ABS FIESTA REDUX

[carolcat]

Jaakko catches Cualli's glance, and glances back for split second before returning his full attention to the radio.

The corners of Cualli's mouth twitch into a frown, but she doesn't say anything and looks to the radio.

[Ad Bot]

[Mr. Hurricane]

"Third guy says he's gonna help the Razorbacks. His callsign is Mercury-"

Jaakko is cut off by Linebacker and listens.

"The Razerbacks are called Linebacker. He says 'Make it fast,' that 'They're getting picked apart...' Gods,"

He frowns.

[Badger]

Walter dozes off in the middle of the pilots quarters after becoming bored with the book he was reading and the absence of most pilots preoccupied with other tasks.

[Qwepir]

"Third guy says he's gonna help the Razorbacks. His callsign is Mercury-"
Jaakko is cut off by Linebacker and listens.
"The Razerbacks are called Linebacker. He says 'Make it fast,' that 'They're getting picked apart...' Gods,"
He frowns.

There's almost a minute of unintelligible static, and the Kinos are about to pull the plug when you hear the Mercanans finally say something clearly.
: [Aaand he's outta here.]
: [Thanks for taking the heat off us. Target should be in range soon. Aaany second now...]

Walter dozes off in the middle of the pilots quarters after becoming bored with the book he was reading and the absence of most pilots preoccupied with other tasks.

Walter is stirred from his rest by the sound of people entering the pilots quarters.
: Don't you think it's a bit early to be celebrating?
: Oh, is smacking the Goths on their home turf and making them look like a bunch of flatfooted morons not enough of a reason?
: We're going to have another sortie tomorrow.
: Yeah, and then we might all die, or the carrier gets blown up, or whatever, and then I brought this vodka on board for nothing.
: Hey, makes sense to me.

[Badger]

Walter looks around with a scowl out of confusion from having dozed off, he quickly gains his bearings and sits up, he slowly clues in to the conversation.

"Any of you guys caught wind of what we're doing yet? escorting cruisers?"

[Qwepir]

Walter looks around with a scowl out of confusion from having dozed off, he quickly gains his bearings and sits up, he slowly clues in to the conversation.

"Any of you guys caught wind of what we're doing yet? escorting cruisers?"

Virvel walks into her room, still talking.
: Well, we just knocked out the only thing stopping us from flying over their capital city with a bunch of atomic bombers-

And emerges with a bottle of Vodka.
: So, what do you think's next?

[Badger]

Virvel walks into her room, still talking.
: Well, we just knocked out the only thing stopping us from flying over their capital city with a bunch of atomic bombers-

And emerges with a bottle of Vodka.
: So, what do you think's next?

Walter shrugs and smiles "Hopefully the end of this campaign. I feel like it's not all that easy though with their capital... They're still bound to have a Solid defense for it even if the majority of the imperial fleet is elsewhere."

[carolcat]

Cualli shifts her weight a bit and lowers her voice. "Elu, do you want to stay here and listen or do you want to come with me?" she asks. "I'm... going to go talk to the priest about... something."

[Qwepir]

Walter shrugs and smiles "Hopefully the end of this campaign. I feel like it's not all that easy though with their capital... They're still bound to have a Solid defense for it even if the majority of the imperial fleet is elsewhere."

: All the more reason not to let this go to waste!

Virvel procures a shot glass and pours out a serving.
: Just as long as they don't turn the damn thing... hey, you want some?

Cualli shifts her weight a bit and lowers her voice. "Elu, do you want to stay here and listen or do you want to come with me?" she asks. "I'm... going to go talk to the priest about... something."

: Okay. What did you want to talk about?

[carolcat]

She chews her lower lip a bit. "I'd rather not say it here," Cualli says. "Come on."

She's had on her mind for a while the thought of talking to the carrier's priest about everything that's been on her mind regarding Arkhip and her dealings with Frisk and her declining relationship with her co-workers. It had seemed like a good idea back when another engineer suggested it, but as Cualli thought it over, she was plagued by doubts: what if she got reported as a desertion risk? What if her emotional confession was used as evidence of her helping Arkhip desert? What if someone overheard her confession and started spreading even more rumors about her romantic involvement with Arkhip?

But Cualli realized eventually that she couldn't keep ignoring the emotional and mental consequences of keeping everything locked away inside of herself. As reluctant as she still is to open up, she knows that it's time to make peace with things. She walks quickly down the corridors, wanting to make it to the temple before she has a chance to think herself out of what she's about to do.

[Tayasaurus]

Tippy lounges currently in the messhall's corner table, frowning.

[Badger]

"Sure, I never get to go to the bar up on this boat. That's really the worst part about operating out of here."

Walter twists his back sideways to crack it and then resumes speaking

"What are you planning on after this? Think they'll throw in the towel right away and we can all go home?"

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko translates.

"The Mercury guys cleared the Razorbacks. They say they say the tower will be in range  any second!"

He looks up from his focus on the radio.

"How literal do you want the translations to be? Should I be paraphrasing?"

[Qwepir]

She chews her lower lip a bit. "I'd rather not say it here," Cualli says. "Come on."

: Okay.

Elu follows Cualli's lead.

"Sure, I never get to go to the bar up on this boat. That's really the worst part about operating out of here."
Walter twists his back sideways to crack it and then resumes speaking
"What are you planning on after this? Think they'll throw in the towel right away and we can all go home?"

: Pfft! You're gonna make me spill this, man.
: Okay, Pansar is the one to talk to about this, but if I'm remembering right he theorized that the plan was to destroy the Goths' strategic missile command headquarters located near their capitol. We do that, and any nuclear response will be chaotic and disorganized enough for the Mercanan orbital defense network to handle. Then, I guess we just... vaporize strategic and civilian targets until the Goths surrender? I wasn't paying attention at that point.

Jaakko translates.
"The Mercury guys cleared the Razorbacks. They say they say the tower will be in range any second!"
He looks up from his focus on the radio.
"How literal do you want the translations to be? Should I be paraphrasing?"

: Just give us the gist of it.
: [Missiles away! Come on, come on...]
: [Multiple impacts! Heatsinks destroyed!]
: [Affirmative, bringing it down now.]

[carolcat]

: Okay.

Elu follows Cualli's lead.

Cualli walks into the temple, looking around for the priest. She puts her hands in her pockets to hide their trembling.