Board Thread:The Mech Bay Bar'n'Grill/@comment-24930445-20140526230330/@comment-24930445-20140614193613

Ry, Kat & Aerli

She had seen artifacts, techs and scientist safely to the archeology lab then made good her escape. Kat had been serious when she listed all the things she was looking forward to after a week on Darwin. It was a good little ship, but it wasn’t home and Kat missed her home terribly. She missed her family.

Despite the soreness in her body from constantly leaning over the items they had found, Kat hurried along the corridors until she came to Haven. A soft smile played across her lips as the doors open to reveal a sight that caused her heart to swell with love.

Aerli had apparently convinced Ry it was show night. The music was “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis, one of the old Earth artists Ry had been partial to. Bouncing on the couch was her eleven year old daughter and the girl’s father, both with “microphones” made from hair brushes in hand and singing along with Leona with gusto. Aerli had a decent voice, but there was a reason Ry rarely sang to anyone but himself. Aerli didn’t seem to mind.

What had Kat giggling was the blonde wig currently spilling around his face, swinging in time to Ry’s gyrations. Suddenly, he lept from the couch and landed on his knees in front of Aerli, the two of them hamming it up to each other.

Dropping her bag just inside the door, Kat put on her best moves and began singing into her own invisible “microphone” while strutting her stuff towards two of the most important people in her life. She could almost swear she saw Ry blush at being caught, but to give the man credit, he never removed the wig. He did stop singing, however. As Kat passed him, she grabbed his tail and began to swing it in time to the music, her gaze never leaving her daughter, encouraging her to keep singing while she leaned her back against her husband and slid down his body. “Daddy! Sing!”

At the chorus, Ry had picked up the brush and he and Kat were three words into mangling the harmony when all power cut out.

“Awwwwww! Daddy! What did you do to the music?!” Aerli was still giggling.

“Wha? Oh sure! Ya’ dinnae want me singin wi’ ye er sumthin??” Kat laughed. “I knew we werenae great but tha’s a bit hypercritical.” Kat grabbed up her daughter and began tickling her, causing the girl to squeal and laugh. When the flashing red warning lights started, Kat glanced up and frowned, shifting her daughter to her hip.

Ry was already on the move, pulling the wig from his head as he made his way to the comm on the wall. “What th’ hell?”

Kat let Aerli slide to a standing position, keeping her arm around the girl. “Mom?”

She squeezed the girl’s shoulder as she watched Ry. “I dunno, love. Hang on a sec.”

“It doesn’t seem t’ be working.” Shaking his head, Ry made his way to the doors to step into the hallway only to stop short when they refused to open. Crouching to face Aerli, Kat gently took her by the shoulders. “Is Tali here, hon?”

She could see the nervousness in the girl’s eyes. “No, mama. She went to run some errands when daddy got home.” Kat smiled softly and kissed the girl’s forehead before standing. She turned to find Ry slowly prying the doors open with his bare hands. “Ry?”

“Try getting someone on your personal comm.” Another inch was gained in the door’s opening.

Grabbing her comm from her pocket, she flipped it open and tried the first person she always thought of in situations like this. “LaeAnne. Wha’ th’ hell’s goin on?” Listening for a moment, her frown deepened. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Ry. We’ve got problems. Random reports o’people on board blastin th’ crew. LaeAnne says Nash an’ Krita are bein’ hit too.”

He finally pulled the doors open and turned to look at her. “What about the power? Is it ship wide?”

Kat nodded. “Aye. Again, Nash an’ Krita too. We cannae leave her here.”

“Shit.” Ry knew exactly what Kat meant, but he couldn’t help but think of the crews that may have been working on the flight decks. Without power, they would be exposed to open space. “Don’t leave her. You stay, I ‘ave t’go see what’s going on, get to th’bridge as fast as possible.”

“Tha’s bullshit, Ryax. Y’are nae goin’ by yerself.” Turning, she sprinted for their room, Aerli right behind her. Moments later, both emerged. Kat was fully and blatantly armed to the teeth. A blaster sat on each hip and her spring loaded daggers in their wrist sheaths were on each arm. He knew there was more, but he didn’t have time to figure it out.

Aerli had clearly been in her sister’s room. In her little hands were her sister’s fighting blades. He wasn’t worried about her handling them, she had been trained nearly from the moment she began walking. It was the thought of bringing her into the unknown that scared the shit out of him. He never let it show, simply nodding to his daughter. “Alright. Stay close and keep your guard up.”

He glanced out the door, looking left then right before stepping out. Kat took up rear position to keep Aerli protected between her parents while Kat kept watch at their backs. The threesome made it down four hallways before coming upon their first shooter.

The woman had been looking down at the body at her feet, a crew member she had obviously just shot. As they rounded the corner, the woman looked up, the small hand blaster rising to aim at Ry.

In an instant, Kat had Aerli behind her pressed against a wall even as she screamed her husband’s name. Diving to a roll, he managed to snatch up a data pad the fallen crewman had dropped and hurled it with extreme force, but his aim was off. Luck had been on the woman’s side as the pad missed her head, catching her in the shoulder instead. It hit her with such force, her body was spun nearly in a circle, breaking both shoulder and pad.

Kat’s blaster had been out and, only half a second later, the deep blue of her shot streaked down the hall, catching the rotating woman in the back. Kat gaped. The blast that had clearly been centered on the woman’s body did nothing, seeming to fizzle millimeters from impact. As shock transformed into anger Kat began cussing up a storm. Ry and Aerli barely paid attention, this being a usual occurrence, but if they had the words she was using would have caused them some concern. They weren’t in any language either one of them would recognize, though they had years of experience listening to Kat curse.

Ry didn’t hesitate. Grabbing the woman’s weapon arm, he finished her spin, then pinned her tight against the wall with an arm across her throat as he yelled into her face. “What the hell is going on? Who are you people?”

The woman turned a lifeless stare to Ry. “You left me there. You didn’t come for me. You don’t know what they did to me…..”

His brow furrowed in confusion as Kat and Aerli moved closer. “I left you where?”

The woman’s expression never changed, her voice just as lifeless as her eyes. “You.. left me.”

“Ry?”

He stared into the woman’s eyes for a moment, then in a quick movement, disarmed her and knocked her out with a careful blow. “Yeah, its safe. Relatively.”

Ry glanced at the blaster in his hand then looked to Kat. “Maybe this can work. Looked like yer shot fizzled out. Might be related to th’ power outage.” With a shrug, he held the blaster out to her.

Kat nodded, holstering her own blaster then taking the woman’s. Glancing over it, she didn’t notice any difference, but it couldn’t hurt to try. “Aye, lets go.”

Ry took a moment to check the downed crew member. Finding him dead with a blast hole to the chest, Ry sighed then took the lead again while Kat kept Aerli between them. Without turning to look at her, Ry called over his shoulder. “I’m not sure she knew what she was doing. Something about her was off.”

Kat said nothing. There was nothing to say. They progressed through the ship, dodging several more blaster shots, stepping over bodies and discovering along the way that the woman’s blaster was just as useless as Kat’s. Rounding a corner, Ryax stopped cold. He glanced around quickly, then looked at Kat. “I think I just saw Axin. This could be an attack from Jos.”

Kat’s grip tightened on the useless blaster. “Fuck. Ry?” She knew what he was thinking. He was going after his other half. Licking her lips, she nodded once. “Go. We’re right behind ya.” As he turned to follow the hallway, Kat called to him. He turned to see her smile softly, the worry and fear for him in her eye. “I love ye.”

Aerli stood in front of Kat, leaning her back against her mother. “Me too daddy. I love you too.”

He smiled at his girls. “Fer lack o’ a better word, right?” He winked at Kat and smirked at Aerli, then turn and dashed down the hallway after Axin. Kat chuckled softly. It had been something they always said to each other; “For lack of a better word.” To others, it might have sounded callous, but the little family knew the true meaning. Love wasn’t a strong enough word to describe their feelings, but they used it… for lack of a better one.

Kat knew Aerli was frightened, but she never hesitated to race after her father, Kat close on their tails. Being her father’s daughter, the kid was fast.