driftfleet | 2 - WITNESS ME, FLEET

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2 - WITNESS ME, FLEET

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!

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[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.]

[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.]

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.]

[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?

[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.]

[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.

[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.]

[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.

[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.]

[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.

[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.]

[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.]

[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.

[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.

[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.]

[Coil keeps his sigh quiet as he lowers his center of gravity a little and leans on the console, adjusting his balance as the ship going winging around.

and without thinking about it, he throws out the sign for 'thanks'-- which isn't something their new pilot would be familiar with, but it might be self-explanatory enough to get the idea across.]

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2 - WITNESS ME, FLEET

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