Fare thee well, faithful friend [OPEN]

[we_deliver]

Anyone in Trudy's path on her way to the hangar today would notice an uncharacteristic slump in her shoulders, a shuffle in her step. She seemed despondent, and while she greeted any of her soldiers with the proper protocol, it didn't come with the usual smiles and easy banter

Comments

[re_engineer]

Angie headed down to the hanger, where she had told Trudy she'd meet her. It didn't take long to find her, thankfully, and Angie touched down about twenty feet away, walking closer slowly. "General," she said by way of greeting, nodding to her.

[we_deliver]

Most of the few hours between Trudy's arrival and Angie's in the hangar were spent gutting the Samson. Engine parts and tins of fluid were scattered underneath the belly of the craft, and a large sheet of metal that appeared to be the lower access hatch was kicked over to one side.

Trudy looked down at her hands, covered in grease, then at her uniform pants and made a face, hunting for something to wipe them off on. "Angie, right?" She hadn't expected a cyborg, or whatever Angie was, but the weirdness of this crew no longer bothered her. "Give me a second to clean up."

She found a disused rag in one corner of the cargo bay and began scrubbing her hands clean.

[re_engineer]

The armor was easier to deal with given most of the ship, honestly, so Angie tended to stay in it. She nodded, staying a few steps back. "I am." She looked over the shot up craft and shook her head. "Damn. Ran into something bigger and nastier, huh?"

[we_deliver]

"Yeah - missiles, they're a bitch. I had already taken a hit to the engine so it was probably a foregone conclusion, but..."

But it was painful. Still, Trudy held out a semi-clean hand for Angie to shake. "Thanks for doing this for me - Kang's a good friend."

[re_engineer]

"It's never easy to lose a ship." She still felt the loss of the first Carrier, though she figured it was probably different.

She took the offered hand, not worried about the oil. "You're welcome. It was an interesting challenge, actually. I've never done anything like this before, so it was cool it see if it could be done."

[we_deliver]

"I do love giving you guys challenges," she said. "I've got another one for you, actually - but we'll deal with that in a minute. How's this thing work?"

She'd get back to the business of taking what she wanted to keep from her ship once she was done with the important part.

[re_engineer]

Angie nodded, pulling the cube out from a bag that she'd been carrying. It was slightly larger than was comfortable for a human hand, but it would be about perfect for Kang's. "I've kept it as simple as possible. Not a lot of buttons to push."

She held her hand out, the cube laying on top. "Basically, it's record and play." She pointed out the lens. "It records and plays through here. Button here," she pointed out a reddish button on top, "is the record button. Play is over here on the side." That one was yellow.

[we_deliver]

Simplicity was something Trudy definitely appreciated. She reached out and took the cube, turning it over in her hands. "Nice," she said. "Very user-friendly. This'll work perfectly, I'm sure."

To tell the truth, letting go of the Samson had gotten easier and easier in the course of dismantling the craft. The more she got through that was damaged beyond repair, the easier it was to justify to herself that scrap was the only thing the craft was good for anymore. "This is for you," she said, thumping the side of the chopper with her fist. "All except this piece, I'm cutting it off to keep." She traced a square around the painting of the tiger on the Samson's side - that explained why she'd been ripping the craft's innards out.

[re_engineer]

Angie nodded, reaching out and stroking her fingers over the canopy. "Take as much time as you need," she said, glancing to Trudy. "One of the things I can do is...break things down into their component molecules and can reform it into whatever I need at the moment." She felt like she needed to explain why it was useful to her.

[we_deliver]

"Must come in handy," Trudy said. She slung herself back under the belly of the Samson, poking her head up into the space where most of the engine had been. It looked like it was probably safe to fire up the torch - the only thing in the way were wires, and most of the Samson's wiring was shot anyway.

"So this much scrap can make a bunch of useful things for the boat." She crawled out from under the ship again, going back to the cargo bay. There was a plasma cutter and a mask in here somewhere, there had to be. "It makes me feel a little better about letting her go."

[re_engineer]

"It's useful," Angie agreed with a nod. "For some things, I can synthesize off of molecules in the air. But it's not quite like having something solid to work with in the first place."

Honestly, even the oil could probably help. Angie believed in using everything she could.

[we_deliver]

Trudy shoved aside a headset and an extra service rifle - when did all this junk get in the back of her chopper, anyway - and came up with the eye shield she'd been looking for. Now to find the cutting torch.

"I'm sure," she said. "Well, after I pop this panel off you're welcome to her - might need the extra scrap, too, since I've got another project for you guys. This one isn't personal, though, it's a departmental project. Your Andalite colleague in Engineering wants to join Command. We need to make the cockpit of one of our VFs fit him."