004 | video | hero of war

[chromosomes]

[ When these sort of announcements go up, John is usually one of the people replying to them, waiting for orders or confirming them. He hasn't stepped into a leadership role on the ship, hasn't even been too social, and he's been just fine with that. But Tyke's injured, in Medical, and she had sent him a message: "Take SEC".

And so he does.

It's not his first time giving orders, though it's been some time, and he doesn't like to think about those last times. Still, John's the picture of a good Marine when the camera flicks on, the chain of his dog tags visible around his collar. ]

Tranquility, this is Staff Sergeant John Grimm. [ "Reaper" lies unsaid, his handle lurking on his tongue and in the tattoo hidden under his sleeve. ] We've done a thorough sweep and the pirates are all either dead or captured. You're clear to return to work and to your rooms. Anyone injured should report to Medical, if they haven't done so already.

Anything the pirates taken hasn't been put back yet. If you want to do inventory on what's missing [ or where, he thinks; they were just practically ripping the walls apart in some places, after all ] then we can work on getting things back to where they belong.

[ Beat. ]

You may all be wondering why I'm telling you this instead of Tyke. She's [ his gaze flickers for a moment, taking a breath; he's worried ] currently out of commission and had me take Security until she recovers. I don't know any more than that at this time.

[ And he's fairly certain Tyke wouldn't want him to go around dropping details about how he's doing anyway. Now's the part where John looks a bit awkward, like he's not sure how to finish up. ]

If you have questions, ask them.

[ locked to KAZAMA SOUJI, FAITH LEHANE, BRAD COLBERT, and MASON LOCKWOOD ]

If you're not injured, I want to add the brig and surrounding area to your patrols. When Tyke comes back, she can make her own judgment call.

Comments

( locked. )

[makedo]

You got it.

[ and he's not sure if it's his place to ask. he's not exactly sure he wants to know beyond the fact that any intel is good and he's recon. still: ] What happened to Tyke?

( locked. )

[chromosomes]

[ There's a nod; not a thank you, because you don't get thank yous for following orders, but acknowledgement. Then: ]

She wouldn't tell me.

same lock

[stacked]

On it.

...bosslady's okay though, right? Just-- jacked up, but she's cool.

[ please tell her tyke is okay, reaper. ]

same lock

[chromosomes]

She's tough.

[ That's... really all he's got. ]

voice | encrypted 100%

[adlered]

How out of commission are you talking about?

[ not dead, obviously, but still relevant to her interests no matter what. ]

voice | encrypted 100%

[chromosomes]

Do I know you?

video

[growling]

[ he doesn't really need to ask after the injured, considering the fact that he's been in and out of medbay all day. he sounds more curt than usual - probably not something that matters much to someone like reaper, but it's there all the same. ]

How many dead?

video

[chromosomes]

Pirates or ours? I don't have a count on the latter. Not sure I have an accurate count on the former, either.

[ He's going to be recounting. ]

voice

[loyalpup]

[Dead or captured. His chest hurt and his stomach was twisting. He didn't want to ask, but he had to because...because she had been his friend, right?]

Their mechanic, Hayes...is she alive?

voice

[chromosomes]

Brunette teenager?

She's in the brig.

video; private

[cargojet]

[ Oh dear, that's difficult for Tyke, but then-- ]

The Scylla. Secure it. [ Firmly, now. He has to assume it's been found because John is talking about returning things. ]

I'd also like to know where the hell you are, so we can start installing routers as soon as possible, and what you all plan on doing now that we have captives and just over a week before we jump. Are they confined to the brig? Can anyone speak with them?

video; private

[chromosomes]

Let's get one thing straight, Senator. I take orders from Tyke. I don't take them from you.

[ He's not telling you where he is until you explain things, Nathan, and you'd better make it sound good -- he's not in the best of moods. ]

Right now, my priorities are to look after our people. Then it's to make sure the prisoners don't escape -- and of course they're in the fucking brig -- and that no one goes after them.

[ lol good luck with that john ]

When the jump comes, Security will escort them to Medical and back afterward, just as they've done when it was our people who needed to stay in the brig through a jump. Anyone with access to the brig can speak to them. If you need to ask, I'm going to guess the answer for you is "no", but I've been wrong before.

video

[transwarped]

Are they?

[That note of surprise isn't meant to be insulting, but you know how it is. So many civilians about and all.]

That's pretty good. Fine job, all.

video

[chromosomes]

[ Don't worry, Reaper's kind of surprised too. ]

We've got plenty of people around here who love a good fight. [ Or whatever the hell some of it had been. If he sounds faintly disturbed, that's because he is. ]

text | locked

[ironsights]

Understood.

[ a long-ish pause before he adds, ]

You're alright?

[ he's more asking if reaper's holding up okay as temp-leader than asking if he's unhurt, really. ]

text | locked

[chromosomes]

I guess we'll see.

text;

[onsilksheets]

Any other casualties apart from the pirates?

text;

[chromosomes]

None that I've been made aware of.

voice » auggie locked

[unparental]

I know these are apparently useless now, but she'd hate me getting like this openly.

...more openly. I--

Where is she?

voice » auggie locked

[chromosomes]

Medical.

[ It's short and to the point, but that's because Jenna being upset isn't doing wonders for his emotional self-control. ]

same filtery lock thing;

[angerissues]

I can do that. [ He's seen the responses and that Reaper doesn't know what happened to her, but he still has to ask: ] Any idea how bad she is?

same filtery lock thing;

[chromosomes]

Not yet. [ Bad enough to give up command, though. ]

video.

[throwsdown]

[Takeshi's shoulders sag at the news. He may be young, but there are some words he knows very well. Very, very well.]

... Lots of people died.

[He was really used to people dying; unnaturally so, but being used to it didn't mean immunity to how much it made him sad. He saw waves of gantz victims die in the most brutal of ways. Kaze couldn't shield him from that. But this was different; this was like the Old Man, a person who was good and just wanted to live, someone Takeshi liked, getting murdered--and never coming back.

And even worse, this was people doing it. His own team. His team on this ship.

They were people killing people. And somewhere deep down he knows sometimes people had to fight to keep themselves safe, but... part of him is nervous. Very nervous, and he can't vocalize why, because he doesn't understand why he feels this way.]

video.

[chromosomes]

Yeah.

[ His voice is quiet. That's the thing that always got to him, even as a Marine -- the people you were killing were people. Sure, sometimes they were crazy assholes. But other times, they were doing what they felt was right -- what probably was right, considering UAC.

(He thinks, for a moment, about that teenage guerrilla in the jungle and closes his eyes.) ]

And there are going to be people who are happy about that. But that doesn't mean you have to be, okay? No matter what they tell you.

text, auggielocked;

[altercate]

Were there passenger casualties?

text, auggielocked;

[chromosomes]

[ Derek if you ask one more question that he's already answered he is going to shoot you. ]

None that I'm aware of.

voice

[doggedly]

Right. And what does 'out of commission' mean, exactly.

voice

[chromosomes]

She's in Medical.

voice;

[endeavors]

[He doesn't... really know what else to say. He's just glad his wife is safe amidst all the chaos.]

Thank you.

voice;

[chromosomes]

[ "Thank you". Reaper isn't sure that gratitude being directed at him is really worth anything, but he'll take it, at least so he isn't rude. ]

Part of the job, sir.

[willpunchfaces]

She gonna be okay?

[chromosomes]

Yeah. [ He doesn't actually know, but he has to believe that. ] She's tough, and the people looking after her are good.