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Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr

After the department head speech and some socializing Ravon had removed himself from the briefing room. He strolled across the fighter assault bay and worked his way towards the maintenance bay where the deck crew had stored his atrocity of a fighter. He imagined it would probably be half stripped down for parts yet when he arrived it seemed mostly intact. The sight of it rather gruesome to look at as he looked at the various dents, scorch marks and damages the ice made. He shook his head as he stepped closer to his former fighter, or what's left of it.

"Damn... You're truly a hideous sight to behold," he chuckled before he traced his fingers along it "Thanks for getting me out of that rock though, we had a good run."  he spoke softly to his fighter as he ran around it, fingers never leaving the fuselage as some edges felt rougher and outright sharp at times. He stopped at the rear of his fighter, unable to see if anyone would enter the maintenance bay at this time. In return, the chances anyone could see him were rather slim as well. The pilot inspected the engines as he never thought these things would've kept together as they flew off the planet. In essence he had just welded them to the hull and connected the fuel cells with the engines after a long day of trial and error. As he stood there minutes passed by as his mind took him back to his ice rock that had crippled him into not being there for his fellow wolf brethren and sisters. The losses they had endured might not have been his fault entirely, yet perhaps if he were there in the moment with them... Perhaps he could've made a difference.

His eyes turned a tad watery before he felt the bone chilling sensation run down his back. He heard footsteps in the hangar bay, footing that was lighter than Sten's. Perhaps one of the deckhands had sneaked away from the hangar bay to look at the hybrid fighter. Ravon stepped back to the sides of the fighter, curious to see who came to look. His lips curling into a faint smile as he saw the chief of propulsion. "Something caught your interest ensign?" he called her out as he closed the distance towards her.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #1 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] @Nolan

Another day.

Another fighter.

Another fucked up mess she had to fix.

Ji held her PADD in her hand as she scrolled through the shit that she needed to take care of.  There was a meeting happening later she needed to be on deck for but not really attend.  She wasn't the sort for rubbing elbows and browning noses.  She did her job, kept her head down, and did shit right.  Her job wasn't to make friends it was to keep pilots and their shit together so that they couldn't die on missions because of mechanical failure.  At least to the best of her abilities anyway.  Ji was the sort that prided herself on her work, and worked a whole lot more hours than her sheets told her to work merely because there were some jobs that were just meant to be done by the right person.  She felt better when they were done by her.

Or at least double checked.

Ji had long since instituted a double check method not just because of her, but with the others as well.  They all checked each others work for anything that might have been missed.  It was the best way to ensure that things would remain done well and proper instead hoping that you had caught onto everything that might be happening with a fighter.  Brushing her hair out of her face she came down on the fighter that was assigned to Vector 2. 

Might as well take a look at the mangled piece of shit and start compiling a list.  Pushing herself off the wall she had been resting on she headed towards Vector 2.  She was wearing her jumpsuit, the god awful yellow color was not her favorite but it had become comfortable after years of wearing the thing.  Unzipped half way she had the top tied around her waist so that it wouldn't get caught on anything.  The skin tight black tank top she wore underneath it was shown for now and the rigid pile of muscles and toned body that she had worked hard for over the years of manual labor and working herself to the bone.

Stepping into the second vector she sighed softly.  I swear to all that is fucking holy, if we don't have another bloody battle for a while, I'm fucking good. she thought to herself.  She didn't realize that the pilot himself was in there.  She was just doing her thing.  The hull plating was pockmarked with a great deal of damage and the whole thing looked like it had been pieced together for the sole means of escaping and … it likely had.  She had read a little blurb about it, just a cursory glance by one of her boys but that didn't give justice to the beast that was standing here waiting to be decided on it's fate.

She sighed softly and blew air between her lips, it went upward and floated her bangs out of her face as she quickly looked down at her PADD and opened a new file, naming it Vector 2 as well as the date.  She wanted to make sure that she had everything written down and she liked keeping files for her projects so that she would know when they were done and nothing would accidentally get crossed because she had so many ships to work on and get her boys to fix at once.  Suddenly, a voice, Ji jumped slightly only because she had honestly thought that she was completely alone.  But, clearly she wasn't.  Her dark eyes shifted up to find none other than the pilot that had ridden this thing to freedom.

Did he just call me Ensign? she wondered.  “Sorry, no Ensign here, Commander.” she said with a shrug of her shoulders, it didn't bother her she had worked hard to be a CPO and she was proud of what she did here.  She was proud of her work, and took pride in the fact that she was the one that helped keep these boys going in the directions that they needed to.  She moved towards the engines that looked as though they were literally welded into position with spit and duct tape.  She sighed softly as she wondered how thing thing actually flew and how the man was actually able to get here.  Somehow he had, and she was proud of him, of his perseverance to escape and to come here.

“Well I don't know if I should congratulate you on your.. stellar... welding skills that held this hunk of shit together, or... if I should make you regret all the other things that are wrong with it.” she grinned back at him.  She was not afraid of a Commander, not in the least, she liked to give shit to anyone and mostly, men, were the sort that could take it and roll with it.  Probably why she got along with them better than women sometimes.

“How did you even fly this fucker Rav?” she asked dropping a nickname out there to see what happened.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #2 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr 

Hearing Jae mention she was no ensign made Thomas close his eyes as he had missed ranks with another crewman. However it didn't seem to bother the CPO as she easily shrugged it off as she was holding the PADD. His eyes rolled over her as he took in her posture, the yellow coverall pushed open and down to her hips as the black tank showed off her muscular arms and feminine curves. It had been a rather regular sight at times for frequent visitors of the flight deck to recognize Eun Sae Ji in that set up and it looked like today would be not different.

The comment about his shoddy welding made the officer laugh a little as he shrugged and shook his head as he admired his own handy work. Granted welding wasn't his top skill, yet given the tools he had at his disposal, he made it work with what he had. "Yeah, well... If I had deckhands on the planetoid it might've looked a bit more professional." he admitted before he shook his head "Either way it did the job... Got me back home where I belong." he murmured as he shook the memories out of his head and blinked a few times before looking back at the CPO.

As she asked how he even got here, she didn't use his call sign or any of his other abbreviations. Thomas chuckled lightly though it turned more into a huff as he looked at the cobbled together fighter. "Honestly I don't know how this thing even got off the ground. Much less into a space war where it actually did okay." he answered before pausing. "Trust me there was a lot of trial and error, systems malfunctioning, master alarms going off and blaring during the whole ride." He laughed a little as he looked over to the Korean woman "I'm pretty sure it'd be tech's worst nightmare to see a pilot go airborne in that. Not to mention the maintenance costs." he teased the chief as he could only imagine the over hours they'd have to put in to make this thing actually space worthy. "Either way, what do you reckon is going to happen with it? Stripped for parts? Salvage as much as you can from it or..." he asked her as he walked over to her to stand besides her as he looked at the engines once more.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #3 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy] @Nolan

She was totally giving him shit.

It was fun to play with the pilots.  It was nice to just enjoy the fact that she could tease them and enjoy the fact that they were always usually pretty good about rolling with whatever it was that she came out with.  Rav seemed no different, he nearly laughed slightly and gave a shrug.  She grinned back and patted the side of this ugly monstrosity for a moment as he told her that he didn't have deckhands back where he was but he had done what he could. 

“All things included you lived, and that's all that fucking matters right?”

She could not even imagine thinking that this shit was flight worthy.  It was nice though, that he had been able to do what he needed to do to get himself off the planet.  She was very glad that he had made it, and that this damn thing had managed to stay together.  She sighed as she tried to figure out what she even wanted to do with it all together.  It was patched together that much was for fucking sure, but it had held together, she wondered if it was even remotely saveable.

He was right, it was basically her worst fucking nightmare standing right there in Vector 2.  She hated that she was going to have to make a decision.  She wasn't even sure that she could save the fucker. It might be best to take it apart and have the parts put to the side to help fix the fighters that were actually capable of flight.  But, she wondered if he was attached to it.  Ji might sometimes come across as a bitch she had a heart and didn't let things like that get in the way.  She didn't want to kill his love for the damn thing she had seen pilots that had fucking bonded with a fighter over less.  He had literally built this fucker from the ground up, flown it off a planet, through a battle, and back home.

If that didn't create a lasting impression she wasn't sure what would.

Finally, he asked her what the fate of his baby was, and she bit her lower lip as she looked over at the Frankenstein level fighter that was in front of her.  She wasn't even sure that it would fire up at this point, it might initially but it was basically barely even something that could hold it's own power.  She tilted her head to the side and then she sighed.

“If it was completely and one hundred percent up to me... I'd scrap the fucker.”  she let that hang for a moment.  “But...” she continued for a moment.  “If you wanted to see if we could make it work somehow then we could try to work on it together.  Like a project.  But it's going to take time.  A lot of it.  So.. I guess the question is going to be.  Do you want a project?  Or do you want a fighter that you can take out tomorrow and go fight bad guys with?” she asked her dark eyes looking over at him curiously as she rose her brow. 

She was willing to do the work in her spare time, but it was definitely going to take some time and that was okay she wasn't afraid of work, she thrived on it.  But she didn't want the guy to feel like he didn't get a choice what so ever.  Because he did, or at least, she was giving him one before she gave him the full diagnosis. 

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #4 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr  

"Always a plus if you survive and get out in one piece."

It was his answer to her statement that that was all that mattered. His eyes followed the curves and outline of the fighter as he had grown fond of it. underneath the partial Reaver plating was his own fighter, his own little thing where he had customized, updated and replaced things in before. It was a shame to see her gather dust. On the other side, he remembered how badly the thing handled in flight. The constant struggle to battle for control as the ship seemed to have a will of it's own. In the end it remained an abomination that survived miraculously.

As he got the answer to his question what the fate of it would be, he could understand as she mentioned to scrap it. He however was surprised to hear her mention that they could turn it in a project to see if it could be made space worthy. He didn't shy away for a project, he had worked numerous hours on his own fighter before it got in it's current state and he did like to get his hands dirty. He glanced over at Ji and smiled a little as she could see a sparkle in his eyes.

"I already have a fighter to take out in the morrow to fight bad guys." he murmured as he looked at the ship before him. Kestrel that was formerly flown bye his close friend Skye Carver had been assigned to him yesterday after a talk with Miles. The ship held memories of it's own and Thomas had sort of bonded with it already over time. He paused for a while as his mind raced through things before he cut the knot.

"Either way.. I think you're best call is to scrap this baby down for parts." he admitted as he smiled faintly "But, seeing I molded this fucker myself, how about we make it our project to strip her down. I mean, I'm sure your deck hands are able to do the job, but most of the things in there aren't exactly in any Starfleet manual. I bypassed some systems and had to quirk others to make it work. What I'm trying to say is, I don't want any casualties as they pick her apart, she might still have some surprises left in her. So if you're up for it, I'd gladly work with you on that project."

He looked away from the fighter and back to Ji. He imagined they'd both realize that overhauling the ship to something space worthy would be a massive loss of materials and resources that they could use on their current fleet. Plus, he had to start thinking more with the bigger picture in mind. His days of rebellious thinking thinking for his own good were passed now, he had a pack to tend to and lives to protect.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #5 –
CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy] @Nolan

Amen to that.

Ji wasn't a religious woman but she did think about it from time to time.  She didn't really believe that any one entity could really control the life and death of people.  Especially when you factored in that some of them were risk takers and others were just flat fucking stupid.  But, that was all right, she didn't need to, and she didn't express her values one way or another.  Her Omma just wanted her married, her Appa wanted her to have children, and her brother and sister were already doing that as far as she could tell.  At least from the last time she had talked to them so long ago.  Before the Theurgy was declared AWOL and began being hunted down.  She missed her family, and hoped that one day they would be able to go back to Earth so she could go see them.  Maybe by then she would have someone to share her life and world with.  But if not, that was also totally okay.  She wasn't actively searching for someone, merely if they came at the right time she would roll with it.

He said he already had a fighter that he could take out tomorrow, and she gave a nod.  This fucker wasn't going to be ready tomorrow no matter how fucking hard they worked.  So she figured that he would have, at least temporarily, been assigned to another ship.  She looked over at him as he told her that it was best to take this fucker down as scraps.  She didn't disagree, because she honestly believed that was the best option where they stood.

She was glad that he understood that too.

She had kind of been prepped for him to just flip his lid about how much he had bonded with his baby while they were on the planetoid and how he had worked hard to get her to the point where they could fly up and get back home.  She made a mental note to make sure that he got some kind of momento from it.  It would be nice, and she wanted it to be a surprise so she was going to wait until it was the right moment and sneak a piece of it away so that she could make something out of it.  She liked crafting a bit, and there was nothing wrong with making a gift for a guy that had been through the ringer.

He mentioned that they could do that as a project.  Take it apart little by little and then he told her that he had bypassed and cobbled together enough systems to make it fly but it wasn't necessarily safe.  Her brow rose.  She definitely didn't want to risk any of her men on something like that.  She loved all her boys and girls and she didn't want them to be jacked up because of this thing.  She would much rather take the hit herself if there was a hit to take.  Brushing her hair out of her face she gave a little bob of her head.

“Sure thing.” she looked over along the walls where there were wheeled carts that she could use any time that she needed them to make sure that she had places to put parts and the like.  She wanted to get the bad systems down first.  If he was bypassing and cobbling together shit this could be a fucking bomb just waiting to go off on her flight deck.  Those systems needed to be neutralized first, and foremost.  She had her work cut out for her.  She checked the chronometer on her PADD and gave a nod.  “I have an hour to get started, so what I want to do is start neutralizing and taking down those systems that just flat aren't stable or safe.  That's the most important part.  Then we'll start taking her parts off probably tomorrow after orders and everything.” she stated.  She pulled a cart over from the wall walking smoothly across the deck plating and putting it by the front of the plane and then she went back for a set of rolling stairs and pushed them to the same spot.  Quickly she ascended the stairs and opened the large maintenance hatch and folded it back to get a look at the main control units and propulsion systems. 

She let out a low whistle.

“Well... lets start with your wiring here.” she said as she pulled a tool out of the pocket of her jumpsuit and began to cut the ties that kept the wires together because without even residual electricity and power it would neutralize a lot of the systems until she could remove them all together.  “What do you think is the most dangerous thing we need to remove?” she asked her hands working quickly and practiced as she clipped and pulled, a growing pile of wires and conduits piling up on the deck below her stairs.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #6 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr  

He had been looking at Ji after the statement that the fighter should be disassembled for parts. The way her brow rose made her look somewhat funny and she seemed more dedicated and convinced to work on this atrocity without risking the life of her deck hands. Ji let little time pass from talk to action as she took one of the wheeled carts and brought them closer along with a set of rolling stairs. Ravon in the meantime started to open up his uniform jacket as he saw Ji get to work, climbing on the stairs as she opened the maintenance hatch and checked the wiring.

"I have an hour to get started, so what I want to do is start neutralizing and taking down those systems that just flat aren't stable or safe.  That's the most important part.  Then we'll start taking her parts off probably tomorrow after orders and everything."

It was pretty clear what she wanted to do and Thomas couldn't help but think to himself that the woman was pretty straight forward and dedicated to her work as she already started to clip and pull wires out as they piled up under her stairs. Thomas in the meantime stood in just his pants and a standard issue undershirt as he walked up the stairs towards Ji to check what she was doing. he had spent quite some time rerouting power and adapting his electronics. "Whoa whoa hold on!" he said as he moved up the stairs and placed his hand on her lower back, just above her coverall as he looked over her shoulder to the wiring. She had already clipped quite a lot as he fidgeted a bit. She had taken out the basics like a standard Valkyrie yet Thomas pointed to the wires that normally were used for avionics. "That one, Avionics, I sort of had to plug it in for getting a good connection to the Reaver's weapons. And then these and these are being used for power supply to the weapon systems as well, so cutting the regular weapons arms wire shouldn't do much to this bird." he said as he leaned in a little and pointed the affected wiring to Ji. By doing so, she could feel his frame against her as he looked at the fighter before back at the circuit board.

"Otherwise, the most important things to shut down on top of engine propulsion would be the automated defense systems... And... Maybe these three circuits should be blocked out as well as I fiddled with those to get this thing airborne." he answered as he ran Ji through the different, rather unethical bypasses he had made to make the fighter fly. It had been clear that the pilot had been challenged to extremes as most of these actions could've easily made his ship turn into a plasma ball of incinerating death. Or a warp explosion waiting to happen. "Powered down though, this monster shouldn't pose a threat, yet I'd wait with powering it up until we stripped most of the hard points. I can start with those if you can keep busy with the wiring?" he suggested as he leaned back now and let go of her back.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #7 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy] @Nolan

He was right, Ji wasn't one to waste a whole bunch of time just shooting the shit.  They could talk and work at the same time.  They needed to neutralize key systems to keep this thing from being a veritable bomb on the Flight deck.  If something in this thing weren't wired a hundred percent perfectly then it could start a fire, an explosion, something.  She didn't want anyone getting hurt while this thing was sitting there.  Getting it at least safe while they took it apart was her number one priority in her day right now.  But she also had places to be and things to take care of.  Other fighters to assess so while she wished that she could get the whole job done right now, she knew that she didn't have that time frame.  So for now, she was just going to make sure that it was as safe as possible.

Sure, it wasn't fired up at the moment.  But that didn't mean systems couldn't short out, residual electricity and energy could be captive in certain conduits and escape at some point.  One thing she learned as a mechanic was never trust that a system was off.  Anything could fire at the wrong moment and she tried to keep that in mind since the incident that had earned her two scars on her midsection.  Scars that Rav couldn't see because of her tank top, but she had learned a valuable lesson that day.

As she began to pull wires out of the large engine compartment and cast them to the ground he was up the ladder in no time with his hand on her back trying to stop her from doing her job.  Her brow rose, having thought they were on the same page here, but apparently, perhaps she was wrong.  She looked over her shoulder at him as he surveyed the wiring that she had already taken out.  She didn't really understand stopping, if they were scrapping the fucker then she didn't understand why there was even remotely a reason to stop at this point.

The amount of Frankensteining done to this fucker was immense.  He began to point out what he had done to the wires that controlled the Avionics, and then defensive weaponry, and then the circuit board that he had to fuck over so that the fucker would fly.  She sighed softly, she could feel him pressing against her back but she was much more concentrating on the fact that he had fucked with all sorts of systems.  While not in inherent danger, they weren't properly hooked up and any of these could short out.  She was grateful that he was showing her what he had actually jury rigged instead of just her gutting everything, though she was going to have to strip the wires anyway.

“All right, I'll start with those.” she said as she put the cutting tool back in her pocket and pulled out a small extraction tool so that she could pull the conduit out and clip the wires properly.  She looked up at him as he said that he wanted to wait until they fired up the fighter before they worked on some of the harder stuff.  She nodded.  “fire away.” she stated calmly as she began to pull the wires carefully off the conduit and separating it all with great care and precision.  Her hands were strong and capable of snapping through the wires with the tool in her hand without causing any issues or having to exert too much force.

“So if you don't mind my asking.” she said as she put the conduit in her pocket so that she could check it out properly later and figure out what he had done with it... “What happened on the planetoid?  You know.. grease monkey here I don't get told all that stuff.” she admitted as she continued to work, every so often the muscles in her arm would grow pronounced for a moment as she clipped another wire before going back to their relaxed state.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #8 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr  

Judging by the look Ji gave him as he stood behind her, Thomas got the feeling that she didn't quite appreciate him stopping her as he pointed out what he had customized himself to the ship. He looked back at her as she raised her brow at him and he shrugged a little "Either way, you're the expert, yet I thought I'd point i out to you before you get a jolt." he clarified and walked back down the stairs as he looked over his former fighter. It wasn't his intention to show her how to do electronics or scraping down a bird. She was probably far better trained at that then him. Yet he figured he could at least give her a heads up. As far as he was concerned, they were still on the same page, which was wear this thing down.

 He went to get the wheeled carts for himself now and brought them to the back and center of the ship as he looked at the various armaments still attached to it. "Right, micro torps first..."he said as he checked how many micro quantum torpedoes were still in the attached hard point. He brought the cart up so it would minimize the fall damage of the launcher and he started to disassemble the bolts keeping it in place. He kept to himself while working and the launcher seemed to be a bit more attached to the fighter than it was supposed to "Fucking piece of..." he murmured as he had to use all of his strength to get the thing to budge a little. Eventually it released and landed into the arms of the cart that was designed to hold the armament. "There we go." he smiled as he wiped some freshly formed sweat off the front of his head and moved on to the next weapon point a quantum pulse phaser cannon.

He glanced over at Ji from time to time to check how she was doing, the muscled arms on display every now and again as she undid his rather fucked up handy work. He focused back on his task and kept working on it before Ji spoke up again and asked him what happened on the planetoid. He remained silent for a bit as he kept turning at a certain bolt before he stopped and look up at her "Well, what part of it? The part where we landed? Fought each other? Or how I crashed this unlucky bird?" he asked her as there was quite a lot to talk about "Take your pick, I don't mind sharing." he answered as he turned his attention back to the ship.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #9 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Flight Deck | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy] @Nolan

“Appreciate it.”

She did, honestly, she wasn't a huge fan of a pilot telling her what to do because mostly she didn't think that it was necessary. She had been working on this shit probably longer than they had been flying in them.  She wasn't old but pilots didn't always know the ins and outs of all the shit that mechanics did because they had to deal with fixing and maintaining all the shit that went wrong and could possibly go wrong.  She knew that he meant well, he had changed a lot of things here, and she could understand that he didn't want her to get hurt somehow by thinking that something that was normally safe to cut and wasn't now because of how he had fixed it.  She could appreciate that, really, she could, but that didn't make it easy either.  Because, that meant she couldn't trust her usual knowledge and that bothered her. 

She watched him, her eyes following his movements as he headed to the wall to get one of the wheeled carts so that he, too, could get to work.  She smirked as he went right for the microtorps.  Not that she thought it was a bad idea, it made sense, and was smart.  She figured that honestly, it would be one of the things that needed to be taken down first.  She was glad that he was working on it.  As he began to loosen the bolts and connectors she went back to work on the wiring that she needed to gut out of this thing.  Remembering all the ones that he had pointed out that had been altered she wanted to make sure that they were all taken out first.  A lot of this stuff could be used to fix other fighters that would need wiring, conduits, and things like that.  She could definitely find uses for all of it.

He began to answer her question; with more questions.  Just like a man. she thought to herself as she pulled herself up into the Engine cavity perching right on the edge so that she could reach something that looked funny.  Some kind of box.. or something that she had never seen before.  She first cut the power to it because she didn't want to get hurt somehow by removing it.  It was probably something that had to do with how he cobbled this fucker together.  She wasn't sure how that all worked, but she was curious what it was.  With a screwdriver she carefully began to remove the box.  He would only be able to see half her body now was she answered his question.

“Start at the beginning.  How you crashed, fought each other.. and how you fucking did all this work on your own to get your ass back home?” she called out to him before ducking back into the large cavity.  She quickly got the box out and put it to the side, since she didn't know what it was she wanted to be gentle with it until she could figure it out.  Sometimes you could reverse engineer something amazing once you figured out what it was, and now Ji had herself a little project.  Find out what it was, and figure out how it worked, and if it was something that she could use on the fighters that were still around in the hanger bay.

“Any idea what this thing is?” she asked holding the box out of the cavity, her head poked out of the cavity and she quickly brushed her hair out of her face where it had blocked her field of vision.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #10 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr 

Ravon thought no more of it as she continued collecting the wirin. This ship was anything but standard issue and Ravon knew so far too well. He kept working on the hardpoints as they were really stuck good on the ship. Some bolts and connectors not even moving a budge as he worked on them, his own muscles flexing from time to time as the sweat started to pearl on his skin. Good work out though, he thought to himself as he nipped his tongue out on a certain bolt before hearing the answer of Ji to what she wanted to hear.

Thomas reflected about her words before he sighed softly. "It was chaos on deck when we flew out, I don't have to remind you on that... We got separated and regrouped. On the planetoid, we had heavy interference with Comms, no good readings to Theurgy or anything... Evelyn... Evelyn and I had a situation between us and it got to the best of us on the planetoid, her ending up keeping me at gun point with her assault rifle." he paused as he grunted and turned against the bolt with all his might before it popped loose "Fucker..." he muttered before looking at Ji, who was halfway up in the engine cavity. Heh ad to chuckle a little at the sight of it as he continued.

"We got jumped by the local fauna, escaping barely as Rawley tripped off a ledge and got avalanched. Once Isley and I got her out, Calamity showed up, we scrambled to our fighters and joined the fight. Reavers came down on us and we fought them off, I went down while trying to cover Rawley. Than the real crap began... I crash landed it in an icy canyon, It was three versus one and the other one just blew up as I chased, the second crashed a further bit away as the last one dropped right on top of my fighter. I salvaged most parts from that one, welding stuff on my ship, using the plating I could move and shift about.." he said and stopped talking as she crawled out of the cavity with a box.

He frowned as he didn't remember putting it in there. Than again, he did have blackouts in the past so God knows if it was a byproduct of it. The box looked different than the materials the Valkyrie were made off which meant it could only be of one other thing. The Reaver, but how? "I have no clue..." he murmured as he walked over, cleaning his hands with some cloth before looking up at her and the curious little box "What do you think it's for? I mean, I don't remember putting it in the ship, so..." he answered softly, as his eyes met hers.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #11 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy] @Nolan


He began to describe what had happened to him.  He was right, she remembered the mayhem that had been the start of the whole thing.  How chaotic it had been.  Getting the fighters out, fixing any last minute issues, getting everyone safely off the deck and out to the jobs that they needed to do.  She had been so busy she hadn't had the time to concentrate on anything, she had just been doing her job and getting the fighters off the deck.  What happened after they left the deck was nothing that she had anything to do with. 

Hearing his story as she worked made her pause a time or two.  It sounded horrendous.  She felt bad for him, and she sighed softly as she stuck her head out of the engine cavity.  Listening and taking in his story.  She felt bad for him, even though pity and sympathy would do nothing for him, she still felt it.  She couldn't imagine the kind of experience that he had on the planet and what that would be like for him.  How he had survived. 

He crashed in an icy canyon with the enemy hot on his tail but managed to fight them off.  It was then that he seemed to use the parts of a crashed enemy plane and his own crashed fighter to make what he could cobble together and get off the land.  She sighed softly as she had stuck her head out and asked him what the box was.  Which prompted him to stop working on the parts of the ship he was and come over to check it out.  It worried her that he didn't seem to know what it was.  She chewed on her lower lip and gave a shrug.

“Could be a black box device, one of those things designed to keep track of where the ship goes and what it does for information purposes.  I don't recall seeing it before, but then I figured it might be part of the alien tech that you cobbled together to make this frankenstiening piece of shit.” she said throwing her thumb over her shoulder as she looked up at the monstrocity.  “It could be some sort of junction device or something too, something that you got everything all cobbled together with, I'll take it apart later and see what I can make of it.  You were alone out there, so I doubt it's anything suspect.” she admitted as she brushed her hair out of her face and tossed the small box onto her cart where she was starting to collect things that she needed to go through or save for fixing other fighters.

“You went through a lot out there, I'm glad you made it back.” she said putting her hand on his arm for just a moment giving him a bit of a squeeze before she dropped her arm.  “So did you learn how to do all this mechanical shit before you crash landed and killed aliens single handed or did you learn it while you were there.” she asked him curiously as she looked up at him with those expressive dark eyes of hers.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #12 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr

"Black box?" he repeated after her as he looked at the box and shrugged "Would be... Logical... I mean Calamity would need a way to check where her fighters were and must've had some sort of transceiver...." he answered "Yet, you found that in my engine cavity.. Which should be Theurgy materials only." it was a worrisome development for the pilot. He had fought the AI controlled pilot, yet never saw the other one from the crashed ship. It'd be impossible for them to have reached that far...

"Besides the alien life forms on that rock..." he said slowly "There was a pilot in one of the Reavers... It shot at me, yet I never saw it leave the cockpit... Is there a way one of them could've planted it in the engine cavity?" he asked her as he looked up at her, concern in his eyes. Sure the threat of Calamity was gone, permanently he had been told. Yet why try to plant this thing? Was it a last ditch effort to track Theurgy should they get away again and if Calamity would live?

It was a feeling that made his gut clench as he looked up at the CPO "Anyway, be careful when you check that box will you." he said with a wry smile "Although, I have no doubt you'll do fine." he said, trying to shake the feeling off as he reminded himself the woman was very much capable of performing her job. After the most recent losses of his squadron though, Thomas couldn't help but feel more protective around the people that worked aboard the ship. It was probably a thing he'd have to get over and he probably would in due time. Yet right now, it was all too fresh...

As she gave him a squeeze in the arm, he smiled a bit broader and he nodded "It's good to be back.," he answered before he looked back in those dark expressive eyes "Oh, I used to get my hands dirty on board of the Thunderchild." he answered to her question about his mechanic skills "I used to work along with the deck hands and the Chief there. Got my hands dirty on plenty of occasions there. Mainly worked along with the maintenance and repair of the Mark I en II along with the Perigrine class. Knew those birds in and out and if it can be any comfort to you, I'm not that horrible on wiring and welding if I'm given the right tools and materials." he said with a grin and a wink "I did what I had to do to get off that rock, so that's my handy work right there." he said as he nodded over to the fuselage of the atrocity. It truly was a gruesome sight to behold, yet it had grown a bit on him already. Yet he knew that it was the best choice to disassemble it.

"So what got you into fighter maintenance? Or propulsion for that matter?" he asked her as he remained where he stood.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #13 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy] @Nolan

He wasn't so sure about it being a black box.  Because the Engine cavity itself was Theurgy tech only which meant that there shouldn't be anything in there that he didn't already know about.  She could understand that, because she knew that he had cobbled this piece of shit together.  And while they were working on taking it apart, she figured that if he didn't know what this box was, it was likely that he didn't put it there.  But she had never seen one before, which meant it was definitely not Theurgy related. 

She turned to face him slightly when he mentioned that it could very well be something that a Reaver put in there.  He told her that there was one he shot down but he never saw the Reaver leave it's cockpit.  Perhaps when he blacked out or something.  But even then. 

“I don't know, this was hooked up to the power sources, which means that it took time to install it.  It's not just something someone plugged in real quick it was fully integrated.  Maybe it's old tech.  I'll take a look at it for sure, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.  If it gets concerning Ill bring it up with Sten and the Captain and make sure that we're all right.” she gave a shrug she didn't know what the hell it was either.

He told her to be careful and she bit back a retort only because she could tell through his eyes that he actually meant it.  It had nothing to do with thinking less of her abilities to handle it but more of being worried about something happening to her.  She gave a warm smile and a nod.  “Will do.” she gave him a wink as she put the box down on the cart so that she could mess with it later.  Chances were, it was nothing to worry about, but it was always nice to double check something that they didn't recognize.  He told her about how he had a bunch of experience with working with his hands and on the fighters like this one.  She leaned against her stairs and listened as he told her all the work he had done and worked side by side with his chief.

“That's good to know, when I need an extra pair of hands, I'm calling your ass in to help.” she chuckled.  He asked her what got her into propulsion and mechanics, a grin crossed her face and she turned slightly so that he could see the tattoo on her arm.  “The Black Eagles, a Fighter Squadron in Korea.  My parents took me to see them when I was young and I instantly just fell in love with the way that the plans and fighters could cut through the clouds and the sky.  Gleaming with all that beauty and power.  One of the guys let me look under the hood of one of his fighters having seen my excitement and I was sold.  He started explaining things and they just kind of clicked.  More than that I wanted to know more.  I wanted to know how to make them go faster.  How could you push them to the max, how could everything just be better, streamlined, all that power, in my hands, I couldn't get enough of it.  I thought briefly about being a pilot.  But decided I wanted to be the one that fixes them, builds them, makes them work.”

She shrugged, but the amount of passion in her voice was palpable as she talked about her job.  She had been able to ride with a few people here and there and loved going fast and doing tricks.  Back home in Korea she had found that flying was something she enjoyed and was always eager to do the crazy maneuvers.  Things that most non-pilots were terrified of she was completely game for.  She was an adrenaline junky from a long time ago and it hadn't faded in the least.

“What got you into flying?” she asked him curiously as she brushed her hair out of her face and headed to the replicator getting them both a bottle of water she tossed one effortlessly to him to catch before twisting the cap off her own so she could take a drink.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #14 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr

Thomas couldn't shake the feeling about the item Ji had removed from the cobbled together hybrid fighter. He figured it'd be a good idea to run it by Sten. The man was essentially behind the production of the Mk III's so he would probably know if it fitted or not in the engine cavity.  He tried to shrug off the feeling eventually as he listened to her story about how she rolled into engineering and propulsion dynamics. He smiled as he rolled some of the hard points to the side and checked the ordinance. He looked up now and again and let his eyes move over Ji as she spoke further before she asked him why he got into flying.

He shrugged and thought about it "It was one of the subjects where I excelled. So it was a logical step really. Among the top of my class and just the freedom it gives you. I mean, there's nothing more liberating than getting into the cockpit of one of those fighters and taking it out into the big black emptiness of space. Nothing holding you back and just an infinite amount of nothingness around you." he concluded as he played with a wrench in his hands as his mind clearly had him in one of his flights.

"You know, as a propulsion chief, you really should get in one of these fighters to feel how good your handy work has been." he suggested as he looked up at Ji. "I mean, watching these ships fly through space or through atmosphere as they crash through the clouds and spear through the sky is one thing. Being inside of them when they do so is an entirely different experience all together." he smirked and winked at her.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #15 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Vector 2 | Flight Deck | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy]

He listened to her story, or he did well enough.  There were times that her eyes met his and she was sure that his thoughts were other places.  But then, she couldn't confirm that so she went on with her story.  He had, after all, asked.  She didn't mind though, at least he cared enough to ask.  Most people didn't, they took her for granted, she was just the person that kept their asses in the air, she had not much connection with those around her at times.  Other than her boys that she worked with on the Flight Deck.  She figured that he cared enough to ask so she might as well give him the fully on story.  Hopefully, she hadn't droned on.

He told her his own story, about how he had excelled at flying,  So it was the logical move to follow that through.  She rose her brow and shrugged a single shoulder, he wasn't wrong.  It was somewhat similar to her, she had always been good with grease, dirt, and fixing things.  Around her house, her parents hardly ever had to call a mechanic or someone to fix what was broken, they just told Ji and she got on it.  Then she usually got bitched at for having grease on her clothes.  It was worth it though, a job well done every time the thing that had once been broken was, now, working.

Rav called out to her as she ducked back out of the engine compartment and headed down the ladder she was fairly certain that she had neutralized most of the components in the engine compartment that would need to be down so that they wouldn't have to worry about them firing off and causing some sort of issues.  She brushed her hair out of her face and rounded the backside of the fighter since that was where he was working.  He told her that she should go out for a flight some time, so that she could feel the adreneline and the openness.  So she could see what it was like to be inside one of the beasts that she was working on. 

She let out a long grin and leaned up against the fighter next to where Rav was working.  “Oh really?  Is that an offer Rav?  I'd love to do that, though, in all honesty.  I don't think I have what it takes to actually pilot, but I've always wanted to go along.  Punch through a atmosphere or .. like you said break though the clouds, even flying up among the stars.” she gave a shrug of her strong shoulders. 

“When we have down time, that would be badass.” she admitted as she looked over at Rav.  He was tall, good looking, and skilled.  She actually liked his mechanic ridden mind, that had cobbled this special piece of shit together and made it quite amazing.  While it was a Frankenstein ship it had got his ass home, allowed her to meet him again, and allowed for them to work on it together.  “So what do you do in your off time?” she asked him curiously.  Her brown eyes shifting over to him.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #16 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr

While he spoke to her about his own path to become a pilot he continued with his work meticulously. His eyes remaining on framework as he continued to tinker away while speaking up. He hadn't noticed Ji until she came to the rear end of the ship and leaned against it. He smirked as she asked if he had given her an offer to fly with the stars. For a split second he was about to mention he'd have to run it by his CO, yet only came to the realization that he was the CO.

"It can be an offer if you'd like it to be one." he answered her with a smirk as his hands were now blackened by working. He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead and left a smear on it, yet didn't seem to mind as he took a rug from a nearby station and wiped his hands somewhat cleaner. He nodded as she continued and said that she'd love to fly as a passenger and he smiled broader as she ended with a shrug "Sure, whenever we have some downtime we could see what the options are. I figure we could use any Mark II's that are still operational." he answered her before he leaned against the opposite side of the rear end of the fighter, leaving some distance between them.

Thomas pressed his lips together as he noticed the Korean's brown eyes shifting over him as he shrugged at her next question "You mean besides the never ending tidal wave of paperwork that comes with this position?" he laughed amused and shook his head. "I'm pretty much your typical pilot... I like to do some poker, gambling of sorts with the rest of the pilots. I'm not shy from a brawl or sparring session and well, I do oddly enough enjoy getting my hands dirty on ships. It's like there's a sense of...." he paused as he searched for the right word "I suppose serenity would be the word closes to it. Things that are built to fit together and just clear order in a rather chaotic environment." he said as his eyes looked back over the fighter "I guess it's just the tinkering that calms down my mind a bit, makes it wind down after a long day. Than again, nothing calms me down more than punching a bag or just sparring." he shrugged and waved it away.

While fighting wasn't always calming, it had that sense of exhaustion at the end of it, the winded state you'd be in before the adrenaline would wear off and cause for a gap to fall in. He smiled at Ji as he bounced the question back at her "What about you? What do you do to wind down?"

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #17 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Deck | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy]
@Nolan

He said it could be an offer.

Ji grinned.  It wasn't that she didn't know how to fly, she did.  She wouldn't be a fucking good mechanic if she didn't know how to make one of these fuckers move.  That said, she still wanted to go on a flight where they did the things that Rav mentioned.  Going through an atmosphere and punching it out there in space. It wasn't that she hadn't ever done some of those things, she had.  She could not count the amount of times that people claimed there was an issue with their fighters but the diagnostic systems didn't seem to give a shit about what the pilots said and swore everything was above board.  So that was when she would climb up in the cockpit and fly the fucker right out of the bay putting it through it's paces to see if she could recreate the fucking issue or if it was just the imaginations of the pilots. 

But that wasn't for fun, that as for work.

Fun seemed so much more exciting.  He seemed to think they could take out whatever ship they wanted to, and she sighed softly as she gave a nod.  “Sounds good, down time.  When do we get that?” she teased as she gave a shrug, it seemed that they had been stuck on this fucking hell hole of a mission for a while now.  Even though it had only been a few days, that didn't make it feel like a few days.  But that was okay, eventually there would be down time and they would have time to just get to know each other in a better way.  Become friends, and hopefully, enjoy the company of one another.  Flying and fighters were a common passion.

He mentioned paper work, and again, she grinned because she knew how that piled up all too well.  She had the same fucking problems with her own job though she knew that Sten had far more than her.  Because her paper work got finished and she handed that shit off to him so that he could fill out his paper work.  He mentioned being a typical pilot, and her brow arched.  He had moved further from her to get to the other side of the fighter, so she stepped back around behind him though quite a few feet away so that she wasn't crowding him.  She figured that he had this part of the job and there was no reason for the two of them to be crammed up behind this thing.  So she leaned against a cart that had supplies and tools laying on top of it.  He listed the things he spent his spare time doing and she nodded at each one of them.

“Ah, poker, that's some fun shit.  I've done that with some of the guys on deck.  You should let me know if you ever have an extra seat, I'd love to chime in for a night.”  She didn't even think of asking herself as a woman, she was always one of the guys.  Always had been, always would be.  She could curse like them, work like them, gave them runs for their money when it was arm wrestling competition time, things like that.  She was one of the people that worked this deck with a labor of love.  He mentioned that he loved doing work like they were doing now, and now he was really speaking her langauge. 

“Oh fuck yeah.  That's .. right there.. why I do this job every fucking day.  I love this shit.  It calms my mind, my hands are busy you get this .. zen mentality of it all as you're working.  Zoning out, getting shit done.  Your hands move on their own sometimes, and you're brain is on autopilot.  I find that when I'm working on shit like this.  That's when I come up with my inventions, ideas, or answers to some shit that's going on in my life.  Like.. who am I spending time with after shift or. .. whatever.  I think that just.. it's like for some people exercise.  Which is partially me too; nothing can clear my mind like going after a hanging bag for a while when I'm really fucking pissed off.” she admitted as she watched the man work.  He seemed like a good guy though.  “So a Lieutenant Commander, you've been serving on the Theurgy for a long ass time?  Or perhaps just in the Fleet a long ass time?”

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #18 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr

Thomas could only nod with a smirk as she mentioned when they'd ever get downtime. It was a fine question and the answer to it would probably not be a positive one. With the constant dangers of their current journey, downtime seemed like a distant memory. Sure they had their R&R on Theta and with the holodeck event. Yet all those things seemed to be an eternity ago for the pilot. Plus his new position would probably downscale his free time drastically he imagined. Though here he was with Ji in what could be called a change of pace from his usual duties.

As Ji mentioned that she wasn't shy of playing a bit of poker, Thomas laughed and nodded as she seemed eager enough to join in on a game "I'd love to see you play along in one of our games. Fair warning though, we do occasionally play rather dirty." he snickered as he couldn't remember the amount of times where the poker game would just erupt in a brawl, a more sexual direction or just a shout match between the players. It had been fond memories, things the pack did to bond and just mess around with each other. Yet it also served as a painful reminder of how many known poker players had been lost already. Should they play now, the table would be awkwardly empty with those still present. Thomas shook the idea out of his head with a sigh and a faint smile as he shrugged "I'll let you know when we have an open spot and when we'll hold our next session."

Thomas smile broadened as Ji told him she could reach that zen mentality as she worked on the cogs and gears of a certain thing. How soothing it was for the mind to just zone out while your hands did the work that they knew all too well. He could relate to her words and didn't have anything else to add to it other than just nodding in agreement to her words.

As she addressed him with his new rank he shrugged "Been on this boat since our escape from Sol." he answered "Before that I spent quite some time in the Fleet. Served on Kusanagi and Thunderchild, the last mentioned being the ship where I really got my hands dirty with the grease boys and girls." he chuckled "Never got higher than lieutenant during that time and only got to the commander bit today," he answered her "I'm happy with the promotion, don't get me wrong. It just feels a bit... Off. You know, it feels like I got this promotion because Miles is gone. I rather earned it with him still around... If that makes sense." he clarified.

"What about you? How long have you been in the Fleet?" he asked her as he walked over slowly to one of the replicators and got himself a bottle of water. "Need anything to drink?" he asked her casually as he remained by the replicator in case she wanted anything.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #19 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assualt Bay | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy]
@Nolan

Dirty games... well at first she was all right with that.  She didn't mind heavy bets, and she didn't mind even strip poker as long as everyone's hands stayed on their cards and not each other.  However, the way that he said that lead her to believe that it wasn't going to be the case.  Which was pretty shitty over all.  I swear to all that is Holy these fuckers are the horniest people ever.  Yes we are on a fucking ship in the middle of fucking no where on the run from Starfleet but lets everyone fuck each other.  Fucking backwater colony or some shit right here. she thought to herself.  “Yeah sure, let me know, that'd be great.  I'm always good for an actual game of poker.”

She hoped that if she was there she wouldn't have to be the prize at the end of the night.  That wasn't something that she was into, but then she was also used to working with me.  And there were a great deal of them that thought with their lower extremities more than their upper ones.  Not all of them, thankfully, but enough that she was used to making sure that they stayed away from her fucking body at all fucking times.  She was not afraid to tell someone no, because that was how you didn't end up with a fucking reputation.

He told her that he had been on the boat since their escape from Sol.  She looked over at him and gave a nod.  Watching him with her wide expressive dark eyes.  She liked him, he was nice, and didn't mind chatting with her or putting in some work.  She didn't mind the help so long as no one was around to tell her how to do her fucking job.  That was a deal breaker. 

“I can get that.  But at least you got a promotion.  I got shit.  I was due for a promotion and my fucking boss chose one of the guys from the Harbinger instead.  I don't mind, guy is all right and everything it's just.. I kind had my eye on that position.  But I get your concern with you wanting it to be something that you feel you fucking earned.  Not something that you were just forced into.  That is just.. shit.  But hey, remember that if you didn't earn the rank they wouldn't have given it to you.  Just like my fucking spot. They gave it to some other fucker, instead of me.  Was it because he's better than me?  I sure fucking hope so.” she gave a shrug as she ran a hand through her short hair.

“I've been with the fleet since Sol as well.  Was recruited from another ship because apparently I have some fucking badass skills, so I got asked to come in here, which is great.  I love the ship, people too, like a family away from home.  I miss my family...” she trailed off for a moment and she looked over at him as he walked to the replicator.  “Yeah, thanks, water would be great.”  she cleared her throat and walked over to him.  When the water came, she took one from him and smiled.  “Thank you.”

She leaned up against the bulkhead and looked over at him. 

“So how are you doing?  Since you escaped on the Frankenship and came back?  You all right?  That's the kind of shit that makes you take a second look at your life, yeah?”

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #20 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr

Ravon nodded with a smirk "You're on." as Ji admitted she'd enjoy a game of actual poker. He drank from his own beverage and downed it entirely in one go as he didn't realize how thirsty he'd actually had been. He replicated a refill and started sipping from it before the CPO admitted that she didn't get her promotion. The pilot frowned as he hadn't been aware of it and nodded as he listened to her as she started off with a small rant.

He could understand the frustration with the woman, especially as she worked as hard as he had seen earlier on. Thomas doubted on how to comment to her as he wasn't sure if there was an upside to it, no matter how you turned it around. Eventually he spoke up "Well... It's always shit when you miss a promotion, but at least you didn't get demoted." he said, with a sheepish smile, it was a pretty poor attempt to humor up the conversation and he shook his head "But I get it, I'd be fucking angry as well if my promotion was given to someone else while I'd be working my ass and gears off to earn it." he nodded emphatically "Yet, maybe you'll get something bigger next time?" he tried to cheer her up "Plus, you seem to be a woman who enjoys doing her job and who's fucking excellent at it from what I've seen. I'm not trying to fence for Sten here... But maybe he has something else in mind for you? A bigger plan so to speak." Thomas mentioned as he figured that's the only way why he'd not promote one of his pack.

Once she got her own water and looked at him, he could only nod and confirm that her skills were above average from what he'd seen from other deck hands on other ships. "Nothing to be ashamed of." he had added laughing to it and he drank a bit more. "So you've been with us for a while as well. I don't really have actual family outside this ship here... So it's..." he paused for a second "I don't think I can actual imagine what you're going through to be fair." he answered. there was no point to lying to her, he really, couldn't relate.

As she asked him how he was, he shrugged his shoulders and looked at the ship "Good question really... One that I'm not quite fully able to answer really." he smiled faintly "It's good to be back, no denying that... It's just that this place seems to have changed so much since I last saw it. Most of my squadron, real family is just gone. Some people I was really close to..." he looked down to the deck as he thought about Skye. "On the other hand, there are so many new faces, people that I do remember from previous services on other ships. So there's joy in that, though hollow at the same time. Not easy to explain." he smiled "You could indeed say that it's a life changing event, it makes you think about actions you've done in the past and how you'd like to live your life in the future." he pushed himself off and walked over to the ship, feeling up the metal "Its pretty fucked up really... Yet I don't think I should dwell too long about it. I'm pretty sure it'll eat me up on the inside otherwise." He looked away from the ship and turned himself around to face Ji once more "Did you ever have a moment in your life like I did?" he asked her curious "Or something that got you second guessing the life you were having?"

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #21 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 16 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy]
@Nolan

Ji sipped at her water, and listened to him.  She knew that he was probably trying to make her feel better about being skipped for the promotion that she really had wanted.  It wasn't so much that she couldn't handle it, she could, she had really just wanted it.  A person that didn't want to move forward and move up in life had no drive to continue working.  Even if they were fine and happy in their current position it was drive that would send them forward and keep them motivated to make sure that they stayed on top of their duties.  She knew that he was trying to lift her up, and that was something that she actually appreciated.

“Yeah as much as it fucking sucks, it's not like it'll be the last promotion available ever.  It's just.. not what I wanted.  And you're right, maybe Covington has another plan, or not.  Either way, I'm not going to let it effect my job right now, I respect it and the Theurgy way too fucking much for that.”

When he said he couldn't understand what she was going through with the loss of being able to communicate with her family she gave a nod.  She was kind of sad for him.  She missed them dearly and wished so much that she could see them again.  She could video message them.. or .. something.  But, she also envied him because she sometimes wondered if they were in danger.  While they were on the run from Starfleet what if their parents were questioned or whatever.  It was hard to know and there were nights that the fear of that kept her up at night.  Those were the nights she got extra work done or the nights that she hit the gym for a few hours until she was so bone tired she could barely walk back to her Quarters. 

“I … it is fucking hard.  I miss them.  I can't fucking talk to them, I worry about them.” She sighed softly downing half her bottle of water in one gulping go.  Finding herself quite thirsty, though she wanted to pace herself before she gave herself a stomach ache.  When's the last time I ate? she wondered and then shrugged to herself because she couldn't actually remember, and she wasn't all that worried about it.  Her body was trained to go a while without eating as long as she was hydrated.  And the human body could go three weeks without food.


He began to answer her question about having come back, and Ji's dark and expressive eyes looked up at him, taking in his face as he talked.  She was the sort that could speak volumes with just her eyes.  They could be soft and open, they could be hard and pointed.  She used them probably more than her facial features.  At least that was what her Omma had said.  ~You can't lie to me Eun Sae Ji, because your eyes always speak the truth.~  She watched him, reading his face while they stood there taking a break together against his Frankenship that they were taking apart.  She was somehow glad he had come back.  While they had only just met, really, she had to admit, she found that she would very much like to keep him around.  As a friend, she had a feeling, they could be tight.  She would like to expand her world more.  The crew of the Theurgy were becoming as much her family as the one she left behind in Korea.

He asked her if she had ever had one of those realization moments, the ones that made you look back at your life and wonder if it was all going well.  If it was all as planned.  But while she pursed her lips, she could not really think of anything.  Not really, nothing, certainly, that touched the kind of experience that he had.  She looked over at him.  “No, not really.  But then I guess, being here, being the mechanic.. it doesn't really.. make for those kinds of situations.  I'm not the one out there running into danger and shit.  The only thing that comes close.” She sighed softly.  “Is when you sleep with your fucking boss because some sort of horny entity or some shit takes over the ship and you don't really have a fucking choice.  So he transfers you off to another ship for a while.  So I served on the Harbinger for a bit because of that whole shitty scenario.  Then that shit happened, so I got to come back, and that wasn't awkward at all..” she chuckled.  But it had given her an insight to Sten, she wasn't a hundred percent sure that it was the reason she was sent over.  But, it was far too close to be anything coincidental.

She bit her lower lip for a moment and let out a long bought of air.  Finishing off her water she let the bottle go back to the replicator so it could be reused into something else.  She let her lower lip go and looked over at the man she had spent the last while with. 

“You want to get back to work, or are you hungry and need a break?” she asked him curiously as she brushed her short hair out of her face which promptly fell back in her face again.  She wasn't the sort to own barrettes and things like that.  She just pushed it out of her face, and kept on working.  That was just how she did it. 

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #22 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr

While Thomas listened to how Ji voiced out that she missed her family so much, he couldn't help but wonder how the rest of the ship was holding up. Would people do crazy things out of fear for their families? Would it mean that people with relatives back on Earth or anywhere else were a liability? It was food for thought, yet something he shouldn't discuss with Ji considering how high she held the idea of relatives. He just nodded and still could manage to see the beauty of a family bond. It seemed the CPO was gaining more strength out of it than it would bring her down it seemed.

When Ji told him that being a mechanic didn't specifically brought her to situations where life threatening situations would occur to overthink matters, Thomas shrugged "I'm sure it was pretty close to that when the Harbinger crews tried to overtake the ship. From what I heard and read in reports... They were planning to breed every female aboard the ship?" he asked her and wondered if those pigs managed to get their hands on Ji or anyone else he knew. Then again, the chance that they'd walk away without any fractures was low considering the toned body Ji had.

Her confession about sleeping with Sten during the Ishtar incident made him chuckle a little, only making him remember his own encounter. One which he couldn't speak to with anyone as was instructed. He simply nodded and kept looking into the eyes of the Korean mechanic "I can imagine things got awkward for a lot of people in the days, and weeks to come. Sometimes you can even see it with certain crew  members in the corridors, those glances and such..." 

At the mention of having a break or feeling hungry, Thomas' stomach responded for him with a snarl. The pilot quickly tapped his abdomen and closed his eyes "I guess that answers your question." he smirked "I could use a bit really? What about you? Can I treat you for lunch? I doubt this fucker will go anywhere soon." he laughed and nodded over to the ship that still had that eerie gloom around it.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #23 –
[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 02 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy]
@Nolan


Ji took a deep breath as he mentioned the plans for every female on the Harbinger.  Ji hadn't really wanted to think about all of that kind of stuff.  She had not been overly fond of being sent over there but without a choice she had done it.  But even still, the thought of being bred forcefully made her want to crawl into a corner and not come out.  She was a strong woman but she knew there were races and people out there that would fully be able to hold her down.  There were also sedation techniques and the like.  Things that she didn't really want to think about what so ever.  And yet, there she was, thinking about it now because Rav had brought it back up.  Ji's right hand slid into her hair and she scratched her scalp absently as she tried to search for the right words.

“Yeah well... that's probably true.  Thank all that is fucking holy that shit didn't happen.” she sighed softly.  Ji wasn't sure what she wanted for the future.  She knew that eventually, with the right person, she was game for kids.  But she certainly didn't want them forced on her and to a nefarious cause was nothing better. 

She nodded as they changed the subject to the Ishtar incident. Which was, oddly, on a similar neural pathway considering forced sex and sex without having a choice in the matter were just about the same.  Dropping her hand out of her hair she looked over at Rav.  He didn't mention who he had slept with, but she wasn't going to pry.  Not everyone was going to be vocal about it, and there were probably a lot of people that didn't want to entertain what had happened at all.  It was out of their control, and Ji was not the sort that would have normally slept with her boss.  The doc.. yeah that was totally her, but her boss?  She would not have wanted to add that complication to her life.  Yet, there it was.

Apparently, Rav was hungry.  Before words could form on his lips his stomach answered the plea.  Causing a smile to appear on her face as she brushed her hair out of it one more time.  Tucking it, unsuccessfully behind one of her ears to get it out of her way.  He wanted to treat her to lunch, her brow rose at the offer.  Not because it was odd or that she was reading into it more than she ought to.  She just found herself quite interested in the fact that he offered it at all.  She was always game for meeting and making new friends.  It was nice to have a good amount of people that one could count on when things got hairy.  Her eyes shifted to the large Frankenship that was standing there with some of it's parts disabled and a lot of it's wiring severed, it wasn't going to be a danger for the time being.

“Fuck yeah, lets go.  I'm definitely up for some food.” she pulled out her PADD and looked at the time, making a note that she was going to eat and that way if anyone wanted her they would know what she was doing and likely where she was.  “Where did you want to go to grab a bite?” she asked, she wasn't dressed for much, but since they were leaving the deck, Ji shrugged back into her work suit and zipped it back up in the front so that she wasn't walking around with her skin and scars exposed for everyone.  She was not ashamed, what so ever, of her body, but she also only took her suit partially off when she was working because it bugged the shit out of her.

Re: Day 02 [1345 hrs.] Vivisection of Kludge

Reply #24 –
[ Lt Cmdr Thomas Ravon | Fighter Assault Bay | Vector 2 | Deck 16 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Blue Zephyr

Thomas could only nod as Ji was relieved the Harbinger's initial plan didn't go down as planned, despite the losses they took during that mutiny. Thomas had fired at Hannah, only to find out that she had been killed afterwards. It was just another bitter aftertaste that he would deal with with his return. His eyes diverting from Ji for a second before he regained his composure.

A smile formed on Thomas his lips as Ji was game for grabbing a bite. He nodded and thought where they could have a meal, the below decks might suffice for now as it wasn't exactly an invite to eat somewhere fancy and considering the two were only getting to know one another, being invited to either's place would be rather awkward. Thus, Thomas suggested his first destination "Below decks?" he offered as he looked at his hands before walking to table where some cloth was spread out. He moistened the cloth with the water bottle, or what was left in it. With that he started to rub his hands clean, to as clean as it possibly could get.

In the meantime he looked over at Ji as she zipper her jumpsuit back on. She really was quite an attractive woman yet he wasn't eager to rush things with her. She seemed to be a woman with spirit and someone who wouldn't back down easily if things didn't go her way. She had the perfect attributes to become a friend and perhaps, that would be all they'd become. Thomas would be fine with it, friends were hard to come by these days.

"Anything else you need to do before we head out?" he asked her as he took his jacket once more and slipped it on, covering most of the dirty clothes he wore underneath. He straightened it out and stood in semi position for her as he awaited her answer.
 
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