Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sitting in the main room, Anara looked everything over closely, frowning ever so softly as she noticed something she didn't like over one of her many co-pilot's shoulders. "Try to avoid the dust cloud if at all possible. I don't want to risk the possibility of colliding with something because our cameras can't pick it up," she said simply, leaning in a bit closer to point to what exactly she was talking about. As she spoke, said young man looked up, just to get flustered and look back to the screen as quickly as possible. She forgot that she had boobs either that or she seemed to not think much on them and their placement. Every man here knew that from turning into full on chest view from time to time. Yet every time they seemed to forget, leaving them embarrassed and flustered and she walked off and they continued with whatever task she had commanded of them.

This time was no different. Well, expect for the fact that this time, she actually noticed that her subordinates face was bright red. Raising an eyebrow at this, she frowned some before leaning down again, this time inches away from his face. "You have a problem, soldier," she asked, a tinge of harshness and scolding tinging her voice.

"I- uh. No ma'am of course not." He was even redder.

"You know not to lie to me right McDuffy? "

"Right ma'am." He was looking nervous.

Purple eyes narrowed at this and soon he thumped him on the head before turning his chair away from the counsel. "Get the hell to your room and get whatever you need out of your system. I won't have an horny pilots flying MY ship through a dust cloud and causing damage too it, especially since that is definitely something you can't afford. Now get the hell out of my sight and try not to make too much noise. I don't want you exciting the prisoners, yeah?"

With this, the young pilot moved out of his chair, entirely red from head to toe. He then walked the walk of shame out of the cockpit, the sound of snickering echoing as he headed out.

Sighing, she rolled her eyes and took his station.

They were almost to Earth, only a day away in fact, and she refused to risk her ship getting dented when they were almost there. If it had been earlier in the week, it wouldn't have so bad. At least, she would've had time to seethe and recompose herself by then, but so close, she wouldn't be surprised if she socked the earth warden in the jaw, friggin smartarse that he was.

She could just hear him now. 'Dented the ship again did you Anara? You know that reminds me of that one time we flew together. Who were you screwing this time?' Lousy piece of s**t and his lousy good looks and his lousey charisma. Embarrassing her in front of her troops. Good thing nearly all those men had sensed up and dropped this low-paying job, erased the memory a little.

Violet eyes scanned everything over carefully as she tried to focus, flicking switches here and there. She had decided to go through the cloud, knowing it was stupid to try to avoid it. After all, those things were deep and as long as a wave didn't pass through it, it wasn't too bad.

Maneuvering carefully, she flicked through all the x-ray, gamma, ultra-violet, and other such wave detectors, making sure they weren't getting into dangerous territory. "Ward, to the left a bit. Crowley, up." She continued at this for what felt like hours before they were finally out at which point she finally noticed that the soldier behind her had returned.

Looking up at him, she seemed to consider whether or not she should give up the position before sighing and getting up. This wasn't her job anymore. Her job was to organize the pilots, not to pilot it herself. Running her fingers against the chair fondly for a moment, she looked at it before turning it to the pilot. "You ready to go pilot?"

"Y-Yes ma'am."

"Alright try not to get excited while I'm away. If anyone wants to know where I am. Let them know that they should stop being idiots and just contact my headset alright?"

"Yes ma'am," everyone said in the room unanimously, much like the soldiers that they technically were.

Smiling satisfied-like at this, she put her palm on the door and watched the wall part before exited the room, she then started down what seemed to be a door less hall. This was how all the halls looked for her workers protection should a prisoner get out. The walls were solid and would only part if it recognized your hand print and where to put it was only indicated by a few scanners that lined that lined the hall. Those who knew how to use it would simply walk up to two scanners type in the room number they wish to enter and scan their palm. Others would just wander down the hall back and forth not knowing what to do and not being allowed access if their hand print was not approved, made it easy to catch and secure prisoners if they somehow managed to escape.

Anyways, as for the prisoners, that's where she was currently heading. Now to just type in the number. 1.3. Smiling at her own cleverness, she placed her hand on the wall and watched it slid open. She then walked into a small room where she picked up her gun and one of the many devices that allowed you to set of their pain device were a criminal to get too close. Brilliant little things they were. Now if only she could get this tech for her crew.

Smiling some, she put her hand on the scanner again and typed 13. again before entering the 'prison.' The door opened up between two cells and inside there was a large room. Three centerless floors over looking the bottom floor, which just so happened to be their lunch room. On each floor in each corner there were little sentry posts from which snipers could shoot stunning bullets to stop fights and the like. She had to talk to one of them on the top floor, as she had been told that one of the prisoners may have possibly gotten ahold of one of the pain devices. She was supposed to do a scan through of the cells with him, to make sure he wasn't being sloppy when it came to looking.

Once there, she heard him stutter out a few apologies, just for her to sigh. "Let's just get to work, hm?" He nodded immediately and off they went down the hall and past the room sealed tight with bulletproof glass. They then started looking throughout all the the rooms, wanting to get it done before the prisoners got back from break. The last thing they wanted to do was have to deal with the hassle that was an impatient prisoner rushing them...

He had his own corner of the lunchroom. It was very clearly marked in his mind—borders, lines, tolls, guards—it was only through his silent benevolence that he allowed others to enter it. They were ambassadors after all, and it would be unseemly to shoot the messenger no matter how much he itched for it.

His right eye twitched—it was sore since it had been exactly two minutes forty-seven seconds since he last blinked. He wouldn’t forgive himself for such weakness and simply endured.

His fingernail was bloody because he wouldn’t stop using it to carve into the table. But if he kept working until he reached the sharpened bone he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. Bones had no nerves.

He took a deep breath, as if about to plunge into a lake, but then continued breathing normally. He watched Anara as she strolled down the halls. She was looking for it but she wouldn’t find it. He’d done too good a job. It might find her but she would never find it.

His right eye twitched: it was weaker than his left eye. He itched a scratch on his lip by stroking it with his tongue. He continued to watch Anara waiting for the climax. It was getting boring. He started breathing in with his nose and breathing out with his mouth to bring some much needed excitement in his life. It calmed him. Soothed him. He carved another 8 into the table, and dragged his bloody stump to the right to draw again. His left eye blinked—it had been good so he let it. His right would have to stay open.

The guards called. Break was over. He stood up instantly and walked over to sis while another thug was taken to the ground with the pain device. Her real name was Celeste, she was not related to him, and as far as he could tell she found no redeemable feature in him. But he was never one to be especially bothered by what others thought of him—merely what he thought of them.

“Hi sis.” He stopped mere inches away from her, close enough that he could feel the heat radiating from her body, and he tilted his head and gave her an empty, lingering smile. His left eye shot up to watch Anara while his right eye, twitching in agony, stayed focused on sis.

“I drew you.” He informed her, holding up his bloody stump. “On the table. I can do it again if you want sis.”

One of the guards, one of his personal supervisors, approached him and pulled him away from Celeste, locking his hands into oven mitts so he wouldn’t kill himself drawing on his cell’s walls. It wasn’t a perfect way to stop him, because without his hands he just smashed his face into the wall until his nose started bleeding and he drew with that, but it was the best they could do: believe it or not he wasn’t the most insane person on this ship and they had to save the padded cells for “that” one.

For his bro.

Anara searched all the rooms thoroughly, patting walls, checking under beds, searching through belongings. She needed to find this device and fast. After all, if it had fallen into the wrong hands, they would have more of a problem than just some thug having a new thug. Apparently the guard didn't see it the same way though, as he not only poked about, but was not looking nearly as thoroughly. She ignored it for the most part at first, but as the hours passed and lunch came to an end with them just finishing the second floor, she became a tad...irritable.

"Grant? Can you please explain to me why you've been poking around this entire time, doing nothing? Remember be honest."

The guard frowned some at this and sighed. "This just doesn't seem very important ma'am. After all, it's not like the device can hurt us, just other prisoners."

"Exactly. It can hurt other prisoners, which means if a prisoner has a particular grudge against another they could easily press the button until they are dead yes?"

"Well, y-yes ma'am but-"

"You know what happens if someone dies by preventable causes right? You lose your job and possibly get locked up for assisted murder. Meanwhile, I have a possibility of being put on probation."

The man seemed stunned at that, apparently not having thought such a thing through. He then looked nervous and his pace picked up quite a bit as they headed towards the first cell. Before he could reach it though, she took his shoulder and shook her head. "No, you lost your chance. Now go back to your post and watch for any problems with getting people back into their cells. I won't get in trouble just because you overlook something in your nervousness. I'll contact you when I find the device, understand?"

The soldier nodded some at this and then proceeded to hesitantly scurry back to his spot. Anara then got back to work, checking cell after cell.

She was about halfway done with the first floor cells when all of the prisoners started getting brought back from lunch. At this, she paused for a moment, watching as prisoner after prisoner was escorted to their cells. When it came to the last half of prisoners though, she had the guards hold them in place near their cells, not wanting them to go in and possibly take the device out before she had a chance to look them over.

Room after room she searched thoroughly, yet quickly. None of the rooms had it in there though, making her just a tad nervous and making her searches far more thorough as she progressed. It was then that she approached one of the last rooms. This one just so happened to be Samuel's. He wasn't a known thief, as far as she was sure, but with the rooms becoming less and less and his track record of doing less than sane things, it was all the more likely.

Looking over to Samuel as she got in front of his room, she looked at him for a moment before looking to the guards that held him there. She then stepped into the room and looked it over. There was some of Samuel's 'artwork' currently on the wall to which she frowned, They really had to consider getting him a helmet or something.

Adding that to the list of things to grab, she started the search of the room. She checked the cot, pulling of the sheets and felling it over for any lumps or the like. She then felt along the walls, tapping and the like along them and the like, just in case he found a weak spot. Next the light fixtures and the floors. She then checked each place over again, going about it twice more before stepping out. "Spread 'em," she said. She would take the risk of not checking them with some of the others, but with the ones in these last couple of rooms, she wouldn't take those sorts of risks.

Celeste was escorted back to her cell, but she barely paid attention as she walked. She was more focused on what the captain wanted. Perhaps, the dimwits had actually figured it out. She doubted it, but it was still a possibility. Either way, she was going to have to be careful. They had searched all of the rooms it seemed, as hers was not in it's usual pristine state, well as pristine as a prison cell could get. It was only a matter of time before they searched the prisoners. Unless, they found what they were looking for.

As she reached her cell, she heard the madman cry out. He was quite a ways down the hall, but sound traveled well here. His voice echoed off of the walls, so she couldn't quite understand what was said. However, from the sound of it, he wasn't happy. Perhaps, they had found what they had been looking for. Either that, or someone had messed with his 'artwork.'

After a few seconds of attempting to look over to see what had happened, the guard pushed her into the cell. She frowned crossed her arms. It seemed that she was not going to find out. With a sigh she walked over and straightened out her bed and sheets. If they had figured out that the device was missing, she would find out soon enough. In the meantime, she would try to sleep. After all, there was little else to do in this place.

Celeste had nearly drifted off, when someone entered her cell. They had figured her out after all. She rolled of of her bead before realizing who the person that had come to her cell really was. Apparently, she had warranted enough of a reaction to get the captain to stop by for a visit. This was going to be rather entertaining. The captain was bound to be even more tightly wound than her crew. Higher ups, almost always were. At least, the ones that she knew.

"Spread what?" she said with a slight grin. "To what do I owe the pleasure? It's not everyday that a lowly prisoner like me gets a visit from the captain." She slowly walked over to the woman sizing her up. She was definitely pretty, but she dressed as if she could care less about her appearance. Her stance looked strong, slightly intimidating, and definitely serious. The captain definitely lived up to her reputation to with the guards. They were always talking about her when they thought that the prisoners couldn't really hear them, but it was in Celeste's nature to listen to every conversation. To gather all of the information that she could.

After a few more seconds of analyzing, she finally decided to listen to the captain. She assumed the position that the captain had requested with confidence. Unless, the captain planned to feel her up she wouldn't find anything. "Don't expect you'll find anything, my dear," she said. "I don't have the pleasure of owning anything here, if you don't recall. Not to mention, that weapons aren't really my thing. There is too much blood involved and blood stains and I wouldn't want to ruin this spectacular outfit."

Rolling her eyes at the other's comment, she waited patiently for the other to stand. She then moved forward starting to pat her down, moving up and down her sides and then turning and patting her down the other way. As she said, nothing was found, though Anara knew better than to accept that as her not having it. After all, Celeste had been given plenty of time to hide it elsewhere or to think to hide it in a bit more of an inappropriate place. She'd had to check an entire floor on her own before this after all. Oh and then there had been the time spent getting the information and walking up here. Really Celeste could've gotten more than creative with it if she had wanted to. Heck she could've even took it apart and put it back together again during the time she was gone.

It was obvious from the files though, Celeste wasn't the smartest. She wasn't stupid, but she wasn't smart. She was average and average intelligence would've gotten her no further than hiding it on herself or hiding it somewhere in her sheets.

Glancing down at said sheets, just to see if she'd accidentally hit it worse than she thought, she then continued with rest of her pat down, double checking her shoes and the like.

"Oh I know only the best shade of orange for my prisoners," she said sarcastically, hinting that she herself didn't really care for the other's sarcasm. "As for weapons. It's not a weapon that's missing. It's a device. You know, those ones we use on the prisoners. I came to make sure you didn't have it because, well, there's a sort of malfunction with them. Having a prisoner too close for it too long can sometimes screw up the system and there is a possibility that it could start causing pain to the nearest prisoner without being pressed. We wanted to make sure you didn't have it because if you did it's more than likely it could go off and you could die. Don't want any casualties, if possible you know," she said before finally stepping back and looking around. The captain then moved about, tapping walls and the like. She knew they wouldn't be there, but she wanted to double check. Well, that and see the look of confusion on Celeste's face as she did so.

She then stepped away from it and moved to the bed, pulling off the blankets and such that were on it, and giving them all a bit of a shake. She wanted to make for certain it wasn't there before turning to more drastic measures. Anara, thus, was sure to pull the pillowcase off and then feel through the pillow and the mattress. Nothing there or there or there.

Finally turning again, she looked over to Celeste again, tucking a loose strand of pink behind her ear as she did so. "I don't suppose I could trust you to just tell me if you have it and where it is could I?"

"Oh no. I don't want it. You can keep it," she said simply as she looked at her with a smile," even if we take it back you'll just steal it again. I just wanted to make sure it was you that had it and not a person who is mentally unstable. Anyways, thanks for confirming that for me. Now I can continue on with the rest of my day."

With this said, she finally started to leave, not giving her much of a time to react. "Oh also. Have fun if those malfunctions come up and don't tell anyone that I didn't warn you," Anara said before finally leaving the cell, closing the bulletproof glass securely behind her. Ah now what to do. Well, she should probably get ready for landing tomorrow morning, oh and she should eat, and shower, and do some more reading. Plus there was that pipe leak she was supposed to check on. What to do fir-

"Ma'am. There's something odd surrounding Earth's atmosphere. I think you should take a look at it," a voice said over her headset, just for her to frown.

"Can if wait until a little later. We aren't even landing until morning."

"Negatory. We need you to look at it immediately"

Grumbling some at this, she headed over to the surveillance room and watched as a picture of Earth was pulled onto the screen. And indeed something weird was going on. The atmosphere was a lot darker, the map was void of the lights that normally filled it, and there seemed to be a few things being flung off of it.

"What the-? What am I looking at cadet?"

"Well, ma'am we aren't sure. We've tried contacting Earth, but noone's answering. There is no way to guess what's going on."

"Noone's answering? Sh*t. Alright, have everyone on the ship start to prepare for a dangerous landing so that we can have as safe of one as always, you hear?"

"Yes ma'am."

And with that she was off, ready to make preparations and calculations of their own.