Alpha Panda, Serenity RPG IC

[Adlan]

Episode One - The Derelict
Scene one

Dining Room
The Alpha Panda's Dining room is bustling as Grace brings through another dish and the crew beign to help themselves. Cap'n Rouge is rubbing up against peoples legs, begging for scraps, or perhaps that should be ordering the hands to provide scraps, but either way it doesn't work.
It's at this point that Dr. Ling Brings in her Patient, a figure looking significantly worse for wear, but now everyone on board is present, and they look expectantly at both Doc and Patient.

[Lentrax]

Sia sits herself at the table, and starts filling her plate.

As she see that everyone is looking at her, she stops.

"He is going to be fine. It was only a few lacerations, none severe. Most of his injury was psychological. But he is stable, and should be fine."

[Creed]

Morgan Blake sits at one corner of the table, pulling an assortment of legumes and and a little meat onto his plate.
Unable to respond to the Doc with words, he glances over at her and raises a speculative eyebrow instead.
He passes his eyes over everyone at the table, then rests them on the Patient, where they stay as he eats.

[Voltaire]

Shooter's been sitting down since the call for dinner went out. His fork in his left hand, his knife in the right. Just like momma taught him. His elbows rested uneasily on the table, as he lipped his lips.

'Come on! Bring out more! Mah belly's not full, and this dang cat wants everything in it - g'it! g'it!'

Stirling tilts his head slightly, 'Hey Doc, do you know the rules about dead patients' belongin's? 'Cause, you know, if the patient dies, I want mah share. I'm just sayin. Not lookin' too good there. Hey there, friend! How you feelin'? You think you gonna pull through?'

[Space Lawyer]

Lei comes bounding up the stairs, and swings into a seat. She grabs a plate, and scoops a tiny amount of food onto her plate. 我是饿了今晚！新鲜食品！船长， the course is laid in. We'll be safe to jump in about ten minutes. Oh, the guy we picked up is, well, up! How are you doing? 我的名字是雷铁翼！你的名字是什么？

Translation

Spoiler

Show

I am hungry tonight! Fresh food! Captain [English]. My name is Lei Tie Yi. What is your name?

[Unkabear]

Tap had taken a moment to clean himself up for dinner, though still arriving at about the respectable time for it to be served. He moved with purpose over to a seat at the edge of the table that would allow him to bring his arm to bare if he needed to, usually with a knife he keeps specially for eating.

As the patient was brought in by the Doc, Tap first looked to the Cap'n, then Jack to see their reactions before allowing himself to relax and enjoy his food.

He raised his chopsticks with his left hand and began to serve himself asking for something when he was not able to reach it. Lei's appearance brought a smile to his face, even after recent events, she was as happy as ever, and if she said that the course was laid in, they would be on the best course set by almost anyone in the verse

And as for the Alpha Panda, well she would do her part. Tap had already made sure of that.

[Sunfall]

Puttering around in the pantry, humming quietly, Grace does not notice the lull in conversation. It is remarkable how it already seems as if she’s been there forever. She seems to be one of those people who can develop a deep connection to a place in a matter of days.

Every movement seems familiar, intimate – grabbing the right pot from a hard-to-reach cupboard, deftly operating the aged stove, now and then grazing the worn surfaces of tables and cabinets with a loving touch. The smells wafting through the common area are tantalizing, rich and spicy, reminiscent of home cooking and comfort food.

Grace only notices the doctor and her patient when she steps out of the pantry, carefully carrying a casserole dish in her heat-gloved hands. She gives the patient a warm smile as she heavily sets down the cookware onto the scratched table.

“Well, hello there, honey”, she says in her low, slightly scratchy voice. “I’ve got jes' the thing for ya, just you wait!” The Rim drawl is heavy in her words.

She returns to the kitchen, fetching a wooden bowl with a rich golden broth in it. “’Fraid we’re all outta real chicken, but with a wee bitta seasonin’ it tastes jes’ the same. It’s jes’ protein anyway, eh?” She winks over the table at Sia. “Doc did her mojo, now here’s a bitta mine.” There are specks of vegetable floating in the soup.

[Lentrax]

Sia takes some of the casserole, and with the practised grace of a doctor just out of surgery, begins eating.

"We making for burn already? Where are we heading?

[Space Lawyer]

Between mouthfuls of food "Ah, just som, mmmnomm, dinky little comet, mmmonom, need to pick up passengers and cargo, mmmnom. OOH, IS THAT BAO!?" Lei's chopsticks flash out and grab a dumpling.

[Lentrax]

Sia laughs at the excitment the pilot shows at a dumpling, then lashes out with her own chopsticks, wrestling them together for a minute before reliquishing the food and grabbing one of her own, placing it on another plate for her patient.

[Erasmas]

Cole sits quietly at the side of Sia, having saved her an empty chair, which he unceremoniously pulls out for her when she arrives. His off-handedness is not out of disrespect for his own action or laziness, but rather to keep the gesture as discreet as possible, to avoid the unwanted backlash that he knew he would catch from some of the crew.

But when Cole, for which he had also waited on Sia to do, he ate with large spoonfuls and with gusto... nothing like a near-scrape with Death to work up a healthy appetite. He reached his hand beneath the table and lightly squeezed the doctor's thigh, just above the knee. She would know that this was his way of telling her that she had done a good job with the patient, that he approved.

When Grace brings in the casserole, Cole patiently waits his turn with the serving spoon before helping himself to yet another large portion. He liked having the new lady around, it reminded him of home in more ways than one.

"Foods' good, ma'am. Much obliged for you fixin' it."

[Lentrax]

Sia, feeling Cole squeeze her thigh, smiled at the gesture, but not wanting anyone to notice anything, tensed her thigh twice. Then still smiling she looked up at Grace.

"Yeah, this is good. Can't hardly tell its just protein. Must be the fresh vegetables. Still can't think why you'd just be carrying that much around though. They tend to spoil left too long out of the dirt."

[Voltaire]

Shooter sure loved him some dumplings - and these were some dumplings. At some point, he stopped biting bits off, like momma had said to, and just began gobbling them up whole. He only stopped when it felt like there was more lead in his belly than on his hip. It was a good kind of pain, though.

He leaned back and burped, loudly, to show his appreciation for the meal. Then he took out a toothpick, put it in the corner of his mouth, and began gnawing on it lightly, rolling it with his tongue.

'Good meal, y'all!' Shooter exclaimed, then lazily turned to Tap, while leaning back on his seat 'Hey there, chief. Lemme ask you a question - and it's a bit personal, like, for which I do most sincerely apologize. But, uhh, why you got a metal arm, man? You lose a bet with a garbage disposal unit, or somethin'?'

[Unkabear]

Tap shrugged, "No, I lost a fight with liquid nitrogen. I fought Physics, and Physics won." he said as he lifted his arm out from his lap to cycle through a few of its tools and flex the "fingers".

"But then again, I don't think I lost too much either." he said with a slightly embarrased grin.

[Erasmas]

Once he had finished eating, and it looked like most everyone else had finished as well, Cole collected up the dishes and carried them over to the sink. He turned on the water and started scrubbing and rinsing them. After several minutes, the twinge in his shoulder caused him to wince a bit. When he was finished, he started rubbing at the upper portion of and rotating his left arm, attempting to work out the pain. He knew he should've done that while they were on that ship, but sometimes when Cole got caught up in the moment, the consequences of his actions became a little blurry and caused him to be a little less... measured.

[Space Lawyer]

Lei finishes eating, and bounds back down the stairs. She hops into the chair at her station, gleefully spinning around. The foam of the chair cushions her small frame, surrounding her. When the chair stops moving, Lei pulls on her headset, a bulky thing that seems to fit poorly on the girl, but is clearly of military design. She takes a look at her screens, all five them, arrayed around her so as to present a clear and easy view to all, each displaying some critical function or system. They are bound together and to the ship by cables and masses of wires. The whole effect is rather like a nest. Lei switches on the headset. 船长, we're clear to switch to grav drive soon as you want.

[Lentrax]

Sia finishes eating, then ensuring her patient eats something, she starts to wheel him back to the medbay. She turns back before leaving the common area.

"Cole, you come see me about that shoulder later."

[Erasmas]

Cole nodded silently as Sia leaves, places his hand on the shoulder of her patient as they wheel by and gives him two firm pats. Afterward, he allowed his hand to come off of the man's shoulder and brush lightly up the doctor's arm.

Cole then went and retrieved two of his bottles of wine that he had stashed away and opened one of them, pouring himself a small amount into the bottom of a glass. He then presented the open bottle to the rest of the crew and set the other one next to it on the table.

"Hard day, ladies and gents... drinks are on me."

[Unkabear]

Tap downs the last of the water in his ceramic mug & holds it up for a spash of wine offering "Thanks" as he received a nice cup. Not too full as Tap liked to keep a clear head in case he was needed for an emergency.

[Narmoth]

As the doctor says that he will be fine, the Patient smiles faintly, but then a dark shadow crosses momentarily his face as the psychological side is mentioned.
The man still wears his gray worn out trenchcoat, but he has put aside the guns he carried and in stead wears a clean shirt, no doubt borrowed or taken from the salvage.
He lifts his long hair away from his face, revealing steel gray eyes that could be hard in their frame of many scars, but become friendly as he smiles and says in a quiet and somewhat rasping voice:
"I do not remember, and might have already done it before, but I still want to express to all of you my deepest gratitude for rescuing me. Now, I possess no skills that would be useful on your journey, or so should we all hope, but I am of mind to pay for my presence on this vessel until we find a suitable piece of civilization for me to leave your hospitality."

[Lentrax]

Sia helps her patient onto the bed in the medbay. Going over to a locked cabinet, she quickly punches in the combination and pulls out a vial of a sedative. Filling a syringe, she walks over to the man laying in the bed.

"I am going to sedate you. It should allow you to get a good dreamless sleep tonight."

[Shadow_Elf]

Gregoire Reaufort
One of the crew's more recent members, Greg still finds himself loosing track of the ship schedule. As a result, he's late coming up from his quarters for the meal. Sorry I'm late, folks. Still gettin' used to walls, floors an' skies a steel ta pass the time. My my, Ma'am, that's a right-fine smellin' brew, he says as he enters the dining room. He nods to Jack. Cap'n. Then to the cat. Cap'n. He takes an open seat at the table, and graciously accepts a bowl from Grace. His face lights up as he takes the first sip. Well ain't that somethin'? How'd y'all manage ta make this taste so very much like chicken, ma'am? Y'all got a coop hidden under that garden a yours? he asks the cook sarcastically.

[Sunfall]

The cobwebs on Grace's face realign themselves into a delighted smile whenever someone compliments on the food. "'Tis mostly the spices, I'll reckon. With a bitta marjoram and a few other little tricks you can make any old protein gunk taste like chicken. Now, eat up good an' proper, will ya?"

In Cole's case, she adds, a twinkle in her eye: "And if ya call me ma'am to mah face one more time, lad, I'm gonna plant peas in yer ears while ye be sleepin' - it's jes' plain Grace."

She nods at Sia's question. "Yeah, a bit of fresh produce can go a long way. Had a garden back on Triumph, figured it would do no good leaving the stuff ter rot out there, brought with me as much as I could." Her tanned brow furrows. "But I have ter say, there's none left now. The tomatoes were already goin' mushy, so I figured to jes' use it all up fer today. There was cause fer celebration anyways", she say, softly nudging the patient as she herself sits down at the worn table to eat.

"But just you wait, I'll have that garden up in a jiffy", she beams, "and I knows a trick or two fer makin' em grow..."

After dinner, she helps Cole with the dishes, making a point of thanking him profusely for his assistance and shoos him away when most of the work is done. "You go now, honey, an' do more important things than this old job o'mine. Off ya go!"

[Aneurin]

Jack

As Sia wheels in their guest, Jack gives him a nod. While everyone's distracted by the new arrival, however, he takes a moment to "drop" a few pieces of protein that are almost immediately engulfed by Cap'n Rogue.

It's against the ship's rules to feed the cat at meal times, naturally, but, hey, captain's privilege. Besides, table food is part of the rent Jack pays to Rogue for use of her ship.

"This is quite possibly best meal I've ever had on this ship, or any other. Last cook we had on board, well, let's just say that the man could burn a boiled egg and leave it at that. Long as you cook like this, you have a place here,"

As Lei comes in, he grins.

"Thanks, mei-mei. I'll head up to the bridge in a moment, drop our mutual friend a Wave and let him know when we'll be on his hunk of rock,"

To Sia's question he adds; "The plan is to head to Regina, but we're stopping on some piece of nowhere to pick up a few passengers and some cargo first. Won't put us much out of our way,"


When dinner is done, and the dishes cleared, he scoops up Rogue and, draping her across his shoulders, makes his way down the stairs after Lei; albiet at a more sedate pace.

He settles in to the captain's chair and runs a fond eye over the much-used consoles. He rests his elbows on the command console before him, and lets out a long sigh. The Alpha Panda, in spite of her years of hard service, is in good shape. Converted from Evac ship to gunship to cargo ship; blasted, broken and shot down and she's barely feeling her age.

Jack runs a loving hand over the display screens in front of him, before smiling faintly and Lei.

"Ship's yours. Take her away,"

[Adlan]

Episode 1 - The Derelict


2 Days Previously, May 22nd, 2518
A Mantis Class ship is equipped with a wide variety of sensors, and some were even refitted during the war, using the wide wings to mount various sensors for triangulation on underground or otherwise hidden enemy positions. But when it comes Alpha Panda, the sensitivity might be somewhat less than in her glory days.

[Creed]

Morgan stands off to the side of the bridge, leaning up against the wall, arms crossed across his chest. The silent man makes no bones about the two pistols sitting comfortably on his hip, and his eyes gaze out into the black of the 'Verse.

[Space Lawyer]

A soft ping draws Lei's attention to her screens. It was the ship's nighttime cycle, and the lights were dimmed. The glow of the screens illuminated the bridge in soft blue light. Lei touched the screen, and dragged the pulsating icon to the center screen, and expanded it. "Huh, something out on the edges. Lets see, what are you?" She starts up an active scan, reaching with electromagnetic hands to caress the distant response.

Spoiler

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Alertness (1d10)[5]+Ship's Perception (1d4)[2]
Intelligence (1d10)[9]+ Tech Use(1d6)[2]

[Unkabear]

A small tapping sounds could be heard for a moment, echoing in the distance. A small garden is set up, a few tomato's looking ripe hang on the vine, expanding, showing other herbs and vegitables in various states of ripening, eventually shown to be in a crate. The crate is then shown to be under the stairs in a cargo bay. The tapping sound could still be heard.

Scanning up the stairs a dining area could be seen, a kitchen off to the side, then going down another set of stairs the tapping gets louder, swinging around a corridor and through a door a small room with doors to either side and a few terminals could be seen.

Then the tapping sound comes from below. Looking down and then through an access hatch, down a small ladder and eventually into an access tube filled with the internals of a ship, not nearly as clean as the above rooms, yet still kept in order, and clean despite the necessary greases and oils.

A large man first silhouettes then looks out of proportion, his arm, his right arm too large for an already large man. The arm comes down, and finally a part drops into place.

Tap had to make due, the part was designed for a Scythe not a Mantis, and though he had filed it down already, it was still a little tight with the surrounding metal heated up and expanded ever so slightly. The backup life support began to cycle again. The man smiled and stared off into the distance for a moment, seeing something beyond his normal sight.

"Alright Lei, secondary life support back up, everything can go to hell now."

Spoiler

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Missed the opening post, oh well.

[Lentrax]

Dr. Sia Ling wakes up, her limbs in a various state of entanglement with her bunkmate, Cole. Pulling her arm out from under his neck, she walks over to a drawer, and pulls out some clothes. For just a moment, she sees the white dress she had made so long ago... She closes the drawer, dressing quickly.

Shirt, pants, boots. A pistol in a holster still hangs from her mirror. She has time to grab it if need be. Pulling a worn beaten old brown duster off its hanger, Sia throws it on and heads down to the bridge.

"Hey Jack. What's our agenda today?" A large cat jumps down from a console and runs her legs, purring like a Diesel engine. Sia picks up the cat and scratches behind her ears. "Hey, Captain. I know" her voice takes on a cute higher pitch. "you are part of my agenda too, captain. There's our good Cap'n."

[Shadow_Elf]

Gregoire
... all I'm sayin' Cap'n is, I'm not feelin' overly useful aboard this bird. At least Miss Grace's a fine cook; I feel like I'm just takin' up valuable real estate ta no purpose. Take me on yer next ground mission, s'all I ask; a nice word're three might make things smoother... an' if things go rough, my ah, tactical insights might... says Greg to Jack on the bridge, but as Sia enters, he stops talking. He tips his hat to the ship's medic. Evenin', Doc. What's got y'all up at this hour?