Aether Shanties RP (PM if interested/Started)

[Evrant-Knight]

It was after a while that Adrianna rose forth from slumber with a sudden gasp and a moan of pain. She tried to pull away, but was met with resistance from Garrett, who had stayed with her the entire time, which resulted in a smile from her. "Good morning love; what have I missed?"

"A fair amount Adrianna, after you had fell from the rigging, crewmen from the Mermaid launched a grenade attack using some form of incendiary, setting fire to the deck of the Invincible. But don't you worry my love, Annis has been ordering the crew to contain and extinguish them, I myself even helped out with a few.

Vasco has been busy at work treating the crew's injuries, which reminds me, he'll be visiting later to check up on you, see what injuries you might of sustained due to the fall. Exeter is being Exeter, although his pet Capricorn actually managed to maim one of the higher ranking pirates, tore her arm off with some effort, though sadly it wasn't the Captain, Winged Beth. After their grenade attack, the Mermaid soon sailed off, though by my reckoning, they'll be heading towards Helium City like we are...

And well, if you want to know who carried you here, that would be me." Garrett said, his cheeks blushing a little by the end. Throughout all this, he still hadn't let go of Adrianna's hand, he was rather enjoying this moment, for a small part of him wanted it to not end.

 

[hiei82]

Adrianna listened closely to the report out of a combined desire to focus on something other then the pain in her side, get her bearings regarding the state of the ship, and, in no small part, hear the comforting sound of her loves voice.

Of course, at the mention of "fire", she almost jumped off the couch; it was her job to ensure the safety of the ship; her injuries not withstanding. This resulted in another bolt of pain up her side, another fall back onto the couch, and another pain-induced moan. She hardly noticed the next few reports - she wasn't surprised by Exeter and Capricorn's actions, Dr. Roque's impending visit, or the ships heading - all had been expected in one form or another - so they meant little to her at the moment.

When the last report came, Adrianna's pain had finally dissipated; allowing her to enjoy the sight of Garrett's reddening cheeks and the feel of his hand griping hers. She wanted to comment on how adorable the act was, but her pride prevented her from such an open display of femininity. Instead, she squeezed his hand and smiled back at him. "Thank you love; it appears I owe you my life once more. One of these days I'm going to start repaying those debts. Until then; consider this-" she said. She sat up slowly, so as not to aggravate her side, until she was in a sitting position, then carefully leaned forward and kissed him. She held the kiss longer then most in the past, but eventually broke it, sat back and said "-the first of many payments."

Though she tried to keep a straight face as she said it, she had a better chance of hiding the Invincible in clear skies then hiding the blush that now graced her face. In an effort to relieve the feeling of embarrassment, she coughed and changed the subject. "I...need to check with Annis regarding the condition of the ship; would you be so kind as to help me up?" she said, as she tried to push herself up with her damaged mechanical arm; failing at the task and sending another painful sensation up her spine.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Garrett watched the expressions that Adrianna showed as he gave the report, most likely a desire to bite back the pain in her side. As expected, when the subject of fire had cropped up, it almost looked like she was about to spring forth from the couch; but her injuries prevented her from doing so. He tried to stop her from falling back, but the couch cushioned her fall.

After awhile the pain had subsided, and it almost looked like Adrianna was about to smile at the sight of Garrett's reddening cheeks, or perhaps even comment on how possibly cute it may have looked; but alas, her pride wouldn't allow it. Instead however, she squeezed his hand and smiled back at him, this caused him to smile back.

"Thank you love; it appears I owe you my life once more. One of these days I'm going to start repaying those debts. Until then; consider this-" she said. Adrianna then began to sit up slowly, trying not to aggravate her injuries towards her side, until she was in a comfortable enough sitting position. She then leaned forward and kissed Garrett, holding it for longer than they had in the past, until she eventually retreated, sitting back and said. "-the first of many payments." This caused Garrett to smile, and even chuckle.

"Well, if that was the first, I can't wait to see what is to come."

Try as she might though, Adrianna couldn't hide the blush that now graced her face. In an effort to relieve the embarrassment, she coughed, changing the subject.

"I...need to check with Annis regarding the condition of the ship; would you be so kind as to help me up?" Adrianna asked as she tried to push herself up with her damaged mechanical arm; though it looked as if it sent another painful sensation. Garrett gave a look of concern towards his beloved.

"You sure about that? I don't mean to subvert your authority or go against your orders as I say this Adrianna, but you just survived a rather high fall, no doubt suffering injuries to your ribs and possibly even your spine. Now is not the time for you to be trying to get up and do work,-" Garrett sighed as he took a breather, trying to calm down.

"-what you need to do is rest, and to get better. I can go see Annis and get the report from her in your stead, after all, I can act as more than just your bodyguard. Sorry if it sounds like I am being harsh on you Adrianna,-" Garrett then lowered his head, almost as if he was about to shed a tear, but he didn't.

"I... I jus... I just don't want to see you suffering is all okay. Please let me do this for you." He finished on, before wrapping his arms gently around Adrianna, in a manner that would be described as a hug.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

She had been taken by surprise and now she was wondering, if Sheska had been having feelings for her that she hid for a long time. It could have been because she wanted to maintain a professional relationship, that wouldn't interfere with their work. Perhaps that would have been better than what she had just set in motion.

Beth didn't get far, as she saw Jason heading for her cabin. Passing him by on her way back up on deck.

"Did you want something, Jason?" She asked and continued walking.

 

[Arcanist]

"Did you want something, Jason?"

"Yes. Beth, you violated causality to warn us about something the Empire wants. Now, it doesn't take a mathematician to put two and two together and see that this is going to get worse. Much, much worse." They emerged onto the deck, and he gestured about, emphasizing the large holes littered about.

"If this battle should teach us anything, it's that we're not properly prepared to resist the Empire - not by a longshot. If that battle had dragged on, we'd all be dead. Now, we got lucky this time - their cannons only jammed our rotors. But if that shot had landed four feet off, it would have blown the propellers clean off their axles - and we wouldn't be having this conversation." He produced a small piece of paper from his labcoat pocket and gestured for Beth to take it.

"This is an itinerary of supplies and equipment we'll need to repair the ship. But simply getting the Mermaid back up to speed won't be enough anymore. Luckily for you, I happen to be somewhat of an expert when it comes to building bigger, badder ships." He stopped and turned to her with a confident smile. "And that's not the only thing I can do. I'll be canvassing the crew, asking them what they think they'd need to win an engagement with some Imp swine. You will rustle me up a budget. Then I'll compare the two and see what I can do."

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

She listened to Jason, and while he made several valid points, they didn't have the largest budget. Sure, they had gold from their latest raid and could get more, if they boarded and stole equipment from other ships. It might even be a good idea to hijack another ship and sell it, if they could do that without damaging one too much.

Beth looked at the piece of paper he handed her. It didn't seem like anything they hadn't bought before. It was things she kind of expected to need after a bad battle, though this one could be said to have ended to their advantage. They were still alive.

"Alright Jason, this list isn't out of the ordinary and I can get these things without much problem when we get to Helium City. I don't know about the other improvements. Roberts always relied on discretion and speed to avoid the empire. I'm not him, but it might be better if we try to avoid the empire entirely."

That may not even be a possibility. They could indeed be heading towards a future where fighting the empire was part of their weekly chores.

"We may need to capture and sell a ship, if we want to increase our budget to get gold to buy upgrades. Go ask the others though. I'd start with Eddie."

It had gotten dark outside by now, a starry sky above them. She took a deep breath, the night air was refreshing.

 

[hiei82]

...Please let me do this for you." Garrett plead, before wrapping his arms around her into a large, gentle hug. "That's not fair; how am I supposed to argue with that?" she thought to herself as she returned the hug as best she could with only one good arm. She buried her head in his shoulder, unwilling to let the hug end. Eventually, it did end - as all good things must - and, with a sigh, she relented. "For you"

With that she leaned back onto the couch, careful to avoid hurting herself further. It bothered her that she wasn't out their ensuring the safety of the crew and ship, if only to keep up crew morale, but she knew Garrett was right. "and thank you-" she said, her words strained, not from the injury so much as the thoughts she was trying to express. "-for everything. I doubt I would have lived half as long as I have without you, and it wouldn't have been a fraction as meaningful." she continued, still trying to express herself. "I don't want to see you suffer either...anymore; every day I want to boot Mr. St. John off my ship for the way he glares at you. You're always doing so much for me; and I can never return it for fear of what would happen if we were discovered..." she said, trying to keep her composure as her still-good hand wrapped into a fist. She let the statement sit for several minutes, trying to find the words she desperately needed.

"When this mission is over... let's just leave. You said we could go on adventure; that you wanted to do whatever I wanted together. But; the thing is, YOU'RE the greatest adventure I know of. More then anything, I want YOU to be happy. I want to finally be able to scream how I feel about you at the top of my lungs, and not need to think of the consequences and the Imperial political games and maneuvers. I want to spend every second of every day with you, with no one to get in our way." she said, having found at least some of the words she wanted.

She considered adding a 'and screw the empire' at the end, but felt it unneeded. For, through it all, she still believed that the Empire was better then the alternative, were it not for the horrible costs. She wondered if the Empire understood how much it cost them to distance the rest of the world. The idealist in her saw how if the empire would only... change... accept the diversity of their world, it would never have another enemy, and each would be a thousand times greater then either the empire or the sky-cities had ever imagined. She wondered if this was what drove so many to piracy; the feeling of disappointment at what "could" and "should" have been. She stopped the line of thought before it extended; for she still believed change would win out in time. Instead, she made another comment.

"I love you Garrett Corvus and will until the world crumbles. If there's an afterlife, I will love you into eternity. If we're reincarnated, I'll search the world to find and love you again, and if there's nothing after death; no afterlife or second life is worth anything without you anyway."

She squeezed his hand once more, happy for his presence.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

-Sheska-

After about ten minutes of trying to sleep, Sheska merely opened her eyes in irritation. She couldn't even get close to being drowsy, even with the painkiller easing the agony that came from the tattered remains of her arm. Sitting up, she rubbed her face with her remaining hand, then slipped out of the bed and reached up, pulling the tie that held her dreadlocks back off entirely so that they hung loose from her head.

Her mind was racing, which was the main reason why she couldn't sleep: Too much had happened, and she needed time to think, but not in there. Not in the small but cozy Captains cabin. Even if she was told to rest, she needed to move somewhat, and even if it meant that the crew would be staring at where her left arm used to be.

Striding to the door, she opened it quietly, then closed it just so behind her. Striding to her little corner of the ship, she reached behind her accordion--Another thing she couldn't do again until her arm was replaced somehow--and grabbed her second stashed bottle of rum. She was about to pull the cork out with her teeth when she remembered Sam's words, and with a disgusted snarl she shoved it back where she stashed it.

Then she made her way to the top deck, ignoring the crewmen she passed as she went up the steps, then made her way to the nearest railing. It was quiet out, and had gotten dark. Leaning against the railing, using her arm as support, she stared out into the scenery they passed. She could barely spot a Neobeduin tribe, looking like it was on the move from one campsite to another.

As she watched them, she let herself think [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0NFGgl7Cqs]: A lot happened in the last two days. I saw Beth die. God knows I never want to see that again. Felt like I didn't have a purpose anymore for a moment there. My feelings notwithstanding, she's a good woman, and a great leader. It's an honor to know her.

Found out Izzy feels something for Jess, and good luck to em. Izzy especially will need it.

Got boarded by Imps, and I lost my arm in the process. Damn that son of a whore. Just had to remind me of Lieutenant Garrison and make me drop my guard enough for that Misbegotten bastard to tear off my arm. Fucking brute. If I ever see those two again, I'll kill them slowly. Capricorn... That was the goat-minded one's name. Need to remember that. Not like I'll forget it anytime soon as it is.

And Beth and I may be in a relationship now. A romantic one. God, that's actually kind of scary. I can't help but wonder what she sees in me now. A killer? That's what I am after all. A lover? I don't think anyone has ever seen me like that. A dog? Hell, I'm that too, but I'm so goddamned tired of being seen like that. It feels degrading to be seen like that, but when she looks at me, I don't feel that.

God knows I'm not pretty. And I'm sure as shit not polite or well-mannered. I'm a hard drinking, bloodthirsty, greedy pirate. And now, for possibly the first time, I'm worried about my looks, because I want to look good to her. Jesus Christ, what's wrong with me? But I want it to work between us.

Overall though...

"I'm pissed. And hurting. And I want to make someone pay.", she murmured aloud, her eyes narrowing as she glared at the horizon.

 

[Redryhno]

Eddie was down in the cannon hold, helping getting everything in order again for the next battle, they'd driven off the Imps for now, and two point blank volleys from their cannons did quite a bit of damage or he was an adopted Groundling Misbegotten whore with pink silk ties in his hair. He hadn't really paid that much attention to it during the fight, he'd been too busy off in his own little world and slaughtering Imperials to notice. He relished the sight of one of his shots kill two instantly, the third getting away without an arm from the shoulder down, that had been a fun shot. He even thought he'd seen the guy get away, and for that he had mixed feelings, on one hand, making the Imps fearing of the ship made sure they slipped up next time, giving them more deaths, but on the other is the fact that he hated not finishing a kill he started, and he wasn't sure which he was more inclined to listen to at the moment.

The cannons back in place, the barrels secured, and the crew exhausted from the fight, pulling the cannons out of the way and back into place, and the fact that they had to nearly bend double to aim the damn things the right direction, he finished with them and left the hold. He arrived on deck and started reloading his gun, the metal still warm from the tussle. After struggling with it for a few minutes, he was able to unlatch and open it, not from rust or disrepair, but from design. He never understood why the gunmaker had made it like that before, nothing he'd seen before was this damned hard to open.

"I'm pissed. And hurting. And I want to make someone pay."

"Oi, Sheeka,"He called out behind him, finally getting the thing open and pulling out the two cartridges he'd used, replacing them with two good ones, damn these things were hard to pack and load,"Ow's the armless thing goin'? Anything tinglin' yet? How many Imps did we get back there anyways?"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Adrianna soon returned the hug in kind with her one good arm, then proceeded to bury her head in Garrett's shoulder, being rather unwilling to let the moment end, which he could agree with. Sadly though, like many moments, it had to end. "For you." With that, she leaned back onto the couch, taking care not to avoid straining herself any further.

"and thank you-" Adrianna then said, her words sounding strained, but not because of injury, no, she was trying to convey her thoughts in the best possible light. "-for everything. I doubt I would have lived half as long as I have without you, and it wouldn't have been a fraction as meaningful." This caused Garrett to blush again, taking the complement well. He decided to switch over to the couch, sitting in the empty space where Adrianna's legs were. Garrett smiled at the notion of seeing Adrianna boot Exeter off the ship.

"-You're always doing so much for me; and I can never return it for fear of what would happen if we were discovered..." He held Adrianna's hand once more, smiling as he did. This smile continued as Adrianna carried on speaking.

"When this mission is over... let's just leave. You said we could go on adventure; that you wanted to do whatever I wanted together. But; the thing is, YOU'RE the greatest adventure I know of. More than anything, I want YOU to be happy. I want to finally be able to scream how I feel about you at the top of my lungs, and not need to think of the consequences and the Imperial political games and maneuvers. I want to spend every second of every day with you, with no one to get in our way." She stopped for a moment, thinking things over. Garrett was curious as to what her mind was thinking right now. T'was a pity he did not possess telepathy, but he could take a guess by what she said.

"I love you Garrett Corvus and will until the world crumbles. If there's an afterlife, I will love you into eternity. If we're reincarnated, I'll search the world to find and love you again, and if there's nothing after death; no afterlife or second life is worth anything without you anyway." Those last words brought a tear to his eye, as Garrett embraced Adrianna once more, and kissed her passionately on the cheek.

"I love you as well Adrianna, from the bottom of my heart... May we never fight and drift apart, let us always be together. I do these things, because I care about you, and I want to see you happy." He said with a charming smile.

"Right now though, I shall carry out your request; and you my dear, should get some rest. Don't worry, I'll return soon." He then added, sealing that sentence with another kiss. Garrett then rose from the couch, giving a quick salute to the admiral, suddenly feeling more professional in the process. He then helped Adrianna back onto the couch, and quietly made his way for the door. After leaving the room, he breathed a sigh of relief and joy.

"That, that felt good. More than good in fact, terrific." Garrett, then made his way to Annis, who was still giving out orders to the crew.

"Mrs. Annis, Admiral Lanestar requests a report regarding the current status of the Invincible. Due to her injuries, of which I hope Doctor Roque arrives soon to check on them, she has sent me in her stead. I hope you understand."

 

[Arcanist]

"We may need to capture and sell a ship, if we want to increase our budget to get gold to buy upgrades."

He was afraid that would be the case. Their latest haul was fruitful, to be sure, but hardly anything people would write legends about. "Well, I used to be a grad student, so I'm no stranger to making miracles happen on shoestring budgets. Give me what you can and I'll see that I can do."

"Go ask the others though. I'd start with Eddie."

"Can do, captain." Gave his usual halfhearted salute and went on his way. He scanned the deck and saw Ed talking to... Sheska? Shouldn't she be resting?

"How many Imps did we get back there anyways?"

"No idea. Sheska, what are you doing? Am I gonna have to get Sam up here to drag you back to your bed? You know you shouldn't be up and about."

 

[Texas Joker 52]

-Sheska-

Her train of thought was shattered the moment someone called her name, and she glanced over to see Eddie fiddling with his custom-made gun and the cartridges that it used. Turning fully, she frowned, her hand resting on her hip as she tilted her head.

"Oi, Sheeka. Ow's the armless thing goin'? Anything tinglin' yet? How many Imps did we get back there anyways?"

With a small snarl, she reached over and cuffed the side of his head. "It hurts like fuck, you gutter slug. No, it doesn't tingle, it feels like its on fire, and I don't know how many Imp shits we killed, I just know we didn't slaughter every living soul on that frigate, so it wasn't nearly enough.", she growled out, glaring, just before her expression softened a bit, though her snarl merely turned into a sneer.

"Thanks for the concern, by the way. Its not like having a limb literally torn off is that big a deal. I can just take it in stride.", she said sarcastically, before turning to see Jason walking up to her.

"No idea. Sheska, what are you doing? Am I gonna have to get Sam up here to drag you back to your bed? You know you shouldn't be up and about."

"Can't sleep, needed to move. Needed to think.", she said, her voice going more quiet.

"A lot has happened in a short time, I needed to... Sort things out, kind of. In my head.", she clarified, just before leaning back against the railing and reaching up to push some of her dreadlocks out of her face.

"By the way, I wanted to talk to you, Jason. Before Beth took me to her cabin, I overheard you talking to Sam. You say you've got an arm already being made? Whats that about?", she asked, frowning a bit.

 

[Redryhno]

"Thanks for the concern, by the way. Its not like having a limb literally torn off is that big a deal. I can just take it in stride."

"Good to see ya taking it well then, Sheeka. Kinda mean to be callin' me a gutter slug, don'cha think?"

He rubbed his head where she'd swiped at him. A bit of a welt was starting to pop up. He holstered the reloaded gun at its place on his hip, and secured it, couldn't have that falling out at the wrong time.

"No idea. Sheska, what are you doing? Am I gonna have to get Sam up here to drag you back to your bed? You know you shouldn't be up and about."

"It really matter? If she can walk, she can walk. Ain't that good enough for you learnin' types? Nothing fallin overboard here, certinly not her. Anyways, how's it going down where the coals run red and the water boils over?"

 

[Terratina.]

Vasco sighed as he washed the kidney dish, bloody from the bullet that he had extracted from a patient. The man had been shot in the chest, near the armpit. Doctor Roque wasn't sure of his survival, mainly because bullet wounds create all sorts of trauma and controlling the bleeding of chest is difficult, mainly because the ribs make it difficult to compress the structures that are bleeding. Still, this was the last of the lower ranks that needed medical attention. He moved on to washing the wound. Some people were of the mind that cleaning bullet wounds were of not the highest priority since infections could be treated later. Not Vasco. This was a military ship that had engagements almost every week, soldiers needed to be up and ready, not lying in beds watching their wounds fester. Not only that, Doctor Roque thought the very notion of it was... unprofessional to say the least. Wound washed, he bandaged the wound, making sure that it would not interfere with the pressure state of the patient's chest.

Another task complete. With that, he took up the pre-packed doctor's bag and moved on to inspect the Rear Admiral. In truth, he should have seen her sooner, but burns require more attention than possible fractures and bruising from a fall. Nevertheless, Vasco was sure of having an understanding with her about the matter. The whole question was a bit of a paradox in itself. Who do you save first? The captain or the crew? Without the crew, the captain would just be by him or herself trying to run an empty ship. Without the crew, the ship would be chaotic and disorganised, it took a commanding officer to tie the crew together. He rose up the stairs and ladders and was right beside the Rear Admiral quarters and saw Garrett just as he left. Hopefully the man hadn't interfered with the Rear Admiral, as such could possibly harm her, especially if there was a spinal injury. Hopefully, it was just a little knock on the head, a spinal injury was the worst case scenario for Vasco, after all.

"Doctor Roque; medical inspection as ordered." He said as he knocked on the door and Vasco waited a reply. Lanester was one for manners, after all.

 

[Arcanist]

"Can't sleep, needed to move. Needed to think."

"No, you don't need to sodding move. You had an arm ripped off, Sheska! That isn't something you walk off." Jason buried his temple in one of his hands, the stress of the day starting to get to him. "You need to swallow your pride and accept you're gonna be on the sidelines for a while."

"A lot has happened in a short time, I needed to... Sort things out, kind of. In my head."

Well, shit. So something did happen with Beth. He decided to keep his mouth shut - even the bet notwithstanding, it wasn't his place to judge. 'I just hope they know what they're doing. I've seen plenty of on-ship romances before, and in this line of work, they never have a happy ending.'

"Well, whatever it is you need to sort out, keep this in mind - your actions have consequences. Sometimes they're consequences we don't see coming, and are ones that hurt the people we care about. Don't rush into something without that thought in the back of your head."

"By the way, I wanted to talk to you, Jason. Before Beth took me to her cabin, I overheard you talking to Sam. You say you've got an arm already being made? Whats that about?"

"Oh, that? I machined myself an advanced automata arm in the event of an accident in the engine room. Full range of motion and everything. Retooling it in Helium City to fit you shouldn't be too hard."

 

[Texas Joker 52]

-Sheska-

One of the few things Sheska didn't anticipate, and if she had she would not have looked forward to it, was being between two Skyfolk, one lecturing her, with the other being mildly offended at a choice of insult. Eddie was very mildly annoying, and she could tolerate him because of his cannon skills and the fact he was a damn good fighter. Jason she respected for his intellect, and tolerated his pushiness.

The two, however, didn't mix well with her current inner-turmoil, so she had to visibly struggle to keep from grabbing them both by the collar, one after another, and headbutt them into submission.

Turning to Eddie, she leaned forward and bared her teeth.

"That was sarcasm, Eddie, and the point of calling you a gutter slug is that it was meant to be mean. There is no such thing as a 'nice insult'. Only backhanded complements.", she explained, before looking at Jason.

"Firstly, my legs are fine. Trust me, I'm not ready for any heavy lifting, or even running a short distance. Walking from here to the Captains cabin isn't such a hardship even in my current state, so I think its alright. I'm not likely to overexert myself unless someone needs their ass beaten into a bloody pulp.", she added.

Then she sighed, and shook her head, pushing back her frustration at both them and herself to the back of her mind.

"As for the arm, you didn't have to do that, so thank you. I appreciate it. I do have a few requests to make for it though: I want it armored. If I'm going to go back into battle, it'll be better to block with that way, and harder to break. Think of it like the ships armor.", she added quickly to try and anticipate any arguments he would have had with that.

"For another, I'd like it to have claws to match my natural ones.", she said, holding up her remaining hand and flexing said claws.

"Since you're a mechanical genius, I'm assuming that won't be any problem at all for you. Right?", she asked, her tone challenging.

 

[3quency]

-Annis-
"Mrs. Annis, Admiral Lanestar requests a report regarding the current status of the Invincible. Due to her injuries, of which I hope Doctor Roque arrives soon to check on them, she has sent me in her stead. I hope you understand."

Annis turned slowly to face Garret. Her lip curled slightly at the sight of him, though the mask hid that.
She wasn't sure what to make of the Rear-Admiral's bodyguard. He seemed loyal enough but he'd been a pirate. A famous one, too, and that immediately put him down as someone to keep an eye on in Annis' books, regardless of who's trust he'd earned or life he'd saved.
And yet... at least he was honest about it. He never hid who he was, and Annis could respect that. Certainly a most interesting specimen.

"Corvus." she acknowledged tersely. "The Rear-Admiral will be pleased to learn that the majority of the fire damage has been attended to. All fires are out and the areas most affected are being repaired as we speak. I expect a report on the overall damage from our engineers within the hour. Once I know more, I will seek out the Rear-Admiral myself and give a full report."
She studied Garret.

...that wasn't concern in his eyes was it? Admittedly it was natural to worry about your charge but...

"And how is she? I do hope our commander's injuries weren't too... debilitating."

Yes I do, yes I do. Make her like me. Make someone else understand what it is to be me. Imagine the jokes they'd tell back home - the ship ran by two crippled women. I can already hear the guffaws.


-Isaac-
There was at least one place on the ship that still felt calm, and Isaac was up there.

He always seemed to find himself up the Crow's Nest when things got stressed. He was sat up there now, shielding his book from the wind and pouring carefully over the words. They'd taken a beating today. Sheska had taken a beating today, and Isaac had never thought he'd see that happen. He needed to talk to her. She was the only person on the ship that really knew him for being him, and whilst he was never sure, he felt it worked both ways.

It was times like these that you needed your friends most.

And where was he? Hiding up the fucking crow's nest reading a fucking book. Coward.

It wasn't even that. He wasn't scared of what had happened. Injuries had stopped upsetting him years ago. But... he knew Sheska. He knew how she'd be feeling about losing the arm. And all of a sudden, she had become mortal.

Isaac never really pictured his friends dying. Sure, people around him had been dropping like flies since he was six years old, but this was the first time that it actually affected him. She hadn't died of course, but the fact that she could have done was now firmly in Isaac's head. And he didn't like the thought at all.

He'd go and find her.

...just after one more chapter.

 

[hiei82]

Adrianna indulged herself in the kiss, despite the shortness of it. It was one of the many things she enjoyed regarding Garrett; his openness regarding his feelings. It was a relief from all the subtle machinations of Imperial life.

Adrianna nearly laughed at the sight of Garrett saluting, thinking she might yet make a "proper Imperial officer" out of him. She did not return the salute; favoring instead remaining static on the couch for fear of aggravating her injury.

As he left, she turned her head such that it faced the ceiling, then closed her eyes to await the good doctor. Regardless of, and despite, her injury; the encounter has left her happy. She quickly faded off into the lightness of half-sleep, intoxicated by joy as she was. It what felt like only a few moments later - though the actual time may have been much later for time was difficult to keep track of in a slumber in a darkened room - that the knock came at the door. "Doctor Roque; medical inspection as ordered."

Without delay, she called out to him "Please come in Doctor." As the door opened, she tried to straighten herself up on the couch, so as to maintain some level of her commanding presence. She winced mildly at the pain, but managed to keep it from showing too much. "and thank you for your time; I shall try not to keep you from your more important duties to the crew." she said, a shade quieter then she normally would have.

 

[blaze96]

Samuel finally finished working on the last man and updating records with not only the dead but the injured and how they were injured. He then noticed the time and put the records to the side and grabbed his medical tools.

'Damn it, I'm late in looking over Sheska's injuries.' He thought as he left the room to go look for her, finding her on deck eventually.

"I'm so very sorry Sheska, I forgot to look in on you. I got so caught up time got away from me. When you get a moment I'd like to perform a routine check up on it." He said as he looked visibly apologetic for leaving her in what must have been great pain.

 

[Arcanist]

"Since you're a mechanical genius, I'm assuming that won't be any problem at all for you. Right?"

Jason couldn't help but chuckle at that remark. He gave a confident air, to be sure, but did anybody really think he was so self-centered that simple ego stroking would do anything?

"Nice asskissing, Sheska. With skills like that, you'd kill at the Emperor's court. I'll look into armoring it, but I make no promises. The retooling itself won't be cheap, and we're running on a budget." He saw Sam approach from below deck, running up to Sheska. "I'm so very sorry Sheska, I forgot to look in on you. I got so caught up time got away from me. When you get a moment I'd like to perform a routine check up on it."

"Finally! Some sense! You're going with him, Sheska, and I don't want to hear any complaints. Shoo! The sooner you get it done, the sooner I stop hounding you."