Raise the Alarm (Friday, Week 45, mid-afternoon)

[outer_authority]

[For those on the ship, the afternoon's calm is broken by the sudden wail of alarms, and the blooming glow of amber warning lights set in the ship's floor panels.

For those off the ship, the light display is absent, but the alarms still wail from the ship-linked communicators.

The ungodly racket is accompanied by a dispassionate feminine voice - those few who saw her before the crash might recognize the voice of Salvation's AI, though the message itself is recorded.]

Hostiles detected in corridor 83-alpha. Containment initiated. Dispatching security.

Comments

[Audio --> Video]

[standsentinel]

Simply proceeding.

[And then, because he's not sure if that transmitted, Kaidan flips to a video broadcast in the hopes that body language will carry what the klaxon's stealing from his words. Have one harried looking military figure, Vegeta.]

Simply proceeding? How did you get into the barred areas to start with? And-- Blast? You're trying to blast holes in the spaceship that is our only way home? Are you insane?

[Audio]

[misterbrief]

Stop yelling! [Man, there's already enough noise and he's got sensitive hearing. Plus his communicator is sitting on his ear anyway. :( ]

It's not as if I'm standing in here, blowing holes through the hull as if I've nothing better to do! I didn't even get to blast anything at all, for your information! I guess opening doors with my hands is strictly prohibited in this hunk of junk!

[Audio]

[standsentinel]

That wasn't me yelling.

[And really, for all of his emphasis, Kaidan isn't, by his standards, coming anywhere near what he remembers some of the drill instructors in Basic managing in terms of vocal output. Hands raking across his hair, he huffs and tries again, this time going for words so controlled they seem bitten off at the ends.]

We've been all over the ship poking and prodding to get her to work, and the alarms? New. Just pushing open an unlocked door shouldn't have tripped them, so what did you do?

[Audio]

[misterbrief]

[Vegeta is just a brat and everything is yelling to him like that. But at least it's not Bulma]

The doors wouldn't open, so I simply put a hole through it and opened it myself. Whatever metal they used for this scrap pile must have been ridiculously cheap.

[Audio]

[standsentinel]

A hole-- You-- Opened--

[Excuse Kaidan a moment while he sputters his way through a reaction to that news, enough years in space behind him, for all he's a son of Earth, that such an action's tantamount to some sort of space heresy.]

Salvation is a spaceship. Damaging the structural integrity between sections could kill everyone on board, if we weren't planetside! Of course you set off alarms if you're breaking holes in sealed doors, you idiot.

[Audio]

[misterbrief]

Yes, I'm terribly concerned with the safety of the residents when we are planetside. [Lies. He'd do the same if they were in space, if the situation called for it.]

And who exactly are you calling an idiot? I've made more progress in one day than any of you morons have making their way farther inside! [Truthfully, he doesn't know that for sure- he's just running his angry mouth. But he will be more careful next time. Yes, there will be a next time.]

[Audio]

[standsentinel]

Yeah, you should be concerned. Salvation's our only ride home, and the more holes you kick in her, the more the repair team, which I should point out is hovering around five people, has to glue back together before we can even think of calling her spaceworthy.

And you're damned right I'm calling you an idiot for it. If you can't tell the difference between a measured assessment and charging ahead like a krogan on a ryncol bender, then if it wasn't for Kerra I'd just leave you in there.

[Audio]

[misterbrief]

[He doesn't appreciate anything Kaidan's saying to him, to which he turns his mouth up and his eye twitches a few times. But fine, he won't punch any more holes in any more doors for now.]

Well, when you figure out a way to get farther inside, why don't you let me know and we'll try it your way. [His pride won't let him apologize or feel bad about it.]

[Audio]

[standsentinel]

I have figured out a way and we're working towards getting it operational as we speak... or would be if we didn't have to interrupt everything to fish idiots out of idiot-proof boxes.

Kind've throwing our schedule off, man.

[Audio]

[misterbrief]

Bah. Honestly, whatever part we were stuck in, I wouldn't worry about it- it was empty and useless. There was only one door that has a hole in it from my fist, if you must know- the other was cut open. So your schedule shouldn't be thrown that far off. It's not that much damage. [He doesn't think so at least. But the engineers will have to assess that, won't they.]

[Audio]

[standsentinel]

[There's a pause, filled by the continued whooping of the alarm, and when Kaidan speaks again the irritation's wicked out of his voice to be replaced with suspicious curiosity.]

When you say cut open, how old did the cut look?

[Audio]

[misterbrief]

Don't get too ahead of yourself. [He's pretty sure Kaidan might be onto something, but Vegeta's about to crush his idea.] That Kerra woman used her energy sword to do it. Why, is there something I should know?

[Audio] Sorry for the threadjack.

[erranthero]

Hold on a kriffing minute. Don't you lay this at my feet, you halfwit. Yeah, I cut through a mother-kriffing door...but you've seen how a lightsaber works, Kaidan. Clean cuts, there is no damage from my end.

[Heh, she's pretty irritated with Vegeta at this point.]

I can fix any problems I've caused myself, in less than a frakking minute. It's this thrice-stannged GUNDARK who's trying to blow holes in the damn ship. If I hadn't stopped him, he'd have blown a whole in the hull or worse.

[Audio]

[misterbrief]

I don't remember trying to blow a hole through anything but that blasted forcefield that came up around us, snaring us inside if you recall. So why don't you get your facts straight before you go off running your mouth like that!

[No way, he's not taking all the blame for this one.]

[Audio]

[erranthero]

And if you had managed to blow a hole in the field, you'd have done what exactly? Don't give me that bantha-poodoo, pateesa. If you didn't kill us both with your tantrum you'd have blown a hole in the karking ship.

[Yet another reason she stopped him. Stars, what was it with this guy and being a moron.]

[Audio]

[misterbrief]

Oh, and what would you of had me do otherwise? I've not even been here for a week and you expect me to sit around while some alarm system supposedly calls for backup? How was I supposed to know that the security didn't exist, on a ship that it doesn't seem like anyone has any clue about-!

[Audio]

[erranthero]

Use your frakking head, you twit. It's a ship that crashed here, half the systems don't work and most of the power is diverted to keeping the pods going. What the hell kind of security systems do you think this is likely to have?

[Audio] -- [Action]

[misterbrief]

[He does not know why he's arguing with her over the communicators when they are sitting right next to each other. He'll continue to talk to Kaidan of course, but right now he's got it muted so he can talk to Kerra privately.]

Listen, I was told that this ship has its own brain. Now, the last time I encountered a ship like that, it captured us and hooked myself and a colleague of mine up to its power core and used us as living batteries for it. So it's a little concerning when alarms like that go off, I was half expecting the walls to come alive and grab the two of us and integrate us into its system.

[Text to Kaidan]---[Action]

[erranthero]

Sorry Kaidan, we'll sort this out. I'll fix what I messed up. <3

[That settled, she whirls on Vegeta]

And that's frakking stupid. If it'd wanted to do that, why would it bother using force fields for one, and why wouldn't it be using the bioelectric power that all the people in those pods could contain. I've seen crap like that before, and this is nothing like that.

And I saw you getting all worked up at Alenko. Don't do that. He's the best chance we've got at an expedient extraction.

[Action]

[misterbrief]

Well, I didn't exactly want to find out what it might have done to us. Just because I've been told those pods sustain the lives of the contents inside, doesn't mean that they aren't being used as a power source as well. Maintain the source and it continues to provide energy. Perhaps that's half the reason why anything on this ship still works. And how can we be certain unless we can get farther into the ship to see what else it's hiding from us.

Maybe he should refrain from insulting me without knowing the entire story. But whatever. If he can get us out of here, fine. I'll behave.

[Action]

[erranthero]

We know the power core is functional, and it's using most of it's energy to sustain the pods. There are power failures elsewhere, but not there. The ship's wired to keep us alive not use us as frakking power-cells. '

And fine, whatever, just...don't yell alright? He's an eager guy, but he's got a lot on his plate. Give him a break. I mean to later. And if it makes you stop acting like a baby, I'll fix the door you broke too. I shoulda stopped you before, so it's at least 25% my fault.

[Action]

[misterbrief]

[He still doesn't buy it, but he figures that when they get farther into the ship, they'll see if that's truly all the pods do.]

Oh? And why didn't you try to stop me? [Try being the operative word.] You didn't know this would happen, did you?

[Action]

[erranthero]

The forcefields? No. I figured it'd use heavy bulkheads instead, like most security. Uses less power. I intended to fix any damage after the fact anyway. And I figured it'd be better to go with you and make sure you didn't do anything that might get you killed. Let's face it, you aren't exactly subtle or level headed.

[Action]

[misterbrief]

[Subtle, no, he knows he's not and he doesn't try to be. Level headed though? He thinks he's perfectly level headed.]

I'm perfectly capable of making rational decisions, thank you. I just don't like the idea of standing around and not trying to do something about our situation. [A trait he picked up from Goku over the years.] And I wasn't about to stop here. It's just been proven now that I'm not going to be able to get through that forcefield. [As much as that fact burns.]

[Text]

[standsentinel]

[Kaidan has thoughtfully dropped out of the audio portion while they sort things out. He's a lot less cranky at getting to overhear that this is Vegeta's approach to dealing with everyone, it seems.

A text pings back in reply.]

Clean cuts and I trust you not to lop through half of life support while you're at it.

Keep yourself from shooting your friend there and I'll have coffee for you once we spring you.