A slightly smaller Mess

"Don't know yet"

Max: *He chuckles and stops talking*

Hakken: "Its gon be bad."

Mac: "Eight's luck man."

Hakken: "Yup."

"Eight's luck?"

Hera: "How many of us are there?"

"Ah"

Hakken: "Eighth's luck mate. Always an eight."

*The view only improves as they near the hive ship, and a little later they've docked. With their ship coming to rest beside the two captured cruisers*

"Luck's a funny thing. It can go one way for your entire life, only to suddenly change direction at the last second"

Hakken: "The warps in it."

Hera: *gives him a hard look* "That, is where i object."

Hakken: *Squirms under her gaze.* " 's true... "

Akira: "Oh this'll be popular. Two new ships."

"I rather doubt that the warp's involved Hakken. There are prominent examples of it from centuries before humanity even left terra, let alone had any kind of exposure or access to the warp."

Emma: *looks up on seeing kerak* oh, hey there

Max: "They'll love it! It's a guaranteed way off of the hive after all"

Hakken: "I know what i seen."

*kerak cocks his head, his quills shifting, clicking against eachother quietly.* "You are a competent warrior."

Akira: "Well, that was something i planned on announcing. The planet."

"If the warp's involved, you most certainly do not."

Emma:...thanks

Max: "If we get their hopes up, and it turns out to be awful they'll lose faith in us"

Akira: "We've got no other options here. We've sent people there, we know its good. Theres water, the atmosphere's breathable."

Hakken: "I know-"

Hera: "Hakken, thats enough."

Hakken: "Tell him! You saw it to!"

Kerak: "Competent... Better... Perhaps."

Max: "Well they did find an old seeder ship. I'm just worried that it might all back fire horribly"

Charles: saw...what?

Emma gives a confused look

Akira: "we could hold back until we go ourselves..."

Hera: *She sighs, and looks at the floor for a bit.* "On Asterion, we stormed a heretic compound, there was... A lot of artefacts. One of the last priests we put down said he'd cursed us, in kh-... his... name. His number is eight... and, after that the... things... we started to notice. its just psychological, i'm sure."

Hakken: "Nah. That curse. Definitely."

Kerak: "You replace Kerak."

Max: "We could, I just don't know. If we go, our people with have to wait even longer. Spending time they don't have. But if we trust the word of our little scouting party, then we place the entire ship at risk if it goes tits up"

Akira: "Okay, the ship's lasted thousands of years as it is. we can wait."

Max: "It should only take about a week ish"

Charles: *frowns*....may have to look into that.

Emma:...what?

Hera: "its nothing. just some superstitious grox shit."

Akira: "Should be fine."

Kerak: "You stronger warrior than kerak."

charles nods

Emma:... I mean hypothetically but that doesn't make me your replacement

hera: "we've got more important things to deal with."

kerak: "kerak was strongest, now you." *he cocks his head and shivers his spines again*

Charles: Agreed. Besides as I say, things like this happened long before the warp got involved in humanity's 'luck'

Emma:...you've got a lot less...problems than me.

Max: "And when we get back, we tell them"

Kerak: "Problems?" *His mannerisms are mostly unreadable by a human, but he seems to be rocking his lower beak left and right. What it means. god only knows*

Hera: "Can't comment on that."

Akira: "I hope it's what we think."

Max: "Me too Akira..." *A moment passes with Max inhaling deeply and snapping himself out of whatever was on his mind* "We shouldn't keep our public waiting" *He turns to her and offers a hand, smiling*

The Shas'O promised he would restrict the weapons testing to non-fusion based systems before he dismissed the cog-head.
Then he thought better of it...

"You do wish to commit tech-heresy?" He said, making adjustments to the hydraulics, his grin was that of tempting daemon, or at least a close approximation.
That would surely send the tech-priest running.

OOC allo tau man

Tech Priest: "Negative..." *the tech priest makes some random comments about cogitators to calibrate, and some vague reference to men in companionways, while slowly backing towards the door. before he leaves he gives a short speech, not short on commands and threats from higher up, in exeptionally flowery language which essentially boiled down, after running through a translator about six times to. "Please don't blow up our hangar." at which point he scurries away.*

*akira takes his hand, hooks a trailing strand of her hair back over her ear and smiles* "It's good to be queen."

Emma:... yeah. In my head.

Charles: I could probably bore you to death with it. Like the boy who became king at the age of fifteen, spent thirty years getting such good luck that despite being outnumbered more than 3 to one and sometimes even 8 to one, won nearly every battle he fought, only to be killed by a lucky enemy bullet at the age of 36.

kerak: "You... Hurt in head?" *he takes a step towards her, narrowing the distance to about two feet, and sways from left to right, peering at either side of her head, obviously looking for damage.* "Not look con-cuuussssss-T-T-T." *the rather complex word, without any simple synonyms for him to defer to, is mangled by his alien tongue, ending in a rather undignified chirp, off tone for the gruff and intimidating xeno.*

Hera: "Reminds me of someone."

Emma: no it's... psychological

Charles: is that so?

The Tau gives a crooked smile as he continues about his work, tedious as it may be.
"If only I was born earth-caste, wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place." He shook his head, deciding that enough was enough and he'd take a break.

All the parts were replaced, he was sure of it, all that was left was for the computer to run it's diagnostic and check for any faults.

Hera: "My last commander. Colonel Commissar Henry Dunsen. Tactial genius, fought like a cornered termigaunt. Then, one lasbolt."

Kerak: *he pulls his head back, no longer inspecting her* "Sy-co-log-cal?" *he seems to turn the syllables over in his mouth. Chewing the word like piece of gristle.* "Sy-cho-loge-i-cal... It means?"

Charles: aye. That's all it takes.

Emma:... mental.

Kerak: *he makes a low cooing, which she assumes translates somewhere close to an "ah" or an "oh."* "This i know. You... emotion-hurt? Feelings?"

Hera: "Good man. I would have liked him to meet you."

Emma:.... not quite but close.

Charles: I'm sure I would have liked to meet him.

Kerak: "I see humans after mate is hurt or die. You loose mate?"

Hera: "He didn't like inquisitors. I sort of learned that from him."

Emma: no... I got tortured. A lot.

Charles: and yet now you are one. *chuckles*

Kerak: *He coos again in the "oh." way.* "I see that also. You seem... Good. For someone tortured. Was not Shas'Oa-kira then." *he mangles his honorific for akira, so the O and A are pronounced as one, leaving the pause after the a, rather than in front of it.*

Hera: "In a manner of speaking. Not... really."

Emma: no... worse than her. But I'm getting over it. Bit by bit.

Charles: pardon?

Hera: "I'm not really. Apprentice, or, whatever the word happens to be."

Kerak: "Last one, fat captain. She ask me to get peeler from cook-men. man cry, and beg. She not touch him."

Max: "Don't we know it"

*Max puts on a genuine smile and leads Akira off of the ship, trailed by an incredibly well drilled crew all of whom are marching in unison. Upon leaving the hangar and stepping onto one of the many ferrocrete roads they are greeted by a near deafening roar as millions of their subjects voice their pride and celebrations to the ruling couple. This goes on for miles as marching bands and other groups from their past all join in on the parade, stretching it back a literal mile. After what feels like an eternity of smiling, waving, and interacting with small children sent with amusing gifts. They finally reach the end of the road; their marble palace. (Which was kindly donated (at gunpoint) by the previous hive lord.) The pair now have a few minutes to rest as the civilian populace all gather outside to hear their speech*

Akira: "As usual, your public manner is impeccable dear."