2 - WITNESS ME, FLEET

[iamawaited]

Who: Nux and the poor, poor SS Red Fish
Broadcast: FLEETWIDE
Action: On the bridge of the Red Fish
When: August 1st, immediately following the shuffle

[Action]

[A few people had told Nux that he would be placed on a ship soon, but he's still not prepared for it when he's suddenly plucked from the Marsiva to arrive in some other place with music in his ears and something soft and fluffy -- paper, he realizes -- showering over him. Some had told him that he would get a chance to drive it, but that doesn't in any way dampen the overwhelming rush of excitement he feels when he realizes that the room has a windshield, looking out over an expanse of sand, and a driver's seat, and a set of controls he realizes he knows how to use.

He doesn't even notice the chocolate.

A few minutes later, there's a loud whoop from the bridge, and suddenly the Red Fish goes rocketing forward and into the air, soaring away from the planet at top speed.]

[Video]

[Furiosa! he realizes belatedly. If she doesn't know about this, she needs to. If she does, then why didn't she tell him??? Either way, he fumbles his communicator out of his utility belt with one hand, slaps it on the dashboard, and switches it on, broadcasting fleetwide. He grabs the controls with both hands and whoops again.]

Imperator Furiosa! Furiosa! Have you seen this? This is way shinier than a war rig!

[He laughs manically, eyes gleaming bright as the blue sky starts to dissipate into night in front of him. The ship kicks just a little faster as the fuel starts to burn away.]

I am the man who grabs the sun!

Comments

video

[child_of_bhaal]

[Well Furiosa is met by the appearance of a young wildly redheaded woman, who looks like she was probably in some kind of fight off her own, with how her cheek is just getting redder and more swollen. She acts like it's nothing though. Because right now, it's pretty unimportant.]

Zhas won't kill him... Probably. We'll return him and talk about responsibility for this little joyride later. Though if things aren't fixed, that might be a moot point.

[She turns to the pile of fighting boys and raises her voice.]

Zhas, Coil, we need him to drive the ship! We're getting uncomfortably close to the First Breath!

[iamawaited]

[If Nux was thinking enough to be surprised, he might be surprised to realize he's been jumped by what really looks like an extremely well-made-up War Boy.

In the moment, it's not that he doesn't notice it -- it's that it transports him right back to the Citadel like he's never even left, right back to a hundred fights he's had with his brothers, and so he fights back with everything he has. He's a driver; if he was the type to back down that easy, he never would have gotten his wheel. He hits and kicks at every soft spot he can see, grabs at Zhas and tries to pin him in turn, snarling like a savage animal.]

[mortalcoil]

[if there is a world outside this skirmish, Coil is no longer aware of it. his head rings as he's knocked in the mouth, but it only throws him for one angry second.

there is a monster trying very hard to rip Zhas apart, and Coil knows very well what Zhas does when that happens. neither of them are going to stop until something breaks.

so, seeing something baring its teeth and savaging after his partner gets Coil lunging into the fray again, and this thing being valuable to them gets him to jump in with more strategy than lethality.

he grabs for one of Nux' arms at the weakest points of its swing, and goes to twist it to the side, using his whole body to yank it into the agony of a wrist lock. and as soon as he's got it even partially out of the way, he leans back to kick Zhas in the side--right in that vulnerable spot at the bottom of his ribs. he just wants a pause in momentum, and maybe a slice of Zhas' attention if he can manage.

really, he'll take any amount of interruption in the violence that he can get.]

[theboogieman]

[Syeira's going to have to try again, if she wants to be heard. Zhas has adrenaline running past his ears, at close-range with something that's going to kick him right in the head if he doesn't watch it. his arms and legs are already taking a beating. he snarls back just as ferociously, teeth doubling with the paint, and--

gets kicked right under the ribs. really stings, makes him jolt a little. he does exactly what instinct tells him--which is to swing around and punch the offending attacker right in the chest.

it isn't until after he's done this that he realizes it's been Coil getting in his way this whole time--and that's so jarring that he does actually stop even though his arm is still raised up to hit him again...

what? what does he want? he's busy.]

[kill_switch]

[ She's focusing on her controls because she's perilously close to the Red Fish, but the sight of that red head makes her do a double take. Capable ... ?

But then a proximity alarm she had been ignoring started blaring louder, and she's forced to yank the First Breath hard to the side to avoid a collision. She'd have to see later if that was who she thought it was, right now she has to focus.]

[iamawaited]

[Nux lets out an angry wounded-animal sound as his arm is suddenly wrenched away -- all the more wounded when he sees that it's his newest ally doing it. He still has one hand up between himself and Zhas, halfway meant to pull him in for a hit, half to block any of his, but he pauses there to glance over at Coil, bewildered and betrayed.]

[mortalcoil]

[Nux's arm will get a little jolted as Coil is punched in the chest, but it's an accident. he doesn't actually want to hurt the guy--which make glancing over and seeing that look on the other's face particularly startling.

he doesn't even understand it, really. it catches him, for just a short hesitation--long enough to realize that he finally has a frozen moment to act.

'P-I-L-O-T' he signs in hasty gestures with a non-dominant hand that is up and half-ready to defend, because he's still not putting anything past these two. he's really not holding out much hope that it will actually work.]

[theboogieman]

[it must look pretty silly, all three of them suddenly paused and half-ready for another punch. Zhas continues to pause as he reads the letters, simultaneously realizing that Coil's not rushing in to take this guy out...

he doesn't have the time to form an audible opinion, but he does look back down at Nux... his snarling quickly replaced with... pointed skepticism...

he may have forgotten about his arm, at this point. it's still just kind of up there.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[Oh good, a lull. She stands up from where she'd ducked behind the pilot console (because they almost crashed!), waves her hands in a specific gesture, then puts two fingers to her lips and let's out an almost deafening whistle. Ah, magic.

She lets that settle a few seconds, so they might actually hear her this time, when she talks.]

Do you guys think you could pause the fight so we could maybe not crash and die?

[iamawaited]

[Nux stays staring at Coil at first, though the flurry of letters is meaningless to him. He snaps back when Zhas turns to him, baring his teeth, instantly on the defensive/offensive again-- until the whistle shatters all their eardrums.

Which he'd be more annoyed about, if it didn't sound like someone on his side.]

Yeah. Let me up!

[He tries to squirm free, twisting to look at--

--oh.]

[mortalcoil]

[and Coil is spending his turn 'silent,' as he needs his free hand to cover an ear and go flinching back from the sound.

good lord-- he knew she was noisy, but not that loud.]

[theboogieman]

[he doesn't flinch so much as slowly cringe, interrupted again... the ringing in his ears stops eventually, and he's reminded that their ship is still going somewhere, and their newest "crew member" isn't even looking at him anymore...

he's disappointed. he shouldn't be, but that doesn't stop him.

at least he finally (begrudgingly) finds his footing and backs off. his nerves are still electrowire and he doesn't calm down, but at least he's not being as bull-headed and stubborn as he easily could be.]

[child_of_bhaal]

Thank you. Now.

[Her gaze goes directly to Nux.]

If you wouldn't mind putting a little hustle on it, I personally don't want to die today.

[She pats the console beside her rather sassily. Come on, don't be shy.]

[iamawaited]

[It only takes Nux a heartbeat to realize, with a piercing sense of disappointment, that it's not Capable standing there. Close enough to be her sister, as alike as he and Slit, but not her. The astonishment in his eyes fades again; his open mouth closes.

When he tears his gaze away, though, he realizes the skull-faced man has backed off during that momentary pause, and he drops his own fists and scrambles to his feet. He doesn't have Capable, no, but he does have his ship returned to him -- that's a good start. He brightens as he throws himself back into the pilot's seat.]

All right!

[He spots the First Breath and grins.]

Furiosa! Is that yours? Come on -- where to?

[mortalcoil]

[this guy doesn't know not to fly into the sun. he doesn't know not to peel out into the middle of space and throw them beyond the Marsiva's range. he doesn't know not to burn them up into the atmosphere or plunge them into the ocean.

this is all Coil can think of as Nux goes leaping into the pilot seat again.

normally he'd leave it entirely to Zhas, but he's actually... talked with this guy before. so, for once, he doesn't wait for Zhas to start growling. he hops up after Nux, follows him, moves around to where he can kind of lean halfway into his line of sight once he's seated.

he slaps his hand on the dashboard a little, calling his attention. look right here, buddy. and then he holds his hand out flat like a steady ship--motioning slowly and cleanly forward. keep her low and level in orbit. nothing crazy.]

[kill_switch]

[By now Furiosa's spun ut of control, corrected, and punched ahead to her original course plotting. It might have been fun for half a second - that undeniably rich and sharp rush of adrenaline - but it was a quick and dirty moment and she's back to the reality of the situation; she has an out of control Warboy and she somehow needs to yank back on his throttle with just this communication device.]

[So, there's a moment when she fingers along the steering column looking for that thick clot of grease, and swiping it heavily across her forehead. This is purely theatrics for Nux, as familiar and almost damning as it feels to slip back into in this new environment. So much for reinventing herself.]

[The face she presents the device is fierce, terrifying, and livid.]

Warboy! You are to spin that rig around and haul it back to park or so help me I will personally tear out your throat.

[theboogieman]

[before he can really growl any corrections, Coil's up in front and already trying to get their new pilot to fly steady (or at least sanely). he must know him from somewhere, to already be so up-front about it...

which is bothering him, but he doesn't want to stand around and figure out why. the stranger giving orders over the personal communicator isn't sitting well with him either, but he doesn't have the patience for a verbal argument.

but in noting all of the people on the bridge, he realizes... there are a couple on their crew they haven't heard from. and one of them... rolls everywhere.

...Zhas suddenly turns and leaves the room, without any explanation, because someone's got to make sure their poor captain isn't secretly crushed under a bunch of crates or something. whoops.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[Zhas isn't quite alone in his feelings about the woman on the communicator issuing orders like that. Whoever their new pilot is, whether or not he had just recklessly endangered everyone, he's still obvious part of the Red Fish's crew, and that makes Syeira protective.]

Ma'am, thank you for your efforts, but perhaps you ought to let us handle it from here.

[She's not hostile, just politely firm. Please don't threaten their pilot.

She again turns her attention back to Nux, with that same firmness.]

Now, if you please, sir. We really do need to turn around and go back to the planet.

[iamawaited]

[There's an irony, maybe, in the fact that if it weren't for the stranger on the communicator, Nux wouldn't so much as slow down. When Coil starts signing at him, all he does is glance over, then shake his head with an irritated little grunt and turn his focus back on the sky. When Furiosa starts snarling, though, he really looks, and keeps looking, even when Syeira tries to correct her. Even when Syeira tries to correct him.

He hesitates, then eases up on the throttle a little and lets the yoke even out. The ship levels and slows down just a bit.]

Why?

[But he's asking Furiosa, not them.]

It's a good ship -- runs great. Still got plenty of guzzoline.

[He doesn't know everything there is to know about these flying machines yet, but he has enough in him to know some of that and feel the rest by instinct. It's not a question of needing to dock for repairs.]

[kill_switch]

[She's pointedly ignoring the Capable-lookalike, because yes yes it's your rig and all but that's her Warboy. Whether it was discussed or not, whether he wants it or not, she knew his worth and she was going to protect him even if that meant tearing out his heart a little.]

This isn't Valhalla. This isn't death. This is life. Life, Warboy. Your crew. They depend on you to survive because here, there will be a tomorrow.

[mortalcoil]

[he doesn't know who the woman on the communicator is, and he doesn't particularly care. he'd even been only a second or two away from just reaching over to shut the thing off--because, the last thing that the first mates of this ship readily do is turn a listening ear to outsiders.

but... he can't speak, and that voice just happens to be saying much of what he'd like to be getting through this guy's head right now.

so, instead, he punctuates what she's saying by grabbing Nux's shoulder--in that rough, slightly jostling way that his partner does when he really wants his attention--and he's looking for Nux's eyes again.

whether he manages to get him to look at him or not, he jabs an emphasizing finger at the communicator. yes, this right here. what she's saying. that's what they all want, here.]

[iamawaited]

[Nux stares at the communicator, eyes wide. His face is as easy to read as the schematic on his chest; that is, easy for anyone who knows how, in his case beneath all the paint still on his face and the angry scars that mark him. There's anger in his eyes for a moment, too, grit-toothed frustration that they won't just let him have his ship, but then confusion, and then, yes, pain.]

I wasn't gonna--

[He sits back, not even totally conscious of the fact that his grip loosens on the yoke and lets the ship slow up more. He looks over at Coil's frantic signing, his hand on his shoulder, and then up into his eyes. His brow furrows.]

I was gonna take it back after.

[Probably. Maybe. This isn't Valhalla, she says, and he knows that, but-- but the rest seems impossible to wrap his head around. He hadn't meant to hurt anyone, though. He certainly hadn't been planning to suicide them all. He glances back to Furiosa, like there's more he wants to say, but he holds it back for now.]

[child_of_bhaal]

[She sees that play of emotions and feels sympathy for their new pilot.

Kneeling down, so that she's not standing over him, and that she might catch his eyes more easily, she places a gentle hand on his arm.]

We don't really have that luxury, my friend. Now we really do need you to take us back. Please.

[kill_switch]

[Furiosa watches the scene unfold, without adding further commentary. She holds a neutral expression, erring on the tough side, because if she was able to nudge Nux into compliance she didn't want to give him any reason to change his mind.]

Listen to your lancer, Warboy. They know this road better than you do.

[iamawaited]

[Nux twitches sharply as Syeira touches him; not away, but just in surprise. Now it's she who commands his attention over Furiosa, as he catches her red hair and her pale eyes in his sights again and-- he knows it's not Capable, obviously, he does, but the gentleness of the touch and the kindness in her voice transfixes him the way Furiosa's harsh commands had a moment ago. He stares at her, the adrenaline hunger and the speed thirst ebbing away into something clear-eyed and sad.

He shoots a side-long glance towards the communicator, then hunches over the yoke and yanks on it -- sharply, but not intolerably so except for maybe poor Nunnally -- to bring the ship around to bear back towards the planet.]