The Burden of Commands [Prologue]

[onemorebounty]

*On what is, in relative local time, a Monday afternoon in a cold month of the early twenty-first century, a message arrives on Ali's pinpoint, with the usual terse delivery of its author

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[vicioussweetie]

Ali's reply is brief: Sounds fun! Be there soon. It is also not long in preceding her arrival. She's dressed as she usually does for these trips, this time in an olive green vacsuit over which is draped a violet himation.

The view is taken in briefly, with a little more time taken to admire the ship, before Ali looks for Samus.

[onemorebounty]

*The plantlife appears to be mainly ferns of different sizes and types, lending little fragrance to the humid air. Ali is met by a smile from Samus when she arrives, a brief break from the frown the ship receives.*

Well, there it is. Brand new, top of the line, and one hundred percent Fleet legal. What do you think?

*At the very least, Ali can look forward to no longer climbing atop the ship to get in--among the landing gear is a circular platform with the look of a small elevator.*

[vicioussweetie]

Ali wraps her arms around Samus in a hug that also serves to drape a pearl gray himation around the taller woman. Samus' frequent comments about liking Ali's sense of fashion did not go unnoticed.

"I think that, with you at the helm, it will be the greatest ship in the Fleet."

[onemorebounty]

*Samus returns the embrace, her frown finding itself nowhere near the equal of Ali's knack for bringing cheer. Her spirits are even raised enough to let her tease a little.*

Thank you. I'll try to live up to that, if only for your sake.

*She glances back to the ship.*

I wasn't sure how interested you'd be in the technical aspects. They aren't usually to your taste, I know, but you've surprised me before.

[vicioussweetie]

"You're welcome." Samus' cheek gets a kiss before Ali rests her own against the taller woman's shoulder. "I'll try to keep up, but I can't promise I'll understand everything."

[onemorebounty]

*With a nod and a smile, she disengages from the embrace to make her way over to the ship. Opening a few panels, she guides Ali through a basic check to make certain nothing is leaking, rattling, or showing fatigue. She also takes a moment to point out a squat black cylinder beside the coiled braid of filaments that makes up the subspace antenna of the comm unit.*

This is one of the important things, that'll get you worse than just a fine; this is the transponder, and you can see it isn't damaged, and the tamper-seal is intact. This is the thing that tells everyone else where--and who--you are.

[vicioussweetie]

Ali pays close attention, despite not understanding half of what Samus is saying. She tries to grasp the most important and elemental points, which mostly boil down to "if this looks weird, call a mechanic".

"I can see why you'd want that to be working properly--and why they'd be worried if you didn't."

[onemorebounty]

*For her part, Samus tries to keep to the basics of "this is how this part should look, and these are the signs that something is wrong," without digressing into extraneous details of the principles on which they work.*

Yes. Navigation would be reason enough, but most friend-or-foe systems rely on transponder feeds to make their determinations. If it's broken, you might be mistaken for a meteor and shot to pieces while approaching to dock. And while it can be useful to have the enemy mistake you for one of their own, the confusion contributes to too many friendly-fire accidents for most groups to consider it a viable tactic.

*Of course, a variable-setting transponder also lets one ship impersonate several at different times, which made it a mainstay of Samus' previous vessels.*

Alright, everything looks good here. If there's no questions, we can go inside.

[vicioussweetie]

"No questions, and I want to see if you managed to make this one even more Spartan than the last," she teases.

[onemorebounty]

Spartan!? My old ship was practically packed with little luxuries.

*She's half-teasing when she scoffs. Samus slips an arm around Ali's waist to draw her onto the lift platform, bringing them both up into the ship's single cabin in a moment. It's a little larger inside than the first ship of hers Ali saw, but is still the close and spare sort of thing that offers precious little to the artistic spirit.*

Well, perhaps you can help me make it a little more homey.

[vicioussweetie]

"'Practically packed' is a very apt phrase," she murmurs, snugging close against Samus so they both fit on the lift.

"Oh, I'm sure we can have it feeling like home in no time," Ali promises. She's been secretly cooking up some plans for this very occasion.

[onemorebounty]

Oh?

*She regards her companion with amused curiosity.*

You have that look in your eye: you're planning something.

[vicioussweetie]

Ali puts on her best imitation of innocence. "Am I? What could it possibly be?"

[onemorebounty]

I'm not sure, but I hope you'll tell me soon.

*She doesn't spend long looking the cabin over before settling into the pilot's seat and pulling Ali down into her lap, reaching around her to show her the ins and outs of a control scheme similar to, albeit a little more complex than her own. This includes something her previous ships did not contain, which is usually standard on spacecraft: an external control relay, colloquially known as a "slave circuit," which allows the ship to be piloted from outside. Most use them for landing and docking, turning over guidance of their ships to the local flight controller.*

[vicioussweetie]

"You'll see," she promises, before putting aside her plans to concentrate. Knowing the controls is important to her, just in case there's an emergency and Samus is otherwise engaged. Not that even most of her concepts of emergencies involve Samus being incapacitated: most of them involve Samus being too busy shooting things.

She has an extraordinary faith in Samus.

[onemorebounty]

*Samus would have to be very incapacitated, indeed, not to be shooting at something during a shooting-worthy emergency. That said, she will be grateful and glad to have Ali at the helm and knowledgeable, should such a crisis occur.*

I'm looking forward to it.

*With the basics covered, she powers up the ship and they lift off, rising toward the curve of the enormous, cloud-shrouded planet overhead. Once they're clear of the atmosphere, Ali is welcome to take a turn at driving, if she likes.*