THE LOPER
Moderator: ArcWolf
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: THE LOPER
I am sure that Hawle will come up with some way to make sure the situation can be resolved as diplomatically as possible. If he can't then he is going to throw whatever he can at the wall and hope that it sticks.
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Welsh Halfwit
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Re: THE LOPER
76
Grovan accepted the hug from Sarah as he stepped foot on the Loper’s bridge and taking in the overly familiar things he’d forgotten he remembered. He’d never really gotten on with the Human but he still considered her something of a friend, even it it was just following her on the Galnet servers whenever he got five minute. He envied her the family she’d managed to make whilst in the service and he found himself relieved she’d survived on their behalf. She still had a likelihood of getting home to them. He had to think of something to say. Looking at the debris and the wounded and he had to allow a tight smile. “Quite a welcome, Lieutenant,” he said, keeping his words formal and only allowing the tone of his voice show anything more than cold detachment. Well, that and the hand on her back. “But we’d probably better break it before Polva finds out?”
Sarah chuckled slightly before pulling her head back from his smoke stained uniform. She coughed at the smell before apologising. “Good to see you again, sir,” she said, “and, uh, sorry for your losses.”
“I know,” he offered casually. “Nice to see you all as well. Where is the Commander,” he asked, looking at the fallen mess that maintenance were beginning to move. “He’s not..?”
“Naw,” Sarah assured him, in case he’d been worried. “He’s over seeing Captain Xarra on the Rodomont.”
Grovan pretended to think on that for a moment. “So,” he asked, “does that meann that, technically speaking, I’m the senior officer on board now?”
“Not whilst I breathe, Harper Grovan,” Raven told him, stepping onto the bridge from where she’d been helping with some of the repairs. Harmony Whitestar stepped up behind her. The Commander offered a hand for her old subordinate and Harmony checked the records on Grovan. She coughed as she read that he was rebuilding his reputation after assaulting two prisoners under questioning after being disciplined by one Commander Aldair Hawle over the incident. Even with the lighter reprimand, he was unlikely to make Captain but he was improving, apparently. Mission reports were good and his actions against pirates were now only borderline obsessive.
Grovan shook Raven’s hand and winced at the power she possessed still. He pressed back. “Always, Sarina.”
“So the Lappineans will probably get away with it,” Xarra mused. “Several attacks on Council ships, an all out assault on two worlds and they walk away?”
“The trouble is we still have to keep something of a lid on things,” Hawle advised. “We can’t tell why the engagements were made without the truth of things coming out. You know what would happen if news of genetic engineering on this scale getting out?” He almost said ‘you know what happened last time’ but he recalled that Chanderra knew nothing of…
“Like almost happened with the gel,” Chanderra grinned tightly. He saw the looks of alarm on the other’s faces and, despite the events of the last hour, actually laughed at them. “It’s not like we don’t have intelligence. And, probably, some people trying to recreate it. The Council is a good thing,” he added, “but it will never stop those trying to make our races safe. Everybody longs to be the predator, especially the prey. The council evens the playing field.”
“You’re magnanimous in defeat,” Hawle allowed, examining a glass of water and the latest reports from Raven.”
“Maybe I didn’t want to win,” Chanderra remarked, making Hawle wonder if he had a sense of humour. “Beyond doing my duty, that is. And I have that from the medical reports from your medical bay,” he added, looking to Xarra, who was glaring daggers at him.
“And I’m not expressly happy about that,” Xarra assured him, “but you did help out in the fight, losing some of your own and helping save two Council ships. That’s a debt we need to repay as I don’t want us to owe your government anything,” she told him, putting stress and teeth into the last word.
“Understood.” He looked to Hawle. “Over Darena Core,” he asked. “How did you know where to hit to disable my ship?”
Hawle leaned back. “Insider knowledge,” he admitted. “A new member of the crew was on the development team for your ship.”
Chanderra appreciated the honesty. “Don’t send them over with any engineering teams,” he advised.
The Cervidian escorted Doctor Queezle away from the medical bay when the operation was concluded, leaving Doctor Flakk and Doctor Cobalt sighing at the results of their attempts as Andros lay still on the bed. Flakk snapped his gloves off and headed out to the trio waiting for him. “We’ve had to temporarily paralyse him to stop him shaking himself apart during the operation,” he stated matter of factly. “It will wear off but he should be moving much for the next few days.”
“Can we see him,” Sarah asked.
“Through that window,” Flakk commented, pointing at the glass. “His mobility will take time to come back. Rushing it by stupid things like trying to turn his head won’t do him any good. He’s better off staring at the ceiling for the next few hours.” The Wolven looked down at the moderately scared Bazil. “I’ll arrange the teleport to your medical bay once they’re ready. As for now, Doctor, you’re drafted. There’s wounded coming in from the ships. We’re good here. Take the nurse and get down to the secondary medical bay. Doctor Jul’s on his own down there. You,” he added, getting the attention of one of the orderlies, “show them the way. Go.” He glanced at the walking wounded around the bay, being triaged by nurses or left waiting. “The doctor’s are in,” he snapped as Fuze and Webley hurried off and Sarah dithered to offer her help here. “We’ll see you shortly.” He stepped back into the room to move Andros out of the way.
“I was afraid,” David told Rakkel and Harvey as they sat with him in his confinement, “that they were going to use me to try to get the Lappineans to stand down. Use me as a lever or something.”
“It probably occurred to him,” Rakkel admitted, acknowledging her own thoughts that she’d bee surprised in that respect too.
“Captain doesn’t think that way,” Harvey assured them before grinning. “Trust me, I’d know.”
“And you’d lie about it, Uncle Harvey,” Rakkel admonished.
The Jondahl’s ears flicked back as his mouth drooped. “Uncle,” he protested, “I’m young enough to be your older brother!”
“Barely.”
“I’m still not exactly happy about you going into my head, fella. Although I suppose it did get you past my nerves and reluctance to co-operate.” He frowned. “Why’d you let me remember you doing that anyhow?”
Harvey shrugged. “Seemed no reason to. You won’t take it to court. Nor will the Captain.”
“If you say so.”
“Oh, I do,” Harvey said with a grin.
Grovan accepted the hug from Sarah as he stepped foot on the Loper’s bridge and taking in the overly familiar things he’d forgotten he remembered. He’d never really gotten on with the Human but he still considered her something of a friend, even it it was just following her on the Galnet servers whenever he got five minute. He envied her the family she’d managed to make whilst in the service and he found himself relieved she’d survived on their behalf. She still had a likelihood of getting home to them. He had to think of something to say. Looking at the debris and the wounded and he had to allow a tight smile. “Quite a welcome, Lieutenant,” he said, keeping his words formal and only allowing the tone of his voice show anything more than cold detachment. Well, that and the hand on her back. “But we’d probably better break it before Polva finds out?”
Sarah chuckled slightly before pulling her head back from his smoke stained uniform. She coughed at the smell before apologising. “Good to see you again, sir,” she said, “and, uh, sorry for your losses.”
“I know,” he offered casually. “Nice to see you all as well. Where is the Commander,” he asked, looking at the fallen mess that maintenance were beginning to move. “He’s not..?”
“Naw,” Sarah assured him, in case he’d been worried. “He’s over seeing Captain Xarra on the Rodomont.”
Grovan pretended to think on that for a moment. “So,” he asked, “does that meann that, technically speaking, I’m the senior officer on board now?”
“Not whilst I breathe, Harper Grovan,” Raven told him, stepping onto the bridge from where she’d been helping with some of the repairs. Harmony Whitestar stepped up behind her. The Commander offered a hand for her old subordinate and Harmony checked the records on Grovan. She coughed as she read that he was rebuilding his reputation after assaulting two prisoners under questioning after being disciplined by one Commander Aldair Hawle over the incident. Even with the lighter reprimand, he was unlikely to make Captain but he was improving, apparently. Mission reports were good and his actions against pirates were now only borderline obsessive.
Grovan shook Raven’s hand and winced at the power she possessed still. He pressed back. “Always, Sarina.”
“So the Lappineans will probably get away with it,” Xarra mused. “Several attacks on Council ships, an all out assault on two worlds and they walk away?”
“The trouble is we still have to keep something of a lid on things,” Hawle advised. “We can’t tell why the engagements were made without the truth of things coming out. You know what would happen if news of genetic engineering on this scale getting out?” He almost said ‘you know what happened last time’ but he recalled that Chanderra knew nothing of…
“Like almost happened with the gel,” Chanderra grinned tightly. He saw the looks of alarm on the other’s faces and, despite the events of the last hour, actually laughed at them. “It’s not like we don’t have intelligence. And, probably, some people trying to recreate it. The Council is a good thing,” he added, “but it will never stop those trying to make our races safe. Everybody longs to be the predator, especially the prey. The council evens the playing field.”
“You’re magnanimous in defeat,” Hawle allowed, examining a glass of water and the latest reports from Raven.”
“Maybe I didn’t want to win,” Chanderra remarked, making Hawle wonder if he had a sense of humour. “Beyond doing my duty, that is. And I have that from the medical reports from your medical bay,” he added, looking to Xarra, who was glaring daggers at him.
“And I’m not expressly happy about that,” Xarra assured him, “but you did help out in the fight, losing some of your own and helping save two Council ships. That’s a debt we need to repay as I don’t want us to owe your government anything,” she told him, putting stress and teeth into the last word.
“Understood.” He looked to Hawle. “Over Darena Core,” he asked. “How did you know where to hit to disable my ship?”
Hawle leaned back. “Insider knowledge,” he admitted. “A new member of the crew was on the development team for your ship.”
Chanderra appreciated the honesty. “Don’t send them over with any engineering teams,” he advised.
The Cervidian escorted Doctor Queezle away from the medical bay when the operation was concluded, leaving Doctor Flakk and Doctor Cobalt sighing at the results of their attempts as Andros lay still on the bed. Flakk snapped his gloves off and headed out to the trio waiting for him. “We’ve had to temporarily paralyse him to stop him shaking himself apart during the operation,” he stated matter of factly. “It will wear off but he should be moving much for the next few days.”
“Can we see him,” Sarah asked.
“Through that window,” Flakk commented, pointing at the glass. “His mobility will take time to come back. Rushing it by stupid things like trying to turn his head won’t do him any good. He’s better off staring at the ceiling for the next few hours.” The Wolven looked down at the moderately scared Bazil. “I’ll arrange the teleport to your medical bay once they’re ready. As for now, Doctor, you’re drafted. There’s wounded coming in from the ships. We’re good here. Take the nurse and get down to the secondary medical bay. Doctor Jul’s on his own down there. You,” he added, getting the attention of one of the orderlies, “show them the way. Go.” He glanced at the walking wounded around the bay, being triaged by nurses or left waiting. “The doctor’s are in,” he snapped as Fuze and Webley hurried off and Sarah dithered to offer her help here. “We’ll see you shortly.” He stepped back into the room to move Andros out of the way.
“I was afraid,” David told Rakkel and Harvey as they sat with him in his confinement, “that they were going to use me to try to get the Lappineans to stand down. Use me as a lever or something.”
“It probably occurred to him,” Rakkel admitted, acknowledging her own thoughts that she’d bee surprised in that respect too.
“Captain doesn’t think that way,” Harvey assured them before grinning. “Trust me, I’d know.”
“And you’d lie about it, Uncle Harvey,” Rakkel admonished.
The Jondahl’s ears flicked back as his mouth drooped. “Uncle,” he protested, “I’m young enough to be your older brother!”
“Barely.”
“I’m still not exactly happy about you going into my head, fella. Although I suppose it did get you past my nerves and reluctance to co-operate.” He frowned. “Why’d you let me remember you doing that anyhow?”
Harvey shrugged. “Seemed no reason to. You won’t take it to court. Nor will the Captain.”
“If you say so.”
“Oh, I do,” Harvey said with a grin.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: THE LOPER
It probably will not end well if David did try to take what happened to court which is why Harvey is so certain it won't get that far. Either one of Aldair's crew will threaten him to stand down or the case will collapse.
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Welsh Halfwit
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Re: THE LOPER
And we end with some Spaceballs gags...
77
Hawle sat in his room as Raven worked on organising the repair crews with Katara’s help. The Rodomont’s Chief Engineer had dispatched crews to the Fallir and the Peygan as a gesture and they were working on supplying whatever the Loper neede and Hawle was still in the loop but not a moving part right now, which was why he was working on repairing the ear of his plush facsimile, stitching the ear together. He knew there was a tailor on the Rodonmont could do it but he didn’t quite think it was appropriate for him to carry the plushie through Captain Xarra’s own ship – especially when there was no Xarra plushie – and he supposed he still had to show Postain it first so legal could do what they needed to do. Not that he was giving it over, obviously. He pulled the stitching together and tied it off, snipping the thread with his teeth and almost throwing the needle into his own eye as the roomcom blipped into life with Dawton using his override. “I’ve told you not to do that,” Hawle remarked, hiding the doll behind his back quickly. “I could have been doing anything! This is an unlisted wall!”
<“Don’t worry, sir,”> the Human grinned, <“I didn’t see you playing with your doll again, sir! You told me to tell you when Controller Postain was on comm, sir.”>
“And,” Hawle asked, knowing what the answer was and playing along.
<“Controller Postain’s on comm, sir.”>
“You’re really a pain in the neck, you know that, right,” Hawle said with a grin.
<“Thank you, sir.”>
“Put him on.”
Postain could see the strain of the days in the Lappineans eyes and wondered how often Postlethwaite had seen that look in his eyes over the years. It was the look of losses that were only just coming into focus after the drop of adrenaline. The bill was always high. Had anything positive come out of this? Time to improvise, he supposed, sitting at his desk. “Before we begin,” he stated, “I wanted you to know your thoughts on that Human battleship have been agreed by command and the budgeting commission. We’ve bought three to be deployed in the patch later this year so thank you for the suggestion. How’s your crew,” he asked.
Hawle blinked. He’d not quite been expecting that. “Uh, holding up, thank you, sir. Doctor Zowaix is still looking to get some scientific projects underway, which we might be able to sort out for him as one of the places he’s supposed to help with is where we can pick up a lot of spare parts. Most of them are holding up well and the walking wounded are recovering. I, er, still need to sort out the arrangements for fifteen to be, uh,…”
<“I know, Captain,”> Postain interrupted. <“Believe me, I know. It never gets any easier to bear, even if they get easier to write. But know this. They did their duty for a service they loved and a Commander they respected.”> Hawle’s ears pricked up. <“I said THEY respected, Commander. Polva managed to convince me that you’re not a total pain in the backside and you’ve managed to do good things with a crew that shouldn’t work. Oh,”> he added as an abstract, <“the Raitchians have decided they don’t want that plumber back and are suing him for breaking his contract. So you keep him. And the pirate Wolf. The information he’s provided on these new Raitchian cruisers could be useful. For future events.”>
“You really think we might have to take up arms against one of the Council members,” Hawle asked.
<“Aldair,”> Postain replied heavily, <“if we do end up going that far? It probably won’t be the Raitchians.”>
“My people,” Hawle said quietly, before brightening. “Oh, that’s another good thing we got out of this. You recall we said all the Lappinean borders were killed by exploding face plates? Well, it wasn’t quite true. All face plates DID explode but one had been ripped off the Lappinean face by my chief engineer at the time. It turns out some Lapistech captain’s probably having a bad time now. Turns out they didn’t know they were on a suicide mission and the name of the one we saved? He was going under a fake name. His real name... Can you unsecure the line so the spies can listen in to this moment, sir?”
<“You’re not serious?”>
“I am. I think one needs to know as it will help with horse trading in the future?”
Postain tapped three keys. <“Unsecure for two minutes.”>
“Thank you, sir. As I was saying,” Hawle continued saying as he brought up the image of a Lappinean lying atop a bed. “One of the Lappineans wearing the face plates wasn’t wearing it when it went off. My engineer ripped it free. He signed up under a pseudonym but his real name is David Balbury.”
Postain almost choked. <“You’re SERIOUS,”> he coughed. <“Disavowed head of the Lappinean Intelligence services? THAT Balbury?”>
“His grandson. He’s not a fan of granddad, which is why the Captain never…” Hawle waited until the static cleared to indicate the line was secure again. “...knew who he was. Harvey’s had a look…”
<“Hawle...”>
Aldair held up his hands. “Just to see if we needed to dig further. He says the guy knows nothing. And I just had you tell the Lappineans, those who have most reason to be punching us in theface at the moment, that he’s aboard this vessel. I think that’ll stop them causing trouble. Oh,” he added, seemingly as an afterthought, “We have to take Doctor Dack back to Persephone. Um… Did medical get the information from Doctor Flakk?”
<“They did indeed,”> Postain grunted. <“And I’m not happy the Raitchians got given the information.”>
“They’ll find it’s been altered by one of my cyber operators,” Hawle admitted, waving it off. “And Harvey, um, bumped into Queezle before he was sent on his way so his memories match the changes to the data. Subtle changes that render the whole thing useless. Not that they’ll discover that for some time. Which leaves me with a superstrong, slightly telekinetic, teenager who Doctor Fuze has taken guardianship over. I’ll have to find something to do with him, of course.”
<“You’re going to need a bigger ship.”>
“Just an extension on this one will do, sir.”
Still sitting on his bed, Hawle put in practice waves with his plush counterpart as Dawton told him they’d have a line to Cora II and Elena in two minutes. The blank vidscreen snapped into life. Two lines of text wrote across the bottom. ‘Look after him’ one said. ‘Or I’ll kill you’ the other finished.
Hawle smirked. “Understood.” He had his plushie wave to Elena as she appeared on the screen.
END.
77
Hawle sat in his room as Raven worked on organising the repair crews with Katara’s help. The Rodomont’s Chief Engineer had dispatched crews to the Fallir and the Peygan as a gesture and they were working on supplying whatever the Loper neede and Hawle was still in the loop but not a moving part right now, which was why he was working on repairing the ear of his plush facsimile, stitching the ear together. He knew there was a tailor on the Rodonmont could do it but he didn’t quite think it was appropriate for him to carry the plushie through Captain Xarra’s own ship – especially when there was no Xarra plushie – and he supposed he still had to show Postain it first so legal could do what they needed to do. Not that he was giving it over, obviously. He pulled the stitching together and tied it off, snipping the thread with his teeth and almost throwing the needle into his own eye as the roomcom blipped into life with Dawton using his override. “I’ve told you not to do that,” Hawle remarked, hiding the doll behind his back quickly. “I could have been doing anything! This is an unlisted wall!”
<“Don’t worry, sir,”> the Human grinned, <“I didn’t see you playing with your doll again, sir! You told me to tell you when Controller Postain was on comm, sir.”>
“And,” Hawle asked, knowing what the answer was and playing along.
<“Controller Postain’s on comm, sir.”>
“You’re really a pain in the neck, you know that, right,” Hawle said with a grin.
<“Thank you, sir.”>
“Put him on.”
Postain could see the strain of the days in the Lappineans eyes and wondered how often Postlethwaite had seen that look in his eyes over the years. It was the look of losses that were only just coming into focus after the drop of adrenaline. The bill was always high. Had anything positive come out of this? Time to improvise, he supposed, sitting at his desk. “Before we begin,” he stated, “I wanted you to know your thoughts on that Human battleship have been agreed by command and the budgeting commission. We’ve bought three to be deployed in the patch later this year so thank you for the suggestion. How’s your crew,” he asked.
Hawle blinked. He’d not quite been expecting that. “Uh, holding up, thank you, sir. Doctor Zowaix is still looking to get some scientific projects underway, which we might be able to sort out for him as one of the places he’s supposed to help with is where we can pick up a lot of spare parts. Most of them are holding up well and the walking wounded are recovering. I, er, still need to sort out the arrangements for fifteen to be, uh,…”
<“I know, Captain,”> Postain interrupted. <“Believe me, I know. It never gets any easier to bear, even if they get easier to write. But know this. They did their duty for a service they loved and a Commander they respected.”> Hawle’s ears pricked up. <“I said THEY respected, Commander. Polva managed to convince me that you’re not a total pain in the backside and you’ve managed to do good things with a crew that shouldn’t work. Oh,”> he added as an abstract, <“the Raitchians have decided they don’t want that plumber back and are suing him for breaking his contract. So you keep him. And the pirate Wolf. The information he’s provided on these new Raitchian cruisers could be useful. For future events.”>
“You really think we might have to take up arms against one of the Council members,” Hawle asked.
<“Aldair,”> Postain replied heavily, <“if we do end up going that far? It probably won’t be the Raitchians.”>
“My people,” Hawle said quietly, before brightening. “Oh, that’s another good thing we got out of this. You recall we said all the Lappinean borders were killed by exploding face plates? Well, it wasn’t quite true. All face plates DID explode but one had been ripped off the Lappinean face by my chief engineer at the time. It turns out some Lapistech captain’s probably having a bad time now. Turns out they didn’t know they were on a suicide mission and the name of the one we saved? He was going under a fake name. His real name... Can you unsecure the line so the spies can listen in to this moment, sir?”
<“You’re not serious?”>
“I am. I think one needs to know as it will help with horse trading in the future?”
Postain tapped three keys. <“Unsecure for two minutes.”>
“Thank you, sir. As I was saying,” Hawle continued saying as he brought up the image of a Lappinean lying atop a bed. “One of the Lappineans wearing the face plates wasn’t wearing it when it went off. My engineer ripped it free. He signed up under a pseudonym but his real name is David Balbury.”
Postain almost choked. <“You’re SERIOUS,”> he coughed. <“Disavowed head of the Lappinean Intelligence services? THAT Balbury?”>
“His grandson. He’s not a fan of granddad, which is why the Captain never…” Hawle waited until the static cleared to indicate the line was secure again. “...knew who he was. Harvey’s had a look…”
<“Hawle...”>
Aldair held up his hands. “Just to see if we needed to dig further. He says the guy knows nothing. And I just had you tell the Lappineans, those who have most reason to be punching us in theface at the moment, that he’s aboard this vessel. I think that’ll stop them causing trouble. Oh,” he added, seemingly as an afterthought, “We have to take Doctor Dack back to Persephone. Um… Did medical get the information from Doctor Flakk?”
<“They did indeed,”> Postain grunted. <“And I’m not happy the Raitchians got given the information.”>
“They’ll find it’s been altered by one of my cyber operators,” Hawle admitted, waving it off. “And Harvey, um, bumped into Queezle before he was sent on his way so his memories match the changes to the data. Subtle changes that render the whole thing useless. Not that they’ll discover that for some time. Which leaves me with a superstrong, slightly telekinetic, teenager who Doctor Fuze has taken guardianship over. I’ll have to find something to do with him, of course.”
<“You’re going to need a bigger ship.”>
“Just an extension on this one will do, sir.”
Still sitting on his bed, Hawle put in practice waves with his plush counterpart as Dawton told him they’d have a line to Cora II and Elena in two minutes. The blank vidscreen snapped into life. Two lines of text wrote across the bottom. ‘Look after him’ one said. ‘Or I’ll kill you’ the other finished.
Hawle smirked. “Understood.” He had his plushie wave to Elena as she appeared on the screen.
END.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: THE LOPER
Elena would definitely find that plushie adorable and at some point might end up appropriating it behind his back. Whoever created it she would threaten to have sued so she could have the only one in existence because I know my character. 
Now that this story is done does that mean we can continue our RP?
Now that this story is done does that mean we can continue our RP?
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Welsh Halfwit
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Re: THE LOPER
The next tale is underway... But not posting for a bit.
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Amazee Dayzee
- Posts: 29506
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Re: THE LOPER
That is understandable that you would need some time to get ready and focus more on where the next story will go so don't worry about having it ready immediately. I do hope that we can at some point get back to what WE were doing with Hawle and Elena as it was your post. 