The Orion Files | Tortuga | Sweet Child of Mine | Briefing Room
This is what happens when you get me to stop in the middle of writing...
Irina Rostikova | Edward Aubergine
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Unlike the majority of those gathered for the briefing, Edward Aubergine did not appear to have any questions nor misgivings regarding their mission, their employer or the conditions that their employer had laid out for the mission. The mission had already been accepted by the Captain and that should have been the end of the conversation. Given the results of the previous mission and the fact that Captain Walker was still willing to work with this motley collection of pilots, privateers and pirate hunters, his fellow crew mates should have been strategizing, not questioning... though it seemed that Elliot had shifted the conversation to strategy at that moment. Those had been Edwards thoughts on the matter until...
"
That's assuming Irina can pilot the drones without crashing them." Grace commented loud enough for the target of her comment to hear.
The Former Shock Trooper could sense Irina bristling at the venomous comment and chamber one of her own. Reaching out, he placed a hand on his partner's shoulder, breaking her attention for the moment necessary to respond to Grace's statement regarding Irina's abilities.
"
Irina will be able to perform the necessary scans of the ship and the cargo without issue..." Edward stated coolly before eyeing Grace out of the corner of his eyes, "
Provided that she is not unduly distracted during the performance of her duties."
His voice sounded a bit tired when he spoke to Grace. On the one hand, he understood the need for Grace to comment on his partner's piloting skills. Were it not for quick thinking on Grace's part, she might have been left in Area of Operation when the Sweet Child of Mine jumped out of the system. On the other hand, Grace was still alive which should have made her happy and less hostile. On the third hand, there was the possibility of a repeat offense by Irina. On the fourth and final hand, there was the fact that Grace should have been able to give Irina some pointers on basic combat maneuvers. He wondered if the Captain had noticed any of the ongoing tension between his two crew members and if so, Edward wondered how he planned to resolve it. Since the upcoming mission was supposed to be relatively easy, Edward would speak to Captain Walker on the matter and perhaps find a solution but for now, there was something else that needed to be discussed. Nodding to Irina, the disgruntled Merchant Mechanic hurried off towards the Redeemer as he approached their current employer.
"
Captain. If I can have a moment of your time, I need to talk to you about the prisoner that we took in the last missions..."
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The Orion Files | Tortuga | Sweet Child of Mine | Briefing Room
Imprintation... is that a word?
SARA
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The Sweet Child of Mine's lone prisoner stood at attention near the locked gate of her cell with her eyes intensely focused on the brig's entrance. According to her internal chronometer, it had been nearly six hours since her last meal which meant that her next one would be delivered soon. It wasn't that the prisoner was hungry, her previous training had made it possible to function on minimal energy intake, it was that the meal deliveries was the only time in which she could see her new...
~
CREEK!~
The sound of the brig's door was loud but music to SARA-00735's ears as she smartly saluted the person at the door.
"
ATTEN-!" She started to say before she was interrupted by the sound of a food tray being quickly slid along the ground, violently bouncing off a wall and sliding to the front of SARA's cell.
~
Crshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-BANG-shhhhhhhhhh-clatter clatter clatter- SLAM!~
The brig's entrance slammed shut once again with the prisoner only catching the slightest glimpse of her new imprinted master's red hair and her artificial arm, which had been used to distribute SARA's rations. While it might of struck others as odd that a prisoner now considered someone who had continually suggested her termination through airlock venting her new master, those familiar with the program used to manufacture soldiers like SARA had purposefully requested this "imprinting" feature during the design stages.
The previous version of the SARA program had a fatal flaw. Once one of the bio-engineered slave soldiers had permanently imprinted on their commander, it was impossible to get them to switch their loyalty, even after the death of their commander. This meant that after the death of a squad commander, his squad would have to be put down as well. The newest iteration, of which SARA-00735 was a member, had a weighted imprinting sequence. The more time their spent with a commander, the greater their loyalty... the less time they spent, the lower their loyalty. This meant that squads could be assigned new commanders... this also meant that in the event of capture, there was the potential that the bio-engineered slave would start to go through a sort of accelerated Stokholm Syndrome... but the bombs implanted in their armor were supposed to take care of that.
"
[small]I wonder what kind of master my Mistress is..[/small]" SARA whispered to herself, "
[small]I bet she's kind, charming, polite, intelligent...[/small]"