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Post by SlvrNight on May 28, 2012 20:07:32 GMT -5
The Kigan Pirates had decided to place the temporary bedding for the Grand Divide refugees in the Relaxation Room, which was on the same floor as the kitchen and dining hall and, therefore, meant that the refugees were close to everything they would need for the duration of their, hopefully, brief stay. Many KiganNite Deltas and Sigmas were placed on each floor, particularly the Assault Deck as no one but crew was allowed there, as both guides and security. The refugees could not be allowed to wander the ship unsupervised, could they?
Miya and Seline were both put in charge of making sure the refugees were okay and had all the necessities. The male KiganNite Sigma from the battle had even gone to both women and requested he be summoned if they needed a hand. Meanwhile Izuma was, obviously, in charge of all the medical situations.
It is now the following morning.
Lower Deck Izuma's Laboratory
The elven medic was standing in front of a tall pod filled with bright blue liquid. Within this container was a female KiganNite Sigma. Her arms were wrapped around her body while her long black hair floated all around her.
Izuma heard her lab's door open and could tell from the footsteps who it was.
"KiganNite Sigma."
The male KiganNite Sigma silently walked up to the scientist's side, looking at his partner's comatose body.
"She should be ok. It may take some time for her to heal and awaken though. She lost a lot of energy and she was in shock by the time we got her on board. I'm so-"
"Don't. Don't apologize. You're doing all you can, mistress. I know you are."
Izuma nodded in confirmation and turned to look at the artificial being next to her.
"What will you do now, Sigma One?"
He raised an eyebrow. "One?"
"Yes. It will be easier to address you if you have some sort of unique aspect to your name. You also...well. You are not the first Sigma to be in this situation."
"I am not surprised. We are created to fight. It is inevitable that one of us would eventually be hurt or killed."
Izuma flinched at this. She knew it was true. All KiganNites were created for a purpose. The Sigmas were primarily made for combat and infiltration. But she loved them all. It still hurt when she was reminded of this.
"That's true. But every other Sigma before you committed suicide when their partner's situation looked grim."
Sigma One became silent.
"You are the first who has remained relatively stable. You even volunteered to help Seline and Miya with the refugees if needed. You are...different. The first to do this. Hence why you are called Sigma One. The first."
The KiganNite blinked a few times, at a loss of what to say.
"I'll alert you if anything happens. Please. Go relax. You need it."
Sigma One silently nodded in agreement. He muttered a "Thank you." before turning and leaving the lab.
__________________________________________
Bon's Workshop
The captain of the Kigan Pirates was sitting in his room, leaning back in a steel chair with his feet on the table. In front of him was a large hologram displaying a map of Kyril.
"Hm... There's one in Malen. We should probably head there next. Could easily use the refugees as an excuse to go there. Hopefully they'll be all right with being dropped off at that place."
Miya, his white-haired lieutenant, stood behind him. She studied the map for a few moments before giving her own opinion.
"We should at least tell them that's where they're going. So they can make preparations. Perhaps contact any family they may have over there."
"Yeah. That'll help things go more smoothly."
"Shall I tell them over the intercoms?"
"Go for it."
Miya walked towards the control panel in the workshop, moving to its side and pressing a small button. A red light came on and she spoke into the speaker.
"All refugees of Grand Divide. This is Miya Kraft of the Kigan Crew. We will be dropping all of you off in Malen. If anyone has any sort of complaints with that, feel free to speak with either Seline or I. We will bring it to the Captain's attention as soon as possible."
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Post by Advix on May 30, 2012 3:05:28 GMT -5
Few of the refugees made any calls. Most of them were lamia, after all, and most lamias lived in Grand Divide. Though many of the refugees went to their temporary bedding, few managed to sleep. They would likely never forget what they had witnessed for the rest of their lives. One ave, however, was not willing to kid herself, and she staid up, sitting on one of the couches as she held the hunting knife Raiga lent her. She stared at the worn blade, wondering just how old the steel was, and how much it had been through at Raiga's side. It must have had an incredible story. How did a human get to be so old. Was he immortal. As much as what had happened around her, her thoughts returned to the masked man. Perhaps it made coping with everything easier. Perhaps thinking of him helped distract her from all the tragedy.
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Post by Greed on May 31, 2012 22:30:33 GMT -5
Bon's Workshop
As Miya spoke into the intercom, Seline came up behind her, and gave her own friendly reminder to their temporary guests. Really, while they were playing the good Samaritans for the moment, they were still pirates of a sort; there were simply things you didn't just do on someone else's ship.
"And remember everyone, the bottom deck is off limits for a reason. So don't go down there, for your own good if nothing else." She casually flicked off the intercom afterwards.
"So... next one's in Malen, eh? This outta be interesting.... that's a high population zone, and not the sort of place we can get away with causing a racket. Rellinis may be a bunch of backwater hicks, but Malen most certainly isn't..."
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Post by SlvrNight on May 31, 2012 23:47:44 GMT -5
Bottom Deck Relaxation Room
The female undead warrior from before, Suna, walked into the room. She was wearing her casual clothes, consisting of a black long-sleeve button up shirt tucked into a green knee-length skirt. The skirt had a black crescent design on the front and back.
She looked around the room as she walked, examining the refugees. She then closed her eyes, sighed quietly, and sat in the chair next to the couch the female ave was in. The emerald knight noticed she seemed fixated on the knife in her hands. Did it belong to someone the ave lost? A friend? A family member? A lover? Suna decided it was best to avoid asking such a personal thing so soon after the tragedy. She merely said one thing.
"...I'm sorry."
Lower Deck Bon's Workshop
The Captain nodded in agreement. "Yeah...and just outright invading the place and asking for the gem like Rellinis wouldn't work out well. We'll need to find out where the gem is, then we can make a plan as to how to get it without setting off the entire city."
Miya folded her arms as she continued to look at the map. "How are we going to find that out, though? Asking around would only arouse suspicion and make things more complicated."
Bon massaged his brow in frustration.
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Post by Advix on Jun 1, 2012 12:10:49 GMT -5
Hilda snapped out of her trance as the undead woman apologized. Hilda was confused at first, until she began to look back and forth between the revenant and the knife she held.
"Oh no, it's not like that!" she laughed briefly. "...This is Raiga's knife. He gave it to me to protect the refugees. He enchanted it with some sort of electrical field that makes lasers swerve around the bearer. It's so weird. Even as I hold it, I feel like I'm holding part of him. This hunting knife is so old and worn, yet, I can tell that it still isn't as old and worn as that man. It's like I'm staring at a fraction of a riddle, and the more I stare at it, the more... obsessed I become..."
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Post by Greed on Jun 2, 2012 0:02:58 GMT -5
Bon's Workshop
"Well, I've good good news about this, and absolutely awful news about this." Seline sighed slightly, leaning against a wall in the workshop. She looked like she really didn't want to say what she was about to say.
"Okay, first, good news. I figured out where the gem is. That's all the good news there is, because... well..." Seline hung her head, not exactly looking forward to Bon's reaction when he finally heard what she had to say. Really though, most people would probably flip their shit.
"... one of the meanest looking dragons I've ever seen has made a cave in Malen its home. And it's been collecting shiny objects to hoard. And guess what one of those shiny objects is?"
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Post by SlvrNight on Jun 3, 2012 21:03:24 GMT -5
Bottom Deck Relaxation Room
Suna looked at the knife, then at Hilda. She saw how powerful that man was back when they were escaping Grand Divide. So she could understand some admiration. But...from the way the ave talked about him it sounded like...
"Are you in love with Raiga?"
Suna asked this in a completely flat tone. Her face practically expressionless.
Lower Deck Bon's Workshop
Miya shrugged at Seline's bad news. "Why don't we just fire the Volun Cannon at it? That would surely do sufficient damage to the dragon."
Bon turned his head sharply, glaring at his Lieutenant for even suggesting such a thing. "Miya, that would kill hundreds of innocent people. That's completely out of the question."
"What if we were to get the dragon into the sky? We could hit it with the cannon then and there would be zero risk of innocents being hurt."
The Captain stroked his chin as his brain messed with the idea. It could definitely work. There was still a major problem though.
"Someone will have to actually go and somehow get the dragon into the sky though. Which means someone has to fight it." Bon got out of his seat, walking towards his worktable with his unfinished armor. "Which means I need to hurry and get this thing finished."
Miya's eyes widened a bit. "Captain? You're going to go fight a dragon? A particularly mean one, according to Seline? Alone?"
Bon silently continued working on his armor. Going to fight a dragon alone, even in his new armor, was going to be ridiculously tough. He couldn't have Miya join him since she wouldn't be able to do much. Suna was too valuable to Minu and the arachne was still hovering over her because she was so happy the knight came back alive. To send Suna into another dangerous mission so soon was a bit cruel. He also couldn't really ask for some KiganNites either since they lost quite a few in Grand Divide. Izuma was never fond of losing them and he didn't want to push it.
Seline...he didn't know about her. She participated in the Grand Divide operation as well. He didn't want to throw her into something dangerous so soon as well. She was probably mentally exhausted after seeing all that death anyways.
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Post by Advix on Jun 4, 2012 7:15:09 GMT -5
Hilda continued to ponder as the revenant asked her question, as if she had been asking herself the same thing.
"...Ever since I met him at the cemetary, I was always curious about him. He needed a place to stay, so I let him live with me for a few days. I flirted with him, just for kicks, but... after watching him fight for my life, and everyone's lives... Maybe you're right. Maybe I have fallen in love with him."
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Post by SlvrNight on Jun 7, 2012 17:03:50 GMT -5
Bottom Deck Relaxation Room
"From what I saw of him, he doesn't really seem like the person who'd actually put aside time for something like love..."
Suna leaned forward with her elbows on her knees.
"He seemed like a very serious man. But I only saw him during the fighting. Since he lived with you for a few days I assume you saw how he was outside of combat?"
----------------------------------------------------
Hall B-3
Sigma One absentmindedly walked down the hall, his mind still wrapping around the fact that he was "unique". He managed to get himself thinking straight when he saw the arachne crew member further ahead. Minu saw the approaching KiganNite and turned to look at him, her usual cheerfulness present on her face.
"Oh hey, KiganNite Sigma! Coming to check on the refugees?"
Sigma One hesitated for a moment. Part of him was tempted on correcting her on his name, but the other part of him was still unsure if he even wanted, let alone deserved, it. He decided to keep it to himself and nodded.
"Yes. How are they doing?"
Minu pointed towards the Relaxation Room's closed door. "I had Suna go in and talk to one of them. She was looking really sad, so I thought she should go cheer her up!"
"Well they did just lose their home. As well as most of their friends and family. Makes sense they'd be sad."
The arachne's smile faltered. "Yeah, I know that...but...I just couldn't stand by and do nothing. I'm not really good at cheering people up when it comes to stuff like this, but Suna's mature and she knows a lot! I was hoping she'd know what to say."
If Sigma One had a mouth, he'd be smiling. It felt like Minu's positive attitude was infectious, as he soon felt himself feeling much more cheerful. The arachne scurried closer to him, looking up at his face from where she stood.
"Now, what's wrong Mister Sigma?"
"W-what? Nothing's wrong. Don't worry about it."
Minu wagged her finger and talked as if scolding the family pet.
"Nu-uh! You're lying! Something's bothering you! I saw it on your face when you were walking around like a zombie."
Sigma One sighed quietly and said nothing. This only resulted in the young arachne grabbing his arm and dragging him down towards the Dining Hall.
"Maybe it'll be easier to talk about if we have something to eat!"
The KiganNite was about to say he didn't even need to eat, but decided to keep his mouth shut. Maybe it would be okay if he talked about what was going on? He doubted that Minu would understand why he felt so odd about being named and such, but at least he'd be able to let it out.
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Post by Greed on Jun 7, 2012 18:26:19 GMT -5
Bon's Workshop
"Oh, if you're worrying about me, don't." Seline spoke, crossing her arms, "Worry about the fact that Malen has been posting guards to guard the place for some reason. And while we're at it..." Seline massaged her brow. The next part was hard, if not ludicrous to believe.
"Some... school kid, Marina Sea I believe, has put help wanted signs in getting rid of that dragon." Seline rolled her eyes, "Lord knows what she's after but..."
Seline paused, activating a video screen in the room, and transmitting a signal to it.
"First thing; our dragon is... well. Look." On the screen, tearing out of the cave at top speed, was a massive, rough scaled beast with a long neck, and four legs. It looked as though it had gotten wind of whatever asshole that had taken the video.
"Big green and ugly here doesn't like people nears its nest. But pausing here..." As Seline paused, there was a blue light coming from the cave, visible behind the dragon, "You see this light. Whatever it is, this school kid is after. And here's the kicker. She's paying. Alot. Enough to remove the guards up front." And yes, Seline was about to say something completely absurd.
"If we don't want to set Malen off at us... well... I think you see where I'm going here. And it is extremely embarrassing."
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Post by Advix on Jun 7, 2012 19:46:05 GMT -5
"He's incredibly serious. This one time, I decided to cuddle with him while he was sleeping on the sofa. He jammed his finger into a pressure point and I spazzed out on the floor for a second." She smiled as she shook her head. "I know that my chances of having a relationship with him are slim-to-none, but a girl can dream, can't she? Besides, I need to give this back to him. I can tell, this knife has history behind it. And he trusted me with it to keep them safe during that mess. That's gotta mean something, right?"
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Post by SlvrNight on Jun 7, 2012 22:54:08 GMT -5
Lower Deck Bon's Workshop
The Captain watched the video of the dragon as he worked on his armor, stopping when he heard Seline mention this Marina girl was paying. He put down his tools and just stared at his crew mate.
"...Are you suggesting us, the great Kigan Pirates, hire ourselves out to a high school student?"
Miya folded her arms and smiled, enjoying her captain's reaction. "It would certainly make this easier. We could avoid any unwanted attention and make some money on the side. We do need to re-supply anyways, especially since we have all these refugees. The food won't last too long with all of them aboard."
Bon's shoulders slumped. "I would have become a mercenary if I wanted to do this crap."
"It's still the best way."
The ave stared at his Lieutenant, his black wings twitching a few times. He then looked at Seline.
"All right, fine. That's the plan. We'll go see this Marina Sea girl when we drop off all the refugees. Miya, how long will it take us to reach Malen?"
"Approximately 10 hours at our current speed. We may be able to get there sooner, but we can't just rush on over there. It may look a bit...suspicious."
Bon returned to working on his armor, muttering a quiet "Indeed."
Bottom Deck Relaxation Room
Suna nodded. "That's true. The fact he actually entrusted you with something shows he at least cares for you. That's better than nothing."
The emerald knight stood up, patting Hilda's shoulder as she walked by her.
"I apologize, but I must be going now. There's work that requires my attention."
She stopped once she reached the door, turning to look at the female ave again.
"Oh, by the way. My name is Suna. It was a pleasure speaking with you Miss...?"
___________________________________
Dining Hall
Sigma One and Minu were sitting at one of the smaller tables with one chair on the northern and southern edges. The arachne was currently eating several sliced pieces of an apple as she listened intently to the KiganNite.
"My life partner is going to be fine. She will just require some time before waking. I suppose she is in what you naturals would call a coma."
Minu raised an eyebrow. "Naturals?"
"Ah, yes. That's what we KiganNites refer to you natural creatures as. We're all artificial creations, yet still organic. We had to settle on something to refer to you all as."
"Ah, ok, ok. That makes sense. So, what else is bothering you?"
"...Mistress gave me a name. Sigma One."
"Huh? Why's that a problem?"
"It would be...difficult for you to understand."
The arachne swallowed her food, a sad expression on her face. She then placed her hand on Sigma One's, giving him a large smile.
"Come on. Try. You never know. I just might get it."
The KiganNite Sigma looked away and pondered this for a moment. It couldn't hurt to try...could it?
"It just feels...unfair to the others. There are KiganNites on this ship who have performed incredibly in their respective duties. Yet I'm given a name because I'm just the first to not succumb to a weakness all the other Sigmas before me had."
"Well, there's the reason. It's not unfair. You actually are unique if you're the first who doesn't have that weakness."
"But...I should be given a name if I perform my duty exponentially. We KiganNite Sigmas were created for fighting and infiltration. I did not do either of those to get this name."
Minu leaned forward, flicking Sigma One's forehead with her finger. He did not flinch and merely looked at her with a confused expression.
"One, you're being a big dummy! That's exactly why you have a name now! Don't you get it? You did something that you were not designed for! And you did it really well! You were able to go past your original purpose. Do something of your own free will."
His eyes widened in response to this. How did he not think of this before? When it's put like that...it does make more sense. He couldn't help but still feel odd about it, but at least he could understand the logic behind it better.
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Post by Advix on Jun 8, 2012 0:10:28 GMT -5
"Hilda. Hilda Iraveril. If you happen to hear the music of a rocker named Malik Iraveril, then yes, he's my big brother," the avian woman smiled. "Thanks for talking to me, Suna. It really, really helped. I hope we run into each other more on this flight."
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Post by Greed on Jun 10, 2012 11:34:27 GMT -5
Bon's Workshop
"You know... I was suspicious of where this kid got such ridiculous amounts of money. Turns out she's from one of the bigger noble families in Edge. I thought it was a con originally, but the background check confirms what we know." Seline scratched her head, pacing around the workshop, trying to make sense of it. Even a rich brat should know better than to mess with an old dragon like that.
"So... looking at her motivation, originally, it was curiosity... I don't know what it is now. I don't even know what that blue light is that she's after. She doesn't seem to be after what we're after... And captain, trust me in that I don't like this idea any more than you do... besides."
Seline closed her eyes for a moment, trying to carefully word what she was going to say next, "I think... that after that, it might be a good opportunity for a... break, of sorts." It was something that should have shocked both Miya and Bon. Seline, of all people, suggesting a break? Clearly, this was a sign that Lilith and Arcturus would manifest on Kyril to tapdance for a day.
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Post by SlvrNight on Jun 11, 2012 14:13:55 GMT -5
Lower Deck Bon's Workshop
Bon shrugged as he opened up the gauntlets of his armor on the table, examining the wiring inside. "I honestly don't really care too much about the girl's own reasons for going after the dragon. So long as it's not something that's gonna end up killing a lot of people."
Both the Captain and Miya froze in place at Seline's suggestion of a break. They both looked at her. Miya's eyes were confused while Bon's were wide with disbelief. The Lieutenant spoke first.
"A break? But...why? What brought this on, Seline? Is something wrong?"
Bon dropped his armor's gauntlet on his worktable, a loud clang echoing throughout the room. "Oh come on! We're doing great! We just showed the world what a bunch of bastards Devoid is! Why should we take a break when we're doing so...wait... Devoid's not gonna come after us for that, are they?"
Miya quickly looked at Bon, realizing what he just said. She then looked back to Seline, awaiting her response.
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