Futuristic Burning Sails [OPEN]

[K0mori]

After the obligatory pause due to the translator's work, Vixaya replied in monotone. "[I've never been able to blend in. I haven't needed to. It was never important that I be a part of things that weren't related to the war on Spirra.]" With a slow, meticulous turn, her newly mint-colored eyes lifted themselves to meet Lauren's. Her expression, as best as the human could tell by looking through the round lenses of her mask, was an unhappy one. Nonetheless, she kept talking. "[But if I wanted to, the others accepted me the way I was. The galaxy didn't matter to us; it was just us few in our place and our moment. Now there are choices... too many of them.]"

Vixaya stared off into space for a moment, and Lauren wondered if she held any curiosity whatsoever. But finally, the kanad spoke again. "[Aren't you afraid to be seen? You should be quiet.]"

The last words weren't meant as an insult, Lauren quickly realized. Vixaya had meant it as an earnest suggestion for the mission ahead, as if she expected her to arrive at Shadespear a drunken mess, the way she had done at the mech hangar earlier on.

 

[joshuadim]

"The rest of the galaxy can burn as far as I'm concerned."

She can't believe that... can she? Vance thought to himself as the very words made him uncomfortable to hear from a former compatriot. He would have to have a talk later in a one-on-one to figure out exactly, but for the time being he kept it on the backburner as he focused on other things for the time being. "Regardless, we have an obligation with the position we're in to make this whole thing right. Nothing will ever change my mind on that." Vance said as he stood up, "And I won't rest until the job is done and Anora is brought to justice. I welcome anyone that is with me on that front." He then took the trilby part of his disguise into his hands and walked away elsewhere in the canteen.

He knew he could trust Nat with his life if the past was anything to go by, and Olivia seemed like someone he could trust to do the right thing, but the artisynth... Vance was utterly repulsed by the doctor's callous disregard for innocents. It made it impossible for him to be around such a vile character as he went off to see who else he could pass the time with for the time being. It was then he noticed Amy, who had helped him with finding the words to talk to Vella, speaking to another woman whom he had no idea about. He didn't like not knowing people he was working alongside and so he made his way over to their table and waited until they finished talking to speak up.

"Hey, Amy right? Sorry about walking out like that earlier in the gym. I, uh... got distracted by a train of thought there. I didn't get to say it before so I just wanted to say thanks for the advice on giving me the words on how to tell Vella that..." he started saying to Amy for a moment before pausing. The words were caught in his throat for a moment before he quickly recomposed himself, "That her partner didn't make it. It meant a lot." He then turned his attention to Katja, the enigma currently, and nodded: "Don't believe I know you all that well. You weren't on VOC-1 were you?" he asked with curiosity.

 

[Infab]

"[Aren't you afraid to be seen? You should be quiet.]"

Lauren sighed a bit, gently exhaling as she glanced to the others in the room. "...I plan to, trust me. I don't want to get us in deeper shit than we already are right now." Plus, she wanted to show that dickhead upstairs that she could do what she needs to do.

She looked back to Vixaya after a moment. "... I'm sorry if what I did back at the mech hanger drove you off. I go overboard with the drinks a lot. One of the few ways I can enjoy things lately." Because everything else I do pushes people away. She decided to change the topic a bit, since she didn't want to go down that line of thinking again today. "... I've never been one to care much for how the galaxy saw me, or the affairs in other parts of the galaxy. I've focused on myself, and those around me."

She shrugged a little. "That's all that really matters, right?" she added.

 

[K0mori]

"That's all that really matters, right?"

"[No,]" Vixaya replied, strikingly quickly compared to her earlier, thoughtful responses. She almost sounded angry, but any emotion which tinged her voice was gone within a breath. What came next was so flat that it sounded rehearsed. "[If that was all that mattered, we'd just run away from danger and protect ourselves. The past matters, because it put us where we are, and the future matters because of where it will put the ones who follow us. That means...]" she paused and shuddered, twitching hard one time, "[our purpose is the struggle.]"

Lauren began to piece together what Vixaya meant by her earlier comments. Her uniqueness didn't matter to the partisans on Spirra because nobody's identity really mattered. Their unique position in their time and place obligated them to struggle together, not for their own survival, but for the future of their planet and in order to avenge the deaths of others. Without those circumstances dictating her life, Vixaya drifted aimlessly in a world rife with choices she didn't feel inclined to make.

 

[Infab]

Lauren looked at Vixaya for a few moments, mulling over what she had just said, along with the other things she had said before. Hmm. Tough one. Lauren had never really had much experience chatting up war vets. PTSD, military brainwashing... heavy stuff like that she had no experience in dealing with or talking about. And this was in basically a kid, which made it a bit worse. She tried wrapping her head around it a bit, which was twice as difficult with the booze lingering in her system, until a thought popped into her head which bypassed her mind and slipped out of her mouth.

"...You're lacking a purpose." she said. She paused afterwards, thinking over what she had just said, before adding to it. "...Your purpose before was to fight the war on Spirra. Determine the future, avenge the fallen, and so on...but the war is over, and you're way out here in the middle of nowhere alone. Away from everything and everyone you've ever known."

Lauren paused, before slowly smiling. "Well, do you want me to give you a new purpose?"

 

[Viper Actual]

Nathalie glanced at Lauren as she stormed into the lounge. Even though she tried to disguise it Nat could clearly tell that Lauren was intoxicated. Or worse.

She shook her head slightly before looking back at Vance as he spoke. As the supersoldier stood up and left, so did Nathalie without a word. While she might not have the same beliefs she used to she'll still support Vance for as long as possible.
I owe him that much.

Making her way towards the door Nathalie decided to go find Damien. She asked some no-name grunt if he'd seen him and the slow-thinking Trilothian mentioned the third deck. Crew quarters specifically.
Stepping into the elevator, Nathalie crossed her arms and rolled her neck slowly.
Once it arrived at its destination mere moments later Nat stepped out of the elevator and looked to the left and right.

The entire corridor was silent and she didn't react to anything at first until she spotted broken glass and a trail of singular blood droplets on the floor. Narrowing her eyes Nathalie approached what she presumed to be Lauren's room and glanced in the opposite direction- following the blood- which lead to another door.

Nathalie approached the door and knocked twice, waiting for a response.

 

[Infab]

The response to Nathalie's knocking came in the form of the metal slab of a door sliding open, revealing Damien holding a bloodied cloth to his face. "Before you ask, I pissed Lauren off and she popped me." he said, his voice sounding quite off thanks to his clenched nose. He turned about, moving back into the room and sitting down on the edge of his cot.

He glanced back to Nathalie, standing in the doorway. "... Did you come to check on me? Or just exploring the layout of the ship? Not much on this end besides that hatch leading to some electronics and wiring."

 

[Viper Actual]

Nathalie raised an eyebrow as Damien's bloodied visage appeared. She entered the room and closed the door behind her.
Quietly she placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head slightly.
"Well," she began. "Lauren practically stormed into the lounge and knowing how well you and her work together I figured I'd make sure she didn't send you out an airlock or stuffed you into some circuit box."

Nat nodded towards Damien. "Looks like my instincts were right."
Approaching Damien she took a knee in front of him. From underneath her cloak her right hand produced a military-grey bandaid-type of medical bandages which she offered to Damien.

Nathalie used her other hand to motion for the bloodied cloth. "Next time I expect you to be faster on your feet."

 

[Infab]

"Next time I expect you to be faster on your feet."

Damien grunted. "She always manages to be a little faster." he replied, before taking the bandage and setting the cloth aside. "Most she usually does is punch me, anyway. If it ever goes any further, its just a kick or shove added in. And most of the time, I deserve it."

He took a moment to prep the bandage, then put it in place before continuing. "She's broken my nose twice already. Cracked a rib once." he muttered, glancing up to Nathalie. "Like I said, though. Most of the time, I deserve it. Other times, its just her being a bitch. We're dicks to each other a lot."

 

[Viper Actual]

Nathalie nodded. "Sounds like a very rough relationship." She moved to the side and seated herself on the cot next to Damien, clasping her hands together, listening to him list his previous injuries. "I might not be an expert on sibling relations but from what I can tell you two should really hash things out." Nat nodded towards the door. "Valkyrie just lets you fight it out?"

 

[Infab]

"Valkyrie just lets you fight it out?"

Damien shrugged. "She's never really involved herself. Hasn't payed attention to anything involving us since shortly before my father left. Only time she really stepped in was to get Lauren out of deep shit with the Black Crow Corsairs." he explained. "Another pirate band, lead by a human from Terra named Lynch. Lauren killed seven of his men in a fight in Shadespear's market, and sliced Lynch's face open with a fillet knife. My mother had to hand over a shitload of cargo as payment for damages."

Damien went quiet for a moment, before speaking again. "At times, I don't think she even remembers we exist. And she gave birth to us." He glanced to Nathalie for a moment, before shaking his head. He changed the subhect afterwards. "Lauren won't be a problem on Shadespear. I made sure of that. So we can focus on our work."

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

"And I won't rest until the job is done and Anora is brought to justice. I welcome anyone that is with me on that front."

Typhon doesn't bother looking at either Vance or Nathalie as they both get up and walk from the table; he's more content eating his paste than to address Vance. At least Olivia is at the table still, though.

"It must've been the puddy." he says to her, raising his tin. "So, what do you wager that one will get himself killed first?"

 

[Viper Actual]

"Valkyrie won't always be able to help you guys out," said Nathalie. She shrugged. "Preaching to the choir, I know, but sooner or later the two of you need to make a mends. Otherwise Lauren will become a liability for you and vice versa."
Nathalie sighed. "That and the galaxy is bad as is. If I had any family I'd keep them close, there's not a lot of people one can trust these days."

"At times, I don't think she even remembers we exist. And she gave birth to us."

"I think she does," replied Nathalie. "But from what I've read and heard your mother has been through hell- and survived to tell the tale. Plus, there's any number of things that could make a person- parents included- lose their way and their focus."

"I'm making a wild guess here but I don't think you, Lauren or Valkyrie have actually sat down and spoken with each other like a family for a long time. If ever." Nathalie turned towards Damien and inspected him with her icy blue eyes. "It might be worth giving it a shot after Shadespear, especially if we're going to spend the foreseeable future running and gunning our way towards Anora with bad odds. At least as a way to clear the air."

 

[Frankafurter]

Katja looks at Vance and shakes her head a little bit, "I wasn't on the station, I was uh, scraped out of the remains of a colony ship's cryostorage. Sort of getting the gist of things as fast as I can despite the three century gap in knowledge."

She curiously looks over Vance's disguise and the sort of 'g-man' aesthetic of it. A simple suit, clean cut with zero frills to it, it's not a bad look on him given his own build and frame. There's something that sticks in the back of her head when she sees his face though, it's got this weird familiarity to it. They've absolutely never met before but his face just has a slight similarity to another person or like an actor or something she knew back home. She avoids asking him about it though, she doesn't want him to get weirded out by her asking if he's a former actor or something.

 

[Breadman]

"Do what you have to do." Amy responded to Katja "I'm just saying, putting a lot of distance between you and this is the best end-goal." Her attention was drawn towards Lauren who had entered the room and she looked pissed at something...or someone. Maybe Vix would calm her down somehow? She had to remember to check up on her for safety sake. She completely missed Vance until he spoke, slightly startling her.

Hey, Amy right? Sorry about walking out like that earlier in the gym. I, uh... got distracted by a train of thought there. I didn't get to say it before so I just wanted to say thanks for the advice on giving me the words on how to tell Vella that... That her partner didn't make it. It meant a lot.

"It's ok. Really, there's no need to apologize. You seemed a bit out of it when it happened. Sorry for your mutual loss, big guy. Hope she picks things up." She looked at the bottle again as he talked to Katja. Suddenly she slapped her forhead as she remembered a detail from a previos topic "Vance Astro! That's the name!"

 

[joshuadim]

"Cryostorage?" Vance repeats to himself quietly, realizing that there now was someone else in his vicinity who was going through the same difficulties of adjusting to the future as he had been for so long at this point. He was going to ask if she needed help until Amy suddenly shouted his name. "Huh?" he asked aloud, "Yes that's my name, what's up?" he then asked in confusion.

 

[Breadman]

"Oh no I...Wait...that's your name?" Amy looked to him "Huh, weird. Did you know you share a name with an old comic book character? We were talking about that a minute ago."

 

[joshuadim]

"Did you know you share a name with an old comic book character? We were talking about that a minute ago."

Comic book character? Oh boy here we go again. Vance thought to himself as he chuckled, taking a seat at the table. "Do tell me more about these comics? I'm curious as to what you think about them." he asked with a bit of mischief in his voice. He decided he would have a bit of fun first before actually telling the truth.

 

[Frankafurter]

Katja stares at Vance, "Your parents named you after a comic book character?" She chuckles a little, "Could be worse names I suppose, but Vance Astro? Really? Though now that I say that, it makes the odd familiarity of your face stick out more. You do have a pretty close resemblance to the original art for him."

 

[Breadman]

"What do I know? I know that my wife and my sons are crazy about him." Amy thought of what she had retained from osmosis "He's big, strong, does a lot of punching, rayguns and sweeps alien queens off their feet. That's about it." She leaned on the counter letting her head rest in her hand "Like I told our freshly unfrozen friend here, I'm more into Ayr stuff, so I prefer their picture books to ours. Can't really get into centuries worth of storylines and backlogs." She was silent for a second before she continued with a solemn tone "No, that's a lie. I did watch the whole of 'One star'."

 

[joshuadim]

"Rayguns and alien queens. Hah, they always did overexaggerate." Vance commented simply, before moving his attention to Katja: "And you? What do you think of the comics?" he asked with a knowing smirk.

 

[Frankafurter]

"I mean, my datapad used to have a collection of my favorites, but it got fried by cosmic radiation inside the colony ship. Might try to find digital copies again on Shadespear." Katja looks him over again, he really does look like Captain Astro, just missing the trademark outfit and raygun on his hip. She picks up on his demeanor and grows suspicious, "Why? You about to tell us that you're the real Captain Astro or something?"

 

[joshuadim]

"Would you believe me if I did?" Vance then asked sincerely to Katja, "Not that I wouldn't mind, I got that a lot back in the day. As you probably well know, waking up in the future is a rather strange experience to get to grips with."

 

[Frankafurter]

Katja stares at him, "I mean, it wouldn't be the craziest thing for me to hear at this point, but given we're in a land of aliens, super technology, and interstellar travel... I think I could buy the story for now." She rubs her hands together breifly and nods, "And yeah, waking up in the future is hard to come to terms with. I feel like I have no attachment to anything at this point because it's been so long that anyone I would have known is long gone and I doubt if they had kids or grandkids, I doubt they would have remember who their grandad or grandma used to pal around with. Plus, I heard Earth isn't exactly the best place to be right now, so..." She trails off and glances to the side shrugging a little, like she doesn't want to quite accept that Earth is no longer the home she once knew.

 

[K0mori]

"Well, do you want me to give you a new purpose?"

Vixaya's ears perked up. "[That is what I came to this quadrant to find,]" she said softly, "[but I feel disconnected from the past, here. I don't know these people or why they hate each other. I don't know how killing Anora will affect the future, or why I should care. But I don't know how else I can be useful right now, to anyone, anywhere.]"