Pax

"If they're not here they're not here, lets just go," Austin stated irritably. Formalities like roll call were time consuming and a waste of time. He crossed his arms, shuffling out of line and raised his hand for a brief moment, "anyways, Austin Rainer is here."
He observed the new lieutenant while waiting for the others to all decide they were here. He was clearly full of himself and probably thought he was the greatest thing to happen since space travel. However, there was something Austin liked about him; most likely it was the lieutenant's attitude that gave off an aura of knowing. Austin liked people who were "in the know" and he figured a high ranking official would be more than useful in his own intelligence gathering endeavors.

 

Oops, I should probably do this before I forget:redface:

Lt. Carlson (NPC)

Name: Benny "the Claw" Carlson
Gender: Male
Age: 26

Appearance: Benny is a tall man with a slim athletic build. His hair is blonde and his eyes are blue, his skin is fair, and he speaks with an unmistakable yet refined and charming southern drawl. His eyes are almost dagger sharp and he has the appearance of an apex predator when he's focused on a goal.

Personality: Benny is a good man but a stickler for detail and discipline. He runs a tight ship, does things by the book, and needs to dot every "I" and cross every "T". He is the overachiever type who doesn't have time for any funny business, it's all strictly business for him until he gets leave time. No time to fool around, he has to get promoted as fast as possible.

Background: Benny is focused on his goal of becoming a starship Captain. He already became an Aerospace Force officer, something he did to impress his father as much as himself. He came from a family of enlisted veterans and always felt like he's had to compete with his three other brothers for attention and approval from daddy. Benny competes with himself as much as anybody else. He earned his nickname of the claw because on a planetside mission he was wounded in combat and lost one of his hands to enemy fire. His hand was eventually replaced with a cheap prostetic that looked like a claw until he was given an adequate, lifelike replacement. His experience in combat is not as extensive as the Master Chief's, but he has been in a few fights and has earned the trust and respect of some of the old school enlisted men.

OOC: my inspiration for Carlson is the character Matthew Maconahay played in "U-571". There was a guy in my old squadron who looked just like him and was also named Carlson.

 

Trin kept her posture fairly tight even with the ease order, being used to the position and almost finding comfortable in relation to all the cramped ship compartments she was used to working in. She observed the lieutenant, his athletic figure and and to the point way of speech. It was respectable for a superior officer, someone who had at least seen some of what space has to offer, and to take.Finally I can get off this planet.

Trin felt the callouses on her hands as she held them together in a rather tight "at ease" position. The skin was hard and rough, as any other freight worker or mechanic's would be. They reminded her of her upbringing, of her father, of her kill. Trin didn't know if she joined the UEAF for revenge of her father, to help others, to prove herself as a strong woman, or because she had no possible advance in life. But now she felt as if she would find it, and it began here, leaving for some mission; some distant field of battle or maybe even close to home. She knew that only here could she really test what she believed was inside her, a real sense of courage that few have shown true. Gunther had, and she respected that instead of envied it, she aspired for it.

Although Trin showed little emotion while in the line of low-ranking officers, she was excited to be back in space, back home. Though she had to deal with a lot of younger guys not used to space travel and the enormity of it, even the superior officer was barely older than herself, she would enjoy being what she was used to.

The young officer turned toward Carlson and said, "Kyla Trinery...present, sir."

 

As soon as the Lt. (OOC: pronounced L. T.) showed up, bells started going off in my head. I think I recognized him from one of my cruises into the Alpha Centauri system. "The Claw" I think he was called, a real stickler from what I'd heard. He'd been in charge of a different shift of the ship crew than I, but word got around. If he's in charge, then I doubt we'll be able to get away from duties much. Damn.

I only nodded in recognition when reporting for roll, "Jeromy Jackobs sir." I threw him a tighter salute than usual and returned to my atease position.

 

"I think you'll be needing more than a shave to get past the Old Man. But good ta meetcha Carter, I'm JJ, this is Trin, our big sister I guess, hehe, I'd shake your hand but..."

"Hi"

Trin's curt greeting dispelled any thoughts I may have been entertaining of a relationship with her, I grinned and nodded all the same. JJ on the other hand almost screamed 'partner in crime.'

"It's a pleasure to meet the both of you, and cheers for the cover. Oh move a little to the left please," I requested, gently bumping JJ to the left so he completely obscured Pappy. I then scraped away the stubble that had grown over the last few days of reckless fun.

"I'm Austin by the way, good to be working with all of ya."

I finished my shaving, stowed my kit away, and shook the hand of the newcomer.

"Likewise mate, I'm Carter, drunkard, womaniser etc etc, and I've recently been introduced to Trin," I pointed to the smoking woman, "and JJ," I heartily thumped the big man on the shoulder. Then my happy face dropped as I heard Pappy call out.

"Oh bugger."

I reluctantly filed in behind the others, and stood behind them in the line.

"My name is Lieutenant Carlson"

"****..." I hissed.

Carlson had been one of my instructors during one of my excersises in the big black, and he was the definition of 'by the book.' I prayed he was in a good mood.

"Hey JJ," I whispered, "Might wanna pick up a spade to scrape my guts off the ground, coz that's all thats gunna be left of me after Carlsons through."

With that said, I slowly stepped into the ranks alongside everyone else.

"Sir, Carter sir, here sir," I stated firmly trying to fit in as many sirs as possible to placate Carlson.

I snapped a crisp salute, and waited for my judgement.

 

This was it. Nathan was about to experience space. When his name was called he instantly replied, "Nathan Brown, here Sir," it wouldn't be long now...

 

Carlson got done taking his muster report and promptly put his PDD away before looking over the new boots. As a training officer he was used to getting sloppy new boots all the time, but he would have to lick their chops a bit, it was tradition and required to enforce order. While calling out the names he could hear impatient grunts, whispers, and moans. The only thing worse than fresh guppies were undisciplined guppies.

"If I didn't know any better I would swear that you guys were fleet, but when I look at you all I see are a bunch of sloppy slags." He began to pace past them, eyeing them up and down and examining their uniforms, the ones who were in them anyway.

He looked at Arc.

"What are you looking at, short stuff? You lose your uniform on the way from the yellow brick road? What the hell is that thing growing on your head? When was the last time you got a regulation haircut, nasty?"

He stepped in front of Austin next.

"And you, what the hell is that thing strapped to your waist, you hunt Rhinos on the weekend son? Look at that thing Chief, you a gang member son? You might wanna check that thing at the armory when we get shipside, how you got that piece past aerospace port security I don't wanna know."

Stepping in front of JJ the LT. did a double take at the decorations on his jacket.

"Well well, what do we have here? Looks like we got ourselves a prior enlisted man Master Chief. Well don't say...don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you just because you've seen some action, you're still a young blood on my ship. Get that shirt tucked in and find a razor, grizzly Adams."

Seeing David next, Carlson made a grimace and snarled.

"What the hell are you trying to do to my beloved Aerospace Force son? You shamed that uniform the minute you stepped out the door with it on. What is that stain? Why is your hair out of regulation? You look like a bag of ass son, I should strip you bare right here in front of everybody and show them all your perty pink little underwear."

"I don't know what the hell I do wrong Chief, why did I get this group of misfits? I don't know what the hell to call them."

"Misfits, sir?" Pappy growled.

"Say again?"

"The misfits sounds like a good title, sir. They're a peanut gallery, but I think they have potential."

"Misfits, eh? That's a little catchy, they might bitch about it though."

"The only time a space dog is happy is when they're bitching about something, sir."

"Very true Chief. Alright gang, here's the drill, we'll be boarding the shuttle now, we should arrive at the Sol fleet headquarters at the L1 La Grange point in under an hour. If you remember your training then you'll remember that that's 61,500 kilometers away from Earth. Do the math in your heads folks, we'll be moving at quite a clip."

"Now from this point forward, the Master Chief is your daddy, that's why we call him 'Pappy'. Any problems, any concerns, any bitches, moans, gripes, or complaints go through him first. Respect the chain of command. You may be officers, but this old enlisted dog will be breast feeding you pups until the day you're ready to leave the kennel. Now let's get going already."

Carlson begins to storm out of the waiting area for the departure gate with Pappy in tow...

 

"Rhinos do make quite the sport," Austin said slyly in a low voice as Pappy and Carlson walked on. He'd keep his weapon out of sight for the meantime just to keep Carlson in better spirits. Austin followed slowly behind his commanding officers, pulling out his PDD and started updating it with new profiles of his comrades.

 

OOC: I need to update something. I posted something inaccurate when I said that the space station we would be going to is at the L1 La Grange point, it should have actually said L2, cos that's where we're going. Subtle difference there, carry on shipmates.:redface:

 

Home. Trin smiled lightly, and walk at a brisk pace behind the lieutenant. There was no waiting around to BS with the guys here, these were orders she couldn't wait to follow. And she was in a good enough mood now to even shut out the side comment she had for being talked to like a first-timer about launch.

This would be the first time she came into contact with the L2 zone though, which was a free-fire zone against incoming vessels generally. She was excited to see the ships and the port itself. Being somewhere other than at docking or loading, or some God forsaken bar, sounded more than appealing. Maybe I can even find out some of the specs on these vessels; find out which is best for my own liking. Maybe I can call that one my own someday. Her excitement betrayed her emotionless usual appearance. Trin couldn't wait to be on station, if not an assigned vessel.

 

Arc followed the Lieutenant alongside Nathan and whispered, "This is gonna be exciting. Shall we tell them now or later on board?"

After all he was going to space. It would be fun and he would love to work with the computer systems over there. And one of his personal projects was to gain more information about...

 

Stepping in front of JJ the LT. did a double take at the decorations on his jacket.

"Well well, what do we have here? Looks like we got ourselves a prior enlisted man Master Chief. Well don't say...don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you just because you've seen some action, you're still a young blood on my ship.

"Yessir," I replied, looking straight ahead. I hadn't gotten the best of receptions in flight school for my decorations, enlisted men that became officer's were regarded as retards, good at what they knew but nothing else. No leadership qualities. I'll need to prove that wrong.

"Get that shirt tucked in and find a razor, grizzly Adams."

I grinned at the name, way to similar to what I'd had as a spacemonkey. After watching him and Pappy walk towards the gate and some of the others forge ahead after them, I stuck my hands in my pockets and patted David's shoulder with my elbow, laughing quietly, "Looks like I might need to borrow that razor of yours man." I made no move to tuck in my shirt.

We followed after in the back of the group.

 

Even I grimaced at the moutful Carlson gave me. I looked shamefully at my scuffed boots as he walked on. I wouldn't get my hair cut though, anytime any officer had bought my appearence into question, my Dad had swooped in and got me off the hook. I grinned to myself, imagining Carlson's face when I revealed my Dad to be a Vice Admiral.

"Looks like I might need to borrow that razor of yours man."

I grinned, and handed JJ the razor, before slapping him on the back.

"Sure I look a tad shabby, but YOU are something else Grizzly! Get that jaw smooth as a babies bottom asap!" I laughed good naturedly.

My heart was now thumping in my chest though. This was IT. Space; The final frontier.

 

"This is gonna be exciting. Shall we tell them now or later on board?"

"I don't think the device was dangerous, I left it back there, don't mention it to anyone, we just stole from a guy..." replied Nathan.

 

"Sure I look a tad shabby, but YOU are something else Grizzly! Get that jaw smooth as a babies bottom asap!"

Grizzly, yep that's gonna be my name again. I laughed a good natured laugh and pocketed the razor, "I still say it's a stupid reg, your going to need as much air resistance in space as possible so you don't go bouncing around in low G."

 

"I still say it's a stupid reg, your going to need as much air resistance in space as possible so you don't go bouncing around in low G."

"Screw that!" I exclaimed, "We both know its for the ladies!" I nudged JJ in the ribs with a wink.

I then lowered my voice, and nodded in the direction of the marching Lt, "What do you think of Big Lungs Mcgee? Sure is a shouty bugger ain't he?"

 

Nathan sat down, strapped himself in for takeoff and waited. This is it. Space. Mysterious, never-ending space. He heard the LT walking through the aisle. Nathan quickly checked his uniform. All neat. He wanted to make a good impression on his new boss. God, he hoped the LT hadn't found out about his and Arc's 'investigation'...

 

"Screw that! We both know its for the ladies!"

I winked back, "Ah, what sacrifices we must make for that elusive nooky!" I was really starting to like this guy.

he nodded in the direction of the marching Lt, "What do you think of Big Lungs Mcgee? Sure is a shouty bugger ain't he?"

I replied in a neutral voice, not really trying to hide the comment, "Meh, he's got a reputation as a rulebook officer, he certainly plays the part. Hell, I wouldn't put it past him to throw us in the brig for something minor." We found our assigned seats and strapped into the acceleration chairs. Next to us, another one of the new officers strapped in, checking his uniform. I recognized him from training, the Poster Boy.

I snickered but ignored him, bending to retrieve my oversized PDD from my satchel. "So what'll the entertainment be for today's flight, my unkempt friend? 'Dumb****s in Space' or 'Centauri V'?"

 

Nathan looked around. There were two other officers next to him whom he vaguely remembered from training but didn't really know. They both seemed nice enough. "Hi, my name's Nathan Brown."

 

Arc found himself his seat next to Nathan and saw an officer make fun of Nathan. He ignored that officer who looked like he never had a shave.

It was unusual for him to talk to other people. He had always been an introvert and had been a computer guy rather than a brawler like most were over here.

 

Trin was seated farther back than the rest of the officers, trying not to listen to the conversation. Whatever, it's just the guys.

She looked around interior of the ship and noticed how unbelievably well kept it was. They must have thirty people hired to keep this transport in top condition. This is an infinite budget at work right here. She couldn't hardly here the thrusters roar from the soundproofing. I thought I'd go death before I died, living back on the cargo holds like I use to. Then she noticed a cup holder on her armrest. Oh well, that's just stupid, ****'s going to fly everywhere. What idiot decid...I don't even care to know.

Trin strapped herself in, now seeing that everyone was on board. She hoped all those guys farther up would take the hint and get prepared. For those who didn't know, that atmosphere never is fun to go through.

 

After a moment of waiting, Nathan decided neither of the men had heard him so he decided to introduce himself at another time. Arc sat down next to him. "Any tips for takeoff?"

OOC: Nikhil, I know they were making fun of Nathan, but Nathan didn't know that and he tries to be friendly with everyone.

 

Trin started to overhear the conversations going on in the cabin. The two older guys were BSing, as was to be expected, and the younger guys seemed kind of shut out. Although Nathan was asking Arc the question, she knew he hadn't had any experience either, so she decided on commenting.

Any tips for takeoff?

The first thing that came to mind, although she knew better than to say it, was for your own good, don't throw up in front of all these guys. She knew he'd hate her for it if she said, but didn't understand why she even cared.

"Well hun, you can start by strapped yourself in. Turbulence from the atmosphere will kick you right outta there and send you bouncing around. Good way to get yourself ****ed up early on. Yes, it's obvious, but if you've seen what happens when a person doesn't...well it's not the prettiest picture."

She thought to herself, good enough, he'll learn the little things on his own. You don't learn unless something happens to you. Trin took her hat off and brushed her hair back some.

 

"Well hun, you can start by strapped yourself in. Turbulence from the atmosphere will kick you right outta there and send you bouncing around. Good way to get yourself ****ed up early on. Yes, it's obvious, but if you've seen what happens when a person doesn't...well it's not the prettiest picture."

"Thanks," Nathan checked he was properly strapped in and tried to relax. A small drop of sweat emerged from his forehead...

 

Thanks

Trin could hear the nervousness in his tone. She really couldn't know how he felt though, since she was so used to it, that it had become natural to her.

"...and calming down will help to," she mentioned while inspecting the rest of the cabin. "It isn't all bad, the station should be interesting anyways. I've yet to even see it."

And I've seen pretty much everywhere.