( video )

[mucked]

Who: Peggy Carter + OPEN
Broadcast: video
Action: s.s. starstruck
When: mid-morning

[ ah, tea. however-bloody-many leagues into deep space and there's still provision for tea. nearly two months on, and she can at least depend upon leaves steeped in hot water as some sort of intergalactic lingua franca. cheers the soul, really. it isn't perfectly like her preferred cuppa on earth, but it suffices. and so this morning finds her sitting within arm's reach of the starstruck's comms, while her fingers wrap around a mug of that precious brew. ]

-- The battle that happened before we came across the planet. Is that a common occurrence? Bouts of cackhanded shooting, followed by the fortuitous retreat of our opponents. [ to be fair, she doesn't really know if it was all bad shooting. she's no expert in space-warfare. everything looks a little cackhanded when there's no ground to anchor your view. and let's not begin to count all the things she doesn't know about nebulas. more importantly: ] How often does the fleet come under enemy fire? Can they even be called proper enemies? Can anyone explain why were being shot at?

[ she's still new here, and she craves answers. but even she can hear that grinding note of too much tension in her voice. she knows it's time ease off the throttle. peggy takes a long (savoured) sip of tea and regains a measure of her own composure. ] Heavens, but it'd be nice if these godawful food pastes could be slapped together in a combination that even slightly resembled a Garibaldi. Tea isn't tea without a biscuit.

Comments

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[reconstitution]

Their strategy didn't seem to have much purpose aside from herding the fleet.

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[mucked]

[ she's come to know his callsign -- his numbers. and so her response lacks all the ornamentation she might normally retain for strangers. ]

Like sheep to be corralled. I wonder whether the priority was our new path or the one the interrupted.

[ if that's even what had happened. ]

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[reconstitution]

Not a difficult task. The pilots have little say in our course. Straying isn't an option.

[ They're already like sheep, their enemies really didn't have to put too much effort into it. Most of it was for show- had they meant business, people would have died. ]

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[mucked]

So we may be able to discount our keepers as the perpetrators.

[ just when she was beginning to consider the whole thing might have been staged for 'entertainment value' ]

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[reconstitution]

I wouldn't rush to exclude them.

video

[experiencepoints]

First time since I've been here. But asking around, it apparently happened once before, a few months ago.

... I don't think their goal was to actually hurt us, though.

video

[mucked]

Makes one wonder what their true goal might have been.

video

[experiencepoints]

Well... I've got a few guesses, but none of them are good. The Atroma's trouble talking to us started at that attack, right?

video

[mucked]

Perhaps the Atroma were the real target. Not us. Their difficulty might reflect so.

action

[lord_wizard]

Garibaldi? Isn't that a fish?

[This helpful contribution comes from the dryly smirking man leaned up against the doorframe]

action

[mucked]

[ she turns -- brown eyes training a careful look upon her shipmate. she can't tell whether he's joking. not yet. she doesn't know him well enough to read those subtle indicators.

so instead: ] Oh, infinitely better than a fish.

[lord_wizard]

[The look only increases his own personal amusement, and the mild expression cracks just slightly into a smile for a moment. He isn't actually sure what she was talking about, but context tells him it probably isn't what he mentioned, despite that being the first thing that sprung to mind.]

I would hope so. That seems like a strange pairing with tea.

[mucked]

[ she shrugs with half her shoulders -- and maintains her mug in her hands. normally it might be more appropriate to set it aside, but she feels it would be imprudent to leave her tea too near any of the assumed-to-be delicate instruments. instead, she stands. ]

They're sweets, of a sort. [ she explains, and takes the heavy-hanging curiousity out behind the barn to put it out of its misery. ]

[Voice]

[misterprongs]

Perhaps the next time said enemy fleet attacks, we could storm aboard and steal their biscuits.

[Lightly.]

[Voice]

[mucked]

A clever sort of plan. [ ... ] I like it.

How are you, Mister Potter?

[Voice]

[misterprongs]

I am full of them.

[ with a dashing grin ]

I'm doing well, even without biscuits. Do you not have a cook on your ship? Force them to do your bidding.

[Voice]

[mucked]

Force them? I'm not certain how much influence you seem to think I have -- [ a quiet chuckle. ]

action!

[cpt_ressentiment]

Can't say I've ever had a biscuit that's called something like that, but I'd take anything over this paste stuff, yeah.

[ Hello! Kid captain here, with a small smile on his face. He just happened to see you were broadcasting and thought he'd come by. ]

But, uh, about that battle... [ He sighs. ] I talked to the other ships. Looks like those guys have attacked them before, but only once. So, that would make it the second time we've ever been attacked, and it was by the same ships. That... completely left us alone after shoving us all into that nebula. I'm not sure I like the sound of that. I mean, I'm glad to be alive! But...

action!

[mucked]

...But being spared at the last moment carries its own sort of ominous feeling, doesn't it? [ peggy finishes the sentence for him. captain or not, she can't help but speak her mind.

out of respect (however) she stands from her chair and greets him with a mild glance. ]

[cpt_ressentiment]

Yeah. Exactly. [ He sighs. They're totally all on the same wavelength, and the longer they all have to go without answers, the more he hates it. It only strengthens his resolve to be part of getting to the bottom of this - one way or another.

She stands, and at first, he's really not sure why. ... ... Then, he shakes his head, waves his hands at her. ]

U-Uh, that's... hah! You don't have to stand up. Or uh. Anything like that. Just 'cause I'm the captain. We're not exactly military, you know?

[ She's older than him anyway! djfkls Oh man, this is weird. ]

[mucked]

Military? Certainly not. [ she answers with an indulgent lift of her eyebrows. suggesting, perhaps, that she knows the military and can see how far from the mark this operation must be.

and yet: ] But signs of respect aren't always about the title and the rank, Captain.

[ sometimes it's about being polite. ]

video;

[stefanged]

[Pinged immediately by the sight of tea!]

I can't say I know a lot about the ships that attacked us, but - if you've got baking supplies, I could drop by and help out with your biscuit issue.

[He manages a small smile.] That's why I always stock up when we visit places. Good food's hard to find around here.

video;

[mucked]

So I'm learning. [ but he's a cook, hm? ] Have you got a specialty, Mister--?

video;

[stefanged]

Salvatore. Er, Stefan Salvatore, if you're good with first names.

[He pauses for a few seconds, because that isn't the surname he normally goes by - Alesci. His last name's Alesci too.]

No specialty, really. I'm technically the medic on the Paisley, but since we don't have a cook, I've been picking up the slack. You'd, uh, have to fill me in about your Garibaldis.

video;

[mucked]

[ pairings of her fingers take turns in supporting the weight of her mug, allowing this-or-that nail to tap-tap-tap all gentle-like on the rim. mister salvatore it is, then. ]

Peggy Carter. [ ... ] And I'm afraid Garibaldis are likely a little too much trouble than they're worth. All those currants what need squashing. Still, the thought is lovely.