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Post by Ilana Logan on May 17, 2023 20:09:52 GMT -5
Space, 26 hours from Georgia system
July 17th, 2518
AST: 1:14 PM
Ilana sat alone on the bridge in quiet contemplation, examining the stars from the Captain's seat. She'd spent so long as the engineer, stuck in the engine room, that she often still forgot this was even an option. She'd offered earlier to give Jace a break, though she knew damn well she couldn't fly her way out of a wet paper sack. He probably knew it too, she thought. Her mind slowly wandered back around to the sky and she drifted back into her memory. Lying in the back of the wagon on her back on a thick sleeping bag and pillow, Ilana stared up at the night sky over Lilac. She had been about eight then. Her father was sitting in the back with her, leaning against front wall, a thoughtful expression softening his features.
"I hope you leave this place one day, Ilana," He said, sounding genuinely hopeful.
"Why?" She asked, curious.
"There's so much out there to see, and I think you'd enjoy most of it. You should get to see everything there is to see, and if you keep at it, with your brain for engines, you could get a job as a mechanic on a ship and ride off into the black, and likely stay there as long as you want," he explained.
"What's out there?" she asked.
"Everything. If you can imagine it, and even if you can't, it's probably out there somewhere," he said, somewhat wistfully.A slight change in the humming from belowdecks drew her gently back to reality. She wasn't even certain at first what it was that brought her around. Then she heard the subtle, but still deepening quiet. A pit began forming in her stomach, threatening to swallow her whole from the inside out. She's not moving… Ilana thought. Fuck! She's not moving! she cursed inside her own head. Ilana leapt to her feet, springing into action. She shouted for Jace as she whirled toward the doorway. The shout jolted her awake and she spun around in the captain's chair, slightly disoriented. She leaned back in the chair, relaxing a bit now that she knew they weren't actually dead in the water, but her racing heart refused to slow, despite now being able to hear the normal ship sounds and feeling the ship's movement. Tag Jace Cisco
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Post by Jace Cisco on May 22, 2023 20:22:34 GMT -5
Jace had finally gotten a nice bit of relaxation. He loved flying and wanted to be in the black, but these rare nights were still a gem. He had just finished playing on the game system that had been swiped back on the Core...that chai neow still hadn't replaced his gorram suit. He had to remember to get on off the Cortex when he figured their next stop. Hopefully have it ready for him by the time they reach it. Plugging in the game system to make sure it had enough juice for entertainment on the next leg of this trip.
Jace opened his stash hidden in his bunk tipping two tin cups together he allowed the alloy to heat on the edges of the cups giving it warmth. Getting water and dipping the fake coffee into the cups the brew piping hot but the cups cool to the touch. He smiled and added what little sugar he had left in his stash. The last touch he gave it was the piss poor excuse of alcohol he picked up at the bar in the Skyplex they left with this new job. He wanted a gorram refund for that kuh wu shit they sold him. Pressing the cups back together it turned the heating sensor off so it wouldn't burn the warm liquid in the cups.
Leaving his bunk room he began walking silently down the hall he couldn't remember the time but the sleep and slight burning to his eyes told him he should have slept before returning to his post. Jace heard and abrupt yelp coming from the bridge just down the hall. He began sprinting sloshing the warm mixture on his arms as he booked it down the hall way. Entering the bridge he saw Ilana sitting there almost serene. Surely he hadn't dipped his brain pan too far into the game... looking at Ilana confused.
"Suo you de dou shi dang, what happened?" Jace asked with a little bit of flustering to his voice. Not alerting to an immediate danger he offered a half filled cup to Ilana and sipped at his own.
------
chai neow - goofball
kuh wu - despicable
suo you de dou shi dang - for all that is proper
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Post by Ilana Logan on May 27, 2023 22:09:41 GMT -5
The sound of pounding boots on the metal flooring behind her was jarring. She spun the chair around to see Jace, a mug in each hand, brownish liquid dripping from both, looking every bit as confused as she was anxious. She was also a bit confused for a moment, as she didn't know why he would be running with two open topped cups.
"Suo you de dou shi dang, what happened?" Jace asked, flustered, holding out one of the mugs to her.
Ah, so that's why he was running with coffee mugs, she thought, realizing he'd heard her screeching in her sleep. She accepted the offered mug gratefully with a shaking hand and sighed.
"Sorry 'bout that. Had a nightmare and apparently shouted in my sleep. I think my own shout is what woke me up," she said and took a sip. "Honestly it was one of the more subtle of bad dreams, but still effective," she said somewhat wearily, racing heart finally beginning to slow a bit.
"Good to know that you're not still so sore about me throwing that knife at you that you wouldn't run to my rescue," she added with a chuckle.
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Post by Jace Cisco on Jun 6, 2023 17:59:57 GMT -5
Jace sniffed gruffly towards the Captain as she shrugged off her screams.
"Guess some be done got their brainpan scrambled enough for that to be normal." Jace muttered under his breath a frown creeping along his mouth as he shook his hand free of the hot liquid. He briskly began sipping his own mug to hide the betrayal on his face as he began to remember his own nightmares that haunted him.
"Well Cap'n can't exactly hold a grudge against the one who gives my gorram creds to me now can I? Plus I think the mushroom farm was fair enough torture for all of us." Jace reminded her. Rubbing his hand along his chin he did grin at remembering Helios had took a good shot to his jaw. Luckily Jace's own brain pan was scrambled enough for that to only remember small details.
"You know instead of replacing my suit I should ask Helios to go ahead and get Jay a new sweater. I had almost forgot about that one. " Smiling Jace flopped down into his chair and began looking over the screens and monitors.
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Post by Ilana Logan on Jun 6, 2023 18:58:37 GMT -5
The only indication she gave that she heard his comment about her scrambled brainpan was snorting into her coffee as she took a sip.
"Well Cap'n can't exactly hold a grudge against the one who gives my gorram creds to me now can I? Plus I think the mushroom farm was fair enough torture for all of us." Jace reminded her.
"Ugh, don't remind me. I saw things that night that no person was meant to see," she said with a shiver.
"You know instead of replacing my suit I should ask Helios to go ahead and get Jay a new sweater. I had almost forgot about that one," Jace said with a grin, flopping down into his chair.
"I mean, you did try to eat him, but honestly, he could buy a hundred of those sweaters for what you paid for that suit," she said.
She took another sip of coffee and said, "There is a reason I was up here this morning though. Got something I need to talk to you about."
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Post by Jace Cisco on Jul 2, 2023 13:13:43 GMT -5
Jace had to bring in a air dramatics as he waved away the comment, " My Cap'n he looked absolutely ravishing at that moment how could I resist?"
He produced a hearty laugh to that and admitted silently he had no recollection of attacking the poor medic, but he did remember spitting out the expensive cloth from his mouth for a good bit later, and the poor fellow still wearing it once he was sane enough to recall. He was glad no actual injuries occurred to the medic purple belly or not Jay had become a friend of his surprising enough. Though hard to believe much Alliance loyalty ran through him with him running amongst this crew...or at least the former. Jace still didn't know enough about Helios, Sam, or Rina, but he had also begun avoiding digging into peoples political opinions. If they were wanting to go to the black they were all running from something. Jace felt it best to just keep moving forward and giving those windows to a better world.
Jace's thoughts had been interrupted when the Captain spoke next.
"There is a reason I was up here this morning though. Got something I need to talk to you about."
Jace pondered silently sipping at his brew a little more slowly now hiding any expression he was giving off. Normally these things just ended badly.
"Go for it Cap'n something run amok on this new job already? Normally we get into orbit or land before that happens." Jace tried to add a joke, but his response was mostly dry with the expectations of a new hammer falling on the crew.
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Post by Ilana Logan on Aug 27, 2023 19:00:02 GMT -5
Ilana had to laugh with Jace. Suggesting he'd tried to cannibalize the doctor because he'd looked tasty and not because he'd be tripping his balls off really tickled her for some reason. Calming down, she sipped her coffee.
He thought a moment about something, likely deciding whether he wanted to hear the news or not. Finally he said, "Go for it Cap'n something run amok on this new job already? Normally we get into orbit or land before that happens."
She chuckled a little and said, "No, nothing like that."
She sighed before continuing, "You might have noticed, but our little crew is growing, with more job hunters and passengers all the time. It's getting harder to keep an eye on everyone and know what's going on without running myself completely ragged."
She paused briefly in case he had anything to add. "You help out with that a lot more than you probably even realize, but if we get many more, the delegations are gonna get more tricky. With that in mind, I'd like to know if you'd consider being my co-captain. Should you accept, I'll be offering Rina the position of First Mate. She's been here longer than the others, except Jay and honestly Doc's got his hands full as it is putting us to rights often as he does. Especially with the occasional friendly fire."
She added that last with a wink to let him know she was messing with him. "So, whaddya say, First Mate Cisco? You're already my wingman. Wanna be my Cap'n too?"
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Post by Jace Cisco on Sept 2, 2023 18:23:33 GMT -5
The reassurance was nice knowing that nothing had run amiss yet. Jace peered at Ilana becoming as stoic as ever and dropping all demeanor of joking as he could tell she was hesitating, pausing, or even thinking, but this is not the normal way Ilana ever spoke to him. The interaction definitely had raised questioning the situation, but he didn't expect what came forth as she began speaking about the growing crew and wondering vagabonds they appeared to be taking on. Jace didn't have time to think and consider how many passengers and crew they had on now. Cause Ilana rolled right into what seemed to be the heart of the conversation. He thought it was a dream and time had slowed as he watched the words come from her mouth.
Jace froze and stood silent as she offered him the become the Co-Captain and allowing Rina to take his place as the First Mate. Jace had even missed the little jab at first over the friendly fire. A smile crept across his face as he processed it. Jace reflected quickly in his mind the missions they had been on the time they had spent together and the crew who vanished to the wind for their own reasons. He hadn't ever thought himself a leader, but he loved this crew and what it had become dearly.
"Cap'n, I have to say I am surprised honestly. I knew I felt like I belonged here, but hadn't realized how far we had come till you asked me that, nor did I ever think to be much of a leader. You always had firm control of the happenings around here so First Mate just meant covering alot of logistics for you. I appreciate it and I will accept especially before you offer it to our illustrious problem child." Jace chuckled at that, but he was still surprised. He took another sip and began to grin a bit.
"Does this mean I get a pay raise?"
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Post by Ilana Logan on Sept 12, 2023 6:34:48 GMT -5
"You may not have considered being a leader, but you were already a leader as first mate - second link in the chain of command. You haven't had much of a reason to exercise your command, but in fairness, I haven't had much reason to either. It's... uncommon that our crew gets unruly enough for it to be necessary," Ilana said.
"Does this mean I get a pay raise?"
Ilana laughed and said, "I pay you too much already."
She paused to sip her coffee, and said, "In all seriousness, it won't come with a regular pay raise, but it will come with somewhat bigger bonuses, on the occasion that they're available. Not for hazard pay or anything, that's standard all around, but you'll get a bigger piece of the pie than Helios, and that's something, right?"
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Post by Jace Cisco on Sept 17, 2023 12:56:43 GMT -5
Jace chuckled at his Captain. Mentioning of Helios always came with a mixture of dread and a stream of laughs. He was either the most unlucky individual he ever met or just the goofiest. Helios was alot different than his former navigator lulah one of the many crew members no longer among them.
"My Cap'n, if I was actually worried about the pay I would have given up the black and taken one of the more reliable jobs in atmo for some short transport service. If I really wanted to make myself sick I could join one of them fancy Core Cruise liners for the tours of the peasants out here on the back worlds." Jace grinned. He knew he wasn't the best pilot flying in the black, but given the offerings of what the outer worlds offered in terms of pilots he believed he was probably among the best this far out. Closer to the Core worlds he was sure there were plenty better, but he could be proud of how well he had done.
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