(open) flight of the concord

[aithinkthereforeaiam]

Date & Time: 1200 Island Standard Time
Location: Exsilium, Warehouse 13
Characters: All boarders and pilots and staff listed here, and everyone else to come and see!
Summary: The space shuttle has finally been fully restored, and now the Initiative has cleared it for a practice flight out past the exosphere. The flight is a success, thus guaranteeing future goals brought around by the Transports rewriting history to reshape the present.
Warnings: None at the moment. Space excitement!

There's a sense of excitement almost strong enough to taste for people waiting past the safe-line, watching for the space shuttle liberated by accidental chance from the United Earth. She's been refitted and reworked by countless hours of labor intense love from Transports and Initiative members alike, and today, she's finally ready to reclaim the skies.

With the flight path chosen, and the cloud patterns promising no heavy rain or turbulance in the lowest level of the atmosphere, or the one right above, everyone is relatively confident this will go well.

And if it doesn't... they'll deal with the fallout.

Yet today is not a day to mourn failures. Today will be a day of success -- and to each person strapped in on the space shuttle herself, it will be a flight into the skies to remember. For the four hours the crew will stay in rotation with the Earth from beyond her exosphere, memories will be made, champagne knock-offs will be had back on Exsilium, and absolutely no potty breaks will happen up in the skies.

Let's ammend that earlier statement: there is one failure. That failure is the sonic toilet, but in the face of every other challenge, to only have the toilets break down is nigh on miraculous!

Comments

[pilot]

[ the ship is antiquated, heavy and slow. han would take anakin's arm off and beat him with it to get a good corellian-make ship. but even so a ship is a ship and he's in his element now.

he familiarizes himself with the instrumentation quickly and performs the preliminary checks, occasionally yelling at others to get to work or get out of the way. preferably out of the way. the only other person he seems to really listen to is kirk and even that is a crapshoot.

one thing is true: he won't be surrendering the pilot's seat easily. he's even strapped himself in like a good boy. ]

[yourdistraction]

[ Merrill watches with an 'oooh' kind of look as this guy just moves around like he knows everything about everything! The ship itself is beyond fascinating, this elf probably annoying every person aboard the shuttle with her questions about this blinking light and what is this made of and how is it able to fly? She doesn't ask him, though, not while he's working, because he doesn't want anyone in his way!

By now she'll have shut up long enough to gawk, but she's not bothering with seatbelts, why??? Instead she's standing, letting others take up the limited seating, and she'll be...standing near him up front once they're up in space. Maybe trying to look out the big window past him... sorry dude...try not to get hit with the staff strapped to her back. ]

Oh, it's beautiful! So different from looking at below. You seemed to know what you were doing, you must see this all the time. Are you the captain?

[pilot]

Watch it.

[ it's not so much a warning as a reminder. once he can feel the pull of gravity (note to self: tinker with it later), han undoes the harness and lounges back in the seat. ]

Pilot.

[ captain of the millennium falcon and a captain in the rebellion. neither of which are here. ]

You want the captain you'll want him. [ he points over his shoulder with his thumb at wherever kirk is. ] He's the one responsible.

[ if anything goes wrong, it's on kirk. best friend right here. ]

[shelkethetransparent]

[Hey Han, how do you feel about tiny children that appear next to you and inquisitively watch everything you do with glowing eyes that might be judging a little bit? Because that just happened.]

[Shelke had just been exploring, but she hadn't realized anyone had actually been assigned to pilot the ship...and frankly, she had been curious how they were going to get around that little nitpick since she wasn't certain anyone knew how. Which is why she was so interested in his checks and procedures.]

...Do you know what you are doing?

[She doesn't sound all that interested, but she's watching him intently as she asks.]

[pilot]

[ he hates children 8|

he doesn't look at her as he continues working. ]

Yes.

[2leftfeet]

[Shepard has absolutely zero interest in flying the damn thing, but she is curious enough to check out what they've got rigged up here in terms of instruments. Over the course of the ship's repair, she'd spent more time doing heavy lifting and basic hull repairs over the finer work of the navigation panel and the result is--]

Well it's not exactly flashy, is it? [Sorry Han, she's totally sticking her nose in your business to get a better look at everything.]

Oh dear lord, I did not realize I needed this CR so bad XDD

[alwaysruns]

[Kara's familiar with this spacecraft. If you can call it that. It's no Viper, that's for sure. Definitely nothing like a Battlestar either. But she's worked on fixing it up after those morons wrecked it and damn it will be good to be up in space again.

Except. There is some guy strapped into her seat.

Starbuck slams her hands on her hips with a look of you're-got-to-be-kidding-me on her face.]

What are you doing?

[priad]

It has been a while since I've sailed the seas of space. But you look like you know what you're doing, mortal.

[ a huge voice, coming from a power armored figure that looks very much like an upscaled stormtrooper booms from behind han, filling up a good chunk of the cockpit behind him. ]

This will be a joy, I think.

engineering nonsense.

[oncearanger]

[She's a beaut. Billy spends a few moments lovingly poking at everything he can safely touch, marveling at the places where their work came together to restore this mysterious old ship.

And once they're off? He's edging his way to a window.]

It's still the most beautiful planet I've ever seen. Even in this state.

[oldsoldiersneverdie]

[Nate is content to leave the hotshot pilots to argue - if they can't sort themselves out he'll knock them all out and fly the damn thing himself, but he's really hoping it won't come to that. He hasn't seen it all fixed up, so he's exploring a little - and admiring the view, too]

Yeah - always is.

[imperfect]

[This seemed like a good idea on the ground. It carried on seeming like a good idea to Ed all through the initial bustle, lending a hand with the machinery and pitching in with last-minute checks where he could; it's one thing to read up on how far this kind of technology has come in the last millennium and a half, but it's got nothing on seeing it up close. No, Ed only decides that this belongs on his long list of terrible life decisions as the shuttle roars into the sky and he's suddenly, sharply reminded of something he might not have forgotten if he ever paid enough attention to it: prosthetics can sometimes be a little sensitive to weird changes in pressure.

He doesn't look like he'll be unstrapping himself any time soon. Actually, apart from his ragged breathing and the occasional involuntary grunt of pain, he's making a decent effort not to move at all. His face is decidedly pale.

But some things don't change no matter what world he's on, or as it turns out whether he's technically on one at all - if anyone comes near, even if they weren't actually looking his way, he's going to sit up, glare at them and furiously pretend he's doing just fine.] What?

[Of course he'll be getting up in a second, dammit! An opportunity is an opportunity, and this isn't just for him.]

[oncearanger]

...hey, is something wrong?

[Billy has no problems getting out of his seat. He's going everywhere, like he'll never explore quite enough if he doesn't do it right this minute.]

Not used to the gravity shift?

[diplomatique]

[ larsa doesn't flinch like he likely ought to; his features only turn more concerned. ]

You're quite pale. Has something gone wrong?

[recalibrates]

[ yeah the ship is... old- compared to what he's used to. as sturdy as it looked something still made his mandibles twitch uneasily. and he hasn't seen a single giant gun. he tries to ignore it but it weighs on his mind as he ensure he is familiar with the ship and it's instruments.

garrus may not be as technically minded as say tali, but he is still pretty damn good. he'll likely be able to help them stop crashing and burning should the eventuality come around.

he really misses the normandy.

that ship is sleek, smooth, can take off without needing the entire crew to sit themselves into straps and hold their teeth. this? it's like a clanking bucket, but better than nothing he suspects. better than nothing.

(that is what he tells himself as the ship takes off.) ]

[chore_boy]

Coby chose to meditate. He couldn't help himself. There was something scary about venturing into a place that could kill him if he were to get exposed to it. The sea was different. At least there was a sliver of hope of survival if one fell off their ship. It seemed highly unlikely that this was the case in space, which he was told had no air.

He didn't even bother to question it. Instead, he sat still with his arms crossed and his eyes shut, fixated on meditation--not out of a sense of spirituality, but because then he could keep his emotions in check.

The only problem was, he was starting to feel like he had to pee.

[2leftfeet]

[The takeoff is unlike anything she's ever experienced. It's worse than jumping the Mako down through a planet's atmosphere which is, even she can admit, saying something. It's not like anyone in the service considers the particular whiplash inducing movement of the Mako a selling point. This? Makes her teeth rattle in her skull and there's a moment when they exit the planet's atmosphere that everything goes light and high in her chest and --shit, she hates zero gravity.

But the unpleasant memory it brings up is abruptly cut off when the localized gravity field catches and she slams the inch back down, heels hitting the floor of the ship hard. With the ship on its designated flight path, Shepard pops her harness open and makes her way to the lower decks to make sure everything down there it holding up. It's a cursory sort of investigation - she's no engineer and probably can't do much other than lend a hand if something is wrong -, but god it's nice to be on a ship again. Even one like this where she can practically hear the empty void of space lurking over her shoulder, ready to pull this tin can apart at the slightest provocation.]

[priad]

[ In the lower decks Shep finds a huge armored figure, apparently feeling a bit edgy himself, swapping a magazine in and out of a tremendous hand weapon, and he looks up, clearly peering at her armor first, then nods. ]

Soldier.

[autocratic]

[ Ever since Coby had expressed interest in going along this trip, Saber had been more reserved than usual. Sitting next to him, her flashy, clearly expensive looking crimson ballroom dress made her stand out among the other pilots and attendees. The only part of her that didn't match the overall color radiance is the sullen look on her face as she has her arms crossed over her chest and watching the other boarders with an almost irritated look.

Despite being from ancient Rome, the novelty of space travel is as interesting as reading the morning paper. Before coming here, she was in a spot on the moon, fighting a digital version of the Holy Grail War. The scenery of stars is beautiful, but all of it just made her wish she could meet Hakuno again. It really isn't helping her mood on this trip, but since Coby insisted, she followed anyway.

At least she had no need for toiletries. Poor bastards. ]

[unkindness]

[Compared to what she's used to, this ship is horribly primitive--Seven is reminded of the Ares command module, the initial unease she felt in sharing the cockpit with the body of Lieutenant Kelly echoed now. This ship is larger, but also much more crowded. There are passengers that, in her opinion, have no business being here. Certainly for a test flight.

The pilot seat is taken, and while Seven's capable of it, she prefers operations and tactical, the duties she assisted with on Voyager. Tactical certainly was not relevant at the moment, however Seven could keep a careful eye on the ops console, ensuring that power flow was stable--and more importantly that life support didn't suddenly decide to cut off.]

[shelkethetransparent]

[Much as she has been doing at other stations, Shelke turns up suddenly next to Seven, peering at the console she is working on and watching what the woman is doing. She's silent at first, content to take it in, trying to determine the various actions she was taking.]

[Eventually though, the small girl shifts faintly.]

You have used something like this before?

[alwaysruns]

[Ahh space. Good to be back in it. Not that Kara would admit to it, but she's rather missed life on Galactica. Well. Some of it. Real food, real booze, an actual sky (even a shitty one) overhead- all good stuff. But to be flying again is better.

Naturally, Kara insists on being in the pilot seat. As far as she's concerned she's the best pilot around and the only real choice. Yeah sure Lee's the CAG, but she's better pilot. If there's anything that rather bothers her in this situation, is that there is no set leadership that she can tell. Which creates a problem for her. How is she supposed to be a pain in the ass for a commander when there's not one?

She settles into the vaunted pilot's seat and double checks the readings. What she wouldn't give for a DRADIS right now.]

[oldsoldiersneverdie]

[Nate is mostly helping out wherever he's needed. He could fly this if necessary, but given the number of people clawing for the seat, he decides he'll leave them to it. He's flown in space before - it's nice, but it doesn't run in his veins the way it does with some people.

The farther out they go, the tenser he gets, though. Focused on outside of the ship, worried he'll pick up some familiar psi traces that he desperately hopes aren't in this timeline]

[priad]

[ Priad notices the tension, and the warrior giant booms at Nate. ]

Your heart rate is rising. Are you preparing for a fight?

[ He shifts, wondering if he should as well. Priad coming along on something like this makes sense, it is what space marines were made for, after all. ]

[galactically]

[It's been a long, long time since Sheryl had set foot onto a shuttle, and the chance to actually travel across space once again, not to mention seeing the whole planet from afar, was very tempting. She wanted to see the twinkling stars once more, far away from the now familiar sight of dark clouds and endless rain looming over her head.

Right now, Sheryl Nome is obtaining the chance she's been hoping for all along, and she couldn't be any happier. Okay, so the takeoff is loud and clunky, unlike how the shuttles in bio-plant fleets usually leave the atmosphere, and the gravity is making her a bit dizzy and light on her feet. Still, once she sets her eyes upon the starry scenery and the vast blue planet, that's enough to make her smile in childlike glee.

She places her hands delicately on the window she's sitting next to, mouth slightly agape in awe, and she looks utterly relieved. Yeah, this idol is excited, to say the least. How nostalgic.]

Aaah... it's so beautiful! I'm so happy to see everything like this again.

[diplomatique]

Again?

[ larsa pipes up, a little behind sheryl. he's caught between fascination and carefully covered terror; to be up so high was initially a thrill, but somewhere between taking off and their idling in space, childish fears set in. ]

You have experience with voyages such as these?