Life on the Tin Can, [Crew of SSV Ain Jalut]

Nicole found the older officer overseeing things in the hold - looked like the Kodiak was getting extra special attention. She rallied herself, cleared her throat and curtly saluted the commander.

"Commander Kelso, ma'am. Can I have a couple of minutes of your time?"

Sandra nodded in response to the salute.

"Of course, Lieutenant. What's on your mind?"

Cain nodded to her and remained silent as she spoke, he could tell that she was speaking of matters that were very close to her and he decided to just listen as she spoke, letting her get any concerns she had off her chest. He could tell after she was doe by her mannerisms that she was slightly flustered by the topic and that she may have even been ashamed of telling him this though he gave her what he hoped would be inspirational words as continued to walk with her.

"Lily, don't let any of this get to you. You can't help what happened on the Station, nor can you change anyone's fate. I appreciate that you have confided in me, but remember this, We are all humans, and we all have lives outside of the Alliance. We may be marines, and family, but there are others we hold dear and you should not be afraid to have feelings for them or care for them. On the same note, do not let these feelings interfere with your judgment and mind, but also do not let it trouble you."

He hoped that he would have lifted her spirits a bit, or at the very least kept her from feeling worse or spiraling more. he could tell now that this was most likely what had been bothering her earlier, but now that she had it out, he just tried to help her along with it, knowing he couldn't change anything any more than she could.

"I don't see how I can't let any of this get to me! This is the most important person to me-the only person who makes me feel like I'm worth it at times... And I know I can't do anything about it... I just wish I could... and I'm not afraid of the feelings I have for him... at least I don't think I do... I mean, well... and I'm not going to let my feelings cloud my judgment, it's making me more ready... I mean, thanks for the inspirational speech and all, but... I'm just not going to be at ease until I have confirmation about his status... but thanks...." she said, looking up after her talking and smiling at him. This smile was very warm, and she meant it.

Despite the mildly sappy speeches he was giving her, it was nice to have someone give her kind words, something she really didn't expect in this setting, and she definitely liked having someone to talk to, and Cain was a pretty decent option of a person to talk to.

Katya had finally finished the cataloging of the weaponry crates, and earmarked a Viper sniper rifle for herself, then compiled the report and submitted it to the quartermaster.
"Damn, I hate admin..." she muttered, stretching her hands over her head as she left the armoury. She wandered down through the ship's decks, gravitating towards the messhall once more.

She found herself a seat and sat, leaning back and idly contemplating the ceiling. Downtime wasn't likely to be at a premium, but she was in need of a little rest after lugging crates back and forth. She let her eyes slip shut and dozed quietly, listening to the sounds inside the Ain Jalut's walls. The soft hum of electricity, the thrum of contained power. She smiled a little.
"Always did like the sound of a nicely-running Normy..." she murmured.

((Alright so I am being posted to a new base for real, and have a lot of stuff to set up. I have to clear in to my new unit and get all my shit done and then once all that is done, I'll be back. Not sure how long it will take, I am anticipating no more than 2 weeks, though it could be more or less. And if I get a chance to post in between then, I will do so.

So if you're wondering why I'm not posting after tomorrow, that's why))

Cain nodded to her and smiled. He tried to understand what she was feeling, and had a very good idea that he knew what she meant. He could merely nod and then smile again as she thanked him,. He knew that he wasn't acting a marine should fully at the moment, but it was for the morale of another marine, and for that, he could sacrifice his inner badassness for the moment.

"Not a problem, just happy if I helped."

THREE DAYS AFTER DOCKING AT THE CITADEL



Outstanding, thought Captain Reed. In a few days he and his crew were able to get the needed maintenance finished while it would've taken the techies themselves at least a week. Specifically the work was aimed at recalibrating and refitting their kinetic barrier emitters, which were now more powerful and resilient than they had been before.

"Alright, time to go. Cast off ties and ease us out of dock, Burning. Take us to Relay 0-2-0."

"Aye aye, sir," replied Burning.

The docking bridge retracted and the clamps holding the ship together detached. Burning pulled the ship out of the dock, gave a sharp turn, and hit the throttle hard. A few people - mostly the newer marines - lost their balance nearly falling to the deck plating as the frigate sped out of the Citadel and headed to one of the relays orbiting the station. "Where to?"

"Plot a course to Illium for now."

"Aye, sir."

The Ain Jalut retracted the wing engines and approached the relay, nearly hidden in the depths of the Serpent Nebula. The relay then started to power up and captured the frigate in a mass effect field and shot it to the next relay.

[OOC]

Just as a notice I'm gonna have this thread moved to Character Development as that's what it's purpose was.

[/OOC]

[OOC]
The following is set at no particular time though after Ain Jalut's recent departure from the Citadel.
[/OOC]



Serving on a cruiser had it's definite benefits over a frigate: more room for crew. You could actually get decent quarters instead of sleeper pods. You also had space for off-duty hours such as a dedicated gym. On a frigate you had to make do with what was available. As a Normandy-class has no such capacity you're stuck with next best thing: the cargo hold.

Since it had uses other than storing weapons and gear there wasn't much space still. But it was enough for some standard calisthenics. Sandra, off-duty in her fatigues, had a small spot cordoned off for the crew's use in working out. It had a few pieces of exercise equipment built for portability.

Sticking earbuds in her ears and turning on some music she started her usual routine with 100 reps on a simple jump rope.

1-2-3-4-5-6...

Now, some people considered work on a frigate miserable. Small ships with tall orders enough to run them apart at the seams. Sandra couldn't deny such complaints had merit. But on the other hand for the SR boats there was always plenty of action to go around. Since she came on board six years before Sandra couldn't remember having even close to that on her four years on the Lansing; and she wasn't exactly resting on her laurels then either.

41-42-43-44-45-46...

Of course that kind of action comes with plenty of risks. The stuff Sandra's seen on the Lansing was only made worse on the Ain Jalut. She ran into a lot of the worst the galaxy had to offer. And trying to see your husband and daughter every so often and not letting that get to you is tricky even for experienced veterans.

74-75-76-78...

Though, once you've seen the Devil in several of its many forms and lived through them, things change. People or events that would disgust more "civilized' individuals don't bother you once you've fought the worst. You're more immunized, more comfortable with the dirt of the galaxy.

97-98-99-100

Lily had taken the letter from him, still lost in wistful reminiscence. She sat down at one of the tables in the Mess Hall-esque area, getting another drink for herself as she read through it with nearly teary eyes. She had read through this too many times now; she really needed to stop, but couldn't find the willpower to stop herself. Despite her talk with Cain, she was still hung up on this subject. She looked up at some of the other soldiers, who were looking in her direction. 'Probably think I'm PMSing...' she thought with a sigh as she gave an angry glare to them, causing them to go back to their own business.

She now decided to actually focus more on reading the letter, as if she hadn't read it enough times. It was sweet, almost too gushy even. He talked about how they'd leave the military after a while. He'd get money somehow, and they'd settle down on some planet. Raise the traditional family, two kids, her as a housewife (which she would've objected strongly to), and live one of those stereotypical, 'perfect' lives that were portrayed all the time. As gushy and mushy as it was, she couldn't help but smile at it. It was this guy she cared so much, who cared enough to write this to her, on a page of a book that was passed down through who knew how many generations and given to her before he left for Helios.

But now, that could be the only thing she had of him, all she could do was hope that it wasn't, and that he was safe...

After the jump rope was weight lifting - first the heavier weights requiring bench presses, then the smaller ones to tone the arms. Since women had the disadvantage of upper arm strength they had to work those over more so. Once Sandra finished, she headed upstairs looking to grab some time with the shower.

On her way to her locker she spotted Private Vesely sitting at the crew table reading something off of a piece of paper - real paper. The next bit she spotted was the private's semi-teary complexion.

Ah great, Sandra thought to herself sarcastically. That is, until the other crewman were looking at the private and she in turn gave them a disgruntled look which dissuaded their gazing.

"You keep that look going, private, you'd have my kind of job in no time." Sandra tried to add a little joking to break the mood.

Lily looked up at Sandra, 'Oh crap...' she thought as she quickly wiped her eyes, now not teary, but red and puffy, 'This is so embarassing... in front of the XO...' she thought, sighing.

"S-Sorry Ma'am... I uh... I didn't mean to be crying or anything... it's just that... with Helios and everything... it's sort of... you know... umm... someone special was at Helios... and it just sparked me to read this again..." she said, her voice stuttering a bit, she seemed to be nearing tears once again, but she held them back.

She then thought about what Sandra said. "You keep that look going, private, you'd have my kind of job in no time."

She chuckled slightly, it definitely brightened her mood. "T-Thanks..." she started, now smiling slightly. "I... I guess I'll try," she said, smiling and now laughing a bit more.

The XO definitely seemed like a good person, at least one who would easily approach crew members and help out, something that Lily would definitely need in the forthcoming days on the Ain Jalut.

Helios, huh? Guess everybody's feeling the pain. Too bad the casualty lists hadn't been posted yet. That spelled a lot of bad luck to anyone who knew someone there. It could have been from the fact that the damage is so severe or spread out or simply because them running under near radio silence kept them from getting the updates.

"And a little work on that stuttering would help." Sandra took a few seconds to wipe the sweat off of her face with a towel. Now she needed an icebreaker. "Read your dossier. Hard to believe someone like you running with a street gang."

"Yeah... I just... umm... yeah." she said, not sure how to formulate words about this in front of her XO. Hell, she wasn't even sure if this stuff would be allowed to be said in front of her XO. She never read through much about relationships in the military. She just assumed it was alright, though the two never made their relationship too public while in basic training, maybe he knew and wanted to keep it safe. Either way, she'd find out eventually... either the hard way or the easy way...

"Sorry ma'am, I'm just nervous, talking to someone with your rank on this ship... I don't want to make a fool of myself is all... sorry," she said, bowing her head slightly. "Street gang?" she asked as she bit her lip. She figured it would be part of her records, but that didn't make her feel any better about it. "Well, that was when I was like... twelve... my sister forced me into it, cause her boyfriend was like, someone important in it or something... I never really paid attention. I just kept my mouth shut and hoped for the best," she said, before taking a breath then swallowing. "I ended up leaving... but not after experiencing my share of stuff that I won't forget in it... but uh yeah... anything else you need to know?" she asked, looking at her.

"Private, just so you know when I'm on duty, I'm your XO. When I'm off duty I'm still your XO. But don't feel like you have to stiffen up every time I'm there...just keep it professional." Sandra pulled out the band keeping her ash-blond hair restrained. She shook her head as it was let free to air it out a little. Though when she withdrew her hands she noticed a small amount of blood on her fingers, followed by a tingling pain on the back of her head.

Damnit, the implant...

"...personally I would prefer people who had something rough in life to deal with. The fact that you're here and not there is testament to you getting out of it." Sandra grabbed some personal toiletries. "But you need to learn to accept it if you can't forget it. Use it to your benefit; don't let it haunt you. I need a soldier out there with me."

Ah great, there I go. She tried not to be too deep with her statement, though the blood stain probably jolted her enough to let that one out.

Katya had been sitting on a table not far from the XO and Private Vesely; she'd not approached the younger woman as she's been crying because she hadn't been sure how to handle the situation. She'd not got very close to the young private, and didn't want to be seen as a busybody.

Still, it was hard not to listen in, and when she did she bristled slightly and looked dispassionately at her messhall food.

So it's okay for a member of the Alliance to be in a street-gang but not for her to be a merc? she thought hotly, revising her esteem for the XO down another notch, then snorted a little as she thought, unless I talked some sense into her back when she assigned me to lifting ammo boxes around.

The sleeper pod door opened up and Matthews' de-energized body slumped forward. Getting used to changing shifts always had mixed results.

"Morning, Chief."

It was Commander Kelso dressed in fatigues and passing by on her way to the shower.

"Mornin', ma'am," Matthews answered. As much as he wanted to snooze away some more he knew there'd be Hell to pay if he didn't get moving. He stumbled over to the mess, grabbed a tray with standard breakfast items placed in it, then took a seat at the nearest table. It wasn't until then he noticed he was not alone as a lady corporal sat opposite to him.

"I guess it would be too much to ask for these meals to actually look good enough to wake up to, huh?"

"Yes ma'am, I'll do my best to keep it professional, it's just the sudden shock of this all is what caused this," she told her firmly.

"And yeah, I got through it, I don't know about my sister though, I haven't talked to her in years... as well as my parents, but that's besides the point," she rambled. "And, I am using it to my benefit, it doesn't haunt me, not too much at least. I promise I'll be the best soldier I can be," she said, smiling at Sandra.

'I don't wanna seem weak, and I've already shown myself to be like that so far... I need to straighten up, for the rest of the soldiers here, and for Ted,' she thought as Sandra left.

EDIT: Because I'm apparently blind.

Katya looked across at the man that had sat opposite him and nodded a little.
"Honestly, I think if you've gone into the military looking for the lap of luxury, you may have misread the brochures." She smiled a bit lopsidedly, prodding her own meal around her plate a little as if to emphasise how repugnant she found the rations.

"If memory serves there are some ships where you actually pay for your food and get some great stuff out of it. I guess these tubs just don't get that kind of special attention." Matthews took a serving of what looked like reconstituted scrambled eggs and swallowed it. "Service Chief Dean, you must be Corporal Aanders." He extended a hand to shake with the corporal.