Blue Heaven Docks and Maintenance

Delfye
(From: The Airlocks and Checkpoint)
“Well...shit.” Delfye swore as the pod lost three-quarters of its remaining power. He was quite a pilot, but what was left of the conveyance hardly counted as a vehicle at this point. More like a flying falling trash heap. In any case, the sammaran shut up as he concentrated on bringing them down on-target and in one piece.

More or less…

It turned out there was not enough juice left in the cells to bring them to a complete stop. The station bulkhead--and the pod’s crumple zones, actually the pod now was one big crumple zone--did the rest. ”Okay, we’re here.” he said, kicking out the rest of the windscreen and helping a shaken, stirred, and very greenish-hued Aishe from the wreckage. ”As I was saying--oh, sorry, here.” The sammaran found his explanation interrupted the the spatter of the contents of his passenger’s stomach on the station floor. The grease rag he handed her was probably not the most appropriate handkerchief. ”Okay, come in here… sit down a minute.” Delfye opened the inner door of the airlock where a station runabout was docked.

Miiya Aether
(From: The Airlocks and Checkpoint)
”YAHHH!!!”There was some--but not much--warning as Miiya bombed into Delfye, feet first, at full speed, launching them both into the open airlock. ”LET! GO! OF! MY! FRIEND!!” The Aeros youth punctuated each word with a closed-fist strike at Delfye’s face. In the narrow airlock, she couldn’t get purchase or extend her wings to put real power behind her blows, but her purpose was to keep Aishe’s abductor off-balance, not to put him out of action. “Aishe! Run!” She cried, trying to bring a knee up into Delfye’s softer bits.

Suddenly, the Aeros found herself pulled back, by an arm around her throat. “Miiya! Stop! I know him! He’s my friend!” Aishe grunted, hauling the diminutive girl off the sammaran.

Delfye
The pilot was having his bell rung by the furious assault. Miiya’s punches might not have had a lot of inertia behind them, but they were fast and her fists were small. It was like being battered by a ball-peen hammer. Trying, and failing, to get his guard up, Delfye felt himself liberated of at least one tooth, and it was a good bet one of those punches fractured his nose. Staggering to his feet as Aishe pulled Miiya off him, he palmed the inner door closed, and there was a hiss as the airlock matched pressure with the runabout docked to the exterior hatch. “Jesus!” He gasped bringing a hand up to his abused face. “Calm down, kid!”

The sammaran took advantage of his reprieve to open the hatch to the ship and stumble inside, backing up against the bulkhead farthest from the struggling Miiya. “I’b here to helb.” He insisted, tasting the warm coppery tang of blood on his hand and in his throat as his abused nose began bleeding freely. “I just neeb to talk to bAishe.”

Miiya

Miiya’s blood was up, and it did not easily settle once stirred. She just barely caught herself from elbowing her friend in the face to break her hold. “Rrgh!! Let me GO!” She snarled, before calming herself.

Do. not. beat. up. your. wards. Arfline.

If that wasn’t in the handbook for dealing with GM’s, it ought to be, Miiya thought, and settled down a little. “You know this guy?!” She repeated, trying to keep the incredulity out of her voice. When Delfye spoke, she whirled on him, fists back at the ready. Her thigh hurt something fierce, and now that she wasn’t in active aviation or combat, the pain was making its way through her mental blocks, goading her back into punching mood. The man’s flinching was gratifying, so she didn’t renew her assault, except with words.

“Just TALK? You stole a pod, ran the checkpoint, and broke into this ship…” She waved her arm threateningly, first at Delfye, and then at the duffy around them. “...just to talk?! Yeah, right!!” There was a whole list of other things she should blame Delfye for, but the adrenaline and pain were making it tough to think and speak clearly.

“Miiya, please. Calm down! This is all a big misunderstanding, I’m sure.” Aishe implored the GeneCorp intern. Delfye collected himself enough to at least stand upright (head tilted back and nose pinched with a puke-y shop rag) and agree.

Miiya had a moment to collect herself. Her [literally] ruffled feathers settled. Her thigh burned, and she had the strong suspicion she was making some sort of mistake, she just couldn’t tell what it was, and frett, but my leg hurts! she looked at the man, and her friend, facing her down. “Fine! Talk then, but I’m calling security!” That, she could be sure, she needed to do; call this in, since she had not had the chance on the promenade.

“No… Miiya.” Aishe began, but Delfye stopped her.

”It’s fibe. Do whab you neeb to do.” The sammaran said, motioning to the airlock.

Miiya did not think twice about stepping where directed. She was used to doing as she was told, and it was just involuntary, like breathing; step out, and make a call. Her fingers found the mangled PED in her pocket at the same moment she crossed the threshold into the airlock.

Delfye
The instant Miiya was in the airlock, Delfye closed the ship’s hatch, sealing her in. He palmed the intercom to the pressurization chamber and spoke calmly. “Stab back, I’m closib the ouber door.” From the console, he closed the station’s outer airlock door, equalized the pressure, and opened the station-side inner door. “I neeb you to get oub. I don’t want to debressurize the airlock wib you in ib.” But I will if I have to. was the part of that left unsaid.

“Delfye, what are you doing? She’s my friend, too.” Aishe gasped.

Once Miiya was out of the airlock, Delfye sealed the airlock from both sides. “I’b sorry, bAishe, it has to be this wayb. I habe to knowb for certain.” He walked over to the duffy’s controls and opened a clear safety cover over a manual handle. He pulled the handle halfway down. A tremor ran through the small ship as Delfye released the hard dock. Then he stepped away from the controls. “Oogh, that kid can hib.” He groaned, taking a seat at the rear of the runabout and tilting his bloody face back. He did something to his ocular implant. After a moment the blood stopped flowing from his nose. His black eye faded and the swelling bruises on his face vanished.

He took a long breath, gathering his thoughts. When he spoke, his voice was clear and crisp. “That’s the “go home” lever, Aishe. Pull it the rest of the way down, we undock, and I take you back to your family. Push it back up to “hard dock” and you stay the property of GeneCorp.” That was as simple as he could make it. “I was property of a corporation, once. They gave me the keys to the universe, but they also used me up.” He pointed to the jet-black sclera of his one visible eye. “I’ve got maybe three months left--less now, thanks to your feathered “friend”. I never had a choice, so I wanted to make sure you have one.” He pointed toward the airlock. “She can’t get you here. They can’t hear you. They can’t get you. If they put bugs or implants in you--or told you they did--I’ve jammed them, and we can get them out. You’re safe, now.” He held up a hand when Aishe started to speak. “Wait, let me finish. I am a great pilot, Intercorp made me one of the best.” He tapped his cybernetic lens. “They can’t catch us. I’ve got a real ship waiting. I can get you home.” He pointed again to the undocking lever. ”If that’s what you want. The choice is yours, alone.”

“Go home?” Aishe looked at Delfye with an incredulous stare. Her gaze dropped to the floor for a moment. “Delfye, you don’t know anything!” She paused, trying to put the enormity of his misapprehension into words. She’d been the sammaran’s assistant when she’d known him as the village tinker--acolyte of the monks in the monastery under the mountain. She’d helped him install and repair the solar panels and wind turbines that provided unreliable electrification and net access to her and the other villagers. She told the man this, repeating what he already knew, before she told him what he had not known.

“I did that in spite of the beatings, Delfye. You--you didn’t see, y-you were an outsider, so you didn’t know.” She gritted, still looking down. “I wasn’t supposed to read. I wasn’t supposed to understand sine waves or the piecemeal math you taught me to rectify power onto the local grid, and I sure as **** wasn’t supposed to go on the nets; see that there was… all this.” She waved a shaking hand at the duffy and Blue Heaven beyond. It took a little while, and it was hard to do it without crying, but Aishe described just what kind of life she’d escaped, coming here--leaving home--and why she would never go back. “Property of GeneCorp? Okay--sign me up! Better than staying the property of my father, and then the husband he chooses for me.” She said, blinking back angry tears. “I’m sorry bad things happened to you, Delfye, and I know you’re just trying to help, but…stop, please.”

With careful and deliberate motions, she made her way to the docking lever and pressed it firmly back into place. “I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing. Maybe… maybe GeneCorp’s like Intercorp--maybe I’m trading the devil I know for the one I don’t. Maybe they’ll use me up like they did you, but--one thing is for sure, Delfye: I’m never going home. I’ll die first.” She pointed to the controls. “Open the airlock, please.”

Standing by the console, Aishe pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head. “You know, you could have just asked--without all this.”

I’m glad you think so. Delfye thought to himself, and returned a wan smile from Aishe that he did not feel inside. “Be careful. Watch out for yourself.” He said, before keying open the airlock.

“Wait… what’s going to happen to you?” Aishe stopped him before he could open the hatches.

Delfye gave his former assistant a wry grin. “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “Whatever it is, though, it’s on me. Looks like the first order of business is to get beat to a pulp by your friend.” He eyed the incensed Aeros beating on the airlock door. “Maybe you could put in a good word for me? Ask her to leave me a couple of teeth?” He suggested, before opening the hatches.

"Wow, that was um... uh... uhhh... haha, you must be kinda bruised up huh? Lemme open the emergency door for you... wait, what? Jammed?" Bashemath says as Belle, finally locating the voice, has taken the communication device and coiled it in her long prehensile tail. She also now seemed to be wearing, rather ill-fittingly, a spare Deep 17 lab coat. She squeezed her way out of the cracked open exit door, dislocating and relocating limbs as she pulled herself free of the wreckage but seems absolutely unaffected outside of some strain. ""That... looked painful, yet... uh, not for you, huh? You just kinda... shift around. Cool~! Wait, are you SAVING me? I'm not a-"

Belle looked around the docking area, there was a huge one of those vessels... even bigger than her! Probably best to leave that one alone. Her ears twitched at a rattling sound, knocking, and moved towards it, bouncing off luggage and other vehicles along the way, rather acrobatically given her size. When she finally reached the sound, a... well, seemed like a winged... human? Such a strange thought, have they acquired the ability to morph as well?

Leaning over, she began to knock on the airlock as well. Maybe there was something to this strange ritual?

Miiya Aether
”You motherfre--” Miiya was pounding on the stationside door of the airlock. The panel showed signs of abuse and the outer door was covered in scuff marks from her ineffective kicks. Try as she might, she could not wedge her fingers into the actual door seal to get decent purchase. Of course, this was by design, as prying open an airlock was a great way to depressurize a goodly chunk of the Blue Haven Docks.

Miiya paused her furious assault on the door for a moment when… something joined her. It was large, furry, and definitely not human. It looked a little like a giant Coati. Miiya was used to non-humanoids, but sometimes it was tough to tell sentience when the being didn’t or couldn’t speak. It was always best to err on the side of assuming sentience, and she could certainly use help if this furry giant was friendly. ”Help! The guy in that ship has kidnapped my friend!!” She gasped, hoping Belle understood the common language, and that she wasn’t begging for aid from someone’s pet.

The airlock chamber lights changed from red to green, indicating it had equalized pressure, and that it was no longer suicide to breach it, so Miiya renewed her futile assault on the door. She was stronger than her size belied, but she was still flesh and bone, and the door stood immobile against her best efforts. She did not notice that the control panel was no longer locked out, and that the airlock could be opened by either the electronic interface or the manual override handles.

Belle understood more than the winged girl knew, and she studied the door. She gave what seemed a perplexed expression to Miiya as she assaulted the door. Tilting her head to the side. This was no different than the containment doors back in the old place, green means open, red means don't open.

"O... pen," she uttered. Trying to tell her that it could just be opened now. She casually raised one of her claws and gripped the manual override handles and pulled. "See?"

Delfye (and Aishe)
The door to the airlock hissed and opened as Belle pulled the handle. Aishe was the first one out, holding up her hands and trying to calm her GeneCorp minder down. “It’s over Miiya, stop. I’m coming back with you.”

Miiya looked unconvinced. ”Why the frett did he lock me out, then?!”

“I’m sorry,” Delfye said, standing well back in the airlock, away from the incensed Aeros, “I needed to talk to Aishe, alone.” He looked askance at Belle. “Did you… ah, make a friend? ” He asked, wondering if the violent Aeros girl had recruited the huge rat-like creature to eat or disembowel him.

“That’s no excuse for kidnapping!!” Miiya growled at him, clearly not trusting or accepting anything the cyborg was saying. “C’mon Aishe, get away from him!”

“He didn’t--” Aishe insisted, but stopped, because she could certainly see how it must have seemed to Miiya.

Miiya Aether
Miiya was not happy, but she was calmer. She gave Delfye one final scowl before speaking to Aishe. ”That was scary! I’m glad you’re okay!” She said before turning to Belle. ”Th-thank you for your help…” The winged girl’s voice trailed off and her gaze became a bit glassy.

Here it comes…

Miiya had overtaxed herself, and she could feel the consequences of Storm Dancing catching up to her. Her breathing became shallow and her shoulders hunched as she pressed a fist to her sternum. Beneath it she could feel the fluttering of her heart in Atrial Fibulation. ”S-sorry… just… give me… a minute…” she panted, staggering back a step or two on legs suddenly gone wobbly.

The episode of arrhythmia was more intense than she expected. Guess I’m outta shape she thought to herself as she closed her eyes and bent over, hands on knees for support.

Belle took to watching the events unfold and noticed things sort of deescalate pretty quickly. There were oddities in their tones, but from what she could gather, there was some familial quality between the supposed kidnapper and supposedly kidnapped. She waved in at Delfye, but gave an odd look at his cybernetic enhancements and gave an odd look at him. Despite everything Belle remained composed and calm, even in such a shift in scenery from the overgrowth of Xamoyos, like she doesn't even experience culture shock like most do.

"So, now that this is resolved, could you please now turn yourself over to Deep 17? That w-," Bashemath was heard over the communicator Belle was still holding with her tail. Belle was, however distracted with a sound, her ears twitched, picking up an intense irregularity in the winged girl's heartbeat. She stepped carefully over to Miiya, and leaned over to look at her in the face. Then carefully curled her tail around offering it as a makeshift seat, which, given its size could easily accommodate her. She had seen this before. She was just at the cusp of heart failure.

"Slow... deep breaths," she said in a voice almost ill befit the frame it occupied. It was calm, soft spoken, yet a bit husky. She was repeating what she had heard before, having observed similar in her time of containment, but was also trying to keep Miiya lucid. "In, 1-2-3, out."

Station Security

Blue Heaven has long been an outlaw or--at least--gambler’s paradise. That sort of status does not lend itself to a strong law-and-order alignment. Over the past few centuries, however, the station has seen the rise of more organized criminal enterprises such as GeneCorp, Hotel Zafiro, and various organizations of small-and-midsize commercial entities.

Checkpoints, security, and law exist and are selectively enforced by a police force paid for by, and fully vested in maintaining the interests of, the commercial and corporate ventures of Blue Heaven.

After the disturbance at the checkpoint, it had taken security some time to marshall forces enough to go chase down the troublemaking joyriders who had run the checkpoint and--more importantly--dented a cargo container and left a mess behind. If this were a serious threat to corporate interests, the response would have been swifter and much more forceful. As it was, a squad of six (short-straw-drawers) arrived at the airlock Delfye’s heap of crushed metal--that had once been a hoverpod--had come to rest.

There were four potential offenders present, and the squad leader called this in to headquarters; An adult male human cyborg, a juvenile genetically-engineered humanoid fitting the description of the winged girl who had run the checkpoint, a second juvenile human with no apparent mutations, and a giant marmot--or something. They were near an airlock leading to a station runabout, and might or might not have been in the process of absconding.

”Halt! Move away from the airlock!” called the foremost of the security team. She had one hand on her stun wand as she approached the group.

The squad leader made a quick match between the two juveniles and a GeneCorp missing persons bulletin, issued about ten minutes prior. “Those two are Corpers,” he instructed the squad, pointing to the girls. ”Separate them, detain the man and the rat.”

Two station guards approached Delfye. One had a pair of restraints ready while the other covered him with a disruptor that--one would hope--was at a less-than-lethal setting. “Hands up!”

The other four would attempt to surround Belle. All of them had drawn their weapons, the closest was holding a stun wand, and her three brave compatriots were all pointing disruptors, but staying well back. “Let the girl go!” They were all wondering the same thing; did their handcuffs expand enough to fit Belle’s large paws and did cuffing a giant ring-tailed whatsit make them any less lethal?

Miiya Aether
“T-thanks…” Normally the Aeros girl would have been very hesitant to sit on any part of any other sentient being. It spoke, and opened doors, and might have some medical training, so it--she--Miiya corrected herself, must be sentient. Still in her distress, the aid was welcome, even if she was embarrassed by her weakness. Belle’s tail made a firm and… fluffy… seat.

All Miiya’d done was a brief aerial sprint and some pretty one-sided fighting. Planetside, when she could aviate at will and was in better condition, she might not have even needed to dance at all for this. As it was, Miiya considered popping a couple of beta-blockers she kept in her pocket. The pills had some pretty nasty side-effects, so she decided against it, this time. She knew the arrhythmia would pass shortly if she followed Belle’s advice.

Station security arrived and started yelling conflicting orders. Miiya was not yet well enough to say or do anything to intervene unless she or Aishe were directly threatened.

Delfye

Thankfully it seemed that das grossenmaus was not here to eat or claw him into ribbons. Also the winged terror wasn’t hitting, though she kind of looked like she was dying.

Station security chose that moment to arrive, and muck up the situation well and proper.

“Well, which do you want me to do? Halt or move away?” Delfye put his hands up as ordered and stood still. He would not resist if put in restraints. This was not the pilot’s first rodeo, and he knew the consequences of returning to the station.

He knew, under the circumstances, he should keep his yap shut, but experience told him that things could get really shooty really fast if a large xeno like Belle took umbrage at the clearly-intimidated security guards. “The big ringtail isn’t a part of this; just a bystander, you can let her go.” He suggested, without much hope that station security would listen.

As the security arrived, Belle's general composure... didn't shift dramatically, she had no intention to resist authority, or to fight for that matter. She could seriously hurt them, and she wasn't alright with that thought. And Miiya? Well, she still needs time to regulate her heartbeat. Then the comm speaks up.

"Excuse me, hello? This is Bashemath Addler, of Deep 17! The creature before you is a profoundly intelligent neoprimordial lifeform and, despite her looks... what form she's currently using, anyways, is not, and I repeat NOT a threat. She's currently administering aid to the young lady, not a captive! Just hold her and we'll be by to pick her up... and whatever is left of the lander," Bashemath said over the communicator. "Just um... refrain from violence? That'd be bad, kay?"

Station Security
Delfye was put in restraints without further ado. ”Come with me. Don’t talk to them.” were the orders he received. If he was compliant, he’d be marched off to the detention block at the Airlocks. Station security had a few cells there for impounding offenders who did not fall under any corporation’s--or the Blue Heaven Small Business Guild’s--purview. If no friend, family, business or criminal enterprise claimed them then security usually extorted them for money in exchange for freedom, or spaced them, or both.

As Belle was not overtly hostile--and with numerous reassurances--the trigger-happy guards lowered, but did not holster, their weapons. The squad leader held a brief conference with headquarters. One of the disruptor-holders muttered to another. “D-17 wants us to “hold her”? Pfft. I’m not babysitting those stuck-up illuminatis’ overgrown space rat.”

The guard to whom he spoke nodded in agreement. “What the fuck's a ‘neoprimordial’ anyway?”

Miiya Aether

“Whoo!” As Miiya’s heart resumed a normal sinus rhythm, she found her power of speech restored. She wouldn’t be doing any more flying today--at least not without severe cardiopulmonary risk--but she could at least stand up, and put herself between station security and Belle. The guards were being as arflish as usual, but at least they hadn’t shot anyone yet. “Guys, weapons down, please. She’s helping me.” Miiya added her voice to those calling for calm.

Miiya was no big fan of Blue Heaven’s rent-a-cops. Technically they were supposed to act as support for GeneCorp’s internal security, but they were about a half-step shy of a pirate outfit, themselves, and sometimes extorted “protection” money from businesses that were not a part of the local guild--including her brother. She, therefore, did not have much to say to them. She was pleased that Aishe’s kidnapper was being marched off in irons, but she’d be damned if she was going to congratulate them for a job she (believed) she had mostly done, herself. Her request to “Take us back to GeneCorp, please.” was as helpful as she was going to be. She overheard the squad leader conferring with his superiors about how to disposition two wrecked vehicles and the mess at the checkpoint, but figured they could unravel that mess without her input.

The Aeros intern wanted to call in to GeneCorp as soon as possible but her PED was smashed into inoperability, and she did not want to ask to borrow one. The next best thing would be to report in person with the GM she had saved--sorta--from kidnapping, and maybe this fluffy cardiologist. Turning to Belle, she asked: “Hey, do you want to come with us? You can wait for your… friends… at my workplace.” In a whisper that was not quite quiet enough, she added: “It’ll be a lot more comfortable than hanging out with these arflines.” She nodded at the guards.

The suggestion was a little edgy. Normally Miiya was careful to stay in her lane at work. She was on the very bottom totem as an intern at GeneCorp. Taking the initiative to invite a Neoprimordial Entity to the GC branch office was well above her meager pay grade. Today, however, seemed destined to be all free swim. As far as Miiya was concerned, she had chased down a criminal and thwarted a GM kidnapping. So maybe this will work out too. she hoped. The Aeros girl certainly didn’t like the idea of leaving Belle in the care of nervous, heavily-armed, and unscrupulous security.

Aishe

The Ughyr had been mostly silent through the exchange. Seeing her friend from the village put in restraints troubled her, but a lifetime in Xinjiang informed her not to openly question authority, especially when that authority was backed by uniforms and firearms. She made her way over to Miiya and Belle, giving Delfye a troubled look as he was led away. She wanted to ask what was going to happen to him, but decided to keep quiet for now. Maybe there would be a chance to ask, and to ask someone in a position of power to help, later.

Delfye

“Yeah, yeah…” Delfye muttered as he did as he was bade. He did not actually have a plan for this contingency. He really had thought Aishe would want to return to Terra. He was not sure what to think, now, finding out that she would rather be property of GeneCorp.

I guess I was kinda wrapped up in my own shit. He thought. The Master had said so, repeatedly, and endlessly. So… why did he send me… Of course, he hadn’t. The Master monk never decreed, he only ever suggested, and left it to his followers which path was chosen. So why the fuck did I come here? Delfye was not sure. Lucky for him, it looked like he was going to get to spend his few remaining days contemplating that question in a holding cell. Bully for me. He gave Aishe a grin as she looked back at him. “Take care of yourself, kid!” He said, and got an order to “Shut up!” and a painful tap from a stun wand on its “correction” setting for his trouble.
(To: Airlocks and Checkpoint)

Belle LeTroix has left the area, heading in towards Blue Heaven Airlocks and Checkpoint.

Belle LeTroix has arrived, coming from Blue Heaven Airlocks and Checkpoint.

Rovert arrives from the outside.

Volare Stardust exits "Rovert".

Volare Stardust has left the area, heading out towards Blue Heaven.

Volare Stardust has arrived, coming from Blue Heaven.

Volare Stardust has left the area, heading in towards Blue Heaven Airlocks and Checkpoint.