Arrival | OTA

[major_egret_msfsod]

Jackal was always a little reluctant at accepting even mandatory leave. Still, she knew the reasons for it, and could defend the policy as needed, whether she liked it or not, and as an officer she had an obligation to serve as a good example. Although the FMS Viking remained at its post in the Belt, high-speed transports ferried personnel and special-order supplies, and it was aboard such an interplanetary shuttle she was traveling back to Mars. The visit home would be trying, as usual, but seeing her militia unit again would be good, as well as her mother.

Resting her eyes momentarily, she didn't notice the bright light. Other changes, however, she noticed: the tone of the nearby conversations, in particular, and although it was subtle, something was definitely not quite right about the feel of the shuttle. Scowling, she opened her eyes again--then scowled more so, looking around. She was definitely not in the shuttle. She was still in her red-tone camouflage fatigues, with a holstered device (most likely some kind of pistol, at a glance) at her side, and a duffel bag rested at her feet.

She stood abruptly, wary, but of all the people in the room--judging by its size and the totally open view of starscape, most likely aboard a large ship--none showed any signs of hostility. In fact, most barely even showed much interest in her presence. Whether they were aware of the situation or not, though, it was unacceptable. Resting a hand on her sidearm, but not drawing it, she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of someone who might be in charge. No explicit threats--yet--but she couldn't make any assumptions under such circumstances.

"What the hell's going on, here?"

Comments

[element_wizard]

"Aaaah... now that's an interesting question," Alec said from his perch on a nearby chair. "And not quite as philosophical as you might think."

He's a bit of a mishmash in looks - pretty elf looking boy who looks about as threatening as a damp budgie and wearing clothes that could possibly be from a half done cos-play what with the jeans and the bright blue long coat.

[major_egret_msfsod]

She didn't look particularly impressed or amused at that answer, just staring at him like a hawk.

A rather grouchy hawk.

"Great. How about an unphilosophical, straightforward answer."

[element_wizard]

Alec doesn't blink. He's seen scarier.

"You've been kidnapped by an alien."

[major_egret_msfsod]

"...an alien."

She just looked even less amused, at that, completely with Tommy Lee Jones Stare.

"There someone in charge here I can talk to?"

[element_wizard]

"Yup. He sometimes claims to be a god, but he's an alien. Reality warper."

It continues to bounce off of Alec.

"You'd probably want to find the people in the pajama uniforms. But they'll just tell you that you've been kidnapped by Q. You're in a different reality on a space ship. Don't worry. They're working on getting you home and etc. etc. etc. Oh, and don't go into any of these certain places because they're off limits."

[major_egret_msfsod]

...seriously is he trying to be the epitome of annoying civilians? Can anyone be that civilian by accident? He at least managed to get a twitch of an eyebrow for his trouble, on that one.

"...'pajama uniforms.' Anything else you can tell me?"

She's pretty sure asking for something specific will just be aggravating, but maybe if he's prompted to provide his own comments, he'll say something more helpful.

[element_wizard]

Nah. Alec is just the epitome of annoying everything. Even when he was in the military he could do annoying pretty well. And insubordinate without quite being completely insubordinate. He's talented like that.

Well, there are people walking around in things that look like pajama uniforms. What else is he supposed to call them?

He even points to someone in a Starfleet uniform. "See. Pajama uniforms."

Actually, asking him direct questions is usually better than letting him ramble off on his own. That way he actually has something to focus on. His attention span can be a bit spotty at time.

"What would you like to know? After all there's a lot I could tell you. Not all of it relevant." At least he doesn't give her an example of what he could tell her. Thank the gods for small... itsy bitsy tiny favors.

[major_egret_msfsod]

She just stares at him for a second like he declared he was dropped on his head as a baby. If there was anything she hated most about dealing with civilians... ...really it would be hard to choose, but the degree of babysitting and handholding and eggshell-walking generally involved was near the top of the list. And if most of these people were from Earth--a reasonable guess, since it sure didn't look like the layout of an AFIM ship--she had to assume they were even more civilian than the civilians back home.

"...let's start with most relevant and work our way down."

[element_wizard]

While he wasn't dropped on a head as a baby, Alec has taken a serious amount of head trauma over the years. It's amazing that he's still as capable as he is. But then again, he's also DIED a lot over the years and is still up and running.

And Alec isn't from earth, but he doubt she cares.

"You've been kidnapped by an alien entity known as Q and brought to this ship as a practical joke. Q enjoys fucking around with the captain and this is his latest prank. I don't know how long you're going to be here. I don't know what the prank's end game is going to be. I don't know how you're going to get home. No one here does."

Btw, Kaylin is from the series I AUed Tiamaris from. Though she knows Tiamaris as an adult.... >.>

[kaylinneya]

Kaylin's permission post/trigger warning
The thread didn't have to be explicit. Kaylin had taken to making this part of her unofficial rounds, this lounge. Of course, her authority here was also unofficial. But it never hurt to have a few more trained Hawks around, even off duty.

Well, unless those trained Hawks were Teela and Tain and they were drunk, but that was a whole other mess.

And Kaylin, as part of her unofficial vigil, watched those who arrived, tried to size up who would be trouble.

And someone who rested a hand on a weapon... could well be trouble. Kaylin should know... hands on her daggers was her rest position. She slid to her feet and closed the difference between them, a palm resting lightly on the pommel of the dagger on each side.

She certainly was a noticeable person, despite being almost child-like in height and figure. Her messy black hair wads pulled back with a well chewed stick, and the creature that did the chewing - a small translucent thing that looked like a cat sized dragon, was resting atop her head, nibbling her hair in its sleep.

On one cheek she bore what looked like a tattoo of a flower, some might recognize it as deadly nightshade, others might not. She couldn't care less.

She wore, today, a thin chain mail shirt under a tabard with a hawk in flight and over a thin linen shirt. She wore leather pants - as in armor not fashion - and sturdy boots. Over the cuff of one long sleeve rode an expensive looking antique bracelet that tapped lightly against the pommel of her dagger - she wore one on either hip.

"Can I help you?" she asked, coolly and professionally. She looked young, early twenties at oldest, but she held herself like a veteran Hawk - a veteran cop - from her world.

[major_egret_msfsod]

The newcomer eyeballed Kaylin in the most skeptical manner imaginable. Daggers. Chain mail and leather. Was this some kid playing around in a costume, or what? ...still, even a kid in fancy dress might know something useful. The combination of seeming childhood and what certainly appeared to be military training was rather off-putting, though. The ways in which the situation was wrong just kept stacking up.

"Depends if you can tell me where the hell I am, and what I'm doing here."

[kaylinneya]

"This is a ship that sails the night sky, it's called the Enterprise. A not-magic creature has been somehow bringing us here. The crew have been doing their best to make it up to us. There are rules and laws to follow, but follow them and there is food and protection and a pillow under your head somewhere safe."

"Not the worst deal ever."

[major_egret_msfsod]

...sails the night sky. She only looks more skeptical at the answer that's somewhere between poetic and nonsensical (what does "not-magic" even mean?). If any of it seemed to make sense to her, it was the part about rules.

Then again: knives and primitive armor. Doesn't seem at a glance like any of Earth's groups who've resisted modernizing, but then she's really no expert on the subject, so it can't be totally discounted. Really, who knows what kind of crazy nonsense people get into on Earth?

She shakes her head, eying the girl appraisingly.

"...figured it was a ship. I need to speak to someone in charge."

[kaylinneya]

"I can take you to Tasha, she's one of the ones in charge of security. She'll know who you have to speak to from there."

[major_egret_msfsod]

Aha, ship's security personnel, now that sounded like progress. Jackal nodded to that suggestion, not exactly smiling, but at least looking less aggravated and tense, and perhaps even slightly relieved.

"I'd appreciate it."

[kaylinneya]

She nodded and started leading the way. Of course, since she was Kaylin, she was not heading towards Tasha's quarters, as intended. But then until Kaylin knows a route half asleep at a dead run... she can get lost anywhere.

Doesn't mean they wont encounter Tasha anyway.

"You're law enforcement?" she guessed, from the way the other reacted.

[major_egret_msfsod]

Jackal picks up her back and follows quietly. It's not as though she has a better way to find this Tasha person, herself. At least, not that she knows of.

"Military. Major Egret, MSFSOD."

[agathaheterodyne]

Kaylin's permission post/trigger warning

Aggie's eyes locked on the weapon as she moved closer with a heavily laden tray. There was a single plate of something somewhat nutritious, a slice of chocolate cake, and a glass of milk, as well as utensils and napkins and a straw that looked oddly like it was made of brass.

What made the tray so heavy, however, were the two small pocket-watch sized things with limbs that were sitting on the edge, looking around, a stack of gears almost as tall as the glass of milk, two screwdrivers, a wrench, and a bit of copper wiring.

Agatha herself was wearing a nice green tween dress with white under dress and under shirt, which would have been quite fetching if she wasn't spotted over with oil and grease, as as her hair...and her glasses. Her hands weren't exactly clean either.

At her neck was a large trilobite charm, worn as family crests are back in her home world. Her green eyes seemed over large behind her glasses as she stared at the side arm.

"What kind of death ray is that?" she asked.

[major_egret_msfsod]

Jackal stared at this girl who looked like she'd been at a fancy ball and skipped out to go rebuild an engine. ...which in fairness she might do if someone managed, somehow, to get her to go to a fancy ball.

The question was a bizarre one, though. And one she wasn't about to answer without hearing more, herself.

"...classified. Where am I, and what am I doing here?"

[agathaheterodyne]

(That link was totally supposed to be:
Aggie thread crash warning thread )

She made a face, confused. "Classified? Oh! You mean you'll explain it to me when I've proved my knowledge of science is sufficiently advanced?" she asked.

Somethings never changed.

[major_egret_msfsod]

"...no, I mean when you can show me AFIM Gold or higher security clearance."

...engineer. That does explain a lot. Plenty of them are spacecases (or outright nutjobs, even without the occupational hazards). Maybe putting things in terms of name, rank, and unit will help.

"Major Egret, MSFSOD. Wherever this is, it's not where I'm supposed to be. If you can't do anything about it, I need to talk to someone in charge."

[agathaheterodyne]

"Oh we're all stuck here, for now. I haven't gotten around to building a machine to take us all home," she said. "You sure I can't see it, just for a few minutes? I'll put it back together after. Better than ever!"

[major_egret_msfsod]

Damn engineers. At least they were generally good at following rules once they accepted they were really rules.

"You show me your security clearance, and we can talk about it."

[agathaheterodyne]

"Security clearance?" Part of her brain ticked over into full blown ranting and raving madgirl mode. Thankfully, however, Aggie was better than most at pushing it back down. It was a struggle though.

"Whatever security clearance I could provide," she said through her teeth, fighting for control not to shout at this woman, "Wouldn't mean anything to you. Not unless you recognize this!" she jabbed a finger at the trilobite she wore at her neck, knowing this was a place it was safe enough to do so, especially since a good bluff can back track her out of it.

"THIS is my security clearance!" A bit of the madgirl slipped out, showing in a light in her eyes. "And there is little higher than this!"

The Baron. The Queen if they were in Britain. Very few, really.

[major_egret_msfsod]

......sadly she didn't look that impressed. Which probably just meant she had no idea what it was.

Not that she'd necessarily care, even if she did, as far as security was concerned.

Instead she just gave Aggy an almost totally blank Tommy Lee Jones stare. Slightly annoyed and slightly weary, but attempting at least to be polite. ...ish.

"...very pretty, ma'am."

She said the word dryly, as though it had little or no meaning but was something she knew ladies liked hearing.

"But not AFIM security credentials."