Fodmodmadtol
19-09-2005, 03:01
"Call the Officers to the Bridge, we're having a little chat."
"Right away, Miss Lions." The Aide paused in their typing, slid the mouse and clicked. An automated message was broadcast over the PA, and the Aide went back to work. She received an obscene amount of pay for doing this.
The Bridge was an enormous amphitheatre, plated with black matte-steel. Extraordinary windows stretched across the last tiers, disappearing into the shadowded recesses above. The Aide's desk was the only thing inside, aside from the Aide and her chair. The Commander used it as a viewing room and kept it completely empty. The windows filtered most things out of sight leaving only the major stars shining, and Mars, looming brightly off to the side.
Uniformed Officers started to appear, strolling from the shadows of the Bridge and falling into lacksadaisacal ranks in front of the Commander. She slid onto the Aide's desk, crossing legs and folding hands neatly on knee. She counted off the Officers to confirm their presence, and pulled a hair flip.
"Evening. Tonight we'll make our last approach to Mars, and sometime in the early morning we plan on landing. In the worst case scenario we're harassed by a dozen Nations, threatened, and eventually shot at. That most likely won't happen unless you piss them off, so try not to spit. Most people seem to take that offensively."
The Commander tapped the desk, and the Aide clicked a few more things. Neat and orderly grids appeared on the windows in assorted colors. In a few moments, they had splined and replicated, and space was now overlain with an elaborate spreadsheet.
"If you all follow your orders, we should do fine. . . I want Kay Capitol to lead. Ianiac and Fallow are to flank our rear. Truth and Reconciliation will follow behind us all, a few hundred degrees below everyone. I want our transponders fully accessible. . ."
"Commander Lions, what of politics?"
"Recite for me the first rule of Fight Club, Officer."
"Right away, Miss Lions." The Aide paused in their typing, slid the mouse and clicked. An automated message was broadcast over the PA, and the Aide went back to work. She received an obscene amount of pay for doing this.
The Bridge was an enormous amphitheatre, plated with black matte-steel. Extraordinary windows stretched across the last tiers, disappearing into the shadowded recesses above. The Aide's desk was the only thing inside, aside from the Aide and her chair. The Commander used it as a viewing room and kept it completely empty. The windows filtered most things out of sight leaving only the major stars shining, and Mars, looming brightly off to the side.
Uniformed Officers started to appear, strolling from the shadows of the Bridge and falling into lacksadaisacal ranks in front of the Commander. She slid onto the Aide's desk, crossing legs and folding hands neatly on knee. She counted off the Officers to confirm their presence, and pulled a hair flip.
"Evening. Tonight we'll make our last approach to Mars, and sometime in the early morning we plan on landing. In the worst case scenario we're harassed by a dozen Nations, threatened, and eventually shot at. That most likely won't happen unless you piss them off, so try not to spit. Most people seem to take that offensively."
The Commander tapped the desk, and the Aide clicked a few more things. Neat and orderly grids appeared on the windows in assorted colors. In a few moments, they had splined and replicated, and space was now overlain with an elaborate spreadsheet.
"If you all follow your orders, we should do fine. . . I want Kay Capitol to lead. Ianiac and Fallow are to flank our rear. Truth and Reconciliation will follow behind us all, a few hundred degrees below everyone. I want our transponders fully accessible. . ."
"Commander Lions, what of politics?"
"Recite for me the first rule of Fight Club, Officer."