The Dividing Line - Station

[Shrike7]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

-Med Bay-

"Moderately. Not much to be done from here, though." Caitlin responds, not looking up from her work. Vlado she left alone, trusting the medic to handle his own work without oversight.

Preliminary experiments with adapting the flight suit to Pan Kor physiology were having more difficulties than she expected. The aliens really were surprisingly resilient, right down to the most basic level. The samples she had taken were resisting the adaptations she needed to make to allow for a proper interface between suit and wearer. Hmm... maybe she was looking at it the wrong way...

Clearing her current test, she started a fresh one, aiming to leave the Pan Kor half as it was, and adapting the suit material to be less obtrusive, in the hopes of the link being accepted on an easier basis. She was confident that once she found a way to maintain the link, the changes made could be confined to some sort of intermediary organ, and the rest of the suit would need minimal change to work as it normally did.

She had the first change 'brewing' in a small sample of suit material in short order, and with some time to wait on that, her mind moved to one of the other projects on her plate, the matter of Draven's viruses. Without an actual sample to work on, there was less she could do, but given how he impressed on her the volatile nature of the strand, perhaps that was for the best.

She had two goals with the examination, both rather difficult. Find a cure or prevention to the human-targetted virus, and find a way to make the Nnyarthall-targetted virus ignore Telarin, or to make Telarin immune to it. There were dozens of places to start, but Caitlin figured that reading the Ingrali's research notes would be the best bet, save her plenty of time on trial and error figuring how the strand was designed. She looked specifically for the parts related to transmission first, then the effects themselves.

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

-OUTER HULL-

"Uh commander. Could'ya talk to them or something already? They look like they're on a fucking attack run." Kars replies to Nadia, patching into the channel. The spacer not at all comfortable with fast approaching spacecraft that didn't announce themselves. He was no fan of Telarin space craft either. Just about every aspect of their design took away the specific advantages and exploits he relied on in space combat. Same went for most things about their society and psyche. They'd always been the race that he'd dealt with the least and tended to not get involved with.

Switching back to the local channel he'd been talking to Talen over, "Call me paranoid but..." he says hopping from the sensor mast and shooting away with a blast from his jetpack. Sailing away horizontally from the plane on which Talen was standing, before firing his barely visible grapple tether at the hull of The Dividing Line and using it to sling himself round the spherical station. Gone and over the horizon in no time. He was hoping that any moment now the mystery ship would reveal it's intentions, and that he'd simply have to float on back where he came from, looking a tad paranoid. But he'd not survived this long by hoping for the best.

-LIVING QUARTERS-

Ko hadn't particularly cared either way for the embarrassing singing, not really thinking much of it, regardless of whatever a 'teenage wasteland' was. Replying, barely, in the distorted gravelled voice that came forth from her helmet. "Eh? Uh..." staying against the wall still and slowly edging past. Adjusting the shield didn't actually help all that much, in how drawing the runner closer to Fletch also meant it had stepped that tiny bit closer to Ko too. Pulling her head back a bit more with the helmet tapping on the wall. The damn thing was drooling now. Like it was expecting dinner or something. She was having a slightly hard time buying the large mechanics words regardless of how sincere they might be. Any attempts to weigh in the derpy expression or the happily wagging tail kept getting countered out by sizing up the muscle on its legs and shoulders or those teeth.

Still... it certainly wasn't quite like those other two. What was their names... Phobos and Deimos? Not to mention there was no resemblance between the owners in the slightest. She was over reacting. Yep. She attempts to relax some. "Yeah? I just... knew some vicious ones once. Don't, mind me." said continuing to step past but keeping the general direction of her gaze on Lemmy. About to move on, but hesitating for a beat and asking, "So... what do you keep him for then? What does he do?"

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

-LIVING QUARTERS-
Fletch blinked at Ko for a moment, confused by her question. "What do I keep him- I don't keep him for anything. Don't your people have pets? You know, an animal that you would consider a friend?" He reached down with one ham-sized paw and started scritching the runner between his ears. "Lemmy keeps me company out there in space and he guards my stuff when I'm not around, but he's not an attack dog or anything like that." His eyes wandered down to the maintenance kit that Ko was holding, and his eyebrows rose. "You, uh... doing suit repairs, I figure. I'll best let you get back to it then. I've got to move some stuff myself. The, uh... the blue doors are washing rooms if you want some privacy," he grumbled, waving his hand at one of the nearby doors.
Unless anything major came up, Fletch would move on to his HIT suit. With a low sound of disgust he stepped up onto the pedals that activated the locking procedure. The suit was still rank. First order was to put it into the suit washing machine ASAP.
---
-OUTER HULL-

Before Nadia could reply or contact the vessel, it had rushed past Reno's ship, elegantly weaving around it. All out of a sudden it came to a dead stop right in front of Talen, hovering above the station like a bright white moon, its smooth skin reflecting the distant sunlight and making it shimmer ominously. Only when looking very closely could one see the fine lines imprinted into its surface.
With a spray of air into the vacuum of space, one of these lines opened up, pushing up-and outwards slowly to reveal itself as a hatch. Something roughly human-shaped suddenly catapulted out of the opening and landed in front of Talen. The cyborg would find himself face to face with a Telarin in a grav suit as white as the ship itself, offset only by one horizontal black line across what was probably its visor. Not giving the cyborg a chance to talk, the Telarin pushed himself off the station's surface and bounded towards the nearest gap in the station's hull. He had something like a canister slung over his shoulder.

Something blinking slowly floated into Talen's field of view - a blue light on top of a fist-sized sphere. It slowly turned upwards, aligning itself at head height with the cyborg... and suddenly erupted into a holographic recording. That same Telarin he just saw disappearing into the station looked at him, still in his suit.
"Greetings. My name is Alpha Xi 23-11. For ease of communication, I have been assigned the nickname Vigil. I apologize for my predictably quick departure, but time is short. I am carrying a canister of medical nanobots, and they begin to decay as soon as they leave their stasis. I am headed towards the sick bay to restore your injured medical personnel. Please contact your commanding officer and inform them of my target." He paused for a moment, and in the background Talen could see the hatch opening. "And if you could point the Ingrali my way, that would be stellar. My people and I have, almost literally, ALL the questions."

Not much later, Fletch could be heard on a public channel, sounding rather shocked. "Where in the black emptiness of space did that TELARIN come from?" "Do not engage him, he's an ally! Everybody just let him pass." "Ma'am, I wouldn't engage a Telarin if you ordered me to."

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

-LIVING QUARTERS-

Listening to Fletch's answer, made Ko feel just a little dumb for having asked, but it honestly hadn't quite came together in her head til he said it. "Oh! Right, of course. Hmm..." She utters, looking down to Lemmy again now. Seemed like a nice deal for Lemmy. Wouldn't be room for something like him in the Hell Strafer though. If she wanted a pet, she'd probably have to get a bug in a pocket box, or something. "And yeah. Need to do a gel change. Been swimming in this stuff for... too long." She croaks back through her helmet. "Ah, cheers. Uh... laters Fletch... an Lemmy." she says in response to the blue door tip, picking up her feet and starting down the corridor again. Fletch seemed like a nice enough man. A bit crazy maybe, thinking back to the command centre outburst, but still nice.

It wouldn't be too much latter that she heard rapid footsteps rushing up behind her. Wasn't Fletch. Too light. Wasn't Lemmy, thank god. Not enough feet. Turning to see what it was, Ko was a little shocked to find that the light weighted footsteps actually had been lighter still than she thought, with the figure already right behind her and dashing past. "Woah-holy-shi..." she exclaims falling to lean against the wall and whipping up her shorty shotgun as fast as she could. In the time that she hesitated, the tall figure was already out of sight. "What the fuck was that!?" she sputters to herself, then hurriedly looking to her forearm computer and trying to remember the method to get the command centre on the comms. Before she could figure it out, Fletch and then Nadia's voice spoke anyway. "Ok, Telarin. Suppose it's a good thing I didn't shoot at him then." Composing herself and re-holstering her gun, she continues on, again, and finally comes to the wash rooms.


-OUTER HULL-

"Oh! So it IS an ally after all. Isn't that nice to know. Good thing we don't have the auto guns back online yet, or things would have looked pretty fucking stupid. Fucking Telarin." Kars rants outside, just standing on a desolate section of hull. Kicking the station once, before pulling out his laser pistol and just firing a shot into a random segment of the hull. Glaring at the tiny minuscule crater it vaporises from the armour for a moment. "Think they're so smart. So tall and above everything." He mutters, stowing the pistol again, and beginning on his way back to where he'd left Talen.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

As soon as Draven heard the word 'Telarin', he bolted for the medical bay, wanting to meet this Telarin in person. From the tone in Nadia's voice, he had a sneaking suspicion as to what the Telarin was here for, and he wasn't about to miss out being there. He paused for a moment, finger on the comm, then thought better of it, and kept going.

He'd arrive at the Medical Bay not long after the Telarin did, not even breathing heavily from his little jog. He'd just stand there and observe until either noticed, or something piqued his interest to speak.

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

"What the... he dropped something, hang on." After a few moments of silence, Fletch came back, his voice having gone quieter, the growl almost entirely gone. "He's heading for the med bay. Any of you in there, a heads up. You've got an Alpha Telarin coming your way." The big man had barely stopped speaking when the bay doors hissed open with a familiar sound. In stormed the tall Telarin, his grav suit so bright white it almost seemed to glow from within. He was coming down from a continued sprint, his last few steps carrying him up to Maria's cryopod with mathematical precision. Absolutely ignoring everybody else in the room, he undid the belt he had slung over his shoulder and produced a canister filled with some kind of dull, grayish sludge. His armored, three-fingered hand nimbly undid the insertion hatch for the cryopod. Before anybody could stop him, he attached the cylinder and dumped its entire content into the cryopod. The fluid inside turned grey and opaque.

It was done. The Telarin took a deep breath through his filter and relaxed his posture. With a nod, he turned around - and came face to face with Draven. He stared at his chest for a few moments, perplexed why his sensors hadn't picked him up, before he raised his head to look at the Ingrali's face. "... Oh."

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

The Ingrali nodded to the Telarin.

"You must be the Telarin sent to help with the injured crew. I'm Draven Naros of the Ingrali. Pray tell, what was that you just put in there?"


((Going off the assumption he won't know what they are in that form just by looking at it, and that he doesn't have a scanner device just implanted to his arm or something.))

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

The Telarin didn't respond immediately. Rather, it tilted its head and walked around the Ingrali once, giving him a quick once-over. "You are... not what I expected," he finally admitted. "I greet you in the name of the Telarin, Draven Naros. My name is Alpha Xi 23-11, but I have been assigned the face name of Vigil." He motioned towards the grey ooze that Maria was submerged in. "The reason I was in such a hurry is this here. Medical nanobots. Decay outside their stasis. Even so, not considered safe to release enough for three people." It seemed his speech was getting a lot briefer when discussing scientific fact. He raised his wrist and produced a holographic countdown clock displaying Telarin numbers. "Nanobots should reduce swelling, mend damages. Close wounds. Can't interfere with brain. Safety measures on top of safety measures."

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

As the numbers finished their countdown, the grey nanbot ooze receded and the lid of the cryotube hissed and popped open. Maria lay still and quiet for a few moments before she began to breathe and color returned to her face. Her eyelids fluttered once, groggy from the stasis before she sat bolt upright and started screaming. "Fletch! FLETCH! Something... happened! There was this thing and I hit my head and-" she cut herself off and drew her knees up to her chest. Her eyes darted around and she shivered.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Draven's eyes narrowed as soon as the nano-bots were mentioned, but he let the Telarin finish speaking before he replied, "so not self replicating then. Good."


He was cut off as Maria woke up. He automatically reached for the release pod, then stopped as he realized it might not be safe to do so yet.

"You'd best take it from here, I'm not familiar with how this technology works, I don't want to kill her by releasing her too soon. One moment."


He opened a private line on his comm device and spoke.

"Fletch, this is Draven. I know you hate my guts, and I'm sorry about what happened, and in due time we'll speak about it, but I thought you might want to know that your ... girlfriend is awake. She's um ... I think the term is screaming for you?"

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

"Black fucking holes, SHE'S NOT MY- wait. She's up already? I'm... I'm coming up."

Fletch could be heard long before he arrived. His heavy work boots stomped down the corridor outside the med bay, steadily coming closer. In much of a repeat of Vigil's entrance, the large man barged into the med bay and actually shouldered aside poor Vlado as he headed straight for the cryopod. When he saw Maria cradling herself in it, his heart screamed to protect her, and he had actually risen his hand towards her before hesitating. What if she didn't want to be touched? What if she was traumatized? "Maria. Stars, we were all... are you okay," he finally rumbled, his voice catching in his throat.

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Maria's eyes widened and she swallowed and shuddered. She reached her arms out for him, for assurance, for a hug, for contact, for anything that could ground her in the reality that she was okay. "I... I don't know." She bit the inside of her cheek and felt a flare of pain. "I'm awake. But the last thing I remember is getting hit? I think I hit my console. How am I alive?"

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

"By the grace of the gods and quick thinking from the station crew getting you into stasis to keep you alive."

Draven stood there, seeming VERY uncomfortable by his expression as he regarded the two. It wasn't an "oh god get over it" look, but rather an almost pained look. After a long moment, he shook his head, clearing it.


"Right, well I'll leave you two to ... catch up and make sure there's no lasting issues. My own damn fault you're in there to begin with, least I can do is get the hell out of everyone's way and not botch your recovery. We'll talk later Fletch, I ... I can't right now."


Very abruptly he spun on his heel and was gone, out the door in a heartbeat, leaving them to wonder what the hell he meant by it being his fault she'd ended up in this situation.

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

When Fletch saw Maria reaching out, his hesitation, his doubt was gone. With a big step he closed the distance between himself and the tank and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. "I- I never thought I'd see you alive again," he stammered. When he looked up at the Telarin, something shimmered in his eyes. "I don't know who you are. But thank you. Thank you," he said, his voice almost breaking. The Telarin nodded quietly and retreated as well. Fletch turned back towards Maria and leaned forward, his forehead resting against hers, eyes closed. He stayed like that for several long moments. "Stars above, between me, Caitlin and that shapeless blob of muscles, half the crew was blaming themselves for what happened. We... we didn't get there," he murmured, breaking the silence. "We didn't get there in time, and it got away. We failed, we failed you," he said, and his voice was thick with tears uncried. His arms tightened more around Maria as he cradled her, rocking from left to right and back.

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

"But I'm okay now, I think." she murmured into his chest. "I mean, I don't hurt, I feel okay." She dug her fingers into the fabric of the top he was wearing and sniffled a little, "I want to see what happened. Is there a record?" Her voice grew a little stronger, "If it moved as fast as I remember there's nothing anyone could have done." She pulled back from the hug to smile up at him, "And I'm here now. I'm awake." She sniffed again and reached up to brush a thumb over his cheek, "You don't have to be sad anymore."

 

[tomaito89]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

-- Outer Hull --

As soon as the ship was in range, Talen went into attack-mode, his forearm opening up to reveal a high-powered beam rifle. However, before he could even figure out what he was aiming at, the Telarin had dashed inside the station. Seeing as it identified itself as friendly, and as Nadia had confirmed it as such, he decided to let it go, focusing instead on what was in front of him. He sent a quick message to Reno. "Reno, go ahead and stand down; they're friendly." At his words, the cannons on the Rogue powered back down, and returned to their standby position. Talen mused to himself that it was probably a good thing Reno couldn't have locked on any faster than she did, or she might just have taken a shot out of reflex. Of course, that just meant a request for upgraded targeting software would also have to be put in to HQ when he got a chance.

"And, while you're at it, get on down here. The sensors have all been repaired, and we have company." Before heading inside, he sent a private message to Kars. "I'm not sure who moved faster, you or our guest. Can't say I blame you; his presence is... Unsettling." Talen thought to himself how badly this could have turned out if Vigil had turned out to be not-so-friendly.

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Fletch turned his head and nuzzled his big head into Maria's synthetic hand. "I wasn't sad, I was... I was mad at the galaxy." He sighed, a sound coming from his deepest depths. "Come on, we're making a bloody scene," he said with a lopsided grin. The big man got to his feet and helped pulling Maria up to hers. Feeling a sudden gust of cold, he looked down at himself and discovered that both his shirt and Maria's dark jumpsuit were still soaked in the grey liquid. Fighting the urge to curse, he merely shook his head. "I'm guessing you'll want to shower first. Come on, we can worry about the recordings later. There are washing rooms in the living quarters, and I can bring you a change of clothes from your ship. It's fine, by the way," he quickly added with a slight smile. "Nothing a couple of hours of work can't fix."

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Maria stretched and patted his face one more time. She crawled out of the cryotube and clutched at the side of it with a sheepish smile. "Apparently my legs fell asleep while I was out. Give me just a moment." Her knees wobbled for a minute and then she took a deep breath and straightened. "A shower sounds perfect, and I'm glad that old rust bucket is still working. Is anyone hurt still, or was I the only one?"

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

"Well, your cook is still alive if that's what you're asking. He mostly stays on the ship though," Fletch said with a shrug, trying not to look towards the other two cryopods. Maybe they shouldn't worry her too much. "Just as well, because I kinda... accidentally... blew up the cafeteria," he grumbled, shifting awkwardly for a moment. "Apparently, highly concentrated oxygen and sudden gas flames don't mix very well. Who knew, right," he chuckled and motioned towards the door. "Shall we?"

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Maria opened and closed her mouth several times before she burst into laughter. "I'm not surprised," she managed between giggles and wobbly legged moments. "How did the rest of the crew take it?" She followed his lead through the door.