>>6050540A chaotic sight greets you as the double hatchway whooshes open, the Officer’s mess being full of activity as both the Gamma and Beta watches occupy the relatively small space for their assigned lunch and dinner hours respectively. You immediately spot your crew occupying the tables nearest the hatch you entered through, Kiro and Isobel chatting amiably while Coen samples some of the freshly baked fish on offer from the galley — a rare delicacy available due to the surplus of fresh produce recently taken aboard.
What catches your eye however, is an animated discussion taking place between your Navigation officer and her counterpart in the Beta watch bridge crew.
>Beta Crew SYNERGY: Rank E- (40%)“Admit it, shortstack, you bit off more than you could chew, hit an asteroid and fucked up the trials so bad that they cancelled the rest of ‘em.” Cleo taunts, the cheery sing-song voice emanating from her collar at odds with her growling words.
“You’re so full of it, you mangy mutt!” A deeper woman’s voice with a squeaky undertone replies.
The translation somehow actually sounds more incongruous than Cleo’s as it comes from the mouth of a Marrok even smaller than Kiro.
“If you were even half the Navigator you say you are, you'd <span class="mu-i">know</span> that we were flying light seconds away from the nearest obstacle.”
The pink-scaled woman jumps up on the table, kicking plates and cutlery out of the way in her haste to reach the Ulveng’s eye level — leaning out precariously with only her gecko-like toes and tail keeping her from face planting.
“Oh, so nothing hit us then? It was just a mass hallucination?” Cleo snarls, teeth flashing. “C’mon Rika, what’s the excuse? A stealthed rock? Undetectable gravitational anomaly that somehow manifested inside the system’s dive limit? I’m all ears!” She pokes a claw at the irate lizard’s chest and flicks the aforementioned ears provocatively.
Despite the savage look you can tell that your Nav officer is enjoying herself. Getting to one-up the tiny navigator of the more experienced Beta crew was a rare treat for her and she was relishing every moment of it. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on who you asked), the pink Marrok was not without backup of her own. You feel a slight pang of melancholy as you realise that her table is occupied by all the remaining members of your late brother, Blair’s, old bridge crew — the role of commanding officer having been filled by your brother’s old XO and Science officer. Each of the remaining four members has at least three years of naval experience on you, and includes yet another elder brother.
