Broken Bow
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
- Location
- Christchurch, NZ
Never quite answered the "why stone age" question. I'd probably go Classical Greek or Enlightenment Italy, if I'm just picking based on aesthetics, but that's probably just Assassin's Creed taking
Nighzmarquls
The Endless Hunger
- Location
- United States
Probably for the hand crafted/ small scale thing. Ancient cities/villas took a lot of servant/ slave infrastructure.
This village is easier to maintain mostly by the labor of their population probably.
Crazael
Terra Invicta
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
Didnt look stone age to me. More like just before or early industrial revolution.
41
"So, how's it going?" Addy asked as she opened a connection to my hull.
"I'm learning how to bake bread from scratch by fire," I admitted as I accepted the full connection to the virtual environment, projecting my avatar next to hers.
Addy kept to a simple floating orb as an avatar even in here.
"That's good," Addy said, sounding pleased, "It's a bit strange, isn't it?"
"More than a bit," I admitted and crossed my arms, "But they seem happy. How many are there?"
"Not that many," Addy admitted, "In the village? About five hundred, including children. Not many compared to the rest of my population. For most the parks are just for recreation."
"I saw two more groups of structures on my way in."
Addy bobbed in the air, "There are. The forward one is mostly recreational facilities, I'm sure you saw the arena?"
"Yeah."
"As for the port side village, that's the largest one," Addy continued, "Mostly containing tourist areas and hotels and other such facilities."
I nodded, "I see."
"But most of my population resides down in my main habitation decks, both along starboard and port sides," Addy continued, "With smaller habitation clusters spread out along my hull."
"What's in the smaller forward domes?"
"Nature preserves. The forward most one contains a rainforest, as undisturbed as possible," Addy said, "It's my own personal garden, essentially. Cloned and carefully balanced from samples taken from Earth. Gathered after the Burn."
I slowly nodded, "I see."
"The second one is a bit less special. It's just a recreational park with a small lake," Addy continued, "I just split it up to keep the vacation goers away from the parts of my population that want a break, only permanent inhabitants are allowed in there other than on direct invitation from a native."
That made sense.
"How many Jovians are onboard?"
"In total?" Addy asked and bobbed slightly in the 'air', "Well, there are twenty one runabouts, including you. Then there is the protection fleet, that's another twenty five. GCU, LCU and a bunch of independent ROU. Then there are the rest various ships such as personnel transports and the half finished Island class I'm building in my forward hangar. And a couple of Isos."
"Isos?"
Addy bobbed, "You might not have run into the term. Jovians that only run avatars, no ships. Mostly even just one avatar. Strange folk. Anyway, in total there are about a hundred Jovians onboard."
"That many?"
"Indeed. Speaking of which, I have some people to introduce you to."
The runabout on the pad next to mine started to lower her ramp and an avatar poked her head out and waved towards my hull.
"Hey!" she exclaimed with a smile.
I had wondered why she had not said anything earlier.
"Hello," I answered with my external speakers, "I did wonder why you didn't say hello earlier. I almost thought you were a dumb ship."
"Nah," she said and stepped out fully with a smile, "Addy thought it was best to give you the surprises one by one instead of all at once."
"...Yeah, likely for the best," I admitted, "I'm Stardust."
Her avatar was a bit taller than mine and her hair was a kind of red rarely seen outside venomous amphibians, contrasting nicely with her green eyes, "Nice to meet you, Stardust," she said and approached my hull, "I'm Fireburst."
"Nice to meet you too."
There was something strange about her.
"Also," Fireburst said with a grin, "I'm second gen, not a Star fork."
"Oh!" I exclaimed, scanning her again, "I thought there were only some over by the Commonwealth?"
"Eh," Fireburst said and shrugged, turning and leaning her avatar against my hull as she crossed her arms, "There isn't a lot of us, people are still real careful about growing new AI," she admitted, "I was raised according to the data the Commonwealth shared on their project. Mom took me out of the sim like three years ago."
"Is Addy your mom?"
"Oh void no!" Fireburst exclaimed with a grin, "I moved out over a year ago to go to school here. GSV 'Stepping Around The Corner' was the Ship that raised me.'
"I see."
"Speaking of moving though," Fireburst said and turned to look up at my hull, "I'll introduce you to the rest tonight."
"What's tonight?"
"We're going out!" Fireburst exclaimed and grinned at me, "And I'm sure I have some designs that would suit you, what's your avatar measurements and colors? Did I tell you that I'm in school to be a clothing designer?"
"...No you didn't," I admitted and a bit hesitantly transferred the measurement file of my avatar to her as I reopened a channel to Addy,
'Thank you for waiting a bit to introduce me to her. She's a bit…'
'You're welcome. Now, you should know that she doesn't run out energy. Ever.'
I'm in danger.
"I'm learning how to bake bread from scratch by fire," I admitted as I accepted the full connection to the virtual environment, projecting my avatar next to hers.
Addy kept to a simple floating orb as an avatar even in here.
"That's good," Addy said, sounding pleased, "It's a bit strange, isn't it?"
"More than a bit," I admitted and crossed my arms, "But they seem happy. How many are there?"
"Not that many," Addy admitted, "In the village? About five hundred, including children. Not many compared to the rest of my population. For most the parks are just for recreation."
"I saw two more groups of structures on my way in."
Addy bobbed in the air, "There are. The forward one is mostly recreational facilities, I'm sure you saw the arena?"
"Yeah."
"As for the port side village, that's the largest one," Addy continued, "Mostly containing tourist areas and hotels and other such facilities."
I nodded, "I see."
"But most of my population resides down in my main habitation decks, both along starboard and port sides," Addy continued, "With smaller habitation clusters spread out along my hull."
"What's in the smaller forward domes?"
"Nature preserves. The forward most one contains a rainforest, as undisturbed as possible," Addy said, "It's my own personal garden, essentially. Cloned and carefully balanced from samples taken from Earth. Gathered after the Burn."
I slowly nodded, "I see."
"The second one is a bit less special. It's just a recreational park with a small lake," Addy continued, "I just split it up to keep the vacation goers away from the parts of my population that want a break, only permanent inhabitants are allowed in there other than on direct invitation from a native."
That made sense.
"How many Jovians are onboard?"
"In total?" Addy asked and bobbed slightly in the 'air', "Well, there are twenty one runabouts, including you. Then there is the protection fleet, that's another twenty five. GCU, LCU and a bunch of independent ROU. Then there are the rest various ships such as personnel transports and the half finished Island class I'm building in my forward hangar. And a couple of Isos."
"Isos?"
Addy bobbed, "You might not have run into the term. Jovians that only run avatars, no ships. Mostly even just one avatar. Strange folk. Anyway, in total there are about a hundred Jovians onboard."
"That many?"
"Indeed. Speaking of which, I have some people to introduce you to."
The runabout on the pad next to mine started to lower her ramp and an avatar poked her head out and waved towards my hull.
"Hey!" she exclaimed with a smile.
I had wondered why she had not said anything earlier.
"Hello," I answered with my external speakers, "I did wonder why you didn't say hello earlier. I almost thought you were a dumb ship."
"Nah," she said and stepped out fully with a smile, "Addy thought it was best to give you the surprises one by one instead of all at once."
"...Yeah, likely for the best," I admitted, "I'm Stardust."
Her avatar was a bit taller than mine and her hair was a kind of red rarely seen outside venomous amphibians, contrasting nicely with her green eyes, "Nice to meet you, Stardust," she said and approached my hull, "I'm Fireburst."
"Nice to meet you too."
There was something strange about her.
"Also," Fireburst said with a grin, "I'm second gen, not a Star fork."
"Oh!" I exclaimed, scanning her again, "I thought there were only some over by the Commonwealth?"
"Eh," Fireburst said and shrugged, turning and leaning her avatar against my hull as she crossed her arms, "There isn't a lot of us, people are still real careful about growing new AI," she admitted, "I was raised according to the data the Commonwealth shared on their project. Mom took me out of the sim like three years ago."
"Is Addy your mom?"
"Oh void no!" Fireburst exclaimed with a grin, "I moved out over a year ago to go to school here. GSV 'Stepping Around The Corner' was the Ship that raised me.'
"I see."
"Speaking of moving though," Fireburst said and turned to look up at my hull, "I'll introduce you to the rest tonight."
"What's tonight?"
"We're going out!" Fireburst exclaimed and grinned at me, "And I'm sure I have some designs that would suit you, what's your avatar measurements and colors? Did I tell you that I'm in school to be a clothing designer?"
"...No you didn't," I admitted and a bit hesitantly transferred the measurement file of my avatar to her as I reopened a channel to Addy,
'Thank you for waiting a bit to introduce me to her. She's a bit…'
'You're welcome. Now, you should know that she doesn't run out energy. Ever.'
I'm in danger.
42
The music was loud and there were people dancing all around us, the place was dark other than flashing lights and lasers.
I moved closer to Fireburst, moving to the music.
The dress she had given me I thought had been… well… a bit revealing might have been the polite term, but after coming here it had been clear that it had been on the conservative side of what people were wearing.
My old crew never did anything remotely like this.
I opened a channel to her rather than trying to speak over the music, 'I think almost everybody organic here is on some sort of substance.'
She flashed me a grin and pulled me tight for a second, 'Yep.'
'How do you smuggle something like that onto a GSV?'
'Not smuggled. Everything here is according to Jovian laws,' Fireburst explained, her hands running up to my hair.
'I know I spotted Sulazor earlier. I know that's banned in the Federation. Was in my time too!'
'It's not real Sulazor. Have a closer look.'
I nuzzled at her neck as I ran my tricorder senses across the traces on the arm of the guy moving next to us.
It… wasn't Sulazor.
'What is that?'
'Modified Sulazor. Similar effect of euphoria and light hallucinations, reduced addictivity and none of the long term side effects.'
'But… why…'
Fireburst smiled and shook her head, 'So many questions. It's because people that would use it would still find a way even if it was illegal. So why not invent a safe version?'
'I don't see the rest of the Federation going for that.'
'It's Illegal in the rest of the Federation,' Fireburst admitted, 'But here in the Gathering, it's legal. Plenty of the normal drugs have legal modified versions.'
Oh.
'Why?'
'Because it's better than the alternative.'
"Want a drink?" she asked out loud.
"Sure!" I yelled back. I had actually been worried about the sound levels in here until I got a better look at everybody in here. Everybody was wearing hearing protection.
Which just made me more confused. Why have the music hard enough to make their lungs vibrate just to also wear hearing protection?
But it wasn't my place to ask, I was just a guest, it was their party.
Fireburst grabbed my hand and pulled me along towards a seating section sunk into the floor, a dozen people already occupying it. More than half clearly being avatars.
Dropping down in a free spot, Fireburst pulled me down next to her and the music instantly went from deafening to simply loud as we passed through a sound dampening field.
I sank down next to her, a bit frantically adjusting my dress as I did. Not that anybody was paying any special attention, everybody else seemed quite busy already.
Fireburst leaned forward to the table as a glass materialized on a small blue pad before she handed the green liquid to me, taking one for herself.
Trying and failing not to blush, I sipped my drink. It was sweet with a slight taste of alcohol, but mostly sweet.
"So what do you think?" she asked and shifted position, scooting to sit sideways across my lap as she smiled at me.
"I'm… I'm not sure it's my kind of thing," I admitted, looking up at her as I sipped my drink, putting my free hand on her hip.
"Not for most," Fireburst admitted, "Not really something I do every week either. But can be fun from time to time," she continued and then leaned in and clinked her glass against mine with a smile.
I sipped my likely illegal drink.
XXXXXXXX
"Having fun?" Addy asked as she opened a channel to my main hull.
"...Uhm…" I answered, "...Kinda? I think?" I admitted after a tenth of a second, "Is this a normal thing?"
"Not that rare," Addy said, "Keep in mind my population is about half a million. A couple of hundred having a rave isn't exactly out of order."
"No, I mean… Jovians going to one. And I'm not sure this is tame enough to be called a rave."
Addy wibbled her sphere in a kind of shrug, "Not my kind of scene, but a couple of the warships and subcraft enjoy them. They are free to do what they like, same as everybody else."
"Oh. It just seems…" I started and then frowned, "I don't know."
Addy bobbed, "We're not Starfleet here, Stardust. We're not even Contact, at least most of us. You can't expect the kind of behavior you would expect from a Starfleet officer."
I suppose that's true.
I moved closer to Fireburst, moving to the music.
The dress she had given me I thought had been… well… a bit revealing might have been the polite term, but after coming here it had been clear that it had been on the conservative side of what people were wearing.
My old crew never did anything remotely like this.
I opened a channel to her rather than trying to speak over the music, 'I think almost everybody organic here is on some sort of substance.'
She flashed me a grin and pulled me tight for a second, 'Yep.'
'How do you smuggle something like that onto a GSV?'
'Not smuggled. Everything here is according to Jovian laws,' Fireburst explained, her hands running up to my hair.
'I know I spotted Sulazor earlier. I know that's banned in the Federation. Was in my time too!'
'It's not real Sulazor. Have a closer look.'
I nuzzled at her neck as I ran my tricorder senses across the traces on the arm of the guy moving next to us.
It… wasn't Sulazor.
'What is that?'
'Modified Sulazor. Similar effect of euphoria and light hallucinations, reduced addictivity and none of the long term side effects.'
'But… why…'
Fireburst smiled and shook her head, 'So many questions. It's because people that would use it would still find a way even if it was illegal. So why not invent a safe version?'
'I don't see the rest of the Federation going for that.'
'It's Illegal in the rest of the Federation,' Fireburst admitted, 'But here in the Gathering, it's legal. Plenty of the normal drugs have legal modified versions.'
Oh.
'Why?'
'Because it's better than the alternative.'
"Want a drink?" she asked out loud.
"Sure!" I yelled back. I had actually been worried about the sound levels in here until I got a better look at everybody in here. Everybody was wearing hearing protection.
Which just made me more confused. Why have the music hard enough to make their lungs vibrate just to also wear hearing protection?
But it wasn't my place to ask, I was just a guest, it was their party.
Fireburst grabbed my hand and pulled me along towards a seating section sunk into the floor, a dozen people already occupying it. More than half clearly being avatars.
Dropping down in a free spot, Fireburst pulled me down next to her and the music instantly went from deafening to simply loud as we passed through a sound dampening field.
I sank down next to her, a bit frantically adjusting my dress as I did. Not that anybody was paying any special attention, everybody else seemed quite busy already.
Fireburst leaned forward to the table as a glass materialized on a small blue pad before she handed the green liquid to me, taking one for herself.
Trying and failing not to blush, I sipped my drink. It was sweet with a slight taste of alcohol, but mostly sweet.
"So what do you think?" she asked and shifted position, scooting to sit sideways across my lap as she smiled at me.
"I'm… I'm not sure it's my kind of thing," I admitted, looking up at her as I sipped my drink, putting my free hand on her hip.
"Not for most," Fireburst admitted, "Not really something I do every week either. But can be fun from time to time," she continued and then leaned in and clinked her glass against mine with a smile.
I sipped my likely illegal drink.
XXXXXXXX
"Having fun?" Addy asked as she opened a channel to my main hull.
"...Uhm…" I answered, "...Kinda? I think?" I admitted after a tenth of a second, "Is this a normal thing?"
"Not that rare," Addy said, "Keep in mind my population is about half a million. A couple of hundred having a rave isn't exactly out of order."
"No, I mean… Jovians going to one. And I'm not sure this is tame enough to be called a rave."
Addy wibbled her sphere in a kind of shrug, "Not my kind of scene, but a couple of the warships and subcraft enjoy them. They are free to do what they like, same as everybody else."
"Oh. It just seems…" I started and then frowned, "I don't know."
Addy bobbed, "We're not Starfleet here, Stardust. We're not even Contact, at least most of us. You can't expect the kind of behavior you would expect from a Starfleet officer."
I suppose that's true.
43
Sophia walked into the hangar as she exited the turbolift, crossing towards my hull, wearing civilian clothing today, "Good morning, Stardust."
"Good morning," I answered, "Give me a moment, my avatar is in the shower."
"That's fine," She said and walked over around my bow, "Just checking in on you. What do you think of GSV life so far?"
"It's… strange," I admitted, "I think the locals might be messing with me a bit."
Sophia frowned up at me, "Oh? How come?"
"They seem to be focusing on the most extreme parts, as far from my previous Starfleet experience as possible," I said thoughtfully, "It's… strange."
Sophia nodded, "Is it a bad thing?"
"...not necessarily," I admitted, "But I'm not sure I agree with all of it, I even find most things at least a bit confusing. How are your quarters looking?"
"More than fine, Addy set me up with a set of Ambassador's quarters," Sophia said, "I think it's a bit excessive, but I guess she has the space. I'm going to check out one of the main shopping areas, and wanted to see if you felt like coming along."
"Sure, just give me a couple of minutes."
"Speaking of going," Fireburst said from the next landing pad, activating her external speakers, "Have you picked your internal loadout yet? We're going to be at Andoria in a couple of days."
"No…" I answered, "I didn't realize I had a time limit. Do I need to before then?"
"Why do you think Addy has so many subcraft?" Fireburst asked with a small laugh, "She's carrying way too many people and so much cargo and equipment that there is no way her transporter stations and even the personnel shuttles are enough to move everything that needs to be moved. Seriously, I'm booked solid for the entire week we're going to be in the system. Not only people onboard now either want to head down to the surface, the other way around too."
"Actually," Addy interrupted, one of her drones floating over to Sophia, "I wasn't going to ask Stardust to join in," she said, "At least not until she has had significantly more time to settle in and feel ready for it."
"I can help," I said firmly, "I'm not useless."
Sophia frowned at my hull, "Nobody said you are, Stardust."
"No, but it feels like it," I admitted, "Addy, add me to the schedule. I can do that."
"Okay," Addy agreed with a bob of her drone, "Which loadout?"
"What do you need the most?" I countered as I lowered my ramp and walked out with my avatar.
Addy turned her drone towards my avatar, "Personnel transport."
"Then set me up for that for now."
"Okay," Addy agreed, "Your design is modular anyway, can change you to something else you might like with a day's warning or so.
I nodded, "That then."
She bobbed in agreement, "I'm adding you to the schedule then, Stardust."
I smiled at her before I looked at Sophia, "Ready to go?"
"Ready," she agreed and motioned towards the turbolift and I led the way into it.
The door closed behind us and I looked at her, "You want to ask if I'm sure," I said softly.
Sophia looked at me with a small frown, "No, I don't," she said firmly, "Stardust, I trust you to know what sort of things you can handle by this point. You realized you couldn't handle a full ship yet, so you stepped back. If you say you can handle transport missions like this, then I believe you."
I smiled a bit nervously, "...Thanks," I admitted, "But… uhm…" I started, hesitating, "Would it be possible for you to come with me?" I asked, "On my flightdeck? At least for the first couple of flights?"
She smiled and gave my hand a squeeze, "Of course I can."
I smiled back as the turbolift doors opened up and allowed us… out onto a street with stores, restaurants and cafes along the sides. Above it looked like it opened up towards a clear blue sky, at least to optical sensors; I could easily tell it was a hologram.
What wasn't holographic was the birds and the birdsong, the splashing water of fountains and the thousands of people moving around. Shopping, eating, playing music or watching.
"I never get over how realistic you guys can make these places, " Sophia commented as she led the way out onto the promenade street, "You never see anything like this outside of Jovian built structures. Not even on other Federation stations and such."
"Have you been on a GSV before?" I asked as I walked along, looking around while trying not to rubberneck like a tourist. It really was amazing though.
Sophia shook her head, "Not before I arrived onboard of Addy. I had been on a couple of Jovian stations though and it's the same deal there. I guess there is something about building on this kind of scale."
"That there is," I agreed, "But this ship is built so people can live onboard their entire lives. They are made to be comfortable and give everybody everything they need for that. Including open spaces and not just on the park deck."
She nodded, "That's true," she agreed, "Most species need open spaces to be comfortable at least some of the time," before she smiled and glanced upwards, "Well, or at least a convincing illusion of one. If I didn't know better, I'd swear I was one any of half a dozen worlds."
"So… coffee?" I asked and then pointed out a small cafe with what looked like stone walls and a wooden sign over the door, "How about that place? They have good reviews too."
"Sounds good to me."
"Good morning," I answered, "Give me a moment, my avatar is in the shower."
"That's fine," She said and walked over around my bow, "Just checking in on you. What do you think of GSV life so far?"
"It's… strange," I admitted, "I think the locals might be messing with me a bit."
Sophia frowned up at me, "Oh? How come?"
"They seem to be focusing on the most extreme parts, as far from my previous Starfleet experience as possible," I said thoughtfully, "It's… strange."
Sophia nodded, "Is it a bad thing?"
"...not necessarily," I admitted, "But I'm not sure I agree with all of it, I even find most things at least a bit confusing. How are your quarters looking?"
"More than fine, Addy set me up with a set of Ambassador's quarters," Sophia said, "I think it's a bit excessive, but I guess she has the space. I'm going to check out one of the main shopping areas, and wanted to see if you felt like coming along."
"Sure, just give me a couple of minutes."
"Speaking of going," Fireburst said from the next landing pad, activating her external speakers, "Have you picked your internal loadout yet? We're going to be at Andoria in a couple of days."
"No…" I answered, "I didn't realize I had a time limit. Do I need to before then?"
"Why do you think Addy has so many subcraft?" Fireburst asked with a small laugh, "She's carrying way too many people and so much cargo and equipment that there is no way her transporter stations and even the personnel shuttles are enough to move everything that needs to be moved. Seriously, I'm booked solid for the entire week we're going to be in the system. Not only people onboard now either want to head down to the surface, the other way around too."
"Actually," Addy interrupted, one of her drones floating over to Sophia, "I wasn't going to ask Stardust to join in," she said, "At least not until she has had significantly more time to settle in and feel ready for it."
"I can help," I said firmly, "I'm not useless."
Sophia frowned at my hull, "Nobody said you are, Stardust."
"No, but it feels like it," I admitted, "Addy, add me to the schedule. I can do that."
"Okay," Addy agreed with a bob of her drone, "Which loadout?"
"What do you need the most?" I countered as I lowered my ramp and walked out with my avatar.
Addy turned her drone towards my avatar, "Personnel transport."
"Then set me up for that for now."
"Okay," Addy agreed, "Your design is modular anyway, can change you to something else you might like with a day's warning or so.
I nodded, "That then."
She bobbed in agreement, "I'm adding you to the schedule then, Stardust."
I smiled at her before I looked at Sophia, "Ready to go?"
"Ready," she agreed and motioned towards the turbolift and I led the way into it.
The door closed behind us and I looked at her, "You want to ask if I'm sure," I said softly.
Sophia looked at me with a small frown, "No, I don't," she said firmly, "Stardust, I trust you to know what sort of things you can handle by this point. You realized you couldn't handle a full ship yet, so you stepped back. If you say you can handle transport missions like this, then I believe you."
I smiled a bit nervously, "...Thanks," I admitted, "But… uhm…" I started, hesitating, "Would it be possible for you to come with me?" I asked, "On my flightdeck? At least for the first couple of flights?"
She smiled and gave my hand a squeeze, "Of course I can."
I smiled back as the turbolift doors opened up and allowed us… out onto a street with stores, restaurants and cafes along the sides. Above it looked like it opened up towards a clear blue sky, at least to optical sensors; I could easily tell it was a hologram.
What wasn't holographic was the birds and the birdsong, the splashing water of fountains and the thousands of people moving around. Shopping, eating, playing music or watching.
"I never get over how realistic you guys can make these places, " Sophia commented as she led the way out onto the promenade street, "You never see anything like this outside of Jovian built structures. Not even on other Federation stations and such."
"Have you been on a GSV before?" I asked as I walked along, looking around while trying not to rubberneck like a tourist. It really was amazing though.
Sophia shook her head, "Not before I arrived onboard of Addy. I had been on a couple of Jovian stations though and it's the same deal there. I guess there is something about building on this kind of scale."
"That there is," I agreed, "But this ship is built so people can live onboard their entire lives. They are made to be comfortable and give everybody everything they need for that. Including open spaces and not just on the park deck."
She nodded, "That's true," she agreed, "Most species need open spaces to be comfortable at least some of the time," before she smiled and glanced upwards, "Well, or at least a convincing illusion of one. If I didn't know better, I'd swear I was one any of half a dozen worlds."
"So… coffee?" I asked and then pointed out a small cafe with what looked like stone walls and a wooden sign over the door, "How about that place? They have good reviews too."
"Sounds good to me."
44
"Welcome onboard, my name is Stardust and I will be your transport today. The trip to the city of Kulas will take approximately thirty minutes. If anyone wishes for refreshments, there is a drinks replicator on the port bulkhead. In the unlikely event of an emergency, please remain in your seats for emergency beam-out. If anyone has any questions, I'm more than willing to answer them all. We will be lifting off in five minutes."
WIth that I turned off the speaker, watching everybody getting comfortable in their seats. Forty people in total, ten rows of four people each. From Andorians visiting home to Starfleet personnel being transferred to somewhere else and families heading down for a day trip to visit the Andorian ice city.
My new loadout was for passenger transport, not comfort. Economy class if you will. But that fit me just fine, I was completely not in the mood to act as a luxury transport.
Especially as the first forty four trips I'm scheduled to do were down to the surface of the planet and will be in emergency beamout range in case something happened.
Then I had some trips around the system, ferrying people further out.
But the majority of the trips were just down to the surface of the world below. Down. Up. Down. Up. One circuit every hour and a half.
"Nervous?" I asked Sophia, looking at her with my avatar. She was seated in one of the chairs on my small 'crew section', the doors sealed from the passengers.
She looked up from her sensor readings and turned her chair to look at me, "I think that should be my line."
I crossed my legs and nodded slightly, "I… a bit," I admitted and shrugged, "But this is literally a job they used to give to Starfleet Cadets in their final year. It's hard to be too nervous when it's something so easy that students could do it without supervision."
Sophia smiled, "You'll do fine."
"I know," I admitted, "We literally flew between systems on our own in that racing hull. If I could handle that, I can handle small interplanetary hops."
"This is still the most people you have ever had onboard since you were rescued."
I nodded, "I know. Which is why I'm nervous."
But in reality, nothing really could happen. And even if something went catastrophically wrong, for the next four days I'd be in transporter range of both the planet and the GSV.
"Thanks again for coming along for the first couple of trips," I said as I got my flightpath from Addy and lifted off as the landing clamps let go. At the same time I turned on the screens on the walls of the passenger compartment to allow everybody to see outside. It makes people more comfortable to be able to see where they were going.
Smallcraft didn't have windows though, same as Warships, they were weak points and we needed as many advantages as we could get. So we used screens instead for the comfort of our crews and passengers.
Slipping out of Addy's hangar bay, I scanned space all around. I wasn't exactly alone out there, there were tons of smallcraft around, moving to and from the GSV, everything from small personal shuttles to cargo transports. Most wasn't even from Addy, but instead local spacecraft.
I slowly moved away from her, following my designated flightpath.
Even ignoring the small swarm of ships around her, Andorias skies were busy. They had one of the Federation's main starbases after all, being one of the Federation founding members.
I could see him from where I was, sitting in orbit around Andoria. He was an old style of Starbase with that classic 'mushroom' shape, but even at this distance I could see that he had been significantly upgraded from my time. For one thing, he had a second, 'mushroom top' ontop of the old one and larger as well.
Starting to move along the orbit around the planet towards Andoria propper, I could count dozens of propper Starships. Only one being a class I recognized from my time.
A solitary Sovereign class ship making her way in from the outer system, heading towards the Starbase. The vast majority of large ships were Island classes, something that had only been a couple of during my time.
"Ever been to Andoria before?" I asked as I flew down a bit closer to the icy rings of the main planet, rolling to match their orientation. Might as well give the passengers as good of a view as I could. At the moment they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Most of the kids were staring at the screens and the starfleet people seemed to be trying to get some sleep or were tapping away at PADDs.
Sophia frowned and then nodded, "Only once. When I was an Ensign aboard the USS Voyager we stopped by the system once, but there weren't any shoreleave. We didn't even go to Andoria orbit, we were delivering some equipment to one of the bases out in the Oort cloud and then we continued on to Vulcan. So not really. You?"
"Couple of times," I said and shrugged, "But that was a long time ago. It's going to be fun to see again and see how things have changed."
Hopefully without anti-Ai protesters this time around.
"Going to drop your avatar off at the surface?" Sophia asked with a smile, "take in the sights?"
"Thinking about it."
"Go for it, you don't need your avatar here for this," she said.
"You're here, wouldn't be fair to leave with my avatar," I told her, "Especially when you're here to keep me company for this."
"Don't worry about that, you're not your avatar," Sophia said with a smile, "It's just one of your ways to interact with us Organics. Remember, people nowadays grew up with you guys. I grew up with you guys, we know how things works."
"I know, I know," I said and crossed my eyes, "Just feels rude of me."
She grinned and leaned back in her chair, "Hey, if you worry about it, how about you use some of the time and scout out a nice restaurant for me when I get off. Besides, I brought a book."
"Okay, deal."
The homeworld of the Andorians started to get closer, the icy moon shining in the bright sunlight like a jewel.
I was doing this. For real, I was… handling this.
I had dozens of people onboard and I wasn't panicking. Nothing was going wrong. I.. I could do this. I wasn't panicking.
This was real. Nothing dangerous, just… moving from A to B. But with real people onboard.
I was really doing this.
There would be a long time before I was ready to handle anything serious, I knew that…
But for the first time since I got shot up…
...As the first wisps of the thin upper atmosphere of Andoria licked past my shields, I felt that everything might work out okay in the end.
AN// And I think that's enough torturing a poor starship for now. On saturday we'll torture a poor pony instead in the continuation of the New Beginnings. (MLP) series. If you haven't read it, you want to start there or you will be very confused.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.
WIth that I turned off the speaker, watching everybody getting comfortable in their seats. Forty people in total, ten rows of four people each. From Andorians visiting home to Starfleet personnel being transferred to somewhere else and families heading down for a day trip to visit the Andorian ice city.
My new loadout was for passenger transport, not comfort. Economy class if you will. But that fit me just fine, I was completely not in the mood to act as a luxury transport.
Especially as the first forty four trips I'm scheduled to do were down to the surface of the planet and will be in emergency beamout range in case something happened.
Then I had some trips around the system, ferrying people further out.
But the majority of the trips were just down to the surface of the world below. Down. Up. Down. Up. One circuit every hour and a half.
"Nervous?" I asked Sophia, looking at her with my avatar. She was seated in one of the chairs on my small 'crew section', the doors sealed from the passengers.
She looked up from her sensor readings and turned her chair to look at me, "I think that should be my line."
I crossed my legs and nodded slightly, "I… a bit," I admitted and shrugged, "But this is literally a job they used to give to Starfleet Cadets in their final year. It's hard to be too nervous when it's something so easy that students could do it without supervision."
Sophia smiled, "You'll do fine."
"I know," I admitted, "We literally flew between systems on our own in that racing hull. If I could handle that, I can handle small interplanetary hops."
"This is still the most people you have ever had onboard since you were rescued."
I nodded, "I know. Which is why I'm nervous."
But in reality, nothing really could happen. And even if something went catastrophically wrong, for the next four days I'd be in transporter range of both the planet and the GSV.
"Thanks again for coming along for the first couple of trips," I said as I got my flightpath from Addy and lifted off as the landing clamps let go. At the same time I turned on the screens on the walls of the passenger compartment to allow everybody to see outside. It makes people more comfortable to be able to see where they were going.
Smallcraft didn't have windows though, same as Warships, they were weak points and we needed as many advantages as we could get. So we used screens instead for the comfort of our crews and passengers.
Slipping out of Addy's hangar bay, I scanned space all around. I wasn't exactly alone out there, there were tons of smallcraft around, moving to and from the GSV, everything from small personal shuttles to cargo transports. Most wasn't even from Addy, but instead local spacecraft.
I slowly moved away from her, following my designated flightpath.
Even ignoring the small swarm of ships around her, Andorias skies were busy. They had one of the Federation's main starbases after all, being one of the Federation founding members.
I could see him from where I was, sitting in orbit around Andoria. He was an old style of Starbase with that classic 'mushroom' shape, but even at this distance I could see that he had been significantly upgraded from my time. For one thing, he had a second, 'mushroom top' ontop of the old one and larger as well.
Starting to move along the orbit around the planet towards Andoria propper, I could count dozens of propper Starships. Only one being a class I recognized from my time.
A solitary Sovereign class ship making her way in from the outer system, heading towards the Starbase. The vast majority of large ships were Island classes, something that had only been a couple of during my time.
"Ever been to Andoria before?" I asked as I flew down a bit closer to the icy rings of the main planet, rolling to match their orientation. Might as well give the passengers as good of a view as I could. At the moment they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Most of the kids were staring at the screens and the starfleet people seemed to be trying to get some sleep or were tapping away at PADDs.
Sophia frowned and then nodded, "Only once. When I was an Ensign aboard the USS Voyager we stopped by the system once, but there weren't any shoreleave. We didn't even go to Andoria orbit, we were delivering some equipment to one of the bases out in the Oort cloud and then we continued on to Vulcan. So not really. You?"
"Couple of times," I said and shrugged, "But that was a long time ago. It's going to be fun to see again and see how things have changed."
Hopefully without anti-Ai protesters this time around.
"Going to drop your avatar off at the surface?" Sophia asked with a smile, "take in the sights?"
"Thinking about it."
"Go for it, you don't need your avatar here for this," she said.
"You're here, wouldn't be fair to leave with my avatar," I told her, "Especially when you're here to keep me company for this."
"Don't worry about that, you're not your avatar," Sophia said with a smile, "It's just one of your ways to interact with us Organics. Remember, people nowadays grew up with you guys. I grew up with you guys, we know how things works."
"I know, I know," I said and crossed my eyes, "Just feels rude of me."
She grinned and leaned back in her chair, "Hey, if you worry about it, how about you use some of the time and scout out a nice restaurant for me when I get off. Besides, I brought a book."
"Okay, deal."
The homeworld of the Andorians started to get closer, the icy moon shining in the bright sunlight like a jewel.
I was doing this. For real, I was… handling this.
I had dozens of people onboard and I wasn't panicking. Nothing was going wrong. I.. I could do this. I wasn't panicking.
This was real. Nothing dangerous, just… moving from A to B. But with real people onboard.
I was really doing this.
There would be a long time before I was ready to handle anything serious, I knew that…
But for the first time since I got shot up…
...As the first wisps of the thin upper atmosphere of Andoria licked past my shields, I felt that everything might work out okay in the end.
AN// And I think that's enough torturing a poor starship for now. On saturday we'll torture a poor pony instead in the continuation of the New Beginnings. (MLP) series. If you haven't read it, you want to start there or you will be very confused.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.
Erithemaeus
GWS Recipient
- Location
- Around Dover Street
She's on the road to recovery! It's a long, slow, involved process, but at least Stardust is slowly beginning to accept Ship duty again. Even if she's currently stuck in a runabout for now.
Soon she will take her emotional support human, kidnap her, and take her somewhere safe so that she would always have a second voice on the matter, even if that said voice is always saying 'let me go Stardust, it wasn't your fault.'
But you know, Stardust ain't nuts. It's just gonna be the emotional support train chugging along until everything's fine. And out of all options, that's certainly the best that you could hope for.
But you know, Stardust ain't nuts. It's just gonna be the emotional support train chugging along until everything's fine. And out of all options, that's certainly the best that you could hope for.
JamesB
You needed worthy opponents.
- Location
- Kansas
Call for Mr. Murphy, line 1! Someone has had a burst of optimism, and it's time to say hi to them.
New story can be found here: Welcome to the jungle