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Aimee let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding as they finally released and made way out of their docking bay. The little lizard had done a fine job, and she found herself peering in its direction curiously for a moment before finalizing her post-underway checks.

"Shields engaged at passive strength. Security and safety lock protocols disengaged; post docking checklists complete, ma'am. Tactical standing by, Captain."

Twelve minutes later, the programmed message arrived on the cubes of each member of the Ark Royal's tactical crew members, a simple text copy file that had been uploaded from a handwritten letter in her feminine writing:

"To those of you receiving this notice, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself both as your Tactical Chief and your supervisory bridge officer. Should you have concerns, please make them known to me.

I look forward to serving with each of you; although the particulars of our security details may occasionally be dangerous, I am sure each of you will perform your duties admirably.

The details of a tactical crew meeting followed, along with a time.

Respectfully,

Aimee Darienne Beauchene, commanding Tactical Officer, SC Ark Royal."

((The tactical team meeting will be a separate thread once the AR gets sufficiently under way! I'll start it probably in a day or so.))
Daysa read the message on her cube and watched James leave then beckoned Itsuki into the Medical office, "What do you need so soon?" Her voice was kind and her eyes sparkled, her wings fluttered softly as she led the Chief Engineer into the office and stopped by a wall of cabinents, she watched him expectantly, waiting for an answer.
He looked at how enthusiastic the medical officer was; clearly a passionate doctor.

"I'm here for some iron tablets. Apparently, I left mine back at the station." He looked carefully at the doctor, he had heard the humans living on the former Earth's moon had evolved strangely and he was not surprised to find those comments were not unfounded. There was a certain angelic appearance to her, what with the bright white wings. The wings may not be functional outside of the moon's low gravity considering the extra lift needed to take off, but they were aesthetically quite pleasing to the eye. All of this was speculation, of course, based on what knowledge he had on xenobiology.
Tobais and Radac nodded to the Chief Engineer then went about thier buisness.

Tobias continued to tinker at his desk. Not really in the mood for a walk about. His leg always acted up during the first few hours out in space. He was massaging the point where his flesh and the metal met when Radac Excused himself to map out the ship.

Radac had already gotten a good idea of the Engineering bay and was using the schematic he downloaded from the cube to find his way around. Mainly he was looking for vantage points. Dangerous locations. Choke points and so on in case they were attacked. He knew it wasn't likely. But paranoia was healthy in certain doses.

He walked through a good portion of the ship. Taking stock of what was avalible. When he found the inventory of the small arms locker available to the tactical team. He really hoped nothing serious happened. Then again. The shields this thing had were top of the line. So maybe his misgivings were unfounded. But still...at least he and Tobias could defend themselves...well if Tobias was Sober he could. Lost in thought Radac almost walked into a wall. Causing him to pause with his nose a millimeter away. He then let's out a sigh. The cyborg looks both ways then decides on a left. Continuing his little trip around the ship.
Having completed to satisfaction the organization of their research notes and profiles, Cchaaneh pocketed their cube—such a wondrous little device, if difficult to use with their large fingers—and set about looking over their workspace in earnest.

It wasn’t a lab per se, given the nature of sociocultural xenoanthropology in general, nor was it particularly large. The research and documentation of alien species was mostly field work-oriented. Still, there were several high-end computers for processing data, view screens for displaying information, and stores of existing research on their subject of choice. Plus plenty of comfortable perches compatible with varsit anatomy, as requested.

It suited Cchaaneh’s purposes. After all, they were here to study their crew mates as much as any aliens they encountered on their voyage. With a wry grin, they reflected that the others aboard the SC Ark Royal would likely come to resent them for their probing into their interpersonal affairs. They looked forward to it.

Their sensitive horns picked up the sound of someone’s voice outside their door. Stepping down from their perch, Cchaaneh opened the door to look outside, and their eyes widened as they spotted Radac. Their first victim—er, subject! Adjusting their uncomfortable uniform, Cchaaneh walked over to the man, eagerly eyeing his cybernetic parts.

“Hail,” they said simply to capture the cyborg’s attention. “I couldn’t help but notice you walking by. What are you doing?”
Tula responds with a quick "Yes Ma'am." before moving to take her station. As she takes her seat she finally takes a look at the other present bridge crew, noting that it was rather diverse compared to the mostly human ones she had served under before.

Finally looking over her console, Tula is quick to locate an data port. Reaching back under her hair, she unreels a small cable from a matching port on the back of her neck before plugging herself into the ships systems.
On the way back from the Astrophysics Lab toward the dining hall, Lieutenant Farrell passed by the Medical Office again, and poked his head in to see if Daysa was ready and wanted to walk together.

That's when he noticed that she was gone. He wasn't sure if she had gotten an emergency message on her cube and had to rush out, either a family emergency or a crew emergency...but he saw that the Chief Engineer, Itsuki Kaminari, was still waiting to be helped, and decided he would try. He was relatively familiar with the computer interface in the medical office because he had served as a lab tech as a student, before he went into Astrophysics, and they were standard issue.

"We need more medical staff around here, huh? But I'm sure they'll find their way here soon," James remarked casually as he went to the refrigerated cabinet and typed in a code.

"Did I hear you say you needed iron tablets?" he asked. He looked up Itsuki Kaminari in the computer's databased and found his name. Selecting it on the touch screen, a drawer automatically opened. He shuffled through some bottles inside and found the iron tablets. Then, he handed them to Itsuki Kaminari. "Does that look right?"

James listened to his response and nodded.

"Hey are you Engineering folks a friendly bunch? I hate sitting alone in the dining hall, can I sit with ya'll? I'm not good with this social stuff. Helps to have a game plan going into things like that for me. My brain cells are filled up with star maps and formulas, you know how it is, right?" He figured maybe an engineer would understand what he was talking about.

"Well, I think they're going to be serving soon," Farrell said. "If we want a good spot, we'd better go ahead and go down there, eh, Chief?"
Itsuki took the tablets and pocketed them rather quickly, it was not good for many people to know of his condition - especially if he was needing to command the respect of them.

"I may take you up on your offer. Usually, we aren't the socialising type though right now I could use some soba before I set to work." He walked down the corridor and towards the lift, pushing the floor number where the cafeteria was located.
Vail's cube chimed softly, announcing the mess hall's preparation. Any other time, the food would've been just a quick run in and grab, but her commander back at Artemis Station told her to have one nice meal held for the crew before rations took over.

She rose to her feet, gazing out at the stars curling around the ship. "Go ahead and put it into auto," she ordered to the bridge crew. "This is the only time we'll have something decent to eat until we stop at port again."

Vail allowed herself something of a smile and excused herself from the bridge, making her way down the halls.
Sivwikkas continued to make small adjustments to their heading, micromanaging their flight path to avoid astral eddies, gravity waves, and solar flares. Ultimately none of them would have caused any damage to the ship, but the Isswas felt restless and anxious and needed to do something with their hands.

It was simultaneous relief and disappointment when the captain called for them to adjourn to the mess hall. "Aye aye, captain!" Sivwikkas typed in a safe course for the autopilot, then climbed down from the chair and folded up their booster seat. They stowed it under the helm station for later use, then headed down the hallways to the mess hall a few minutes after Vail.

Once they reached it, Wikkas peeked shyly around the doorframe to see who was already there. It felt like lunchtime at the academy all over again. Who should they sit next to? Surely not the captain--that was far too brazen. Should they just sit alone? That was a terribly lonely option.

So, paralyzed by indecision, Sivwikkas lingered right in the doorway. Given their size, they'd be easy enough to sidestep.
James and the Chief Engineer strode down the corridor and toward the dining hall. James saw Sivwikkas, standing by the door, looking uncertain.

"Would you like to sit with us?" James asked Sivwikkas, still unsure if the Chief Engineer wanted company or not. Perhaps they could all sit together. If not, perhaps he could sit with Sivwikkas.
Sivwikkas's skin blanched considerably when James came up behind them. This is it! Time to make a friend! They let out the tiniest nervous little croak. "Wrk! Mm--well, yes--I would like that a lot."

With some concentration they willed their paled skin back into its usual blue-and-orange, and gave their dark spots a friendly greenish tinge. "You're--mm--a science officer, right?" they asked, noting the color of his uniform.
Tula was a curious thing - as the Calyra was from a planet without androids or robots, she intrigued Aimee. There would be Tim enough later, though. For now she had somewhere else to be.

Aimee's station essentially already was handling itself; with nothing going on at the moment, and given their recent departure, there was little reason to worry over it. As such, she fell into lockstep with the Captain on their way to the mess, keeping a casual two steps behind her. She also settled herself into the right hand seat next to Vail, although she apparently had already chosen not to eat.
Radac turned sharply and faced the odd lizzard creature. He identified them as Cchaaneh. His first reaction was to frown. He didn't like the look he was being given. "I was getting to know the ship better first hand. I have the schematic but real experience is far better then a map." His eyes light up for a second as he received the shipwide communication. "Now it seems I'll be heading to fetch my boss some food..." He says sounding rather annoyed. "I'd better get introductions out of the way there. I'm sure the captain will wonder why Tobias didn't arrive." He then nods to the alien. "My name is Radac. A pleasure." He says Abit stiffly. Clearly not used to the meet and greet thing. He then steps off toward the messhall.

Tobias was still sitting at his station. He had ignored the call and made a point of playing with some.scrap instead. Seeing what he could build with limited parts while he waited for Radac to come complain about him not eating or something.
Tilting their head in the varsit equivalent of a nod, Cchaaneh too made for the mess hall. They were quite looking forward to seeing everyone in the same space, sharing what would be their only proper meal for quite some time. Cchaaneh was hungry already, and ran their long tongue across their lips in anticipation. Reaching into their pocket, they felt for their cube, knowing they would need it for note-taking very soon...and look, there! Already a couple of the crew had congregated in the entrance. Cchaaneh gravitated towards them with what they hoped was a pleasant smile, cube in hand.

“Ah, a fellow science officer! Well met,” they said to James, raising up their chin in greeting. Turning to Sivwikkas, they continued, “And you must be our pilot. My, you’re even smaller in person.” The Isswas was almost...cute, in a way, being so short. “Nature’s wonders never cease. I’ll eat dinner with you, if you don’t object.” They pulled back their lips slightly with this comment. In Cchaaneh’s studies they had discovered the amusing human art of puns, and they had to resist the urge to make one about their crew mates’ resemblance to a snacks. Not with the captain so close by.
Sivwikkas wrote:
Sivwikkas's skin blanched considerably when James came up behind them. This is it! Time to make a friend! They let out the tiniest nervous little croak. "Wrk! Mm--well, yes--I would like that a lot."

With some concentration they willed their paled skin back into its usual blue-and-orange, and gave their dark spots a friendly greenish tinge. "You're--mm--a science officer, right?" they asked, noting the color of his uniform.

Lieutenant Farrell grinned, delighted by the "wrk," sound and the changes in color his little new friend was able to manifest on his skin.

"Yes, they've put me in charge of astrophysics. I'll be mapping the new star systems we discover out here, and gathering data. They call me the "Head Astrophysicist," in the crew roster, but I don't care for titles much. Although I'm proud of making Lieutenant. But you can call me James."

He gestured, inviting him to a table to sit down. "What about you? What do you like to be called, and what do you do on the ship?" James asked.
Vail settled into her seat. Apprehension roiled in her gut, but on the outside, she appeared as a captain should. Calm. Cool. Collected. Ready for anything. She sat there quietly, nodding to Aimee. Her eyes, however, were on the crew filing in.

There was James, already making friends. It pleased her to see that someone could thrive in such a place, especially this early. And Sivwikkas. They still intrigued her...and they seemed rather jumpy. Vail made a mental note to try her best to calm the Isswas the best she could.

And then the ones she hadn't met quite yet. Cchaaneh, yet another intriguing life-form. The cyborg she'd heard of earlier. And still others, she knew, would be walking in.

She smirked inwardly. All in all, this crew would make for a fairly interesting adventure.
Itsuki looked to the small Isswas as James and Cchaaneh spoke, "So, I hear you will be aiding me in engineering when the ship isn't in need of manual piloting. Any prior experience working on an exploration vessel?"

In hindsight, the formal tone probably wasn't the best one to use on them given their jumpy and generally nervous demeanour. He hoped that this would, at least, get them accustomed to life on a ship where ranks would be pulled constantly.
"Nice to meet you Lieutenant James. I'm Sivwikkas, but some people call me Wikkas but not everyone so you can, you know, take your pick. I man the helm and work in engineering too." Sivwikkas looked then to Itsuki. Their spots faded a little upon hearing the question. "No formal experience," Wikkas replied. "I--wrk--I just graduated from Freestar Academy. I double majored in computer science and computer engineering and minored in physics."

Then Cchaaneh showed up. Sivwikkas had never met a Varsit before, and while they were sure there had been a chapter on them in one of their xenobiology classes, all that currently ran through their head was instinctual panic. A Varsit smile, no matter how well-intentioned, still showed an alarming number of pointy, carnivorous teeth. The Isswas's skin blanched again, and their throat sac puffed up slightly and turned a shade of salmon pink. "Hello. Yes, I--wrk--I am a pilot. Dinner with me--yes." Just don't make dinner of me. They willed their skin back to neutral colors, and thanked the powers that be that their throat hadn't brightened all the way to scarlet.
"Wonderful! I think I'll call you Wikkas then," he said. He was overenthusiastic, because Wikkas seemed nervous and it made him want to overcompensate with confidence to set him at ease, even it was a bit of an act.

"And it's to meet you, Cchaaneh. A fellow science officer it is nice to see, indeed. As you say," James said, laughing, hoping he didn't sound to awkward, and so glad he had people to sit with. He shot a look at Captain Vail. She seemed like she was calm, just watching everyone. James wished he was as calm as she looked. He really wasn't sure what else to say to these folks so he looked forward to the food coming and hoped they would find something to talk about that he could eavesdrop on while gazing out the window at the stars going by, pretending not to listen. He was sure now, with enough people here, he could remain mostly silent.