Log:Vector Control
Vector Control
OOC Date: March 9, 2017
Location: Defiance hangar, Hotbox
Participants: Jehni'va Cihn, Nyla Forr, Rheisa Dirleel, Raim Shah
Summary: Hotbox has a rodent problem, Rheisa has an appetite, and Umak says 'grace'
The Hotbox is not the kind of ship that is known for entertaining guests. It's small and the majority of free space is taken up by the essentials of living - and three new potted plants. Give those a wide berth. Music is crackling out of a speaker in the kitchen (some jazzy tune), an anooba lays curled on a rug near the entry ramp, and Jehn is stepping out of one of the tiny bedrooms in boxers and an overlarge sweater with a massive hole on one side. The logo is too faded to identify. "I think I need to run to the shop for some of this shit." She is groaning, eyeing a datapad in her hand. "That rock did a number on one of the engines."
Nyla Forr has been mostly in recovery mode. Her arm is no longer hurting but it's bandaged up, allowing the skin to heal the light burns she suffered. "You serious?" she says as she bobs out of the cockpit, keeping the bandaged arm close to her side as she makes for the kitchen. "What's that going to cost us? We're already in the hole like crazy." The droid mechanic sucks in a breath and cracks open the cold box, bending stiffly to look inside. "I'm /starving/. Do you mind if I have some of those leftover noodles?"
The only ship Rheisa has ever guided herself onto is Raim's. She's not sure where Hotbox's magic code box is, if it has one, and what that code might be. Given that the hull is designed to withstand all the shit they put it through, a simple 'knock' isn't gonna be heard, either. Or scream. So...
There's a Rheisa peeping into the cockpit. She's climbed up and is curled around the nose like a struck bug, one hand curled around to shade her squint in. Nobody's in the captain seat, but...maybe someone will see? So she waits. Down below, a smaller version of her race is idly gnawing on something in his grubby fist and entertaining himself by trying to pull a little bolt on the landing gear off. Obviously it's not happening. Space proof = Togruta proof, much to his dismay.
"Take 'em." Jehn answers without looking up. "And it shouldn't be too bad, but I'll see if Kasia and Hex can front." It was on business, after all. "And I'll grab lunch while I'm out." She shrugs and sets the datapad down on a shelf, pivots, and marches back toward the mechanic. "/Or/ you could come?" She offers, holding her hands up in a 'maaaaaybe?' gesture. "I'm going to just verify the number on that coolant tubing." She's sliding back toward the cockpit now. "And sanitize the cargo hold ag-ARRGH!" She is half out of the maintenance hatch when she spies the face peering in. One leg gets stuck and Jehn tumbles into a panicked heap at the base of one of the piloting chairs.
Nyla Forr reaches in and grabs the noodle container, popping the top open and peers inside. Her nose wrinkles. Cold, slimy noodles. Yay. Nyla places them gingerly back into the fridge. "Or maybe we could go out, yeah..." she starts to agree. Her head whips around as Jehn shouts and she comes scrambling out of the kitchen. "Are you okay...." Her voice peters out a little at the sight of the Togruta. "Uh. Jehn? Go let her in."
Rheisa's smile turns to a wince when the approaching Jehni suddenly tumbles out of view. Uh oh! She slips off the nose of the freighterfighter and drops quietly to the ground. "Umak!" she calls the boy to her and comes to loiter under the ramp, waiting for access. Umak toddles over and thunks lazily against one of her legs. He smacks down the last few bites of jerky, then reaches up to grab at her shirt. "Nah," hand gets pushed away.
"Holy shit." Jehn just blinks up at Rheisa. "Yeah, uh. Right away." She scrambles upright with some difficulty, snags a pair of way-too-short sweatpants on the way, and a moment later slaps the release for the entry ramp. "Uh - Rheisa?" She calls uncertainly, standing there in pants that end awkwardly just below the knees. She could have sworn these were longer! "Heeeeeeeey!"
Nyla Forr steps back and out of the way, turning to follow Jehn out slowly. "Everything okay, Rhe?" she hopes as she pokes her head out of the Hotbox. Her eyes turn to Umak and she half smiles. From behind her, Crona /finally/ wakes up from her nap and boofs. BOOF! The anooba comes to the open ship bay, wiggling and wagging the long, lion-like tail of hers. "Woah, Crona. Hey, Rhe. Does the kiddo like animals?"
"Mmmm," Rheisa eyes the butt-waggling anooba and her handlers. "Maybe not always in the same way as you." Because carnivore. But this particular animal is, in fact, too big for baby OR momma to sink their teeth easily into. It's about the right size for wrestling, though. Umak just gapes at it, unsure of what to make of the creature. Big, yellow eyes snap left right left right left, tracking that all-too tempting tail. Finally, he decides he likes it and opens his mouth wide into a toothy shriek of glee. "A kuh!" he claims and strides boldly forward to lay grabby grabby hands on the Anooba.
"Everything ok, yes." NOW. "I come back to see if rats still need to be found?"
Jehn /beams/ at Umak becuase BABY. It's only a little bit heartbreaking that he likes the canine more, but she'll get over it.
Maybe.
While the pilot continues to stare soul-crushing pathos at the baby, the anooba does the dog thing and romps. Mind the tusk! "Oh yeah that would be great. Shi-" She pauses, eyes the kid. "-iiiiiiiiiny." How do people not swear? "I caught a few earlier so just - uh - knock yourselves out?" WHY IS THE BABY NOT LOVING HER?! "I'm going to fiddle with the landing gear, but I'll be here!" She turns to tug at Nyla's (good) elbow in a 'I'm just under the ship don't panic', needy sort of way. "But I'll be back, that mud buildup is just time sensitive." Blah blah her player needs to go fulfill social obligations but will be back as soon as she can extract herself.
"I think they multiplied," Nyla tells Rheisa seriously, stepping aside to allow Crona to do the bounding, romping puppy thing. She's big now, but she's obviously still young. The anooba noses at the young Togruta, boofing quietly and snuffling at all the things to smell on a baby. So many baby smells. Jehn gets a fond nod as the lanky pilot scuttles away. "Come on in, Rhe. Do you need help catching them or...?" Nyla eyes the Togruta. "You're a thousand times better at catching them, I bet. I'm useless. Mind if I watch?" Because being able to catch small rodents is a useful tool when you live with Jehni'va Cihn.
"Ok ka," Rheisa's clearly been hanging around Hex too long. She shuffles past Jehn who's shuffling past her and makes like she's gonna touch Nyla's NOT good elbow, but fingers halt at the last possible second and just hover there. "Is easy. How is arm?" She's got all the tools of the trade in a little bag over her shoulder. Umak mimics Crona after listening to a few 'boofs' and likewise performs the sniff test on the canine. Try not to be jealous here, Jehni'va. He may be still 'baby' enough to be fresh off the boob wagon, but there's a reason he has been booted off at the tender age of three. Those fangs have broken through, and he's eager to test them out at every newly available opportunity. This ear looks good! *Chomp* Fondly, of course.
"Arm's good," Nyla promises with a smile and flexes it around to show it off. The movement is stiff, but okay. "I manage to burn myself just about every time we fly, so..." She shrugs. Nyla steps back and watches Crona interact with the kid. She yalps in surprise at the chomp and bounces back, lowering her front half. Play! the blue furred creature seems to beg of the kid. "Gentle, Crona," Nyla warns, although it appears that Umak can hold his own and then some. "They should be spooked up from the bottom of the ship since Jehn is tinkering down there." Nyla starts to move stuff around the room where rats may like to hide. "How is the gallery?"
Rheisa blithely chirps a simple "Good," eyes preoccupied with watching Umak's red derriere also go up in the air. Spoiler alert: the kid's been walking around in a long tunic, no pants. With his twin headtails flopped over his lowered head and the little nubby rear one stickin up, he's doing a pretty decent impersonation of the critter that wants to play. Umak bounces around a few times before pouncing head-on. Ah, children.
Big Togruta eventually does turn a 'blind' eye to little one and follows after Nyla. As she walks, she pulls a few loops of slender wire from her bag and after a quick study of the room, starts to rig up the premade snares in places along likely escape routes - flush against walls, in corners, all those good slinky spaces. "One way is do this. Can leave at night, with food to trick. But if we want now, maybe one will pass through if it get scared of what is happening in den. After I put these, then we listen."
Nyla Forr pockets her hands into the worn, cargo pants she wears. She looks lopsided with one arm in bandages, eyes following Rheisa as she sets traps. "Hopefully sooner than later. I don't put it past Jehn to have a chance of heart about our ship's newest crew members." She rolls her eyes. Their cargo door is wide open, allowing light and fresh air from the hangar to drift in. Rhe and Nyla are in the main area of the little living quarters, along with the Anooba and the young Togruta. Nyla averts her eyes from the red bottom and can't help a laugh. "But if we're going to win that race, they need to get off. One way or another." Cushy pet lives or the teeth of Togrutas? It doesn't seem to matter to Jehn. "Do you or Umak need a drink? I'm pretty sure we have juice."
"Water only, please," Rheisa shakes her head. Yesterday's post-Nebula snail battle with diarrhea and spacesick vomiting was enough. No way her stomach's up to doing battle with plant-based nourishment. It is, however, really looking forward to a hearty meal of rodent. While Nyla's off getting them hydrated, she finishes setting up the traps. "Yes, need win!" (so Tarion doesn't) The bag then gets tossed onto a little chair, task complete. Now comes the hard part, though - it's one that Umak's not going to be very good at yet, as his montrals haven't grown yet. His sense of hearing is only just that, restricted to the level of a human's, maybe less so, since there's no external fleshy funnel channeling the soundwaves into his brain. Just a membrane, hidden beneath basal folds of his headtails. And right now, he's majorly distracted with trying to climb onto Crona's back. He's managed to anchor himself with fistfuls of scruff, but is barely able to keep that hold and gets dragged to and fro by bucking pup. "Umak!" Rheisa's tone turns commanding, but it takes a second try to turn his focus off Anooba and onto her.
As ears and horns are tuned onto the hunt, the sound of definitely /not/ rodent can be sensed. The gentle swish of footsteps upon the boarding ramp of the hotbox combined with the metallic rolling of a BB droid drift through the ship as Raim Eelpuncher Shah steps on board. His eyes, mismatched in a scarlet and glowing yellow gleam peer about the ship interior before he follows voices to find the others. Umak gets the lift of a dark brow before he turns that same look on Rheisa. "Are we riding livestock now?" he questions with the very faintest quirk of a smile possible.
Nyla Forr is already in the kitchen by the time Rheisa has mentioned her request of water. It's a tiny ship quarters, after all. She's gathering up coffee mug of water for Rheisa. "Here you are!" Nyla chirps and sets the cup down to the bolted in table next to the kitchenette. Her attention picks over to the small child and the anooba. "Oh, I'm sorry. I can put Crona in the other room if you want." Crona, unaware of the attention focused on them, turns to bowl playfully into Umak. "/Crona/," Nyla commands, but the Anooba never listens to her nearly as well as it does for Jehn. Nyla sighs and marches over to start dragging the pup towards the bedroom that is now used for droid work. But Crona is boofing at the newcomer. "Cuttit out, ya mutt," she scolds with a twisted smile up to Raim. "Hey!"
Umak also boofs, proudly showing off his new language skills. Nevermind that he's only ever bothered to fumble through a few words of Basic despite Raim's best teachings, but now apparently the kid's fluent in swamp dog. Much in the way Crona ignores her mommy, Umak evades Rheisa's all-seeing eye in favor of puppy pouncing his way over to Raim. And past Raim, to pounce the BB droid in the same manner as he'd done Crona. Who fed this child sugar?
Rheisa half narrows her eyes, head wagging to and fro in response to Raim's quip. "You would not like the smell," she retorts softly and motions around to the cramped space. "Ship have rrrats. So is easy, safe place for Umak to learn." Rather than letting her child accompany her on the undercity slinks through dark alleys, of course.
Raim's eyes dart back to the little Togruta and he cannot help but laugh, okay it is a grunt that might be a chuckle, as the boy boofs like Crona. He shakes his head and says, "Now you want to try and learn a new language?" Turning his attention back toward Rheisa, he offers her a more than slightly teasing smile as he says, "You are feeling better? I hope those snails are out of your system."
Finally he shifts his eyes toward Nyla and dips his head respectfully, 'Nyla, I see you are picking up my habits and bringing your work home with you?' he says, pointing to the droid room.
Nyla Forr wrestles the anooba into the room, holding up a hand, palm flat. She seems to know that means business and plops her butt on the floor just inside the room. Nyla takes a gander in her little droid workshop. "Oh! Well, yeah. I get anxious, you know? If there is a problem I can't work out at the shop. So I either take those issues home or work on the interrogation droid I picked up a while back. I don't want to turn it on until I know it isn't going to murder Pickle." Outside the green R2 unit and Jehn babble at each other under the ship. "But right now we're catching rats!" She stops and snorts. "Jehn. You know how it goes. Drink? Water? Beer?"
Rheisa mutters something unintelligible and casually bumps past Raim to collect the rowdy boy. Umak is abducted under one arm, removed a few steps from temptation, then planted back on the floor, shoulders in firm grip. "Te'aan yeh. Mm? Listen. Have important thing to teach. Nej?" Umak nods dumbly, because yes mom, he's /always/ hungry. "I show how," she gestures to the little snares, not that she expects or WANTS him to tamper with those yet, but because they sometimes produce the food he eats. "Mrrgo unt yut. Mm?" She then taps her lips until he does the same and leads him by the hand over to the hatch where the coolant leak was first discoverd.
Nyla Forr is already back in the kitchen, appearing to enjoy the company that needs hosting. She's rummaging around and finds a few beers with Nar Brewing logos. "Here we go," she says, peering at them to make sure they're alright. "Help yourselves." The beer joins the water mug on the table and Nyla puts her own finger to her lips as she follows the Togrutas with interest. She tosses an interested look back at Raim but focuses mostly on staying quiet and close.
Be vewy, vewy quiet. We're hunting wascally wats!
Rheisa smiles a 'thankyou' for the water mug and will no doubt drain it in due time. But for now, she sits, eyes closed and fingers splayed to either side, pads down, lightly atop the floor. Umak watches her raptly for a few moments before trying his hand at doing the same. Except then he can't see. Well that's just stupid! Those eyes pop back open and he picks one hand off the floor to scratch at a snot up his nose. Rheisa's lip twitches, distracted for a moment by his own distractedness. Finally though, she picks up on the first signs of stirring beneath them. It's ever so faint, but it's there! She whispers "When they come up, shut hatch" A pause. "After I come up, too." And with that, she creeps over the edge to flush out her prey.
Nyla Forr bends down to a crouch, watching and half smiling at the young one. Which turns into a slightly grossed out nose wrinkle when he starts digging for kyber crystals. Her eyes turn and she attempts to listen as well, but... well, she's human. Her mouth opens as if to say something, but she thinks better of it, instead just nodding her understanding. Below, outside of the clanking and tinkering of Jehn, the rats begin to stir. Too much noise, too many footsteps. They rise up from the grease and gears of the ship, haunting the same location where the tasty coolant tubing hangs.
In the streak of a true hunter, Raim shuffles across the floor not so silently to lower himself to a seat beside Umak. He clinks and clanks, like one would expect a man made of half cybernetic parts to, and the mechanical sound of his cybernetic lungs pulling oxygen into his body is quite audible, but for now he simply sits by the tiny Togruta and wraps one arm around the boy's shoulders, pulling him close in a one armed hug as Rheisa disappears.
Umak thrums happily, butting his head sideways into Raim's suit-smothered shoulder, then sprawling halfway across his lap. His little face is still watching the hatch intently though, sensing that /something/ is about to happen. He doesn't know what it is, but instinct says it's gonna be great.
There's a few bursts of soft skittering, then quiet, then a series of loud, clattering thumps (hopefully intentional) that echo around the hatch in harmony with some whooping and yipping. The hair-raising sound of scrabbling claws turns to squeaks and chittering as the rats get more disturbed by the sudden infiltration of their nesting place. They aren't in agreement with this eviction, clearly, and as little shadows dart this way and that through the ray of light filtering down from above, it's obvious they need more convincing. Aren't fleeing into daylight willingly. Nope!
Until one /really/ squeals. Like bloody murder. Turned silent. For a few heartbeats, it IS silent. Not a rat stirs. Nervous whiskers twitch in place, tails stiffen. Beady eyes and quivering noses bear witness to the death spasms of one of their own which hangs heavily now from the jaws of she who snared it the truly old fashioned way, by hand.
And then, all at once...a mass exodus.
Nyla Forr tips back, springing upwards and letting out a yell as at least a dozen rats explode from the underside of the ship. "Kriffin' hellsteeth!" she swears, pushing herself up against the side of the ship's bulkhead and reaching to ready the hatch for a quick close. "They invited their whole damn family tree to live here! Umak! Get that one!" One hand is still on the hatch as Nyla waves frantically at a brown rat that skitters near Raim and the boy.
Rats aren't really Raim's thing, and as the horde of fuzzy rodents charge forth, Raim hefts Umak and places him on his feet between him and the horde, eager to see Umak at work. "BB," he calls to the spherical droid, "Round up!" The astromech apparently is versed enough to know what the droid tech is telling it because the droid rolls around in a wide circuit, auxillary port popping open to allow a tiny torch to flop out and ignite. The droid rolls around to attemp and flank the rodents and corral them toward Umak.
TOYS! EDIBLE TOYS! SO MANY EDIBLE TOYS! It's clear from the first furry face to launch from the hatch that Umak's in over his head and overwhelmed from target zero. Let alone 123456 and so on. All he can do is bark a laugh of delight and scramble ass-over-end around in Raim's lap until he's hoisted up and into a better position to try to snatch them as they go by. Don't worry, dad, your son will save you.....ten years from now. Coordination's not his best skill set yet, so it's a good thing the rats are more afraid of what's happening beneath them -and of psycho fire droid - and less concerned with his flailing limbs else he might be getting whisked away for a rabies shot or something.
LOOKOUT Montrals COMING THROUGH!!! Rheisa's head pops up after them, still with rat's skull in mouth. It's skewered by her right fang and the resulting 'sexy' sneer of lip is almost comical. Her escape from the hatch is much less agile than the rats' though, so they're already scattered to the corners, under furniture, or are still ricocheting madly off walls and racing in a panicky herd at the behest of BB before she gets out. "SHHK ATCH!" she urges around rat face and then delicately extracts the vermin from her mouth to toss it at Umak. It's enough to keep the boy busy - a dead rat - while his mother cooperates with the droid to round up those that haven't already hung themselves in her snare. Flopping rats flipflop....what a nightmare!
Oh look. One of the rats is now on fire. Nyla is staring at it. "Hatch! Right!" She slams it shut as soon as Rheisa is clear and scuttles over to keep any of the rats from entering the cockpit. Because that is quite possibly the worst place for them. One comes right for her and Nyla /braces/ for it. Her knee bends and her leg cocks back, eyes squinting as she takes aim. One rat, a particularly large, grey one, is hurtling through the air after Nyla punts it square in the head. It's either dead or severely injured on impact with the wall. "NO ONE TELL JEHN," she warns seriously.
Raim laughs, a true laugh is an odd thing fro
m the chiss and is no doubt akin to a few different mysterious wonders of the universe. But as Umak flops around on the hunt, Rheisa makes her grand appearance, the BB droid rolls around with his torch blazing rats, and Nyla punts a rat, the man simply has no choice. He places his hands to his stomach and laughs at the sight of it all. "Get them Umak!" he says with a snort, gesturing to the rats still left about.
Umak's totally into this rat thing now. 'Nej' he is, 'Mrrgo' he does. Unlike Rheisa though, his mouth's not really big enough to cram the whole head in there, so he simply chews on the neck. There's something satisfying about testing the strength of bone against that of his still aching, nubby fang teeth. Rat secured, he decides that he's still got two free hands, even if this added weight to his front is a) heavy and b)kinda hard to keep held in jaws alone. But he can try. He can try.
Nyla's fuzzy foe hits the bulkhead with a meaty thwack that pretty much brains it on impact. It doesn't take too many minutes more before Rheisa's utilized BB's weird, gyroscopic herding ability to her benefit and bitten her way through four more. Five have become entangled in snares, three of which are already dead. Which leaves one rat. Somewhere. Rheisa'll tend to it in a moment, but first she's collecting the bounty. When all the dead are lumped together on the floor, she motions Umak over to one of the live still stuck in a snare. "Och," she instructs, pointing to her eyes and then to the rat. Deft fingers grab it by the scruff and carefully extract it from the wire. Then she points to that scruff between fingers and with her free hand, guides Umak's finger to probe wherever it is she's wanting him to feel. The spine. "Dis," she taps her teeth. "Adu." Bloody fangs unfurl - that he's seen before - but she proceeds in slow motion so that the boy can watch what it is she does with them next. It's like a magic switch. Rat: deactivated.
Nyla Forr doesn't watch. She can't. Instead she just turns and grabs one of the laid out beers, cracking it open and guzzling. The bottle is plucked from her lips and she gasps out a breath, slowly noticing one rat crammed under the kitchenette table and terrified. It's small, brown with a white belly. Nyla tilts her head and glances back just in time to see Rheisa nix the rat like a power button. Shudder. She stoops, reaching to grab the young little creature, and stashes it in a jar with a metal mesh lid that Jehn had been keeping who knows what in before it's short lifespan had ended. The short human moves towards the droid room where Crona had been whining, upset that she had missed out. "No, back!" Nyla mutters and slips into the room with the jar under her arm. "I'll be out in a minute!"
"Du yau boshk d'sa yau. Ghe vee tah, sa'daar," Rheisa intones softly to the rat she now holds in hand, then points to the one Umak's drooling around. "Te'aan un meht," she coaxes, motioning for him to quit chewing on it and repeat the prayer with her. Obediently, Umak gives thanks, simply parroting back what it is his mother says without really understanding the reasons why. Such spiritualism will be learned, in time.
