The notion of changing course without returning to base to refuel was not welcomed by Nora, until the reason was given as 'recovering the Themis-Skoll' - then she decided it would be a good opportunity to educate the rookies (including Tasha) on how to calculate advanced 'manifold' navigation using stators in place of reaction mass.
It took another day to complete the planetary survey, which also included a sample collection of the rainbow-colored ring material - which just turned out to be common dust and ice that lost all of its color qualities once it was removed from the ring. Still, it was a good way to test the probe Fred had built. It also gave them an excuse to reactivate the Geo Lab, and give more lessons. Since the several-million-kilometer detour was going to take several weeks, it was also a good excuse to test and practice for many other ship functions.
There were many drills, simulated emergencies and everyone got to spend time with the VR and hibernation systems. The latter were things Tasha was already familiar with though, so she had the option to pass. Sometimes every hibernation tube was filled, just so consumable resources could be stretched. It was also a good test of how well the new recruits handled the isolation, even though Bellerophon was hardly cramped.
Now on the final leg of the flight, Sinai grew larger in the telescopes every day, along with the real target: the glittery ring of the Procession.
Aside from the daily lessons, Tasha had kept to herself for long stretches. With weeks now to reflect, rethink, plan and paint she spent her off hours either in her quarters or wandering around the ship looking for the 'right' place to paint. Often this was the Titan Bay, closest to the Melchior and thus the most potent reminder of her journey in to the Way other than the Origin Marker of Vartans itself.
It's here the crew finds her when the summons go out. According to the young woman, this is her fifth painting with four other finished or mostly finished works and a small pile of unsatisfactory efforts. "Just a moment, let me pack my paints away," she replies, hoping she isn't too speckled in paint.
The bridge is where everyone has gathered, since it has the largest viewing space. The magnified view of Sinai floats in the space before the command chairs, surrounded by the diaphanous rings of the Procession. "We aren't close enough to start cataloging," Nora explains. "But this is where we have a decent view." Half of the globe is illuminated by Primus, while the rest is dark, save for the reflected light from the Procession itself.
Cleaned up -- though with paint flecks on her nails because she liked the color pattern -- Tasha watches from the rera of the bridge, ears perked and eyes focused. She doesn't need to be in the front row to see well, after all, and her time inreflection has made her uncharacteristically reserved as of late. As hours passed after her return she became more aware of the impact the event had on her -- and not just the fading adrenaline. She had stood before Adam, had been to the Way. She had a task of immense proportion to complete and it migth well require she browbeat the Vartan creator to do it. And last, but not least, she succeeded. She made it. She isn't sure what to think about that level of success.
The hybrid considers these things as she stares at her homeworld. While she's seen Sinai the world over, she's never been over the world! Somewhere down there is her mother, Tashly, the nice little Titanian village high in the northern regions, the City of Hands ... Everywhere. It's home. Now she floats above it like a god; a fitting pearch from which to consider how far and how high she has gone.
"As covered in the previous lecture, there are unique navigation hazards to be wary of," Nora says, and taps her control wand. Two spots on the surface of the planet light, looking not that far from each other, but technically on two separate continents. "The eastern point is the Sinai Gateway Tower. As with the Abaddon and Arcadia surveys, we will never pass directly over this point. This is the most active gateway in the system, and we'll be focusing our passive senses on it whenever it's in range. We don't know how the Gateways work yet, but that doesn't mean we can't at least get an idea." Nora points out the mark to the south, past the equator. "This is the Silent-One's communication base-station. There's an ancient megatitan in station-keeping orbit, which has a hyperspace and interplanetary relay. We'll also need to avoid blocking line-of-sight to the surface and to Abaddon."
Tasha had vague knowledge of these systems through use but never considered their details in full; her relation to them was always through a need for their unique services to fulfull some other research project rather than a focus on the services themselves. The Gateway had always been a fascination, but due to politics, complexity and a sheer lack of knowledge and resources recieved little focus. The relay, on the other hand, never seemed a great concern as its mysteries had already been ferreted out by other parties. Still, the hybrid decides it's good to have a chance to focus on them -- especially the tower whose mysteries could still be of great revelation and use.
"Now.. we have no idea how long the survey will take," Nora admits. "Our initial survey in the Expedition Era was very limited - we only know that there's a lot of ice and rock.. and ice-covered rock.. in the Procession. This time we'll be focusing on anomalies: objects that aren't following the main orbit, unusually dense or light masses and anything not in the Procession that is still in orbit."
Tasha's ears perk a little more. She's admittedly a seeker of the stand-out, the outlier and the far-flung. While many in the JEF are focused on the mundane, the full-detail, every nook-and-cranny her work as largely been chasing the anomalous. Such things are also the cause -- and target -- of much of her field work. A number have put her in the Med Bay. "Aside from the Titans, old relays, probes and ship debris, is there anything else you'd expect to find here, Commander?" She thinks to ask.
"The unexpected, of course," Nora replies with a cocky grin. "Also, we'll be able to use the Silent-One's relay to contact Xenea if we need to send any messages to the surface."
Tasha grins back, happy to see her sister in a good mood rather than the alternative. She had an even bet on whether the mission would cause a few days of resentment and grumpiness in the other woman Nora Argentine had never been one for offered help, neither direct nor indirect, and she was smart enought to catch the latter. Despite the risk the Cadet full believed Nora would come around and appreciate the task, at least once she got in to things. There would, of course, be no thank-yous.
"What exactly is a megatitan anyway? There's one outside Caltrop, too. I thought the relay was just an old pre-fab, small scale space station." It had never occured to Tasha there could be a massive, exotic space station above Sinai. Somehow she felt she would notice it, but she decides it must be Vartan visual pride combined with expecting anything truly of the Expedition so close to Sinai to have gone the way of the spacecraft. That is, down, or to pieces.
"There are several classes of megatitans," Nora explains. "The one in Sinai orbit is smaller one, meant as an automated space station. Despite the name, it only looks like a giant Titan for aesthetic reasons; it doesn't have articulated limbs. It's a hollow statue."
Tasha almost snorts at the idea of an unmoving Titan; what would be the point? But then she remembers this is a Silent-Ones machine they're talking about and artistry is its own point, especially impressive, light-and-god styles of architecture. As an artist herself, she chides herself on being too judgemental. "Well, that should be interesting anyway." The talk of Titan reminds her of the other; in particular, its dangers. It seems like forever since she encountered the first MOTHER. She has changed greatly since then and puts her knowledge to work. "As far as the other Titan is concerned, I think we should be careful about limiting incoming information. Definitely flag any old codes and watch for attack along information channels."
"We'll be monitoring for transmissions from any surviving fleet assets in orbit," Gabriel notes. "Our buffer-quarantine protocol is still in effect though: no artificial or gestalt intelligences will have access to the direct data stream. We'll also attempt to make contact with the Ark on Rephidim and with the Knights Templar base on Fetiss Sky Island using frequency-modulation radio. Planetary survey will be passive only, optical, infrared and ultraviolet light. That should still be enough to let us identify ruins or other sites hidden under foliage. Depth mapping through orbital parallax, no lidar ranging for the surface."
"Yes, Captain." Tasha gives a nod. She wanted to smile but suspected she might not be able to keep things impersonal. They haven't discussed the matter of her requesting a people yet, but she knows he knows that he has read it too. "Since I was the last of the JEF personnel to contact the Temple, and in person, should I handle that dialogue?"
"That won't be necessary," Gabriel says. "We've got standard automated protocols. Due to distance and interference, voice communication isn't likely to work very well. We mainly want to make sure they know we're up here, because someone is sure to spot us."
"Good thing I broke the planetary defense Titan," Tasha remarks with a lopsided grin. She then realizes the grin probably mirrors Nora's and quashes it. "Please continue sir, ma'am."
Nora makes a show of clearing her throat, then continues with the mission outline. "We'll be staying out of the atmosphere for our survey," she explains. "One priority of the survey is general mapping, but we'll also be taking detailed images of the major cities and sky islands, areas were we suspect Expedition ships have landed and known First Ones sites. We'll eventually be selling those images to the governments of Sinai."
"We should also look for any landmasses not on common mapping. I can help with that, I know the charts and maps of Sinai pretty well even if ol' Eyeshine tried to keep them to himself. There were always tales, rumors, and speculation about the more far-flung regions and the far Eastern continent -- sorry, the Continent if Lamu. There's not a lot of airship travel deep in to Lamu. The same is true for Aztepa -- no one goes to Aztepa -- the far north of the main continents, the poles, and there was always a rumor of one more continent. Knowledge of northeastern Ai is sparse, too," Tasha recommends, standing a little straighter for being an expert on something for once.
"We have a standing request from the Mages Guild for a survey of the southern pole," Nora says, nodding. "Also a reported Sifran site near the northern pole where sky islands are supposedly 'grown' and launched from."
"Oh, I heard about that! It was, um, a few years ago ... There was an expedition? It was big news at the time. At first we thought it was just another sailors' tale, but it seemed to have official support -- at least Eyeshine and my mother thought so. There was some talk at the tavern about it for a while." Tasha points at the screen, though vaguely. She knows the basic region but it's still thousands of miles of rough location. "It was supposedly somewhere northwest of the Titanic. Oh, we should contact the Titanic too."
"We don't have any Titanian contact protocols," Gabriel points out. "It's also on the surface. We'd need to use the maser to maintain any kind of signal quality."
"Well, I have a feeling they'll contact us if they figure things out," Tasha notes, though she sounds less certain. "Titanians can surprise you. Um, carry on."
"They might try to take over the ship if they knew about us," Fred points out. "These aren't like the Dainty Mauler Titanians."
"It took several political marriages to stop them from stealing the train tracks and trying to steal the train as well," Liza offers.
"Ehhh, if they try that I'll deal with them," the Cadet insists, this time sounding more confident.
"We can try to take pictures of Titanic," Nora offers. "We're limited by visibility of course. The cloud cover in that region may be a byproduct of Titanian industry."
"Don't do it for me. I still have my memories. Maybe somed ay I'll go back, Liza would probably like to go with me." Tasha nods to the screen, then folds her arms behind her back. "But I'll stop interupting now. Was there anything else we needed to know? Crew assigments?"
"Crew assignments will be on an as-needed basis, depending on what we find in the Procession," Nora explains. "But mostly you'll be given monitor duty, which means sifting through images."
Tasha grins again at that, though she doesn't hide it this time. "It'll be a nice change from making them."
"You're still expected to keep up your painting as part of the mission documentation process, Tasha," Gabriel notes, with a grin of his own.
"I'll set up my easel next to a station and paint with one hand while working the computer with the other," promises the Cadet. She lifts her right hand and wiggles her fingers, showing the paint specks still dotting her nails. "I'm on my fifth now. The Flower of Life is finished and Eye of Eternity just needs a few details. Graveyard of Species will take a while."
A partial body floats a few kilometers from the nose of Bellerophon, which has matched orbits. The body is missing its arms, and its legs look to be in bad shape. One of the wings is warped and folded while the other looks battered. The metal skin is covered in scorch marks and gouges and the head looks a bit flattened.
Nora glares at Tasha. "What. Did. You. DO. To. My. Titan," the projected woman says in a clipped voice.
Tasha leans away from Nora. Trapped in the navigation seat where she had been undergoing further training on the approach she can only get so far away. Her ears flatten and she grimaces. "I didn't do that! I didn't! That happened when MOTHER tried to incinerate us! We barely made it out alive!" The empatic deniel triggers a memory; the young woman's muzzle draws the grimace further, pained. "There are spare parts on Orpheus."
Nora continues to stare at the wreck in silence. "She's just like me now," the Karnor finally says. "Go bring her in."
"Mopey and ungrateful?" The hybrid mutters under her breath as she eases herself back in to her seat, turning to review the debris pattern and approach for any problems. The actual flying is the Captain's job, so her role is mainly to plot the best course and hope sudden reactions won't be necessary.
"We'll need to take out the shuttle," Gabriel notes. "It can redock on the back of the ship, since we'll need the cargo bay. Tasha, you'll need to go in and see if there's any power left in the cells, and try to fold in the extended wing."
"Hokay. Navigation is set, your seat Commander," Tasha replies with an air of expectant resignation. She waits for Nora to come over, then hauls herself out of the navigation seat. Once up she turns to eye the wreck, frowning at what she sees -- and what lurks within. "We should bring disagnostic equipment for data storage, I don't want to have to escape those thrusters again."
"It's unlikely that MOTHER was able to implant any malicious code," Nora claims. "It may have been done by triggering the emergency launch system."
"Well I've never been cooked in my own armor before. At least it will be new." Tasha thumbs back towards the exit hatch, turning to Gabriel. "Want me to suit up, Captain?"
"Yes, then meet me in the cargo bay," Gabriel says, getting up and stretching. "I hope my suit still fits.."
"We'll have to exercise more." Tasha winks at Gabriel, hurrying off of the bridge to avoid comment, head ducked and ears back for the impropriety. It's the usual bath across the ship to pick up her spacesuit which is there where she left it, although it's been checked and rechecked after her return from the Hall.
After changing out of her uniform and in to the suit she grabs a few extra supplies -- data analyzers, a suit breach sealing kit, a metal cutting saw and a hand held Expedition-era disagnostic tool. Better safe than where-did-my-arm-go-again, she decides. She's about to leave when she has a thought to attach boosters to her halitool, but not having the time decides against it. Upgrades, she notes for later.
Soon Tasha's in the lower hanger helmet in hand. Her expression is alert if somewhat fatigued and what anxiety exists is below the surface. She's been in the field a lot now, seen in to forever. She wonders if she might be what people call a 'veteran.' "Ready, sir," she reports, saluting with her free hand.
Gabriel has his suit on as well, along with a lot of extra gear. He also has two 'broomsticks' secured to the outside of the hatch. "Time to strap in and fly out of Bellerophon's butt," he says to Tasha with a grin and a wink before climbing into the shuttle.
"Why to Terran men make so many butt jokes?" Tasha asks as she follows along, clambering inside and dropping herself in to the copilot's seat. She hasn't a clue how to operate the shuttle so her sitting there is mainly for the view and so Gabriel doesn't have to shout. Once buckled in she leans back, chewing her lip a moment before before speaking again. "This brings back memories, doesn't it Gabriel? Back when we first met, when the Elite showed me there was more to the world than Sinai. When I carried you down the mountain, when the new JEF was just a distant idea."
"I mostly remember being bedridden for most of that," Gabriel says. "We couldn't really bring back any piece of the Fenris with us, though. So the Themis-Skoll is the only piece we can get to.. that isn't currently covering the boobs of a giant bloodthirsty rabbit woman, anyway. I'm torn between the notion of restoring it and the idea of putting it out on a plinth on our eventual base. It could have a plaque that reads, 'We Survived This, We'll Survive Anything' or something."
"Nora will want to restore it," tasha puts in, hands going to her head as she rubs her face.
Now that it's just Gabriel she doesn't have to hide her fatigue and her struggle, which Gabriel knows all too well by now. The Hall of Souls was the completion of a far-fetched dream, a trail of scattered bread crumbs millions of years apart, somehow completed by her and her friends. Yet there was more than completion, more even than the task and the endless list of the unknowable and the indescribable -- there was the sense of reaching the end of the road. The end of her journey, too early. And, there was the satisfaction of her low self esteem's need for immense, dubiously achievable success. Success she has now; there were no plans for afterward. No thought as to what to do with satisfaction. Whole new questions and expecattions have arisen, parts of her she never noticed before have been revealed, and the task remains.
It's a lot to deal with.
"I don't know if I'm allowed to make my vote but I'd like to see it restored, too. We didn't leave our work in a mueseum, we made it live again. Besides, it'll do a lot for morale and give everyone something to do. It'll do a lot for Abaddon's Karnors too," Tasha adds.
"We can still have a statue though," Gabriel says. Then he talks to Fred over the comm link, which is followed by the sound of a tornado outside the shuttle as the air is pumped (and liquefied until needed again) from the cargo bay. Other systems are activated in the small craft, including the gyroscopes and magnetic locking systems.
The young woman closes her eyes for now, not being of much use at the moment and taking the time to think further but also enjoy simply being here beside Gabriel. The last time she saw the Themis-Skoll no one was sure Gabriel or any of the Elite would make it, but they did. She spent a fortune to make it happen. Hearing him here, seeing him happy, she knows that it was worth it. Even if all her other endeavors had failed, saving Gabriel was something she will always be proud of.
It puts her in the mind of the future, if some day an older version of herself will be sitting in a calm moment thinking back on the mission to stop the Ogdoad, how that was worth it. She wonders what she might be like; she wonders who she really is now.
The artificial gravity in the cargo bay fades, and the rear doors open. This can be felt, since the shuttle's landing gear is still magnetically gripping the floor. Then the gear disengage and fold in, bringing relative silence. Now it's just the shuttle itself and the spacesuits and their occupants. A brief blast of thrust from the nose sends the shuttle sliding backwards out of the bay. Once it's clear, the rails of the cargo crane also begin to extend from Bellerophon. Bits of ice glitter from within the massive rocket thrusters as the shuttle flips over onto its back to head for Themis-Skoll, barely a kilometer away.
And Tasha opens her eyes again, her keen vision scanning the bleakness of space in an effort to spot the distant Tiran. A kilometer isn't so great a distance for her keen eyes and soon she spots th glimmering wreckage, so different from the softer shapes around it. "I'm thinking of asking Fred if he'd like me to raise his clone," the young woman remarks in the anytime, anywhere conversation of couples who have found their tempo. "I think we're the most alike. I was thinking Remiel and Neesa for Mariel."
"Thinking you can get away with dragging him all over the place on adventures then?" Gabriel asks with a grin. "Good choice for Mariel though."
The wreckage approaches quickly. It's tumbling, which means more juggling with the RCS thrusters to match up with the axis of rotation. And then turning the shuttle to face the opposite direction, tail-on to the Titan. "We'll both head over," Gabriel says. "I'll run the cables and secure them while you check the systems."
"Fred likes meeting new people and he has engineering experince! He'll love the Phins, just you wait." The young woman smiles, glad to have something else to think and talk about. Planning for families and the future always makes her happier, something she suspects marks her as a Vartan cliche. "So you like Remy and Fudgy for Mariel then? I thought, well, Remiel's good with being gentle, and so is Neesa, and they're both very good at helping people with problems, They're kind, and I think they'd be loving."
"She'll get to spend time on Sinai then too, probably Caroban," Gabriel says. "I definitely want to get pictures of that place." With the helmets sealed, the air is pumped out so that the hatch can be opened. "Remember how to use a broomstick?" he asks.
"Of course, Nora rides one all the time!" Tasha barks a cackle, deeply amused at having made a joke with one of Nora's own memories. Ir's made all the more absurd as she thinks on how second hand the humor feels; she knows it's funny and that for some reason Terra had witches despite not having actual magic or anything like it, yet it also feels terribly foreign and a bit nonsensical. RThat being called a witch is an insult on either world just makes the whole joke feel that much more bizarre.
When she finaly stops laughing, she gives Gabriel the thumbs up and unbuckles, pushing off. "Hold on, don't thrist in to the side of the ship, equal-and-opposite, wings are useless in space. I remember!"
The autopilot is set to maintain a fixed distance from the Themis-Skoll, and then the pair are crossing the gap. Gabriel is slightly slower, since he's spooling out cable (even if the cable feed is powered to reduce deceleration effects). The ancient Titan looks a lot bigger than Tasha remembered, back when it was just in its cradle. It also looks like it's been through a war, which brings up unfortunate memories of all the times Tasha crashed or got blown up in combat simulations.
These Tasha relates, feeling the need for conversation in the shadow of the thing that nearly killed them all. Not only was the the Themis-Skoll her first Titan, it was also her first time coming so close to death in the line of duty. "Almost two hundred simulated battles and I never got a passing score," she tells her mate as she begins to slow, ratcheting down her approach and intending to land hoof-first along the chest. "Poor Aaron had to drag me out of the cockpit."
"I could never tell if he was your surrogate father or more of an uncle or brother," Gabriel says, finally making contact and moving across the machine towards the head. The main clamping point is between the engines, near the neck.
"I think he was just a man who saw a lost young woman who was heading for destruction and cared enough to help her find her way," Tasha replies, never having quite found Aaron's nitch either. "Maybe he was all of those things and something else." Tasha is already down, carefully and ploddingly making her way down the machine as she searches for the access hatches she was instructed to locate. As many of them may well be destroyed or inaccessible it becomes a matter of wandering from point to point and avoiding wrecking herself along the way. "I think you ended up being my surrogate father, Gabriel. I know it must have been uncomfortable for you, but I think I've just started to accept it. Maybe you have too?"
"I never thought about having a daughter," Gabriel admits, as Tasha finds a working hatch. "Did you want to raise Nora too? Or would that be a bit too much of a challenge, do you think?"
"It doesn't bother me anymore, that's what I mean. I don't feel myself struggling to prove myself, or feeling like I'm not good enough. I realized during the flight over here I didn't think of myself as being with a man who is too good for me, or a father, or whatever. I just thought about us. Us, and the future. Our future together. I knew then that it was finally over." Tasha hunches down, needing to keep both hooves firmly in contact. It's not the most comfortable position, but it could be a lot worse. The broomstick is attached to the hull as well and then the young woman begins prying the hatch cover off. "I don't know. I always thought it should be me, but what if that's a mistake? Nora and I look alike, and we are alike, but not in the same way Fred and I are. I don't know if she'd keep trying to out do me, or if I'm not smart enough, or if she even wants me to do it. At the same time I feel like I have to, but maybe having to stil doesn't mean it's for the best, Gabriel?" The Cadet pa
uses, biting her lip and coming to a decision. Her loyalty to Gabriel has only grown. She decides her deserves to know and she'd rather not have him know later and ask her why. "Gabriel, what do you think is the connection between Nora and I?"
"Between Nora and you? Early on, it was sisters vying for daddy's attention, I think," Gabriel says. "Except for a few shared memories though, you really aren't that much alike. Your real connection was more with Tisiphone."
The access hatch leads to the main 'tunnel' that opens to the cockpit. There were several branching maintenance tunnels within the giant Titan.
Tasha stops her work, turning her helmet to regard Gabriel across the surface of the machine. She needs her full focus for this, at least to say it. She suspects she'll need the work to endure it, after. "The truth is Tisiphone is Nora, too. She asked me never to tell you, but I've done what she asked of me and now I need to think of her future and our future. I didn't want you to find and ask me 'why' some day, at the worst time." And then she turns back to the hatch and removes her diagnostic handheld tool, glad the task is here. As she has learned she would be. "Tisiphone is the original Sifran ghost. Tisiphone made me, hoping I'd save you. There may have been others, I don't know, but somehow I was the one. I was made like this to pass the entry check."
"I figured that was the case, only that it was.. just a piece of Nora," Gabriel says. "Maybe her anger, honestly. Definitely her stubbornness. It makes sense for the strongest part of her to survive."
Tasha stiffens for the reply, but finding it gentle wheer she had expected worse is a much welcome relief. She exhales the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, hoping the noise didn't carry over the mic. "She's a little like Nora, but old, and different now. She's changed over all the yearsm become something else. I think she'll fade away now that her work is done. Now that she'll live again. I did everything I could, but now it's time for me to stop living in Nora's shadow. If I raie Nora because I feel obligated, but it's wrong, I won't have helped Nora at all anyway. Or us. Or me." The tool is connected, the Cadet waiting now to see if there's enough power to even get a basic status. "What do you think, should I? Shouldn't I? You know us both."
"It'll be up to Nora," Gabriel says. "Her other strong trait is being unable to let go of something, and her independence. I fully expect her to say she doesn't want any parents, that she'll grow to the oldest she can manage and come out ready to take on the world. As a pre-teen."
Gabriel hears Tasha chuckle. "That does sound like Nora. It really shows how different we are, I'd miss my mother. Honestly, if I could have had Fred, Tashly, Shojo, Liza and many of the otehrs around growing up I'd have been even happier. And we get along, I don't feel like I need to challenge you. I don't want to be the alpha. We're different that way, too." The screen of the scanner gets tapped a few times as the young woman waits for a readout. She tries adjusting the connections, too, switching to secondaries.
The scanner finds some residual current running through the conduits. This is normal, a system to keep things from freezing or vacuum-welding. "Maybe your mom should raise Nora," Gabriel suggests, coming around to be near the hatch. "She managed you after all."
"I thought of that. Maybe working on The Rake, or workign at the tavern, would help Nora calm down a little. She's always pushing so hard I'm afraid she's going to break, but then we're very different. If she didn't stand out so much I'd consider TerraGens space, or even the Mauler." Tasha glances back from watching Gabriel only to see she has a result. "I have a signal. Should I attempt a diagnostic startup and see if aux power is good?"
"Go for it, I'm going to head over to the main wing joint and check for vacuum-welding," Gabriel says.
"Alright." Tasha begins punching buttons, entering the low-level manual diagnostic system and auxillary power startup sequence. As it's low level and without so much of the Titan's higher level abstraction working it's slow going. She's grateful her suit has been loaded with the necessary information as the code slowly scrolls across her vision. "Did you know Bumper offered me a position on the Mauler? Oh," the young woman grins, though she does duck down a little just in case she severely misjudges her mate, " ... I kind of slept with Tashly. She's also kind of my sister now."
"I don't know if Vartans officially 'adopt' kids.. or if official adoption is even a thing on Sinai," Gabriel says. "Good grief though.. she's a Khatta right? You should try to send your family a message through the Xenean relay.. assuming they're still at the tavern."
After the diagnostics have run, system status begins to show up. The power cells still have a some power left, but most has been drained away keeping the hulk from freezing.
"I know, I know. I was about to fall apart when I walked in to the tavern, though, and there she was and she'd always been very flirty before and-- Well, I was lonely. Also I kind of always wanted to see what it was like with a serving maid that wasn't me. And Tashly's so cute-- You know what? Now I'm getting distracted." The Vartan shakes her head out, albiet slowly to avoid accidentally visiting her family the hard way. "Um, anyway, we have power. Aux is good, um ... Checking main power now ... I hope you're not mad ... Uh ... Oh, going to try and do a brief reading of main data storage, see if that wakes anything up before we risk main."
Memory systems (using holographic storage) show as uncorrupted, which means even Tasha's scores on her simulator runs are still there. Interface systems are another matter. The 'full depth' option is disabled, due to too much damage. Maneuvering is also disabled, since the Titan is out of fuel. Even the RCS tanks are dry. There's been some damage from thermoelectric currents between the sun-side and shadowed surfaces, but nothing critical. To get power to the wings, Tasha will need to reactivate that system from the console.
"My awful scores survive. We should make a statue of them too. "No Matter How Terrible You Are, Keep Trying."" Tasha scrunches up her muzzle as she begins flipping through faceplate screens full of codes and their usage, literally hundreds of systems codes in branching columns. "I'll have to power the wings manually. Looking for the code now. I thought about sending my family a message, but I'm worried my mother will be shocked if a Temple worker shows up to deliver it. I don't think she understands what I do or who I associate with now. I'm afraid she won't be able to deal with it, and I don't know if Tashly can either. And if they do, will coming home be the same again? Maybe I like them thinking I'm just a little richer somewhere, working in an office or something." The code is located and then the fun of manual entering begins. "I told you mom's pregnant, right? I pushed her to move shop to the the Docks -- the main docks -- or even in to the Merchant Quarter."
"Joints look clear here," Gabriel says. "I'm out of the movement arc now, so it's safe to power them up. And the Merchant's Quarter? Did you send them to Lightfoot?"
"Sending the code ... I don't think-- No, there it goes. Confirming, main power is warming, I should have manual control from here soon." Tasha takes the idle time to shift her legs, standing and stepping over, then planting her hhoves farther away so she can try holding her butt against the hull and sitting. It's only slightly more comfortable, what with needing to use her muscles to stay there. "And I did, to Lightfoot I mean. It'll be sad to lose The Fallen Friend, but mom needs to think about her baby and Tashly's future. I want them to live better than they have been and, well, mom's a little like Nora and will get mad if I lend her money or help, but I can probably manage something if the attempt falls through. I really don't want Tashly and my little brother or sister having to deal with Undersides dangers if they don't have to."
"So send her to the man who has a 'thing' for setting up barmaids with their own businesses?" Gabriel says with a chuckle. "You realize he'll tell them all the things you're worried about, right? Did you visit him last time? Does he even know about the Balthasar incident?"
The blinking light tells Tasha she has manual control. Slaving control to the diagnostic tool is made further awkward by controlling the wings with a thumb wheel and a joystick, but soon the left wing begins to retract, if not exactly with elegance.
"Hold it there," Gabriel calls out. "There's some warping and the pieces are scraping over each other. I'll go try to straighten things out."
"I've tried to stay out of his life. He seemed to want to escape the pull of my life before it got too strong and he couldn't get out, and I respect that by not dragging him in to it again." Remote control wing articulation isn't the most exciting of remote controlled devices, but Tasha's just glad it's working at all. She saw the Titan fly up through a mountain. It wasn't pretty. "Hokay, holding. It's spitting non-fatal errors at me, but they look like the sort of thing Fred would give me a lecture for. Do you think I should see him? Maybe I can send him a letter from up here, say I'm 'okay'. I can't risk a trip back home thoough, it's been way too long since I was on the Dark Horse. I amy start losing crew or even the ship."
"I'm sure your mother will fill him in.. or has, it's been awhile now," Gabriel says. A moment later he adds. "Give the wing a nudge."
The control stick gets a little finger poke. "Anything? I'm not sure how much mom even understands. I tried to tell Tashly, and I think she might understand more -- she's actually very bright -- but mostly she just wanted me to not look like I walked off a battlefield."
There some more pounding felt through the hull, and then Gabriel says, "One more nudge and I think we'll be clear."
Another poke, then another. "If the wing breaks off, Nora can't arm the linear gun can she?"
"If it breaks off, we can carry it in separately," Gabriel says. "Looks clear though. Try to complete the fold cycle now."
"Let me make sure the other one is on track ... There. Alright, they're aligned. Let me link the controls ... I need more than one joypad ... Done. Starting the automated retraction and lock sequence." As the wings begin in and Tasha is left to monitor the handheld's screen she asks, "So, isn't Tashly cute? I had a dream about her. Actually Blackwings was in that dream too, but it was one of those not-a-dream-dreams. Blackings woke up to deal. The weird thing is, I think I was in parts there too. Do you think that's how the Vril get started?"
"Not sure what you mean?" Gabriel asks. "The Vril-ya.. sound like a single original entity. Maybe that's what their universe is like. I don't know of any other lifeform that 'buds' off smaller versions that it can reabsorb later."
"I mean, maybe they were all seperate and sort of gathered together. I mean how many people can I gather before I start running in to problems? I don't even know why I keep getting more. Though, maybe for the Vril-ya it's the opposite: They all started as one and have been splitting apart. Atum said he was from a universe like ours, a universe 'of Light'. He calls the Ogdoad's universe type the Dark, said I have some of that too. Not enought to make the Waybuilders run me over, thankfully." Tasha frowns at an error, but the frown dissipates once the error vanishes. She hopes nothing broke too badly. "And I wonder about Horus. I'm going to have to talk to him sooner or later. It's going to be nearly as bad as the Hall."
"Well, I think the bits of others you have are just that: bits," Gabriel says. "Wings are locked," he reports. "It's a like a PersoCom. It's not the whole person, it's a gestalt based on key experiences. Blackwings, for instance - you knew her, fairly well. So a lot of that partial print can be filled in with your own memories. I think they're more like imaginary friends than separate entities."
"But why do I have them? I don't know anyone else who has them. At least the Shadow makes sense -- the Shadow is what I call the dark blood link. It's there too, but it's not very talkative because it's like, um, a radio." Tasha releases manual control and peers at the diagnostic list of potential systems. "Anything else I should do? And why are none of my imaginary friends like Tashly? You know, I miss her already."
"Because she doesn't have something you need in yourself, maybe," Gabriel says. "You can shut down the heating current, since it won't be exposed to vacuum in the cargo bay."
"I think I have that code alre-- Here it is. Shutting down. I'm going to take main off too ... Done. Oh, I can power some of the running lights annnnd--" Tasha looks up, waiting for the lights to flicker on. "So you think I need Blackwings? I guess maybe I do, she knew how to lead people, how to fight no matter how grim things looked, she even died bravely. Even if she's an evil old bird, she was tough and she understood the worst side of people in a way I don't. I lived in Underside, I knew a lot of shady people, but I never went as far as she did."
"Just don't decide to become a pirate," Gabriel says. "We can head back to the shuttle now. We'll tow her over, and Fred can grab her with the crane to pull her in. Then we bark between the dorsal rocket motors and come back in through the cargo airlock."
"Yes, sir." Tasha unplugs the handheld and winds up its wiring before stowing it. The cover is closed, then tasha pushes off with her broomstick and begins to glide towards the shuttle. "Bumper did offer me a posution on the Mauler, she also said they'll 'have use for me' if I make it back. That's ominous, but then the Titanians are still doing Vulcan's work. Now that I'm working for Atum maybe I have some sort of authority over the whole mission. Wouldn't that be something?" After a few bursts of broom rocket, the Cadet slows enough to make contact with the shuttle roof and begins walks around the ship to the hatch. "And I may have to deal with being illegal, the Horse is illegal by existing."
"I'm sure they'll want you to take on stuff that Horus was supposed to be dealing with anyway," Gabriel says, following the tow cable. "Or things they can't do because it requires cooperation with a planetary society."
"Nothing too hard, right? How did I get in to this-- Oh I asked for it. See, I'm not as smart as Nora either." Gabriel can hear Tasha's grin. "I bet Bumper will be excited, either way. I might be the first contact with the Vril-ya they've had in ages. Literally ages." The young woman reaches the hatch and hunkers down, keying in the entry. The broom is inserted lengthwise inside the cockpit and used like a handlebar for her to pull herself inside. From there she walks back to the opening and attached the broom to its holder. "Are you coming with us in to the Galactic, then? My ship needs a captain, you know! Katie is nice, but I don't think she's qualified yet. neither am I. Or Kaa. Maybe Moka."
"Given that the alternative is sitting around while infrastructure issues are hammered out.. I'll be coming," Gabriel says, as he enters the hatch and stows his own broomstick. "If you get that Confederate ship, someone has to fly it back here."
"You can fly a Confederate ship? Is that a TerraGen super soldier special Elite training thing I shouldn't know about? Were you a pirate, Gabriel?" Tasha drops in to her seat after pushing off the roof, then pulls herself down in to it by the arm rest until her momentum is quelled. The seatbelts are strapped and she lifts her eyes towards the window. "I'm going to assign Katie to information gathering and diplomacy. Yue can teach Katie and keep Hake-bear sane. Together they can help us gather information. Shojo will be with the core ground team."
"I'll learn how to fly it," Gabriel says, grinning behind his faceplace. He activates the auto-tensioner on the winch, then begins to strap in.
"I envy you Elites and your ability to learn anything so quickly. Nora didn't give me that! I'm just a Vartan with a weird head." The young woman gets as comfortable as she might, then reaches over and puts her hand on Gabriel's shoulder. It's the closet she can manage to holding hands in a space suit, zero G and with her mate occupied. "I hope Katie is wiling to go. And ready to go. Maybe I can even talk Bumper in to lending me a few Titanians for crew."
"The Titanians don't know about the Jotoki," Gabriel points out, and starts a slow return to the Bellerophon. "Unless they do, but they don't know that we know about them. I think they'd be awfully bored on the Horse though. You shouldn't advertise your link with them if you're going to be taking commissions from governments like a privateer."
"I guess it would be a good idea to keep them in, uh, what's the phrase you use? 'Back pocket?' Back pocket. We can call on them when we need them or they need us. Of course ... " Here Tasha pats Gabriel's should with a clank-clank. "You do sort of look like a Titanian. We all do. Katie has the best chance of looking like a new Karnor, I've never seen her markings on another Karnor before and they remind me of the new ones, but you, me, Remiel, Eli ... We should really consider disguises. I have the Niss, if I don't pass out in my beer again, but the rest ... We need to work on it."
"Well, Remiel and Eli will be staying behind for this," Gabriel notes. "Fred needs them, and so does Mariel. Technical expertise shouldn't be hard to find though."
"Alright. No Titanians though! I'm sure we'll find somebody." Tasha closes her eyes; not much left to see anyway now that they're on the way back. "We might need to consider getting the Horse a shell or mounting it as a drive unit too. We need more room for all these new people wand who-knows-how-many in the future. Then there's the Doctor if he comes with us, and Horus's unfinished business. Maybe Horus will have ideas -- if he talks to me.I'm not looking forward to being rejected by my own creator." Her head shakes. "Well, I'm going to think on things a while and let you focus, Gabe. And Gabe? I love you. Thank you for sticking with me."