Nova Chasers (A space Western role-play)

After Harris answered my question, I went over to the boy.... apparently nicknamed "Clover". He had put on some type of virtual goggles that only let him see what he wanted to see. I wonder what he is up to? Well, it is of no concern for me. I think to myself.

I go and pick up Mia's luggage, and before leaving the room, "Richard, I'll be finishing that warp device. It might come in hand during this mission.", I say to the Captain and head toward Teal's room. I put Mia's things by the door and head to the Engine Room. This will be a nice mission, I just wish I had time to rest first... oh well. I've been through worse.

I get to the Engine Room and start working on the warp device again, this time, locking the door to the hallway, so as to not get disturbed.

A world of peace, a realm of tranquility.

She is warmly embraced. She is embraced by nothingness, yet it brought a genuine comfort to her. She basked in it. In her mind, there were no perceptions; there was simply an empty, dormant, motionless vacuity. She did not question it or mind it; she accepted it as the consequence of her life. That which still existed to her was but her fleeting mind and the inexplicable warmth. In a sense, it was heaven, for this was the origin. This was the the origin of her consciousness and sentience. However, it was also a punishment. It was but an empty, desolate space, but she did not mind it. Something bothered her in the back of her mind, but she ignored it.

Surely, this was the void of death. Empty and lifeless.

If this was her fate, she was prepared to accept it.

Her life would end here.

Yet... why was it so warm?

It was no doubt an empty vacuity; there was nothing to see, there was nothing to hear, there was nothing to feel. Even if there was, she had no eyes, no ears, and no body.

Yet... why was it so warm?

A single voice calls for her. It calls her by her name.

She opens her "ears", and perceives the sound that did not originate in her mind.

It speaks her name, and it asks her,

"Why are you here?"

She has no body—yet she opens her "mouth", and she responds,

"It is because I am dead."

"You are alive." The voice responds.

"It is because I am abandoned."

"You are not abandoned."

"It is because it is my fate."

"Your fate does not end here."

"Then... why am I here?"

"Because you have yet to see. Now, open your eyes."

She opened her "eyes". With her "eyes", she could perceive that which did not originate in her mind.

She sees but a single figure, and a single word escapes her lips.

"...Samaethiel?"

Although the figure seemed to be enshrouded with light, she could not make out its color or true shape. The figure seems to hold its "hand" out, and "speaks" to her,

"Do you not see why your soul is empty?

It is because it has yet to seek life. You are like a child that is yet to be born.

Not once in your life have you be able to hold your life as your own. Your life had always been in the hands of another.

In a sense, you were never alive.

But now, you are not dead.

You have just begun to live.

This is not the void of the end, but the beginning.

You will begin anew, for your life is now truly yours.

You still have much to do...

...my lovely sister."

Sensations flood the woman's mind. This was not an illusion; they were real, physical perceptions. Her consciousness was returning to her. She sees words that only she could see, and hears a voice that only she could hear. As if an invisible interface had appeared in her mind, her mind processed words. They sharply carved themselves into her conscious thought. The voice could not be described with words; its perceived pitch was neither high nor low, it was not exactly mechanical sounding, nor was it organic sounding. It was a soundless voice, but her mind could hear it. The voice spoke to her as she perceived words...

---

---

The woman opens her eyes. Light enters them, and she feels as though it was her very first sight. She takes a deep breath, and she feels the air filling her lungs. There was a sharp pain that followed, presumably from her damaged body, but it was a genuinely pleasant experience to her. She blissfully reflects on it, but its moments are short.

With an austere manner, the woman focuses her senses and thoughts, striving for maximum efficiency in all her actions, as she was trained. From her many years of experience, carrying out her methodical assessment was already an effectual and systematic aptitude.

—She does not recognize the room she is in; however, she infers that it is an infirmary.

—She is lying down on a platform—a bed of sorts.

—The majority of her limbs are restrained, as well as her torso.

The woman musters whatever strength available to her, and pushes her arms and body against the restraints.

—It is unlikely that the restraints will break, especially in her current condition.

—Her body is incapacitated from the blood loss; the mere slight exertion of her body earlier had left her body feeling immensely worn out.

—The Gilgamesh System should not be used; it would be reckless without understanding more of the situation.

The faint, transcendental feeling of her spiritual rebirth is short-lived. With her awakening, she had her life compromised, once again. "By whom?" She thought. Did she foolishly fall back into the hands of her masters? Are they retrieving her to restore her use as a tool for the military? Or perhaps... She tries to recall the memories she had up until this moment, trying to speculate the situation. Nothing else significant or relevant comes to her mind.

The woman notices a tight sensation that wrapped around her upper body. Taking a second glance, she sees that, under the restraints, her body had been treated and bandaged. Most of the pain had been alleviated.

—Perhaps she had been saved? The thought quickly passes her mind. The mere idea gave the woman a sense of solace to her. The possibility was pleasing, but she was experienced. The universe is not so forgiving. She braced for the worst-case scenario.

The woman makes no assumptions. The only action she may do take is to simply wait. She can hear voices nearby. They'll notice her soon.

Whatever comes her way, she will be prepared.

Harris sighed deeply, quite annioyed by Alistar's boisterous behavious, he got up and silently walked out of the meeting room while everyone discussed the following mission, I better prepare for the mission, Harris thought to himself, thinking about what Alistar had said earlier, HE rounds are to damaging, they make a messs that I can't even examine afterwards, AP is weak, goes right in and right out, doesn't effectively kill my targets. Harris entered the med-bay, oblivious to the fact that the woman was now awake, "Really, my personal caustic ammunition is the way to go." Harris sighed and sat down at his desk, a plastic bag filled with skewered chicken satay on top. Harris had forgotten about those, he was too busy with Teal earlier and other stuff, it probably had gone cold by now.

Nonetheless, Harris decided to eat it, hesistantly reaching into the bag before grabbing a skewer and taking a bite out of the meat on it. Harris chewed in silence until finally swallowing. There is a long pause. . . "As I expected, it's gotten cold. . . " Harris commented before shrugging and continuing to eat the chicken skewer.

Avery had to keep himself from skipping down the halls of the ship. Whilst everyone else had gone to the meeting, he and Marian had been getting... reacquainted. It had been a lot longer than Avery had thought, but he'd be damned if he didn't still have it. And even though the addition of Alistar had not served to make his headache any better, having Marian hang around for a little would keep him chipper for as long as she stayed around.

All those calories he'd just burned off in the cockpit needed to get replaced somehow, and he could smell chicken coming from somewhere; spicy chicken. He checked his crates first, who knows what sort of bottle had been broken in there and was fooling the pilot into thinking someone had a bite to eat.

Nope, nothing broken in his crate. Not surprised really, it was mostly just alcohol in there anyway. The room nearest to the cargo bay was the med bay. Avery decided that since everyone else was probably still in the meeting room, he let loose a little bit and skipped along towards the infirmary. He even did a little waltz into the room, noticing only after a few twirls with his imaginary partner that the meeting was indeed over. Harris was staring at him with a chicken kebab in his hand. What could he do but smile?

"Well, you and I seem to find no end of awkward moments between us."

Harris took a bite of slow bite of his chicken and nodded. "That is a fact."

"Got any spare chicken? I could use a snack."

Another pause, and another nod. "Just one though, I haven't eaten for a while."

Avery made a victory pump with his fist and took the skewer Harris offered him. It was cold, but hey, he probably bought the things an hour or more ago. It doesn't stay warm forever, especially in the ship. He took a seat next to Harris and took a gander at the woman on the operating table.

"So -munch munch- what's the deal with our mystery patient? Looks like the bleeding has stopped -munch munch- and she's breathing normally. Hmmm! This chicken is great, even if it is cold."

He was about to take the last bit of chicken off the skewer and scarf it down, but being in such a good mood around someone who had probably come within micrometers of death, he couldn't help but try and alleviate what seemed to be like a gloomy mood in the med-bay. Maybe it was the caked blood all over the girls body. Avery walked over to the table.

He, with a jovial tone, offered her the last piece."Yoohoo, miss? Want this last bit of chicken? It's pretty good you know."

Harris chuckled at his antics. "Even if she could hear you, I doubt eating would be the best thing for her, she's so pumped up with pain killers she'd probably puke it back up before it ever reached her stomach."

"Bah, what a killjoy you are. Fine then. Has she even moved since you put her on that thing? I know you've got her strapped down and all, but...you know what I mean?"

((hope you don't mind Harris))

The woman turns her head toward the new presence in the room. She glares at the man whom had walked in. She listens as the man talks to himself. "How foolish," she thought. Such blatant foolhardiness would have costed him his life several times over. The woman assess that the man is a fairly average humanoid, with several peculiar characteristics. The man appears to be fairly capable at combat, but is still very young. He had stated use of caustic ammunition, so she can infer that the man is verse in ranged combat. He appeared to have no sort of anomalous armor. In her mind, the woman unconsciously calculates every attribute of the man, as well as her course of action in combat in several given circumstances. It was another aptitude which she did so naturally after so many years of service.

A second man enters the room, talking to the man with a carefree attitude. The two converse, but she had suddenly felt weak, and she no longer had the capacity to follow the conversation. Again, the second man did not seem to notice that she was awake. He appeared to be young as well. His attributes did not deviate so much compared to the other man; he appeared to be less capable of combat, and was not specially equipped with any weapons or auxiliary units as she could see. With the new entity, she naturally calculates and corrects her courses of action, taking into account the new presence of a potential enemy.

But for once, she decides to set aside her programmed response and deviate from her usual way of thinking.

"Perhaps this laxness would indicate they do not see me as a threat...?" She thought for a moment. If that were true, the men would not likely be the mercenaries or any special task force targeting her. Furthermore, she notices the armband around one the men's right arm; specifically, she notices the red cross emblem. She does not recognize it at first, but she notices similar emblems on various objects in the room, and she infers that it is an emblem relating to medical treatment. Then, perhaps this is the man that had bandaged her wounds?

Her normal course of action would be to stay silent, wait for an opportune moment, and dispatch the two men immediately, but...

She wanted to take a risk. It was a risk that defied the logic that she had lived by all these years, which had been conditioned into her mind through discipline and training. Yet, she desired to take it. With her senses, she can sense no malice from the man directed at her. It was entirely possible that this was deception, yet...

There was no purpose in a new beginning if she merely took the path to the same end.

She takes a single breath, and speaking in her usual tone but weakly, she calls out to the man,

"You... did you tend my wounds?"

((OOC: I don't mind at all One, but I would have let you have two.))

Harris finished off another skewer before turning around to Avery, "Not that I've noticed, the last movement I saw from her was when I found her in the alleyway, her condition was pretty bad." Harris reached over to grab another skewer but stopped as he heard an unfamiliar voice. Harris turned back over to Avery and the woman and walked over.

"Pardon?" Harris said, still in disbelief that the woman was awake. She repeated the questions and Harris gave an affirming nod in return. "Yes, I am the one who fixed you up. . . May I ask who you are?" Harris wasn't really sure about what to do, he didn't expect her to wake up yet. Harris looked over to Avery and asked him to get Rick. Avery nodded and left the room, with that Harris turned back to the woman. "Are you allright? Are you feeling any dizzyness or nausea?" Harris awaited an answer from the woman who seemed to be quite lightheaded at the moment.

The man's response was kind and caring. There was no sort of hostility or malice directed toward her as she spoke. This man, at the very least, is no callous assailant. It brought solace to the woman's heart to see that she had not made the wrong choice. The woman looks toward the ceiling as the man spoke. Her body was in pain, her body was weak, but she felt a sense of peace and contentment.

Perhaps... this could be her new start?

As the man spoke, her vision blurs, and she barely could make out the man's speech. She takes a bit of time to think about the questions. Before answering however, in a sincere and formal manner, she speaks to the man,

"I am humbly grateful for your services."

The woman pauses, takes another breath, and gives a candid response to the man,

"I am having difficulty focusing my vision. The woman affirms the man, responding, "My body feels painfully heavy, yet I feel somewhat lightheaded. Is this an effect of sedatives? The woman asks the man.

"Ah... Finally finished.", I say as I wipe some sweat from my brow. I go over and unlock the Engine Room door, and head back to the warp device I remodeled.

"I wish there was more room on this ship, that way I could have made this larger.", while looking at the fairly small, but functional device. "Time to test it I suppose."

I grab one apple I had stored somewhere and walk over to the device. I place it on the pad, and walk over to the warp panel. I set the coordinates for the warp to be in the med bay. I power up the device and activated it. The apple suddenly shimmers and is gone.

"Now to go see if it went to the med bay.", I say as I head to the med bay.

The captain finishes and tells everyone to prepare for the next mission. The words "slave trade" still resonate in Mia's head. Of course she had known about this, and had encountered it many times traveling with her father. It's an ugly truth that still exists and is acceptable in many parts of space. She smiles with a determined look in her eyes as she thinks about the purpose of the mission:"to make money and free the slaves!

Minutes had passed as Clover was still in the briefing room, working on his little project. Since the debriefing had already ended, everyone had left the room, leaving him to be in solitude. While finishing up loading the last few clips with his necessary ammunition, he wondered a bit if he could ask that loudmouth of a man, Alistar, for some spare ammunition or some grenades. He wanted to see if he could improvise in making some sort of electrical or shock rounds with the bullets and some emp grenades.

After pondering a bit and finishing loading the clips, he brought up a screen that had a little box symbol on it, with two icons saying 'yes' and 'no'. He went ahead and pressed 'yes' and then seconds later, all the clips he worked on dematerialized into data and flew into the screen. His visor then turned off and retracted back into the headphones, bringing him back to reality. He took a quick stretch and sighed a bit, realizing he finished eating his chips a while ago. Though still a bit hungry, he went ahead and looked around for a bit, wondering if anyone was really not around. After making sure no one was there, he went through his back pack and pulled out a hand-sized can and placed it on the table. The cylinder-like object had a short usb wire attached to it, which Clover plugged that wire into his laptop and waited for a few minutes. The object then made a *bing* noise before it opened from the side and brought out the very clips he worked on in his sub-reality. Clover made a final checkup on them to see if they came through alright.

"Dammit, every time. Whenever it's something this small like bullets or even handguns, they almost always come out perfect. But with bigger guns, they keep ending up all imperfect and jam every time!" After making that quick rant, he glared at the P90 and said, "Man. How come you had to make this hard on me..." Clover went ahead and clicked on his wristwatch and had the submachine-gun revert back into it's chip version. He then went ahead and packed all his things up so he could look around the ship, hoping to find Richard or Harris, so he can ask where he'll be sleeping. He also couldn't resist exploring the ship a bit, though he didn't want to bump into anyone else he didn't 'formally' meet.

Harris, as he was about to speak, heard a warp sound inside the med-bay, he assumed that the anarchists had ambushed them and, almost as soon as he heard the sound, Harris quickly unholstered his M6 Unica revolver and turned around, aiming his sidearm at. . . Nothing. Harris looked down and saw an apple, cautious, Harris slowly walked over to the apple, picking it up. "Hmm, it's a bit warm" Harris commented as he took a bite, spitting it out almost as soon as he bit it, it tasted off, as if somebody had managed to turn the apple into apple cider without fermenting it.

Harris threw the apple into the bin by the door and walked back to the woman, still awaiting an answer from him. "Sorry about that, yes, I had injected you with some sedatives, don't take this with offense or anything but I couldn't be sure whether you were hostile or not."

The woman does not respond. She merely gazes up toward the ceiling, quietly, with a simple and blank expression. After a few moments pass, she turns her head to the man, and asks in a respectful tone,

"Will you release me from these restraints?"

The woman asked Harris to release her, Harris took a deep breath, he still didn't know what Rick wanted to do with her. "I'm very sorry but that is not for me to decide, it is up to the captain to decide on what to do with you." Harris grabbed a chair and sat down.

"May I ask for your name?" Harris asked, not expecting an answer.

"Yes, yes, Alistar. We'll get to make things go boom. However, we don't really have a proper armory, given the ship's size. Most common weapons are found in the cargo bay, but that's about it. If you're willing to share stuff, be my guest. However, the booze is either mine or Avery's, and we don't give it to anyone we don't like. So, either you clean up your act and act like the teammate you need to be, or go without alcohol for as long as you're here. Your choice."

After Rick had finished his speech, some of the crew went out and off in their own direction. Rick, however, decided to stay back and go through the slides and mission specs a few more times, seemingly planning through. The only other person he properly took notice of was Clover, who was still working his holographic thingamajig. It was only when the door suddenly opened, revealing a serious Avery, that he finally stepped out of his trance.

"Dick. Harris needs you at the med-bay, now. Our 'guest' has woken up."

Rick raise an eyebrow before nodding.

"I'll be there right away. Start preparing for take-off."

Rick closed down the projector and exited the meeting room, heading straight for the med-bay. Once there, he saw Harris sitting down and talking with the woman, still restrained. He hears him deny her request to be released, and asks for her name.

"He's right, doll. We can't let you go yet. And it doesn't even have to do with the fact that you didn't say please, although yes, that did affect it a little. Of course, I think we can be a little relaxed, since you wouldn't be able to try anything if we did release, considering the extent of your injuries. Harris, loosen the grips just a little and let her breathe."

Rick took another chair and sat backwards on it, facing the newly awakened silverette.

"First question. I'm getting this gut feeling that, given your wounds, timing and circumstances, you were related to that accident with the bridge in New Britannia, and my gut is never wrong. So, mind telling us the truth, Miss...? I believe you were about to tell us your name..."

Almost as soon as Harris had finished talking, he heard Rick start to talk as he entered the med-bay. Harris gave a nonchalant wave to Rick as he took a chair and sat down. Complying with Rick's orders, Harris loosened the restraints a bit.

Rick began what seemed like an interrogation with the woman. Harris remained quiet, paying most of his attention to the woman as they awaited her answer.

I saw Richard enter the Med-bay as I started approaching. Hm. Must need to talk with Harris about something., I say to myself. I go through the doors and see Harris and Richard sitting in a couple of chairs, talking to some lady on the examining table. I ignore her as I'm not interested in the woman.

"Hey Harris. Did you see an apple transport itself in here?", I say as if it were something we'd normally talk about.

This man's demeanor was much different from the other's. He spoke with an audacious attitude toward the woman. He also seemed to have misunderstood the woman's mere inquiry as a request or command. This man seemed to be another humanoid with no distinct features; he also did not seem to have any special equipment as well.

The man spoke to her, and began interrogating her. He asked of her relationship with a bridge in Britannia. She immediately knew what the man was referring to. Did the man have a sharp intuition, or was this but a coincidental predicament? The woman seems to pause in wonder for a moment, and she responds flatly,

"I was within the general proximity of the area when the bridge had fallen."

There were no falsities in her statement. She had stated a fact, no more, no less.

As Rick was interogating the woman, Bohr came in, asking Harris if he had seen an apple warp in here. Harris sighed, "So that was you?" Harris pointed towards the bin next to the door where Bohr was standing. "Just to let you know, it was quite warm when I picked it up. . . And tasted like cider, I'm quite worried what the effects will be if you warp a living organism with that."

The woman spoke of her being in the general area of the bridge, Harris suspected she was hiding something else but didn't say anything. "Captain, I'm gonna check up on the rest of the crew." Harris got up from his seat, taking the necessary equipment he needed for the upcoming mission and leaving the room with Bohr.

I start heading back to the Engine Room, and Harris exits the med bay with me.

"Warm, huh. And tastes like cider...", I say to myself, deep in thought. "Oh, hey Harris. Did you hear a warping sound when the apple materialized?"

After hearing Harris' response, I head to the Engine Room. As I enter the Engine Room again, I lock the door and continue working on the device. I switched around some of the components with those I got in the shop on NB, and redid the wiring again. After I get done, I get up and grab another apple. I set the coordinates to the cockpit this time, and fire up the machine again. The apple did the same as last time, shimmered and disappeared.

"Now to go see how this one has done."

Once in the hallway, Clover saw a few people enter the med-bay. Wondering what the commotion was about, He decided to go to the med-bay. As he neared it, Clover heard some people talking, though he couldn't make out what was being discussed. He then recalled that there was a woman that was on that medical table.

Perhaps the woman is awake? Good i guess. Clover then saw Bohr and Harris leave the room and talked for a bit. He went ahead and asked Harris after he finished talking to Bohr,"Hey doc. Do you know where Richard is? I need to ask him where I will be sleeping and all. Don't want to be sleeping in the briefing room the entire time i'm on this ship you know?"