ataraxionlogs | eighteenth jump;

Entry tags:

eighteenth jump;

CHARACTERS: any and all
LOCATION: Gravity Couches and beyond
WARNINGS: maybe some swearing, or even some violence, and more than likely some implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness.
SUMMARY: Another month, another jump, another round of new faces.
NOTES: Keeping up with the tradition and copy pasted like always from the last one

You wake up in darkness.

There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're deposited on the floor of a stark, sterile medical bay.

You are not alone.
There are others who have come before you, others who are awakening beside you. Some may be familiar to you, perhaps even friends. Others have much less amiable plans. Some are merely alien and inexplicable, but there are always those who might mean you harm.

After you catch your breath and your vision returns, you notice a number on the inside of your forearm. Maybe it's a familiar number. Maybe it means something. Maybe it's just a number. But the number—completely unique to you—is a tattoo, and it does not come off.

If you enter the room adjacent to the medbay, you will find a small locker with your number on it, surrounded by rows upon rows of identical lockers. Inside, you will find a few of your personal items, a communications device, and a ship's uniform in your exact size. The comms device is fully powered and connects directly to the ship's network; it's your only means of communication beyond physical conversation. Upon turning the device on, a neutral, automated voice will say, "Please take the blue lift to the passenger quarters." Any other attempts at communicating with the rest of the network are met only with static.

This is your welcome party.

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[The gardens seem greener this jump, he thinks - it's been a while since he was here just to walk around and appreciate them but for the first time in a long time, he's simply happy to be alive, and taking a moment to appreciate the one nice place on the ship feels appropriate. He walks with a bit of a limp, still, and it hurts to turn to look over his shoulder, or to move in other certain ways, but the healing is coming along, even if it's slower than he would have expected back home.

It's good for Mijo, too, to get a chance to fly through the trees and explore. The little bird chases insects, manages to grab and eat a dragonfly, and makes an awkward landing on a vine that isn't as solid or heavy as he predicted, and Mordecai grins to himself as the vine bends toward the ground, with the bird clinging desperately to it, flapping desperately to keep from falling, before he gives up and lets go to find somewhere else to land. It's a side of this species he never saw with Bloodwing. She had always seemed a little more serious, likely due to having grown up in the wild before someone caught her. Survival was harder for her. Mijo, on the other hand, is free to play and explore without much to threaten him, and while his hunting skills aren't developing as quickly as Mordecai would like, it's good to see that he's happy.

While Mordecai tracks Mijo's explorations, something catches his eye. That bright white showing through the leaves isn't natural. He draws the Unforgiven, having all too recently been reminded that he needs to be more cautious here, and silently makes his way through the greenery until he has a clearer view. And while he may have been nearly delirious when Kazama found him, he clearly remembers that face.]

Hey.

[ he dozes a few minutes at a time, not quite sleeping but not quite awake, either. so tired that he needs this rest, but far too cognizant of his surroundings, the collar around his neck to can really fall asleep. shifting restlessly each time he hears someone walk by, kazama shifts to drag the flag closer around his shoulders, further ducking his chin into the high folds of the bandanna tied around his throat.

so of course, the moment he hears footsteps drawing close, kazama cracks an eye open -- nerves on end as he squints through the foliage, just barely making out the outline of someone heading in his direction. shifting his weight slowly, he holds a hand against the handle of his pistol, finger against the trigger-guard. not drawing the weapon from its holster yet, but more than ready to retaliate the moment there's any indication that he has to fight.

that is, until he can finally make out who it is that's walking over. ]

... you recovered quickly.

[ kazama still sounds drowsy, but at least he sits up straighter. moves his hand away from his pistol holster and looks over mordecai, quietly noting the way mordecai seems to hold himself a little delicately. that injury had been quite severe -- no surprise that he hasn't completely recovered yet. still, it's impressive enough that the guy's walking again already. ]

Week in medbay an' a month in stasis do wonders, I guess. Doc said it's the nanites.

[He's still not fully recovered, though, he can feel that much. He's supposed to take things slowly and lay off the alcohol, too, but he figures those are suggestions, not rules. A slow recovery isn't something he's used to.]

What's with the flag?

[ 'a week.' kazama gives a small tilt of the head, quietly marveling at the technology here. a shot through the gut would take months and months to heal to that state, where he's from. if it didn't kill you outright in the first place.

absorbed in those drowsy thoughts, kazama starts a little bit at the second question. looking down at himself, at the flag draped across his shoulders. ]

It's -- for the squad I belong to. Back home. [ 'squad.' not quite the right word. but less likely to earn him a bad reputation than 'terrorist organization.' ]

Squad, huh? You military?

[He finds himself a tree to lean against, letting it take some of the weight off his frame - not that there's much there in the first place, but it's still easier than standing right now. He holsters the gun, as well, letting it disintegrate into light as the ECHO at his side activates.

Mijo is either curious, or he's hoping that the person on the ground is dying and therefore food, because he swings down out of the sky and lands on a nearby branch. This puts Kazama between him and Mordecai, and the bird watches Kazama intently.]

[ again, that bird. kazama doesn't answer at first, more occupied with watching mijo's movements. because as much as kazama likes animals -- far more than he likes most people -- he doesn't really want to stick around near a wild animal that might attack him. ]

... yeah. Guerilla-style unit.

[ another pause as he meets mijo's gaze, before kazama slowly pulls the flag off his shoulders and puts it aside in a little bundle. just in case that bird draws near, he wants to keep it safe and far away from those claws. ] That bird's yours?

Yeah.

[He's watching Mijo too now, curious. Birds might not have the same facial flexibility that humans do, but they still have body language, and Mordecai can read it easily, having spent most of his life learning it. He's seen that look on the bird's face, when he's expecting a rat to come scurrying out from behind one of the shelves in the genetics lab. The bird might still be young, but he's beginning to mature, and part of that means he's becoming more serious about hunting - not just for the fun of chasing something, but for the more visceral reward that is killing and eating something warm, rather than pieces of thawed meat. It's taken some time and some luck, particularly a well-timed pirate invasion, but Mijo has finally been convinced that humans are on the menu, it seems. For a while, Mordecai had despaired that that wouldn't be possible to accomplish, here on the Tranquility.

Still, no need to cause trouble right now. Kazama saved his life, after all, and that's worth something.]

C'mon, Mijo, [he calls to the bird, which snaps its gaze up and then lands on Mordecai's outstretched arm, claiming a chicken's foot that Mordecai had drawn out of the pouch on his hip. There wasn't much food on said foot, of course, but pulling at it would keep him busy for a while, and keep his attention off of the other man.]

[ kazama doesn't say anything, but he certainly looks curious -- watching the bird's movements, the way it responds promptly to the call of its name and tears into that offer of food. clearly a well-trained pet, though no doubt it can double as a pretty dangerous ally in a fight. those claws look deadly, able to do a fair amount of damage, possibly slice deep into a person's limb, and kazama watches the way mijo tears into that chicken foot. ]

What kind of bird is he.

[ his gaze flickers from mijo over to mordecai.

as much as he's personally curious about that bird, there's also an element of something business-like to his tone of voice. it'd be best to keep that bird in mind, just in case it ends up attacking anyone in the future and he has to tend to the matter as a member of security. ]

Your guess is as good as mine. We've been callin 'em bloodwings, after my other bird, since she's the first one any of us knew. People back on Pandora call 'em other names, too, but I dunno if there's a right one.

[Tannis would know, probably. But he'd never tried to ask her because any conversation he tried to have with her dissolved into utter failure. She'd always disliked him, anyway, more than most people - probably because he tended to get pretty short with her, but hell, he just didn't have the right kind of patience. He could sit all day and wait for the right moment to strike a Hyperion squad, but he got fed up with that woman within moments every time.]

[ he can guess quite a few things about mordecai just from those few short sentences. 'pandora' -- mean mordecai's probably not from earth. a man who's probably pretty experienced with birds like this one. and -- possibly some manner of drifter or explorer. kazama watches the way mijo easily destroys that chicken foot before looking back to mordecai. ]

He didn't help you when you were attacked?

[ he's not really criticizing mordecai or mijo with that question. more just curious. surely those talons must have some sort of combat use. ]

He's young. Got scared off by the gunshots, I guess. Still workin' on that. Mostly I've had 'im killin' rats up in the genetics lab, until recently.

[Mijo shreds the skin and tendons off the bones, eating what little there is, and then tears bones from their joints and swallows it all until nothing is left. The calcium is good for him, anyway. When there's no more food, he wipes his beak off on Mordecai's gloved hand, then sits still and watches Kazama again - though now he seems to simply be watching, not sizing him up.]

[ that makes sense. kazama quietly watches the bird eat, partly fascinated and partly considering what it'll be like when that bird's fully grown up. they must grow up pretty quickly, and he's not sure how much food there is for a carnivorous bird, here. not unless it starts mauling the animals that are kept in the gardens by other crew members. ]

Until recently. [ he looks back to mordecai, frowning slightly. ] You're not planning on -- having him hurt people. [ a cautious question. ]

[Mordecai chuckles a little at that question and reaches over to scratch his bird lightly on the belly.]

Not here, no. Not unless a bunch a' pirates attack again or somethin' like that. Back home though, yeah. That's what I was gonna train 'im for.

Edited 2013-05-18 22:28 (UTC)

[ that makes kazama narrow his eyes a bit, trying to imagine a place where using a bird to hunt people is something that can be casually mentioned. ]

Part of your job? Or -- a hobby? [ not necessarily judging, but he'd certainly like to know which it is, just so he has a better picture of what kind of person mordecai is. ]

A little of both? I'm a bounty hunter. [Among other things, but that's the simplest way to put it. So yes, having a bird that can kill is valuable to him for work, but also for plenty of other reasons, not all of which involve self-defense.]

I do a lotta travel in some pretty rough places. It's good to have another pair of eyes, an' even better if he can fend for himself if he needs to.

[ 'bounty hunter.' it sounds like such a quaint phrase, and kazama briefly wonders once more exactly what kind of place mordecai's from -- it sounds so far-fetched and foreign, this strange place where hunting bounties with a carnivorous bird is something to speak casually about. ]

You must be bored here. [ an off-hand comment; it's something he can certainly sympathize with, too. ]

Got that right. Stuck in one damn place for so long, with nothin' to do but drink an' kill rats in the genetics lab. At least the pirates were a change of pace.

[Which was all quite nice until Jack got involved. Speaking of...]

D'you know if anyone found the guy who shot me?

[With any luck, even if Jack had crawled away to escape him, he'd hidden himself too well and nobody had found him and he'd been crushed in the jump. Wishful thinking, maybe, but it sure sounded nice.]

[ a small shake of the head. ]

Haven't heard of it. I mostly just do patrol. Tyke or the others might know better.

[ though he's diligent with patrols and when there's trouble plaguing the whole ship, kazama generally tries to keep his nose out of any personal disputes. it's simply not his territory, and he's never been good with diplomacy. ]

Can ask'em for you if you need.

No, I can do it myself.

[Disappointing, though. Or maybe not - maybe it meant Jack had been left behind, and crushed by the jump. But he wouldn't bet money on that.]

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eighteenth jump;

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