atlas stuff

[resnipstance]

[Once everyone had been accounted for and safely strapped in, the actual take-off was easy. Between Anakin, Breq, Allura, half the crew of the SS Enterprise, and many others, there was no way they wouldn't be able to figure out how to fly this behemoth of a ship off of this dustball of a planet, even if it was alien tech and half-buried in sand. Finding the strange crystals underground that powered the ship had been the turning point to realising they really could escape.

But getting the ship flight ready? That had been an entirely different problem.

There was so much sand in the engines, so many parts to repair. And it wasn't like they could just drive down to the local store and pick up what they needed. Teams were formed to work on the ship. By consensus, some rooms and parts were cannibalized if they were deemed extraneous to survival, used instead to patch up the ship's more vital functions. But with how quickly the ship drained power from their suits, the work, it seemed, would have to be done in shifts. The pace of repairs went at a crawl.

As for Ahsoka-- the slow pace of their progress on the ship seemed to visibly chafe at her. Now that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, she wanted to get going. Her tension and impatience she channeled into organizing the camp with renewed vigor and bossiness. If there was anything that the Clone War had prepared her for, it was organising others with no prior military experience for maximum efficiency. She very suddenly had less and less time for personal one-on-one conversations, instead pouring all her energy into making sure everything ran smoothly.

When Ahsoka wasn't doing her shift working on the ship, she'd busy herself with something else. Usually hunting. (They weren't sure how long they'd be in space-- sure, they had some map data, but with no idea of how fast the ship moved, it didn't mean a great deal. The camp all comes to the consensus to start stockpiling food early on. Of course Ahsoka throws herself into that, as well.)

When she wasn't hunting or gathering, she'd be teaching someone else how. Or yelling instructions at someone else on their shift while she stands from a safe distance away from the ship, waiting for her suit to recharge. Or drawing diagrams in the sand with the other tech-heads and trying to figure out how exactly they're going to solve this or that new technical problem of the day.

As the weeks of prep wear on, Ahsoka only gets bossier and more intense, and her eyes seem to shine with a burning drive behind them-- a need to save everyone. She starts to seem permanently older than her seventeen years, and it's unclear whether she actually ever sleeps. (She can sleep when they're safe.) She and Anakin start fighting about stupid stuff every third day, like about what part to replace, or what food should be stored for the trip. It's their way of blowing off steam, but finding Ahsoka stewing and pacing around the campfire with an air of annoyance becomes increasingly commonplace.

It takes them a month, all up, to get everything ready. The actual flying is the easy part.]

Comments

planet-side stuff pre-take-off

[resnipstance]

[If you want to talk to Ahsoka while they're still on Kharas (oh god why would you), she can probably be found:

- Pacing around one of the campfires in the evening, muttering to herself about something.

- Keeping watch over the camp at night around the perimeter and trying not to fall asleep, yawning and then determinedly slapping herself on the cheek to stay awake.

- Mildly electrocuting herself while doing repairs-- she yells loudly and lets out a curse. It's probably not in a recognisable language, but it's definitely a curse all the same.

- Or something else, take your pick.]

[ceruleo]

Stop hitting yourself.

[ He comes to sit next to her, looking considerably less strung-out--stress is bad for your skin!--but vaguely worried. ]

Like, seriously. Take a nap or something.

[resnipstance]

[ It's a measure of how tired she is that she doesn't even roll her eyes at him, instead continuing to stare out into the distance for threats determinedly. ]

I can't do that! It's still my watch.

[ Cue another involuntary yawn. ]

[ceruleo]

Nope, none of that.

[ He motions for her to make some room. ]

Scoot over, you're being officially relieved.

[resnipstance]

[ She makes room for him to sit beside her, but she doesn't move as if to leave. ]

I don't remember that part of the roster.

[ But the look she shoots him is grateful. ]

[ceruleo]

Roster schmoster. [ He waves her off. ] I'm a selfless volunteer.

[ To the tune of: Aren't I amazing? Praise me. ]

[resnipstance]

[ Ahsoka doesn't have the energy in her tonight to smack talk. So she just laughs instead, humouring him. ]

Very selfless. Thank you.

[ Then, more seriously: ]

What's got you up at this hour, anyway? Can't sleep?

ship stuff, immediately post-take-off

[resnipstance]

[As soon as they get up into space and out of the planet's orbit, the artificial gravity engages and Ahsoka breathes her first sigh of relief in what feels like a century. Her whole body-- which seems to have been permanently taut with tension for the whole month-- suddenly relaxes all at once.]

Finally.

[She says, more to herself than to anyone else.]

[ceruleo]

[ He didn't think he'd miss this, but as soon as they hit escape velocity and the engine doesn't blow, he finds himself relaxing. There's a chorus of cheers from the least mature across the ship--himself included--and the previously ratcheting tension snaps like a rubber band, dissipating into the void.

He hadn't felt useless during prep work, exactly (of all the things to turn out useful, cargo pilot training had surprised him, helping engineering calculate freight and volume limitations), but he wasn't immediately helpful in the way Hunk and Pidge were, and since he wasn't allowed to pilot, he couldn't help feeling like he was being excised from his own team.

It wasn't a good feeling. ]

Right? Man, am I glad to be outta there.

[ Of course Ahsoka would be the one he'd go to find. Hunk won't be off his "shift" until the engineering team confirms everything's stable, and Pidge and Allura are liekwise occupied. ]

[resnipstance]

[ Ahsoka unbuckles her seat belt and jumps up, ready to be doing something other than sitting. ]

I'll say. If I never see sand again, it'll be too soon.

[ She's starting to understand her old master's hate for it quite well indeed. ]

Come on. Let's go stretch our legs. I don't like sitting still. [ Never would have guessed. ]

[ceruleo]

[ He huffs out a sigh. ]

Awww, c'mon. We deserve some beauty sleep after all that work.

[ But he predictably caves immediately, unbuckling and reaching out, his hand stopping in the air between them, expecting her to pull him up and out of his seat. ]

[resnipstance]

[ She does just that, pulling him up with an easy smile, before turning and walking down a corridor.

This particular corridor has a windowed section, and Ahsoka stops walking suddenly as they come upon it, staring out at the stars as they pass. Of course she's no stranger to space, but... ]

Oh ... [ She seems transfixed. ]

[ceruleo]

[ He remembers cleaning this window. Cleaning work had occupied a lot of his time, which he'd resented--but as they stop in front of the pane full of stars he can't help but think it was worth it. ]

Never gets old, huh?

[ Watching her, visibly in awe, makes his heart swell. He comes to stand closer, looking out at the vastness of space. ]

This is why I wanted to...become a pilot.

[resnipstance]

I don't blame you. It is beautiful...

[She continues to look out, placing one hand on the window in front of them.]

It's not like-- this isn't new to me, you know? The last four years, I spent so much time traveling through space... we were never in any one place long. [That explains a lot of her restlessness.]

We were always just zooming from one war zone to another. I never... I never really noticed how amazing it all is out there.

pit stop for shenanigans ig

[resnipstance]

[Their first stop is an intergalactic way station-- not a planet-- chosen primarily for it's proximity to Kharas. They don't have any information on the planets in this system. Which ones are inhabited, which ones are survivable, or even how far away they really are. So the nearest space station is their best bet, everyone agrees. At least they know it'll be inhabited, and that there'll be food there.

They aren't wrong. The station itself is huge, floating in an open stretch of space. The interior looks every sci fi cyberpunk fanboy's wet dream-- dark and yet simultaneously filled with neon. Foreign text abounds everywhere, though the Atlas Crew strangely have no problem understanding the spoken language, nor making themselves understood.

There are plenty of humanoid looking aliens around (and others not quite so humanoid), but strangely, not a single other human to be seen anywhere. The crew draw some gazes wherever they go, though never enough to be openly rude. Kids are the worst offenders, getting excited and pointing as they pass in the streets.

Those who ask around about Earth or any other of the home planets of the crew are from are only met with blank stares and shrugs. A similar response is gained whenever anyone tries to ask about the Atlas.

Eventually, one of their number gets lucky-- some helpful alien passing by overhears their line of questioning and comments, "Why don't you try Jiolklv?" they ask. When nobody answers, they elaborate, "Home to the biggest library in the galaxy? Keepers of knowledge? If this thing you're looking for exists, there'll be a record of it there."

With that out of the way, all that's left is to restock, refuel, and update their ship's maps. There's a brief argument over how many days they should stay on the station-- some want to leave right away, some want a respite from the hell they've been living in for the past month on Kharas, and some people (Anakin) want to do proper repairs on the ship now that they have access to proper parts to make sure that they don't all die in space due to a ship malfunction. The problem is... none of them have any money. Not for food, not for fuel, and not for parts.

Eventually it's agreed that they'll stay on the station for two weeks to scrounge up whatever money they can. At least accommodation isn't a problem, since they can still sleep in the ship, and there's still some stores of the food they prepared on Kharas, though most everyone is getting thoroughly sick of eating it by now.

Anakin raises his fair share of money fast by going straight down to the bottom levels and entering himself in illegal drag racing rings. Ahsoka disapproves almost in the same breath as she cheers him on from the sidelines. (Of course she goes to watch. How could she not? What if he got hurt?) As for herself, she goes from repair shop to repair shop offering her services as a mechanic. It doesn't earn a great deal, but it's enough, and Ahsoka seems happy doing it. Sometimes she brings projects home to the ship to work on over night, and spotting her in the barracks with bits of metal junk all around her and covered in grease smudges becomes a common sight.

For all that home is still far away, it's a nice reprieve.]

[ceruleo]

[ There are some universal truths that hold no matter how far you are from home: the richer people get, the less they want to clean up their own messes. In turn, the bigger the mess, the more money there is in being willing to clean it up.

If Lance's mom knew he was wasting years' worth of advanced physics classes and astronautics training to clean alien toilets, she'd let him have it, but she's not here and he's making pretty nice change, so.

Of course it hadn't been his first choice, or his second, or third, or anything, really--but unlike Hunk or Pidge his marketable skills were few on an alien trading colony, and as it turns out if you're willing to scrub unmentionable gunk from oddly-shaped bathrooms, you'd get hired on the spot. He's paid by the hour (they don't use varga here; it's saki, or more colloquially, saks) and they'll accommodate his two weeks of work. His boss (female??? sluglike, glossy all over, hard to make out when speaking) at least seems to take the job with the irreverence it demands, and the shifts are short, so Lance gets to come back to the ship with the spoils of war each synthetic evening. It's not much, but it's stable work, and it pays well enough that he thinks he could buy Ahsoka something nice if he keeps a little bit of it aside, here and there.

(She still wears the bracelet. It makes him warm, but it also means he can't get her more jewellery.)

This evening, their fifth out of fifteen, he's racing to join her at the races, held in the literally-named 'Deeps', the lower levels of the colony. The deeper you go into the bowels of neon and steel, the hotter it gets and the more misery becomes apparent. Lance, in contrast, has spent most of his day on his knees in space-rise apartments, washing windows and counters. ]

Ahsoka!

[ They're not meeting at the abandoned stadium, of course; the races are illegal, no matter how much of a blind eye the city officials turn on them. This far down the levels, it's a secret no one bothers to keep. He fits in nominally, having thrifted a light-up hooded jacket to slip over his bodysuit, helping him meld into the crown. ]

[resnipstance]

[If only Lance knew how much jewellery a typical togruta wore-- head, arms, wrists, fingers, ankles, anywhere that jewellery could be put. She'd told him that jewellery had meaning in her culture, but failed to convey exactly what that meant in practice. If any other togruta could hear his inner monologue, they'd laugh until the cows came home.

Nevertheless, Ahsoka isn't a typical togruta, so perhaps it's for the best.

She brightens when she spots him, face lighting up into a smile, and she gives a huge wave as he approaches.]

Lance!

[She beckons him over, motioning for him to hurry.]

You made it!

on the ship again, en route to jiolklv (for a more serious thread)

[resnipstance]

[By now, they've all been together long enough that most of the crew know to stay way the fuck away when Anakin and Ahsoka start arguing. They don't argue often-- most of their banter and smacktalk is just playing around. But occasionally they get vicious, in the way that only people who truly know each other too well can. So if Lance goes looking for Ahsoka in her rooms today, he might encounter at least one other person he knows heading in the opposite direction. If he gets even closer, he'll be able to hear them yelling crystal clearly through the walls even before he reaches the door. He should probably turn back. Except then Ahsoka says his name.

"Lance? What does Lance have to do with this?" --Ah. She's not talking to him. They're talking about him.

"Ahsoka, you know as well as I do what the dangers of attachment are! You're losing focus."

"Are you kidding me? You're going to lecture me about attachment? You're married. You have a son. You're the most attached person in the universe!"

Anakin makes a frustrated noise in his throat. "Exactly! Ahsoka I'm telling you this because I'm speaking from experience. Because I've been down this road and I know where it leads! It eats you up from the inside."

"Don't you dare project your guilt about failing to keep your vows onto me. I left so I didn't have to deal with exactly this kind of hypocritical--" she says something in another language that doesn't translate, but the meaning is clear.

"No, you ran away. You ran away from your responsibilities when we needed you most! When I needed you most! If you'd been there that day, maybe I'd still be alive!"

Silence. Then-- the unmistakeable sound of a hand slapping a face.

The door opens and Ahsoka storms out of it and down the hallway. Before Anakin can emerge after her, Ahsoka flicks her wrist without looking back, using the Force to slam the door in Anakin's face-- her meaning clear. Don't follow me.]

skips right to the good stuff

[ceruleo]

[ It happens with alarming frequency; you'd think that two people who knew each other so well would have an iota of chill between them, but.

Apparently not.

This is, however, the first time Lance has heard his name reverberating off metal walls at such high volume, and while he knows eavesdropping is terrible (he can hear his mother shrieking in his mind: ¡que malcriado! Sorry, mamá.) he still comes close, trying not to seem like he's visibly listening in. Which he's totally not. Erm. Maybe not entirely?

It's pretty clear what the conversation is about--him, and attachment, and, ah. There's a flush of pink down his nose, blossoming over his cheeks. They haven't really talked about it. Anakin is terrifying, but that hasn't stopped Lance from holding Ahsoka's hand here and there, initiating a hug. It's been one-sided, so far, but Ahsoka's tolerated his "advances", meagre as they are, so...

It's never really dawned on him before now that she might feel a little bit more than tolerable.

Lance winces at the vicious sound of a slap, then Ahsoka comes bursting out, wrenching away in the opposite direction; it's doubtful she even saw him. Lance is left blinking a few times, tensed from almost being caught, but immediately gives chase. ]

Hey! Hey. [ He falls into step, trying to stop his heart from cartwheeling in his chest. ] You okay? You guys were like, shouting.

cackles

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka is struggling not to cry as she storms down the corridor, but Lance's yell distracts her, and she looks up at him in surprise for a brief second, eyes wide. Then she looks away just as quickly, expression guilty.]

--Lance... [she doesn't slow down.]

I'm-- ["I'm fine, it was nothing," she wants to say, but it dies on her lips.]

How much of that did you hear?

[ceruleo]

[ His expression softens when he takes her in. This is probably the most vulnerable he's ever seen her, and it stirs something deep in his chest. Arguing with Anakin has always left her wound-up, but never as upset as she looks now. ]

Enough that if you told me you were 'fine' right now, I'd know you were lying.

[ Gently, he reaches over, laying a hand on her bicep. ]

C'mon. Let's go somewhere quiet, yeah?

[resnipstance]

... I don't know that I'd be very good company right now. I kind of want to punch something repeatedly.

[ceruleo]

...Don't you have any better ways of venting? We could talk it out.

1/2

[resnipstance]

I don't want to talk about it, I--

jiolklv (yes, that is a keysmash)

[resnipstance]

[It's been an arduously long journey to the "center of all knowledge"-- Jiolklv, as it's known-- but they finally land on the planet at nighttime. It's a curious looking place. Mountainous, with bioluminescent flora glowing in the dark at night. Hardly the place you'd expect to find a library.

At first the planet seems abandoned-- until they look upwards. It isn't easy. With the lush forest everywhere, it's almost impossible to see the horizon. But a few people decide to climb the trees until they reach the canopy, and then the solution becomes clear.

Beyond the forest, rising up in the distance, is a huge snow-capped mountain range off in the distance. And dotted all along the peaks? Are the lights of civilization.]