Celeritas

[DB_Explorer]

Celeritas
OOC Thread Here​

Ceda, being an asteroid, meant that Vire's spaceport was actually underground from the residence's perspective. Naturally the spaceport was located up against the outer skin of the rotating asteroid that made the colony – which meant it was under the main living area from gravities point of view. Not that being underground meant the place was cramp Mike thought considering the vast hollow that housed the minimally lit warehouses and shops that serviced ships needs from spare parts to fuel and cargo. It also sported the massive window that let Michael look over his newest acquisition. Never in his life had he expected to actually own a ship of his own and now he was looking at his ship. He also had a crew now, having finished sorting through applications last night – he was now on the other side of the equation from his old job as a broker.

5000 tons of steel, reactor and computers was a poor consultation for losing his father though.

Michael shook his head as he ran a hand though his hair. "Old man would likely prefer I made cash to honor his name, not sentiment."

Being homeported in Vire meant Michael got a steep discount for berthing fees which meant he could actually afford a berthing inside the asteroid, more often than not ships choose the cheaper option of docking at an external collar. The ship gleamed a dull silver-gray under the lamps, lighting up the port's eternal dusk through the reinforced windows. The ship had the characteristic curving outer hull of Rosencrantz designs – they always claimed it gave them better results with heat dissipation. Mike didn't know if it was true - he did know it worked well as a brand image. The curves where broken though by the antenna, dishes, radomes, lights and hatches that separated an actual ship from the perfection they showed in brochures or people threw up online as art. The art work did manage to catch some of the more whimsical details on ships - like the gold fillagree Pegasus adorning the nose of the ship, wings flaring over over the ships name emblazoned on the side - Celeritas. This done, despite most times no one would ever see the artwork or the name.

Even so the flow of the ship from the broad wings back toward the engines and upward into the central cylinder that housed most everything else was clear enough to his eyes for now. Underneath the wings the rectangular shape of a cargo lock could be see connecting the ship to a ramp just below and to Mike's left.

That was fine – what was not fine was the distinct lack of cargo sitting there. Maybe, Mike thought as his boots clanked against metal grating, the longshoremen actually did their jobs and loaded the cargo. He keyed a code in and watched as the doors opened to reveal the ships ample, if not as massive as dedicated transports, cargo bay. His short cut hair barely ruffled from the breeze of the pressure difference as the doors locked in place to reveal … no cargo but a few crates of non-priority mail he got asked to deliver.

More clanging of boots against metal as he walked up the ramp until his data pad chirped with a connection to the colonies network. He was dialing the number for the warehouse before the notification finished appearing.

"What do you mean you delivered it?" Michael asked a minute later with a growl. "I'm here and I can tell you my ships got no cargo."

"Sir, are system registered drones with your ships ID codes coming and requesting the cargo." The operator on the other end replied with little empathy to the brokers blight. "On our end, all the paperwork is as it should be – perhaps you should talk to the police?"

"Yeah sure – and see my cargo in 9 months, if at all." Mike replied tartly before thumbing the call to end. If they had any sense that cargo would be gone inside of the week – even if it was mainly grain. So now he his crew due to arrive any time now – and no cargo to use to make their paychecks. "Fuck!" The metal toe of Mike's boot rang out across the port.

 

[Jeboboid]

Helena's face was studiously blank as she forged her way through the crowds towards the hanger-bay the application software had told her about when the Captain of the ship, one Captain Michael of the Celeritas, had accepted her application. Crowds had a way of making the young woman nervous, she had no idea what any of the people around her were thinking, and the possibility of them having nefarious intentions towards her was terrifying.

Thankfully though, Ajax was by her side. The large robotic dog creating a region of space around her as they forged their way ahead. In truth, Ajax was set to be passive as they made their way through the crowd, Helena didn't want to draw too much attention to herself if Ajax were to bite off someone's hands for getting to close to her. Besides, his presence alone seemed to be enough to persuade the crowds not to get too close.

Reaching the entrance to the hanger bay in which the Celeritas was docked, Helena stopped. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly before stepping forward into what was hopefully a new life.

"Fuck!" The single word followed by the loud clang of metal on metal, told Helena that someone else was aboard already. Gesturing for Ajax to follow, she walked to the cargo ramp in order to see who was inside.

"Ah... Hello?" Helena called to the grumpy looking man standing inside a surprisingly empty cargo bay. Wasn't this supposed to be a cargo ship? "Are you Captain Michael?"

 

[tankdrop24]

"Fuck!"

Well, this is certainly going to be entertaining, if nothing else. Oswald glided into the hangar as quietly as he could. He rolled his eyes when he saw the over engineered piece of scrap he had agreed to crew. He knew he was going to be disappointed no matter what, but if know that he would end up on a fucking Rosencrantz piece of metal shit he would have fucking strangled himself for deciding to ignore the type of ship it was as much as possible.

It looked like there was some other people there already.

"Ah... Hello?" Helena called to the grumpy looking man standing inside a surprisingly empty cargo bay. Wasn't this supposed to be a cargo ship? "Are you Captain Michael?"

Click to shrink...

"I have no idea." Oswald answered, pretending the question was even remotely directed at him. "Could be him maybe, for lack of any alternatives in sight. I mean, the dog being the captain would be a unexpected twist, but I'm pretty sure he's yours." Flowers walked towards the ship, stretching his arms as he went. "In my experience though, the Captain is probably inside the ship counting his coin and leaving his dumb fucking intern the inane job of greeting the new hires." Not a good first impression, but like always, Oswald Flowers didn't care.

If it got him fired so he could find a ship that wasn't a ball sucking Rosencrantz make, all the better.

 

[Daraken]

Moving forward in a smooth ambling stride, Nathan's eyes flicked over to check the chronometer displayed at the edge of his vision. Excellent, he was still a bit early. Punctuality was always a good thing to show in making a first impression, especially for his newest employer. Timing reassured, the Martian continued his way to the agreed upon meeting spot with full confidence in every step.

The spaceport itself was very much the same as you'd find in any Belter settlement, though perhaps a bit grander. Most would find the facility identical to the others of its kind, with the same grey metal corridors and same bits of machinery and workers scattered here and there. Nathan however, enjoyed picking out the differences as he navigated his way to the Celeritas. Those little idiosyncrasies, unique to each spaceport, was always an interesting detail at least to the ex-sergeant. The open market on Apophis, the seven spoked docks of Pallas, and now what looked like to be a surprisingly number of food carts here on Ceda. Hmm, he'd definitely have to try to check those out later.

His observations helping pass the time, it wasn't long before Nathan found himself at the designated hanger bay. Within, the Martian could already see a man, a woman and a surprisingly large robotic dog standing before what must be the Celeritas herself. Quirking an eyebrow upwards at the sight of the latter, the bearded man puts away his wraparound glasses and moves ahead to greet his new employer and probable fellow crewmate.

"Captain Michael Waters?" Nathan asked in a perfunctory tone, having already recognized the man compared to the few pictures of him the ex-sergeant had found on the Net. "Nathan Feng here, reporting in."

Pausing briefly, he then turns to Helena, giving her a shallow nod in greeting. "Miss."

 

[DB_Explorer]

Michael looked up at the voice that seemed to have stopped a polite, if communicable, distance from himself. This, he decided, was his new chief engineer, industrial body suit covered but did not hide the fact that that lady was very fit – though the large robotic wolf at her side spoke far more about the new hires skill than anything else. It was one thing to read such things as a list of items on a resume, another to see it walking about.

His more pressing concern was the older gentlemen behind the engineer. "Intern?" He asked with a tone of faux questioning. "Why the hell would I have an intern when I have seven crew?" Michael continued, deciding if the new loadmaster wanted to push his buttons today he could push back. "I wish I could have an intern – maybe they could sort out who knows what the hell their talking about. Though an intern wouldn't have been able to find what happened with Whitedove Mr. Flowers – so maybe it's good I'm out here to stop shits like you from starting trouble"

On the other hand, the lack of reaction to all of this from Mr. Feng as he approached was commendable. He took a few breaths to calm himself – between the lost cargo and Flowers unique vocabulary he was desperately wanting to punch something or someone. Blue in, red out he thought to himself – none of this was getting the cargo back. He looked back up toward the bearded man and decided not to remark on his choice of eyewear. "Nice to have you." Michael replied as he waved his hand. "But forget the formalities, I'm not in Corporate anymore and pretty sure you aren't either." He turned to look at the rest of the crew assembled so far. "And yes, I am Captain Waters – and I'm trying to deal with some trouble here." He continued before explaining why, exactly, the cargo ship was without any cargo

 

[Unimaginative]

Arthur moved through the crowds warily, his hands clasped tightly around two large bags by his side. On his right was a scuffed and beaten steel case and on the other side was a large, black duffel bag. Slung over his shoulders was another pack. He was dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt that was tucked into dark olive cargo trousers, which was in turn tucked into his worn and scuffed black boots. On his head was an old, worn black baseball cap with the symbol long faded and disspaeared. All his earthly possessions in one place, it was almost incredible. After cutting ties with his former employer, the former mercenary had been left strapped for cash and unable to find legitimate work due to the stain on his application. Sighing, Arthur scanned the hangers for the one housing his new home.

Celeritas, a pretty name Arthur mused and, perhaps, his last chance at salvation. Arthur snorted quietly. Look at him, waxing poetic over a ship he'd never seen before. As he continued to walk, the surgeon eventually saw the smooth curves of the Rosencratz-made Bison M-Class Transport come into view. At the opening, as well, there was a small group of individuals that he presumed were to be his crew mates.

There was another bearded man about his age, a younger woman with a needlessly large mechanical hound, and an older man who looked as if someone had pissed in his morning coffee. Both of the other men held themselves with a sort of bearing he was familiar with. The other Manticore Elites had a more pronounced and uniform kind. Some sort of training, perhaps?

The man who made his way towards the group was definitely the leader of their merry little band of misfits. Slightly shorter than the wrinkled, profanity machine, it was hard to place Michael Water's age. If Arthur hadn't looked up the man while researching the job, he would have thought the man was a few years older than him, but in fact his captain was 2 years younger than him.

That train of thought ended when he made his way to the group. The way the other bearded man was standing and reacting to the other man was definitely trained. This would be interesting.

Of course, all this was further derailed when the captain began speaking. White Dove, huh? This was going to be really interesting. When Waters began explaining the situation while he approached. Arthur sighed. What had he done to wrong Murphy this time?

Coming to a stop next to the girl as Water finished, he slanted his head toward his captain in greeting.

"What an auspicious start," Arthur's voice rumbled to himself, "Certainly been through worse though."

"Dr. Arthur Graves reporting for duty, sir" Arthur than said in louder voice, his voice booming in the large empty space.

 

[tankdrop24]

His more pressing concern was the older gentlemen behind the engineer. "Intern?" He asked with a tone of faux questioning. "Why the hell would I have an intern when I have seven crew?" Michael continued, deciding if the new loadmaster wanted to push his buttons today he could push back. "I wish I could have an intern – maybe they could sort out who knows what the hell their talking about. Though an intern wouldn't have been able to find what happened with Whitedove Mr. Flowers – so maybe it's good I'm out here to stop shits like you from starting trouble"

On the other hand, the lack of reaction to all of this from Mr. Feng as he approached was commendable. He took a few breaths to calm himself – between the lost cargo and Flowers unique vocabulary he was desperately wanting to punch something or someone. Blue in, red out he thought to himself – none of this was getting the cargo back. He looked back up toward the bearded man and decided not to remark on his choice of eyewear. "Nice to have you." Michael replied as he waved his hand. "But forget the formalities, I'm not in Corporate anymore and pretty sure you aren't either." He turned to look at the rest of the crew assembled so far. "And yes, I am Captain Waters – and I'm trying to deal with some trouble here." He continued before explaining why, exactly, the cargo ship was without any cargo

Click to shrink...

Oswald's face twisted into it's most common expression. "Alright, enough of this bullshit, where's the goddamn camera? Is the dog the fucking camera?" He scanned the room, arms out exasperatedly. "I know you're not here to arrest or kill me, because none of those kinds of people would try an excuse that fucking stupid to lure me into a trap. That must mean you lot are fucking press."

Flowers stormed right up to Mike. "If you people think I'm going to answer anymore of you people's goddamned questions after what you did to me, then you better hope that wherever you got your piece of shit brain from has good damn return policy."

 

[Jeboboid]

As things seemed to be spiralling towards a confrontation surprisingly quickly, Helena couldn't stop herself from taking a step back when she heard the loud voice of Dr Graves from right beside her. Ajax's hackles rose as he registered the sudden discomfort in Helena's posture. She had been looking to get away from the fighting, and a cargo-ship, a supposedly peaceful berth, had appealed to her for exactly that reason. At least one of them, Mr Feng, had seemed nice enough, and she replied to his nod with one of her own. "Helena Mitchell, Chief Engineer. This is Ajax." She said, gesturing at her bodyguard and friend, signalling him to calm slightly, no need to alienate her new crewmates unless they tried something.

Though she was curious as to why there was very little cargo, she did not press. She was here to serve as an engineer, to keep the ship in repair. And while Ajax could probably help track down wherever the cargo had been taken, she didn't really want to interject when Mr Flowers looked so ready to start a fight.

 

[DB_Explorer]

Michael thought of taking a step back from Flowers, but decided that would send the wrong message, instead he stood his ground. "Maybe I'm just the man that hired you, because while I do some basic checks I don't actually care what happened six or seven goddamn AU from here and I doubt anyone else around here is any different" He glanced over toward Mr. Feng and engineer watching the exchange from the sidelines. "So maybe you can stop assuming the verse is trying to fuck you over and actually considers itself an equal opportunity supplier?"

Michael gave a nod toward the Doc as he announced his arrival and wondered if every former CorpSec he had hired was going to report for duty like that. He hoped the new arrival would notice he was busy with other... matters.

 

[tankdrop24]

Michael thought of taking a step back from Flowers, but decided that would send the wrong message, instead he stood his ground. "Maybe I'm just the man that hired you, because while I do some basic checks I don't actually care what happened six or seven goddamn AU from here and I doubt anyone else around here is any diffrent" He glanced over toward Mr. Feng and engineer watching the exchange from the sidelines. "So maybe you can stop assuming the verse is trying to fuck you over and actually considers itself an equal opportunity supplier?"

Click to shrink...

"Oh, so you're just some dumb twenty something who thinks that just being able to find a bucket of scrap and scrap a band of knuckleheads together means you can be a great dashing captain. My mistake, you have my apologies. And condolences." Oswald backed off to grumble on his own for a while. With a lack an experience and trouble with the cargo the idiot in charge of this operation was unlikely to fire him on short notice.

 

[Unimaginative]

As Oswald backed down from Waters, Arthur stepped up. Setting his luggage down, he addressed the captain, dialing his volume down as he noticed the girl, Helena the Engineer, had flinched when he spoke."

"So, do we know who has our shipment? If so, how are we going to retrieve it?"

It was so familiar, slipping into the soldier's mindset Arthur mused as he spoke. It was...frightening how he he defaulted to the killer rather than the healer he wished to be. He had even purchased the same rifle he had been trained with in Manticore, still kept the sidearm the gave him. The former was in the steel case by his side, the later was strapped to his side with his knife.

"And If you don't how should we go about finding it sir?"

 

[DB_Explorer]

"No I'm the former SecFor Sergeant that spent a decade clearing out ships across half this system." Micheal explained, not letting the man slip off. He decided that playing Flower's game wasn't going to work - partly since the mans ability for vulgarity outmatched his own. "Then I spent another decade doing cargo brokerage for ships several times the size of your goddamn ego. You have a problem with me, the ship or anyone else here then the way out is right over there." Michael gestured toward the door. "Your welcome to leave - otherwise take a small fraction of the rod stuck up your ass and and remove it."

Michael turned to the doc. "No idea who has the shipment, warehouse claims we grabbed it which means likely someone flinched the ID codes off the network." He paused at the second question before shrugged. "I'm open to ideas - we can try to see if the warehouse's network has anything, ask around the market area.... or just find the local fences."

 

[Jeboboid]

Helena raises a hand at the Captain's plan. "If you show me the warehouse I could try and dig into their systems? If I can access their security recordings, I could probably show you who took the cargo at the very least. And if I can upload the images of the thieves to Ajax, he could probably identify them if we can find out where they went." Helena knew that she could probably work her way into the system if they could give her an opening, After all, it couldn't be harder to break than the security of the group that had held her captive.

While Helena did balk slightly at drawing attention to herself so soon, she thought that her idea was workable at the very least. Someone would, however, need to either cause a distraction for her to get inside and work her way into their systems, or get her permission to do so.

 

[Daraken]

Well, this whole venture was off to a cracking start, wasn't it? Cargo gone and of course, the crew's designated asshole making his abrasive appearance. Seemed like there always was one around no matter where you went. At least the engineer, Mitchell, seemed decent enough, if a bit timid. The doctor as well, cut from the same ex-corporate military mold as him and the captain. Solid and reliable types, a good sign.

Helena raises a hand at the Captain's plan. "If you show me the warehouse I could try and dig into their systems? If I can access their security recordings, I could probably show you who took the cargo at the very least. And if I can upload the images of the thieves to Ajax, he could probably identify them if we can find out where they went."

Click to shrink...

Ignoring Flower's antics, Nathan steps forward, coughing into his fist to draw attention. "Well Captain, I'm a fair hand with computers as well. If we can get access to the warehouse's network, I can help do some poking around," the ex-sergeant suggests with a shrug and a nod at the woman.

 

[Unimaginative]

As Helena and the other man discussed the potential of infiltrating the warehouse system, Arthur picks up his luggage before addresses Waters again.

"I need to visit the Medical suite of the ship for a moment, sir."

While he wasn't capable of helping with the technical side of the investigation, he could definitely do the field work necessary. He'd head to the medical suite and prepare a first aid kit just in case. Probably look for some body armor or anything else in case a fight breaks out.

 

[HatsuZ]

The men and woman gathered in front of the Celeritas were doomed, though they did not know it. Their doom spoke from behind them, in the voice of a 7 year-old child.

"Mama, look! It's a robo-dog" exclaimed the little girl.

"I see it, kitten," said the voice of an adult woman patiently, "you don't need to yell".

Anyone who cared to turn and look would see a woman and a child, both with straight black hair, blue eyes, cat-like ears and tails. The child was looking at the gathered adults and robo-dog with undisguised curiosity, while the woman studied the gathered group with a mask-like expression. It was hard to tell what she was thinking.

What you could tell though, was that she had been subjected to a significant amount of gene therapy. Not just due to the tail or ears, but there was a certain regularity of her facial features and body proportions that drew the eye. This was a woman who wouldn't be out of place on a magazine or advertisement.

"Umm..." she looked around at the gathered group and luggage. "I'm Sakura Noihara, a pilot. And this is my daughter, Misa."

Misa pointed at the robotic dog. "Does he have a flamethrower or missiles in there?"

 

[Jeboboid]

Helena turned to the newcomers, attention diverted from coming up with a plan at the sound of a child's voice. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as she saw them, she'd seen gene-modded people before, but none like the woman or child before her.

Misa pointed at the robotic dog. "Does he have a flamethrower or missiles in there?"

Click to shrink...

Helena couldn't help but smile at the child, Misa's question. Blunt and to the point, this was someone she could probably speak to more easily than the large men who seemed to make up most of the rest of the crew.

"He has a Railgun in his tail. Ajax," the robot dog's ears perking at the mention of his name, "engage safeties. Aggression set to nil. Go and say hello." Immediately, Ajax trotted up to Misa and made as if to sniff her, bopping her nose softly with his own and giving a soft and friendly bark of greeting.

 

[tankdrop24]

@DB_Explorer

Frankly, there was only one thing Oswald cared about the new arrival and it sure as hell wasn't the fact that she and her spawn were part cat or that she fit some barely pubescent eleven year old's definition of beauty. Flowers turned back to Mike for a moment. "The job offer didn't mention that this ship was going to be a damn daycare as well..." Oswald's voice trailed off in way that implied 'I'm not changing my behavior for the sake of some kid that isn't even supposed to be here.'

 

[Unimaginative]

Arthur turned around to see source of all the commotion. The first thing he saw was the four feet of mechanical canine that was Helena's companion shove its snout into a small child's face. That was at least mildly disconcerting. Arthur than began to worry. A child? Traveling for months at a time with no other companions save the seven individual that would make up the Celeritas' crew? Would the child's early development be alright? While he had no doubt the child's mother, Helena, Nathan and Waters would be nothing positive role models, he couldn't feel the same about himself and Oswald.

Arthur finally turned to focus on their pilot. He had met a number of people who had undergone gene therapy to enhance their looks, though none so extreme as hers. The perfectly symmetrical features were to be expected, as was the rest of her aesthetically perfect body. He would have to pay extra attention to the mother and daughter when he gave check ups, maybe make a few purchases of some new medication if need be.

 

[Ryo0955]

This job was a stroke of fortune. Elise had no plans to ruin it. On the outset, the job looked... at least a touch better than the other jobs she had. Unfortunately for her, she already had some experience traveling on-board a ship with people she hadn't had the time to properly know before. Those were interesting times.

Still, it was something to look forward to, in one way or another.

Elise managed to get to the spaceport and the ships contained therein. She knew one of them had to be the Celeritas, or she had the wrong address entirely.

It looked like one of the ships had its cargo bay open, maybe she could... listen to someone complain about 'daycare'?

There was an interesting group of people already assembled, along with a child and a... robot wolf? She had no idea who was who, and even if the captain was there.

Nothing wrong with asking, at least.

"Um... Captain Waters? Is he here?"

 

[Daraken]

With the basic introductions done with, Nathan had found himself shuffling in with the rest of the crew to board the Celeritas. Quarters were claimed and luggage put down before the captain finally called for a meeting in the common room. Sitting down on a simple chair, the ex-sergeant listened to his new captain explain their situation even as Nathan went over his thoughts on his newest crew mates.

Waters and Graves were as his first impression, the competent ex-corporate security types, solid and dependable from what he had seen so far. Flowers too followed that mold, albeit with the added feature of "crotchety old bastard" slapped on top. Noihara had confidence if nothing else, though the child following along was a surprise. Cute kid too, and it'd probably be fine as long they were't the bratty type. Didn't hurt that the mother was easy on the eyes as well. Mitchell and Harmon though, had both seemed a tad nervous. Young as well, at that. The captain didn't seem like he'd hire incompetents, but it'd probably wouldn't hurt to occasionally pop on down to Engineering once they finally got off this rock.

When Mike finally finishes up and opens the table for discussion, Nathan clears his throat loudly before turning to address him and the rest of the crew. "Well Captain, as I said earlier, Miss Mitchell and I can definitely work on investigating the warehouse. Security recordings should help, and if we're lucky we might be able to get a trace on the drones themselves. Saw plenty of terminals we can poke around back there so we can get on that immediately."

Pausing, the Martian folds his arms together, a contemplative look on his bearded face. "Aside from that, I can't imagine grains being something easy to fence or find a buyer for." Nodding to himself as he considers the matter further, Nathan continues in a musing tone. "Might be worth checking out cheap storage places nearby. Not that simple to hide a ship's worth of grain just anywhere," the ex-sergeant suggests in a rumbling baritone.

 

[tankdrop24]

Oswald leaned back in his chair like he was marking his territory. He'd never tell any of these idiots, but he was at least a little happy to be back in saddle. That and it would be a good point to pressure for a bonus for Captain Mike uses Oswald's vast well of experience.

"For someone whose training came from a pack of fucking mindless thugs, you're on the right track." Oswald shrugged. "Of course, it could be simpler to just go to a seedy area and ask for people who can this kind of job. It relies on whoever did this not being smart enough to see through it, but the thing they stole was fucking grain, so unless they're a goddamned comic book villain trying to take over the colony with GMO crops or some such bullshit I don't think there's much chance of that."

 

[Unimaginative]

Collaborators: Unimaginative, @HatsuZ

Aspect(s): Gaps in the Medical Inventory

Arthur Graves scowled at he scanned through yet another cupboard in the Celeritas', admitedly very nice, medical suite. As a surgeon, he hould have been overjoyed at the prospect of working in it, yet here he was an inch from slamming the storage doors closed.

Adrenaline, painkillers, biofoam...all the necessary tools for an effective field kit, as well as an operating room, were missing. Sighing in defeat, the former mercenary slumped into the collapsable plastic and steel chair that was meant to be his office chair.

"Dammnit," He muttered under his breath, rubbing at his eyes wearily. He would have to find a way to find the missing medicine and tools if he was going to make the field kit. Shaking his head, Arthur looked down at the side of his chair, considering the steel case he had left beside the chair when he came in. Picking it up and setting it on his desk, Arthur wondered briefly what the hell he was doing. Opening the case revealed an rifle, a blocky piece of metal and plastic configured in a bullpup style. Running his fingers over the sleek metal, Arthur lost himself in the memories the gun invoked in him. It wasn't the gun that he had trained with, nor the one he carried over countless battlefields but it was the same model and make and that as enough.

He heard a knock on the door and a woman's voice. "Hello? Doctor Graves?" Sakura Noihara poked her head into the infirmary and saw the doctor and his weapon. "Oh, is this a bad time?"

Jolting out of his reverie, Arthur's head shot up towards the door.

"Oh, no Ms. Noihara," Arthur responded, closing the case on his rifle and locking the clasps,"What can I do for you?"

She blinked. "Well, since you're the medical officer, I wanted to drop off mine and Misa's medical records." She took out her PDA.

"Ah, yes" Arthur nodded, rising from his seat to his full height and stepped around the metal protrusion that was his desk, "I was going to come look for you two as soon as I sorted everything out here."

As he said this, he gestured at the infirmary as a whole, before scowling again.

"Unfortunately, we're missing a number of important supplies at the moment."

Turning his attention back at the pilot, he offered a cable connected to the computer terminal on the desk. Sakura inserted the wire into the PDA, and soon the doctor's computer terminal had the medical files on it. Taking a cursory glance, Arthur noted that Sakura's was significantly larger than Misa's.

"Before you read it, there are some things I would like to mention, but I don't want them to get around to the rest of the crew..."

Arthur nodded his head in understanding while leaning against he desk and crossing his arms.

"Of course ma'am, Doctor-patient confidentiality. However, I must tell you that I am not a secret repository either. If I feel it is necessary, I will bring something to the captain's attention. I would prefer it if you were the one to tell him, and this is only as a drastic measure, but the captain's orders superscede mine in everything except in relation to medicine."

She shakes her head. "No, this is about my physiology... and the reason for why the file I sent you is so large." She takes a deep breath.

"I assume it has to do with you modified genome? Don't worry, I worked with patients with extensive gene-therapy, though I will admit," Arthur interrupted as he ran a hand through his beard, "None of them involved introducing animal DNA into human's."

"Yes, about that..." her cat-like ears flicked. "I was not born normally... you see, the people responsible for *creating* me," she stressed the word, "used the DNA of multiple people and some domestic cats to create me in a laboratory. It was an illegal lab and they did not have my best interests in mind. And after I was rescued by Venusian marines at age five, I still had to have gene therapy to correct issues stemming from the way I was made."

She swished her tail back and forth pointedly, and Arthur could see a sparkly red bow tied near the tip. "They got the big things, like the cancer, but there are some idisyncrises with certain medications and this tail gets stuck in automatic doors if I don't wear a light-reflecting tail bow."

She sighed audibly. "That's it. I just don't like people knowing I was a science experiment. I told you since you'd probably ask me or figure it out anyways. But the others... I'd rather not they know if they don't have to."

"...Alright, we all have some skeletons in the closet we don't want to let out," Arthur stroked his beard as he stared at Sakura, "I'll definetely have to tell the captain about any allergies though, especially if I have to order extra drugs for you and Misa. Any big ones I should know about? Pain killers, anesthetics, etc.?"

"There is a small list on there... but neither Misa or I can take anything derived from 'nepeta cataria' or 'actinidia polygama'."

"You're shitting me," Arthur deadpanned, "Catnip and silver vine, really?"

Sakura nodded, "Really", she said drily, "and it was a deliberate modification".

"Yeah, I can see why," Arthur nodded, " You chould be fine though, catnip's not really used in modern drug development and silver vine's mainly used in traditional remedies. What I'm more concerned about is valerian."

She shook her head. "It's not toxic to me or Misa, but it still has similar effects to the first two I mentioned."

"Hmm, alright. Thank you for coming to talk with me, saves me time later," Arthur paused, before picking up his case up from the table, "I need to talk with the captain right now, want to join me?"

"Certainly."

 

[Jeboboid]

Helena carried her meager belongings into her new quarters, comfortably close to the engine rooms and sighed. This was starting to feel like a bad idea. The other members of the crew appeared to either be large and intimidating men, an intimidatingly beautiful woman, her small child or finally, her fellow engineer who has said nothing, and is therefore intimidating because in all honesty, Helena Mitchell has no idea how to start a fucking conversation.

One hand dropped to rub Ajax's head as he nudged her side lightly, chuffing softly as he did. A small smile appeared on Helena's face. At least she still had her dog. Setting her bag down, she grabbed her toolbag from her belongings, and with a swift "heel" to Ajax, headed towards engineering. Having worked on several different engines before, Helena was familiar with the general layout of this size-class of ship, but never on this particular model.

Entering engineering, Helena began a cursory inspection of the major systems. Making sure that they were all in working order now, rather than face the prospect of a surprise failure in transit, she felt her breathing calm as she fell into a comfortable routine. This was where she belonged, working with machines. Machines didn't talk, they didn't lie or cheat. They did as their programming dictated, and that was something Helena could always appreciate.

So engrossed in her work, Helena knew she wouldn't be able to tell if anyone came in, so she stationed Ajax near the door, where he curled up, head resting heavily on his forepaws as he gazed out of the door to engineering.

 

[Daraken]

The lobby was nice enough, in that bland corporate sort of way. Sleek lines, simple colors that were easy on the eyes, a few decorative plants to spice things up and so forth. It was all very familiar and irritating. Old memories of pulling tedious guard duty in buildings just like these simmered in the back of Nathan's mind, before the communications officer firmly quashed them. No need to revisit those, thank you very much. Come to think of it, the security here wasn't bad though. The big decoy ceiling camera with blinking lights right in the center of the room was a nice touch, while the real stuff was very well camouflaged and placed just right for perfect coverage with plenty of redundancies. Pasloe certainly hadn't cut corners there.

Eyes next drifting downwards to the reception desk, the ex-sergeant could see the captain and ship's pilot work their charm, Noihara's kid dragged along as well to good effect. Things seemed to be going well in that department and certainly didn't need his unsociable services, so at last Nathan's attention landed on his last companion in this little trip. Elise Harmon was well...tiny. Tiny and young, and maybe a bit intimidated by him? It was a somewhat awkward silence they had going on to say the least.

And that wouldn't do at all. Not if they were going to be crew together in a ship the size of the Celeritas. Small talk wasn't really his thing though, and Harmon hardly seemed the type to initiate. What to do then, what to do...ah! Idea striking him, Nathan turned to rummage through the satchel slung across the shoulder, before finally pulling out a small plastic container. It opened with an audible pop before the bearded man turned to Lis, the open container offered towards her.

@Ryo0955

"Muffin?" Nathan asked the bespectacled girl sitting next to him, before taking one for himself. "They're blueberry."