STARTERS
Brynhild was one of the first few to arrive; crisp in her freshly ironed uniform that would be suited fine until she'd receive her new attire, her white blonde hair in soft curls to her shoulders as she was not on duty and was free to wear her hair as is until the given moment, and a cup of the typical Earthen morning beverage. On her home planet, they had a similar drink for early risers, one that was more earthly and stout, and came from a shot glass; a quick gulp of a single serving and your body immediately awakens with renewed energy -- then you must drink fresh water to rinse your mouth of the sour and awful taste. But since she's enlisted to the military and joined the international fleets that included various Earthen customs as default, she has grown used to the coffee they brewed. She had learned to love and enjoy it, actually, stirring a soft cream of vanilla into it, enjoying it's warmth. She had always added just enough to make it turn to an almost gold color. Being a Vasakyn, it was pleasing to sip a liquid that was almost the color of her borne metal.
And being a Vasakyn meant that, even though by a quick glance, Bryn appeared to be an average woman, but she was most definitely not. While her appearance gave off the young woman in just her prime, she was actually very aged in her alien years. And also, she had to keep her Vasakyn traits not out in the open; they weren't so much as hidden, because she was proud of who she is, but it would usually hold gossip if her metallic silver wings were shown. Instead, they were neatly folded against her back, outside of her clothing, and belted loosely to keep them in place. And as for her striking gold eyes, they were always looked at, even when she was back home. Her sister was born with gray eyes, and though the heir to the thrown was drenched in gold, she was slightly envious of how everyone commented on Bryn's golden eyes. But she never lowers her gaze to hide her eyes, instead holding them steady with her birthright authority as well as high rank in the international military.
Bryn was drawn from her thoughts, from gazing into the warm liquid of her mug, from the growing crowd within the hangar. She cast a slight look to her left to check on the other Deputy Commander to see how he was doing; he had been making faces at the coffee and lights and such, and she suspected he wasn't too ready for the day ahead. Must've consumed way too many spirits to justify a party, but rather sleep inducing, probably. He seemed
fine now, but she would see once this meeting started. And as if on cue, it did.
She turned slightly from where she stood -- off to the side edge of the crowd, towards the front but not in direct center -- and listened as General Howe gave his welcoming speech. She had met this human once or twice before, in person, but by the looks of most of group this was their first time meeting him.
Seth only had his sight on the two glorious ships in the room. They were large, silver, and both totally different in look but served the same purpose. And he honestly couldn't wait to pilot one of them. All he's ever loved was flying, whether it be a warship or a carrier or a stealth jet, etcetera. Ever since he was small, he loved the idea and practice of flying ships. So when he was given this great task to be the main pilot -- one of the youngest, for that matter -- of one of these two great sister ships, he immediately said yes. He didn't stop to consider the casualties or dangers of this secretive mission, all he wanted to do was have the honor of being the pilot for his team, whoever they are.
When his sister smacked his arm for his attention, he dragged his blue gaze away to look at her, then over to where she gestured. Then he rolled his eyes with a spot of rosy blush on his freckled cheeks when he turned his attention back to the ships. Out of the three Quill siblings (his and Maxie's older brother was back at home), Seth was the most awkward with flirtation or attraction. And Maxie (actually, the whole family) knew this, and she usually teased and poked fun about this. So instead of giving the silver-haired girl thirty seconds of attention, whom Maxie had gestured into the thick crowd, Seth acted like a blushy fool and pointedly looked at the ships to avoid an awkward interaction. But in the few seconds when he had looked, he noticed the girl had her crystal blue eyes looking at him also, but he didn't take any thought to this.
"Hey, Maxie, can you believe I'm going to be flying one of those?" He whispered excitedly to his sister, but he didn't get to hear any response in return when suddenly the older man up front started speaking. Seth silenced almost immediately, but he was buzzing with excitement. He didn't know how long they would be out there, and it could take
years just to even get to wherever they were going. A shiver ran through him when General Howe spoke about the first storms in space, how the kinetics came to be. He himself, unfortunately, was not a kinetic. He didn't have amazing powers or anything, but that didn't buffer is attitude. The mere idea of Kinetics were awesome to him, honestly. He watched them use their abilities with awe and amazement, and wondered, Why did some and most treat them with disrespect and shame? It wasn't their fault they were born that way.
Honestly, if Seth had a super power, it would be flight. He practically
did fly already, and not just so much as piloting. On his own free time, he would hook up special little rocket thrusters he had for his shoes, click on his mask that shifted and formed over his face for protection and oxygen, and he would go fly around. On Earth, he'd fly high high up to the clouds and above, and with special suit and gear he'd break the atmosphere and sit in the anti-gravitational pull of space and looked over his beautiful planet. The rare few times he piloted outside the planet, he would occasionally let his main pilot take the wheel so to speak so he could drift around outside on his free hours. Seth was in love with the endless vacuum of space. Most feared it in a psychological way, with the never ending What-If thoughts. But no, not Seth. He honestly wouldn't mind getting lost in the stars; he'd land on a planet eventually and he'll figure things out then.
"Per aspera ad astra," he heard the general say.
"Through hardship to the stars." It was these words that suddenly clicked things together in Seth's mind, and he subconsciously stopped bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet. He glanced slowly down at his older sister, who was just a year and a half older than him. Then he glanced at the crowd, only then registering everyone's mixed emotions. Fear. Excitement. Awe. But mostly fear. Because, this was a classified, and secret, but glorified mission. They, as the general had said, were chosen by their skills. Not just because he happened to be a pilot, or someone else was a good soldier or a medic or leader. But by their skills -- they were the best of the best, and for two large teams, who would travel past the barrier of the Known to end...whatever this was.
Was it war? Was it an investigation? Was it their deaths?
Suddenly, Seth felt his heart stop for just a second. As much as he was excited to fly his team's ship...he wondered if they were ever going to come back. And that honestly scared him.
Tera la-Norvah was absolutely terrified for this mission. The fact that she was chosen solely for her engineering and digital activity, handed a thin folder with a single sheet of paper on it, it was scary. Tera was not a military soldier, per se. She was more like a tag-along for missions and such back on her home planet to help with the ship repairs and technical feats. She was not a soldier, but she knew how to hold and shoot a gun, taught by a brother of hers who recently died in combat. A direct shot to his helmet, breaking off his life support from his environment suit, and he died by suffocation. Her people couldn't stand with outer lifestyles and environment.
So what scared Tera was how that
anything can happen in combat and space travel into the deep void.
She stood in the back of the group, the last to arrive, fidgeting with the skin-tight gloves of her suit, her breathing loud in her ears. She had almost not shown up, waiting and stalling in the room she was given for the day until she would arrive here. She almost didn't come, but, she came anyway. For what reason, she wasn't entirely sure. And now, standing in the back of the crowd with a sour taste in her mouth and a broiling sick feeling in her thin gut, she almost wished she could turn around and find a way back home.
Home. Her home planet, Thessi. Made up of mostly water with very little land. She missed it's rich waters and life, the blue and green planet that looks similar to Earth but nowhere near its size and complexity. She understood the hidden danger of this message; would she ever see her home again? Hug her family? Start one of her own? She wouldn't ever know; they would be gone for this mission for whoever knew how long. It could take weeks, months, or even years for them to complete it. And who would declare this such mission
completed? It could seem to end, then only to start up various branches of paths. It could never end. And they didn't even know what really was out there; they were to go outside the known space and find the answers, and then what? Tera shook her helmeted head, her silk hood drape swaying around her neck before she reached up to tighten it, button it back to her shoulders.
Anxiety writhed and ate at her on the inside as the general up front spoke his words, making it sound congratulatory, welcoming, and it only just made Tera feel even more lightheaded and sick. Not so much that she would vomit, because that in itself is disgusting even for her current situation (she would practically have to dunk herself before she did so because otherwise her helmet would be gross), but the feeling of being sick. She was scared, nervous, and almost shaky for this trip. She tried to also block out the minds of everyone around her, not wanting to hear their own thoughts about this. Her own mind was racing a mile a minute as it is.
NEW REPLY
Veronica listened as the general spoke and welcomed everyone, and though she nodded along and gave the cued glances around and such, all she could see were the young faces of her team looking at her. Some were younger than her, some were just a bit older, some familiar only by passing and some she'd seen on file. She didn't even know their names, which she probably should have memorized, but she was so...so nervous for this mission that she was spacing on her proper duties.
She had looked to the ground when Howe spoke to her and the other chosen commander, feeling her chest tighten when they were told they were chosen for their leadership skills. She wasn't even at the appropriate age to be a commanding officer, and yet here she was, thrust into the role alongside this man her age, given a fresh team and new ships to travel into the deep dark unknown space to find and stop whatever it was that caused these lightning storms.
Ronnie blinked when the general ended his long speech with a good luck, and she looked up at him expectantly, seeing how he was glancing over at her and the other commander. Were they to divide the group up to their teams now? She looked over at the other commander, Kyle Tennyson she remembered by their earlier meeting, and she waited a beat for something to happen. When nothing in the thirty seconds she waited, she cleared her throat and slowly stepped aside, giving him a short of a distance.
On her right wrist, she typed her four digit code to summon the thin blue holographic miniature computer where she stored the documents she had electronically scanned for this purpose. Clearing her throat as she looked over the names, she spoke up with her authoritative, clear steady voice so the crowd can hear easily.
"White...Katayama, Eu-Jeong...Agro, DAISy, McShane...la-Norvah, Aelh'Bon, Athka, Manx, and Kingston," she voiced out the last names of her team, only looking up at the expecting group, blinking slowly as she dropped her wrist, hologram gone. She straightened up, biting back how nervous she was so her face was not one to show too much emotions.
"You all will be with me on the Andromeda." With a last look to her general, who nodded, she stepped to Kyle once more for a handshake, gripping his hand just a little too tight but her eyes softened in an apologetic way.
"Good luck, Tennyson. Get in touch with us soon," she said as she shook his hand, letting go; once she had her team and met them and sorted things out, and once they've left the hangar and started their mission officially, she would send a comm link to the
Cassiopeia so they can discuss planning. Because even though they are separate teams, they were united as one to work together through this.
Once she gave him a small nod, Veronica turned and gestured to the crowd for her team before she led them to the large ship waiting for them. Her hands shook as she walked, but she gripped them into tight fists until they stepped up the awaiting ramp; she pressed her fingers to the panel beside the door to open it, having known they would use her and a select few other prints from the team to have door access for security reasons.
The door slid open, and with it the internal atmosphere of the grande ship lit up automatically, welcoming them in.