In the third quarter of 1758, LVFdS departed from the Lenore-Styx Spaceport on her ninety-third voyage. LVFdS was intended to, as had become routine at this point, transport passengers to Terrestria's largest moon, Lily, before completing a full circle of Terrestria as part of a holiday package. This route would have taken three weeks. LVFdS did not complete its journey in scheduled time. As of publication, the LVFdS Incident remains the most fatal space disaster outside of wartime.-Third Quarter, Day 112, 1758-JNO Callista Bannon adjusts her tight-fitting cap. Her ashy black hair pokes out of its every edge. The standard navigation officer uniform calls for a flat-topped hat with an oval brim, and the women's sizes generally number fewer than the men's ones. She thinks to herself that when she is promoted from a junior and receives a white-trimmed hat, she will request a size up.She wants to itch at the collar of her shirt, but doesn't. The captain is watching, and she doesn't want to appear improper. She wants to impress, in hopes that the captain will have a more sympathetic view on her upcoming proposal than any of her closer colleagues.The captain is not paying much attention to Callista; her attention is drawn moreso to the route projection on the console that the junior officer stands beside. She is irritated that this will be the last time she commands this vessel."Unbelievable, isn't it? I've served this ship well. Given it my all. Two years, not the longest time, but two good years. I... ah, I'm sorry. You don't need to hear this."Her personal attendant, or as she refers to him, the 'captain's mate', gives a momentary pause, an awkward nod and then quietly replies. His baby blue uniform is stained; this morning, he spilled the captain's piping-hot coffee onto himself and had to sheepishly return to the machine for a second serving.The captain muses on her situation.>She is Natalya Kornilov. She hails from the Southeastern Union. While docked at Lenore-Styx, she got into a drunken barfight while arguing about the political state of the Union with a Hanii corporate delegate and severely beat the man. She is currently pending detention for this.>She is Celine Cerceronne. She hails from Borne. For the past six years, she has been a staunch advocate and activist for increasing the rights of Fortunatos and Alhazen. Following the Blue Uprising, this is prohibited strictly in Borne, and she is to be detained.>She is Gāo Yanmin. She hails from Zheisang. When she was younger, she killed and buried her maturity director due to their abuse. The body has been recovered and links to her have been made, marking her for detention.
>>6124320>She is Gāo Yanmin. She hails from Zheisang. When she was younger, she killed and buried her maturity director due to their abuse. The body has been recovered and links to her have been made, marking her for detention.No idea what a maturity director is, but the fact that she killed them and is only facing detention rather than execution is ofd
>>6124320>She is Gāo Yanmin. She hails from Zheisang. When she was younger, she killed and buried her maturity director due to their abuse. The body has been recovered and links to her have been made, marking her for detention.At least I can relate.
>>6124320>She is Natalya Kornilov. She hails from the Southeastern Union. While docked at Lenore-Styx, she got into a drunken barfight while arguing about the political state of the Union with a Hanii corporate delegate and severely beat the man. She is currently pending detention for this.
>>6124320>She is Gāo Yanmin. She hails from Zheisang. When she was younger, she killed and buried her maturity director due to their abuse. The body has been recovered and links to her have been made, marking her for detention.
>>6124322>>6124328>>6124343>>6124351>>6124450[2 votes for Natalya, 3 votes for Gāo]The captain, Gāo Yanmin, feels the tension in her chest rising. When she was young, she was assigned a maturity director as many prestigious families were in Zheisang. Her director, a cruel and stern person, drove her over the edge of depression and anxiety one too many times, causing her to lash out. She struck the director over the head with a priceless family vase, instantly killing them. When panic overflowed inside her, she entered a state of eerie calm and proceeded to drag the corpse out to a nearby patch of woodland, where she spent several hours digging a pit before burying the body.A detention order has been issued pending her trial. Somehow, they've found her out. She doesn't regret it at all, nor does she sympathise with the family of the deceased. To let such a cruel force out against children... she considers herself to have acted justly.What she regrets is the impact this will have on her crew. A select field of crew are indisputably assigned and directed by the ship's captain, not any corporate entity or hiring body. Absolute trust is placed in the captain to manage them efficiently, and allocate them to the correct stations. But now... whoever replaced her was just as liable to fire all of her selected crew, some of whom she had grown especially fond of during her two years of work.Yanmin thinks on her past choices. Who she appointed in the top positions on LVFdS.As Top Navigations Officer, she chose:>Marina Albrecht, a level-headed woman fresh out of a senior-level course.>Danica Weltz, a stern but rowdy older officer with years of experience.As Head Starsling Engineer, she chose:>Aiko Hirata, an exceptionally kind but somewhat bumbling middle-aged woman.>Iris Bergsdóttir, a bitter war refugee with a prosthetic arm and no patience.As Ship Psychologist, she chose:>Victoria Baychon, an analytically-minded and esteemed researcher of human condition.>Louis Fauber, a shrewd and clever doctor eager to please his superiors.As Security Chief, she chose:>Bethany Klipp, a war veteran from Calford. Exceptionally loyal.>Suzie Sachezi, a brusque security officer with a decade of experience on LVFdS.
>>6124601>Danica Weltz, a stern but rowdy older officer with years of experience.>Iris Bergsdóttir, a bitter war refugee with a prosthetic arm and no patience.>Victoria Baychon, an analytically-minded and esteemed researcher of human condition.>Bethany Klipp, a war veteran from Calford. Exceptionally loyal.
>>6124601>Marina Albrecht, a level-headed woman fresh out of a senior-level course.>Iris Bergsdóttir, a bitter war refugee with a prosthetic arm and no patience.>Victoria Baychon, an analytically-minded and esteemed researcher of human condition.>Bethany Klipp, a war veteran from Calford. Exceptionally loyal.
>>6124615Jesus, same choices chosen within 30 seconds of each other. Spooky.
>>6124619Well, almost the same. Misread.
>>6124601>Marina Albrecht, a level-headed woman fresh out of a senior-level course.>Aiko Hirata, an exceptionally kind but somewhat bumbling middle-aged woman.>Louis Fauber, a shrewd and clever doctor eager to please his superiors.>Bethany Klipp, a war veteran from Calford. Exceptionally loyal.
>>6124601>Marina Albrecht, a level-headed woman fresh out of a senior-level course.>Iris Bergsdóttir, a bitter war refugee with a prosthetic arm and no patience.>Louis Fauber, a shrewd and clever doctor eager to please his superiors.>Bethany Klipp, a war veteran from Calford. Exceptionally loyal.
>>6124601>Danica Weltz, a stern but rowdy older officer with years of experience.>Aiko Hirata, an exceptionally kind but somewhat bumbling middle-aged woman.>Victoria Baychon, an analytically-minded and esteemed researcher of human condition.>Suzie Sachezi, a brusque security officer with a decade of experience on LVFdS.
>>6124601>Danica Weltz, a stern but rowdy older officer with years of experience.>Aiko Hirata, an exceptionally kind but somewhat bumbling middle-aged woman.>Louis Fauber, a shrewd and clever doctor eager to please his superiors.>Bethany Klipp, a war veteran from Calford. Exceptionally loyal.
>>6124601>Marina Albrecht, a level-headed woman fresh out of a senior-level course.>Aiko Hirata, an exceptionally kind but somewhat bumbling middle-aged woman.>Victoria Baychon, an analytically-minded and esteemed researcher of human condition.>Bethany Klipp, a war veteran from Calford. Exceptionally loyal.Going off of that uniform situation, it sounds like the vast majority of the fleet is male, so I'd imagine a mostly female ship like ours is a real oddity.
>>6124756>>6124710>>6124706>>6124701>>6124627>>6124616>>6124615Yanmin's first appointment as captain was the top-level navigations officer. She chose Marina Albrecht, an experienced and educated woman with a soft face and cautious demeanour that seemed to be perfectly trained and ready to enter into the position. The captain ponders the hard times Marina has fallen on as of late; she was recently divorced by her wife and has taken to spending extended periods of time alone in her cabin.The position of Head Starsling Engineer is a crucial one. After all, without harnessing the psychostable energy emitted by nearby stars, large-scale space transport would be impossible. Aiko Hirata, a warm soul from Lin, was her immediate pick. Her rosy cheeks and flowing silvery hair pair perfectly with her endearing personality, though the engineers under her command often find themselves correcting her on misallocations and small missteps. Above all else, she is a team player and runs a staff with very high morale.Though it was rare to see a man working in the hospitality or medical field, Louis Fauber was Yanmin's choice for the ship's psychologist. Operating out of his luxurious office, the brown-haired doctor surveyed papers and psychological evaluations carefully through thin circular glasses. His natural attitude of sucking up to his superiors is evident to anyone, but inarguably effective in getting results. The captain recalls how he seems to keep to himself, with few close friends aboard the ship.Security is essential for any highly populated space voyage, and LVFdS is no exception. Yanmin finds her choice of security chief to be exceptionally competent. Bethany Klipp, an acid-tongued veteran of the Calford Civil War, runs a very imposing campaign of order enforcement. In the few serious incidents the ship has faced, she has used a firm hand and an excruciatingly analytical judgement to pinpoint the best outcome. She considers duty, no matter what field, to be one of the most pivotal aspects of the human experience, and her undying loyalty is sometimes offputting to Yanmin.
>>6124773Quietly, she makes her way up the spiralling staircase on the left-hand side of the bridge, matched by an identical staircase on the right. Her open-fronted office faces out to the reinforced window at the very front of the ship, allowing a view of the dark universe she steers her crew through every day. At her desk is a stack of papers, as well as a well-used fountain pen. Before taking her seat, she approaches the pneumatic delivery system by which any direct requests are fielded to her office. Only one today.She clicks the delivery tube out of the slot and unscrews the cap, allowing a rolled-up paper to unfurl in her hand. It reads:"Dear Captain Gāo,Pending your oncoming departure as our captain, I find it prudent to ask you: do you have a successor in mind? I know it's ultimately at the behest of the company, but I'm sure we all know that even a departing captain has influence in the decision-making process. I absolutely respect and admire all you've done and your leadership for these past two years, but if you find yourself without a successor, could we speak?Thank you kindly,Nikki Hartwright">Captain Gāo dismisses the request. She has far more important things to focus on right now. Who the hell is Nikki Hartwright anyway?>Captain Gāo sits at her desk and types up a message that she already has someone in mind. She does, of course.>Captain Gāo sits at her desk and types up a message that she already has someone in mind. She doesn't, of course. She's just being evasive.>Captain Gāo agrees to meet with Nikki Hartwright, before consulting her crew manifest to figure out who she actually is.
>>6124774>Captain Gāo sits at her desk and types up a message that she already has someone in mind. She does, of course.
>>6124774>Captain Gāo agrees to meet with Nikki Hartwright, before consulting her crew manifest to figure out who she actually is.
>>6124774Damn too late I guess>Captain Gāo sits at her desk and types up a message that she already has someone in mind. She does, of course.Gao seems like the type who plans several steps ahead.
>>6124774>Captain Gāo dismisses the request. She has far more important things to focus on right now. Who the hell is Nikki Hartwright anyway?The important things being how to steal the ship and where to take it.
>>6124774>>Captain Gāo sits at her desk and types up a message that she already has someone in mind. She does, of course.>>6124818Life of a pirate ain't fund with constantly running from the feds and having to spin the revolver to one day hit a freighter that is a bit too heavily armed.
>>6125057>>6124957>>6124818>>6124805>>6124802>>6124799>>6125282A short, curt message is her response, which she types up and sends off post-haste. She doesn't have time to meet with this particular crewmember, but she can still do her the courtesy of declining her request properly. After all, she already has somebody in mind to succeed her. One of her closest friends aboard the ship, Emilia Carter, had already proven herself to be a fantastic leader and technologically capable. She held the current role of Head of General Maintenace aboard LVFdS, making sure that every inch of the ship that wasn't already governed by other departments was running at 100% efficiency. The captain often invited her to eat with other department heads, a privilege not often extended to certain sections of the crew. In her mind, giving her a solid push towards the position of captaincy was all she could do to impart something good on the crew before she leaves.Aaron, her assistant, came up the stairs. The murky stain on his uniform still evident, he held a sheepish attitude as he slowly walked towards the captain. He was preparing to ask her about his job, and whether he needed to know anything for the future captain. For how early into this voyage it was, she had a lot of time to think about her future and a lot of people worrying about theirs.One week later, Captain Gāo meets with the department heads in a meeting room beside the Starsling Operation division. She tells them about her situation, leaving out the nature of her crime itself, to dispel any rumours of why exactly she was leaving. Several questions are posed which she answers with the most vague terms she can muster, though...>The captain tells the whole truth about her situation.>The captain tells a partial truth about her situation.>The captain keeps her crime under wraps.
>>6125339>The captain tells a partial truth about her situation.
>>6125339>The captain keeps her crime under wraps.
>>6125339>The captain keeps her crime under wraps
>>6126325>>6125418>>6125384>>6125380>>6125366>>6125355The captain elects to tell a partial truth about the situation; she admits that she's involved in some criminal wrongdoing that will likely put a permanent end to her career as the ship's captain. Many already suspected something of this nature, but glances are exchanged among the department heads as she confirms this. Of course, she doesn't disclose that murder is the charge, as that'd likely ruin their view of her forever even if she could adequately explain exactly how harsh things could get with the tutors back in her home.Aiko, ever pleasant, assures her that she's still their brave and strong-willed captain in her eyes, a statement that receives some scoffs and some noises of affirmation from around the room. The captain gives a polite smile and nod to this remark. Albrecht, checking her watch every few minutes, gets up from her seat and prepares to leave."Captain, is that all this meeting is about? If you'd excuse me, I need to get back to navigational duties." she remarks."Of course." replies Yanmin with a stern glare and a motion towards the door. She expected some of the crew to find this meeting unimportant, but Albrecht's dismissal was unusually blunt for her. She had fallen upon hard times recently, she supposes.A few hours later, Aiko catches the captain's attention while she monitors her crew at work on the bridge. "Captain, I wanted to apologise for my behaviour earlier. I didn't... I wasn't trying to be disrespectful. One of my officers flagged me up that the asteroid interference might be more serious than we were originally expecting, and I wanted to get back as soon as possible. Would you come with me to the navigations console?"At that very moment, her lapel radio crackles to life."Captain, this is Optaine Anslov, security officer stationed for coverage in General Maintenance. I need to speak to you about a serious concern that I can't bring to Chief Klipp. I feel it'd be best for you to hear from me directly - would you be able to come over to General Maintenance?"Perplexed, the captain gives a look to Aiko.>"Sorry, Aiko, but I have to go see what that's about.">"I'll go investigate that after you show me the interference.">"I don't have time for any of this. Back to work, everyone."
>>6126539>"I'll go investigate that after you show me the interference."
