(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CLI.)
The Duchess stepped out of the shuttle, onto the warded landing platform. She stepped through the iris, waiting impatiently for the outer airlock door to fully seal and vent before she proceeded forward. Through the several layers of scan now implemented, but finally she reached the other side, and made her way to the command deck.
![the-crash8]()
"Welcome, Duchess!" Justine said, waving from her chair.
"Thanks!"
"Affirmative, sir," Laurence said, murmuring into his comm on a private channel. Then he looked up. "This ship is quite impressive, does she have a name?"
Emilly looked at Justine. They both blinked.
"This is Tannhauser Gate station, Laurence," Justine finally said. "We're in orbit around a wormhole."
"Ah. Must be the dry air in the oxygen tanks making my head go funny."
Emilly blinked again, noting Laurence's rebreather firmly in place, even on the recirculated oxygen of the station. "Possible," she finally said. "Though the Rift can cause some odd effects on its own. That does worry me."
Laurence looked at her. "What kind of effects?"
"From the Rift? Time shifts, things moving places, quantum flares from the event horizon." She smiled at him. The usual, she said silently.
"Briggs!" called out Justine, watching him walk onto the command deck. "Damn, I am so glad to see YOU."
They made their way to seats, watching the large screen.
![the-crash9]()
"Welcome, Duchess!" Justine said, waving from her chair.
Justine touched a button on the panel in front of her chair. "This image was captured as we fled the wreck of the TOTS freighter." She looked up. "Welcome, Tom Swift! Please, introduce yourselves while I take care of some things." She turned her attention to the panel again.
"Thank you," the blond man in heavy armor said. Emilly watched as Laurence stood, pointing a hand at his chest.
"Hello, I'm Laurence."
The man named Briggs, also in heavy armor, nodded to Justine. "Since I'm standing closest to ya, I guess I should go first..."
Justine smiled up at him.
"I'm Tom," the blond said simply.
"I am here as a servant of Gearhaven," said Briggs, standing. "Primarily Tannhauser gate, name is John though formality dictates Briggs. My primary duties are to maintain all engineering components on the station, but I do know we are living in hostile times--hence the armor and weaponry...That is all."
That was significant, Emilly thought. Then thought it through. "Emilly," she said quietly, with a wave. Then turned her attention back to Justine.
"Do we have any shots of whatever's firing down there?"
"Nothing yet."
"Pleasure to meet you," said Swift.
"Likewise," said Laurence. Emilly just sighed.
Justine looked up at the screen. "STAN, send all available data to the briefing room screen on Deck 02."
"What are the projectiles?" asked Laurence. "Plasma? Some sort of energy-based, or materialistic?"
Briggs nodded to Laurence and Tom respectively.
"That the hostiles are using? That is also still unclear."
"Hmm..." Emilly murmured, pondering.
"We need to do some recon, but keep enough distance that we don't take fire."
Briggs glanced from the screen, to the small contingent on the deck. "Do we have a shuttle that seats all of us if the Duchess is joining us to investigate?"
"That was exactly what I was wondering, Chief," said Justine.
Briggs looked deep in thought. "I have a prototype ready for this mission; should hold six comfortably. Long range sensors, low profile--should be perfect for this."
Emilly shook her head. "Oh, I'm joining, but I'll go back to Arrivals and take the port gate down to Darktow. Closest thing to the crash site."
"Fantastic," said Justine.
"Which is if we get more than six," Emilly continued. "If we remain five I'll just hop in."
Justine nodded. "Briggs, can you bring her up to the landing pad arrivals deck?" He nodded and left to bring his ship around to the arrivals deck.
"All right," Emilly said. "So, what we know: there was a crash. Cargo unknown, classified. Hostiles on the ground, unknown. Part of the ship seems to be on fire. Anything else?"
"That's all the data I have," said Justine. She looked around, and when no one said anything, she stood, nodding. "Great! Let's head up to level 01 and hit the armory before we get into the shuttle."
![the-crash10]()
As they made their way to the lift, Laurance asked, "Isn't that going to be a problem? Oxygen we have very little of."
"Well, it is under seventy meters of water," said Justine. "So everyone is going to need rebreathers."
"Everyone but the Duchess," Emilly said. "I have that under control."
Swift hmmed. "If it is burning, that is our axis of approach."
""We're going to stay connected on comms, so if we get separated, we can triangulate."
Emilly nodded.
"Got it," Laurence said. He tapped his comm unit. "Testing, testing."
They all heard Zack's voice say "I count two tests here."
"Comm check go," said Swift.
Justine laughed, giving Briggs a smack on the ass. Emilly rolled her eyes.
They rounded the next corner and stopped, at the jumble of entrance ports clogging the walkway in front of them.
"Yikes," said Justine, "what the [f*ck] happened here?"
Emilly looked at Laurence. "That shifting I mentioned?"
"What?" Laurence asked.
Emilly pointed at the tangle--iris door, square block door, warded gate. "To my left. That kind of thing is what happens."
"God damn it," Justine muttered, calling maintenance to the walkway, waiting impatiently while the drone reoriented the main walkway, carting away the extras.
"Perils of being this close to the Rift," Emilly said, watching.
Justine gave Briggs' rear another spank. Emilly tilted her head in confusion. Justine just grinned.
"Yes, I am sexually harassing our head of engineering."
Zack walked into the corridor from the lift, grinning, and smacked Justine's butt for good measure. Emilly rolled her eyes.
"Guarantees morale is high," said Swift.
"It's okay, Justine," Emilly said, somewhat sarcastically. "I don't think we have an HR department."
Zack pinched Emilly's butt cheek and danced away while she batted at his hand.
"You guys better be careful--I won't be able to intervene until at least Sunday evening," Zack said, sobering slightly.
"Yikes. Good point, Zack. Not good attempting this without our medic on hand."
Finally, they were able to make their way to the armory. Justine rummaged through the cupboards of the armory and loaded herself up with everything she found. "Hmm," she said, bending down. "What's this?"
Emilly picked up a gun dubiously. She wasn't big on shooting anything. At least, not with guns. It came with an eye-covering screen, and she clicked it on, pointing the gun at the target and focusing in. She endded up focusing too hard, and her point of view shot through the station, where there was a green-black...Something...hovering in the dark.
No, I'm not going to think about that right now.
She put the gun down and sighed, trying to find something she could use. Briggs frowned at her. She shrugged.
"I'm not the gun person. I'm generally the run away screaming person."
(Continued in part CLIII.)
The Duchess stepped out of the shuttle, onto the warded landing platform. She stepped through the iris, waiting impatiently for the outer airlock door to fully seal and vent before she proceeded forward. Through the several layers of scan now implemented, but finally she reached the other side, and made her way to the command deck.
"Welcome, Duchess!" Justine said, waving from her chair.
"Thanks!"
"Affirmative, sir," Laurence said, murmuring into his comm on a private channel. Then he looked up. "This ship is quite impressive, does she have a name?"
Emilly looked at Justine. They both blinked.
"This is Tannhauser Gate station, Laurence," Justine finally said. "We're in orbit around a wormhole."
"Ah. Must be the dry air in the oxygen tanks making my head go funny."
Emilly blinked again, noting Laurence's rebreather firmly in place, even on the recirculated oxygen of the station. "Possible," she finally said. "Though the Rift can cause some odd effects on its own. That does worry me."
Laurence looked at her. "What kind of effects?"
"From the Rift? Time shifts, things moving places, quantum flares from the event horizon." She smiled at him. The usual, she said silently.
"Briggs!" called out Justine, watching him walk onto the command deck. "Damn, I am so glad to see YOU."
They made their way to seats, watching the large screen.
"Welcome, Duchess!" Justine said, waving from her chair.
Justine touched a button on the panel in front of her chair. "This image was captured as we fled the wreck of the TOTS freighter." She looked up. "Welcome, Tom Swift! Please, introduce yourselves while I take care of some things." She turned her attention to the panel again.
"Thank you," the blond man in heavy armor said. Emilly watched as Laurence stood, pointing a hand at his chest.
"Hello, I'm Laurence."
The man named Briggs, also in heavy armor, nodded to Justine. "Since I'm standing closest to ya, I guess I should go first..."
Justine smiled up at him.
"I'm Tom," the blond said simply.
"I am here as a servant of Gearhaven," said Briggs, standing. "Primarily Tannhauser gate, name is John though formality dictates Briggs. My primary duties are to maintain all engineering components on the station, but I do know we are living in hostile times--hence the armor and weaponry...That is all."
That was significant, Emilly thought. Then thought it through. "Emilly," she said quietly, with a wave. Then turned her attention back to Justine.
"Do we have any shots of whatever's firing down there?"
"Nothing yet."
"Pleasure to meet you," said Swift.
"Likewise," said Laurence. Emilly just sighed.
Justine looked up at the screen. "STAN, send all available data to the briefing room screen on Deck 02."
"What are the projectiles?" asked Laurence. "Plasma? Some sort of energy-based, or materialistic?"
Briggs nodded to Laurence and Tom respectively.
"That the hostiles are using? That is also still unclear."
"Hmm..." Emilly murmured, pondering.
"We need to do some recon, but keep enough distance that we don't take fire."
Briggs glanced from the screen, to the small contingent on the deck. "Do we have a shuttle that seats all of us if the Duchess is joining us to investigate?"
"That was exactly what I was wondering, Chief," said Justine.
Briggs looked deep in thought. "I have a prototype ready for this mission; should hold six comfortably. Long range sensors, low profile--should be perfect for this."
Emilly shook her head. "Oh, I'm joining, but I'll go back to Arrivals and take the port gate down to Darktow. Closest thing to the crash site."
"Fantastic," said Justine.
"Which is if we get more than six," Emilly continued. "If we remain five I'll just hop in."
Justine nodded. "Briggs, can you bring her up to the landing pad arrivals deck?" He nodded and left to bring his ship around to the arrivals deck.
"All right," Emilly said. "So, what we know: there was a crash. Cargo unknown, classified. Hostiles on the ground, unknown. Part of the ship seems to be on fire. Anything else?"
"That's all the data I have," said Justine. She looked around, and when no one said anything, she stood, nodding. "Great! Let's head up to level 01 and hit the armory before we get into the shuttle."
As they made their way to the lift, Laurance asked, "Isn't that going to be a problem? Oxygen we have very little of."
"Well, it is under seventy meters of water," said Justine. "So everyone is going to need rebreathers."
"Everyone but the Duchess," Emilly said. "I have that under control."
Swift hmmed. "If it is burning, that is our axis of approach."
""We're going to stay connected on comms, so if we get separated, we can triangulate."
Emilly nodded.
"Got it," Laurence said. He tapped his comm unit. "Testing, testing."
They all heard Zack's voice say "I count two tests here."
"Comm check go," said Swift.
Justine laughed, giving Briggs a smack on the ass. Emilly rolled her eyes.
They rounded the next corner and stopped, at the jumble of entrance ports clogging the walkway in front of them.
"Yikes," said Justine, "what the [f*ck] happened here?"
Emilly looked at Laurence. "That shifting I mentioned?"
"What?" Laurence asked.
Emilly pointed at the tangle--iris door, square block door, warded gate. "To my left. That kind of thing is what happens."
"God damn it," Justine muttered, calling maintenance to the walkway, waiting impatiently while the drone reoriented the main walkway, carting away the extras.
"Perils of being this close to the Rift," Emilly said, watching.
Justine gave Briggs' rear another spank. Emilly tilted her head in confusion. Justine just grinned.
"Yes, I am sexually harassing our head of engineering."
Zack walked into the corridor from the lift, grinning, and smacked Justine's butt for good measure. Emilly rolled her eyes.
"Guarantees morale is high," said Swift.
"It's okay, Justine," Emilly said, somewhat sarcastically. "I don't think we have an HR department."
Zack pinched Emilly's butt cheek and danced away while she batted at his hand.
"You guys better be careful--I won't be able to intervene until at least Sunday evening," Zack said, sobering slightly.
"Yikes. Good point, Zack. Not good attempting this without our medic on hand."
Finally, they were able to make their way to the armory. Justine rummaged through the cupboards of the armory and loaded herself up with everything she found. "Hmm," she said, bending down. "What's this?"
Emilly picked up a gun dubiously. She wasn't big on shooting anything. At least, not with guns. It came with an eye-covering screen, and she clicked it on, pointing the gun at the target and focusing in. She endded up focusing too hard, and her point of view shot through the station, where there was a green-black...Something...hovering in the dark.
No, I'm not going to think about that right now.
She put the gun down and sighed, trying to find something she could use. Briggs frowned at her. She shrugged.
"I'm not the gun person. I'm generally the run away screaming person."
(Continued in part CLIII.)