their own girls. Also, I sent you a package, hopefully it'll arrive in time for the anniversary.
Erin instinctively smiled at the gesture, though apparently it hadn't arrived yet. Still, plenty of time left.
When you get back, I'll see about getting together the guys to throw a proper welcome home party. In the meantime, fly with your gut, aim with your eyes, kill with a heart like arctic ice.
Love, Cam
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Post by Zelus on Sept 2, 2015 8:17:59 GMT -5
There was something Eldramach hated mess halls. There was something that drove his not so pleasant demeanour to an even more aggressive tone. Cantinas were just as bad, just about anywhere with a lot of people crowded into one large room. He could hear everything perhaps that was it. The fact that he could hear what everyone had said, regardless of how close or how far they were from them. He could hear them eating and drinking, the constant clacking of forks against plates. Mind-numbing chatter about home, ‘conquests’ or even gossip filled his sensors. At least back in prison they blocked out most of the sounds from outside the cell after a while.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if his cybernetic eye wouldn’t allow him to see pretty much everything in front of him. He couldn’t even ‘close’ his eyes to stop that from happening. He saw everything, even when he was asleep he always had spatial awareness of what was going on (that was if he could actually sleep). It didn’t help that the implants often blurred the lines between his instincts and what the implants told him to do. Often he wasn’t entirely sure whether he was in control as such. Sometimes he made decisions, he wasn’t aware he decided. Often it left him with headaches. He could never really focus on one thing, if he was facing a direction, he saw everything. It was all rather irritating, so most often than not he could be found staring out of a viewing port. No such luck in this vessel though. The lounge was inside the god damn ship in the centre of the vessel. Where else was he going to go? The crewmen in the hangar grew suspicious when he hung down there. His bunk mate was sleeping, or at least that’s what he thought. He was an asshole, but he wasn’t about to interrupt someone sleeping just because he couldn’t sleep more than three hours a night. So where else could he go? Nowhere, he guessed. Given his status as a ‘reformed’ criminal, chances are if he did decide to hang out in the more quiet areas of the ship, such as storage, security would arrive sooner rather than later. So the mess hall was the only place he could really hang around in.
Now he was sat in front of a half-empty cup of caf, long since cold. Eldy looked down at his cup when he went to grab it, realising how cold it was. As his eyes lowered, he caught side of his wrists. It was… odd not to see stun cuffs on his wrists. Even in prison his hands were kept in them, after a particularly violent brawl in the canteen. Hell, even on the transport to Hakawa he spent the time rubbing his wrists. He was pretty sure he weirded the other passengers out at that. It was odd, being free, but not really free at the same time. Still, it was better than the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center. Not to mention... everything he ever had before. His life was better than ever, he had a fighter now and sure he was risking his life for the god damn Republic. He didn’t even know if he was getting paid. Not that he actually even asked, ‘cause he hadn’t. He had just been happy to get out of the cell. There wasn’t any real immediate need for money either. It wasn’t as if he had a home to fill, or a ship to run. Everything had been supplied by the republic. It wasn’t as if they’d taken anything off him when they grabbed up his escape pod following the destruction of his old ship. Besides some casual clothing generously donated by the Republic, his locker was just about empty. There were a few boxes of painkillers in there, to help with the headaches brought on by the implants, which was fine enough. More than he ever got whilst on the pirate vessel, all he got then was spice, and that usually fucked him up in other ways. A mere distraction in opposition to the pain. The pain relievers were good, but they only took away the headaches temporarily. Nothing would ever cure him completely. The implants couldn’t be removed safely too. The scientist who’d forced such implants on him had made sure of that. At least, in Eldy’s mind he had. The man was insidiously implanted in Eldy’s mind. If he ever met the guy, he probably would’ve killed him regardless of the consequences. Mulling the thought of ending the guy’s life with his hands wrapped around the scientists throat, gave him something close to pleasure.
Soon enough, more of his squad came in the door. Wasn’t entirely a surprise, a small ship with little free space, of course they’d go to the only watering hole they could get to whilst in mid-flight. Eldy continued nursing his cold caf, which had long since lost its heat. His cybernetic eye visibly whirled and spun at the new data, beginning to analyse everything. Their names came up below their faces as he recognised them, an automatic process. The eye had it’s own built in databank, it wasn’t huge, mostly it was used to keep a recording of the last few hours, which was then replaced over and over again as time went on. Some of it was used for facial recognition, so that Eldy would be able to recognise someone; even if he had himself had forgotten.
As the captain’s voice rang out over the intercom, Eldy turned and looked up. “One more jump, huh?” He asked giving something of a snort. “Won’t be long now.” He grumbled, rolling his shoulders some.
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Post by GuardsGhost on Sept 2, 2015 14:19:55 GMT -5
Perseval rolled his eyes up at Bel, glaring at her as she teased him. "Hey! I didn't say that! I'm fine! And I don't need to tell you if he hurt me or not, I'm completely fine." He grumbled, standing up from the floor and starting to follow his eccentric wingmate down the corridors. On their way to the mess, they passed one of Miles' engineers lounging about, obviously on break. It was the big one, the one whose name Percy still hadn't come to grips with. He was looking over a datapad, and when Percy opened his mouth to say hello the mans eyes darted up and silenced him with a glare. 'These kriffing engineers...' He shut his mouth, and continued walking alongside Bel, entering the messhall with her. "Alrighty Bel..whatcha in the mood for? I'm surprised that stupid 'love story you're reading hasn't ruined your appetite." He grinned and kept his voice low enough so only she could hear, but high enough so she knew that he'd be able to speak it a bit louder. He was getting some payback for the teasing.
It was hard to keep secrets when you shared a room with someone after all. And sometimes, you needed to knock your partner down a peg. Keep them on their toes.
His eyes drifted across the messhall, and when he spotted Erin he gave her a small wave. He doubted she'd notice, she seemed engrossed in her datapad, but at least he'd be able to say he waved.
When Perseval spotted Eldy in the messhall, he nearly decided he wasn't hungry after all. The man gave him the creeps, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that that eye of his was always examining them. Surgically picking them apart. He knew they'd been noticed however the minute they entered the mess, so there was no tactful way to withdraw. Instead, he nudged Bel on the arm and gestured discreetly at Eldy to make her aware the other pilot was there, and then plastered on a smile as he sat down at the table. "Yup. Sounds about right. Here's hoping we can help those folks out, eh?" He commented cheerfully. His stomach rumbled, and just as quickly as he sat down, he stood up to announce to Bel and their fellow pilot: "I'm going to go grab myself some food. See if I can't weasel something other than slop out of the cook. I know he knows how to make that sweet, sweet, greasy motherworld food. He's just stingy with it."
And with that, he was off. Leaving the two alone for a bit as he slipped into line for his food.
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ThreeDawg
Administrator
Voice of the Wastes
Posts: 1,219
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Post by ThreeDawg on Sept 6, 2015 12:06:07 GMT -5
Bel would have him for that one... 'Love Story'! The gall of the Corellian Junk Rat! She hissed under hear breath, and spoke to only him - although her unending Talusian rage threatened to break through the whisper barrier. "Mention that horrible book again and I'll force you to read it back to front and back again!" She really wanted to give him a good ol' dig for that - a bruiser, as was only right to treat a Corellian - but what with being in the mess and all it wouldn't do to have people thinking she was an abusive wingman. She chose instead to follow his gaze, which even through her outburst had been solid on - Oh by Deep Fried Bantha Nuggets... The Cyborg. That guy had more metal parts than a Landspeeder, she really didn't want to get on his bad side.
"Hey don't nudge m-" she burst out when Pers pushed her towards the ... What was his name, Eldy? Yeah. Something like that. She raised an eye at Pers as he mentioned helping folk, what was his game? She sat next to him, and shot a quick and short smile at Eldy. Then, Pers was gone. "Hey don't just l- get your own food, get me some too like the perfect wingman you are. Remember! Hot and Fried if they've got it!" She hoped her sarcasm was clear, and biting. She meant it! Leaving her all alone here with this creepy guy. Sure he was a Maverick now, but... Was he really? I mean how much of him was Maverick and how much of him was Republic Issued Robotics. Or worse... How much of him wasn't Republic Issued Robotics.
As she watched Pers leave, her eyes came to rest on Erin, who herself was sat alone. Why Pers had opted to go and sit them both down with Eldy than their Holiday Friend. Bel was above being afraid of her 'cos she was a spook, maybe Pers wasn't. She didn't really have anything to hide from the Corellian. 'Course, she didn't really have anything to talk to her about either.
She looked back to the Cyborg, and gave him another smile. This one she kept longer, clearly they were gonna be here for awhile... "So... Eldy right? We haven't really spoken, but I can't forget a face like yours!" She grinned, and let out a slight - no, very - nervous laugh. "Yeah..." she finished her laugh, drumming idly on the table. Suddenly she threw her hand out, palm outstretched for a handshake. "You can call me Bel! The other guy's called Perseval, but if you want you can call him something whitty like... Well I can't think of anything right now, but please be my guest!" She lowered her tone, so only the Cyborg could hear her - "Between you and me, he doesn't like being called pretty."
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Post by GuardsGhost on Sept 11, 2015 13:11:00 GMT -5
((Aard, just a heads up/reminder, you're up.))
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Post by aardvarklord on Sept 12, 2015 9:12:26 GMT -5
((Honestly, at this point, I'm gonna ask for Zel to switch places with me, because I've sat down trying to write this about five different times and I can't get anything))
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Post by GuardsGhost on Sept 12, 2015 12:15:25 GMT -5
((Fair enough))
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Post by Zelus on Sept 13, 2015 18:23:51 GMT -5
The metallic eye whirled as Maverick Three and Four walked in the doorway. Eldy’s ‘screen’ lit up with information he’d read about them days before. He snorted a bit. Male and female bunkmates? That was just asking for trouble. Still, he didn’t remember seeing any notes of them about that. Though, perhaps the Republic would’ve separated the two if they ever found out? Eldramech wasn’t entirely sure on the policies the navy had on that. It wasn’t as if he deemed it a possibility for himself so why look it up in the first place?
Through the noise of the crowd, Eldy picked up on their vocal patterns, something he’d listened to and familiarised himself with on the time aboard. He recognised their voices instantly able to differentiate them from the crowd. Listening to what they had to say, he gave a slight smirk. What horrible book would that be? He asked himself, making a mental note to look it up. Surely it’d be a fun read if it really was that bad. For a moment, he looked amused and curious, but it soon faded when he noticed their reactions to him. He didn’t point his face at them, he didn’t necessarily need to. Instead his eye just scanned them in the way that it always did. He could tell his effect on Perseval, it was very apparent. It wouldn’t be the first person to react in such a way. Eldy reached up and absentmindedly rubbed one of the metal coverings on his jaw.
As Percy seemingly spoke to him, Eldramech turned slightly and looked up at him. At the mention of helping out some folk, Eldy gave a noticeable shrug, though he didn’t add anything. He followed orders, nothing more. It was part of his contract to get out of the republic jail that he followed orders to the letter. Sometimes that meant helping people. It wasn’t something he liked doing, he didn’t get any enjoyment out of it either way. Of course this pretty boy would wanna help people. He was practically a poster boy for the Republic Navy, one of the many clones he’d seen plastered on posters, signs and holovids. He wouldn’t be surprised if this guy was actually one of them.
Suddenly the poster boy stood up and excused himself. Eldy rolled his eye in response, though his implant tracked Percy’s every moment. The guy couldn’t have been more obvious. He bailed after finding a proper excuse, one he probably used to avoid feeling bad. Eldy just shook his head somewhat at the thought. No one needed to pussyfoot around him, he definitely wasn’t going to. A fact they’d soon find out, he imagined.
As Bel shouted near him, Eldy flinched somewhat, the loud volume maximised in his implant. He reached back and rubbed the area behind his ear. Surely the pubs could’ve come up with a way for him to turn down the sensitivity. “Haku ba baha see koochoo.” Eldy grumbled under his breath in his native Huttese, a hint of annoyance lingered in the words. He turned slightly as Bel spoke to him. He turned slightly, giving her his usual grumpy gaze. “We haven’t spoken.” He told flatly. Indeed they hadn’t, or at least he hadn’t spoken to her before now. He hadn’t actually spoken to any of them out of an incredibly forced greeting. “Though I’m sure you wish you could forget it… I know your boyfriend does.” He snorted, pointing off in Percy’s absent seat. There was no sarcasm or humour in his voice; he stated it as if it was a fact. He then stopped for a moment and ‘corrected’ himself. “I mean, wingmate-right, yeeeaaah, that’s what he is.” He snorted.
There was a long awkward pause between them as Eldy looked down at her hand. He knew she expected him to shake it, but he made no move to put his hand against hers. Instead he just looked back up at her. “I think I’m going to call you Blondie.” He stated flatly, looking up at her hair, before giving a slight snort in regards to Percy. “I’m sure I’ll think of something to call that guy sooner or later.” Eldy had something of a habit of calling people by their defining features, much to the chagrin of his handlers at the Republic Personnel Services, whom he’d called ‘Handles One and Two’. He was sure to figure something out. Maybe if the guy was able to stay in his presence for more than two seconds, he might figure it out. Then again, maybe ‘poster boy’ would do well enough.
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Post by aardvarklord on Sept 14, 2015 9:19:27 GMT -5
Erin wasn't really paying too much attention to her surroundings as she flipped through her datapad, eating her by-now cold meal as she went about checking the news, her mail situation mostly done with. Nothing of particular interest had come up, and in all reality she wasn't actually paying all that much attention to the events, but she always made sure to read both the Imperial and Republic side of a few stories just to get her mind in the right space for the part she was supposed to play. While her loyalty to the Empire had evaporated like water dropped into lava, that didn't mean that her views were matched by the Republic either, and she rather quickly discovered that this little exercise in perspective did a lot to get her mind in the right space. And the best part was that she could do it anywhere and nobody would question it: people could just assume she was either reading the news like a normal person or checking for anything worthy of investigating as an intelligence agent.
The side-effect, of course, was that she didn't even notice Persy and Bel walk in, her eyes glued to the datapad, only occasionally looking over at her food when she missed with her fork. That said though, she could only be so oblivious and eventually she noticed the clamor created by the two and saw the bickering pair going to sit down with... oh jeeze, that had to be Bel's idea. Only she would intentionally go join that robotic curmudgeon. Eldramach wasn't an outright interest of hers in the sense that he was a security risk or anything like that, but she had looked at all the Maverick files since leaving Hakawa and that particular individual stood out to her as a particular source of potential strife within the squadron itself. Yeah, one of them was intentionally provoking that guy. Definitely not the smartest thing for them to do; actually it seemed stupid even by the farm girl's standards. Apparently Pers was smart enough to bug out early to get food though, and when he left to do so Erin gave him a wave and, assuming she got his attention, pointed towards the cyborg then looked back her fellow Corellian with a raised eyebrow, legitimately curious about why they had sat down with him. She wasn't hurt or anything, in fact there was a slight smirk on her lips at the thought of Bel trying to drag him into some trolling attempt on her part, but it just seemed like such an odd decision. Unless he went over to talk to her, she then went back to looking at the news, but her gaze occasionally looked back at Bel and Eldramach, taking in the interaction just for her job's sake. As things stood it didn't seem to be going particularly well or poorly, at least compared to what she'd seen of the cyborg and the stuff in his file. Why was he in Maverick again? This wasn't a black bantha squadron or anything... or if it was then it was the most subtle attempt at that she had ever seen.
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Post by GuardsGhost on Sept 15, 2015 1:05:11 GMT -5
Perseval had speed-walked the kriff away from the table, making his way right into the messhall line. He wasn't trying to avoid Eldy, he really wasn't -, but the man did require some planning to think about how to talk to if you didn't want to get your eyes bored into by that glowing red orb of death and suffering. Sitting under Eldy's stare was like having your skin stripped away layer by layer, and being aware of it the entire time. 'It's creepy as...well, I don't know..it just is. Why am I thinking to myself so poignantly right now? Kriff, when is this line going to shorten?! I just want my food!' His mind was consumed by this very important introspective debate that was raging within, though he snapped out of it when out of the corner of his eye he'd catch Erin waving.
His demeanor changed in a flash as he spotted the woman he was beginning to consider a rather good friend, and he gave her a cheerful grin and a wave back, following her gesture at Eldy. He responded with a shrug, and then stuck up a finger to ask for a minute. He then would point at the cook, cocking his eyebrow back at her in a clear question of if she wanted food or not.
Regardless of her answer, he'd soon arrive at the front of the line and begin ordering himself and Bell some food.
Meanwhile, some of the engineering team members would begin filing in. It looked like Miles' crew had finally been relieved, and the assorted bunch had finally arrived in the messhall, chatting cheerfully with eachother and egging eachother on about this or that as they did.
The four of them had already established themselves as decent enough people- even if Miles' was a bit of a hardcase, there were plenty of rumors about him and donating his pay to charity -, and some of the male members of the crew who fancied themselves romantics had been spending time attempting to woo Crewwoman Jaln over. Though none of them had succeeded in getting anything more than a small smile and a polite refusal.
The various members of the repair team split up, going to their own separate tables to talk to the circles of friends they had established. Not Miles though, no, surprisingly he headed straight over to the table that Eldy and Bell were sitting at, and just plopped down in the seat with his buddy Veys. The hacking sack of muscle that was Veys grinned at the two pilots as he sat down next to his boss and pulled out his lunch. Miles himself didn't say much, just munching on his own ration bar before eyeing Eldy's...well...eye.
"Nice optics. Not a bad model. Probably primitive though. Doesn't look particularly military grade. Hope it doesn't fail you when you're flying."
And just like that, he went back to chewing on his ration bar. The way he had spoken made it clear he didn't give a damn if Eldy responded or not, and didn't seem inclined to further the conversation in any other way.
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ThreeDawg
Administrator
Voice of the Wastes
Posts: 1,219
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Post by ThreeDawg on Sept 17, 2015 10:15:43 GMT -5
How... Awkward... Bel noticed her hand, outstretched as it was, was left well and truly hanging. She pulled it back with a light cough, and slipped it beneath the table to meet her other hand on her lap. Well that's not how you make friends with the members of your Squadron now, is it? First the 'boyfriend' comment (which would probably see them both terfed out into the spotlight if the wrong ears heard that), then rudely ignoring her hand. Now... "Blondie?" she all but spurted out, she blinked her eyes, shaking her head a little as she did. "Hey I didn't ask for the whitty nickname, I guess you could've done worse but folks around here already know me as Bel. You're gonna get some odd looks if you start saying 'Oh hey have you seen Blondie' about." At least, more odd looks than he already gets.
He didn't have much time to respond before their nice quiet table became a little full. That guy from before... What was his name... Miles? Whatever, he was an asshole to be around. The meatbag that followed up behind him she hadn't had the pleasure to meet yet, but it was clear from his crew uniform that he was one of those Repair Scrubs too. At least that guy had a smile on his face. She shuffled herself to the right a little, putting some more space between her and the hulking mass of muscle that had plonked himself down next to the Talusian.
Miles' comment didn't even need to sink in before Bel realised it probably wasn't the best thing to say to the Cyborg. Calling out the clearly anti-social Cyborg's prosthetics was like asking a Rancor why it had such tiny little eyes. Bel bit back the 'oooooh' in her throat and merely looked away, trying to find Pers in the que... Oh good he was at the front, she didn't try to catch his attention - but she didn't exactly look away either. Just two words repeated themselves in her mind...
'Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!'
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Post by Zelus on Sept 18, 2015 13:12:29 GMT -5
Whilst Eldramach’s biological eye kept watch over her face, the cybernetic eye slowly turned and followed every movement. He smirked lightly at her, waiting for her to day something. With a chuckle, he looked away at her response to his nickname for her. “Nah, I think I’m good with Blondie.” He shrugged her comment off, dismissing it easily. Odd looks? It wasn’t the worse thing in the world, besides he got them all the time. If it wasn’t the visible replacement of his right eye, it was the metal plates that sat on his jawbone. The odd time his mop of black hair.
Across the hall Eldy received a point from one of the other Mavs. This time he flashed a glance in her direction, having caught sight of it himself, though the implant was busy focusing on the engineers that piled in. Given she didn’t say anything, his face screwed into something of a glare, wondering what she was referencing him for. He followed the direction of her eyes and noticed Percy and everything fell into place.
Eldy’s attention was dragged towards Miles’ team of engineers. He winced slightly as he heard them. They were loud and rather obnoxious, at least to Eldy. Then again most talkative groups fell into that category with him. He despised crowds because he heard every word of their conversation. He couldn’t block out anything mundane, or stupid. He could hear their tones, their hushed topics, hell even the odd secret or two. Not that Eldy ever made sure to make anyone aware of it. It was bad enough with the intrusive constant scanning of his eye. No one else needed to know about his increased capabilities either. It wasn’t a benefit, it was a detriment. The constant noise kept him awake, gave him headaches and just basically annoyed him constantly. Miles annoyed him most of all, there wasn’t a fibre in his body that liked the guy. Who would donate their pay to charity? Eldy didn’t believe it for one second. If it was true, there was something untoward in regards to said charity. Either that or Miles had to relieve something on his consciousness. All in all Eldy didn’t trust the guy one bit. As for the rest of Miles’ team, Eldy basically ignored them for the most part. Eldy didn’t have much to do with the rest of the crewmen of the Wraith, so for the most part all he knew was they liked to keep to themselves. Well besides the woman, who seemed to have most of the men on the ship chasing after her.
“Urgh.” Eldy moaned moments before the two men sat down. He’d wanted to have been left alone, but no such luck. Now he was surrounded, not just by Blondie, but meathead and the paragon too. Eldy shot Veys a stare as he noticed the guy grinning at him. He’d been about to say something when Miles suddenly spoke to him. Eldy’s implant whirred in his direction; Eldy soon followed the implant and looked squarely at him.
When he was done, Eldy smirked darkly. There was something within his expression that seemed to hint at a switch being flicked at the words said. Slowly he stood up and lifted his legs over the metal table leg and got to his feet. Abandoning his cold cup of caf, he began to move away from the table. All the while the implant seemed glued to Miles. Without a word he walked behind Miles, as if going to leave. Seemingly that wasn’t the plan though, as Eldy turned slightly, and place his palm squarely down on the table. It came down hard, with a thud. “Ya know… I would’ve been content to just ignore you.” Eldy leaned down over Miles, his grin morphing into something likened to an Ackley standing over its prey. His voice was low, but loud enough so that the people around him could hear every word. “But you know what, I don’t think I will. I think we’re going to be friends, you and I. I think we’re going to get on well.” There was no offer of friendship. Every word was a thinly veiled threat. Eldy leaned up and tapped the table twice. “I’m going to enjoy getting to know you.” His buttons had been pressed for the first time on the ship, and Eldy figured that was probably Miles’ game. As Eldy walked off, he thought to himself ‘if you want to play, let’s play’.
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Post by aardvarklord on Sept 21, 2015 2:16:49 GMT -5
Erin rolled her eyes at Persy's noncommittal response, but otherwise just returned to her reading and eating. She'd reached a peculiar pair of articles surrounding a handful of executions, and trying to find the actual meanings of it all was actually a bit of a goose chase. It was a tiny little back-water planet, some place called Tarkana (which at first she thought was named for Grand Moff Tarkin, but wasn't) which wasn't really worth much other than simple organic materials harvesting and some specific semi-rare metal mining. It would probably grow in time, but so far it wasn't doing much. On the Imperial side of things, it started getting into something about 'Traitors to the Empire arrested on conspiracy charges after Intelligence caught an attempt to sleep with the enemy red-handed.' Honestly, the whole thing was so littered with propaganda speak that she got the distinct impression that the actual author didn't know much about what was going on and was just reporting what he had to work with. Fortunately, she was fluent in propaganda; it was practically a second language at this point. Someone was trying to defect to the Republic side but their transmission was intercepted so a raid happened on one person, they tortured him into squealing on his co-conspirators, and they had themselves a small execution party.
As she was about to continue on to the Republic side of the story, she looked up just in time to see Miles and his bunch walk in. She promptly returned to her news. It wasn't like she feared Miles or anything, in fact she had worked with him briefly during the stay, mostly just making sure her X-wing was properly stowed, and he seemed perfectly professional if you didn't try to cozy up to him. He wasn't someone she'd want to shack up with, but generally people like him were best left on their own unless they came to you, at least in her experience. She wasn't afraid to approach him on a personal level, but she had no reason to.
Turning back to the story, she saw the situation given a bit more clarity to her. Not from the stand-alone article, it just said that "Tarkana officials brutally slaughtered by Empire without provocation," and gave some minor details on the victims. But that explained it pretty well when combined with the other story. It was simple really: the officials (possibly even the governor of the planet) had been entering into secret talks in the hopes of liberating the planet from the Empire... but of course they got caught by Imperial Intelligence. So the Imps made an example of them and put new puppets in place, reminding them of what happened if they got uppity. Pretty typical split when she got right down to--
Oh crap, Eldramach was moving. Immediately her eyes turned up and locked on the cyborg as he went through threatening the engineer, and as it all happened she just couldn't help but feel her heart sinking. What in the tapdancing kriffing hell was that guy doing in this squadron? She hadn't caught anything that Miles said, but flying into that kind of 'low-key' tirade told her that he was going to get someone killed. She didn't particularly care about him; she'd seen his type before and knew that he would either fall in line, become a danger to someone just by sheer tenacity, or die because nobody was willing to protect him. She was more worried about his wingman. However, if he started sewing seeds of distrust amongst the pilots, that damage could ripple outward. While she didn't say anything while the man was there, she quickly started making notes to see about setting up surveillance on the cyborg. Nobody wanted a loose cannon. Once she was confident that he was reasonably clear of earshot, she looked up and said to the group, both Miles' crew and the two Corellians, "You know... you really shouldn't have provoked him."
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