Suggested music selection for this section: MAGBM #1 ----- Popping out of jump space, a fleet of PGC ships come into view, arrayed in a loose formation. Dull grey against the backdrop of stars, the ships of the line showed the fatigue of a quick evacuation. The fleet paused a moment, as if in thought or perhaps simply to gather its breath, before turning as one and blasting off toward distant Carter.
Zooming in on one ship, we see a crowded observation deck. As children press against the large, open view ports to point out stars and other space matter to each other, the older generation gathers behind, mingling and greeting one another. There is a feeling of relief filling the air, quickly passing now that the fleet has made it to the Carter System. It is being pushed aside for one of excitement, as people begin to adjust to a sky full of different constellations.
The buzz of excited conversation fills the air as the scene shifts inside, people chatting with their neighbors. A crowd is forming around a dark haired woman wearing a colorful green scarf as she sings a cheery, hopeful song. The crowd has begun to realize that she is a famous singer, and a line is starting to form looking for autographs. Meanwhile, a teacher is busy in another corner, trying to corral her wayward students, though having little luck in the matter. Each one seems to have their own idea of what to do next, and all of them seem to sound like mischievously bad ideas. Skimming over to the exits, a black and red furred Merakesh man is talking to a guard, who is making some sort of joke. The area around the two is filled with laughter as the two men go back and forth good naturedly. Further in, a young woman is helping a man in the mess hall; he seems to have hurt himself, and she is busy wrapping up his arm in a quick but expert sling. His wife tries to thank the pale haired woman with a drink, but she merely waves the gracious matron off, expressing her pleasure at her ability to give professional help.
This happy scene continues all over the ship and the fleet, as people greet new friends and speculate on what the future might hold. Out of the confusion that was Xualla, Carter can only hold new promise, and a chance to get re-started right.
Welcome, friends, to Mission Accepted. ------------------------------------ Ok, folks, game start! I think you all can figure out where you are and what is happening in you immediate area. Let’s roll, eh?
The tall Merakesh man delivers his punchline to an uproarious result for both young and old. Excusing himself as a new round of merriment begins, Xi'ku takes a moment to consider that his mother would have been proud of him for still functioning outside his element. Snapping back to reality, Xi'ku realizes that he is once again holding his Family emblem as he normally does when he gets nervous. Taking a moment to mentally center himself, Xi'ku straightens his regulation uniform as well as his favorite bandana and continues through the crowd.
Excusing himself several times more as he attempts to avoid jostling the crowd forming around some singing human girl during his relocation, he makes another mental note that there must be somebody else that is better suited to this kind of situation to which he is about to deal with.
Unruly teenagers.
Eventually reaching his intended destination, Xi'ku clears his throat. After the low gutteral growl catches the attention of everyone in the immediate vicinity, he begins addressing the plain clothes, dark haired woman who is apparently in charge of this section of the crowd as casual an attitude as he can force.
"Excuse me. My name is Xi'ku. Do you require assistance?"
"4) Lastly, there were some video games that also weakened the MMMG. Most of these games were played at John's house be they video game or rpg." -Celest
"Damn you, Big Brother. Damn you." -Curulambe
"I was told our base was for the Black Man." - batman
Brushing pale locks of hair from her face, Hannelore straightened as she stood from her crouch. Waving to the older couple she just helped, she watched as they disappeared into the crowd waiting to get food. Sighing as her bangs fell back over her face, she turned toward the doorway to the observation deck, feeling satisfied that her training helped her once again.
Stepping through the crowded exit, she worked her way through the chatting circles of people, smiling and apologizing for her movements. She wasn’t sure where she wanted to go next, having recently been well fed. Weighing her choices, she turned towards the far wall, considering going to the small room she was assigned and laying down for a short nap. Something stopped her, though, as she mulled over her thoughts. Song, coming from deeper on the observation deck.
Pushing up against the wall and standing on her tip-toes, the pale woman noticed a crowd of people around a dark haired girl. Deciding to investigate, she weaved her way that way, mumbling apologizes as she focused on the song. It seemed familiar, somehow…
Finally reaching the edge of the crowd, she noticed a man moving outwards and away toward the kitchens. Thinking quickly, she stepped into his place, and suddenly found herself almost face to face with the other women. Something in the back of her mind, though, sparked as she saw the singer.
Such an emotional time had just happened, and these people had been lost without some kind of inspiration. As such, George had milled about the ship, gathering her thoughts, prodding her muse. Finally, the flood dams busted and she felt the poetry coursing out of her without so much as a simple realization. The lyical flow emanated from her, but did not end there. A simple man with dreadlocked hair began playing a bongo drum to the rhythm her words made. Another, with a finely crafted wooden guitar, followed in with a catchy, familiar tune. Within minutes, the intricate sounds of her voice wove a tapestry of music in a velveteen tongue, luring many of the people on the observation deck to her. The trio, never having met before, had a surprising synergy together.
After finishing her last verse, George turned first to the audience and bowed. Next, to her drummer and her guitarist each in turn and bowed in respect. A great smile forged its way across her radiant face, conveying the message that this performance, albeit impromptu, was nonetheless impressive and she brimmed with pride. Interestingly enough, a Merakesh spoke to her, "Excuse me. My name is Xi'ku. Do you require assistance?"
Georgiana simly shook her head. "No, thank you. Although, I do appreciate your asking. It's not often that I get inspired to do music, let alone a lyrical jam session." She smiled politely, extending a free hand, "Georgiana Ureon. Pleased to meet you, Xi'ku. What can I do for you?"
"Now this is a custom I am familiar." thought Xi'ku, gently accepting the greeting of this 'Georgiana'. But why is this one in song at such a time? He decided to find out.
"I see that I have made a mistake. It seems that there is much more I must learn about human traditions." Xi'ku observed.
"My Colonial is also poor. I belived this 'jam session' to be an expression of distress. My people only sing in times of great joy or great sadness you see, and with the current situation I only assumed... Still I offer my most bountiful apologies."
"Good job Xi'ku, you almost broke up a celebration." Xi'ku chided himself internally for not realizing it sooner. If he was doing all he can to ease the minds of these poor people, then so would others. He then realized that he was about to space out in the middle of a conversation.
"From the looks of the crowd you have drawn, you posses talent. Please, continue."
"4) Lastly, there were some video games that also weakened the MMMG. Most of these games were played at John's house be they video game or rpg." -Celest
"Damn you, Big Brother. Damn you." -Curulambe
"I was told our base was for the Black Man." - batman
Ureon smiled, genuinely happy with the compliment. "Actually, I was simply speaking out something in my head. An idea I had been working on since the... well. In any case, I'm glad you like it." She turned to look at another person who had stepped up, "May I help you, miss?" She looked at the unassuming woman, wondering what had prompted her to come forward.
Summer shakes her head trying to think of a way to calm her students down. This is on the rear side of impossible. Not only are they 14 year olds, but they are 14 year old nerds, on a Space craft. This is their idea of heaven. Summer looks up over the crowd. "Alright students how many of you have ever used a star ships diving board?" She calls out loadly hoping it will catch the attention of her students. She waits for a moment mildly confindent that this got most of her students attention. She was lucky she had a small class. Normally such tactics wouldn't work. She knew the answer too ofcourse. Not as single one of them had more than five minutes out side the class room. None of them would have been allowed anywhere near the ships yet. This is what they were trainer for. Too be assigned as a ships driver.
She looked over her class again as they looked back at her with strange smiles. She knwe what each one was thinking. They won't let us drive here, will they? She looked back at them smiling. "None of you right? I can assure you it is quite an experience. Nothing like any of you have ever seen. It can be mind blowing the first time." She looked to see if any one reconized the term she had used. A Blown Mind was caused, usually by doing somethign stupid when driving, something that cause the system to actually kick you out. This left you uncouncious for usually an hour if not more.
"Now I can assure the way you are behaving right now, not a single one of you will ever reach a ships diving board, not just now, but in your future careers. However, if you can proove yourselves to me and the good captin of this ship, there may be the possiblity that the captin will allow us to turn this dire experience to a class learning exercise seeing as how we are now safe in Carter."
Taking his leave of the songstress, Xi'ku continued on his adhoc security detail with a few distracting thoughts. Though briefed on what to expect, nothing had quite prepared him for the...serenity of this particular group of refugees. Since the initial departure, he had witnessed maybe two cases of actual 'discomfort'. Most of the folks he talked to were downright pleasant considering the circumstances that they were forced into, and that just didn't sit right. There should be sorrow, despair and a palpable sense of pain in the air and it just wasn't there, almost like this was a vacation.
Xi'ku then came to the conclusion that a vacation didn't sound so bad about now. The stress is getting to him. This is turning out to be an outstanding performance for his first assignment.
Working his way to a corner for some much needed rest, it was then that he heard a teacher start to get her class under control. The authorative tone he recognized well in fact. Instructor Klecht had been the one to ultimately persuade him into the Supplementary Officer Training courses at Spinward Campus during one of her lectures. Interesting though, that she was here with what sounded like a class of Cyber Specialists. A strange entourage in any setting.
"Excuse me Instructor Klecht. Do your students require...disciplinary action?" Xi'ku allowed a smirk to cross his features as he intentionally stressed the last words he spoke.
He could smell recruits a mile away.
"4) Lastly, there were some video games that also weakened the MMMG. Most of these games were played at John's house be they video game or rpg." -Celest
"Damn you, Big Brother. Damn you." -Curulambe
"I was told our base was for the Black Man." - batman
Summer turns to the Merakesh at first not reconizing the voice, but instantly knowing the face. "Well hello there Mr. Xi'ku. Fine to see you here. Please, you are no longer my student , you don't need to be so formal." She turns to her class and smiles. "Class, this is Xi'ku Sop’tolome, a former studnet of mine. He has kindly offered his asistance in keeping you in line. Now for your own sakes I hope you do not make me have to accept his offer." She smiles as the last few unrurley students settle down. With and obviously worried look on their face.
"Thank you Xi'ku," she says turning back to him, "perhasps you should have considered teaching. But I believe I have them under control now. It isn't intirely their fault. They are the students from my new diving class." She lowers her voice some so that only Xi'ku can hear. "A bunch of tech heads, really. They are overly excited about actually being on a star ship."
--------------------------------------------------------- sorry about any spelling errors. it seems the spell check button is broken.
Turning his full attention towards the much shorter woman, Xi'ku can't help but wonder how he missed the only familiar face on the ship for so long.
"Always glad to bend a hand Instructor." happily replied Xi'ku.
Human formalities and informalities have always been a problem area.
"I did not see you or your students on the passenger list or else I would have made my presence known sooner. I'm sure the ship could have used more help, especially in giving the technical officers a break."
Xi'ku reflected on the chaos of the past 2 weeks and most soldiers, even he, were in desperate need of a break---which reminded him. The last time Xi'ku checked in he was the only security member on duty, which was the only reason he wasn't sleeping right now. Oh well, on to the matter at hand.
"It is good to see you well as many of the SpinCamp staff are MIA. Are you on duty here? Have you and your charges been well looked after?"
"4) Lastly, there were some video games that also weakened the MMMG. Most of these games were played at John's house be they video game or rpg." -Celest
"Damn you, Big Brother. Damn you." -Curulambe
"I was told our base was for the Black Man." - batman
"Things are going about as well as one could hope in an evacuation situation. Everything was very rushed though. We had no time to pack or anything. If we had I would probably be in uniform. The students respect you more when your in uniform." She looks down at her highly casualy outfit, a black tee and over alls. She had actually been in the hanger when she was rushed aboard the star ships.
"As far as being on duty, I wasn't really informed what my offical status was so I maintaining my assisment of instuctor of these students. There seems to be few security officers on board so I'm trying to make sure they don't give you to much trouble." She looks over the students.
"It is good to see them light hearted now. They were quite scared at first. But as sudden as the evacuation was, it was well carried out. Every one seems to be safe and no one is in panic any more."
Lowering her head, George grinned sheepishly to herself. "Yes, I am. I didn't think anyone would notice, given the size of the ship." She chuckled slightly and produced a felt-tipped marker. "So, who are you, big fan-of-mine?" Lighthearted, her voice cam almost like a tune itself as she penned her autograph in the book, hesitating long enough to make a dedication to this woman.
Eyes sparkling, Hannalore clapped a little, as the songstress pulled out her pen. Hearing the note in her voice, she shook her head, an odd expression on her face. “We-Well, you do have a-a rather… distinct voice. E-Even in a situation like this…” She shrugged, looking a little overwhelmed. “I’ve been a g-great f-fan of yours for a while, now.”
Watching George write, she started when she noticed the other woman stop. “Oh, uh, sorry. I-I didn’t introduce my-myself. I’m Hannalore Hardzel. I-I’m a paramedic, recently dis-displaced, I suppose…” Hannalore sighed, a still a little worried over this whole series of events. Seeing a few men in military uniform filter into the room, she frowned a little, though quickly brushed it off. They have to eat to, I suppose…
Flipping her pale, pinkish hair back out of her face, she smiled back at George as she accepted her book back. “How have t-things found you? Do you p-plan on restarting you-your singing when we get to Carter? Weren’t you on-on tour before we-we left? Or had you n-not quite started that, yet?” Tucking her book back into her bag, she looked back up, a smile nodding in thanks.
Special Commander Marshall Gustave Prost was surrounded.
He knew as much to be true as he was not the kind to miss the careful sidelong glances at his gunbelt by no less than 6 of the bridge crew. Atleast. He also caught what seemed to be hand gestrues a little to complex and quick for even his organization.
He had not missed the Comms officer's panel during his first metallic steps onto the bridge either. It had been painstakingly made to look active when in fact its multi-trillion credit system was probably sabotaged to more or less useless. His deep red eyes also noticed, with no amount of alarm, that the 3 personel that did not seem suspisious were a Ensign Pace (who looked so nervous that you could send him through a bulk head by shouting the word 'boo'), Captain Seardard and himself.
Of course, this could all be paranoia on his part, but it never was. And just like always, Prost prepared to prove why he was in command of the Unified Millitary Police.
Ordering the system's officer to 'take five' netted Prost a strange look but eventual compliance. This allowed Prost to search through the ships' active essential functions unhindered and unquestioned. Prost then ran a hand through his flame tinged hair and prepared to get to work as the terminal responded to his fast, practiced input.
Life Support: Online. Nominal. Cargo Hauling: Online. Nominal. Fire Prevention: Online. Nominal. Hull Integrety and Pressure: Nominal.
Good. This would ensure the passengers' saftey when the bullets start flying. Now, for the hard part.
Armory: Secure. Nominal. Security Teams 1-6: Off duty. Missed check in by 20 hours. Engines: Online. 44% output and dropping. Further drops in stability will cause uncontrollable Fusion Reaction. Report imidiately to duty Officer. Communications: Offline due to routine maintenance. Online again in 9999 days.
Prost hated only two things in this world: Cold food, inaccurate lists, and when he was right.
He'd have to move fast as whatever is comming is comming soon and it intends on blowing the whole fleet to kingdom come.
"Captain? I require some volunteers." --------------- (Observation Deck)
A uniformed but disheveled man with an armed escort makes his way into the center of the lively room and calls for quiet amongst the crowds. Introducing himself as a Lt. Craig Pace, the man pauses while he scans the room.
"The Captain has personally requested the presense of the following people. If you could step forward and make yourselves known when I call your names, we can all get back to what we were doing."
Save a few distinguishing features of those called, picking out 4 individuals in a crowd of about 100 should have been difficult at best. Dispite this fact, Craig's intense yellow eyes zeroed in on each person in question as he called them.
"4) Lastly, there were some video games that also weakened the MMMG. Most of these games were played at John's house be they video game or rpg." -Celest
"Damn you, Big Brother. Damn you." -Curulambe
"I was told our base was for the Black Man." - batman
Summer after hearng her hame and the name of the one beside her called turns to Xi'ku. "This is... odd. Something is not right." she mutters softly so that only he can hear. She could feel the room grow tense. He shouldn't have added that last past. It's phases like that that make people worry.
Summer turns to her students and addresses them sternly. "Class it seems I am wanted by the captin." she thought for a brief second to add something positive. "My servies are needed and if the captin is please he may reward us with some valuable diving time. Now I request that all of you behave yourselves. If you don't I am sure I will hear of it and I will insure you are punished accordingly." She turns to the student closest to her, a light haired boy, one of the oldest and brightest in the group. He reminded her of herself when she was younger, ambitious yet very responsible.
She was right. Though his Colonial leaved much to be desired and he wasn't exactly a master of subtlety, Xi'ku felt the anxiety level in the room jump a few levels. These people were just starting to relax too.
Raising his hand while Summer addressed her students, Xi'ku answered the soon to be demoted officer. His direct manner of speaking was to be respected. No time to mix words while on duty.
"I am Xi'ku Sop'tolome and the woman to my right is the Instructor you seat." said Xi'ku as he followed Summer to the center of the room.
Xi'ku couldn't help but notice the crowd was alot easier to pass throug
"4) Lastly, there were some video games that also weakened the MMMG. Most of these games were played at John's house be they video game or rpg." -Celest
"Damn you, Big Brother. Damn you." -Curulambe
"I was told our base was for the Black Man." - batman
Hearing her name called surprised George. She hadn't expected to be pressed into service so shortly after arriving, but it was inevitable, she supposed. Looking Hannelore over once again, she realized that it was quite an interesting coincidence that the three, including Xi'ku, had met already. Though she was curious about the other name that was included, Georgiana simply made her way to the addressing officer. "PFC Ureon, Georgiana, Reporting, Sir." She cast a salute and returned to full attention in front of her superiors.
Looking quickly to the side, Hannalore started when she realized that yes, it was her name that was just called. Looking back at George, she noted with some suprise that the other woman had started moving already. Following the singer, she shook her head, worried about what was going on. This isn't good. The four of us sound like a well trained group... I thought we left the danger behind!
Stepping forward, Hannalore shot the soldier a hard look. "What-what is this about? Whats going on?"
Summer nods to the other two summoned as the join her and Xi'ku before the Officer. She turns to the pale haired woman as she asks her question.
"Miss, it would be best if we remained calm for the sake of the crowd," she says in a low voice hoping only the few gathered would hear. "We should hold our own questions till we are out of ear shot to keep the crowd from growing any more tense." She then turns back to the officer who summoned them. "Sir, please lead us to the captin.
