Mass Effect: The Heralds of Civilization [IC]

[Ridai]

There's the usual array of storage units and Leeta also sees a terminal to keep inventory, which she promptly walks towards. Probably the most important thing: don't ever take something without making a note of it, or you'll get hell from whoever needs to stay on top of that. The interface obviously is different from what she usually dealt with, as the ship and thus its systems are turian design, but turians design cleanly and efficiently. All the charm of a spreadsheet for the most part, but you get things done quick with little fuss.

"Hmm, let's see... oh, there we go," Leeta mumbles to herself, navigating the menu, quickly getting the hang of things, more or less. She turns to the nearby humans and chirps "Hey folks, we are running an errand for the XO. Would you mind if we took one of the stasis cells? The..." Leeta's fingers scroll the list a bit, not really familiar with the names of the models, but seeing that the container types are quite different (good ol' galactic standards), she can guess what she is looking for. "smaller ones, for one of those briefcases in cargo." Yup, real technical.

[Comissar]

Vatia half-turns her head as Leeta asks the engineers about the cells, ready to back her up if they questioned her. Her mandibles twitched in amusement at the Asari's in-depth description of the items, having to turn her head away and cough to disguise the start of a chuckle.

[Hazuki]

The nearest human engineer luckily doesn't seem to be too busy, kneeling beside a storage container and fiddling with her omni-tool in a way that makes it look like she's busy, but is probably just checking her mail. "Sure?" She replies, pulling herself to her feet with a soft grunt and tugging on her woolen hat. "You can take one, if you fancy, but do you know how to install 'em?" She asks, shooting an odd glance at Vatia.

[Ridai]

"Vatia has the know-how for that. Thanks!" A few rapid-fire taps on the console and the retrieval is documented. Fast steps take Leeta to a specific rack of equipment, where she gingerly steps onto a container with one foot to reach one higher up, the process of opening it, plucking a cell from inside, and closing barely taking two seconds. Returning to Vatia, Leeta hands the stasis cell to her. "There we go. Onwards to the land of cargo."

[Comissar]

Composing herself, Vatia turned to the two engineers and gave them a nod of thanks. "I should be able to work it out."

She turns her attention back to Leeta just in time to see the Asari plucking the cell from its container. Blinking in surprise at how quickly the alien was moving, she took the cell off of her without a word.

"There we go. Onwards to the land of cargo."

"Ah, sure." She nodded at the two humans, "Thanks again."

Following the Asari's lead, she lengthened her stride a little to keep pace with the light-footed woman.

[Ridai]

Merrily leading the way, there was not much to talk about, so as they heading further back into the ship, Leeta (remembering the surprised look she was given) mentions "I worked all sorts of jobs back home and while travelling, and gopher was one of them. 'Course, with big storage space, you just stick a VI and a couple of robots for it in there and call it a day, but on a small scale, it was usually faster if someone just went in the backroom and grabbed it. That and working with instructions like 'Gemme tha' froggy googoomool' or 'This one urgently requests a spherical muse most incandescent' still remain a tough nut to crack for standard-issue inventory systems."

They open the door to the main cargo pod and step into it. "So you get good at finding what you need and finding it fast. And after a while, there are only so many standardized containers and legalese classifications for things that you find your way around those things in your slee-" Leeta tugs on the door of the cabinet they are looking for while speaking to Vatia, but except for a metallic rattle, the door refuses do anything. After a short moment of awkward silence, followed by two more rattling tugs, Leeta gives a little grumble and kicks the corner of the door. Immediately, Leeta yanks the handle of the cabinet door upwards and out, finally opening the door and revealing the briefcases. "and that these things' doors are as busted as they were twenty years ago and they are freakin' everywhere. Our greatest minds let us travel faster than light, build huge stations in space and figured out how to travel across the galaxy, but boy oh boy, the mystery of the cabinet remains unsolved."

And with that, the asari steps out of the way to let a professional do professional work.

[Comissar]

Vatia nods in response to Leeta's explanation, "Ah, that makes sense then."

She can't help but be amused at the Asari's description of serving other aliens. When the locker door jams, her surprised reaction to the obstacle drew a chuckle. "Heh, give them time, I'm sure someone will get around to it. Such a pressing issue rarely has little interest."

She ambles over to the cabinet as Leeta steps aside. Running her hand down the row of briefcases, she quirks her head at the Asari, "Just any one of them?"

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Will Vatia need to make a check to open a case with the lock?

[Ridai]

"Yeah, I think so. Mr. Osheer would've pointed something out otherwise, I imagine." Leeta leans in to watch the process of attaching the stasis cell to the lock and power-on the cooling for the medicine soon to be inside the briefcase. Clearly, she is mentally taking notes, curious whether there are specific things to pay special attention to.

[Comissar]

Vatia just nods in response. Selecting a case, she carefully pulls it out. The weight was a little more than she was expecting, probably due to the in-built electronics. Walking over to a bench, she laid the case down with the input socket facing up.

"Ok... Let's see..."

Slotting the cell into the socket, she rotated the device so that it was firmly attached, a soft click confirming that it was in place. At the same moment, a digital display sprung to life on the cell's screen. At the same time, her omni-tool pinged, indicating a nearby device wanting to interface. Raising her arm in front of her, her omni-tool sprung to life. She frowned as she spun through the setting options. She hadn't done anything exactly like this before, but it was a simple piece of kit, it shouldn't be rocket science to get it to turn on.

"Ah, this looks promising." She glanced over at Leeta, "You said it was for medicines, right?"

Once she got confirmation, she nodded and adjusted the settings. Medicines implied vials, which would need to be shielded as quickly as possible in case of jostling. It was more of a drain on the cell's charge, but risking damage to something potentially life saving wasn't an option. She frowned again as she double checked the other options. Some of the drain could be mitigated if the stasis was dropped once motion had stopped, no risk of breakages at that point. Of course it'd need to be kept cool, too. No good if the medicine got mouldy.

Temperature extremes..?

She hesitated. It'd definitely be something you'd want to protect it from, but it'd also be another thing for the cell to constantly be checking, and would ultimately drain it faster. Was it likely to end up in a position where it was a serious risk..? Probably not. Nodding to herself, she activated the cell. A light briefly winked green, followed by a soft whine as the cell turned itself on.

"I think... That does it!"

[Ridai]

Leeta is quite engrossed in the process, eyebrows raising at times when a particular realization revealed itself, whistling when Vatia is done.

"By the goddess, that was quick. And the field calibrations would have been way more slapdash if I had been in your place." Leeta picks up the briefcase in order to gopher it over to the infirmary. "Have you done a lot of this on various ships? You know, electronic, comms, shields, that sort of thing?" she asks as they head to the next stop.

[Comissar]

Vatia gives Leeta a shrug as they set off. "Nothing like this specifically, but I've worked with electronics a lot before now." She tilts her head, "You know how Turian's serve in the military for a while before going on to other things? We get a fairly broad training, and we're expected to know our way around any standard equipment we're likely to run into. The cell," She gestures at the case, "isn't too different to some of the tech I had to familiarise myself with."

As the pair walk, Vatia keeps half an eye out to make sure they weren't going off on the wrong pathways.

"As to communications..." She shrugs again, "It just felt like the role with the best fit for me on a civilian ship. It's not really any different to military comms," Her tone takes on an amused note, "though there are fewer security codes you have to memorise."

[Ridai]

"Ohh, I see, I see," Leeta says in response to Vatia explaining her training.

When the security codes are mentioned, Leeta chuckles heartily. "Always good to have fewer Whiskey Tango Foxtrots, as the humans say."

Reaching the infirmary, the asari looks for Vaenia, cheerily greeting her as soon as she sees her. "Hullo, the XO sent us to fetch broad-spectrum innoculants for the colony folks. We've get a briefcase prepped and everything." Said briefcase is promptly presented.

[Implodio]

"There's a young human gal by the name of Abanda, part of the security - hails from Earth, troubled youth, bit of an ego, you know the type." Captain Hrux explains, as he folds his chunky fingers together and meets the Volus' eye-lenses. "I think if we give her some responsibility, show she's got some trust from the higher-ups, and she'll be a little more comfortable around the rest of the crew. What do you think?"

Yomim rolled a little arm in the air; the universal rolling affirmative, yes, yes, of course, go on. His eye shutters gave two snippy blinks, which may approximate to a smile perhaps. Or an eyeroll? No; definately a smile.

"Suit her up, cover her in guns, and have her track me down, Captain. I trust your judgement implicitly." He began to waddle away, though paused to point an arm back at the Krogan in faux warning.

"But if she gets me killed... we will have stern words, you and I. Stern words." And off he went on his second constitutional of the day.

[Hazuki]

Just moments after Yomim has walked away from Captain Hrux and is waddling on his way, Captain Hrux's voice comes calmly through all of the ship's speakers. "We're being hailed by an unidentified ship. Get to your stations, everyone." He instructs.

[Implodio]

Yomim wheels around, suddenly alert, and takes his place on the bridge - a spot clear enough to see all the goings on without being in anyone's way!

[Comissar]

Vatia quirks her head as the captain's announcement begins. "I'm afraid that's my cue to leave. I'm sure Vaenia is more than capable of helping you with the next steps." She turns, walking toward the bridge with long strides. Briefly, she calls over her shoulder, "Let me know how it goes when you're done!"

Leaving the Asari with the Salarian doctor, Vatia marched through the corridors swiftly. She quickly brought up her omni-tool as she walked. She wasn't far away, but it'd be good to notify the bridge that she wouldn't be there immediately. "Vatia reporting Captain, I'm en route, should be with you momentarily."

Soon enough she found herself on the bridge, noting Yomim and the Captain already present. Of course they would be, they'd only just finished a jump. Seating herself at her station, she patched herself into the Comms frequency, then looked over to the Captain expectantly for orders.

[Ridai]

Leeta freezes in her step as she hears the announcement. Her head snaps towards Vatia when the turian addresses her, the asari quickly nodding. "Okay, will do!" she calls after her, unable to sound completely composed. Continuing onwards to the infirmary, every step is a little faster and lighter than intended, always sure to make way for people and looking around out of habit, until she reaches her goal. In case the doc wants to know what she is doing there, Leeta replies "I'll explain when things quiet down." and gestures lightly with the briefcase, before asking "Can I help with anything in the meantime?"

[Hazuki]

Yomim & Vatia

The air on deck has shifted from a casual "morning" to that of palpable intensity. The crew, no longer bleary-eyed, sit upright in their seats and monitor their relative stations to the steady hum of a decelerating mass effect drive. Captain Hrux somehow manages to seem relaxed, as he lists off the stations that are being filled on his omni-tool.

"Weapons, shielding, e-warfare..." The Krogan leans back in his chair and glances at Vatia with a pair of beady eyes, and cues her with a tip of his finger. "Open communications." He instructs her.

After just long enough to wonder whether the communications have been opened, a soft male voice comes through the speakers. "Welcome to the Tidesof Folly." It greets, with an unplaceable accent - although it is definitely a human voice. "What is your purpose here?"

"We're a scouting ship." Captain Hrux answers, with a crisp and professional tone. "We didn't expect to find another ship waiting for us at this end of the relay. Or any ships."

There's no response for a few moments, then the voice replies. "Our Captain would like to speak with you before you go any further. You can turn back, or meet us at these co-ordinates, where we will dock our ships together and you will send over your Captain and anyone else you wish."

Captain Hrux looks over at Yomim, his head slightly tilted as though waiting for input.

Spoiler: Vatia

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If you'd like to do anything with the signal, it will likely require a Clever check.

~

Leeta

The infirmary is just as clean and organized as one might expect of a proper doctor, with most of it dominated by sterile surfaces and almost no debris cluttering the desk or walls. The only thing that stands out against the sleek grey and pristine whites of medical equipment is the doctor herself; a charcoal-skinned Salarian with faint markings that are almost golden in color, with contrasts quite wonderfully with her ivory scrubs.

Vaenia is just about to sit at her desk when the Asari walks in, and she spins her chair around with snake-like grace to meet Leeta's eyes. "In the infirmary?" She asks, her lips twitching at the corner. "You're out of luck."

[Ridai]

"Ah." Leeta knows when she is unwanted, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. After a moment of awkward silence (well, it qualifies as "later") "The XO sent me to fetch broad-spectrum innoculants for the colonists." Not meeting her gaze for long, Leeta glances to the side, suddenly feeling very out of place. "If you... want to wait until things are clear" She gestures without direction, straight towards the bridge. "I'll just wait here... if you don't mind."

[Implodio]

Yomim's lens shutters blink rapidly and he looks sharply to Hrux as he listens. The image of a wolf asking a sheep to kindly cover itself in sauce and sit still comes to mind, and he waves his arm side to side and shakes his head in an emphatic hell no.

[Comissar]

"Aye, sir."

Vatia turns to her station, hands flying over the console as she enables the communications channel. She takes a moment to ensure it's properly encrypted, better safe than sorry after all, before patching into the hailing frequency. She glanced over to the Captain, nodding to confirm the channel was open.

As the mystery ship and the Captain conversed, she scanned the instruments in front of her, monitoring them for anything unusual. She frowns at the delay in the human's responses, was there lag over the channels? She took a moment to double check her settings, making sure nothing had accidentally been altered.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Just trying to encrypt it. Let me know if I do this wrong (or if you want a roll to check for equipment problems)!

(4D6)[5][3][5][5](18) +2

[Hazuki]

Leeta

"It's doable." Vaenia replies, as she shifts to her feet and strolls over to one of the lockers that line the walls of her infirmary. Within a few seconds, she's retrieved an armful of small opaque packages that she carries over to her desk and stacks up. "The briefcase?" She asks, holding her hand out to the Asari.

~

Yomim & Vatia

"That's not on the table." Captain Hrux replies. "A fight's not worth it at this point, and we don't know who you are. So why don't you share a little about yourselves and we'll see what we can do to get this sorted out?"

Another pause. "We're looking out for our people, Captain. And we'd rather not talk about it over these channels."

Vatia is able to double-check her equipment for any oddities, but she doesn't find anything wrong. She's quite quickly able to encrypt communications, and in doing so, is able to identify that the other speaker is likely waiting for orders or instructions between their replies.

Spoiler: New Situation Aspect: Encrypted Channels

Show

Vatia can allow another character to invoke this aspect for free, should she so wish.

[Ridai]

Without a word, Leeta places the briefcase onto the desk.

[Comissar]

Vatia frowns as she listens to the exchange. She could think of a couple of reasons for why the hailing vessel's Captain might have to wait for instructions at every step, and she wasn't sure she liked any of them. Bringing her omni-tool, she typed out 'Captain, the hailing ship is receiving instruction from another source.', sending the message the moment she was finished. She glanced round at Captain Hrux to confirm he'd received it.

Spoiler: OoC (kinda)

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So, two things. Thing 1; I'm not sure how strict the protocol on this kind of thing would be on a non-military ship, but I think Vatia would be aware. If Vatia knows she must not verbally interrupt the Captain during communications, she will try and signal him to catch his attention. If she knows she is allowed to interrupt, she'll do the following instead (which I will edit into the above post proper);

Briefly muting the outgoing feed when a period of quiet presented itself, she announced "Captain, the hailing ship is receiving instruction from another source." Message delivered, she quickly unmuted the feed.

Thing 2; Is it possible for Vatia to try and identify where the hailing ship is receiving instruction from? I don't know if this is too far beyond the bounds of what is possible for her at the Comms station, it kinda feels more E-Warfare than anything. Regardless, roll below should it be doable (Assuming smart).

(4D6)[1][4][2][2](9) +2

Will also add as an IC comment (should this be allowed, otherwise never mind );

Once she was facing her station again, Vatia frowned as she tried to isolate any other signals passing through their region of space, hoping to find the source of the hailing ships instructions.

[Implodio]

Yomim has been aboard ships that have fallen for such tricks before. The other vessel may be "looking out for their people", certainly. But when everyone is looking out for themselves, you can only trust your people to make the right decision when all the chips go flying.

He spools up his own omnitool, and suggests elements of the engineering crew take the preparatory measures that served the SSV Lincoln well in the past - booting the Eezo cycler, flexing the idling field distenders, and so forth. He gesticulates to Hrux, too - tapping a nearby monitor as if to suggest solid ground, or a neutral landing place where they might meet their interlocutors without exposing themselves so critically by docking with them. If they're serious.

Spoiler: OOC

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I would like to Cleverly create the scene aspect "Ready to Rock and Roll" for the Sparrow.

Dice 1: (1d6)[3]
Dice 2: (1d6)[6]
Dice 3: (1d6)[5]
Dice 4: (1d6)[2]
Clever: +3

[Hazuki]

Leeta

Vaenia flicks open the briefcase and neatly tucks the innoculants in, then closes it back up and holds it out to Leeta. "Inoculate yourself out." She adds, almost cheerfully.

~

Vatia & Yomim

Captain Hrux nods at Vatia. "I hear you; we're doing the same thing." He replies, as he pulls up one of the old starmaps of the region and scans it for a few moments. "Let's find somewhere a little less exposed to meet up. Got any recommendations?"

After a now-expected delay, the other man replies. "Fenrel's second moon, the big crater. We can keep an eye on each other while our people meet, if you have the gear for it."

"We can scrounge something up." Captain Hrux says, and the sound of cut communications is his reply. "I'm thinking...shuttle."

[Ridai]

Leeta avoids eye contact, takes the briefcase, says "Thank you," and leaves quickly before her face's shade grows even darker. As she makes her way back to the bridge, the asari keeps her head down and just tries to stay out of the way of anyone who has something to do.

Spoiler: OOC

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Feel free to use that thorough embarassment against Leeta.

[Comissar]

"Sounds like we've made some new friends..."

More loudly she announces, "Communications cut Captain, should I attempt to re-establish?"

An obvious statement, and a fairly inane one at that. It felt clear to her that it was a deliberate action by the hailing ship, and there was probably no point in trying to hail them back, but she wasn't about to break the chain of command or protocol just because of her feeling on the matter.

[Implodio]

Hearing the negotiation from Hrux's side of it, Yomim untenses and begins strutting off towards the shuttlebay. As he passes Vatia at the communication station, he flags her along with his claw; having decided, perhaps based entirely on this momentary display of competence, that she would be a fine part of the shuttle team. Leeta receives a similar come along wave as the determined little creature passes by the infirmary's internal window.

He wondered if any of them, or even Abanda, could fly a shuttle better than he could manage.

[Ridai]

Running into Yomim and Vatia immediately after leaving the infirmary only makes things worse, Leeta quietly trailing behind the others and trying to stay out of sight for now.

Spoiler: OOC

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I don't know what Approach is the basic assumption for flying a shuttle, but if it is Quick (perhaps even Flashy to make quite an entrance), we could have a fun little "learning by doing" scene with perhaps surprising results, whether good or bad.