| Final Countdown |
| Summary: | Finishing touches are made, and the difference between officers and enlisted made clear. |
| Date: | 04/06/2016 |
| Related Logs: | None specifically, but Iron Pilgrim in general |
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| Cargo Bay - Iron Pilgrim |
| While light cargo ships such as this have a series of bays for moving freight and men, this particular bay is the largest. It is currently undergoing a retrofit. All unnecessary materials have been stripped, and the space is instead littered with men and tools. Scaffolds have been set up, allowing workers to access the high walls and ceilings. Most appear to be busily drilling and welding to cover the space with blast-resistant paneling. However, the most remarkable piece of work is happening along the starboard side of the bay — a new wall is being erected, with large cargo doors to allow access between the larger space and the smaller one. Theres not too much work going on in the smaller space, just now, save for the building of that partition. |
| AWD #348 |
With the countdown clock getting perilously close to zero, the cargo bay of Iron Pilgrim is in barely organised chaos. Some work crews are done and tidying up, others are working at a frenzied pace to fix whatever last minute issues are stopping them from signing off on the work. As for Toby? Well, they've tested just about all that they can on the life support annex without venting and testing from scratch, so he's lending a hand to some of the engineers who're securing the tethers. THey'd had a delayed start due to another element of the work running over, so now they're hauling in spare pairs of hands where ever they can be found.
This final haul is always what sucks the most. No one's had but a few hours of sleep in some other empty room in the last few days. It's noisy, dusty, loud. Eventually you just get headaches, feel grumpy, in a fog. That's where a lot of these people are now. That's where Halena is now. She's working beside Toby easily enough, nodding to the man to have him pull one of the tethers tight while she bolts down another safety anchor. She's sweaty, dirty, stinky, and her hair is just a hot, hot mess. "So someone told me there's a bar on Pireaus," she finally says as the gun makes another hissing sound and another bolt is latched in.
Nate isn't anyone choice for fixing things, but any hands are better than none. He is checking something on the back of one of the life support systems, it's a strange box that anyone familiar with a life support system wouldn't easily be able to determine the purpose of. However, if your speciality were explosives it might make more sense. The shaped charge was placed by some of the demolitions experts, but Nate is doing a final check to ensure that it won't accidentally go off. The yellow tag on that portion of the system already bears one signature, and he's attempting to add a second despite the awkward angle. "Yeah, but they serve the piss of those big monsters instead of beer, alchoholic enough I suppose but not quite like whiskey."
Toby adopts a stance not all that unlike one that might be used in a tug-of-war as he puts as much tension as he can on the tether while it's secured. "Two," he replies as he shifts his backfoot a little to stop it slipping, "well, one with two rooms. There's one for the all comers, then a second that's restricted to you lot with gold on your collar, incase you want to escape the rabble. Beers drinkable," he would shrug, but can't really given the circumstances, glancing across to Nate as he chimes in, "but not like the proper stuff. Mostly water. Has a bad habit of being full of drunken marines though."
Hearing that there's an officer's bar as well as a commoner's bar actually makes the exhausted Halena smile just a touch. "Of course the Navy can't avoid building even a bar on a heirarchy," the redhead muses, bending over as the drill in her hand zooms! again. Another bolt in. She checks it, wondering aloud if they need another bolt. "Still, having not seen it, I can dream can't I? I rather enjoyed the Officer's Club back on Nike." In Caprica. "Well-dressed guests, good wine, passed h'ors d'voures … that certainly sounds like an evening I could sink my teeth into." Her tone indicates, however lightly, that she's kidding — she knows it won't be like that. But a woman can dream, no? Her hazel eyes flit to Nate. "What do you mean by that, though? Piss of those big monsters?"
With a shake of his head as she describes the fancy O-club on Nike, "You know them big… alicorn? I think is the name of 'em." Nate says, "I haven't seen one myself but I think someone said they were half dog, half bear and massive. There was some scuttlebutt about them being mostly harmless unless you poked 'em with a stick." He finally manages to get his signature on the tag despite the cramped location and he stands up, stretching out and looking around. "And when have you known a bar not to be full of marines? The shipriders never do any real work, just layabout and ride dinner trays down the ladderwells."
"Sounds truely dreadful," Toby intones, "and what the frak is the point of orderves anyway? If you're going to eat, fraking well eat, don't pick at tiny little poncy nothings." Watching the bolt as it goes in he keeps the tension up incase she decides to add another he glances across to Nate, "never seen one, but from the stories can you imagine someone managing to keep one captive to harvest that?" He grins at the remark about marines though, "true, true. Then demand we treat them as all conquring heros. Almost as bad as the fraking wing, but with less of a natural habit for breaking everything in sight."
"Now now, Gentlemen," Halena says, good-naturedly as she bends to drive another bolt. Better quadruple-safe than only triple-safe, right? "Those Marines were here the last three days, same as the rest of us. Hauling loads so you wouldn't have to." With that, she checks the bolt once more and nods to Toby — he's good to relase, when he's ready. "Those little 'poncy nothings' are quite nice, I think," she says, her tone moving from mama bear to conversational again. "It lets you try a whole variety of things, but the real purpose is so you don't get drunk during cocktails," she says with what could almost be a step beyond a smile — a grin?! "At the end of the day, that's all it is. Something to soak up the alcohol." She begins to take apart the drill, putting it back into it's case from where she sits on her knees. Eyes flit to Nate again, then to Toby. "I'm not familiar with this … what do they harvest from them?"
"Peanuts, fries and a burger are more than enough to keep me sober while I drink, well as sober as I care to be." Nate says as he looks around and realizes that he's out of tags to sign, he slides down the wall next to his bag and begins the laborious process of stowing his kit. He has a grin though as he hears someone trying to defend the tincans. "I mean they sweat for sure, but I suppose you have a point about them being good at picking up heavy things and putting them back down again. The corps' finest, pickers and droppers!" He grins at Halena, "Well… you know what they say, one bear-dog's urine is another man's whiskey."
<Public> Nate peers, "Urine whiskey, it's a thing."
Toby stops pulling and straightens himself up, coiling the now attached tether to ensure it stays out of the way until it's needed. "If you want to soak up the booze then eat properly before hand, or have a kebab," he replies bluntly, "or don't drink of course." With the bolt gun being dismantled he assumes there no other tethers to do so goes to grab a couple of water bottles. Drink don't die and all that. Passing one to Halena he then points over to Nate, "and that, is why you stick to the beer, seriously."
"What? Oh, no, no one would be that desperate!" Halena declares, more loudly and with more emotion than pretty much any statement she's made since being on the Orion. Her hands know what to do at least, even while she looks shocked and horrified at the revelation. She takes the water bottle from Toby and rolls back to sit on her rear, stretching one leg out in front of her. Swig. "I'll stick to wine, thank you kindly. And they do often pass mini-kebabs. Mini sliders, all sorts of things. It's enough to keep you from getting too drunk, but not enough to keep you from getting drunk at all." She sips her water again. "Peanuts, fries, and a burger? If I ate that, I'd drink a case of beer and never feel a thing. All the food would see to it. It's a balance, gentlemen. Like all things, tipsy is a science."
Nate chuckles at little at both reactions, "You never know ma'am, could be good. Besides, it's something to dare someone else to drink when you're already three sheets in. I've been told the stuff sells fairly well… to marines." He continues to properly latch his tools into the bag. "'sides I don't think it's a matter of desperation. People gotta make something theirs, take the unknown and make it familiar make it controlled. And this is just some folk's way of fighting against all the new."
"Mini kebab?" Toby retorts sounding almost horrified, "who in their rightmind would even consider such a thing? If it isn't the size of at least two fists and dripping with grease it doesn't count." It tails off into a faintly grumbling tone as he shakes his head at Halena, "tipsy is a transitional state that only exists on the way to plastered." Defering to Nate ont he psychology he unscrews the cap on his water and takes a gulp, "bet you it was a marine that first thought of it. It's a terrbile enough idea and result."
"I would, thank you much," Halena shoots back at Toby. "You both know that there is such a thing as excess. Too much food, too much drink, too much … urine." She wrinkles her nose in the utmost displeasure at that again, shaking her head as she rubs her knee with her free hand, taking a few more sips of her water bottle as a result. Rather rich that, an ideology of minimalism coming from a wealthy girl from Caprica. "Perhaps someone, somewhere, craved the familiar sensation of blind drunkenness. But I think the day we drink dog urine is the day we really have strayed too far from home."
"Maybe there was a time when excess was… in excess." Nate laughs at his own laugh, "But you look around. Most of us… we lost everything we ever hoped for. These people they're just trying to forget that the life they had, it's gone. Exploded in a cloud of atomic energy, and what's left, well, they just trying to remember what it's like to feel alive again. And they take stupid risks to do it. Disgust at a drink, well… that's better than feeling nothing inside. It isn't the best coping mechanism, but at least it keeps them moving forward, and eventually they'll find a new home."
"There is yes," Toby admits between mouthfuls of water, "but there's also such a thing as enjoying the stability of there being enough food to allow it. And of course, the irony of it taking the destruction of the colonial government to achieve that." Sensing that the conversation might be getting a tad on the heavy side he turns back to Nate and, after capping the bottle, tosses it to him so he can finish it off. "Also, what he said. Anyway, whats next?"
"I don't question peoples' pain," Halena says, a small frown touching her lips. But there will come a time when living in the present is not going to be enough, and we as a society will have to determine what it is we want to be, what we want to build anew. Maybe not excess, but maybe not piss either." She purses her lips and bites on the lower one, glancing down and aside for a few moments before hearing Toby ask 'what's next?' She lifts her head, eyes flitting around the room. "The clock is almost up. I've not yet heard from the Major. I'm conerned he might just try to bring this thing in here as soon as he's ready so … we should start clearing the bay."
"For smarter minds than mine to figure that out." Nate says with a shrug, as he finished packing his stuff up and then stands up again. He looks around to make sure he hasn't forgotten anything. "Seems like an awful lot of work for a toaster." None the less he begins to make his way to the exit.
Toby lashes the coiled tether to the deck so it won't float loose if atmosphere is lost, then makes to follow Nate. "Good luck Captain," he notes though, "just give us time to get back to Orion before you let him," the aformentioned Major, "start trying anything. Don't want to be on here if he wants it to jump to collect that, box, or whatever it is." Nope, not in the slightest, "you should be good though, if the auxilluries kick in as planned."
"If," Halena says dryly, but she pushes to her feet. "You both go get some rest as soon as you can, yes? And thank you." She nods to the two crewmen before turning to head in the opposite direction. They're starting to clear up the snack and coffee table. So you know it's almost go-time.