srwug_alpha_rp | Phase Eleven: Keep Calm and Drink Tea

1. (the hangar)

[After the chaos of the fight, the hangar crew are working overtime on cleanup duty. Laura's pitching in, flying around in The Great Pretender, righting fallen mechs and clearing heavy objects.

For now, though, she's in the open cockpit of the Knightpolice she's been working on in her own time for the last while, and which came through the confusion blessedly unscathed. There's one last finishing touch to cap off her modifications to it, and this is just the time to make it. There are some odd whistling noises, a fan whirring, and what looks like - no, it's not smoke, it's steam rising...

Laura sinks back into the pilot's seat, out of armour and so with her leg propped up in a cast, and takes a deep, satisfied drink from the mug with the 501st's insignia emblazoned on it.]

Ahhh... got the kettle working at least.

2. (the Arboretum)

[Even using the Pretender for all her activity, Laura's under doctor's orders not to push herself too hard, so she's sitting untransformed under a tree trying not to scratch at her leg in its cast. She's not exactly relaxed, though - tapping away at a tablet, it looks like whatever she's reading or writing is giving her some grief.]

They probably won't even recognize me. Maybe they'll just think it's a sick prank.

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Hmmm... [Laura looks unfocused for a moment, working things out.]

Sure. I'm officially not supposed to do any heavy lifting for the rest of the day, even in armour, so I can't help much here. Might as well get started on figuring this out - it'll be something useful to do while I'm resting my leg over the next few days. If you can get me the specs I'll need to make sure everything will be compatible, that'll help too.

No better way to be acquainted than to see the inside yourself. Wait here. [In a minute he brings his Timber Wolf (www.sarna.net/wiki/Timber_Wolf) walking slowly with its birdlike gait towards the knightpolice, which it dwarfs. The omnimech crouches, looking comically like an oversize brooding hen. A squirt of data gives her what she needs to know.] This is a Timber Wolf maximum weight of seventy five tons. My variant has ten tons armor, twenty six tons of pod space for weapons and extra equipment and an augmented max speed of one hundred and ten KPH.

Edited 2012-08-06 01:03 (UTC)

[Carefully, carefully, down from the cockpit and across to the omnimech.]

Hmmm. There should be space for it... and the power shouldn't be an issue... so long as I can hook up an extractor fan to catch the steam...

It'll probably have to wait until the next time we can resupply somewhere well-stocked, unless I get lucky when I look through our parts stores, but it should be doable.

[He dashes over to help her but then stands there frozen in mid motion, unsure if to do so would offend her pride or not. "She is not a sibbie, she can handle herself." He tells himself, though he's there if she needs support.] Again I am in your debt. You just made the Siberian campaign much more tolerable. If you can turn this into a line of devices to make the life of a Warrior on a long campaign easier, I envision a profitable future for you...

[At first Laura's to occupied with getting down to pick up on Resnick's quandry - on to the liftwire with her good foot, down and pick up the crutch from where she'd left it... When she reaches the Timber Wolf, though, she extends a hand to signal that he should assist her, giving him an out from the dilemma.]

A line?! I don't - well - maybe that wouldn't be bad... let's just see about getting yours working and, you know, not accidentally scalding your or filling your cockpit with steam or shorting out your PPCs or anything like that...

[A line? It might be a good way to learn... but then, can I really try to sell something I'm using to learn from?]

I suppose it's better than the other way pilots might deal with a long campaign in Siberia...

[Resnick pops the hatch and helps her up and into the cockpit, which is not difficult considering he's physically quite a bit larger than her.]

Well those ways can be fun too...[What's he thinking of? Anyway he sits on the edge to give her space to poke around in there. The cockpit's not the most spacious ever, but it's efficiently designed. The neurohelmet lies on the back of the chair and everywhere there are controls. Below the seat there's a surprisingly large locker for storing things, currently only occupied by a survival suit, some prized snacks and the worn copy of the Remembrance he lent to her a while back. Another smaller one sits behind the head of the seat, with a small medpack. While no Clan Warrior would admit that they have to consider the possibility of ejecting, it's clearly common enough to be taken into account.]

It should be fairly simple to tap into the power from the fusion reactor. The hard part is putting it in a location where I am unlikely to jar it in battle...

[Laura blinks down at him.] I was talking about vodka. I won't ask what you meant...

[She pokes around a little.]

If we model it after the one I picked up, it seals up when not in use. You have to be stopped before you can open it up, and then the lid acts as a hood to pull the steam away. That'll probably be the trickiest part... don't want to mess with the airflow so that the cockpit doesn't cool properly in a fight.

Oh...aff. [And the thought of vodka reminds him of someone he's already missing. That and embarrassment combine to an expression that almost looks pained. Better follow the conversation to less raw places.]

You have the right of it. Mechs from my universe have heat to deal with, and some of that comes up through the cockpit...[One thing he forgot to mention: the switch that turns on the sound system, which if tripped will blast loud classical music. Does she accidentally trip it?]

[Of course she does!]

Waaah!

[Laura has a moment of sheer what-the-hell confusion and alarm at the volume of the sound, before she realizes what's happened and can, hands firmly clamped over her ears, squint at what she must have set off to figure out how to deactivate it, or at least turn it down. Resnick may well beat her to it.]

...Is it always up that high or did I bump in to the volume control?

[Resnick dives for the volume control and Profokiev becomes a lot quieter.]

...My apologies. I had the speakers modified too.

[At least it's not top 40 or wub wub wub.]

I will tell our techs to assist you in any way they can.

[A beat.]

Have you decided when you are going home?

Thanks.

[Poke poke, as she considers the question.]

Not yet. I'm waiting for word back on a few things. It'll probably take a few weeks to get everything lined up... but then I'm hoping I should be able to get a lot of loose ends tied up while I'm there.

[Loose ends...He remembers and is briefly back in the sibko. In the director's cut of memory, there's a crash, glasstic shattering, silence on the normally noisy cadet band and blood on his mech's hand.]

Aff...You should wrap up the loose ends. Or cut them. If you do not, they will stay with you.

Phase Eleven: Keep Calm and Drink Tea

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