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Post by Tonks on Nov 1, 2013 17:31:27 GMT
Sam was sat on his bed, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. He tried to get his head around the day’s events but he didn't know how he could keep his crew motivated after what had happened. They were on a fairly simple mission, at the end of it in fact; all they had to do was deliver the stolen goods to the buyer; the hard bit was over.
But it’s never simple. Sam thought to himself. Reavers; why reavers? He knew going to the planets on the edge of reaver space was dangerous, but they’d never had problems before. Sam lifted his head from his hands and picked up the picture framed on his table. He looked at it and smiled, remembering the day. It was him, a younger him, in front of his newly purchased Firefly class ship. Sam moved his thumb from the picture to reveal the rest of the photo. His smile dropped when he saw Parker stood next to him, his best friend as excited as he was at the start of their adventures.
“I did it; it’s running” a triumphant Parker exclaimed, spanner in hand in the engine room. “Wahey! Nice one, Parker. We can leave tonight!” Sam replied.
“I told you, Sam, my mum doesn't get back until tomorrow and I wanna say goodbye to her properly, we don’t know when we’ll next be back home.” Parker stated.
“What if we just take her for a spin? We’ll be back here before your mum even gets back. You know you wanna test out those engines.” Sam persuaded.
“It’s bad luck to fly an unnamed ship, captain.” Parker was getting fed up of feeling ignored.
“Gǒupì.” Sam rolled his eyes, “trust me.” He slapped Parker lightly on the shoulder and walked off.
Sam snapped back to reality. They weren't home in time the next day, or the day after. In fact they weren't back for a whole week. When they left, his mother was travelling to a doctor a few towns away; she was taken ill and was hoping he could help. They were certain he could, but Parker’s mother was a lot more ill than they had thought. When they finally returned home, she was unconscious. Parker stayed with her for days until she passed, but she never woke. It was months before Parker and Sam even spoke again, Parker was so angry.
A tear left Sam’s eye and rolled down his cheek. He had let him down then, and he’d let him down again. He wished he could take Parker’s body back home to be buried with his mother, but there was no chance of that now. The last good thing Sam could do for Parker was to shoot him between the eyes before the Reavers took him. They named the ship fúpái, the Chinese term for lucky charm, went travelling and never went back home. They got themselves a good crew, and made money from smuggling and taking passengers. The ship was now a mess, much needed fixing and Parker wasn't around to help. They had escaped from the reavers and crash landed on another planet. Now they were stuck. Less than half a day had passed since the attack but it only took minutes to realise they’d have to find someone to help them fix the ship in the town.
Sam walked over to his sink and washed his face in an attempt to pull himself together; he needed his crew on top form and that wouldn't happen if he was moping to himself in his room. After a few deep breaths he left his room and headed to the mess hall.
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Playle
Talking In Your Sleep
Posts: 441
Deadly Sin: Sloth
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
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Post by Playle on Nov 2, 2013 10:50:34 GMT
Mei-Xing had to make a conscious effort to get out of bed. The warmth and comfort was alluring, but ships didn’t fly themselves. And if they did, you should never trust the auto-pilot. That was one of the many things that flight school had drilled into her head.
She washed her face, tucked her short pixie-like hair under her trademark red bandana, and then began looking for something to put on. Her room was a pig-sty, with clothes piled up in various groups around the room. A white vest, black cargo pants, black boots – that would do for today. They weren’t going anywhere glamorous, to her knowledge, so why should she put more effort in.
She stretched her petite frame in an attempt to wake up more, and that’s when she heard someone leave their room. The captain? By those footsteps, probably. She decided now was a good time as any to get up and out of her room. The captain hadn't been swell after the most recent events, and Mei had wished there was a way to try and get the old atmosphere back. What had happened was devastating and awful, but Mei had to take a matter of fact attitude to it. Had to be strong. There was one time she flew an Iliad-class space liner, and had to just accept the atrocities which happened through the violent crew she worked for. Sadly, it had become the norm to be disturbed – she just had to cling on to the better times. The shock would fade, the wheel of life would continue turning.
Mei popped out of her room, her dainty footsteps catching up with the captain’s pace. She pulled a courteous smile and had more enthusiasm in her voice than she meant.
“Morning Captain, hope you slept well! Coffee?”
He’d probably see through her out of the way kindness, but it was the little things which would hopefully aid him through this tough time.
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Post by PenguinNinja on Nov 3, 2013 13:21:54 GMT
Fayth stared at the metal flooring. A few hours ago and they were just a regular crew. Now? She bit the inside of her cheek. Parker. Gone. Crashed. Reavers.
She eyed her left hand. In the midst of the crash, she hadn't been strapped in, too busy securing other people and double checking doors were locked. A sudden jerk had had her falling, twisting her arm and cursing as she pulled herself into a seat to strap in.
There was a faint cut to her cheek and her ribs were sore.
Once the Doctor had fixed up her hand she'd put a few things back into their respectful places and pulled herself down into her bunk. Right now she wasn't in the mood for people.
With a groan she pulled herself up and grabbed a couple of guns. One thing she could do, wanted to do, was clean her guns and check them. It was an instinctual method and it would busy her hands to distract her from what had happened. Let her forget for a few seconds longer that Parker was gone.
She'd managed to dismantle both guns before the tears started and she stopped, clasped her hands behind her head and settled her forehead onto the desk. Her chest heaved but she couldn't stop it. Couldn't stop the memories of him, of his smile, his jokes, anything. She let the tears fall and silently cried to herself.
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Post by Tonks on Nov 3, 2013 22:26:56 GMT
Sam was surprised by the chirpy-sounding question and for a second didn't acknowledge it. He hadn't slept. When they crash landed and it had all settled down a bit he suggested everyone got some rest; but he had no intention of getting any himself.
"Please, yeah" he responded finally, before pulling up a seat in the mess hall.
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Playle
Talking In Your Sleep
Posts: 441
Deadly Sin: Sloth
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
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Post by Playle on Nov 4, 2013 14:59:11 GMT
Her smile lingered when the captain answered, and she wandered over to the coffee maker. He wasn’t coping well, clearly grief-stricken in a way only time could heal. She let her mind wander, remembering the times on the old cruiser she piloted. It was a den of cutthroats and slavers; when they lost a crew member, it was usually due to one outright murdering the other. She had to deal with the fear that she could’ve been next, which in turn made her the overly cheerful pilot. It was a blessing the day she bumped into Sam et al, and escaped the criminal clutches of the past.
Well, at least she’d seen the Captain – Fayth was still away somewhere, but probably wasn’t best to butt in and investigate. The other crew weren’t stirring yet, but everyone had their own means of dealing. If it was space they wanted, Mei-Xing would give it them. If it was company, that too was available. And if it was just a good cup of coffee in the morn-
“Hùnqiú! What the…”
The plug had burst into a series of sparks, a mild amount of smoke, and had given Mei one hell of a shock. She rushed to the sink, running cool water over her burnt finger. The pain subsided, but the skin was red. The plug socket was ruined, and the coffee maker’s power cord looked as good as dead. The damage of the crash landing must’ve messed it up. Parker could’ve fixed that up… Mei sighed to herself. She wandered to a seat opposite Sam, and began to pull it out.
“Afraid coffee’s not happening today. How about a nice warm cup of company instead?”
Even she cringed at that cheery last line. Being kind was hard work.
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Cooky
One Of God's Mistakes
Posts: 23
Deadly Sin: Sloth
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
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Post by Cooky on Nov 11, 2013 16:21:53 GMT
Rufus found himself sat drinking in silence in a rundown bar on the edge of what passed for a town on this little backwater of a frontier world. Despite his successes here, both in helping the locals and turning a profit on his goods, he felt somehow hollow. The time was coming for him to move on once again, and as usual, he once again found himself wondering what the point was to what he did, was he truly helping these people, or just taking the easy route out? He needed a new challenge, perhaps his next destination would provide that, somewhere outside Alliance space.
Regardless, he still needed to find a ship to take him off-planet, sell his horse and gather his things. With that in mind, he picked up his fedora and overcoat before heading out to his little horse and cart and heading off to another bar, hoping to find someone with a ship there.
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Post by Light on Nov 17, 2013 21:59:32 GMT
Siegfried woke to the sound of the alarm, and sat bolt upright, turning it off with a slap of his hand as he slid out of bed and headed to the en-suite of his room.
One shower later, and he dressed in the usual, smart fashion with a new white shirt and black suit trousers, selected from the rack of impeccably neat clothes in his wardrobe. The last few hours had been hard on the crew since the Reaver attack, and he had done everything he could to fix them up with the supplies and facilities that they had on board. Fresh Medical supplies were just another thing to add to the list they had to acquire from this planet.
Combing out his short crop of brown hair, he slipped on his shoes, and headed out into the rest of the ship. Hearing the voices from the mess hall, he headed that way, and saw Sam and Mei-Xing already up: "Good morning." he greeted them as he entered, looking to the facilities; it was here he noticed the smoke around the coffee machine: "Damn!" he cursed quietly under his breath, moving around into the kitchen area and gingerly testing the kettle; that didn't explode on contact, so a good start, and it was still full.
"Tea instead anyone?" he asked the other two, as he turned the kettle on, which again, thankfully didn't explode.
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Post by Tonks on Nov 18, 2013 13:52:38 GMT
Sam cringed at the "cup of company" line. "Wow, really? You sound like you fell out of a Beatrix Potter novel." he found himself laughing and thought that they must be off to a good start.
"We're out of tea bags Sieg, and milk." Sam bluntly put. "Maybe a glass of water?" he suggested, feeling quite thirsty himself.
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Post by Light on Nov 18, 2013 16:07:12 GMT
"Damn!" he cursed quietly again, flicking the off switch on the kettle and heading over to the taps, grabbing a jug and some glasses along the way. He filled the jug, and brought it to the table filling the glasses and sliding one to each of the other two: "The painkillers have kicked in?" he asked them; better to make sure now, and work from that point into fixing everyone completely back up.
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Post by PenguinNinja on Nov 18, 2013 20:41:29 GMT
'Pull yourself together Fayth.' Those words forced her head from her arms and Fayth wiped at her eyes, took several deep breaths and let her gaze settle on her guns. It was one of the few things that didn't let her down. She'd seen people die. Yes. She'd seen people butchered. Yes. She'd killed a few men and women. Yes. But sometimes, when it was somebody close to home, it got to you.
She moved into the bathroom, washed her face and eyed her dripping reflection in the mirror. She looked passable. And if she did her best to not talk then she could make it through the day.
She grabbed a towel, dabbed at her face and patted it until it was dry. Her clothes were the same ones from yesterday, changing having not occurred to her and Fayth quickly changed into a set of clean clothes. The pain in her left hand was a dull throb, but she welcomed it, gave her something to hold onto as she strapped her gun belt on. One thing she would not be caught dead without was her gun.
And she moved to the ladders that led out of her bunk. She had to face the others some time.
With a sigh she gritted her teeth and climbed. As her feet hit the catwalk she could feel the eyes begin to turn. Didn't matter. She would walk in, nod and walk out. Pleasantries were bottom on her to-do list. She moved into the mess hall, muttered a simple, "Mornin'," to everyone and moved to the coffee machine.
Broken.
Without another word she moved on through until she hit the cargo bay and let herself lean on the cold railings with nothing but her thoughts to herself.
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Playle
Talking In Your Sleep
Posts: 441
Deadly Sin: Sloth
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
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Post by Playle on Nov 19, 2013 18:04:38 GMT
“It ain’t my proudest line Cap, but don’t want to see anything but a smile on your face.”
Mei silently observed Fayth’s departure. Someone wasn’t in a mood for talking. Mei felt bad for being angry, but dwelling on it wasn’t going to help anyone. The positives had to be focussed on. There was only one casualty. The ship wasn’t in disrepair, they just needed a new engineer. The reavers would leave people mentally scarred, but to not move on would be bad. Mei’s relationship with Parker was nothing more than amiable chit-chat, so perhaps that’s why it didn’t hurt all that much.
She sipped her water and nodded to the doctor’s question. She wasn’t thirsty nor in serious pain, just wanted to be out of this situation. Just wanted the ship fixed.
“I’m no advocate for rushing grief, but we need to get Fúpái moving. I don’t mind going planetside with you guys, but there’s more than coffee machines still on the fritz… this is only going to worsen if stuff don’t get fixed.”
That didn’t feel right to say. Necessary, but not right. Maybe it was just Mei’s agenda clashed with the mourning. She waited for their response.
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Post by Tonks on Nov 19, 2013 20:48:24 GMT
"We ain't got time for grief if we wanna keep eatin'." Sam stated bluntly as he stood from the table. "Doc you're comin' off ship with me. You get the medical supplies you need and I'll get our engineer. Mei I want you and Fayth here lookin' at what needs immediate attention. Lemme know what she needs to fly. I'll find a way to get the money we need and I want everyone back in this room by nightfall. Understood?"
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Playle
Talking In Your Sleep
Posts: 441
Deadly Sin: Sloth
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
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Post by Playle on Nov 19, 2013 21:07:54 GMT
“A sound plan. Captain, let Fayth know I’ll be about the cockpit or engine room” Mei enthusiastically chirped. There was life in her voice now that things were getting done. What Fayth would do to help out was beyond Mei, but the company would be nice she guessed.
She finished off her water, stood up and spun on her heel out of the room without another word. She made a beeline for the engine room which had a few glaring issues, blinking red caution lights and sirens abuzz. She reached for a notepad, and began jotting down any and all problems.
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Post by Tonks on Dec 2, 2013 18:21:11 GMT
"Doc, go get ready." He said simply and authoritatively before heading in the direction Fayth went. "FAYTH!" He shouted, not in the mood for hide and seek. "FAYTH!" he called again, waiting for her to reveal herself.
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Post by PenguinNinja on Dec 2, 2013 18:41:59 GMT
Fayth rolled her eyes in the direction of the Captain's voice. "Cargo bay!" she shouted back and she settled her eyes back onto the large room.
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