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Author Topic: All The Stars In Between  (Read 7724 times)

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Offline Draconian

All The Stars In Between
« on: October 04, 2016, 11:38:59 pm »
[ @Lion ]

Cordelia rolled her eyes at the ship.

Stupid alarm.

"Yes. I know we're super close to another ship. Yes I did do it on purpose." She snapped at the ship. It couldn't answer her. It didn't care about her excuses. It just wanted her to move the goddamn ship because it was too goddamn close and it was going to make these awful noises until she moved it.

Cordelia instead put on a suit. A mirror'd face mask to keep out any wayward sunlight, mostly skin tight - where there was skin to be tight against. Her legs were free, metal things, specially made to walk along metal as long as she turned the magnets on - which she'd done. Her leg arm was metal and a little more skeletal, designed to work as a tool. Just about the only thing left of her that was skin and bones was her right arm and most of her torso.

The ribcage had been replaced with a much more sturdy one and that helped with the strange tail she could use to cut open doors. She was her very own set of tools and it really helped with not having to carry around a whole tonne of crap.

Today, she sauntered out of her ship's airlock to the derelict piece of crap that had showed up on her radar. It didn't look cut up by pirates or stripped it just looked... Dead. Once she'd forced her way in with a work of her tools she poked around the rooms, taking careful steps. Doing her best to remain undetected - she wasn't sure what was in here and she was a little afraid of finding out.

The fear escalated when she went through room after room, finding not a soul. Not a suit. Not a corpse. Abandoned? Maybe.

Cordelia found a strange control room, symbols she couldn't read were all along the screen and she passed her fingers over them curiously. Then there were lights and she jerked her hand back. Frowning she eyed the room and took a few steps back.

It was a map.

Her gaze zero'd in on the light. Some sort of indicator? She frowned at the map, looking for some sort of recognizable point she followed the wall carefully, the metal of her fingers scraping against the metal. There. Pods.

"The fuck," She whispered, looking at them. All of them were close and most of them were empty.

Or at least they looked empty.

There was a dried up corpse in one and she reeled back.

Cordelia looked at them while she meandered and stopped at the only one with a fresh body in it.

A man.

A careful breath and she looked around. Maybe she could.... A lick of her lips behind the mask and she closed her eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and removing the helmet. A hesitant little breath and she sighed relief when she could breath. It tasted stale and a little bit like dusty death but she could breath.

Her hand slammed down on the control panel in front of the pod, some strange symbols and she frowned at it. How could she turn it off? Or not? Maybe... Worst case scenario was she killed him, but with the rest of the ship being dead, what was the big deal with that? She moved to a broken pod, like something had burst out of it and grabbed a heavy metal pipe.

The proceeded to beat on the one with the fresh looking man in it.

Maybe she could make it do some sort of fail safe and wake the guy up.

When it doubt with technology... Just beat on it.
« Last Edit: July 04, 2017, 09:41:26 pm by Draconian »

Offline Lion

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2016, 10:25:19 pm »
[Short post is short! D:]

To breath again for the first time for the last time. it was the strangest sensation.  First there was cold, then then there was nothing. Being submerged in the cryo pod was a decision of finality, a motion toward uncertainty, an absolution that would never be found. The last the he remembered hearing was the voice of the crew, the slow countdown, the beeping of life support systems.  Then the submersion.  Then silence.

Only his memories would ring out in his senses. The last kiss he shared with Vex before they were parted, the feeling of his lips, the warmth of his form against him. The Cygnus' commander issuing the order to depart at last.  His heart beat as it slowed into hibernation.

Then he breathed again, lungs activating, the faint beep up emergency systems still active.  Life support pressed air into resuscitator, the face-mask covering the lower part of his head. Steam depressurized somewhere, locks disengaged and the cold was slowly dissipating, billowing out at his feet.

The door was opening...  Why was the door opening?  Had they reached a final destination at last? Had the Empire found them...? Mars opened his eyes, feeling the clasps of his respirator-mask release from his face, as did the belts from around his body.  He was bare to the cold, but the temperature was manageable for his kind.

He saw a face, an unknown mask, and fear shot through him. Where was his voice?  Still trapped in the recesses of his throat.  Panic set in, cobalt blue eyes widening as he lunged for the mirror-masked fiend.

Offline Draconian

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2016, 10:35:43 pm »
Cordelia had been in midswing when the pod opened and a grown ass man fell out.

Shit. Fuck shit. Goddamn shit.

Wasn't there supposed to be a wait time or something?

Cordelia let the bar sail out of her hands so the strange man didn't get it upside the head - it clattered loudly on the other side of the room and she quickly slapped the side of the helmet to hide away the mirror'd cover. Her hands shot out in front of her, the metal one in front since it was way more sturdy and could handle more abuse than her squishier human one.

"Wait!" Cordelia said, moving her hand to her helmet to whip it off, as she backed up quickly, metal feet clanging loudly on the floor, her hands out, "wait! Wait, I'm not here to hurt you!"  she moved her hand behind her to the broken dusty ship - well, not really dusty. "I'm here to help you but I can't help you if you bash my face in!"
« Last Edit: October 05, 2016, 10:36:18 pm by Draconian »

Offline Lion

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #3 on: October 05, 2016, 10:46:10 pm »
Mars was stopped.  But not because of her hands but because of the three large archaic plugs that remained honed into his arms and shoulder and thighs.  He sprang back into the pod falling and staring up at her panting heavily and he found his voice in a pained groan.

He reached up to pull the plugs from his body, falling to his knees when he exited the pod.  Shudders coursed through him, reeling now from the cold, and curling in on himself.  He looked up at the stranger in the strange suit, speaking a language he could grasp but just barely.  It wasn't that he didn't understand, it was that his sense now were just coming back to him.

"H-help me?" he managed to croak out, voice raspy and cracking.  He coughed, the darkness surrounding the cryo chamber diminished only by the vague infrequent sparks starved for power.  His gaze fell up on her, vision coming into focus, and when he saw a human face, the apprehension did not ease. 

However he maintained control of himself.  "Have you come to...kill me?"  Throat was clearer now, and he sat upright, huddling his arms to himself.
« Last Edit: October 05, 2016, 10:49:09 pm by Lion »

Offline Draconian

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #4 on: October 05, 2016, 11:06:00 pm »
Shit. She hadn't thought to bring a suit or something.

Cordelia sucked in a breath when he ripped the cords from himself and she glanced down at her arm, swallowing thickly. He could probably rip her arm from from the socket. the whole thing. Meaty bits drilled into bone and all. Cordelia frowned at him, confused.

Right. Cryo.

Can't really remember shit if you were asleep the whole time.

C'mon, Cordy, think. Think quick.

"Yeah, my ship was getting a distress signal from this thing and when I boarded it was ... Empty." She looked around again, chewing on her lower lip, 'feet' moving not so quietly along while she shuffled and tried to find him a suit of some kind to make sure he got to her own ship safely.

"I gotta get you onto my ship, okay? Just gotta find you some clothes," Cordelia froze, "Kill you? What? No." A frown, was he a criminal or something? If he was... She'd never heard of him. Or this ship. Though she supposed she could scan the serial number or something from it from her own when they got back and do her research then. 

"Look, you're the only person alive I found on this ship and I'd really like to get back onto mine so..." She held out the metal hand, "please? We'll pilfer some clothes for you but the sooner we get you out of here and somewhere safe the better."

This place was starting to give her the heebie-jeebies.

Offline Lion

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #5 on: October 05, 2016, 11:44:32 pm »
It was a hearse floating drift in the emptiness of space. The derelict junk ships that flowed along the belt marked a prime scavenging location on star maps between Citadel Fort and Onari IX. Cygnus was just as burned and broken as many of the others that drifted along the wastes. However it was more intact, and it's systems in the lowest power consumption available.

The darkness was almost suffocating.  Mars found his strength, standing up now, holding onto the wall of the chamber and looking at her with eyes that seemed reflective in what little light remained.  "The...only one left alive?" he asked, those words being the only one he heard before the turned to look at the pods that had been beside his own.

His heart dropped, and he shuffled along the cool grate at his feet.  Many of the bodies that did remain were still, and the lights on their life support were dormant, the respirators inactive.  Some pods were broken, tempered glass on the floor, the pod empty.

His breath shuddered, horror sinking deep into his body. The fear was growing, but he did it best to push it from his mind, turning back to the stranger with the glass face...  Or the fleshy face, since it was difficult to discern what was real now.

"You're hear to rescue me?" he asked.  He was close to touch her metal hand, but hesitation stilled him. Was the war finally over?  And his palm fell into hers. Mars looked over her clothing and the helmet she'd yanked off.  The desolation he felt was enormous, but he didn't want to focus on it.

"Let us leave this place.  There's nothing for me here."
« Last Edit: October 05, 2016, 11:44:51 pm by Lion »

Offline Draconian

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2016, 08:35:11 pm »
Maybe she should have been less blunt.

Cordelia had never been good with tact.

Always too blunt.

Always too rude.

Much, much too forward.

Carefully she watched the strange pod-man and she swallowed carefully, waiting for him to snap and kill her. Maybe even just... Rip off her last good arm. Cordelia watched him carefully, hand out and tried to smile at him when he took it. The false sense of touch always kind of weirded her out because it wasn't her feeling it. It was the robot arm. But... She could feel it.

That problem was for later though and she replaced the helmet after curling her fingers through his, legs thunking as she walked across the metal. "We need to find you a suit," She said softly, looking over her shoulder at the strange looking man. He wasn't unattractive, just... Strange looking. Sort of like how she was strange looking. 

"Once we find you a suit, we can board my ship, she's tethered since I couldn't find a way to dock," Her voice was soft, her hand firmly on Mars', "We'll get you situated, you can use the computer on the GumDrop." In hindsight, naming her ship legally when she was a little girl hadn't been a good idea for badass reasons.

Offline Lion

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #7 on: October 09, 2016, 08:29:26 pm »
[Her ship name is the best! Second maybe only to Sassy Juice]

The sense of touch didn't bother him any. Mars had dealt with synthetics before, maybe not one quite like this, and not so fleshy. But whatever she was, he wasn't going to question.  Whatever harm he suspected would come to him, it could still come. He would just be grateful when they could get off this forsaken ship. If not, he'd be just another freezing corpse o this hollowed out vessel.

""I don't need one," he said affirmatively.  "I will be...erm 'situated'. Let's just begone from here."  He took her hand firmly and nodded to where she came from.  "How...did you get in here?"

Offline Draconian

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #8 on: October 09, 2016, 08:46:20 pm »
Cordelia nodded to a corridor with the airlock.

"The airlock works fine, but the outside docking door is torn to shit." She fixed the helmet on and pressed a button to make it airtight with the rest of her suit. "I had to tether my ship - the GumDrop - to this ship and just... Float over" she shrugged as she led him along, footsteps quick and the littlest bit awkward.

"It'll be about ten seconds, i'll hold you," she frowned at him for a moment, "Space is cold. You know that, right?" Her voice was soft and she moved her hand to his elbow to escort him along as they walked, coming to the airlock door and pressing it open so they could get to the second door.

The second door led to a destroyed hallway, attached to it with a heavy magnet was a metal rope and a modest little ship. It looked like once upon a time it had been top of the line and painted a sparkly pink. The outside didnt get much love aside from patching holes but the insides were still amazing.

"Just tell me when and hold onto my waist, I'll get us over there in no time and then we can learn all about one another." Cordelia didnt have the heart - yet - that they were weeks from any sort of civilisation.

Sure this was a good scaveging spot, but unless she wanted to get raped and looted she wasnt about to set foot at any of the docking stations except to fuel up. Maybe. And only if she got desperate.

Offline Lion

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #9 on: October 09, 2016, 09:14:46 pm »
The cold didn't bother him.  And he could hold his breath long enough in the time it would take to get to the other ship.  The shuddering of his body ceased once they reached the exit.  He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath when he was ready and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

Once they were off, he braced himself, holding firmly but not overly tight until they were safely on the other side.

The outside of the ship was freezing, and he could feel debris scraping against his skin, and he shook from the temperature, but he hedl on strongly nevertheless.

Offline Draconian

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #10 on: October 10, 2016, 10:09:08 pm »
The trip was short and well executed.

Cordelia smacked the side of the ship and the airlock opened. She pushed the strange man into her ship and followed closely. Once they were both in the door shut and the gravity kicked in. Warm oxygen filled the room and Cordelia removed the mask.

The other door opened to a modest ship. Most of it was run by the computer. From the airlock was a hallway, off to the side was a washroom, the hallway opened off to a control room where Cordelia spent 90% of her time.

Another door led to a little pseudo-kitchen and tucked into the corner of the ship on the other side was a bedroom. Modest bunk beds that pulled out from the wall.

Cordelia paid no mind to the strange man she brought with her, chosing to peel the suit off as she walked. Her long washed out black hair tumbled down her back while she walked and slowly removed the suit. By the time she hit the door that led to the 'bedroom' she was completely naked, her fake limbs obvious by sight.

The arm had a fake look to it. The seam at her shoulder. The legs, from above the knee down however, were metal and looked to be made for a purpose other than just walking. Along her spine were metal bits, with a port at the base.

A flick to the strange man and she went into the room, focussed on one thing.

Putting something comfy on. It was a few moments to change, pulling on a sweater and a loose set of shorts. She left the room with a larger sweater a set of sweatpants.

"Here," she held them out to the strange pod man , "put these on. Then I'll show you where you can sleep and we can scrounge up some food for you."

Offline Lion

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #11 on: October 11, 2016, 04:44:54 pm »
The sound of the airlock was all that he heard that secured his assurance that he was still alive.  For that moment he waited until he opened his eyes and was sure his eyeballs wouldn't be sucked out of his skull.  He breathed out, reclined on all fours on the grated flooring of the GumDrop. When he had his bearings, sensing the gravitational pull, he stood up, watching the suited woman casually move about the vessel.

He wrapped arms around himself, not knowing what more he could do except to follow her.  Even as she found herself getting a little bit more comfortable.  His eyes watched her carefully, noting each aspect of her form. Mainly so he could see which parts were most vulnerable just in case she turned on him.

Stilled now, watching the metal of her limbs glint in the lighting that ignited the hallways.  He shivered again, quiet, looking down at the strange clothes she offered him.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked, still not reaching for the clothes.  Just in case.

Offline Draconian

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2016, 10:47:04 pm »
Cordelia frowned at him for a moment before she shook the clothing at him and frowned, "Because, I found you in a pod on an abandoned ship and you're not dead so... Why leave you?" A tilt of her head and she squinted at him before giving him a slow up and down, he was built. He was kinda scary looking. "Why won't you get dressed?" She wiggled the clothes at him, "I can't imagine you're toasty warm."

Offline Lion

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2016, 11:43:29 pm »
He had every reason to expect the worst. The first stranger to show him any sense of kindess, how was he not to be suspicious.  But even Mars could give her the benefit of the doubt. If she wanted to kill him, he guessed she could have just disrupted his life support. Why bother waking him up?

He held the clothes tenatively in hand before nodding to her and slipping the t-shirt over head.  The fit wasn't ideal as he could barely squeeze into it, but the fabric was forgiving enough, and he slipped into the shorts that came with it.  He didn't want to ask if she had anything bitter.  She was over-extending her kindness as it were.
"This is very nice," he said, fingers feeling against the mesh fabric.
"I will find some way to thank you."

Offline Draconian

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2017, 10:15:15 am »
There was a snort and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, you can earn your keep or something,"  another shrug and she wiggled her limbs. The not quite sensation of them being real. She couldnt actually feel them... sort of. Cordelia didnt think to hard about it. It just got confusing and muddled up in her head. "Or just say thank you."

She paused again and frowned slightly, "you any good at fixing stuff? Shes an old boat, sturdy, but old and once I manage to fix something something else kinda... breaks." A small friendly smile before she gave an impersonal nod and looks around.

"It gets hot in here, by the way, so you'll probably have to get used to seeing my tits." It was mostly said as an add on. Not important but perhaps something he should remember. "You may also display your tits."

Offline Lion

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #15 on: January 29, 2017, 12:21:09 am »
"Tits!?" he parroted back, tilting his head. Of course he understood what she meant, but if the heating radial apparatus was that bad on this ship, maybe it was better that they found someplace to dock for proper repairs.  He moved forward, following her eagerly down the hallway.

"I can try," he said.  "I would say I have my fair share of handiness.  But...if you think there's something wrong with your ship, don't you think it should be docked for proper inspection? It looks rather haphazard as it is. No offense...  Look at the bucket you found me on!"

Offline Draconian

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #16 on: January 29, 2017, 04:46:34 pm »
Cordelia gave him a hesitant look, "just flesh. They're like a much less useful hand," she smiled at him before shrugging and turning away. A small flight of stairs and into the control room, her feet clanging against the metal of the floor. A few buttons. A few hisses at the controls and she called behind her.

"If you told me your name I don't remember it," she said finally, looking at the navigation system. Almost in dead space. Just a little bit too far from anything useful. Good thing she had enough food for a month stock piled. Well, two weeks, with her guest. Cordelia frowned slightly and sighed. "You have any idea what system that thing drifted from?"

Offline Lion

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #17 on: January 29, 2017, 10:51:00 pm »
Oh, that's right he hadn't told her his name.

Did he even have a name?  What was it...?

In all the years he'd been asleep, dreaming distant dreams of an absolution that would never come, he felt there was something he forgot, left behind. He closed his eyes and searched deep within his mind's recesses. "Mars,"he murmured.  "That's my name."

He shook his head and brushed at the hair on his head.  "Strange. I almost couldn't remember it."  He smiled and looked at her. "I'm sorry."

He moved forward and glanced at the system. "System...  Bogoda Cetus IV, the edge of the Empire," he said.  "That's where I boarded....  Before I went to sleep.  But where it drifted and how it came to be as you found it, I cannot say.  Where are we now?"

Offline Draconian

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #18 on: January 30, 2017, 12:32:25 am »
Interesting name.

"I was expecting a number," She stated smirking before she looked back to the control panel, tilting her head and frowning. Bogoda Cetus IV. Cordelia pulled a face and shrugged, "Far from there," She decided looking through the computer's map. A lick of her lips and the tap, tap, tap, of her foot-not-foot against the flooring and she shrugged. A brief look at the radar and she cast a glance to Mars.

"My name is Cordelia. You can call me Cordy, Delia, Cord and Hey You," She glanced over his shoulder at him and turned her chair, reaching out a leg and kicking a  button on the ground. A second chair folded from the floor on a track in front of a second control panel, "That'll be your spot," she instructed then frowned.

"So, Mars," She tilted her head, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head, brushing her hair over her shoulders, "Why were you in there? Do you remember? You human? Cyborg?" She wiggled her legs at him, "I'm not really sure what I'm classified as anymore, probably cyborg, I think half my insides are fake too. Except for the important bits, as my father would call them."

Offline Lion

Re: All The Stars Inbetween
« Reply #19 on: January 30, 2017, 10:44:33 pm »
Why was she looking for that star system? They were likely lightyears away from any part of the the Cetus Quadrant. The Forge Empire's furthest reaches were often run down worlds with little impact on the main trade at it's center, and it was there that smuggling reigned free as it ought to have. The right officials were bribed, the people cared only for themselves and minded their business.

Mars watched her for a second before she instructed him to sit.  He blinked at her a moment before hesitantly sitting. The chair was a little worse for wear than what he was used to, but it was cared for and he could feel it's shape modifying itself to his body along his back. He perked up an smiled.  "That was new."

"I am Caiber," he said steadily, meeting her gaze, although his own eyes were a little confused, struggling to recall. "I was asleep along with others of my kind. We were trying to escape absolute decimation, our last hope being on that ship.  Seeing it in it's state is...astonishing. I don't know how long I've been asleep.  There's only so much I can tell you. First, will you answer some questions? For whom do you work?  You found me...now what do you intend to do with me?"

 

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