Author Topic: The crown Jewel of poor planning [DaGlobster!] (Read 33518 times)

Rhi-Rhi · « **Reply #40 on:** September 16, 2015, 06:06:48 pm »

Suuuure he knew how to say it. But Jewel bit her tongue and exhaled smoke instead, relaxing into her seat all the more. Good stuff, indeed. A bit stronger than the stuff she normally smoked, and she could already feel a gnawing case of the munchies coming on. Probably didn't help that all she'd had since that morning were some protein bars on the run.

She gazed out into the sunset, which seemed all the more vivid now, and then flashed Jesse a smile and slid her feet off the dash, leaning forward in her seat eagerly. "Fuck yeah, I did. So snap to it, captain, let's go! Let's blast off!"

Blast off.

Into space.

"Holy shit."

It hit her then, the instant she said it, and as she registered his words all the more. To be in a spaceship launch. Oh man. This was really happening. She was leaving Edanith and going up into fucking space. Just like that. Without telling anyone. Not even her mom, not her friends, no one. Just running off with a stranger into the black abyss above.

Where no one hears you scream! her brain added helpfully She'd done some crazy things, but this was the craziest.

Her eyes widened, and she flopped back in her seat, her free hand covering her mouth. "Holy shit, I'm going up into space," she mumbled from behind her hand, as the gravity of it all struck her all at once. "Holy shit."

Daglobster · « **Reply #41 on:** September 16, 2015, 06:17:19 pm »

"Holy shit's right! We're gonna go to fuckin' space!" Jesse yelled, his sense of humor telling him to hype her up.

"Strap yourself in, Jewel!"

Jesse sat up, took the blunt from her, and took a deep hit before quickly handing it back, exhaling that last hit through his teeth. He set his seat straight, turned towards the dash, and started flicking switches and turning dials. He ratcheted back two levers, and the ship started to vibrate with a dull thrumm as the engines came to life.

"All robots, set yourselves in your charging station," he said, leaning into a microphone.

He set his cowboy hat on the dashboard, and he pulled the steering wheel, which was wrapped in detailed leather and studded with steel, up into place.

Rhi-Rhi · « **Reply #42 on:** September 16, 2015, 06:37:02 pm »

"Strap myself--oh! There's seat belts. Ahahaha. Of course there are!" Jewel said, and fumbled with the straps before clicking them into place with jittery hands. Holy shiiit! This was happening.

She was gonna need a lot more weed.

She took another hit, and gripped the armrest with her free hand as she looked back out into the Edani sunset, her heart pounding with fear and excitement in equal measure. Truth be told, she'd always wanted to leave, find somewhere better, somewhere not full of closed-minded conservatives, but Edanith was still all she'd ever known! Yeah, she definitely hadn't had time to think about the full weight of what she was doing!

The ship vibrated, and her heart thudded faster. "Oh fuck, I can't believe I'm doing this, I can't believe I'm doing this, this is so fucking awesome and terrifying I can't even--"

She froze as movement on the horizon caught her eye. First dust rising into the sky, and then two vehicles approaching fast.

Military vehicles.

Her stomach dropped.

"Jesse, does this ship launch any faster?"

Daglobster · « **Reply #43 on:** September 16, 2015, 06:47:01 pm »

Just as they came into Jewel's vision, the ship's sensors came online, and a few sharp pings alerted Jesse to the approaching vehicle.

"Course it can. I wasn't in a rush before!" He said, and locked his feet into foot pedals. Taking up the steering wheel. With a bit of oomph!, the ship lifted up off the ground, and hovered in place for a few seconds before Jesse angled it away from the approaching vehicles.

"Here we go! Don't drop the blunt!"

The engines on his ship spread out, and they went zooming off through the air. The cockpit had plenty of inertial dampeners, but Jewel would still feel the acceleration. They went straight for a few moments before Jesse curved them skyward, and before long, they were lancing up through the atmosphere.

Rhi-Rhi · « **Reply #44 on:** September 16, 2015, 06:57:35 pm »

Suddenly, they were airborne, and Jewel let out a squeak of surprise she would forever deny making. It was like going on some amusement park ride, only smoother. Maybe like an elevator or something? There was no real comparison, and Jewel gripped the armrest white-knuckled as they lanced up through the atmosphere, her stomach in her throat not because of the inertia, but because of the rapidly vanishing ground.

And oh yeah, she kept a tight grip on that blunt, too.

Thank gods his ship had spunk! And thank gods they'd timed that just right, because she had a feeling those vehicles had been there for her, though she had no idea how they could have tracked her. Her tracks, maybe? That seemed ridiculous, but oh well! It was behind her now!

Or...below her?

Whatever! Right then she was too busy watching out the window and taking in the new view, some of the fear leaving her to be replaced with sheer awe and an adrenaline rush thrill.

"Ohmygodsthisissocool!"

Daglobster · « **Reply #45 on:** September 16, 2015, 07:04:42 pm »

"Isn't it!?" Jesse laughed as they sailed up through the planet's atmosphere. He put the engines into their second gear, and they blasted up into the sky. One they cleared the cloud layer, they were confronted by an awestriking sight.

The clouds, painted purple and red and yellow beneath them like a sea, with the sun providing the colors.

"Hoo-lee shit..."

Rhi-Rhi · « **Reply #46 on:** September 16, 2015, 07:14:14 pm »

"Hoo-lee shit is right..." Jewel had to admit, as she was confronted with the sunset from the other side. It was gorgeous, and the sight literally took her breath away as for a second, she forgot to breathe. It looked like she could just step right out of the ship and walk on those clouds, or swim in them, just a giant field of sunset cotton candy...

...Damn, that sounded good right then.

"That's fucking gorgeous, I...wow. We're actually above the clouds. Holy fuck. We're--"

A sudden thought struck her, and she twisted in her seat to stare at Jesse.

"Hold a tick. If a sunset viewed from below is a sunset, is it a sunrise when you're on top of it?"

Daglobster · « **Reply #47 on:** September 16, 2015, 07:25:01 pm »

Jesse fell still as well, looking off into the distance.

"Don't think so. Sun still goes down. Whole point of setting!"

He slowed the ship down, just so he could appreciate that view, before they continued to speed off.

"Been a while since I had somebody in the cockpit with me. Gotta say, it sure feels good to lend a hand."

Rhi-Rhi · « **Reply #48 on:** September 16, 2015, 07:35:11 pm »

"It doesn't really go down, though. We orbit it!" Jewel said as she watched the clouds pass beneath them. She offered Jesse the blunt, deciding she was done for now. Her stomach was growling something fierce, and besides, she wanted to stay awake. The rate she was going, she'd be ready for a nap soon. "Down, up, directions don't matter much in space, do they?"

She let out a content sigh, fear abating from a mixture of the scenery and the drug. "So, you do your stuff solo usually?"

Daglobster · « **Reply #49 on:** September 16, 2015, 07:51:15 pm »

"I do, yeah. Sometimes, I take on freelancers if I need to get a specialized job done, but usually it's just me and the robots."

Higher and higher still, they went. Jesse took his hit, and passed it back to Jewel.

"So I take it you've never been in zero gravity before, then? Or do they have gizmos to replicate that in the cities?"

Rhi-Rhi · « **Reply #50 on:** September 16, 2015, 07:59:59 pm »

Jewel took the blunt, but didn't smoke it. She just held it as she watched even the clouds disappear beneath them, but snapped a look at Jesse when he mentioned zero-gravity.

She hadn't even thought about that.

"Are you telling me I'm gonna get to float around?!" she said, and added, "Fuck, no, I've never done anything like that! Never been in a sim or anything! Unless you count those rides that go super fast in a circle so you stick to the wall and hope no one barfs!"

Daglobster · « **Reply #51 on:** September 16, 2015, 08:13:05 pm »

"Well, just you wait, then. Once we get into orbit, I'll turn the pseudo gravity off."

"It's just the bee's knees. Floatin' around while toasted off your ass..."

Rhi-Rhi · « **Reply #52 on:** September 16, 2015, 08:31:01 pm »

"SWEET! How much longer before we get there? Where're we going, anyway? Do you have any of those little fruity candies? It always looked hilarious fun to try and chase 'em around while floating," Jewel said, still staring out the window.

If it weren't for her seat belt, her face would have been smooshed against the glass.

Daglobster · « **Reply #53 on:** September 16, 2015, 08:36:16 pm »

"Well, gettin' there's gonna take us a couple more minutes. We'll have the blunt in the meantime. As for our final destintion, I was gonna stay in orbit around Edenia for a bit, to see if any jobs come up locally, before heading off to Aedolis " he said, and laughed.

"You mean gummy bears? Shit, I got all kinds of sweets you can chase around. Just wait 'till we get there."

Rhi-Rhi · « **Reply #54 on:** September 16, 2015, 08:54:26 pm »

"Whoa, wait, we're going to Aedolis?" Jewel said, and despite herself, despite knowing she should hate the mere sound of that, a fresh wave of excitement shot through her. She knew Aedolis was a dangerous, vicious place--what with the dragons and "we want to dominate everything" attitude, not to mention driving the Edani out, buuuut...

It was also basically counter-culture HEAVEN. That was where all the big celebs came from! They had the best parties! They didn't judge! Gluttony and excess abounded! Like, maybe it wasn't great to live there with the, y'know, dragons and totalitarianism but it sure sounded like fun to visit!

"Okay, so like, fair warning but if we go there, you may not see me for a few days."

Daglobster · « **Reply #55 on:** September 16, 2015, 09:07:16 pm »

"We might, might not. Depends."

Finally, that pressure started to wear off as they hit the upper atmosphere. The stars were getting closer and closer, and the horizons were disappearing rapidly.

"If a big job comes around somewhere else, then I usually follow the money. As it stands, I gotta deliver the flight core I was hired to recover back to some corporate types. We're gonna be makin' a stop at the closest space station, first. I know there's a commercial one somewhere in an Edanith orbit."

Rhi-Rhi · « **Reply #56 on:** September 16, 2015, 09:44:07 pm »

"Sounds fun to me!" Jewel said. "You gotta remember, this shit's all new to me. Like this?" She waved her hand at the window. "Is all fucking fascinating right now because I'm in space! Well, almost. I'm in the air! Flying! So wherever we're going, I'm cool with it! Just figure if we end up in Aedolis, I'm gonna party like it's my last day to live!"

Daglobster · « **Reply #57 on:** September 16, 2015, 09:50:25 pm »

"Who says I wasn't?" Jesse said, and smiled at her.

"My time ain't all work. We can always take a detour there the next time i'm on break for a couple of days."

Rhi-Rhi · « **Reply #58 on:** September 16, 2015, 09:55:20 pm »

"Sweeeeet! Think we'll see a dragon when we go there? I always wanted to see a dragon! Even if the dragons are supposed to be like uber fucking nightmare fuel. Still wouldn't mind seeing one. You been there lots?" Jewel asked.

"Also, do you got any snacks or anything conveniently here? 'Cause I don't know about you, but I could eat my own arm."

Daglobster · « **Reply #59 on:** September 16, 2015, 09:59:55 pm »

"Believe me, I'm suffering too. Once we finish our ascent into orbit, I'll get out the snacks."

He shifted in his seat, and cleared his throat.

"I've been there a couple times. Never seen a dragon. I don't think they're as common as you think, Jewel."