Well, it's official. "Someday" and "An emergency" are here. We need the zippy little battle craft and we need them now. This is basically all hands on deck for anyone I've flight trained.

[With one notable exception]

And if I haven't flight trained you, these still need a crew to work the weapons, so keep listening.

We have two kinds of shuttle. Harpy have some missile capabilities but are mostly for getting up close and personal with everyone who now wants to kill us. Need at least three people to keep them working. Wyvern are for sneaking around and dropping a nasty surprise from a distance. We need at least four people working those.

So speak up if you want on crew. And if I've flight trained you but you aren't sure about actually being the main pilot on one of these, tell me now. We could still use people working the guns who can step in if anything happens.

Gavvers, Newtie, I have a different job for you two.


((OOC: I've created a Google Doc for keeping track of who's flying with who. Let me know if you want me to just arbitrarily stick your character in any crew that needs them))

[ Kate is framed from shoulders up, in a black tank and ponytail. Over her shoulder some might recognize a shuttle bay. She looks annoyed, mouth set in a thin line, dark brows angled inwards. The camera is panned so she is out of frame and instead there are rows of half-built spacecraft, smaller than the shuttles in the main bay. She talks from off-screen. ]

These are fighter craft. Attack ships. We haven't got a single one finished yet, which is kind of a problem since in case you missed it or somehow forgot, Van Rijn knows where we are now and is sending more ships after us. These need to get built, and people need to learn to fly them. And the ship's guns need repairing.

[ She turns the camera around again, still annoyed but trying very hard to be serious and persuasive and not just irritable/irritating. There's a smudge of grease on her bicep and she swipes at it with her free hand but only makes it worse. ]

I don't know shit about engineering or mechanics, I could barely put the chain back on my own bicycle before I got here. But I am pitching in and trying to learn because if we don't get this stuff done we are dead in the water. Okay? This shit is important. It is the most important, right now. So even if you're in another department already, you should be here helping with this, and if you're not in a department you should absolutely be helping with this. Also, who the hell doesn't want to learn to fly a spaceship or shoot giant spacecannons? So go sign up already and do your part, or I want to know why you aren't.

And I know people love polls, so we'll end with a poll. Are you not helping out because you're:

A) confused
B) lazy
C) hoping we all die
or
D) all of the above?

If it's A then read the things I've linked below and sign up, or ask me whatever and then sign up. I know being new sucks and is confusing and I'm happy to help but it's your asses we're trying to protect here too, so you should still be pitching in. If it's B, C, or D, still read the things below and sign up. No excuses. Everyone just please get on this, okay?


Att: volunteer sign-ups
Att: gunnery sign-ups

[Wash was already not in a good mood after the craziness before the jump. Then he woke up from the jump to find Zoe and Kaylee gone. So the usual goofy big brother figure is not available. Instead, you get grumpy!Wash.]

Okay guys. Seriously. Shuttles? Not your personal getaway craft. They're communal getaway craft. As in, if we ever find ourselves in a situation where we need to get the hell out of here, we need them.

And in case you're not clear on that point, those things take a hell of a lot of maintenance. On top of everything else, they get damaged every jump. Differently every time. We've tried a lot of things to secure them ahead of time, but so far no luck. If you have a brilliant idea for preventing it we haven't tried yet, I'm all ears.

Which brings us around to the other point I wanted to make here. Just like every department, we keep losing people.

[And there's more than a little pain in that particular statement. Actually no he's not taking the fact that his wife is gone and the best case scenario is she's gone back for him to die particularly well.]

And there could come a time when we need shuttle operational to get out of here. Which also means we're going to need more people who can train them. We need more people joining the department, but if you're already committed somewhere else, we can cross train you to fly in an emergency.

And if you don't have any experience, don't let that stop you. Mostly we just want people who are willing to learn. Gavvers had never even seen electricity before. If he can learn to help out, so can you.

[Please need lessons he could do with the distraction]

[Filtered from the Serenity crew]

[Throughout the message, Wash keeps glancing at something just off screen. He's not exactly his usual happy goofy self.]

A lot of things recently have gotten me thinking. Some of you have kids, right?

[He glances to the off screen object again and sighs slightly.]

What's it like?

[Wash is looking a bit frazzled, but he's still managing a friendly smile]

Hi Tranquility. Reckon I've had time to get to know a lot of you over the past year or so, but with folk always coming and going it doesn't hurt to introduce myself. I'm Wash and I'm a pilot by trade.

And in a lot of ways it's the going I want to talk to you about. I'm on the Flight Crew and as of the last jump, there's just three of us left. And one of us is a kid. [No offense intended, kid, but you haven't learned to fly]

We're always looking for more members on the crew, but we're particularly looking right about now. Have experience but already in another department? We could still use a hand now and then. Already doubling up too much but know how to fly? We'd at least like to know who we have available if we have to get out of here in a mighty hurry. No experience but eager to help? I'll show you the ropes myself if I have to.

And it's probably worth mentioning that a lot of what we do isn't flying. The shuttles get damaged every jump, so we need people who can help us get them back into working order. [Seriously this job is never ending.]

So if you want to help, just give me a wave and let me know what skills you've already got. We can figure the rest out from there.

You're not alone. People you care about are calling for your help, and you want to go help them. I'm going to ask you to be a little more patient before you run off into the dark. We know they're lost, we know there's something pursuing them, we know they need help. But we also know that the most recent post on the network, the one talking about warnings from the captain - a captain we don't have - wasn't made by one of us. That means this problem is bigger than you think; it's bigger than all of us, and it's important we get a clear image of what we're facing before we leave. Shepard's team has gone missing, and other comms have started going off the radar too--we'll start where they disappeared, and if we do this together, we might even succeed. The last thing we need is more of you lost out there because you chose to do this on your own.

Right now I need your help in a different, but just as important way. If you've received a message from someone, we need to hear them. That way we can establish a thorough list of who's missing, and try and piece together what they were all trying to say.

Tyke, as Head of Security, is going to coordinate the rescue. I imagine she'll speak to you shortly herself. Rest assured we'll need bodies on the ground for this one, and I know there's going to be no telling some of you to stay put, so forgive me if I - at least - save myself the effort of trying. The corridors are dangerous: bring weapons, ammunition, your communicator, but don't worry too much about rations--you won't need them.

[ He seems about to sign off, but he has to address that post, the grinding static and the screams underneath it, all of it so familiar to him by now. ]

...

"They're getting closer." I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like a coincidence. Whatever we find out there, whatever is after our people, try not to kill it unless you have to. Don't get killed, but bear in mind the risk that we may be deceived into murdering people who would be our allies. I can't shake the feeling that we're being set up. Alright. Hang in there, everyone.

When you’re a kid, maybe you say to yourself:

"I wish I could go to Disneyland."

"I hope I'll get my cock sucked by fifteen. By sixteen, I better be banging someone in the back of dad's favorite car.”

"One day, I’ll get into Harvard and become a brown-nosing yuppie making bonuses bigger than my insecurity complex. I’ll get married even. Have a kid, maybe two. A dog. And if I'm really lucky, I won’t be miserable.”

Those are the sort of wishes that come true. The mundane ones. You don’t say: "Well, one day I’d really like to go up into space. Maybe spend a night or two in a space ship. A journey through space? Oh man, why not? Not like we've only gotten as far as the moon. ”

And then, bam. Space.

Life doesn’t work like this. You don’t get what you want and when you do, it never comes free. So, what’s the catch? Probing, space slugs taking over our brains, being sold as human cargo to a far away planet, a floating menagerie? The options are endless.

((ooc: If you guys could hit up this permissions post, it would be much appreciated. ))

[ moz hasn't shown himself since his arrival; too busy doing other things to pay attention to the network, just like usual. not to mention, he's been pretending the heat means that he's back where he's supposed to be in the first place.

ohhh, the tropics. how he misses thee. ]

'There was nowhere to go but everywhere.' [ his tone is sing-songy, flamboyant, obviously a quotation. ] What he should've said, was everywhere but here. Not that i'm complaining about the heat - it's more like home then anything else around here has proven to be, once again, thus far. Even if it's a tad... cumbersome, it's most definitely manageable. And while i'm not dressed to impress, I certainly have the wardrobe to go with the ambiance.

And really- i'm just putting an all around notice out for all those people complaining about how we're being watched by something we just can't see. You should know that we're always being watched. Nothing's changed, you're just becoming more aware.

But despite all that, I never would've thought that i'd miss an extradition treaty so much. Even if i've seemingly returned to the tropics I so sadly thought i'd left- here I thought my Hawaiian shirts would lose their complete and utter rationality. One can only live vicariously through so many things however, and high temperatures and floral themed shirts can take a man just so far. Some country needs to work on a treaty with this place because for the first time in my life i'd go along with it somewhat happily.

[ SIGH. are you tired of his voice yet. ]

Everyone is supposed to keep on rolling under the stars but, you know, that particular image seems to have lost its appeal as of late.

[Wash looks a bit worse for wear, as if he hasn't been getting enough sleep. Which tends to rather show on his pale complexion. And the almost unavoidable dehdration from the heat isn't helping the situation.]

Okay, so it stops coming up, no, you're not going fong luh, it's definitely hotter. Likely something in life support or climate control. Trouble is just about everyone who might be able to suss out what the trouble is is busy keeping the ship running smooth. If you've got those sorta skills and have been holding out on us, go talk to Carolyn. She'll be mighty glad to hear from any volunteers.

 
[Marty is busying himself by making a fan out of shitty old cardboard bits, completely exasperated. This whole its-getting-hotter-with-no-signs-of-stopping thing is sort of Not Good, but he's trying to make the best of it. Despite the growing temperature aboard the Tranquility, he's still fully dressed. He's also somehow in a ridiculously good mood despite the humid air, which is probably partly because Dana is here and alive and he's so fucking glad.] 

Now I know how my brownies felt like. Minus the feeling of being digested, but we can't all do that many new things at once.

[What, come on, haven't you ever considered your baked goods and their emotional statuses?]

And, like, dudes like me? No way we can strut around in trunks like most of you — which, by the way? The sexy people versus normal people ratio here is pretty fucking high, like, 100 to 1. And I'm the 1. I swear to christ, sometimes I wonder if half of you came from a planet where everyone is ridiculously charmingly good-looking. 

It's not like I've got hairy nipples or an outtie -- y'know, a grotesque one, not one the cute ones, but I'm waaaay too skinny and pale for a swimsuit competition. People could probably just mistake me for printer paper up until they can't fit me in the tray.

I know, I know. "But Marty! Your personality outshines your sex appeal!" You're too kind.

[grin grin grin

we might all burn alive ok

but it's all good, fuck it]

If anyone turns into a microwave burrito, we should probably all just play Tetris in the freezers. Who's with me? We can experiment with ice cube trays, see what kind of abnormal ingredients make the best or worst ice-pops. Pickle juice is surprisingly delicious after your second or sixth joint.

Alright, we're all sorts of getting to know each other this month aren't we? Anyone else finding there's all sorts of patterns popping up?

I mean, everyone here can't be from a spaceship or the middle of a war or both, right? Pretty sure I've talked to people who weren't. Think it's just a coincidence or what?