Uncharted System 38

[Sombs]

>> Crew List

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The ship was still on red alert as Sombra hurried through the hallways, with the fruit in one of her hands. On her way, she saw at least five other people leaving their quarters, each of them somewhat dazed from waking up in the middle of the night, barely able to put on anything more than their Apahanta suits. They ran to wherever they were supposed to be, mostly the bridge or engineering. Sombra didn't need to be anywhere, though. As Quartermaster, she barely had anything to do other than keep inventory of what was in the various storage spaces of the ship. Nevertheless, she rushed as fast as possible back to her quarters.

Arriving there, she entered quickly, just to see that Noel was already awake, but for reasons still lying in bed, both arms cuffed to the backrest. A very unimpressed look was all Sombra got as a welcome, and she returned an apologetic smile. "Yikes, that's an unfortunate timing, huh? Funny how that works," she commented, quickly coming closer and getting onto the bed, crawling over to him and sitting down on his lower body while leaning forward to remove the cuffs.

"You know, waking up like this is more fun when you're here, too. But I woke up, we're on red and you're not here. And I can't do anything," the young man complained, mildly comforted by how she sat on him.

"It's not like I've planned it like this," she said quietly, unlocking the first cuff.

"So what's going on?" he asked her, his view mostly obscured by her chest as she leaned over him.

She unlocked the second cuff and moved to hug him tightly, which he returned. "Okay, so the weirdest coincidence just happened, right? I went down to botany to get some fresh food, and when I arrived there, Becky was there. Like, in the middle of the night, right? We talked for a moment, because, you know, Valentine's Day, and she said she wanted to go all-in today. I tried to find out who she's going for, because, you know, there are like three guys on the ship that aren't either into men or already taken, but she insisted on not telling me, so I thought about it and wondered if she's going for one of the two from Sec or Morris? But he's like twenty years older than her, and let's be honest, while he definitely got in shape now, he isn't really the kind of guy that would match her, huh?" She looked down at him, only to find a disapproving gaze. It made her give him a lopsided look.

"What has that to do with us being on red?" he asked her.

"Uh, nothing?" she returned, confused.

"Sombs, we're on red alert and you're telling me Döneken about Becky!" He exhaled while she smirked at him. "I think we jumped, judging by the engine rumble."

"Yeah, I think so, too." She lowered her head to kiss him on his lips. "You're adorbs when you fall back into rheinlandian."

"... it's still red alert, by the way," he pointed out.

"I know," she returned.

"... I sort of need to go to engineering," Noel reminded her. "You know, red alert? Battlestations and such? Combat readiness?"

"Yeah, I know," she assured him, yet not making a single move to get off him.

"... I kinda need to go." They just glared at each other's eyes. "Like, now."

"Yeah." Yet she didn't move off. "Well, you better go!"

"... Sombra?"

"Yes?"

"I need to go, now."

"Yeah." She leaned in for another kiss.

"Som-" Accepting it for just two seconds, he pushed her rather nonchalantly off his body, which made her giggle. "We'll continue this later, I really need to get to engineering."




The Rovers had left the hangar bay, one after another. Remotely controlled by the drone pilots on bridge, they spread out to take a closer look at the points of interest in system. Ezrael followed everything from the Captain's chair, checking the various guncam feeds of each Rover. The gas giants seemed rather uninteresting, and the volcanic planet near the sun did not seem to special either. The closer one of the Rovers got to the giant planetary debris field, the more curious Ezrael got, however. He stood up and moved over to Becky's drone control console, leaning over her shoulder to take a closer look while supporting himself with a hand at the backrest of her chair. "Those are interesting formations. They don't look natural," he pointed out.

"Certainly not," Becky agreed, slightly intimidated by Ezrael being this close. "I don't get any specific readings, though. Just much heat, much dust, and these spires with platforms."

"They remind me of Omicron Beta and Theta. Can you scan for microbes?" he asked her.

"Sure," she replied. A few taps on the display later, both of them sighed. "Yeah, no, the Rovers don't have the equipment for a detailed bio scan. Sorry, Captain."

"Not your fault. Sherry, set a course for the fragment field! It's probably the most promising area here anyway," Ezrael commanded, still watching the feed. "Feels good, huh?"

Confused, Becky needed a moment to understand what he meant. She sheepishly looked up at him for a moment. "You mean the Rover?"

"Yeah. This one is my favourite. The Hayabusas are neat, and the Bretonian LF has a decent handling, but the Gitano is the first one we got for the Apahanta. Always liked this one the most. Small, compact ship but matches the look perfectly." He idly smiled at the screen. "Say what you will about the Junkers, but this thing is definitely not garbage."

"I like it," she said in agreement. "Admittedly, I'm not that much into ships and such, but she feels less sluggish than the Bretonian one, and more robust than the Hayabusas."

He remained at her side for a while. The giant rock spires became more and more visible the closer the Handsome Rover got. Ezrael's awe however got interrupted by the sound of an empty stomach complaining audibly. Embarrassed, Becky moved a hand to her belly for a moment. "Sorry, I didn't get to eat breakfast yet."

"Neither of us got to," Ezrael corrected, patting her shoulder. "I'll go to the canteen and get some food. Any wishes?"

"Uhm, shouldn't you stay on bridge right now?" she asked.

"I got the best crew in this part of the galaxy handling this. I seriously doubt I'll be needed here in the next few minutes, so it's all fine. You got this!" And with that, he made a move to leave.

"Hey, hold up!" Becky firmly stared at the display as Ezrael returned to her side and searched for anything interesting visible on the feed.

"What's it?" he asked.

"Uhm, eh," she stammered. "What's your plan for the today?"

"For today? Uh, I guess I'll keep myself busy with exploring. Most of the crew will likely be doing Valentine's stuff today, so I don't want to be in their way there," he explained, sighing. "I don't know yet, didn't think about it."

"Cool. Cool." Becky kneaded her lower lip with her teeth. "I can help you with that. Don't have any plans myself for today."

"Neat! It's going to be fun!" he said, once more patting her shoulder, then he moved away and left the bridge.

Becky heard how Sherry approached her from behind, stopping next to her. "I think this is the first time I've seen him being this oblivious to something this obvious. You can tell he is really excited about this system full of dust."

"At this point, who isn't," Becky mumbled in agreement.

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