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A New Understanding
Topic Started: Jan 24 2010, 01:57 PM (1,393 Views)
Gwen MacKenzie
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Operative
Goodbyes were never an easy thing to do. Even after recent events on Verbena, Shi had found it harder to say goodbye to people she thought she never would reconnect with again. Perhaps it was why the Captain was more somber than usual as she made her way up to the galley. Felicity had made sure they had a good dinner to last them a day or two. Enough for left overs to be heated up on Cressi's simple kitchen and her stores stocked well enough until their next stop.

She took her time going alone up the steps already hearing the sounds of her crew enjoying themselves over their last fresh cooked meal by someone other than a crew mate. Gwen stopped in the corridor close to her room coming up from the cargo hold, leaning her head against the cool metal that made up the ships interior. No she wasn't looking forward to breaking their good spirits, but it had to be done. They had to know the truth.

They had been out in the Black long enough so the Alliance long range sensors couldn't pick them up any more. No signs of a chase on her brother's part seeming to be coming either. Gwen had told them all it was a group dinner and the ship could be on auto-pilot long enough for it and the standard meeting they usually had after. Tom didn't like using the thing, but sometimes it was a necessity.

Finally pushing herself away and out of her dower mood the red head forced a smile upon her face and took the last short distance to where her crew sat around the large wooden table. "Hope y'all are leaving some for me. I don't exactly feel like eating a protein bar because someone ate all the fried taters."
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Drew Lancaster
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Aerial Ace
Drew made his way up into the galley, giving out a sigh. He had obligations he'd made to the crew and to Gwen that stopped him from laying down on the couch in the MedBay Recovery room and taking a nice long snooze.

Granted, he'd rather sleep with his wife than sleep anywhere else.

It hadn't been long since the rather unexpected ceremony, and yet Drew couldn't imagine Gwen not being his wife. It was difficult to think of her as otherwise.

Speak of the devil, he thought as he came up behind her. He place a hand on her shoulder, giving her a smile that clearly said he'd support her, knowing what she was going to have to do next. Drew gave her a brief kiss before joining them at the table.

"Mighty fine spread Filicity's laid out fer us."
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Coralyn Cardew
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Cora tried to eat like she was performing surgery. Slowly, carefully, with precision and the least fuss. Unfortunately the food was both so delicious and hearty, that it was quite difficult to stop once she'd started. She'd even almost, heaven forbid, spoken with her mouth full, and after a stern lecture in her head had decided it was probably better not to talk at all until she'd finished. If she ever finished at all, her thin frame was certainly surprising her with its capacity for potatoes.

Just as she was wondering if the Captain would come to the table at all, she suddenly made an entrance, followed shortly by Drew. She did hope Gwen wasn't too sad leaving Verbena, especially since Cora for one, couldn't have left fast enough. No more Alliance, just space and these sometimes insufferable, but generally nice people. She also rather hoped that her rather embarrassing spectacle in the MedBay was well left behind too. She didn't want a repeat performance, that was for sure.

Pushing her plate away as if she was full (she wasn't) Coralyn gave the Captain her full attention, feeling a tad worried about their lack of rationing all of the excellent cuisine. "Yes of course, I'm sure there's plenty." She murmured with a hint of guilt.
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Hunter Williams
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Hunter was perched on the chair positioned directly left of Dr. Cardew, the one crew member he had decided was least likely to take issue to him, chatting away with a few of the crew members down at his end of the table. They were exchanging humorous if not brief tales of past ships and less than smooth operation. He was laughing freely, shooting his daughter little looks every once in a while to remind her that forks were in fact a necessary part of the eating process.

The captain's voice did well to quiet the chatter, pulling attention from the meal towards her. Now they were finally going to find out what this all crew meeting was about. He'd decided that as long as it wasn't about cutting his pay he was fine with just about anything she could throw at him. Except for aiding the Alliance in anyway, but Hunter didn't believe Gwen would like that anymore than he did.

"Shoot, you aughta know by now when it comes to Taters its every man for 'imself Captain! Ain't they teach you anything in captain school?" That oh so common playful light danced in behind his eyes as he fixed the red head with a grin before scraping the last bit of his meal onto the fork and popping it into his mouth. So then. Just was this important topic of conversation? The faster they got to hashing it out the sooner he could to nap off the last delicious meal he would be eating in many a week.
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Thomas Fisher
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Food was something that Tom rarely passed up, well unless he was busy working which seemed to be most of the time lately. He usually just ate at random times that fit him as long as he didn't have to put the ship on autopilot. He hated the function, part of him afraid that it would go out at any second and then he'd have to race from where he was at to the cockpit so he could get control of the ship. Of course, that hadn't happened yet, but it was something that he wasn't going to take any chances with. That was why he hated this crew meetings and group dinners. It meant he had to socialize for longer than he wanted to. He would sit down and brood for a while and then leave, but he couldn't when they all had to gather for these meetings.

Besides all of that, Tom wasn't up to flying the ship exactly. It wasn't like he had a choice for the most part since his hand was still nicely wrapped up to prevent movement of any sort. He couldn't believe he had broken it and while it was healing, he couldn't use it if he wanted it back to the way it was before. It annoyed him to no end because that meant that they had to have a co-pilot and Tom wasn't fond of sharing.

So, here he sat at the table eating with his good hand, listening to the little conversation there was and looked up at Gwen and Drew when they entered. "We should get this meeting done as soon as possible so we can get off of autopilot," he muttered.
 
Gwen MacKenzie
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Gwen let out a sigh. She hadn't eaten, probably wouldn't with the way her stomach was rolling about, and all those eyes on her. They wanted to know what this was about thinking it had to do with some new job or the other. What they didn't know was how this was going to change everything from here on out. Feeling Drew's hand on her shoulder was only a small comfort as the young Captain moved to lean against the island infront of the kitchen. Quietly she crossed her arms watching all of them for a moment. "All right. So you all want to know what this is about? Right? It's not about a job coming up."

"Things are going to be getting.. bad for us. I want y'all to know if this is something you don't want t' face nor hear then I won't hold it against you if you want to leave." Her green eyes searched the faces of each of the crew that was there and listening to her. "Just know that if you do you are no longer a member of this crew and you'll have the safety in knowin' you'll be fine. My influences only reach so far otherwise. I can't promise your safety if you listen then decide you want off the ship."

She waited, watching to see if any of them would leave feeling that they wanted no part in what troubles the ship was going to be getting in to. If anyone did leave the woman waited long enough before speaking again. "The Cressida isn't all that she's cracked up to be. Y'all have probably gathered this from knowing histories of your fellow crew members. Everything you think you know about her assignments within the Spencer-Dai Company is a white lie."

"Cressi is.. a front. Some of us have been hired on to further the workings of the Independent Underground, myself included. All of you were hand picked by myself or the former Captain because of your skills or the connections you had." Swallowing hard, Gwen pushed away from the island she had been leaning against taking a slow path about the table. "I've wanted to tell you all this for some time now, but you have to understand that my commanding officers have kept the lid pretty tight. Until now."

Coming to stand behind Fi, Gwen rested her hands on the younger woman's shoulders. "When we were on Persephone someone dropped a disc on the hatch that wasn't one of us or one of the refit crew. Upon further investigation it turned out to be a corrupted disc of Alliance top secrets. Command is working on decoding what they think is the original disc while we have the hard copy here. Fi will be working to decode it as fast as she can so we know what we are going to be facing. It's not going to be pretty, guys. We're working our way toward a second war and this ship has been given the task of spearheading it. Why? Because you are the best of the best."

"I'm not going to ask any of you to do something I myself wouldn't do. Y'all are the closest thing to a family I got left in this world and I'm going to do my best to keep each and every one of you safe." The captain's eyes moved to each and every face that was there in the room sitting at the table or standing up. "We'll be given assignments to retrieve data that they can't get on the disc, find people, nothing like the radicals who blew the plant, but we might be countering them. This is the reason I have been pushing to get this ship full as fast as I could. I need you all to work together- put the egos aside, the childish actions of being 'the number one' or whatever else you might be feeling suddenly having backup for your positions on this ship. Train each other. Help each other. It's the only way we're going to get through this together until the end."
Edited by Gwen MacKenzie, Jan 24 2010, 11:48 PM.
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Coralyn Cardew
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Coralyn had lost her appetite. First she thought she was going to be sick. Then she thought she was going to cry. And now she just wanted to slap someone. Why hadn’t she left when Gwen had requested? Because in her blissful ignorance, she never thought anything the Captain could say would be ill-judged or even particularly debatable. She wasn’t stupid enough to believe that she was the most talented, experienced doctor that could be found, but there was something deeply sinister and unsettling about being ‘hand-picked’. Her father’s face briefly flashed through her mind. Who were these people, Gwen’s ‘superiors’?

Coralyn finally blinked when the Captain had finished, and swallowed hard, her mind so full it hurt. If she said she was in agreement, than every tie to the comfort of her past, her home, her family, would be severed, entirely. It was all very well to read and study the plight of the Independance, quite enough to practice what you preached. Thus far, Cora’s main priorities had hardly been political at all, they’d been to stay firmly under the radar. She doubted that’d be manageable now. And if this ‘war’ this second disaster occurred, would her sisters and mother be safe? As for her father... well, General Cardew was still an active officer and wouldn’t be retiring for several years. No doubt he’d be itching to indulge in a few games of toy soldiers. And if he had ANY inclination of what Coralyn was doing he’d... suddenly, a horrible, treacherous thought struck her like a thunderbolt. If Cora was privy to all of this, all of these secrets, missions, the information she carried with her would be incredibly useful to him. Useful enough to have her potential warrant dismissed? Useful enough to let her go back to Londinum, to see her family? Get her job back? Maybe. For the briefest of moments she thought how nice it’d be to sit in the Cardew manor by the fireplace, feeling clean and safe and protected. All of this, the MedBay, and the bickering and the gunshot wounds firmly behind her. Then just as quickly, she tried to dismiss it.

Then she forced herself to recall why she’d left Roma in the first place. For asking questions, questioning the logic of the system, the system that was supposed to be running so beautifully. Questioning what had happened to Mikhail, a man for all his radical thoughts and loud opinions was without a single doubt a good person. And then, when Cora had got out on the rim... the poverty and treatment some of thoose people underwent, the inoculations she’d dosed out like they were cattle. They’d made her question more. Then came Cressida, and Cressida was supposed to be an escape. Now she felt like she’d been duped, and she was so, so confused. For all her misgivings, Cressi was a wonderful ship, a lovely hiding place with a constant change of scenery. She’d trusted Gwen implicitly, when she’d defended her, saying that their pasts shouldn’t mean a thing. Now they meant everything. And that wasn’t all she was angry about. There were two kids on board, kids that weren’t old enough to make up their own minds about their own beliefs or which risks to take, but were being carried along for the ride anyway.

Standing up, she'd meant to make hasty retreat to her bunk. Instead her mouth appeared to be saying words. “I thought you didn’t want children on board because the ship wasn’t the safest of places. Now I find that we’re suddenly not the safest of people! How could you not tell us this when you hired us, Gwen?” In her hurt, she’d even used the Captain’s first name for the first time, without even thinking. “Well, I’m not sure I particularly want to be at the ‘end’, having sacrificed everything, when God only knows what else I’m having kept from me.”
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Jean Howlett
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Believe it or not, Jean was actually starting to get used to eating regularly. He quietly wandered into the galley, grabbed a small plate, and sat down in one of the empty seats not wanting to interrupt the captain while she spoke.

He had been staying on the ship for a while now but something still didn’t seem to feel right. The boy was eating their food but in no way had he worked for it. Later on, when the mood wasn’t so serious, he would ask if there was any way that he could make himself useful.

Were there new crewmembers too now? Jean was still trying to get used to being around the current ones. While he chewed his food, he couldn’t help but notice that one of the new crewmembers was even smaller than himself.

When the captain asked if anyone wanted off the ship, the preteen glanced around quickly at the others’ faces and then looked back down at his plate. He wouldn’t be leaving, afterall, it wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go.
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Hunter Williams
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The playfulness of his expression slowly sunk away with each sentence the captain laid on them, all thoughts of relaxed post dinner naps crumbling beneath the excited tension that was growing in his gut. This was something he had been waiting to hear for seven god damned years. Ever since his freedom had been signed away by men in suits as his friends and family were gunned down in the hills of Hera. His pulse quickened hanging to every word she was giving him. Yes, he had suspected Gwen probably had ties to the underground, but he would never have guessed she was even farther in than himself. He had been following the orders of these same higher ups for years now, completing small missions and hoping like hell he was making some kind of a difference. The number of times he had been commanded to transport the most basic of things like food or medicine to the rim planets was far to many, it was hard to imagine that those actions were actually considered illegal. Now it looked like the years of seemingly futile efforts were going to come together and real change might actually come about.

Hunter of course would be staying, there was no where he would rather be than helping spear head this move. If she needed him to eat his words and let Rora walk all over his pride he would, just as long as it meant the ship would be running to the best of her abilities. It also explained some of the choices made in parts, the Cressida wasn't decked exactly as a traditional transport ship would be. It was subtle though.

He had not been expecting the woman beside him to react as she did. Fingers tightened around his fork, gaze darkening and a sarcastic bite tinged his response; Hunter Williams wasn't well known for holding his tongue on this matter. He had thrown men through windows for less, never once been evasive about where his loyalties still lay. "Oh well then! Let me be the first to welcome you to the border worlds Dr. Cardew, because apparently you haven't been here before. And I'm so sorry for what you've sacrificed to git yerself here, cause it's really ain't as pretty and well kept as I hear they try and pass it off to be." He pushed back from the table, air expelling forcefully from his lungs in disgust. Dropping his fork before he gave into the stupid idea of being threatening with it. Gwen had said she cared about everyone on this ship after all, wouldn't take too kindly to him using an eating utensil as a mode of conversation. "I'm not exactly sure where out here you thought 'safe' applied. Because it not on the ground on any one of these planets. People get mowed down for even batting an eye at them purple gutted lizards." The safety of his daughter, the intentions of his comrades and the honesty of his friends had all just come into question in three decisive sentences; he was more than a little irked.

Rounding the table he pulled out Rosie's chair. She didn't need to be here for this, could very well turn into something ugly and it was getting late anyway. He fixed Coralyn with a cold look as he finished his little rant. "So what do you think is safer choice for my little girl huh? Trying to slip under the radar in some helpless town liable to be leveled for no reason other than some Alliance General taking a fancy to it's scenery? Or surrounded by people who've gone proven their merit a hundred times over and I know I can trust with my life?" Ushering the child away from the table he dared a glance back to Gwen knowing full well she was not going to be happy with him for that one. "You can yell at me all you want in a minute Capn', lemme just put this one to bed first. She ain't needing to hear this." "Dah!" A sharp look quieted her words in a flash and the pair began to head towards the hatch of their quarters that lead directly off the galley. His jaw clenched steeling himself against words that might very well be thrown at his back.
Edited by Hunter Williams, Jan 25 2010, 07:48 PM.
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Gwen MacKenzie
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Gwendolyn fell silent, crossing her arms over her chest as she listened to Cora then to Hunter as he tried to counter her. All the while she said nothing simply staring at each in turn allowing them to have their words. Hell they all deserved the right to say much more than just that. It cut her, yes, but her keeping the secrets had cut them deeper. When Hunter moved away with Rosa to put her to bed the Captain rolled her eyes up toward the ceiling trying to compose herself. Captains didn't cry infront of their crew but by God she was close to doing it. "Your right, Coralyn. I should have told you all this before, but you have to understand then we weren't in a position that was going to be like this. Before it was our jobs to be nothing but a transport ship- medical supplies, people, weapons.. Hell how do you think half the Rim worlds are getting the medical supplies that the Alliance has been promising them for months but not shipping them? It's us. You saw the light in the eyes of the people here when you and Drew were out there helping the injured. Did you see any Alliance doctors?"

Raising her hand Gwen rubbed fingers across her brow already feeling her headache starting to get worse. "This ship ain't right for kids, no, you're right. But look at Jean. Look at Rosalee. This ship is gonna be the safest place that I can make it in the time they are here. War might start tomorrow, it might start five or six years from now. We are gathering information in hopes of a peaceful turnover." When Gwen lowered her hand she looked back to Cora. Oh she knew her past all right and one of the reasons she had fought so hard to get her on the ship. "Alliance helped create the Reavers. Half the stuff that's on that disc.. half of what I saw them do t' prisoners of war... The government is slowly crumbling in the Core. If we play our cards right and do this right, as the best team out there, then we might even prevent a single drop of blood being spilled."

Looking to Drew, the red head took a deep breath before looking back to the others. "I know you got questions. Ask them. I'll answer. But please, listen to everything before any of you make a final decision on what you want to do."
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Coralyn Cardew
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Her questions, raised to the Captain out of concern, fear and extreme disappointment were met with a vicious tirade from Hunter. The same man whose daughter she’d been panicking for since their arrival such a short time ago. She didn’t think anyone had ever used that level of venom directed towards her since she’d left Londinum. Captain was firm and often rather benevolent, Drew was harsh but always fair, and even Fi’s sometimes sharp words were often just distrust and loyalty disguised. How could anybody be quite so obtuse? So... so black and white? Purple gutted lizzards? They were those vicious, murdering men, but they were once her friends, family, neighbours, many of them boys who were too stupid or young or ignorant to question their principles. In fact they’d been her, until Mikhail had gone. And yet there was no room for discussion or argument or question with Hunter, just ‘join us or be our enemy’...Although now she thought about it, it wasn’t quite such a strange concept. It’d been often applied in the Alliance military recruitment office of Roma’s Academies.

“You’re just like them. And I think you’re horrible.” Cora said quietly to his retreating form. If she said anything else to him she was either going to stutter beyond recognition , or burst into tears, leaving any shred of dignity she had left intact behind. Acutely aware that she was standing, quite alone in the silence with lots of eyes on her, she swallowed down the lump rising in her throat and closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, feeling utterly humiliated.

Gwen however, surprised her with her own words. Clear, concise, almost apologetic. She didn’t need to emphasise the good they were doing, Coralyn knew it, and was grateful for it. It eased the guilt of having her own boyfriend arrested for doing the same thing. It was just so complicated. Maybe too much so for her to ever really comprehend. Maybe that was the way it had to be.

“Thank you, Captain.” She said with effort, her voice even tinier than before. “Will you give me just a little time to...to think about it? It’s just...” she sighed. “It’s just that perhaps I was better off offering a more minor contribution to the people out here. And I’m sure there’d be a way for Cressida to set me down quietly next time we land.” She wasn’t sure of the protocol for tendering her resignation. But she certainly knew how to fold her socks in a hurry.
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Hunter Williams
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He'd made it all the way to his room; door open, Rosalee inside and heading for the crate of her things (they still weren't quite unpacked) when the words struck him like a blow. It was like someone had hit pause on a remote control and he didn't move for a couple of seconds in stunned silence. Every single muscle in in his body decided to tense up at that next instant, jaw working itself so hard it was painful and his hands balled up into fists. He was just like them?! It took every ounce of self control he possessed not to turn around and just start screaming right there. Instead he very calmly addressed Rosalee. "Why don't you get your 'jamas on an' I'll be back in a bit to tuck you in. A'ight băo bèi?" He didn't really give her much time to object, but from the look in her father's eyes the child merely nodded her head slightly wide eyed.

Gently closing the hatch Hunter rounded on the doctor, steam basically pouring from his ears. Ever since the allusion that he was anything like the people he so vehemently despised all higher brain function had been basically shut off. He wasn't listening anymore, just barely keeping the urge to throw the woman back onto her pansy little ass in check. He barley moved back towards the table before letting his mouth loose. "I ain't a damn thing like them. I don't hide behind gorram orders as justification for any o' the thing's I've done. Sure as hell got my sins and all; but I've never killed no kids, never starved hundreds while I ate big ol' fancy meals and I certainly never burned people alive in their own homes just because they ran for mayor."

He was breathing heavily now. Hell he'd pulled a gun on people for insinuating less. "I ain't never done a mission I wasn't damn sure I could look myself in the mirror after and that's a fact. So I'm sorry if your happily little view of the world just got busted up, but this is reality. It ain't really all that pretty." Still her notion of the Alliance being 'them' as in not her hadn't quite gotten past him. Maybe she wasn't some total unification supporting blind monkey. "If you really wanted to do something to help people you'd step out of that comfort zone you got all built nice and shiny for yourself instead of hiding away like nothing's goin' on."
Edited by Hunter Williams, Jan 25 2010, 11:50 PM.
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Coralyn Cardew
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Cora could brush off patient abuse and complaints. She could abide being lectured and berated, she’d even stomached all the systematic bullying in her youth well enough. But what she could not deal with was a large man in her face, screeching in her face like she was a wicked person. A tremor of fear shook her, and she bit her lip, tasting blood. He’s going to hit me, she thought, already anticipating the attack. Mulling over all the potential damage he could do to her... well she wasn’t going to give him the opportunity, she was going back to her bunk and she was getting out of there. She'd rather take her chances on the rim than spend another moment with this beast.

Wide eyed and unblinking, small, quick steps took Cora backwards, in her haste she stumbled over the bench where people still sat. It took effort to right herself, but at this point she was beyond self-consciousness. “You, you awful... you stay away from me!” she half-screeched at Hunter, in a voice that certainly didn’t belong to her. In one swift movement she rushed out of the galley, pushing her way past Drew and Gwen. She built up speed as she ran, but she hadn’t banked on her eyes swimming, and if was hard to keep her co-ordination, let alone her tears in check. When she got back to her bunk, she wasn’t just going to bolt the hatch, she was going to push every article of furniture she had against it.
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Natalia Benedict
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Talia was very new to this boat. She looked around the room and saw all of one familiar face from where she was leaning against the wall. She, having only just come from the planet's surface, was enough used to fresh-cooked meals that she could and had made herself stop eating before she wiped it all out single-handedly. Even though technically off-duty, she stayed for two reasons: Natalia wanted to see how everyone acted around each other for future reference, and Gwen had called them all to a meeting. She knew what it was about—Gwen and she went way back, and it was just more convenient for both of them if someone could keep their head in this situation and make sure things didn't fall to chaos. She also knew how hard this was for Gwen—the captain hadn't hardened herself as much as the Corporal.

So the woman watched as everything played out, feeling her pride and then her loyalties stung by the young doctor—who was that? Coralyn, was it?--but she resolved not to confront the young woman while there was a small child in the room. So she was silent, mentally praising Hunter for his fatherly instincts that drove the little girl from the room and sent her to bed. When they were both gone, Natalia stepped forward off the wall, starting to point at Coralyn. ”N--” But Gwen started speaking, and Talia had to bite her tongue to stop the rest, her arm falling limply to her side. Her eyes moved to consider the captain for a second, nodding minutely in admiration at the well-chosen words.

The girl seemed to calm down, but Natalia knew what was coming. Those stupid, stupid words sent toward Hunter had been enough to make him kill before, she could guess, and so she was less than surprised when he charged back in. But that was a little too close for her liking—there was a difference between rounding on a vet like Natalia and rounding on an all but defenseless young woman. ”Hunter!” She let the word slip when he was halfway through, taking two steps forward in an attempted to bully the man down. But he wasn't listening. Fine.

Enough! She stepped forward and between the two, her right palm rapping his left shoulder roughly to get him to back off, ”You've made your point, Bull! You ain't some gorram idiot what can't keep control o' himself in the front o' the Captain, either !” Too late. The girl was rushing backwards, falling over things. The air rushed out of Natalia's lungs in what could best be described as a hiss, and she turned back to Hunter, giving not an inch as she prepared herself to take the brunt of his anger—or his fists. ”You gonna calm down, now, or am I gonna have t' force you?” After all, it was her job.
Edited by Natalia Benedict, Jan 26 2010, 08:09 PM.
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Jean Howlett
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Cadet
It had become incredibly uncomfortable to sit in that room while so much yelling was going on. Jean was too afraid to even make eye contact with the ones who were yelling, instead, he tried to keep his eyes focused on the empty plate in front of him. It didn’t matter that the harsh words weren’t aimed at him, they were still aimed at someone he knew and she was clearly hurt. And now Coralyn had left the galley, the boy didn’t blame her, by this point he really wanted to do the same.

His gaze slowly shifted from the plate up towards the man who had been shouting at Coralyn. The child was upset that Hunter had hurt her so much, he wanted to say something... Once he had gained enough courage to speak, he, unexpectedly, ended up raising his voice a little. “Why’d you yell at her like that?! She didn’t do anythin’ to you…!” he stared at the man. As he continued to look at the man’s eyes he started to feel nervous – in fact, it always made Jean uncomfortable to make eye contact with anyone for more than a few seconds –. He sat in his seat quietly now, with the thought that Hunter might yell at him next because a kid shouldn’t be talking to an adult that way.
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Thomas Fisher
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Tom wasn't one to stay so quiet during a meeting. Usually, he had some smart ass comment to blurt out during the middle, but right now, he had nothing to say. He was too busy watching Cora and the new guy fight. It would have been better if it was physical... no scratch that, it would have been better if two girls were having a cat fight, but Tom couldn't control that. So, he was making do with the verbal arguments and how everything was playing out. He had a slightly amused look on his face at this.

What Gwen did say was pretty heavy and some of it did surprise Tom. He had been working on this ship for two plus years now and he hadn't known all the things that went down. He was just told to fly from point a to point b and he didn't concern himself with what was going on around him. He did sometimes get more story, but some of this stuff was new to him. Hand picked? For what? He was a newer pilot at the time and had no history with the war. So, he wasn't sure himself, but he wasn't going to question it. Sure as hell, he wasn't going to leave the ship either. It didn't even cross his mind. Besides his sister who was who knew where, these people were his only family and he had grown close to many of them, even though he wouldn't admit it.

He cast a glance over at Jean. "Be careful, kid," was all he said when the kid spoke out. He glanced back over at Gwen, the way she made it sound, there seemed to be more. "Is there still more you need to tell us?" he asked. He was ready to declare that he was staying and head out of the galley. Some how, these meeting always ended up with someone yelling at someone.
 
Hunter Williams
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Aerial Ace
Oh good. That's exactly what you should do, poke a stick at the beast to see it get angry and then blame it all on them. Dark eyes followed her retreating path across the galley, taking only a hint of satisfaction from seeing her back down. No, Hunter wouldn't have hit her; for one Gwen was watching and would definitely not have approved, for another he didn't get the feeling she was trained in combat. So she wanted him to stay away. What on earth would make him want to go anywhere near someone like that? "Gladly."

It was the rough force against his shoulder that shattered his raging focus and brought him back to the room. He'd almost forgotten there were others there, but it would seem none of them had come close to ignoring him. Goody. It turned out to be Talia who had finally stepped up to end his little tirade, which was probably a good thing. Not only could she drop him in about ten seconds flat if she really wanted to, Hunter knew that somewhere in there she felt just as offended as he did. She wasn't the enemy, she was just putting a soldier that was out of line in check. He exhaled forcefully from his nose, allowing the muscles that had tightened up all over to relax some. Maybe he had been a little over the top, but nobody got off calling him gorram Alliance. Not a single person.

"Shit, I ain't lookin' to get tossed on the ground by a girl in front of all these folks today, Talia." He took half a step back, signaling that he was finished. He wouldn't advance on anyone else unless someone got the bright idea of saying something like that again. "But if you still wanna lil' go later when its more private then I'm all for it. Never could say no to a rough night with a lady." He offered her a half-hearted grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. Yes he'd fallen back on his familiar old lewd teasing, but beneath the crude overtones was a serious offer of sparring later that night. He needed to work off some of this emotion, and throwing punches was a great way to do it.

He had in all honesty completely forgotten the kid was there, and from the look on the young mans face Hunter had put him rather on edge. He felt bad about that, didn't have a single issue with the boy. Jean was wrong though. The tone he took was far different from the anger he had been firing at Coralyn; it was tired and worn from years of fighting. "Yeah she did kid. That's about the worst thing she coulda done." The other man was right in trying to get this moving again though. Hunter shot Gwen an apologetic look, this had to be hard for her and he wasn't helping matters much. He'd approach her later and apologize proper. Crossing his arms carefully over his chest he settled in to finish out this meeting where he stood. "On top of whatever else you gotta say, we got a mission already in the works? Or is we still waiting on word.?"
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Gwen MacKenzie
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Operative
Of course there was more to tell like how her jackass of a brother was actually alive and serving in the Alliance, how when the War did kick off she'd be pulled away from the Cressida, or even how there was a slim chance that.. Cora storming out had left the Captain quiet the entire time. Sure she'd go seek out the other doctor later for a private conversation but right now just wasn't the time. Tempers needed to cool first before anything else was said. Green eyes watched as Nat quickly put Hunter back in his place. The girl was always good at doing that with anyone and years of being in the 501st just seemed to... perfect it.

Hunter and Cora's outburst wouldn't go unnoted though. Each of them she'd speak with a little more than the others had they decided to rip each others throats out. Both of them had their endearing qualities and things they needed to work on. It would be best to cut off any more awkward meetings as quickly as she could.

It was Jean sticking up for Cora that actually finally pulled a small smile at the corners of her lips. He was a good kid. Gwen could already tell just from that he was possibly going to be a handful when he was older. "No mission yet. We.. have something to do first."

Glancing toward Jay the woman quickly moved in to speaking again. "Jay is going to be going away for a while. He has some personal things off the ship he needs to take care of before returning. Tom, if you and Echo will work with him to get as close to where he needs to be dropped off I'm sure he'd appreciate it." At first it hadn't been something Gwen wanted to agree to. She needed him, with the ship being pushed forward toward things she wanted to shield them all from. It at first had felt more like when her brother had abandoned their family for the Alliance. Sure it wasn't something she was still thrilled about, but she, at least, knew Andhek would come back. "I'll be taking on the roles of First Mate as well until I can find a temporary replacement."
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Jay Andhek
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...no grenades. We're robbin the place, not occupying it.
Jay nodded at Gwen and tried to avoid the glare from Hunter that was quickly shot his way as the Captain announced that he was leaving the boat. It didnt please him that he was leaving at a time where it seemed that he would be needed the most, but the plans had been made long before the disc and the ships new purpose. Of course, being the First Mate, he had known all about the true nature of the Cressi's dealings, it just had never been this serious before.

In all honesty though, he didn't have to defend his decision. He would be back, and most of thems that needed to know the reason for his departure already knew. Tossing a smile at Jean for his words to Hunter, Jay excused himself from the table.

"I'm goin' ta see if I can calm down Cora....."

He disappeared through the hatch. He already had his temporary replacement in mind, and would talk to Gwen about it later, in private.
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Drew Lancaster
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Aerial Ace
Things had gone downhill all too fast. The Doctor hadn't been expecting such a violent reaction from the younger doctor. Yes, he'd been rough on her, which might very well have acted as a catalyst in the situation, but he'd been hoping that it might have an opposite effect on her. He was wrong.

It was difficult for Drew to admit that, even to himself, he thought as he rubbed a hand over his face, watching as Cora, then Jay left. He would've let her stew, but Jay and her had an amicable relationship.

There wasn't nothin' Drew could say to the group, not that Gwen'd already said, so he stayed where he was. He stayed standing, if only to support Gwen. The stress of the situation was reflected in her eyes, and he was sure his visage wasn't one of calm, either.
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