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Post by The Thruvarans on Aug 24, 2009 15:15:43 GMT -5
Konrad listens as his interest stray to the screen, nodding thoughtfully along with jet's exposition and comprehending the unstated truths behind it.
His silence is cut short as he lets out a whoop and a clap, echoed by some of the other Thruvarans in the hangar, in response to Jorunn's sudden engagement.
"Finally, she stops playing the cat to his mouse."
[...]
Till follows Rothk to the impromptu buffet after taking his previous load to its intended destination. Taking a moment or two to observe proper hygiene and clean some of the grime from his hands, he quickly busies himself with making economical choices, and picking one of everything.
Eventually, he manages to gorge himself, while at the same time watching the match.
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Post by Rothk Freeborn on Aug 24, 2009 15:54:54 GMT -5
After a few indecisive moments Rothk followed suit by picking one of everything that was left and found a seat near Till. He stuffed his face with all these new and different foods, remembering which ones were especially delicious for future reference. His eyes moved between his plate and the holo screen. Now that the fighting had seemed to finally have gotten underway this seemed to be quite entertaining for the time being.
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Post by Jet Almeara on Aug 25, 2009 13:10:25 GMT -5
Jet glanced back at Xander as he whispered his question, swiftly calculating just what she wished to tell him and doing her best to ignore his resemblance to Damon
"I'm going away for a while.." She started after a slight pause, "Along with Taaru and Erika..Amber,Sagara and Devlin will be taking care of things here for me..." She let the words trail off and eyed him for a few moments - Xander was always pretty quick to pick up on her wishes - and she hoped this would be yet another of those times. Would he keep an eye out on Amber for her? She doubted he'd want to be locked up on a warship with a bunch of strangers...but then again his loyalty and abilities would be well recieved even there. if he showed an intrest she wouldn't stand in the way of letting him join the mission.
Taking her eyes off Xander as Konrad whooped and clapped along with his fellows Jet eyed the screen - ah, it seemed they were grappling now, Jet however merely smiled at Konrad's proclaimation - seemingly unconcerned about the current swing of battle.
"Mice do bite back once in a while"
Was her only remark, and mentally reminded herself to have a word with Aaron once this exercise was complete - not on his performance persay - which was quite good for working with unfamiliar equipment, but on a differant matter.
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Post by Xander Cross on Aug 25, 2009 21:30:41 GMT -5
Xander perked up at the mention of Amber nodding to Jet
"I can Keep a eye out on stuff here."
Happy that he wasn't asked to go along with her not that he minded being with Jet . he had been gone a while and was "happy to be home" choosing his words carefully he asked
"How is Amber?.."
Taking a double shot as he asked.
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Post by Aaron Starkiller on Aug 25, 2009 21:48:13 GMT -5
"Stang," Aaron exclaims behind gritted teeth as his attack is foiled and his weapon arm temporarily incapacitated. Aaron growled to himself as he saw Joruun's incoming attack, but instead of blocking it with his shield, which would most likely end the bout in a stalemate, he twists his suit's body counter-clockwise ever so slightly, causing a muffled creak as his right shoulder began to over-extend, and increases the output of the left leg's repulsor. This resulted in Aaron's knee blocking Joruun's attack at her forearm.
At the same time Aaron increased the output of the servos in his shield arm with a few flicks of his eyes and sent his shield arm stabbing towards Joruun's chest in hopes of landing the final blow.
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Post by Avery Heartshorn on Aug 25, 2009 23:09:07 GMT -5
"Yeah I understand how that goes."
Avery shifted in her chair, watching the various figures around her shift around as well. Normally, she did well with crowds, but that was at bars- and this was obviously nothing of the sort. The various conversations were muted and yet loud enough to jumble together. She ran her fingers through her hair, pushing her bangs away from her face as she tried to focus on Miko.
Truth be told, that wasn't a hard task.
"Well, you'll always have a job with me if antiques are what you're looking for. I'd be glad to have someone to take off some of my work load."
It was a genuine offer, and she smiled lightly.
"I wouldn't mind keeping in contact with everyone after this mission is over, if we're still..."
She trailed off a little and her eyes drifted away for a moment. She didn't have the heart to finish with "alive" or "here", and she knew finishing with "still friends" was going to seem like a terrible cover.
But she said it anyway.
"If we're still friends, I guess. I mean, you never know. We could all drive each other crazy and hope we never see these people after it's all over."
She smiled again to try to keep the conversation light. But she really wanted to ask if he was scared, if he was nervous... if he could see her heart beating out of her own chest.
Swallowing hard, she pushed everything aside.
"If you're not busy later I would like to meet up and maybe compare notes. It'd be nice to bounce ideas off of someone who's not..."
She glanced out the doorway the fight had left and tried to find a nice to way to put 'someone who's not a million years older than me, could kill me with a stick, and maybe kind of crazy.'
"Who's not... Taaru."
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Post by The Thruvarans on Aug 27, 2009 20:44:11 GMT -5
Avery's offer is somewhat surprising. It seems to Miko that it has been some time since something so....."mundane" was set before him. Not mundane in the sense that it was boring, but mundane in that it was common, vulgar....normal. Compared to his current choice of occupation, an antique dealership was a ridiculous idea, to be enjoyed by others but never by him.
To think, that to some people, normalcy was a luxury.
Consequently, he didn't respond right away, effecting perplexity.
"If we're still friends..." Miko was going to interject, teasingly. After all, he'd only met Avery face to face about 45 minutes ago, and had only leafed through her file last night. Friendship, to any right-minded person, meant a little more than mere acquaintance.
But Miko said nothing, again, because he sensed something important. Something unsaid, but very present. Maybe it was the way she said it, or maybe it was some minute tick of the face Miko had picked up on, but he suddenly formed the distinct opinion that Avery was very lonely.
And he realized what he'd gotten himself into. He only hoped he wasn't letting this show in his demeanor, and covered by hastily taking a gulp from the cup of ice water he was holding, crunching bits of ice between his teeth as she continued:
"...meet up and maybe compare notes..." was all he heard between chewing a mouthful of ice.
Great, Miko. What have you gotten yourself into? This is precisely why they say its bad luck to bring women aboard ship.
Another luxury I can't afford, he thinks to himself. But what she says next changes the flow of conversation:
"Who's not...Taaru."
Miko insists on raising an eyebrow, and sallies forth tentatively from his hastily established redoubt.
"You and Taaru.....aren't getting along?"
Mentally, he breathes a sigh of relief. She's given him something else to focus the conversation on.
[...]
"Ha, now that's a pickle. See how she's got him in that lock? When a fight gets to that point, chances are the outcome will be decided in mere seconds," Till points out to Rothk, inbetween bites of finger food.
"His only option is t-" he is interrupted by the sound of himself choking on something as he watches Aaron's defense. Coughing, Till somewhat regains his composure. "How'd he do that?! He's only been in that suit for less than an hou-.....Uh oh...," this last evaluation, as Till realizes what Aaron is about to attempt.
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Post by Taaru Masako on Aug 27, 2009 20:54:26 GMT -5
"Wha-?!"
Jorunn acts instinctively, taken by surprise at Aaron's unconventional blocking maneuver. Instead of remember her training and angling her jump jets to beat a hasty retreat, she applies rotational force to Aaron's trapped axe arm, intending only to throw him off her.
As fortune has it, this is, implausibly, partially successful. While Aaron's improvisation with his shield doesn't impact on her chest plate, she nevertheless earns the sound of rending metal and Aaron's shield embedded in her suit's right pauldron.
For a millisecond, they two are frozen in time. Only the attendant onboard warning systems snap Jorunn out of it. In as many milliseconds, she overrides the alarm, realizes he has not dealt a critical and match-ending blow, and acts accordingly.
This is accomplished by leaning back, angling her jumpjets forward, kicking off Aaron's knee with her left foot and sending herself rocketing back into a tree trunk with an audible thud, followed by leaves and small branches showering down from the canopy.
It is not a graceful maneuver, to say the least. But she achieves distance once more. Unfortunately, as her suit informs her, the process of tearing Aaron's shield out of her suit's shoulder has damaged her right arm's shoulder servos.
Her only response is to collapse her riot shield and pry her vibroaxe out of her right hand.
Via speaker system: "You'll pay for that, dog!"
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Post by Aaron Starkiller on Aug 27, 2009 21:19:29 GMT -5
Aaron's suit did the equivalent of a stumble backwards when Joruun disengaged. He could be heard chuckling through his suit's speakers before he spoke. "Tell me something sweetheart. What hand do I write with now?
Turning his attention to his readouts, Aaron gave his right arm a few easy rotations. A dull clunk could be heard inside the shoulder. He sighed to himself. Repairs would be needed but the arm would perform as needed for now. He then shifted his attention to his mangled riot shield. It was warped so badly that he wouldn't be able to collapse it back into position.
Sighing, yet again, Aaron turned back to Joruun. "So we never made a deal on what I'd be getting out of this if I win," he pointed out. "Any suggestions? Of course you could choose to just," he cleared his throat. "Ni dinu ner gaan naakyc, jorcu ni nu copaani kyr'amur ner vod."
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Post by Taaru Masako on Aug 28, 2009 0:05:38 GMT -5
Aaron cannot see through her suit, but if he is attuned to her in the Force, he would know only a fury of which hell hath none.
Her response is measured, and unlike Aaron, her pronunciation flawless: "Droun'yn, sa ru ka'ra hetti. Ni lise kar'taylir, a ni nulise trattok'o."
A fight is a fight, whether it be among vode or not. Mandalorians always fell upon each others throats in the end. After conquering all and achieving their wildest dreams, they always lost everything. Thus warriors, thus their nature. And Thruvarans were not too different.
Jorunn makes this very clear by letting her vibroaxe fly, aimed at Aaron's golden visor, with a swing of her left arm almost impossible to see.
She is rewarded by the sound of the axe hitting home with a horrible screech of its nanovibrations....
...but not on her intended target.
Water and steam settles, revealing Taaru standing in front of Aaron, Jorunn's vibroaxe embedded in his gauntlet shield. In the last moment, Masako intervened to catch what could have been a mortal blow.
Via loudspeaker: "Genug, Jorunn!"
Jorunn's suit remains motionless for a moment, her throwing hand still in the position when she'd let the weapon fly, the other hanging limp. Then she snaps into motion, throwing an arm across her body and out again, a dismissive motion and a scream of outrage.
<<How dare you interrupt?! Who are you, old man, to deny me the blood of a dishonorable dog?! You->>
<<SILENCE!>> Taaru booms at the speaker's maximum volume. In the second it takes him to pronounce those two syllables, he has grown two extra feet and closed the distance between him and Jorunn, laying a forceable hand on a chest plate embrasure.
<<You have said and done enough, child,>> he emphasizes every word, with care on the very last. <<And if you value what little honor you have left, you will stand down.>>
Jorunn reflexively grabs Taaru's arm with her good one, intent on wrenching herself free. But she stops, suddenly, inexplicably and her grip slacks off.
She says nothing...neither can her emotions be read, with her visor still down. She takes a few steps back, the back of her suit bumping the tree trunk behind her. She leans against it for a second, before promptly turning and plodding back towards the mansion.
Taaru simply watches her leave. As the last of her disappears into the thick undergrowth of Agrilat, he turns to Aaron, wrenching Jorunn's embedded axe free and examining it.
Its blade is spattered with fresh blood, which is also running in rivulets down Taaru's riot shield.
He tosses Jorunn's axe to Aaron. "There is your trophy," he says dismissively, and turns to head back to the mansion as well.
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Post by Aaron Starkiller on Aug 28, 2009 0:32:20 GMT -5
Aaron floats back a few feet when Taaru jumps in front of him and watches the altercation, not sure of what to do at the moment. He wasn't able to understand on a linguistics level, but he was able to feel the shift in the atmosphere. Truth be told he had known his speaking in mando'a would irk the young woman, but he was hoping for a calmer reaction.
Aaron caught the axe with his shield hand as Joruun headed off and followed alongside Taaru. He lifted his visor so the somber face of a much older looking man could be seen, hinting at the wisdom that beset his usual antics. "This test wasn't just for me was it," he asks simply.
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Post by Avery Heartshorn on Aug 28, 2009 1:04:34 GMT -5
"Oh no, it's not that..."
She waved her hand back and forth quickly as if swiping the idea from the air.
"It's just that... the only person I've really gotten to discuss this with is him, and everything happened so fast. It was like, he just appeared and wanted to be a friend and then asked about my father and his work and the whiskey and milk and then there was a blaster in my hand-"
She could feel her voice picking up in pitch and pace and her hands were flying around frantically, until finally it all felt scrambled and the story was just fragments. When she looked up to Miko's face again, she sighed and let her hands fall in her lap.
Her pause hung in the air for a moment, thick and heavy.
"It just all happened so fast."
Her voice was quieter now with embarrassment. She knew she probably sounded crazy.
"It just feels like maybe... maybe I was sucked into this. And... it would just be nice to have someone who doesn't know me and isn't as tied to this situation I'm in to evaluate, and look at my work and just tell me...."
She paused, looking for words. It was clear to her now that Miko had a trustworthy face, and she was absolutely falling for that.
"...that this isn't some fever dream."
She pinched the bridge of her nose as if a headache were coming on.
"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you this. Maybe I am still sick and my fever is talking... I should go back to my room and lay down for awhile til this whole thing passes."
It was like she was was sick, and she was word-vomiting all over poor Miko's shoes. It felt like she couldn't stop. Maybe it was the lack of friends, maybe it was being sick and holed up in her room for so long- but she knew she would have to cut herself off now before she said something stupid... or at least more stupid.
She stood up from her chair, offering a hand to Miko.
"It was nice to meet you, but I'm going back to my room before I make you think I'm completely out of my mind, or...bad luck on the ship or something. That's a thing with you guys right? No women on board?"
She laughed, albeit awkwardly.
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Post by Taaru Masako on Aug 28, 2009 8:08:15 GMT -5
His visor remains down.
"This test wasn't meant for you at all, Aaron. I designed these suits. I made sure they had a small learning curve, and I know you would master the basics, if not more, in a short while."
"No, this was not to test you, this was to test her: And she has failed."
If anything, Taaru betrays his disappointment. Static sounds from his suit's outboard speakers, then stops. It is a sound akin to a sigh.
As if remember something, Taaru attempts to collapse the riot shield. An error message greets him, so instead he activates the suit's medical suite, interfaced with the plug suit layer. Biofoam fills the wound, and his shield stops bleeding.
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Post by Rothk Freeborn on Aug 28, 2009 10:37:58 GMT -5
Rothk glanced up from his rapidly disappearing plate of food to look at the holoscreen at Till's comment. Yes the fight had indeed taken an interesting turn. His eyes focused on the poses of each fighter, how they held their weapons and shields. He turned back to Till at the sound of him choking. His eyes widened slightly until he saw Till's composure come back.
Then he turned his attention back to the screen just in time to see the fight coming to a sudden and unexpected end. This was not how he had thought it would end. Although he wasn't quite sure who would have been the victor in the end, he hadn't thought it would end so suddenly. He felt sorry for Jorunn in a way but at the same time was happy for Aaron winning this duel.
"Well I didn't see that coming."
He commented as he slowly returned to his food, his eyes still glued to the screen to watch the aftermath of the fight.
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Post by Jet Almeara on Aug 28, 2009 10:59:41 GMT -5
"Amber is good - we've learned how to get along with one another"
Jet responded with a half-hearted smile in Xander's direction, Amber was her daughter and Jet loved her - but despite Jet's hopes amber would never be what Jet was ultimately looking for. Both of them were still learning to deal with this and Jet doubted she would ever be held up as mother of the year. Oh well, such was the price paid for lives lived she figured.
Watching the fight continue Jet seems completely unconcerned as Aaron and Jorunn continue, neither does she seem concerned when Aaron at last manages to infuriate the girl and cause a retaliation which blurs on the camera with it's speed causing Taaru to step in and block what might have been a mortal blow - though Jet was rather hoping Aaron would have reacted quick enough to escape it on his own. She would be lying to herself if part of her didn't wish Taaru had allowed Aaron such a chance. Grifter had rescued her more times then she could count - but never had he stepped into a one on one fight to protect her. Death..was failure - but he is not your student and this was not your training - she could almost hear his voice chastising her. Not true she argued with the inner voice, I have some responsability for Aaron...the response was an inner silence which Jet deciphered as what she could only imagine would be a highly irritated look on his face. Relenting to this train of thought and somewhat amused by the entire inner argument which she had daydreamed she merely shook her head ruefully at the screen.
Any further thoughts however were interrupted by Avery as she went into a long winded ramble towards Miko, Jet hadn't been paying attention to this conversation because quite frankly the restoration of antiques was not one she found interesting - but clearly something had happened to make her uncomfortable. Well thats nice...Jorunn and Aaron were now most likely at odds, Miko and Avery were having some sort of awkwardness..and they were all about to be locked up together in a warship - with lots of weapons and nothing to do for great periods. Fun times.
As the fight had ended Ice automatically retracted the giant screen, re tasking the various camera's to their typical duties and sending Jet a message to confirm these changes.
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