It had been a while since Oron had been on a mission.
He could recall the last time, when the war was going on. And when it ended, he left as soon as possible. And again, while he did not stay up to date with galactic politics, he was well aware of the tensions of different species all over the galaxy. They had to be sending a team to an old battlefield for a reason.
Currently, Oron sat on his bed in his quarters in the ship. They had yet to arrive, but they would soon, so he decided it was best he get a move on. He didn’t know much about the 3 others that were there besides that there were a few aliens and a human on board, which he didn’t think too much of. His robot, Bult, sat on the side table currently in a rest mode, and he left Bult alone for now. Instead, he decided to head into the main room of the ship, the ‘lounge.’ The cockpit could be found from there, so in a way the central lounge acted as a pathway to everything else. Though the cockpit was mostly ran by an AI.
Seeing that no one was there yet, Oron decided to lean against one of the walls, waiting to see if anyone came out.
"Solumn Jackna…" Bec said, walking aboard the ship cautiously. Come on, Bec. You can do this. You've gotta be confident enough to make it seem like you've been on a mission before, but not too confident so that they suspect you're Elmian royalty. Easy.
"Elma, is anyone here yet?" she asked her glasses.
"Yes."
"Okay, cool. Cool cool cool. Verrry cool."
"Bec, you seem stressed."
"Not at all!"
She wanders around the ship for a while in awe, trailing her hand over the walls. It was her first time she'd ever been in a spaceship before, and she loved it. Instantly, she knew that she had made the right choice in running away from her future. This is where she wanted to be.
Natki took in a deep breath as she climbed the ship‘s gangway, savoring the scents of engine oil and metal. She pulled down her hood and drank in her surroundings with her eyes. Immediately, her brain began scrambling for possible improvements or adaptations she could make to the ship, a way to keep herself busy before she met the other members of her expedition. She plucked a screwdriver from one of her pockets and began fiddling with it mindlessly.
Iris had only just come in board. It had been a while since she went to a new planet because of a mission, normally it was because she had nothing better to do. She had learned that there would be 3 others accompanying her on this trip so one could say that she was extremely jittery
Bec eventually wandered into the central lounge and spots Oron. She flinched as she spotted him, totally unprepared for his presence as she was. She smiled awkwardly. "Hi."
Oron glanced over at the new presence in the room. He blinked a few times; though it was hard to see due to the type of clothing he wore. He then responded. “Hello.” He stepped away from the wall.
He was still a bit tired, having woken up recently, so his responses were a bit slow. It was hard to tell time when you’re in space, for most species anyways.
Bec's eyes turn green, a sign of relief. Okay good, I thought he was a robot for a second and I was about to be really embarrassed. She touches her left ear with her right hand, which is a traditional Elmian greeting and a sign of respect.
Oron took a few more moments before he did anything else.
I really need to get back into routine. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything like this..
He nods at the greeting, lifting his left hand up a bit. “I’m guessing you’re..Bec, the Elmian?”
He also adds on, “Have you seen the other two members on this ship yet?”
Iris manoeuvred her way to the lounge and saw two others. She did a two finger salute before introducing herself. "I'm Iris. Who might you be?" She asked in a smooth but growling voice.
Natki heard the hum of voices and tucked the screwdriver back into its pocket. Hopping to her feet, she carefully made her way to the rest of the group. The variety in her crewmates was rather shocking to her, as she had only ever met a few aliens over the course of her short life. “Hugo. Natki Hugo,” she replied softly. “It’s a pleasure.”
Oron turned to see the new arrivals. “Oron Matzen.” He answered, looking at each of them. It looked like everyone was here now, and that this was the team for the mission. “I’m Oron Matzen.”
"Who is captain of the ship?" Iris asked, praying that it wasnt her, she was a good leader but didnt like being in leadership positions
Bec agrees with Oron, cringing internally at his butchering of the greeting. (It's slightly insulting if you don't fully complete the gesture, it sort of means you couldn't be bothered greeting them fully.) She then repeats the hand movement to her other crew members. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Bec."
Oron shrugged. “No clue,” he said, splaying his arms out to his sides. “But maybe I’m the most qualified for this job, considering my..previous experience.” He pointed to himself. Hardly though, Oron was not a very good leader. He lacked the ability to keep a team from falling apart from disagreement or conflict, even if it was small. Often, he ended up worsening the problem. Besides, Oron didn’t really look the leader type. He looked like more of the ‘charge headfirst into a problem and deal with any additional consequences later’ type of guy. Which, he was. Sort of.
"Good enough for me." Iris said and gestured to the entrance. "Anyone know how to get to the cockpit? I'd love to take a look at the star maps and the navigation and flight systems."
"Not really, sorry," she tells Iris, before turning to Oron. "I'm sure you'll make a fine captain, and we'll pick up the slack wherever we can," she says softly.
“I’m gonna go find the cockpit too. I have some ideas…” Natki rubbed the tips of her fingers together and smiled innocently. “Oh! Oron, it’s very nice to meet you, and I bet you’ll be pretty good at the whole captaining thing. You’re intimidating enough for it certainly.” She tied off her hair with experienced hands and tromped off in the completely opposite direction of the cockpit.
“Oh,” Oron nodded. “Yeah, I uh..have some experience in that position..so that’s why I said I’d do it.” He looked over.
“Cockpit is connected to this room here. You’ll find pretty much everything from this room and whatnot.”
Oron did not expect for everyone else to agree with him on being captain, so he was definitely a bit surprised. It showed in his voice, which he paused a fair bit, as if second guessing something while speaking. Something he did when he felt overwhelmed like that. But right now things seemed fine, and they would go fine. Not like last time.
“Didn’t know I was that intimidating,” he mumbled under his breath.
“Thanks! Sorry, I have a terrible sense of direction. Guess that’s why I’m the mechanic,” she replied playfully, pivoting back around. Hearing his whispered comment, Natki looked up at Orin’s bulky frame and let out a low whistle. “Not intimidating? Have you seen yourself, friend?” She smiled to show she meant no offense. Actually, his stature made Natki feel more secure about the difficult mission ahead.
"I mean, we can't really see your expression, which makes you a little intimidating," she mumbles back. Then, she walks out of the room and continues to explore the ship. Mostly, she was looking for new quarters."
“I mean, it’s not as intimidating for me because I wear this all the time, and..” he paused, as if thinking. “..and it was pretty common place for me to see people dressed like this some time ago. I’m sure a lot of people would be more intimidated if they could see my expression, though…” While most hybrids were generally good in terms of looks, when it was a human with another species, it was generally a fifty fifty chance of looking pretty nice, or pretty horrifying. Or just a mixture. Then again, beauty in the eye of the beholder.
“Ah, you’re the mechanic? That’ll be good,” he nodded. Something small flew into the room, landing on his shoulder. It was his robot, Bult. He glanced at the small black and yellow robot.
“Decided to wake up?” The robot did not speak, only replying with a high pitched chirp. “The trip to the planet won’t be long I’m sure, this ship moves quite fast and the distance isn’t long.”
Bec calmly walked along the ship until she eventually found what looked to be a bedroom? She wasn't entirely sure because there seemed to be a distinct lack of plants and wooden features in this bedroom, but there was a bed, so she guessed that this was it. Bec walks into the room and closed the door behind her.
She slid down the door, sighing. "Elma, do you think I did well?"
"My readings suggested they had no idea that you were related to the royal family. I detected some twinge of remembrance from Oron at your moles and what they stand for, but I don't think any of them will fully realise what they mean as soon as you start fighting."
"I'm only in training, Elma. I'm not that good yet."
"Compared to most, you are."
"Well thank you. So… what do we do now?"
"I don't know."
*until you start fighting
Natki’s eyes widened as she saw the small bot come to perch on Oron’s shoulder. “Hey there, what’s your name?” she cooed. Looking back up, she blushed, realizing that everyone had heard her baby-talk a robot. “I’m definitely a serious mechanic, I promise,” Natki said with an embarrassed giggle. “And I hope the flight isn’t too long! The last time I was on a ship for longer than a day, I threw up.” She paused. “Why did I say that?”
"Heh," Oron seemed to slightly laugh, but it was hard to tell. "You wouldn't do well then if you were in my place about twenty years ago. I was on and off ships plenty; sometimes for weeks.." He drifted off, then went back to the topic of Bult.
"His name is Bult. I built him shortly after I went off duty."
