New Orders MISSION START

Posted on Sat Aug 19th, 2023 @ 2:58am by Kilena Keithron & Damien McGinnis
Edited on on Sat Aug 19th, 2023 @ 5:13am

1,180 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Secret of Corvus
Location: Damien's Quarters, Astro Megaship Mark 3
Timeline: 1900 Hours, January 3rd 2051

Damien sat in his brightly lit black and gray quarters on the Megaship, the design not dissimilar to what he was used to from GPF digs on ships. Hardly surprising; they’d apparently taken design inspiration from the original Astro Megaship, and somehow he doubted redesigning quarters had been a priority during the construction of the mark three. He’d had a wooden desk brought in, contrasting heavily with the sheet metal bulkheads, and a couple of chairs, including the beanbag in the corner. In the top right hand corner of the room, a large red fabric mass hang, covering the black sensor arm with it’s glowing red eye; the idea of the ship’s computer watching him in his bedroom creeped him out.

He’d been awake for what felt like twelve days rather than twelve hours. The team had been sent to the Orias system to deal with a number of civil disturbances. He’d be lying if he said he liked it; since the Rangers had been legalized and folded into the GPF chain of command two months prior, they’d spent most of their time being shipped around as if they were any other squad. He’d expected to be fighting Imperium forces, not just dealing with matters that any other officers could be dealing with.

Kilena was not sure she wanted to pass on what she had just received whilst on bridge duty but there she was pressing the chime on the door to either wake the red ranger up or irritate him - she did not mind which one after night watch.

“Come in.” Damien called, picking up his posture slightly as he looked up “Kilena, hey. What’s up?”

“Something came in whilst I was on watch.” She said by way of greeting holding out the chip to him glancing around the room. “You have changed in here?” She said by way of another type of conversation other than straight to the point.

“You need to work on your poker face.” He quipped as he took the chip, moving to the terminal at the desk in the corner and inserting the chip “If your way of misdirecting me from bad news is to comment on me moving the room around. Whoever had the room last must have been from another planet; would you believe I found a big red cloak buried in the back of the closet?”

“Ships have had many users over the years.” Kilena said with a shrug as she step inside, finally letting the door close with a thud. “I do not need a poker face. It is not for me. I wear my heart on my sleeve.” She added just standing awkwardly there taking in the changes from when they had first come onboard.

“Must be nice to have that luxury. Have a seat, you’re making the place look messy.” He remarked, gesturing towards the beanbag chair in the corner of the room “It says here we’re to head to the fourth planet in the Corithian system. Archeological dig site… Kilena, I hate to ask, but is this something to do with your parents?”

“It will be. They are part of the crystal project.” She reminded him as she moved to sit down gracefully on the beanbag. She tried to not think about what they were up to since she found the diary. “It’s not a luxury just as much as having a poker face, it's just me.”

“Are they likely to be there?” He asked, folding his arms over his chest “I need you to tell me now if they will. In the nicest way possible, we can’t afford anyone on the ground being emotionally compromised by the mission at hand.”

“Most likely.” She had not overly thought about it much. “They are used to danger. I believe they have been involved in this project for a while.”

“Okay.” He said “Tell me now that if they’re there it won’t complicate the mission and I’ll believe you. Tell me now that it will and I’ll make sure you’re left manning the megaship. It’s up to you.”

“I’ll be fine. They are pretty much able to manage themselves. They’ve been on some of the most dangerous dig sites in the universe. You are worrying about people who were there when the Imperium attacked and my mum hit them with a shovel.” Kilena said wishing she had explained about how badass they were before now. “You know what role my mum had before she met my mum. She is feisty. And my dad is not much better.”

"Kind of like their daughter." He quipped with a wry grin "Sounds like they can take care of themselves, but seriously. If you need to talk, you know where to find me."

“I will be fine. Everyone is fine.” She hated the human word fine but it was the only way she could sum up the current state of boredom that she knew everyone was feeling between no idea what was going on with the Imperium and them being sent out of the way.

“If you’re sure.” He said with a small smile “Don’t want any issues coming up to disrupt the mission.”

“Damien?” She questioned softly as she rose from the bean bag. “I… I am sorry I put you on the spot on K0-35.” She finally said when she had his gaze.

“Put me on the spot?” He asked, “I’m not sure I follow?”

“Errr… when…Then do not worry about it.” Kilena smiled a little at him and shook her head. If he was going to ignore when she had thrown herself at him, the better for her self esteem. “But just know KO-35 was pretty crazy.”

“I remember.” He replied, adding with a huge grin “There were giant robots. It was awesome!”

“Mmmhmm.” The woman said gently. Must have been the booze or she really was remembering things wrong and the guilt of what she remembered had gotten to her. She shrugged. “Either way… moving forward. We have about six hours before we get there, enough time for me to have a nap and whatever else I need to do.” She really did need to have some sleep after night shift and she wanted to read more of the diary from the dig where the psycho bitch turned up before she revealed stuff to the team.

“I’d best let you get to it then.” He replied “I think I’m going to try to do the same. Last thing we need is to be falling asleep when we get there and getting our collected asses handed to us. Go on, get out of here. I’ll catch you later.”

“Might want to tell the others the plan before you do that red ranger.” She prompted before she offered a smile and pressed the door release to escape before her luck ran out and he remembered exactly what she meant.

 

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