Archive Log: 10

"Origae-6," a projector clicked into life, images flashed across the holographic screen showing scans and information about the planet. "Suitable landmass has shown that it could be stable enough to colonise. It sharing a similar atmosphere to our own is just a bonus." Jacob explained while pacing a step to the left and out of the way of the screen. "We don't know what's down there, waiting for us. Naturally we have yet to find out about wildlife, is there any, and is it hostile?" He asked rhetorically. The group in front of him sat looking at him with interested looks. Sure, they all knew they were here for a colonist mission, but they hadn't as yet been told anything about the destination. It seemed, now that the crew was fully stabilised and finished, he was giving the heads up to go and explain all that had been handed over to him. As Captain, it was his task to explain all. Along with answer any questions if any appeared. So far, so good. No one was finding fault, or even wanting to pipe up with anything. "That's where the security group come into things. We can't all be so reliant, so as of now, we will all undergo training. I'm not expecting us all to become as skilled as them, or even turn into ninja assassins; but knowing how to use a gun, reload and fire surely isn't asking for too much?" Jacob continued on with a wave of his hand, in his other hand he held the remote to the screen and shut it off. The charts and images disappeared, leaving the room in a dull gloom which was only just cut through thanks to sunlight coming in from underneath a blind. "Any questions?" He dreaded to ask, he really did. Oram for one sat looking thoroughly in a deep stump of contemplation, Tennessee and Faris were perhaps the more relaxed looking pair. Karine and Onora exchanged a look, sure, when it came to tests on the planet, it would mainly fall to them. It was a lot of work to undertake. Everyone would help where they could, but Jacob didn't know anything about biology. What help could he possibly be? He shook his head, no one had anything to say, which caused a grin to appear on his face. "Good! Right, let's get to it then." He said as enthusiastically as possible. He didn't really need to go on yammering away. Everyone knew why they were here, why did he need to keep emphasising the point?

It just so happened though, that when it came to weapons training, some were more reserved than others. Onora for one didn't seem pleased about having a gun in her hand, likewise Karine looked the black weapon over with a frown. They were scientists, not fighters. They focussed their work on living things, not potentially shooting and killing. Tennessee took a more laid back approach and commenced striking poses with the gun, only for Lope to walk past and grumble something and change his hold on the weapon before leaving Tennessee's side. All in all, everyone was approaching this differently. From laid back, to reserved, it would be asking for too much for people to just happily accept they needed to know this information. They didn't know what was truly on Origae-6, for all they knew there could be dangerous animals there. Dangerous animals that would waste no time in probably killing them if they got their chance. Self-defence and weapons training was needed. Not only that, it was part of the clause. The instructions from Lope and Hallett may have been good, simple, clearly dumbed down for beginners, but it still didn't stop the fact that some really didn't want to shoot.

"Here," Onora all but tensed when someone saw fit to practically lean over her and change her hands and how she was holding the gun. She couldn't help but frown when it was adjusted against her shoulder too. Her eyes rolled to the side, she could just about see Karine in the cubicle beside her. The walls were see-through, which meant that when this moment happened basically everyone had a good view.

"Right..." She trailed off, "Thanks." She glanced to the dark haired man who towered over her. She wasn't short, not really, but this man seemed to be the tallest present, other than maybe Walter. But he wasn't present when this was all going on, the synthetic hadn't been present in the earlier meeting either.

"You were likely to get nasty recoil, these can pack a punch if not aware." He explained.

Onora just looked him up and down, she could see Karine from the corner of her eyes both smirking and shaking her head. She probably thought it was a little funny that out of all the moments, now was a moment of where Onora was seemingly getting hit on. The fact that the male still remained close was evident enough that he didn't seem to have intentions of leaving her side until he had seen her successfully, or epically fail at shooting. The target ahead was hanging simply, waiting for her to take aim and shoot. Inhaling she notched the gun against her shoulder, looked dead ahead, exhaled slowly and placed her finger against the trigger.

It took the littlest of pressures against the simple piece of metal for a bullet to come kicking out. She didn't know how sensitive guns were, or could be, she stepped back from the sudden kick back. The man placed a hand on her shoulder and steadied her. Onora just looked at the target, she hadn't successfully hit anything vital on the target, but she had hit it.

"Well done."

"Thanks," she mumbled and looked the gun over. It was strange, how something could be so dangerous. She frowned, she didn't like it. The power to shoot didn't exactly take much. What if she had to encounter something that actually needed putting down? Could she honestly do it? No, no, she didn't think she could. And that's what caused her to feel a little unsettled.

"Ledward."

"What?"

"It's my name." He smiled down at her. Just a friendly reminder, although they had already been introduced once before. And never again.

"Onora." But then she guessed everyone already knew who she was. The new crew member was probably a source of discussion before she actually appeared. It felt odd introducing herself again. When she had come across the security team before, they all seemed so casual and indignant. Like really, they didn't want to know. "Thanks for the help, I'm okay now." She hoped he'd get the hint to leave her alone. Standing so close was actually off putting. Thankfully he did, Ledward turned with a smile and walked off. Hearing a whistle, Onora looked to the side. She stopped checking her gun over, not that anything was wrong, and looked to Karine. "What?"

"He was only trying to be nice." She said with a smirk.

Onora blinked, "So?"

"And you shot the poor man down."

"Bad timing for that saying, don't you think?" Onora asked with a point to their surroundings. The others were still going at it with the target practice. "And plus, no."

"Why?"

"Because it would be horrendously awkward! It's okay for you, you're married. Fancy being in my place, huh? What if you suddenly got with a fellow crew member, things were peachy-keen for a bit and then you fell out or something, because that always happens! It would be awkward, wouldn't it? Being stuck in a ship, seeing that person every day, no, just no." Onora shuddered and picked her gun back up, she opted to ignore the look Karine sent her way and decided that she would rather prefer to try and perfect her aim. Pausing, she looked to Karine, letting the smoke from the gun clear she sighed. "Don't you dare try and set me up with him either." She wouldn't appreciate that, one bit. She wasn't here to possibly look for a boyfriend, or whatever. She was here for some biology backup thing. Where exactly was there room for potential love interest in all of that? She shook her head, she decided she had jumped to conclusions a bit there, love? Steadying her breathing she practiced on the target for another five minutes before deciding she had had enough. It didn't take much to escape the room.

Nor did it take much to walk along the corridor back to the main living space. Pushing the door open seemed to catch Walter's attention. He had just been sitting looking outside, hearing the door his head turned and looked to her. "You're done?"

"Er, no, I walked out." Onora explained while awkwardly scratching her neck. Walter's eyes slowly narrowed and if she didn't know any better, she would say he looked displeased by this information. "Listen," she walked over before he moved to join her side. She stepped into the comfy looking chair, quite literally, before hunkering down with her legs tucked underneath herself. "Not everyone is cut out for firing guns, right? I know how to do it now, I don't need to stand for hours shooting at a target. Sure, I'll return to it when not surrounded by people who are doing a far better job at it than me." She doubted she would, maybe she would, she should really. She felt slightly conflicted by that prospect, to be honest.

"Maybe you need a better teacher?"

That made her laugh, Walter's head tilted slightly as his eyes looked her over. She seemed flushed over something, whether that was the practice that she had just gone through, or something else, he didn't know. Her hair had escaped the simple braid it was in and flocked around her face and neck. She tucked strands behind her ear every now and then and put a hand over her mouth to hide her grin. She had found that whether he knew it or not, Walter did have a sense of humour.

"Something I said?" He wanted an explanation as she quietened down.

"Ledward." Onora said and watched his eyes narrow, they widened suddenly as he clearly put a face to the name. He shifted in his seat then, leaning forwards a little as she sighed. "I don't know if what he did could be considered teaching. And to be fair, Lope and Hallett's instructions were simple." She combed a hand through loose strands of hair with a heavy sigh.

Walter nodded his head slowly, "He likes you."

She scoffed, "He doesn't know me, Walter."

"You don't like him," Walter observed while looking out of the window and just watched the clouds rove across the sky. Blinking slowly, he looked back to Onora. "Stand," she frowned, it was a sudden odd request. Walter stood and she soon jumped up too, "How do you stand when you fire?" Walter watched her and frowned, putting his hands on her shoulders, he tugged her forwards. Pretending to hold a gun could only do so much, but he walked around her and leaned down a little to lift her arms up a bit. "You're too relaxed."

"Walter, I'm pretending to hold a gun and aim at an imaginary target...I can't take it seriously." Onora said while turning her head to the side, Walter was impossibly close as he just looked at her. "Can't you replace Ledward?" He raised an eyebrow at that, Onora awkwardly shuffled and lowered her arms, though his hands remained on her shoulders. "Target practice, I mean. Can't you replace him?" She already had the feeling that if she returned, he would try and be there to aid. She didn't want his aid, no way, no thank you.

"If that is what you want."

"Maybe wait for everyone to go." Onora decided. No doubt someone would have a comment to say about her opting to want a synthetic to teach her. "What have you been doing while everyone's been elsewhere, Walter?"

He looked a little miffed, as if no one had ever thought to ask him about his business before. "Nothing."

"You must've been doing something." Onora turned and looked up at him, his hands finally moved from her shoulders and his arms hung back at his sides.

Walter looked thoughtfully around before shaking his head, he looked to the window though. "Would you believe cloud watching?"

Onora smiled, "I used to do this thing when I was a kid, see if I could find shapes in clouds." She grabbed a hold of his sleeve and gave it a tug. "Come on," she sat down on the floor looking up at the sky through the pane of glass. "Why were you watching the clouds?" She asked with a curious frown, it was strange. Walter sat beside her and shrugged, even he didn't seem to know why he was captivated by the sky and the clouds. Regardless, he crossed his legs, like her, and looked upwards.

----

(A/N: Idk how I've wrote this. I am so tired from work. Also, random, for those who haven't already, David's new story is up, if you are interested. It's there.)


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