Myth
Pacha Settler
Posts: 20
Character Gender: Female
Character Starting Age: 26
Height / Weight: 5'6" / 130 lbs
Expertise: Settlement Steward
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Post by Myth on Jun 7, 2021 1:25:48 GMT
OPEN TO ALL [countdown:FLIGHT EOS 7=June 11 2021 1:00 PM]ALL ABOARD![/countdown]
It was impossible not to notice the real-time countdown to the next passenger ship launch, considering it was flashing across screens, digital clocks and projectors everywhere throughout the Kibo Spaceport. Everyone wearing a Red or Blue Settler armband was expected to be on it. These were not cheap flights, and while each sponsored applicant was expected to get themselves there on time, if they were running late... it wouldn't be for long before the department in charge of tracking their whereabouts swooped in and escorted them personally to the shuttle.
In the days leading up to the launch, those passengers were also expected to attend a few mandatory classes or ships briefings to make sure they were adequately prepared for the trip. They needed to know the basics about intergalactic travel, the timeframe for their flight... in short the logistics. The flight would last a few weeks at intersteller travel speeds, the settlers each entombed in a cryostasis locker until the shuttle reentered Astreus atmosphere and automated their awakening.
Most important of all was probably meeting their Corporate Elected Stewards who would also accompany them on their journey, and once they debarked would guide them to the right colony. They'd only ever lost a handful to the unclaimed wilderness between the landing zone and the safety of their settlements. The Stewards were there to improve those statistics among other things. Particularly, and in direct relation to the new settlers, the stewards were their settlements generals and were responsible for keeping everyone in their lane. This wasn't the wild west this was a sponsorship, a very expensive investment and the investors weren't about to leave it all up to chance.
[OOC] The countdown is real ladies and gentlemen. We encourage you to continue RPing together in the space station but please be mindful to submit a reply post (or volley of posts) guaranteeing your character makes it onto this flight before the countdown ends. The closer you can time it to the launch the better!
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Matthias Jayne
Aegis Settler
Posts: 15
Character Gender: Male
Character Starting Age: 31
Height / Weight: 5'9" / 250lbs
Expertise: Security and Combat
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Post by Matthias Jayne on Jun 10, 2021 12:16:22 GMT
Matthias was ready to get off this damn blue ball of crap and get to Astreus. He hadn't made any friends in his short time here at the space port, and frankly he wasn't looking to make any. Sure, he'd kinda sorta chatted with Eden, but he was pretty sure she didn't give a crap about him one way or the other. But still, here he was, at the damn departure gate waiting to get on board.
He grabbed one of the space port employees and got directions to where he needed to be. The young man didn't look to thrilled to be bothered by someone leaving Earth, but if he had any issues with Matthias, the soldier's glaring blue cybernetic eyes shut him up.
For now though, he had his rucksack on his back and his pistol on his hip. He fully expected the weapon to be confiscated before he boarded, but if the Aegis Steward had read his CV, then they'd know exactly how much of a weapon Matthias was, even without his sidearm.
Well...how the bloody hell do I get on board this giant, flying ice box?
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Xahra Skye
Aegis Settler
Posts: 17
Character Gender: Female
Character Starting Age: 36
Height / Weight: 5'6 / 140lbs
Expertise: Procurement
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Post by Xahra Skye on Jun 10, 2021 20:04:32 GMT
The biotracker that was wrapped around Xahra's upper arm, vibrated repeatedly, pulling her out of a not so pleasant dream. Not that the real world was any more pleasant. She groaned as she slipped from the bed and checked the countdown timer on her cybernetic eyes. "Well looks like it's time to leave this dump," she proclaimed to no one. Too bad she hadn't woken up with anyone to say goodbye too in a rough and ready fashion.
Once she was freshened up and dressed, she headed for the door. No bags or suitcases, Aegis would provide everything once they made it planetside, though she hoped someone there had a sense of fashion. Otherwise she was going to be washing these clothes a lot.
She moved over to the safe and tapped in a code, the thing was built for biometrics too, but not having thumbprints made that rather difficult. Opening the safe she took out what some would call hand cannons, and slipped them into her holsters.
Her first stop was the Aegis Annex, where she'd get her last physical and get the damned arm cuff removed before being escorted to the boarding area in the facility's sublevel. From what she'd read on the ship taking them to Astreus it used some kind of electromagnetic force generated within the towers of the launch facility to shoot them into orbit. They wouldn't call it a railgun, but that's what it was. Once in orbit the pilots would set the countdown for the FTL jump and then get into stasis themselves. The stasis pods served a dual function, they kept the crew and passengers comatose for the three week journey and the fluid in the pods served to keep them all from liquifying inside FTL. Xahra had read a rather graphicly detailed account of a pod malfunctioning and releasing its occupant mid flight. Took em a week to clean the pod bay. She shuddered at the thought.
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Xahra's security escort gestured her towards a boarding tube in the station's sublevel and gave her a salute before marching off. Xahra didn't return the salute. They weren't in a real military, not like the one nation's had held before they all fell apart. Germany had a standing army still, but it was more of a joke than anything.
Confidently, she entered the ship through the boarding tube into what could only be called a combination lounge and locker room. Each locker had a name on it written over a piece of flimsy tape. She found hers and started putting her belongings into it. Inside the locker was a blue bodysuit, of course it was blue, and custom fitted based on the scans they had taken of her on the first day. Nothing like shoving yourself into a skintight wetsuit in front of a bunch of strangers.
From this room, a ladder in the middle of the deck led up to the cockpit, and another ladder led down to the stasis pods and further down to the engineering compartment. She walked over to the ladder to glance down into the stasis chamber. 10 pods lined the walls, each with a glass front and a bio-monitor. Inside each pod was a breathing mask. So, they were going to get shoved in a pod, covered in slime, and shot into space with a railgun. What could be safer.
She returned to the locker and began to strip down, not caring who else was in the room. She wasn't a teenage girl in a orphanage shower anymore, and didn't really care who saw her naked.
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Eden
Aegis Settler
Striking sultry poses in the wasteland...
Posts: 17
Character Gender: Female
Character Starting Age: 23
Height / Weight: 1.73 m / 57 kg
Expertise: Propaganda
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Post by Eden on Jun 11, 2021 0:40:50 GMT
Having gone through the introduction packet and some of the logistics of intergalactic travel in the hotel tub, Eden thought she was more or less ready for this crazy flight into the unknown. In retrospect, she almost regretted not asking Matthias to meet up with her so the boarding process would be less boring... all that red tape hustle, rules, regulations, meh. In the end, the only thing she cared about is being encased in a cryostasis tube for a period of weeks! before they actually arrived at their destination.
Seemed like a long flight - no, it was a long flight. As there was nothing for it, Eden could only hope that their journey was free of incident. Dressed in a pair of blue sporty slacks and a short metallic crop top with a lilac jacket, she felt very much at ease and ready to depart for her flight. There was still plenty of time to make it there, but Eden always left a little bit early just in case some unforeseen delay decided to rear its ugly head.
Dressed and packed, Eden had made all the necessary arrangements to reach the boarding area she needed to be in, and waited patiently for the security scans to go through her things before she was admitted. In the meantime, she would scan the new surroundings with a practiced eye of an experienced sleuth in an attempt to see who else had gathered here in preparation for their flight. With every passing minute, new people would enter the area and Eden would waste no time to peruse them with swift, furtive glances.
Her blue band still affixed to her left arm, Eden waited with muted excitement, eager to see just how many future Aegis beneficiaries would gather for the forthcoming flight to Astreus...
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Matthias Jayne
Aegis Settler
Posts: 15
Character Gender: Male
Character Starting Age: 31
Height / Weight: 5'9" / 250lbs
Expertise: Security and Combat
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Post by Matthias Jayne on Jun 11, 2021 1:07:47 GMT
Matthias was standing around, watching the comings and goings of the Aegis Annex when he saw the red head from the bar go into some boarding tube. That was probably their flight. He was about to follow her when he saw Eden arrive. He decided he'd get her attention first.
Walking over to the 'Morale Officer', he gave her what he hoped wasn't some sort of creepy smile. He wasn't used to smiling. "Hey, it's time to board. Come on." He didn't wait for her to follow, instead he simply took off for the boarding tube that he saw the other woman use. This would make Eden at least the third one to board. He chuckled inwardly at that.
Going up the tube, he saw some sort of locker room area, with a bunch of lockers with their names on it. Grunting, he went over and found his. Somehow his locker was right next to Eden's. Whoever sorted this out must not have liked him. It was also only a few away from Xahra, who was already changing. Stowing his gear into his locker, he pulled out the blue bodysuit thing that was apparently set to his size, and just looked at it. It was decidedly not armored.
Just grunting again, he stripped down to nothing - he didn't bother with underwear - and put all his scars on full display. He was covered with scars, which cut off abruptly when it came to his forearms. Standing there for a moment fully naked and not caring who looked, he took a moment to figure out the specifics of the body suit before sliding into it, and zipping it up. He had to tug on it to make a few adjustments, since not every part of him was cybernetic after all.
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Varis Allaria
Pacha Settler
Distilled ethanol with water is (NOT) a girls best friend!
Posts: 14
Character Gender: Female
Character Starting Age: 27
Height / Weight: 160cm / 65kg
Expertise: Lockpicking | Biological Science
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Post by Varis Allaria on Jun 11, 2021 1:08:13 GMT
"Cheers to Astreus! Earth be damned!" was the last thing she could remember saying before the night turned hazy. Memories of the night faded, the figure of the red headed woman with the accent… Xahra… fading in and out of her consciousness after that, hardly able to decipher reality from fiction. She woke, laying half on the floor, half on her bed, her lips feeling funny, bare as the day she was born, with a blanket tucked somewhat around her, protecting her dignity. The alarm in the room practically screamed at her, torturing her with every piercing note.
Hungover didn't even begin to touch the side of how Varis felt after the night at Cables, some four days previous. With a 5:00am alarm, she spent the first hour of the morning making friends with the porcelain throne, the tiles on the floor too cold, while her body felt hot and sticky. Once she was able to pry herself off the floor, she had a half an hour shower, by which time the water had turned well and truly cold. She then spent another twenty minutes heaving her guts up, before getting into the jumpsuit that she'd been given at her check in the day before. It was bland, and boring, and Varis felt as if it was designed to be as uncomfortable as possible. She'd debated using the Pacha brand underclothes, before realising they were practically made of sandpaper. Her set was slightly religious in places, and stained, but still more comfortable.
She attempted to brush her hair, but the raging headache at the front of her skull made it an arduous process. She managed to pull it all back into a lazy unkempt bun, before stumbling out of the room towards first of the appointments for the day. There was another detour to a restroom where she almost threw up into the lap of a burly man she felt as if she had bumped into at some point before but was in no condition to speak to, before she presented for her first series of injections, each one more painful than the last. For the last one she was forced to completely disrobe, lie on a cold metal bench as they used a huge needle to administer a series of seven agonising injections straight into her spine. That process took about seven months, or seven minutes, time was no longer her friend. By the time it was done, the pounding headache that was threatening to blur her vision was the least of her concern.
She dry-heaved onto the floor beneath the bench once the last injection was administered. She untied her hair and let it hang free, feeling as if each strand of hair had a nerve which was shooting directly into her skull. A small robo-vac machine popped out of the wall and made quick work of her mess, though she could have sworn that it was mumbling about it the whole time. Did they mumble? Was she still drunk? She was promptly seen over by a large, burly woman (?) who poked her, and gave her a full medical exam. This part didn't take anywhere near as long as the last, but if she had any dignity left, it was gone.
"Bit skinny, how you made the cut I'll never know" the doctor commented presumably under their breath, but she made no attempt to turn away or hide her comment, pressing a button on her tablet, "Few bruises, look recent, not sure what that mark is, worth getting it tested before you leave Earth. Your blood alcohol stats are also a little higher than we'd like to see for a medical, please be mindful that as a Pacha asset you should never drink to excess, and should maintain a healthy diet of Pacha mandated food and hydration products," the woman spoke in a sing-song voice, "For a more refreshing brew, try Pacha Ach-Two-Oh, now 100% free of insecticides and 100% full of good old fashioned Ach-two-oh."
Then came the physical exams.
If her body hadn't been sore before, it was after the brutal two hour regime. She climbed up a nylon rope, climbed down, jumped up and down seven hundred times, did sit ups, push ups, and just as she felt as if she was going to pass out, there was a two mile sprint. With a heavy helping of Ach-Two-Oh, Varis pushed through each challenge as if it was the last, but it never was. It seemed as if not surviving this part of the process wasn't exactly an option. The slower she ran, the harder the instructor was, the better she performed the more she wanted to pass out. Sweat poured off in waves, with her body swapping between hot and cold washes every time she put her feet on the ground.
Last was the psych exam. She sat in a room with a robot and answered a number of questions, answering the questions with a scale from 1 to 10. How do you feel about going to Astreus? 1 being frightened, 10 being confident. Every time she selected the wrong answer, a beep would sound, growing louder until she selected either a 9 or 10. Then the next question would be asked, If you had the option to stay on Earth, would you? To remarkably similar results. They then did a ten minute meditation exercise, which felt less like a relaxation method and more a control method, scanning her brain for something that they never explained.
At the end of the day, she arrived back at her room, threw herself on her bed, and fell straight into deep slumber. Rinse and repeat days two and three, except for the vomiting, substituted with occasional eating. Days two and three were less physical, as she spent a lot of time in briefings, learning more about this mystery world. Remarkably, each one of them finished with a similar statement: This information is not verified and incomplete, research on this subject is not yet finalised.
Which of course, lead her to launch day. By now she'd learned how to wear her uniform effectively, wearing her tee-shirt and jeans with the leather jacket underneath the bland cover-all, which she wore over her pants, but left the top unzipped so she could wrap it around her waist. The red armband still prominent on her sleeve. The station had truly come alive today, with constant deafening reminders of the launch time being blared in every corner of the station. "THREE HOURS AND FIFTY MINUTES UNTIL LAUNCH" the latest update cried robotically, reminding them every five minutes. There was a beat which ran through the floor every two seconds, a pulse which set her mind ablaze. Like a countdown, the entire station felt as if it was preparing.
A quick detour to the Pacha Annex, the last of the injections by the burly unsavoury woman finished off with them unclipping her armband. A set of guards entered the room, both wearing helmets which masked their identities. The last face of Earth would be that of masked Pacha glory, as they walked her quietly, and promptly towards her fate.
The vessel itself was nothing like Varis had ever seen before. She'd looked at pictures of it a few times over the last four days skulking around the station, but now... standing so close, it felt almost too small to do what they planned to do. Fear ran through her in waves, and any appetite that she might have gained over the last few days since her Cables adventure, had quickly disappeared. Walking through the precipice into the machine that would take them all away from Earth, away from the old home humanity had ever known, forever... she urge to be sick reared its ugly head. Breathing deeply, in and out, step by step, through the doorway, into her new life. The life Pacha had forced on her. A fate worse than death, a punishment that she realised now, was far harsher than spending the next four decades smashing rocks on Botany Bay in New 'Stralia.
A life sentence, or perhaps a death sentence. The countdown clock pierced through her mind, and the rumbling, the ever-constant rumbling that was perhaps only in her mind, filled her entire being. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Silence.
The next thing Varis knew was darkness. Complete silence, for the first time in hours, a wave of cold relief against her skin. Then her eyes opened, and she looked up at the ceiling of the locker room. It took her a full ten seconds to realise where she was, and the feeling of the floor pressed against her back. She’d passed out, clean and simple. Right in front of the man from the bar, and… Xahra.
She laid her head back, giving a breath. Deep breath in, deep breath out.
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Dr. Robert Puck
Pacha Settler
Posts: 9
Character Starting Age: 37
Height / Weight: 5’11” 190lbs
Expertise: Biochemist
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Post by Dr. Robert Puck on Jun 11, 2021 2:02:39 GMT
The doctor had been a model student all the way up until check in. He’d gone through all the prep work, read all the available material and met up with his settlement steward to ask questions and offer his services as needed. Everything was going smoothly up until the locker room where they were all stripping. Everyone looked grim, like they were headed to the noose, and he for one couldn’t have felt more the opposite. The excitement of discovery drove him and kept his imagination running full throttle. That was until the woman passed out in front of her locker.
‘Easy now miss... Allaria’’ he said after reading her lockers name tape. He slipped a hand under her head to support her neck as she tried to sit up. ‘I’m doctor Robert Puck. It appears you fainted. Do you mind answering a few questions for me?’ He asked, evaluating her eyes at a glance while speaking slow and gently and pausing to allow her a moment to comprehend and respond. Hopefully she wouldn’t be off put by his current state of undress. He still had his frog print boxers on but nigh anything else, leaving his circuit board like tattoos exposed to her and everyone else’s eyes. Between him and the Aegis man in the room, were anyone to try comparing the two, one might find it curious that one had perhaps as many scars as the other had strokes of ink.
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Rome Betzner
Aegis Settler
Posts: 14
Character Gender: Female
Character Starting Age: 30
Height / Weight: 5'6" | 135 lbs
Expertise: Advanced Mechanics
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Post by Rome Betzner on Jun 11, 2021 2:29:24 GMT
Rome had a hard time deciding what to bring...and what to leave behind. It wasn’t that she felt terribly sentimental about any of her possessions, it was more a matter of how many tools were too many? She left the largest of her machinery at the shop in L.A. for whichever mechanic continued the business after her departure. But there were others she’d spent a lifetime collecting and investing in the right quality tools to do the kind of work she was an expert in doing. Particularly the tools she used to retrofit or refurbish tech in ways it wasn’t designed to be maintenance. So by the time she’d finished agonizing over the ordeal, she had the grand misfortune of showing up to the ship with the most embarrassingly large amount of cargo.
At the very least... she considered herself lucky not to have to carry it all onboard herself, though the dirty looks she got from the staffers who would spoke for itself. Let them be nasty about it, she thought. They’ve got stores stacked upon stores stacked upon stores here. Who knows what we’ll have in Astreus.
that didn’t stop her from feeling subconscious as she joined the rest of the passengers in the locker room. She followed the flock and disrobed before redressing in the cryostasis wardrobe for their flight. She kept her back to the room and hugged close to her locker as she changed, but if anyone else had dared a look her way they may be disappointed to find that she didn’t have a single cybernetic part, nor many impressive scars. Save for the ones across her face of course. But she’d grown so used to having them that she almost doesn’t notice the stares anymore.
fully changed, a ruckus from behind got her attention and she turned to watch the commotion coming from the lockers on the opposite wall.
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Varis Allaria
Pacha Settler
Distilled ethanol with water is (NOT) a girls best friend!
Posts: 14
Character Gender: Female
Character Starting Age: 27
Height / Weight: 160cm / 65kg
Expertise: Lockpicking | Biological Science
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Post by Varis Allaria on Jun 11, 2021 6:47:40 GMT
As the world came into vision, the picture of a fit young Doctor swooping down to support her head while wearing a set of frog print boxers seemed too ridiculous for her brain to comprehend. Varis could barely contain herself, not sure whether at this point it would be more appropriate to laugh or cry, so she did both. Laughing as tears stared to stream down her face. The Doctor was going to think she'd gone mad, that the pressure had finally broken her, and perhaps he would be right. This was utterly ridiculous.
This wasn't her. She wasn't the young flitty thing swooning from the pressure, fainting to make a scene. If she'd even thought that such a ploy would work, she'd have tried it on the way down here, she literally couldn't make this garbage up. Now, in the centre of the locker room that was slowly filling with occupants, she was making a scene. If it was possible to turn invisible, or melt into the floor, it would have happened now. She looked over at Xahra, who she wasn't sure would be looking in her direction or not. She wasn't sure how to feel about being so overly dramatic in front of her.
Pieces of that night had formed in her mind over the last few days, glimpses, memories, imagination, Varis couldn't decipher. There had been a walk along the pier, some laughter, something else... she blushed. She was an adult, after all, if it had happened? She stared in Xahra's direction for longer than she anticipated, and she realized the nice Doctor was talking to her.
"What..." she said absently, as she pulled herself up, sitting upright on the deck. She could still feel the pulsing through the deck, the noise, the countdown blaring in the background, but it didn't seem as full or intense as before. She looked at the nearly naked man, trying not sneak glances at the red head German, processing what he had said, "Yess.. yes, of course, Doctor Puck. Please, my name is Varis."
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Dr. Robert Puck
Pacha Settler
Posts: 9
Character Starting Age: 37
Height / Weight: 5’11” 190lbs
Expertise: Biochemist
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Post by Dr. Robert Puck on Jun 11, 2021 11:43:42 GMT
‘Nice to meet you Varis,” her said and smiled before asking a series of questions, making sure to take his time and let her answer. “Do you know what day it is?... Do you where you are?... How does your head feel?” The next question, while perfectly reasonable to ask, felt a little invasive and he leaned forward to ask with a quieter voice. “Are you, or do you think you may be: pregnant?” He didn’t know much about interstellar travel but he somehow doubted they’d send pregnant women into space. Chances were she had passed out due to anxiety and dehydration.
Strictly speaking he wasn’t the kind of doctor that treated patients, not unless they needed a liver cloned or a radical agent customized according to their BMI and blood pressure for intravenous or oral consumption to treat maladies like asthma or such. But he did remember that fainting is generally caused by blood vessels dilating and gravity doing the rest. With that in mind, he turned to look at the rest of the passengers and asked “can someone find her a drink of water?”
Turning back to Varis, who’s pupils seemed fine, he used a reassuring voice to say, “don’t rush standing back up. You’re already here, you already made it. so lets get some bloodflow back to your brain first.”
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Xahra Skye
Aegis Settler
Posts: 17
Character Gender: Female
Character Starting Age: 36
Height / Weight: 5'6 / 140lbs
Expertise: Procurement
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Post by Xahra Skye on Jun 11, 2021 13:30:04 GMT
Xahra had watched Varis' entrance out of the corner of her eye, choosing to continue getting undressed. They were being watched, after all, or maybe that was just paranoia. She didn't need flirting with pacha employees on whatever dossier they were putting together on her. That was, until the commotion of Varis passing out drew all eyes to the center of the room. It took every fiber of self control she had not to rush over to the girls side. Why was she feeling so protective over someone who was basically a total stranger? They'd spent a night together intermixed with some drunken rambling, and now? Why hadn't Varis just chosen Aegis like a sensible person?
Luckily one of the Pacha settlers rushed over, some half naked doctor apparently. Not that she was any more dressed at the current point, showing off her own assortment of scars, some from various jobs she'd been on, some from the torture where she'd lost her arms, and some from the multiple operations by street docs to install all her cyberware.
Behind her she heard the Doctor asking general questions. Don't look, she told herself, don't look, don't look...of course she looked, and even worse Varis was looking at her as well. There was a brief moment of eye contact, and Xahra found herself instantly blushing. 'Frak You,' she said internally, cursing her own bodies betrayal, hoping no one else was watching her too closely amidst the turmoil.
“can someone find her a drink of water?” the tattooed doctor asked and Xahra grumbled under her breath, walking, now completely naked, over to the small kitchenette that was part of the lounge/locker room. She opened up one of the refrigeration units and pulled out one of the many bottles of Pacha water with the dumb name and tossed it over before heading back to her locker to get fully dressed.
She didn't say anything else as she suited up, and before her body betrayed her any further, she walked over to the ladder, slid down, and motioned for the technician down there to get her hooked up in a tank.
As she slipped into the pod and put the breathing mask over her face, she thought to herself, 'Please don't let me have dreams about her for the next three weeks.'
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Dain
Aegis Settler
Posts: 7
Character Gender: Male
Character Starting Age: 21
Height / Weight: 5'11 / 83kg
Expertise: Engineering/Mechanics
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Post by Dain on Jun 11, 2021 16:02:37 GMT
Well it seemed that whatever he'd said in that interview booth had worked. He was now on a one way ticket to another world... Although he could honestly do without the bio-tracker armband on his upper arm. Dain didn't know exactly what materials were going on with it, but whatever it was was itching like fraking crazy. "Just glad we don't 'ave to wear these things all the way to Astreus... Mah arm' would be bloody covered in a perma rash by the end of this, cryo freeze or no." the brunette muttered to himself as he made his way to the annex for his last physical.
The docs had been a bit concerned regarding his exo-leg frame, and for pretty good reason. Cryo freezing carried a very small risk of bodily atrophy, which in his limbs cases would be compounded... And his exo-frame wouldn't be able to fit into the ice cube with him, which meant it would have to be removed from him before he went into the pod, and then put back on at the other end.
Then there was his asthma to take into consideration as well. Dain apologised to the doctors and nurses each and every single time they'd had a physical and went over the details, although he couldn't help how his body decided it wanted to frak itself up.
Soon enough the last of the physicals was complete and Dain was on his way to the shuttle that would take him away from Earth and into the stars... Whilst it would feel like a few weeks would pass, the whole light speed travel thing would actually take a few years. No wait... urgh, that was that old movie he was thinking about. Traveller or something like that... To be fair the way the docs had all talked about the trip, it might as well be science fiction.
The Scotsman really hoped that the Tallen lot understood that part of the arrangement.... Although how the hell they expect to get in contact with him was another matter altogether. The DNA checkers and bio-trackers were all pretty high end security features, never mind the guards around the complex itself.
Unless Tallen had their own space program, Dain doubted he'd be hearing from them any time soon. The lift was like one of those glass things his mum had read to him about from... what was it again, the Chocolate Factory? Although this one could only go in one direction... well two technically if you counted down as well as up.
Upon arriving at the locker room changing area, Dain blinked at the sight of all the naked people. Now, he knew that in order to accommodate for the cryo process that everyone would have to be getting changed into specialised suits... but he had thought that there would at least be a separate venue rather than right in front of the lift doors!
And here he was with his damned exo-leg frames that were gonna drag attention his way. Dain sighed and shook his head, taking one hissing step after the other into the room. Apparently they each had their own named locker, aaaand there were no chairs. At least none that Dain could recognise.
"Eh, sorry to be a bother... but Ah don't suppose Ah could get a hand with mah exo-leg frame?" the brunette asked, one of the doctors already en route to assist in removing the bulky frame that would prevent him from getting changed never mind into the cryo pod. All the while he did his very utmost best to try and not look at all the naked ladies and gents... Although it was pretty hard going.
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Eden
Aegis Settler
Striking sultry poses in the wasteland...
Posts: 17
Character Gender: Female
Character Starting Age: 23
Height / Weight: 1.73 m / 57 kg
Expertise: Propaganda
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Post by Eden on Jun 11, 2021 16:20:00 GMT
Eden was about to cast a stare in the direction of some creepy smiling guy addressing her, when she realized he was no stranger. Okay then... already drifting off and I'm not even in stasis yet... Raising her contoured brows, she shrugged and then took off after him. Once again, Matthias managed to get the better of her, by going first.
The boarding tube ride reminded her of an ex-boyfriend: slow on the RPMs, low on clean air that supposedly wafted from and throughout its orifice. Oh well, at least it wouldn't take too long...
She couldn't get these preliminaries over with.
Next up was a room filled with individual lockers, presumably housing whatever garb they were meant to wear on this voyage to Astreus. Sharp gaze meandered over various labeled compartments, looking for her name. To her dismay, she found it next to Daddy Chuck's. Typical. Fate was once again, not without its dubious sense of humor.
As Eden approached her locker, she said nothing to Matthias. There was no point - he would just cut her off with some brusque, undesirable comment, and whatever was left of her decent mood was already fading away. So she ignored the fact that he (along with others) started to strip down to their undergarments or less - and commenced the great art of putting away her belongings. Then, taking out the blue bodysuit that was apparently meant to be worn for the duration of the flight, she examined it closely.
Everything looked to be in order so far, although neither the fabric or the style was to her taste.
Oh, well... suck it up, Princess.
Like any temporary 'setback', this too, would pass. Carefully removing every piece of her clothing save the silk lilac underwear, Eden folded the former and set it in a neat pile on the top shelf of the locker. She then began pulling on the bodysuit, taking her time with stretching and adjusting it to fit as best it could. This trip to Astreus was not a short one, and Eden intended to be as comfortable as she possibly could be.
Only when she was satisfied that her minimal comfort zone was reached, did she look up from the blue garment and steal a quick glance in Matthias' direction.
"You must feel almost naked in this thing," the young woman appraised the tall man with a smug look. "Are you certain you can manage being so vulnerable and helpless in an airtight space coffin for the duration of this exodus? Last chance to jump ship!"
Turning back to her locker, Eden sealed the door with efficient gusto, then wiped her hands on the sides of her suit. Where was a damn hand sanitizer when you needed one...?
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Varis Allaria
Pacha Settler
Distilled ethanol with water is (NOT) a girls best friend!
Posts: 14
Character Gender: Female
Character Starting Age: 27
Height / Weight: 160cm / 65kg
Expertise: Lockpicking | Biological Science
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Post by Varis Allaria on Jun 12, 2021 6:30:53 GMT
Things came more fully into focus, as the Doctor asked a series of questions meant, she was sure, to ensure that she was more or less okay. She could attempt to answer them wrong, or badly, to get out of going on the flight, but somehow mental malady or no, Pacha would find a way to get her to Astreus one way or another, "Its launch day," she said simply, "I think that was meant to be Friday, or Saturday, but I'll be honest with you since arriving from New 'Stralia, my body clock isn't exactly reading right."
"I'm at the Kibo Spaceport, aboard Flight EOS 7 getting ready to depart Earth, Terra Firma, for the planet designated Astreus several lightyears away on a one way trip," her heart sank. She wiped what remained of her tears from her face with her sleeve. No point getting any more emotional in front of a medical professional, or the rest of the crew. The bottle of water was thrown at Puck, and Xahra disappeared from view, much to her relief. Not that she cared. Not that I care, she reminded herself. What had happened had happened, and this was now. Brand names might not have mattered much in Cables, but she had to assign her loyalties to Pacha now, and she was Aegis. Like Gnomeo and Juliet, the love story her father had described to her, about two lawn ornaments that lived in separate gardens, seperated by a rivalry as old as time itself and an insurmountable fence, it was just tragedy waiting to happen. Eventually, one way or another, somebody would get shattered into tiny ceramic pieces.
"My head feels fine. Sore, but I'll manage," she replied, then went a little red in the face, "I'm! No. Thank you."
She had a drink of water, and then pulled herself up more, against the Doctor's best wishes. She handed the bottle back to him, "Better not have any more, wouldn't want to wet the bed. Got a long sleep ahead. Thanks for the help, I'm sorry I caused such a scene," she steadied herself. She could still feel the rythmic pounding in the ground, the blaring in the air, launch times growing closer, but it seemed... less now. The overwhelming sensation was gone, replaced with a shallow emptiness that was slowly growing more and more with each passing second. Perhaps it wasn't the ground pulsing, but her own heart, beating hard, pushing her to the limit. Deep breath in, one two three, deep breath out, four five six.
She turned to her lockyer, and opened it. She slowly disrobed, putting her clothes in a scrunched up mess into the cube. She folded her undercloths up, making sure that they were well maintained - she'd wear those until they literally fell apart before wearing the Pacha brand crud. At least she now understood some of the measuring they did on her first day of exams, sliding on the skin-tight red bodysuit, heading the direction that she'd seen the others go. She thanked the Doctor one last time, before stepping one sequence at a time down the ladder, down into the pod storage area.
They'd left no room to waste on the ship, she realised, as she found her assigned pod. Was she meant to.... she stepped inside, and slipped the mask over her face like the tutorials had shown her. Time to wait. Her head felt slightly woozy again, her vision getting blurred as her heart raced. The pounding in her head returned, as the ship slowly, system by system, came to life. She fought back tears, but gave up. Nobody could see her crying now, nobody would be paying attention. She sobbed, deep painful sobs, no point holding onto it.
No point at all.
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Matthias Jayne
Aegis Settler
Posts: 15
Character Gender: Male
Character Starting Age: 31
Height / Weight: 5'9" / 250lbs
Expertise: Security and Combat
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Post by Matthias Jayne on Jun 12, 2021 11:52:53 GMT
Matthias finished making sure himself and his gear were in order. He'd soon be climbing into his ice box, so best to get any preliminaries over with. He'd never done any sort of cryo stasis before, and truth be told, he was actually kinda looking forward to it. Hopefully you didn't dream while frozen though.
He saw the commotion with the Pancha girl passing out or whatever, and he didn't make a single move to help her in any way shape or form. She was the enemy, as far as he was concerned. They were just not shooting at each other currently. Still, he'd take his sidearm into the tube with him...just to make sure.
Clipping his pistol belt around his waist and making sure the weapon was snug in his holster, he turned to address Eden, who was next to him.
"Eh, almost naked doesn't bother me. Neither does fully naked. I'm never unarmed, so to speak. So I'm not too worried about it. Just hopefully no one forgets to recycle the oxygen, or stir the O2 tanks while we're snoozing away."
He watched her wiping her hands on her suit and he guessed correctly, she was a neat freak. Sighing, he reached back into his still open locker, he pulled out a very small bottle of hand sanitizer. He had..um borrowed it from the room he was given back in his hotel. He handed it to her.
"Here, you seem to need this more than I do."
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