The morning meal...(Tag All)

[Freya Aino]

Freya walked at a semi quick time to the lift and then after it deposited her on the galley level she hurried to the place that could easily fit twenty-five but only had to contend with about fifteen people at the most. She smiled as it seemed she was the first there and the androids had already cooked up a good breakfast. She could smell the eggs and the weird bacon but today she was after fruit. She grabbed a tray and started to put some fruit on it. She wanted to see what Annika had in mind for their training today.

“Annika,” she said to the empty galley, “What Training do I have today?”

The chipper AI appeared and smiled at Freya.

“You have to check the explosives and jettison the old stock and rotate the aged stock up for use. You also have to brief the commander on explosives situation and how they could be stored more safely if you have devised a method.”

Freya groaned a bit because handling explosives was always a dangerous hobby but storing them on a space station multiplied that by a factor of twenty. Why couldn’t they just have a base on a planet?

“Thank you Annika I will give that briefing today. What does the commander’s schedule look like?”

Annika paused for a nanosecond and smiled again.

“I have put you down for 1330 for the briefing because he has to oversee the training block at 1400. Will that work?”

Freya nodded and finished putting fruit on her plate.

“Yes thank you Annika.”

Annika disappeared as Freya went to an empty table after grabbing silverware and began to eat slowly.

[Mizuki Tsukino]

Mizuki was never one to be tardy to anything and since she had that training session with Ryuusei she was going to have a meal in peace and quiet. She had decided to take access ways instead of the lift because she had armory duty this morning and that would occupy a good part of her day until she had to train. She entered the galley and was actually happy to see Freya in uniform and eating instead of complaining about something. She went over grabbed a tray and pointed to eggs and bacon. The ham looked like it was replicated so she avoided it and grabbed a large mug and some coffee. She went and sat down near Freya and while they weren’t exactly warm and fuzzy she did listen to what she had to say.

[Felix Hino]

Felix woke up and tried to forget about seeing his ghost mother last night. He wondered why Queen Mars had taken an interest in him now. She had 15 years to interact with him but seldom cared to do so. Instead she spent all her time with Sakuya... it seemed like Felix was just an afterthought to the late queen. That was the price of not being the beloved firstborn.

Felix put on his uniform and slowly made his way to the galley. He wanted some alcohol, and not some cheap synthetic swill. He wanted something strong, something with actual alcohol content. That seemed to keep the ghosts away for awhile. Unfortunately, while on duty he would have to be content with coffee.

He sidled up to the replicator and filled his mug with something that could be called coffee. It tasted like someone strained it through sweaty gym socks and added urine before serving, but it was all that was available. He sipped it and took a look around. He spotted Mizuki and Freya coexisting peacefully. Not wanting to interrupt their bonding time, he grabbed a plate of synthetic bacon and eggs and sat at another table.

Synthetic coffee. Synthetic bacon. Synthetic eggs. Everything was synthetic around here. Just another day in The Maw.

At least it beat being dead.

[Ryuusei Fuushino]

"95, 96, 97..." Ryuusei was on the floor of his room doing pushups. Since arriving on the station he tended to wake up earlier than most...something that had developed from a lifetime of not having a regular place to sleep. He was still 'new' here so the gym was off-limits without others present, so the boy spent those hours doing exorcises in his room.

"98, 99 and that's 100." He rose to his feet and exited the room then made his way to the bathroom for a quick shower. When he returned to his room he tossed the workout clothes; a dark green tank top and shorts of the same color into a hamper and got dressed. He forewent his uniform "Patience..." he whispered to the closet, for the one they wore on the station...and explained why shit was so dreary around here with all the black. However,hHe was being paid by these people so no complaints.

After getting dressed he  headed to the lift. (They should all be crawling out of bed by now...) And headed for the galley. A few faces were already there, Freya and Mizuki were sitting together and Felix was ahead of him dishing up. "Howdy." As the man passed passed to sit down and partake in his freshly replicated fe(ces)ast. To be honest Ryuusei didn't actually 'hate' this food, it was far...far...FAR from the worst thing he'd ever eaten...but at the same time it was NOTHING compared to that 'pizza' thing he'd eaten in his travels. (Those Rimmers really knew how to live.)

After leaving the line, Ryuusei passed the girls, he turned his head toward them and, "Morning!" before joining Felix. He didn't need to give the guy a once over before commenting. "Man you look like hell."

[Chisana Usagi]

Chi bounded her way into the gallery. She was happy to see that so many were already awake. She smiled as she headed over to get some food. It would do for now. She would kill for some fresh fruits and sweet treats. She stuck to the high protein diet that the captain had them on. She wondered if she would be able to sneak some while they had the day off.

She could see a few of the groups forming. She was unsure about the new guy. He was a little off putting than again she hardly knew him. She wrinkled her nose as she chose to sit close to her sister and Freya.

"Good Morning! How did you both sleep?"

[Freya Aino]

Freya nodded to her squad leader which was about as much as she did when Mizuki came in and acknowledged her. She didn’t mind the woman even though she really didn’t see any joy in Mizuki but she knew why and respected the woman’s decisions. It was a shame because she hadn’t been a bad person to hangout with before but now she had more important things to worry about. She couldn’t fault her at all and then her attention was pulled away as Felix entered. She suppressed her smile and waited for him to sit down. Once he was seated though she decided to ask him about work later today.

“Felix we have duty today in the Magazine. You know we get to play with explosives. I was wondering when you want to begin this since it’s actually an open schedule. I just have to put a time in to please the grumpy statue known as our commander.”

She laughed as she thought of last night. He had left about two in the morning. An hour before she got up. It was nice having him there and well she wouldn’t think on that much more because she might have to do something about it later. When the new guy entered she waved to him at his morning. Oh he was a brave one sitting with Felix and then telling him that. Who was this guy.

“HEY! You know that’s not nice to say.”

The nerve of that guy. When Chi bounced in her eyes went wide. She wasn’t late, was she?

“Chi! I’m supposed to be relieving you in about fourty-five minutes. Are you taking a quick break?”

[Mizuki Tsukino]

Mizuki raises an eyebrow at Freya. She was very proficient and liked the fact that she had two explosive experts in her squad. It gave a person options and exits when needed in a pinch. At the entrance of Felix she nodded to him as she ate slowly and when the new guy entered and gave his greeting she nodded curtly to him. It was morning and she finished chewing as he said what he thought of the way Felix looked. She shook her head. She hoped Felix decked the guy or not as she didn’t feel like breaking up a fight. Felix was tough to beat due to his training and Ryuusei probably didn’t stand a chance.

“Calm down Freya. I’m sure Felix can handle it.”

She wouldn’t step in unless things got out of hand. When Chi entered she frowned. She was supposed to be in watch. Well maybe she needed some coffee or tea. That made sense. She looked up from her next bite as Chi greeted them.

“I slept well sister. Thank you for asking. Is it quiet or did the black holes bring something worth examining in?”

That rarely happened and when Freya started to get worried she held up a hand.

“Freya calm down. You are too easily riled which is unlike you in combat.”

She looked at Chi waiting for her finish getting what she was after. She knew Jacob was up by now and had already been to Ops. So why was she here?

“Is the commander in Ops?”

[Chisana Usagi]

Chi smiled as she laughed slightly when asked the questions about her leaving. At one point, she had walked out on her post however the punishment was so severe that she never did it again. A week of watching added on training and maybe a max a three hours sleep a night really does drive home the point.

"No rush there, Freya, the old man has it. He was happy it was a quiet night."

She sighed as she dug into her food. It gave her a boost to her energy. She might work a little more on her present to her sister

[Felix Hino]

Felix sat at the table and prodded his bacon with a finger. Normally he would have eaten it by now. He was still thinking about the ghosts he had seen last night. He should have been used to it by now. He was not.

Felix underwent training at a temple on Mars to learn how to handle his spiritual abilities. It was slow, monotonous training that required discipline and commitment. While he boasted incredible potential, he was not a prodigy who could learn anything instantly.  It took four years of around-the-clock training from stern priests to graduate from the temple.

Four years at the agoge on Mars left Felix accustomed to harsh and swift military discipline. Broken bones for minor infractions were not uncommon. Felix suffered a beating from the rifle butts of his squadmates for panicking and accidentally ejecting the magazine from his assault rifle instead of flipping off the safety when his instructor charged at him with a real knife during training. He had bruises all over his torso and back for a week and a blackened left eye for at least two. Felix managed to survive the harsh, unforgiving environment and even graduated near the top of his class.

Despite those triumphs, none of the previous tribulations could get him accustomed to seeing ghosts. The priests of Mars warned about the mental toll that seeing the dead could take on its user. No one could have fully prepared Felix for the ramifications of that ability except Queen Mars, but she was engaged with other projects. When he asked the queen about it, she only repeated that he needed to master it in order to become the guardian Mars needed. Whether she meant Mars the planet or Mars the princess was an ambiguity the queen never saw fit to clarify.

Felix heard the new guy named Ryuusei speak to him. The latter claimed that he looked like hell. Felix would have laughed, were he the laughing type. He turned towards him and spoke.

"You could say that. Things were... rough." Felix replied calmly. There was no point flying off the handle over a simple comment that was true. Martians were usually stereotyped as being irascible and quick to violence, a stereotype that Felix detested. Recent events did not leave Felix in the best of moods and made seeking an outlet in aggressive behavior seem more and more tempting. However, taking it out on a potential ally would not help anything... it was better to save the violence for someone who actually deserved it, namely the Death Corps.

When Freya reminded him that she and Felix were slated to work in the magazine today, he turned towards her.

"You choose the time, Freya. I don't care when we begin work there." Felix said to her. She had an attraction for explosives that was as strong as Felix's. It may not have been the most stable basis for a relationship, but Felix was going into uncharted territory. Both the temple and the agoge were all-male institutions where fraternization with women was strictly forbidden. He had considerable spiritual power and was at home on the battlefield, but when it came to relationships Felix was out of his depth.

[William Tenoh]

William slowly rolled off the bed and hit the floor. He still had a sci-fi holomovie playing. It was about a giant irradiated Komodo Dragon stomping around a crystalline alien city and spewing columns of acid at whatever struck its fancy while swatting aside silver UFOs with its tail. It was a goofy movie with a goofy premise, but yesterday was Cheesy Movie Night. He saw the dragon bite down on an unlucky UFO when he turned it off and put on his uniform.

William wandered into the galley and found quite a few people already there. Mizuki, Chisana, Freya, Felix, and the new guy... Ryuusei, was it? Yeah. It was Ryuusei.

William got a coffee mug and filled it with "coffee" before grabbing a plate of bacon. At least it was not Spam. William disliked the stuff, but he would eat it in a pinch. The only thing he hated worse than Spam was fish. After a nearly fatal accident involving improperly prepared fugu fish eaten at a school festival when he was in high school, he loathed any and all fish.

He really wanted some rice. Unfortunately, real rice was not available. All that was available was the synthetic stuff. As he stared at the bacon, he shuffled the "eggs" around his plate. The eggs were not very appealing.

The blond male stole a glance at Freya, who was looking at Felix. What did she see in him? He always looked like he was one step away from ripping off someone's arm and beating them to death with it. When he did not look like he was ready for a fight, he was acting like a moody loner.

Oh well. Freya was clearly hung up on Felix. She did not even spare William a second thought. It was too bad... Freya was kind of cute with her glasses. Seconds later his thoughts turned to a dark place.

Who would want someone like him?

Who would love someone who enjoyed fighting almost as much as life itself?

Would Uranus be better off without him?

William wondered if there was any need for him here.

Mizuki was the leader-in-training.

Chisana was the pilot.

Hayate was the scout and back-up pilot in case Chisana was incapacitated.

Alex was the support weapons user.

Felix and Freya were the explosives experts.

Where did that leave William?

He had no idea. Shortly after that thought, he snapped out of it and tried to put on a cheerful facade. He sipped the coffee and sampled the bacon and eggs. The coffee was better than the bacon, but that was not saying much. His opinion of the eggs could not be expressed without using words unfit for polite company.

[Ryuusei Fuushino]

"Couldn't get much sleep huh?" Was his reply to Felix before digging into his food, a few gulps of water later and. "If you've got any free time today, you might want to grab a nap."

His introduction to Felix, caught the attention of the ladies at the other table. It certainly riled Freya up as she scolded him before informing Felix of their duties later. Ryuusei didn't reply, instead he waited until she was away to smirk. He leaned forward and whispered to the Martian, "You're welcome" before returning to his meal.

By then another face had joined them in the galley, he was disheveled but not in the same way as Felix (Looks like me after smoking so much bad granola...I woke up in another galaxy, like the night before I met the Schmidtheads!). This man also seemed to just...stare at them all. "Who's he?"

[Sakuya]

Sakuya walked down the hall to the galley, yawning from the sleepless night she had. Stretching her lean body as she entered the kitchen, she yawned once more. 

Clad in black tight trousers, a white form-fitting tank with a thin purple sweater, she gave a smirk to the group. 

“Let’s see...breakfast..” she mumbled as she grabbed a plate to dish herself up on the synthetic items available. Nothing tasted the same anymore. When she ate now, she tried to imagine pictures of actual food, trying to trick her mind into having the original flavors. 

Grabbing a piece of bacon, she observed the group. Chi had relieved her last night, to which she was thankful. The girl was sweet, but too sweet in this world, according to Sakuya. One had to be hard now. Especially with the enemy out there. 

She nodded to Mizuki and Ryuusei “Morning..” as she sauntered toward a table, looking to a Freya and Felix. She had a feeling that something was happening behind the scenes with the two. Freya was beautiful and talented, but a little crazy in her eyes. Felix seemed to be spending a lot of time with her. As long as his work didn’t aff—no, no, she couldn’t think like this. She wasn’t his mother, but his sister. His only living relative alive now. She wanted him to be happy, but he’d been spending time, a lot of time with this woman. 

With a sigh, she bit into another piece of bacon as she overheard Freya’s comment about Jacob. Their Commander..

”Hey. The man works hard and barely sleeps just to ensure we’re all properly trained. He’s quite brilliant once you get to know him. Try to respect that..” she said softly not trying to seem like a total bitch (it was something she’s been working on) “So you and Freya are on duty again, eh?” She asked her brother, curious about the schedule. 

Looking to William, she gave a chuckle. The man amused her.

[Freya Aino]

Freya smiles happily when Felix told her to choose the time and she would tell him as soon as they were done eating. It wasn’t hard to get that kind of work done but it sure was fun. She ate some more as time ticked toward her watch shift.

“I’ll send it to your terminal later. I have watch in about fourty minutes. That is what takes precedence over things that go boom.”

She was about to throw another jab at the nascent Jacob when Sakuya chimes in chastising her. She snapped around to look at the woman.

“Yes he does work hard. He poisons himself nightly and gets up in a mood so foul that even trolls take pause at him. That’s very hard work drinking yourself into a stupor.”

She sensed something more than defense of their commander a decent man when he wasn’t torturing them or drunk. She stopped there because she did and didn’t want to cause s fight with Sakuya. She just wanted to smack her and that feeling intensified when she asked her brother about being on duty with her agin. What a nosy bitch! They handled explosives and it was important to keep track of old ordinance. She bit her tongue tonkeep from defending Felix. He was strong enough to do that himself.

[Felix Hino]

Felix listened to Ryuusei's question. He did not need to give the answer much thought. It was self-evident, but again being needlessly aggressive was not the way to go.

"Pretty much. Couldn't get much sleep." Felix answered him. It was hard to sleep when one could see ghosts. It was even harder when the ghosts could speak.

Felix was about to jump to another topic when a dark-haired girl in black tight trousers and a white form-fitting tank with a thin purple sweater popped in. Felix's eyes narrowed. He recognized her all too well.

SAKUYA.

Felix tried to keep his animosity in check. She was Princess Mars and the last living relative he had. It was still not easy to be civil towards her. There was a long list of reasons why that was the case.

Felix had a feeling that Sakuya was here to spy on him. She was probably worried about the relationship with Freya. His suspicions were confirmed when Sakuya asked about his schedule. The best course of action was honesty... his sister probably had mind-reading in her repertoire of talents and was saving it as a trump card.

"As a matter of fact, we're on duty together later today." Felix replied. That answer might infuriate Freya, but she could take it up with him later. He was willing to bet that Sakuya would spy on them later today.

He remembered that Ryuusei suggested that he try to get a nap later today.

"Lately it's been hard to sleep, duty or not. I'll have to sleep when I'm dead." Felix replied to Ryuusei.

[Mizuki Tsukino]

Mizuki ate quietly as the banter and conversation between the team. She found that while some of was ok most of it annoyed her. Then with William coming in she had reviewed the duty roster and knew he was with Chi later today working on their small pool of ships. He was rather handsome but she had not let herself indulge in foolish thoughts or feelings. She wouldn’t mind just picking his brain though. Freya said something rather cutting back to Sakuya and would say something back if it escalated, for now though she let it go. She returned her attention to William.

“William...later on there are parts for your starfighter and the dropship. Chi and you have the upgrades for them. It’s on the duty roster. Plus for some reason you’ve been posted to the armory with me. I can have the armory cleared off so you can focus on the ships and pull Alex to help in the armory since our ships take priority. Is that feasible for you?”

She really didn’t like the idea of being alone with him. It made her nervous, but it wasn’t in a bad way. She knew what would happen if he reciprocated and that might lead down a dangerous path. It could actually be an enjoyable danger. She didn’t have time to find out.