USS Halo - Old friends

Posted on 2024, Fri Apr 19th, @ 8:46pm by Captain Maddison Black & Lieutenant Teresina Waylin & Commander Dorna Villersh

1,392 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Revenge Of Group Omega
Location: JTubes Location 73792208

Sin had absolutely no idea of why they were here, or who they were waiting for, but it was obvious that they were here for a reason and waiting for someone. But Sin couldn't work out who. She considered where they were, so it had to be someone either from DCE or GE. They were so far into the internal parts of the Halo. Unless you were either engineering or ship construction there was just no way you could get here without a very long skill path, and SF didn't just make the plans of ships like Halo available to everyone. Adjusting her position, Sin scrapped the pink retardant off her helmet, the direct opposite of Mad, who didn't have a problem with the fact that she looked like a walking talking marshmallow ball.

"This is driving me crazy." Sin broke the silence. "The person has to be either GE or DCE. There is no way, they could find this spot if they weren't either."

Mad read the words as they appeared on her helmet's HUD. "Does matter?"

"If it's her, I'm going toooo."

"No won't."

Sin stopped and stared at the pink marshmallow. "Do you know her?"

"Yes. Long time. Angry?"

"I'm..... Yes.... Maybe.... You make it look so bloody easy."

"Life put things in face. You deal them. You learn what important. What do. What don't." Mad answered. "GE think. DCE react. GE by book. DCE not. GE worry bout all right. DCE fix 1 then 2 then 3, 4, 5. GE can't fix 1 because 5 not work. GE gotta fix 3 it cause problem at 5. DCE fix 1 to 5. GE fix 3 5 4 2 1. GE need ask everyone. All big together. DCE fix as comes. GE front. DCE hidden. GE different." Mad's HUD picked up the noise of someone cursing. "GE make noise. DCE not heard."

Dorna grunted and cursed while going through the Jeffries Tubes, sliding quickly down them from when she was a cadet. Finding where she needed to be, she listened for voices and charged forward.

"Why do you have to find the most out-of-the-way places to talk, Hands? It's getting tedious." The Tellarite's nose bounced from silent laughter. She turned her gaze to the other person and nodded. "So, it looks like we have all our Vector CE's here. What's the reason for our little ka-tet, Hands?" Dorna crossed her arms over her chest, eyebrow raised in concern.

Sin bared her teeth and growled, staring at the CEO. Mad patted Sin's knee. She hadn't been called Hands in a long time. Wiggling her hands she acknowledged Hoof. "You need not be nice to Admiral. Know how DCP works. He shut it down. Ten minutes till shuts him, you out. Halo not red. They upped caution protocol. You tell him can't do what did." There was a vast difference between Mad speaking and her sleeve communicator speaking.

Sin didn't know if the CEO understood, so she did what she usually did. "You need not to be nice to the Admiral. You Know how DCP Damage Control Protocol works. He, the Admiral shut it down. Ten minutes till it shuts him, and you, the CEO out. Halo is not at red status. They, SF upped the caution protocol. You get to tell him he can't do what he did." Sin knew some people had trouble understanding Mad because she didn't put the little words in.

"I'm Teresina Waylin, your DCE1. Sin for short. Since you're a friend of Mad's."

Dorna waved a dismissive hand at Sin. "Don't worry...Sin, I understand her perfectly. We've known each other for a long time." She wiggled her fingers at Hands in return and continued. "I absolutely love how SF changes things!" The Tellarite made unintelligible noises, then sighed hard. "So I need to slap the Admiral's hands, huh? Not like I haven't before." She shook her head
The Engineer regarded the DCEO with a raised eyebrow. "Ya got any suggestions? My Iron Lady's been ridden hard and spit out dirty. What surgery do we need to do before she makes us all meat popsicles?"

"Solidified Retard. Construction problem. Find interjunction not connected. Shovel solidified out innards. No able return, need bags remove, give 113. Find dead thing. Find what move. Movement active track. All power gone 9 minute." Mad spoke. "Need tow back 113. Put hoof in NonAtmo. Sin bring you, and DCEO. Admiral, SECO. CMO. Counsellor. Marine's have. CDeck1 staff. Not wear well. Not use. Not suit NonAtmo freeze. Not fix." Mad wiggled her finger at Hoof. He learn, Safety Protocols no walk through. There for reason. Halo advanced. Can't walk over protocols. Halo not split."

"Like he's gonna handle that." Sin stated.

"He learn why. All us tell him. All us NOT fix." She didn't hear Sin's snort. "He walks when red, nothing work, no weapons, no split, no shields. No TL. No replicators. No Beam off. D&D only on. Relay off long time crew off. He got learn. They build advanced ships. Advanced ships have more safety protocols. I not say no cause fun. Still got tell CMO, Counsellor, Admiral." Mad pointed to both Sin and Hoof. "Retard cause thrush. No air purification systems. Everyone get fanny itch. I call you." Mad pointed to both. "I tell CMO, Counsellor, Marine, and him. Everyone touch thing no gloves. All scratch." Mad pointed to her breasts and her girly bits. "Things move innards get it. No laugh."

Dorna rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Who the bloody hells decided to make that {grunt & squeak} stuff so harmful? If the crew's got a case of the itches, how's any work supposed to be done, Hands? You tell me. I'd like to get hold of the idiots who decided the purification systems needed to go offline for this and make them see that the more they try to 'improve' the ships, the harder it is to fix em!" She made air quotes as she spoke.

The Tellarite turned away, making unintelligible noises to herself before turning back a minute or 2 later. "If Townsend's half the man he seems to be, he'll have a smart head on his shoulders and listen. Only the Great Sty can know the outcome of this."

Mad shrugged. What she thought about splitters, as they referred to ships that split, wasn't relevant. Someone had come up with the idea, and someone thought it was a great idea, so they built them. Now they were realising that the more advanced they made them, the more safety protocols they needed. And it just wasn't enough of ships that split to give everyone the experience they needed. Having people sit in the Big Chair and give orders, was one thing. They didn't need to know everything about their so called 'advanced' ships. They had others who did that. She had an ability to learn to absorb mechanical things. Try and teach her a language, and her brain just scrambled. Try and teach her, something she wasn't interested in, and her brain did far more than scramble. She ignored Hoof's thoughts about the Admiral.

"Use AQSTR1-330259, retardant, works better. Medical treats thrush." Mad shrugged. "Other retardant, more problems, mechanical." Mad wasn't medical. She was just a female, who got really bad thrush, which is why, she preferred to live in a NonAtmo. Usually the purification system cancelled out the thrush problem, unless there was bulk damage which required a large retardant release. "Ship first."

Dorna grunted and nodded. She reached up and adjusted the helmet of her NonAtmo suit down a little to glare at Hands. Great Sty, she hated these things! Movement was hard enough for a Tellarite and now this! It was turning into a right "shit show" as the Humans said. "The last thing I need is some crazy fertilizer problem on me!" she grumbled. "I'll go where you need me best, Hands. When I get my hands on those-" Tellar expletive "-ship designers, I'm going to wring their necks! This is ridiculous!"

Mad nodded. "Townsend came non splitter. He did what want, stop, change, turn off, use access. Can't do on Splitter. I feed Hoof what do. We do rest. Stay in NonAtmo. No scratch."

"Hey Hey." Sin nodded. "It would be better if everyone got training on Splitters."

Mad rolled her eyes. "Watch for what I want you be."

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