spaceship delta

The docking hub hisses when the crew shuttle locks into place with the //Legate//. It's your first time in space. You recall old memories of looking up at the sky, seeing the stars and wishing for a little slice of the cosmos for your own. The air is tinny and recirculated, and the quarters of the shuttle are cramped, but to you it's beginning to feel like home already. The doors open and the chief pilot, grumbling about being a taxi driver for errant teenagers, yells for everyone to get their bags. It's time to leave. Your duffel comfortably rests over your shoulder until the larger ship's gravity well practically pins your feet to the floor. You narrowly avoid colliding with a short woman with choppy hair. "We'll walk the rest of the way," she says. "What's your department?" [[Medical|medical]] [[Engineering|engineering]] [[Navigation|navigation]]

"Engineering," you say. It was a bit of a bloodbath getting here, what with everybody fancying themselves a spaceship fixer-upper in an increasingly STEM-pilled world, but you did it. You got here. The woman takes you left, then down a set of narrow stairs. Before you can thank her, she's gone. "Another one?" asks a man hanging off the rafters with his jumpsuit partially down, the arm sleeves tied at the waist. Another man, seemingly East Asian in appearance, grunts and continues probing an ominous-looking hole in the wall. Your tablet buzzes again, this time with the name of your temporary supervisor. ::Choose Supervisor [[Duct fixer|haku1]] [[Rafter hanger|kenny1]]

The medical wing is just like you imagined it. Blue, white, and almost stinking of artificial peppermint. After trying and failing to get into one of the pipeline universities for medical school, you decided to try your hand at getting a naval certification. Luckily, the medical bay has no patients today. A man, likely of East Asian descent, talks on his phone. You didn't know personal devices were allowed aboard, let alone if they could receive communications from Earth or not. The temples of his head are slightly gray. With the stripes on his uniform, he's the Chief Medical Officer. Meanwhile, a woman folds and stacks packages of bandages, no doubt for the textile autoclave. You stand there for a few moments, feeling awkward, until one of them turns around and notices you. [[The nurse|ivy1]] [[The officer|tadano1]]

The woman guiding you everywhere seems to vanish without a trace, but the navigation center almost makes up for it. Wide windows on your left and right show filtered starlight onto hard metal floors. The chairs, surprisingly well-upholstered, are filled with people typing and muttering designations to each other. When one woman mutters "A43023" particularly loudly, your attention is shifted to her, then the platform behind you where the captain and another officer remain on standby. One of them notices you first. [[The captain|aslanov1]] [[The other one|takeda1]]

You ask the man fixing the duct if he needs any help. In return, you get another grunt, this time one of affirmation. The man throws you a wrench. [[Catch|catch]] [[Don't catch|bonk]]

You catch the basin wrench easily. "Which pipe should I fix first?" you ask. "The one over here," she points out, her outstretched arm showing the nametape //Ashikaga//. Not a man. Oops. [[Get to work|working]]

The basin wrench lands on your head. The man, Ashikaga, looks down at you with a yellow hard hat covering his hair. "Are you all right?" she asks, dropping down to give you a hand. Not a man. Oops. [[Not alright|hurts]] [[All is well|working]]

The lanky guy swinging above you on the rafters (no hard hat, mind you) stops swinging for a moment and squint down at you when you call his last name. "Not another E-2," he mumbles. He takes a moment to compose himself. "Name's Kenneth. You're on hull maintenance, aren't you." He checks his watch. "We're not doing a spacewalk until tomorrow, so go bug someone else instead." [[Talk to other person|haku1]]

You try to get up, but your head still aches. Seeing your state, Ashikaga frowns and curses something in Japanese before slinging your arm over her shoulder and hauling you to the medical bay. [[To the medical bay|hospital1]]

It's a bit awkward at first, having to reach around each other, but the two of you soon get used to each other's timing, becoming like two parts of a well-oiled machine. "Good job," she says after a while. "You should eat." [[start over|intro]]

She nods at you in greeting, nametape stating //Albero//. You decide to ask Albero if she needs any help right when she finishes loading everything into the autoclave. She doesn't say anything, but instead looks right at you. [[...|ivy2]]

Crickets. Is there anyone else you can talk to? [[bruh|tadano1]]

"Why, hello there," the man, Tadano, says with the deluded enthusiasm of some vintage block game playing streamer. "Looks like you are right on time. We don't have a lot on the docket today, buuuuuut you can take inventory of the syringes." [[Do your job|inventory]]

It's not exactly exciting work, but it keeps you busy until it's time for lunch. [[start over|intro]]

You give a quick salute, not sure of what else to do. The captain, a Russian woman by the name Aslanov, blinks at you. "At ease," she says. Then she climbs down the platform and examines you with cold blue eyes. You stand still. Did you remember to keep your uniform up to standard? [[Yes|tucked1]] [[No|untucked1]]

The other officer, a woman with a white flower pin on her uniform, steps down to meet you. "You must be the new navigation member. It's nice to meet you, even if you forgot to properly tuck the end of your belt." [[You actually did forget to tuck in the end of your belt|untucked2]] [[Your uniform is up to standards, as always|tucked2]]

The medical wing is bright white and blue. Very bright white and blue. You squint against the light, head throbbing, and you vaguely register being sat down on a chair. "Albero, can you take care of this?" calls a man from the far side of the wing. [[Get treated|hospital2]]

You stay still as the nurse silently shines a penlight into your eyes and writes down a few notes on her tablet. She disappears briefly, then reappears with a bottle of Tyronol. Ashikaga, who's been waiting beside you, helps walk you back. "I think you should get some rest," she says. [[start over|intro]]

She nods. "Officer Takeda will introduce you to your team." [[Follow|team]]

"Hm. Get that belt up to shape before you touch any of the computers," she says. "I expected more from someone recommended for the Legate." Mortified, you tuck in the end of your belt. Takeda nudges you. [[Follow|team]]

Mortified, you quickly tuck in the end of your belt, much to Takeda's amusement. "This'll make a good story for Hacchan," she says with glee. "I did the same thing years ago too." Aslanov coughs. "Right," Takeda says, "time to get started." [[Start|team]]

"I'm just joking," she says. "Shall we get started?" [[start|team]]

You're quickly introduced to your team, a band of two other people with differing hair colors and badges. One of them, a goth (okay, as goth as uniform standards allow) woman named Bankings walks you through the steps of today's mission. It's just housekeeping, really, some numbers being checked and whatnot. Another man on the team is surnamed Olsen but called Gus by the others. He appears to be a bit odd, if not good at his job. Okay, apparently the third person is missing. That's a mystery for another day. [[start over|intro]]