FauIcon DeLacy Security Camera Footage: Observation Lounge (ARCHIVAL)
18 Dec 2021Gatimũ Kamau
SKIES OF AFRIKAANACONDA CAMERA 26
SHIP IDENTIFICATION DACS-1
3307.08.03/1731 HRS
OBSERVATION DECK – FORWARD OBSERVATION LOUNGE – PROMENADE DECK
SECURITY RECORDING
NORMAL OPERATION
Abeni (Looking about as she enters the room next to the CMDR.): “I just don’t think this is the best idea Commander. The Federation is- Oh my Goddess! The observation lounge is your quarters?! You two don’t do anything small do you?”
Gatimũ (Kneeling down to pet Jolie.): “Not generally.” (Turning to face Abeni.) “Have you ever slept in the cabin of a sidewinder?”
Abeni: “Never had the pleasure.”
Na'Kimuli (From her position stretched out over the bed.): “You wouldn’t call it a pleasure if you had. Especially with a loved one.”
Gatimũ: “My lovely wife speaks the truth. It’s little more than a single-man bunk built directly into the bulkhead. While I have absolutely no problem sleeping with Na’ on top of me, sometimes you want a little room to stretch out.”
Na'Kimuli: “Not too much room though. Can’t have you getting too comfortable.”
Gatimũ (Laughing presumably at Na'Kimuli's joke.): “Once you’ve lived like that, small just doesn’t compute mentally anymore. Usually we would just convert a portion of the cargo hold of whatever ship we were living out of at the time into our living area. Even when we had ships that had proper quarters.
Na'Kimuli: "They were just never...spacious enough for us."
Gatimũ: "Then we got the Anaconda. And, well-”
Abeni: “-Why sleep in your quarters when you can convert an entire observation lounge right?”
Gatimũ (Nodding.): “You can do a lot with enough credits. Besides, you came out smelling like roses in the deal. As the ranking combat pilot with us, you did end up with Commander's Cabin.” (Pointing to the port side salon couches.) Grab a drink and have a seat. The others should be here momentarily I’d imagine.” (Turning his head to the sound of the door alert.) “Speak of the Devils. Come in!”
Urbi: “By the Goddess, this is f*cking insane.”
Omari: “So this is why we’re not allowed to use forward observation.”
Gatimũ (Spreading his arms.): “Make yourselves at home.” (Placing his hand on Na’Kimuli’s head after approaching the bed.) “Tired?”
Na’Kimuli: “Aside from helping you keep the Skies of Afrika in one piece during back-to-back-to-back skirmishes over the past days, I've just spent twelve hours working in the glorified maintenance corridor that used to be the upper birthing deck installing 400 feet of new cooling pipes for the pack hound launcher…for the third day in a row. I’d be dead on my feet if I could feel them."
Urbi: "I'm no ship engineer, but I still think we could have found a better work around for cooling."
Gatimũ (Shrugging to Urbi.): “Outside of a complete structural redesign? I doubt it. Besides, we weren’t using the starboard birthing decks anyway. Might as well put them to use. (Turning to Na'Kimuli.) Besides, the work you’ve done on them has been nothing short of amazing. I never thought I’d ever actually install that launcher on the SoA; let alone use them in heavy combat as much as it’s prone to overheating-”
Omari (Staring out of the windows at the blurred starscape.): “-Especially when you fire off four volleys in quick succession.”
Urbi (Examining liquor bottles, grabbing one and pouring it into a cup of coffee.): “I’ve never wanted so badly to strip down to my sports bra on an active deck in my life!”
Omari (Turning to face Urbi.): “Suddenly, the heat doesn’t seem so bad for some reason.”
Urbi: “Can I please enjoy my coffee without your chorus of idiocy mucking it up?”
Gatimũ (Laughing.): "Regardless, they fire cooler now than I think their designers ever thought possible.
Na'Kimuli: "And I've been assured by our contact that they can be further improved to fire cooler and penetrate targets better."
Gatimũ: "More equipment?"
Na'Kimuli: "Far more. The mass increase will be significant."
Gatimũ (Putting his hand to his head.): " I might be able to dial in the mass management subroutines a bit more to account for the extra mass during shift, but I can't do much for our real-space maneuverability in a fight."
Abeni: "It's fine. Na' can make the SoA dance like a teen on prom night. She can just fling us all around the ship by killing killing the flight assist over and over again. R.I.P. the primary inertial dampeners. Thank the Goddess for the secondary and tertiary redundancies."
Urbi: "It was damn impressive though. I didn't think a ship this big could ever be so nimble in a fight."
Gatimũ: "Not so impressive when the anti-grav plating looses power and all of our tribal masks and weaponry fly all over our quarters."
Na'Kimuly (Laughing.): "It looked like Afrika vomited in here."
Gatimũ: "Rest in peace your nefertiti bust."
Na'Kimuli: "I loved that bust."
Urbi: "Still, it was inspired flying."
Na'Kimuli: "Honestly, I had no idea that would work. I was kind of amazed myself."
Omari (Looking at his watch.): "The supercruise assist should be dropping into normal space in about 30 seconds Commander."
Gatimũ: "Grand. Aaliyah, polarize the observation windows."
SoA COVAS (Just as the ship is about to come to a stop near an entry star.): "Polarizing windows."
Abeni (Moving close to the darkened windows.): "Stars are so beautifully chaotic up close."
Gatimũ: "Remind me Abeni, how far are we from the closest station?"
Abeni: "Roughly four hundred light seconds."
Gatimũ: "Good. Skip the fuel scooping protocol. We'll take care of it at dock. I want us rearmed, resupplied and patched up as soon as humanly possible. The Federation is loosing this fight against New Kuwembaa badly. And they won't make it without assistance."
Omari: "I seriously doubt they'll make it with it."
Na'Kimuli (Sitting up in the bed.): "I hate to agree with him, but it seems to be a foregone conclusion that we're all just buying time."
Gatimũ: "We have to do our part for the Federation. It's as simple as that."
Na'Kimuli (Shrugs.)
Gatimũ: "And since when have you three backed down from a fight?"
Urbi: "Since we were beaten down to just enough spare parts to construct a single spare SLF. Loosing 15 fighters in such a short span of time is insane and we're constantly following you into the thickest fights. We are outnumbered in the severest sense every time the SoA drops from supercruise."
Gatimũ (Watching the pilots nod in agreement.): "Is that really any way to talk? Don't you want to make your homeworld proud?"
Urbi: "What would make New Africa proud is you actually doing what you say you want to do by dropping all of this triple agent nonsense we're playing at; pretending to be loyal to the Empire and the Alliance, leaving the Federation, flying an Independent flag well and TRUE and relocating from Sol to a new home in Epsilon Indi near the newfound Motherland. You say that you weren't always keen to violence...that you two used to love exploration. So let's go back to that. Show us that side of you."
Gatimũ (Looking for a long moment at Na'Kimuli with a frown, then back to his SLF pilots.): "One day."
Omari: "In the meantime though, we could do worse by honor than to help you two fight for intergalactic democracy I suppose."
Urbi: "As long as the credits continue to flow."
Gatimũ: "Oh, they'll flow. There's no shortage of it in this conflict."
Na'Kimuli: "Aaliyah, set course for the nearest outpost and re-engage supercruise. Maximum recommended velocity."
SoA COVAS: "Cannot comply. Bridge directives are not authorized from your current location without command clearance and authorization."
Na'Kimuli: "Weren't you supposed to tie command-level orders to our voice print?"
Gatimũ (Shrugging.): "I've been trying to. But the computer has been resistant to new machine code. I think it's yet another problem tied to the Guardian tech not fully talking to the Earth tech. The system won't accept arbitrary C code so I'm having to generate the binary by hand. It's gonna take a while."
Na'Kimuli: "Well, if it's not one thing it's another. Aaliyah, regonize Commander Na'Kimuli Kamau. Command code [AUDIO REDACTED]."
SoA COVAS: "Authorization regonized. Course calculated and set. Thrust engaged."
Abeni (Watching the system star fall from view.): "And there she goes."
Gatimũ: "It will take a few hours for the Skies of Afrika to get serviced once we touch down. Take that time to take in the local color. We won't be getting another breather for a while."
Urbi (Drinking the last of her glass and reaching for the ingredients for a new drink.): "I think we're going to need more alcohol."