[Citadel/Nimbus] A Party On The Rocks (closed)

"There she is," Rahilan said, unable to entirely hide the touch of pride in her voice. The gallery running the length of the docking bay provided a fine view of Sala T'Era, waiting in her berth between other shuttles and small transports. The primarily Republican bay hosted a variety of diplomatic and commercial visitors, their craft ranging from the sleek ocean-inspired hulls traditionally favoured by the great Council guilds of Thessia and her daughters, to the more pragmatic, boxy hulls of modern industrial spaceflight. Sala was neither entirely one nor the other - her wedge-shaped hull had the curve of a guild craft, but hybridised with another design ethos, the sturdy bulk of elcor hardware. The Republican unity symbol painted across her forward hull made her first loyalty clear, though.

Rahi led the way from the elevator, when it finally descended to deck level, over to her ship, which crouched on four short landing legs. Interface and consumables umbilicals were fixed to the underside port and starboard, and beneath the central hull's squat 'tail' a ramp led from the deck up to the closed airlock door. The pilot gestured with her omni-tool, causing the door to iris open, and led the way up the ramp into the shuttle, where a thin sensor-beam passed in turn over the faces and omni-tool interfaces of each of the passengers. The impassive red glow of a security eye in an alcove by the airlock changed to a softer blue, and took the form of a miniature holographic elcor.

"Pleasantly: Welcome aboard," it said, while a half-visible light screen moved back and forth over them. "Informative: Decontamination in progress. Decontamination complete."

"I-uh, I left the VI on its original interface," Rahi explained a little hesitantly, as the holo-elcor vanished and the inner airlock door opened at the process's conclusion. "Reminds me of my step-father... Uh, naturally," she went on, her voice firming, "in emergency conditions it automatically reconfigures to a more succinct more of expression... Welcome aboard, in any case. Please," she gestured for the others to precede her into the ship proper.

The interior was more traditionally asari, very refined and cultured, even to the point of concealing the efficienty of the interior design. The eye was drawn to pleasingly natural features such as the smooth mosaic-styled deck plates, and the polished wooden handrail running the length of the corridor that extended off to both sides, and it was only on closer inspection by a trained eye that the wealth of information and function became visible: the silver tracery picking out edges that would, in an crisis, double as emergency lighting, the seemingly ornamental handrail positioned to assist mobility in the event of gravity disruption; even the softy-lit dome above their heads as they exited the airlock, almost like a welcome light, but the 360-degree swivel seam, the narrow slits in front, and the heat sink registers tucked away up near where it joined the ceiling, revealed it to be an anti-personnel turret poised to cover the entry against intruders.

"The medbay, obviously," Rahi said - there was no missing the medical area, directly in front of them with its interior visible through largely transparent walls. On the small craft it didn't enjoy a wealth of space, but even at a glance it was obviously a well-designed working area, with ample equipment and storage space to hand but not crowding the biobed at the centre. Visible beyond, as Rahi led the way around one of the two side corridors flanking medbay, was an elevator, also clear-sided.

"Bridge and operations stations are on the top deck," the pilot continued, "although their functions can be rerouted to any active station. This," she tapped the clear medbay wall, "is third-gen long-chain plasteel, with an internal power source and independent backups. Medical remains operational no matter what. And here," the small group passed medbay to the side and emerged into the space beyond it, lined on either side with modest but comfortable-looking sleep areas, "is where we'll be spending most of our time, I'd imagine." As asari-style as the rest of the interior, the crew 'quarters' were one large, mainly open area - a handful of hatchways led to small separate compartments, but it was obvious the design assumed its inhabitants would rather have company than privacy as a matter of course. A small galley and a table and chairs was situated in the middle of the chamber, and beyond it - occupying what looked to be the vacant space left by a further set of beds having been removed - was a compact multi-function workout apparatus, a modest array of leisure seats, and the darkened screen and control nodes of a media/entertainment system.

"Engineering spaces are to either side," Rahi continued her mini-tour, indicating a pair of reinforced hatchways, "and the VIP cabin is top deck rear - the elevator can open directly onto the cabin and medbay," she added, "which ought to keep mobility concerns to a minimum. Um. Any questions?"

Temria let out a soft, contented sigh. Approaching the vessel as they had, she'd almost worried it would all feel out of place to her, as though she were part of a tour group reviewing a world she didn't belong to anymore. To the contrary, it almost felt too comfortable to slip back into the precise contours and familiar tropes of asari naval design. It was to be expected, she reasoned soberly as she subtly assumed the position taking up the rear of the line, the war hadn't ended nearly long enough for such habits to die off...

She refrained from making any comments about the elcor VI presence, for her part, Temria found it positively adorable. She could picture it announcing new private terminal messages in a comical voice whose timber matched its comic proportions and the thought of it left her smiling for a good while through the tour. The medical bay, as it was, pleasantly exceeded expectations, she recognized the make of biobed immediately, though the exact model escaped her. Storage would be compact, but nothing she wasn't used to.

The layout of the crew quarters did not come as a surprise, communal sleeping quarters were common to the asari ship aesthetic even in the classes of ship large enough to easily support otherwise. She did note, however, that it would also be serving as a communal activity space as well, though it wasn't a big concern. None the less, Temria made note to claim one of the beds nearest to the door.

"Of course, it's a lovely vessel." she replied with a short, courteous nod even as she continued to examine their surroundings with a careful appraising eye. "Tell me, will I be able to render those walls in the med room opaque? And do you mind if I take some time to examine the hardware?"

Freh’ya was impressed by the new craft. This was the new Orison she had heard about but she had never been on one. It looked quite capable and the exterior already displayed the fact that it was a fast long range craft with an excess of engine power. Rahilan was a lucky girl to be handed such a ship to play with.

When they entered the airlock, she had to chuckle audibly at the elcor VI. Makes me feel like home, she thought. She had to think of her father and generally Nevos’ large elcor community. It was interesting to hear Rahilan mention her step father! It would be interesting to find out more about that, maybe she could talk with her some time…. during a boring watch in the cockpit maybe.

Freh’ya noted the defense systems immediately. The interior said ‘diplomat shuttle’ more than fleet vessel. It was almost yacht-like but it just the surface. Underneath were claws and teeth on this ship. A quick glance up and down the corridor and to the medbay convinced Freh’ya that everything was top notch in technical terms. She had not expected otherwise.

The crew quarters where typically asari but all the entertainment equipment was again a sign for an excess of crew downtime during diplomatic ops. She had a closer look at the workout equipment.

“Can we have a brief look at the engineering stations before we check the bridge? I’ll be of assistance at whatever you deem necessary, otherwise I’ll be happy if you let me observe.”

Towards Temria she added: “Oh, what about a sidearm, doctor? Do you have your own or do you need one?” Citadel laws regarding guns were very strict but depending on your military or reserve status, you could be entitled to possess or even carry one.

A bit later a Message arrives on Temria's omnitool.

"Yes," Rahi replied to Temria's question about the walls. "There's a programmable nanolayer over all the clear surfaces. The configurations are in the medbay main console, or the VI can handle it, of course." She touched a control built into the elevator door, opening both it and the door on the opposite wall of the shaft, forming a corridor into medbay itself. "Please, consider it your own."

She glanced at Freh'ya and gave an unobtrusive nod at the mention of sidearms. Ideally the physician would have no need of one - given a perfect flight, none of them would - but she agreed with Freh'ya's obvious belief that it was better to be prepared.

"There are Vesper sidearms in the armoury," she offered. "Also Rivebows, Salliters, the latst out of the Pride foundry in Harbour Song - only Cygnets in the shotgun class I'm afraid," she went on, with a slightly sheepish look to Freh'ya. "Disciples are in short supply. But then there isn't much call for that sort of thing in the pilot seat, and when I've been assigned to transport combat teams they have their own gear anyway. As you would?" she asked the big commando. "I've cleared space, but I wasn't sure what or how much you'd be bringing along. Let me know? Anyway... engineering, of course."

She moved over to one of the hatches and opened it, ducking slightly as she entered, and beckoning Freh'ya to follow. Within the surroundings were far more utilitarian, although not without a certain elegance of functionality.

"These areas mirror each other, port and starboard," she explained. "They run interlinked of course, but in the event of damage we can reroute vital functions through either systems array. She'll even run on a single core if need be, albeit at lower output, naturally - but without losing field harmony, which is the main thing."

They emerged from the short walkway, crowded either side with environmental systems, and into a miniature engine room, built around a compact mass core sheathed in gravity lenses and armour. To one side a mech, of a sort, was positioned within each reach of the core hardware; a second of the same kind seemed built into the wall on the other side, its multi-jointed limbs folded compactly up against its chassis.

"Have you ever been on an elcor ship?" Rahi asked. "You might recognise the basic design, although the Serrice Council, who handled the bulk of the automation refits, put their own mark on them. These are our Remotes - two here, two in the opposite engine room, two backups in storage. They handle all the heavy lifting down here, including damage control and repair, and their cognitive cores are tied into the ship's systems as well, for enhanced capability in sensor and stealth management, combat efficiency, and flight augmentation." She gave the nearer Remote a pat on the joint which more or less corresponded to a shoulder. "Not much for personality - but," she added, facing Freh'ya again, "I've been through hostile fire with them. They're no 'dumb mechs'; for what they are and what they do, I trust them like a sister."

She allowed Freh'ya to precede her back out into the passenger area, and closed the hatch behind them again.

"Shall we see the bridge now?" she offered. "Doctor, would you be interested too?"

Temria nodded solemnly at the second mention of the need for a sidearm. Synchronising her omni-tool with the interface, she tentatively tested the extents of the walls, rendering the medbay completely unseen and reversing it.

"I have a Hae'Shang refit." she told Freh'ya solemnly, "I find it's easier on my wrist. If you don't feel it has sufficient stopping power, I'm cleared to carry a Vesper. Either way, stowage protocol still applies within sickbay."

As the other to go on to inspect the engine room, Temria ran her fingers over the biobed interface, smiling as she initiated a preliminary diagnostic...

"The bridge? Yes." she turned to enter the lift with them as they returned.



..........

"Wait, wait..." Freh'ya raised her arms when Rahilan was trown so many guns at her, figuratively speaking. "All right, I get the point. Just saying, since we are supposed to do this by the book, we are supposed to carry a sidearm at all times while in Nimbus. But it seems this ship here could take on a bataillion of Blue Suns. Good to know..." she smiled and nodded. "...but hopefully unnecessary. Doctor, that's totally sufficient. I don't want to overdo this, sorry." In fact she felt a bit like apiece of decoration. Security detail nice and good but in reality she did not have a real purpose, so pointing out a few regulations was the least she could do.

The engineering was tidy and impressive. the ship being of basic elcor design ensured that all the spaces inside had the extra meter of space. Good for someone as tall as Freh'ya.

"Of course, lead the way!" Freh'ya stepped aside and let Rahilan lead. the bridge was her territory and as long as Arina wasn't around, Freh'ya, although outranking Rahilan, was respecting her as the captain.

"I, ah, sorry," Rahi said, blushing with embarrassment. "I'm letting myself get carried away, aren't I?" She ducked slightly, like a young trainee all of a sudden. "I suppose I've been flying for longer than I can remember, but Sela's the first command I've held, even if she is just a transport." She chuckled nervously. "I don't know about Blue Suns, but we still have a lot of problems with border reivers in the Reach, in addition to the usual independent raiders and such. They didn't lose as many crews to the Reapers as we did, what with all the running and hiding they kept up until it was over," she added sourly.

"Bridge, yes," she nodded, thankful to Freh'ya for leaving her in the lead, even though her deference to the elder huntress went without saying. She ushered her and Temria into the elevator and tapped the deck control, extending an arm for them to precede her when the clear doors opened again onto the upper level.

"Not especially roomy," she said, following them out and moving around the side of the small bridge to place a hand proudly on the back of the pilot couch, at the front of the cabin before the forward viewports. "But she packs a lot of capability in. More elcor automation technology, of course. She's set up for what we call 'flag captain' operation - if need be the crew can simply determine the parameters of the encounter and let the ship make the split-second decisions by itself. I prefer more hands-on flying," she admitted, "but the virtual second set of eyes is a useful feature to have. And of course not even elcor battle VIs can outperform a huntress, so..." She gently moved Freh'ya and Temria away from the centre of the cabin, and triggered a command. From the ceiling a block of technology descended, unfolding into a command chair, with its own array of station repeaters: astrogation, engineering, life support, tactical, gunnery. At the edges of the bridge the automated stations likewise reconfigured, opening up space for flesh and blood operators to sit at them.

"The designers obviously thought it'd be a waste to make her capable of transporting huntress units, and not give them the chance to crew her if need be," Rahi explained. She returned the secondary stations to their automated modes, but left the command chair in place, looking to Freh'ya. "If you'd care to take the chair? I'm a... pretty good pilot, but I still have a lot to learn."

Following the other two into the elevator, Temria had time to let her eyes wander. Was the mechanism to the elevator still visible in action? She somehow doubted it, not with the degree of polish that was on display here. How could it be accessed for maintenance? She was trying to map the ship out in her mind's eye and reconcile the layout of the ship seen thus far with the vessel she'd seen from the outside...

Coming to the bridge, she followed Rahilan's tour attentively. Ops positions were not to her immediate interest, but had been covered in training as a matter of course. It was important to identify the common interface points after all and the young pilot seemed more than eager to point them out- noting the way she offered Freh'ya the seat, the doctor couldn't help but smile thoughtfully.

Idly circling around the bridge, she looked back towards the elevator, "And the Matriarch's accomodations will be over here... yes? Does it typically serve as your quarters?"

The bridge was impressive. Well arranged with all the necessary information filtered to the pilot. Of course the monitors facing the pilot’s chair now were blank but they would give the huntress at the helm all information when she needed it and kept every distracting surplus away from her with the help of the VI assist.

Behind the holoscreens was an arrangement of windows, facing forward and to the sides, now showing not much more than the surroundings of the docking bay. Of course, in space windows were not of particular importance but Freh’ya had a preference for actually seeing something. Most people – and species actually – were, that’s why windows were never dropped on spaceships despite being structural weaknesses.

The chair was very impressive when it was deployed. It looked like a battle station and Freh’ya hesitated. “I am honored you think I should do that but still, this is your ship, you are much more accustomed with its operations. But I will take tactical and gunnery if you think I should.” Freh’ya wondered if the time they needed to reach Nimbus would be sufficient to get familiar with it.
With a chuckle she added “Maybe Arina will like this seat.”

She turned her attention to the rear of the bridge, when Temria mentioned the VIP cabin.

"Perhaps," Rahilan allowed with a small smile, picturing Arina in the chair. The diplomat had impressed her with the foresight and attention to detail of her briefing, but she hadn't seemed the 'command' type - not in military matters, at least. Rahi, for her part, remained sure that if the mission ever turned dangerous, Freh'ya would assert her authority without hesitation - and rightly so - but she was touched at being allowed the lead for now. It spoke well of her as a leader, not having the insecure need to be seen to command; Rahi had encountered that type in her early days travelling, and hadn't formed a positive opinion of them.

"I'd be very grateful of your presence at Guns," she went on, ducking her head to the commando. "Ah, yes, the 'stateroom' is aft - through the elevator, or there are secondary hatches either side." She opened the elevator again, this time clearing the way across the platform and through the other side - which unlike medbay was opaque - into what proved to be a compact but quite accomodating private cabin. A bed, quite a bit larger than the others downstairs, was set into the rear wall, beneath a broad window offering a panoramic view, albeit currently only the rather mundane spectacle of the tall ceiling of the docking bay above them. A workstation and storage bays were built into one side of the cabin; the other sported a recess which seemed to have been made for a table and couch, but which had been refitted with a second bunk.

"Harbour Song fitted the bunk," Rahi explained. "For the matriarch's attendant. The main bed has biomonitors, too - that's a standard, not something they just added - so you'll be able to keep an eye on her condition at all times. If you need to, if she wishes it." She blushed slightly, obviously a little uncertain of medical matters. "I, uh... It never felt quite right, using the quarters for myself - even with nobody else on board. I still think of myself as 'the pilot' I suppose, cabins like that belong to captains. I bunk on the main deck, if there are other huntresses aboard to stand watch. If I'm flying solo, the pilot couch is actually configured to recline for rest - it's really very comfortable, and if anything happens, I'm already where I need to be." She bit her lip slightly, and glanced at Temria and Freh'ya, as if sharing a secret. "I did try out the VIP bed, first time out. It's very nice."

Sharing a small conspiratorial chuckle at the young pilot's admission, Temria strode into the room. At first she made a show of looking about the place, as though critiquing the decor, but abandoned it shortly after assessing the dimensions. Satisfied that if worse came to worse they'd be able to drag even the whole bed into that elevator if they needed to, she turned her attentions to it instead.

As furniture, it had an elegance to it, concealing its monitoring functions until Temria issued a command through the link she'd established to sick-bay with her omni-tool. At once, it lit up with a holographic interface, readouts of various form and function moving over the central mass in their own trajectories. "Mark twenty-five, with service pack four..." she lifted one of the panels out from its orbit, steadying it she held her arm behind it, and watched as an overlay formed identifying her underlying bone structure with highlights around a likely historical break.

Tapping it again, she pulled up a panel indicating her heart rate. Steady, with no abnormalities, a faint blip announcing the peak of each beat. She held her other hand to her throat to measure, not so much to test the accuracy of the readout, but to determine if there were any synchronization issues that might require the bed to run those monitors locally instead of interfacing with the software in sick bay. Satisfied that wasn't an issue, she held her breath and watched the interface respond, exhaling only when she heard a faint beeping that would, if left unchecked, become a proper alarm.

Satisfied, she shut the interface back down and approached the other two asari. Assuming a formal posture she nods to Rahilan. "Captain Eleis, I have reviewed the medical equipment on this ship and find it entirely acceptable for our purposes. Please understand my insistence on checking was in the interest of the patient's safety, and not meant to question your vigilance on the matter." folding her hands in front of her, the doctor bowed her head apologetically, "Thank you for indulging in my visit here."

A grin escaped Freh’ya at Rahilan’s comment about the bed. Now she was only wondering if she had been performing this test alone. This image only made her mind travel to Illium and Skylar and Taleeze – what would they be doing now? She would message them again tonight.

When the door to the VIP cabin opened, Freh’ya was surprised. “It looks so much bigger on the inside!”
The décor was almost like you would expect from a luxury liner, only consoles and control panels made it clear that this was a multi purpose vessel. Anyway, a cabin absolutely suited for a high ranking Matriarch. If she was valuing such things, you could just never know their little spleens and Tartegos asari could be a bit special in many regards. But from a security point of view, the only thing of interest was the circle that indicated the access hatch to an escape pod. It was very thoughtful to have one directly attached to the cabin so nobody had to use hatches and ladders in case of an emergency escape. She had noticed a pod access on the bridge and at least two more down on the main deck.

Freh’ya went over and opened the iris, looking inside a small 4-seat pod. “Very good.” she murmured and closed the iris again. Meanwhile the doctor had performed test on the bed.

“All is perfect, Rahilan, I think we are well prepared for this little trip.” She would love to play around with the defense systems a bit once out of dock and in transit… oh and that shoulder. She massaged it with her other hand absently.

Arina was right on time. She carried a travel bag over her shoulder and was wearing a formal dress. Packing for the mission had been interesting as she was also considering cold weather clothing, should they need to stay overnight on Trategos. Well usually they had well heated interiors but often enough they made you cross open space to get somewhere just to show off the nature of their homeworld. So she had packed a heated overall, a fur lined jacket with a hood and a pair of boots.

The door of the Sala T’Era recognized her and opened. How thoughtful of Rahilan.

"Pleasantly: Welcome aboard, Madam Caenis." the VI said, while a half-visible light screen moved back and forth over Arina. "Informative: Decontamination in progress. Decontamination complete."

Arina had to chuckle at the elcor VI. She knew the Sala T’Era from her briefing files so she wasn’t surprised to see elcor technology or interfaces. From her dossier she knew that Rahilan had been growing up with an elcor step father so an inclination towards the species was only natural.

When the inner door opened, she stepped inside, announcing herself. “Permission to come on board?”
Of course wherever Rahilan was, the ship would have indicated Arina’s arrival.

"Not at all," Rahi said quickly when Temria explained her reasons. "It's entirely proper. Especially on a mission such as this." She ducked her head in thanks to Freh'ya as well, not quite managing to conceal a blush from the endorsements of her ship.

"I'm happy to have shown you both around," she said. "Apart from a few errands I'll be here until we set out, if either of you need anything further - or if I happen to be away, the ship will recognise you in any case. Otherwise, I'll see you by 0770 tomorrow."

-----

The VI had notified Rahi the moment Arina had approached the shuttle; checking that the automated preflight was properly configured to call her at the first sign of irregularity, she hurried from the pilot couch over to the elevator, and when it opened again on the lower level, out and around medbay to the main lock.

"Granted, ma'am, and welcome!" she replied, a little more enthusiastically than she had intended, coming to a halt just as Arina reached the threshold.

"Informative: All crew now accounted for," the VI intoned.

"Freh'ya is on the crew deck, forward," Rahi elaborated, having glimpsed her as she had rushed past on her way to the airlock. "And Dr Temria- Pardon, Dr Aujury," she corrected herself, remembering how Arina had introduced the doctor the day before, with the more universal naming form, "-is in medbay." She was, in fact, visible through the clear wall opposite the inner door, partially obscured by a scanner unit she was working on.

"Temria mentioned you'd be bringing additional medication she requested," Rahi went on. "Are they hand-held, or heavy cargo?" She grinned, slightly bashfully. "I wasn't quite sure how big an ikritene canister was. I've got a cargo mech out detaching umbilicals if there's any heavy freight to bring on board."

Arina’s face lit up on the joyfull greeting. The exuberance of youth… she couldn’t fail but notice how cute the young pilot was, so obviously in her field of expertise and excited about everything – and looking good while at it So she smiled warmly and extended a hand, the other holding the shoulder bag in position.

“Thank you, Rahilan.” She had to laugh a bit, when Rahi asked about the medical sopplies. Arina padded her bag. “No, it’s in here! it’s just injections or infusion containers. We are talking about supply for a single person and a couple of days maximum after all.” She leaned closer and added “unless the Doctor wants to run a smuggling ring with the stuff.” She winked. Of course she was not really assuming that.

Arina knew the floor plan of the shuttle of course so she had no trouble finding the crew quarters. She decided to take the one bunk above what seemed to be the Doctor’s. She took two white boxs with a medical logo and a descriptive text from her bag and looked around.
“Some nice additions you have here, they are not standard but very welcome.” Maybe she could find someone to play a game of Kepesh-Yakshi with her.

Arina then made her way to the medbay, knocking on the frame before entering the open door. “Good morning, Temria.” She deliberately took the liberty to greet the doctor by her name for once. Handing her the containers with the substance, she looked around the tidy and well equipped medbay.

“How are you doing? Nice place, do you have everything you need? You wouldn’t believe the sad eyes they gave me at Huerta when I picked this up. It must be a really rare stock these days.”

Prefill patient identification on entry onto the bed and do not prompt for input when data is missing...

Move urgent popup dimensions away from active modal interfaces on the right pane...

Change order of prelim scan highlight criteria to muscle strains, tears, fractures, soft tissue damage, and leave the rest...

Colour theme... choral...

Temria smiled privately to herself as the interfaces assumed a warmer orange tone, testing their reaction time with a few superfluous gestures as she and the medical interface got to know one another. As the knock came to the door, she yawned and craned her neck, "No 'buts!' If I unlock it now it'll cry to C-Sec and we'll have another hour to- oh! Arina!"

The doctor smiled, rounding the biobed as she saw the package she was carrying. She wore civilian clothing under an open medical uniform coat, one she could easily prep up to look presentable if necessary, but had clearly been in a rush to dress. "Yes, it's quite nice, and will be well suited to our needs." She smiled, gently taking possession of the bags and setting them down on the far counter, removing each dose carefully and lining them up as she prepares them for proper stowage. "I can't imagine it was easy for them to stock up this much, it requires zero-g to synthesize properly, and always was government priority."

She yawned again, though kept it quiet this time. The doctor had been present since 0500, having anticipated issues passing her gun case at customs. On the contrary, they'd shown more interest in her new coat than the gun case, which she had bought hastily. The heavy long thing sat in a heap on her bunk on top of two personal bags stuffed with clothes and amenities. The gun case, on the other hand, sat closed on the desk on the opposite wall.

"When did you get here? Just now?"

"Hey, yes, just arrived - straight your way after dumping my bag on a bunk." Arina smiled and looked around the room. All the nifty toys of a fancy class one medbay.
"You're already set up, huh? How long have you been here already?" Her eyes travelled on, resting on the gun case. It was quite large, that surprised Arina to no small degree. What kind of weapon did the doctor have there? She only had a predator, usually locked away at the embassies, now resting in her bag - diplomatic luggage, no hold up whatsoever. C-Sec might have also shown interest in the rare medication otherwise.

"I see Freh'ya has made her point about safety but I wasn't expecting you to bring artillery along!" she joked, while Temria was unpacking the small containers.

Arina was peeking through the glass to see where Rahina might have gone. Maybe already to the cockpit? "Will you come upstairs and see us leave the Citadel? I think our pilot does not want to lose time now that we are complete. ... Oh..." That reminded her of the diplomatic ID code that she and Rahilan had to upload into the ships's system and authorize. She had a small data cache in her pocket and she touched it to double check.

Temria smiled weakly, "N-no, not long at all." she replied, not quite willing to embarass herself to say she'd come in so early. Her eyes followed Arina's as they moved on to the hefty case on the table. "Ah, don't get the wrong idea..." blushing, she gestured towards it, "The model with the alarm system only comes in that size, and besides, I figured I could re-cut or replace the inner foam if I ever needed to..."

"As for upstairs I... oh..." she gestured to herself, somewhat flustered, doing up her coat to cover the t-shirt underneith, "Of course, shall I accompany you?"