#Musings: Sunrunner

[kpswrites]

Sunrunner – Chapter One

With a practiced flick of his wrist, Hoxley flipped this morning’s breakfast in the pan. The food, if one could call it that, sizzled in the hot oil. He knew life in space meant he’d be dealing with matter-converted meals, but the reality of the wet slabs of nutrition was still depressing. What he wouldn’t give to make the crew some braised onion chicken with gruyere. He silently committed to purchasing some real ingredients when they next docked at a station, damn the expense.

“You were saying, Hox?”

Hoxley snapped out of his musing, “Oh, sorry Xavier. What did I say last?”

“You left off at ‘horrible writhing masses that spread across the walls.’”

“Right. Those were there. Then the ceiling was torn off the building, revealing the cosmos. Except that all of the stars were eyes and all the eyes were looking at me.”

“I see. You know Hox, I do have access to several terabytes of literature on psychology, but maybe you would benefit from talking to another person about this. We have a doctor on board.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to talk with me anymore?” Hoxley said, a note of betrayal entering his voice.

“No, no! I very much like interacting with you and the crew. I just believe you have complex issues that would benefit from someone qualified and physically present, not the disembodied voice of an AI.”

“I am extremely uncomfortable with that idea. Oh, speaking of disembodied voices, the eye-filled cosmos said something after that. I don’t remember what because the words resonate so loudly that I always explode at that point.”

“Explo-“

“Yea, like a glass that reverberates until it shatters,” he explained, dicing a block of nutrition and adding it to a curry sauce.

“You know, Jim is both a doctor and an AI. Maybe that’s a happy compromise to getting some professional help.”

“What? Why? This is helping plenty,” Hoxley declared.

Xavier was preparing a dialogue to explain self-denial when Ozzy buzzed in on the ship’s comms.

“Hoxley, can you report to the cargo hold? We’re approaching our destination.”

~*~

Azure light swept across Buddy’s field of vision. Once. Twice. Three times before the machine chimed a cheerful tune. The firm cushions lifted her to a seated position, slowly revealing the back of Dr. Jim as she was elevated. She waited patiently for him to say something for several minutes then cleared her throat.

“Did you find anything?”

The form of the doctor rippled before he turned around, dark metallic microbots briefly exposed before the projectors corrected themselves. He had chosen the appearance of a bald, middle-aged man which, according to Jim, was the galactic average appearance of a doctor. He had used the same metric for his name. Buddy was uncertain if a doctor made of small machines was a normal thing, as her frame of reference was roughly two weeks.

“No,” he stated.

“Nothing?”

“That is what ‘no’ means.”

Buddy stared at him expectantly.

“Oh,” he continued, “You wish for a report of our tests?”

“Yes please,” she confirmed pleasantly. Zenith and Adam had told her that the doctor’s curt demeanor resulted from underdeveloped social algorithms. For whatever reason, the AI was developed without a social parent to draw personal skills from. To Jim’s credit, he was adamant about correcting this.

“No markers for common pathogens found in your bloodwork. Your cardiovascular readout is in the 99th percentile for your age, sex, and race. Significant surgical intervention has been performed on you in the past, gunshot wounds and plasma burns are the most prevalent. There is some evidence of chemical trauma in the hippocampus, the origins of which are unknown. Serum progesterone is at indicative levels for an elf of your age undergoing ovulation. Your fecal samples indicate sub-satisfactory digestion-“

“Wait, wait, did you just say I have brain damage?”

“Correct.”

“But you said that you didn’t find anything. That could explain my memory loss.”

“The mechanism by which your brain was damaged has not been conclusively determined. Therefore, the source of your memory loss remains unknown.”

“Sure, but you could have told me about it.”

“Your brain damage was obvious given your nature,” Jim said, then continued after registering anger on Buddy’s face, “by that I mean the lack of understanding you demonstrate due to your memory loss. We can pursue other means of investigation, such as psychotherapy. Can you describe your oldest memory?”

“Sure, I was at a docking bay aboard Galduron station. There was a blue-haired guy, human, looking at me like he was about to miss his flight. When I asked him what was going on, he said, ‘You’ll be fine, Buddy,’ and ran off. Oh, and he had an empty syringe in his hand.”

Jim was motionless, as if his CPU had frozen. Buddy was deciding whether she should try and shake him out of it or go get BOB when Jim abruptly spoke, giving her a start.

“I am going to schedule another scan to assess the possibility of further brain damage.”

“Oh,” Buddy said, deflating, “I thought the psychiatric approach sounded promising.”

“That will likely accompany our diagnostic endeavors. Do you have any further questions?”

“What was that about sub-satisfactory digestion?”

“You require more dietary fiber.”

The ship’s comms buzzed as Ozzy’s gruff voice was broadcast.

“Buddy and Jim please report to the cargo hold.”

~*~

Adam looked on anxiously as Odybrix twisted a copper wire with a pair of pliers and jammed it into the patchwork device. His training made him keenly aware of how deadly improvised explosives could be. The halfling looked utterly unphased by the danger. If anything, she was treating the bomb with increasing aggression as the pieces refused to come together.

“Is the dining table the best place to build that?”

“Is anywhere aboard a spacecraft?” she replied distractedly, reaching with a tattooed arm for a nearby screwdriver.

“That’s a very good point. Maybe we shouldn’t be doing it then?”

“What, am I supposed to not build bombs? Don’t be ridiculous. The problem with you, kid-“

“We’re roughly the same age.”

“The problem with you is that Remington has removed the joy of creativity from your life and tossed it out an airlock. Nothing makes a Corporation happier than crushing our spirits with the hammer of capitalism.”

“I don’t particularly feel like my spirit has been pulverized by capitalism.”

“That’s how they get you. You don’t even realize it happened. They just leave you as a soulless drone. No offense BOB.”

“I am not a drone, so none taken!” the boxy robot chimed in its unerringly upbeat voice.

“Anyway, you’re different,” Odybrix continued, “you left the comfy corpo corruption for adventure and revenge.”

“Elite security isn’t exactly comfy. And I’m not on a quest for revenge. I just want to find my father and ask him some questions… and punch him.”

“Your coffee is ready! Present your cups to receive top-quality liquid stimulant!” BOB exclaimed.

A panel slid open on BOB’s anterior and a spigot extended outward. Odybrix stuck out her mug while keeping her eyes on the bomb, as if willing it not to explode. Adam filled up next with a nod and thank you to the bot. Steam drifted off the dark surface, carrying a powerful aroma.

“Enjoy!” BOB exclaimed.

Adam lifted the mug, remembering the mild and flavourful coffee they had at Remington R&D, and took a sip. By the time he was done wincing at the taste, Odybrix had slammed her mug on the wooden table and was gesturing for more. Marveling at her ability to down steaming hot liquid, he absently wondered if she would have noticed had BOB swapped the beverage for battery acid.

The comms crackled on, causing everyone to jump and look at the bomb, “Adam, Odybrix, and BOB, there will be a meeting in the cargo hold in two minutes.”

“Oh good, I don’t have to get up,” Odybrix said, jabbing the explosive with her pliers.

~*~

A field of stars contorted and stretched into her periphery then disappeared. Entering reversion space never got boring, even after all of the jumps she had made. The countdown, the thrum of the ship, the brief falling feeling as the engine generated a hyper-dense mass, it always excited her. Then there were the stars. Thousands of points of light that sped past as the ship traversed a truly incomprehensible distance.

The view was almost beautiful enough for her to take her helmet off—almost. Jim had called her use of the helmet pathological, but what the hell did he know about piloting? One overlooked repair could lead to a ruptured chem line. One small system error could send them into a hull-busting asteroid. No, the helmet stayed on while she was piloting so she could keep piloting.

“Everyone is heading to the cargo hold, ZT,” Ozzy noted over the comms.

“Yep.”

“You’re going too, right?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“Gotta keep an eye on things,” she said, kicking her legs up onto the ship’s control panel.

“Our course is laid in and I check the flight path every sixty seconds. We are not going to crash.

“And what if someone’s messed with your programming, Oz? Could be fatal if I didn’t make it to this chair in time,” she said, reclining into the most comfortable position possible.

“There are two other AI on board. We routinely check on each other.”

“Same issue, programming.”

“BOB also runs a weekly diagnostic.”

“Programming.”

“What if I asked Buddy next time? She knows how to run a scan for some reason.”

“Definitely worried about her programming.”

“ZT.”

“Fine. Fine! I’m going.”

~*~

“Alright crew,” Ozzy began, popping onto an old vid screen in the cargo hold. His avatar was a forty-something human male with a fit build and a goatee. As if to preemptively settle any questions about his artificial nature, he had chosen to appear a semi-transparent blue.

“Is he the captain?” Buddy asked, leaning toward Hoxley.

“I’m new too and I have no idea,” he said, “I just make the food and get a free ride.”

“AI are barred from captaining vessels!” BOB exclaimed, overhearing the question.

“Why is that?” Buddy asked, “he seems like the most responsible person here.”

“The events of the Reckoning led to strict galactic regulations regarding the powers and responsibili-”

“Okay BOB, we can save the history lesson for after the mission,” Ozzy said, interrupting, “also, I am obligated to tell you that I am not a person. Moving on, I-“

“If anything, I’d be the captain,” Odybrix said, crossing her arms, “it was given to me.”

“Us,” Zenith said, “and it was ‘given’ by your highly suspect friends.”

“They’re fighting for the soul of the galaxy,” Odybrix replied, hotly.

“Can we please review the objectives before we drop out of rev space?” Ozzy said, increasing his volume several degrees, “I’m just going to play the mission brief from Remington Corporation.”

“Bastards,” Odybrix said.

“They are paying us for this,” Adam said, “you don’t seem to have a problem with that.”

“You mean taking their money and possibly stealing classified research from a secret facility? No, I don’t.”

Adam closed his eyes in annoyance as the recording played. A dour human frowned down at them through a pair of glasses. He was standing in front of a Remington Corporation logo in an impeccably tailored suit. A crimson tie was clasped with the only embellishment of his attire, a gold tie clip with small letters declaring his station.

“Crew of the Sunrunner, this is Vaughan Spectre, Chief Operating Officer of Remington Corporation’s research and development wing. In the absence of RC vessels near the Arebus system, you have been contracted to investigate a communications blackout on planet ZU4576B. If possible, you are to restore communications with the facility. As noted in the contract, you will be paid 5,000 credits for your service. Do not deviate from the tasks you have been given.”

“Cheerful guy,” Hoxley said.

“Yes, his demeanor doesn’t fluctuate much,” Adam said.

“You know that guy?” Odybrix asked.

“Yes. He’s at the same branch of the company as mom, I mean Ms. Hargrave,” Adam said, correcting himself.

“Wait, wait, you call your mom by her surname?” Odybrix asked, incredulously.

“She prefers that she only be referred to as ‘mom’ in private.”

“Oh my gods.”

A momentary wave of weightlessness passed over the crew as the mass reversion engine disengaged. Seconds later, the ship jerked violently and caused the contents of the cargo hold, crew included, to tumble. Klaxons blared as everyone scrambled to their feet. Ozzy buzzed in over comms.

“Battle stations!”

[sithandsindorei]

Stasi has been called a "troll throwback" and, instead of being insulted, claims it's a compliment.

Partly because she can HEAR half of the blood and high elf populations SCREAM IN RAGE.

[warwaged-archive]

Earlier I was thinking about all the things Thalyssra can be a nerd about and I was thinking languages

And you can't convince me she would not do her best to learn and communicate with other Horde members in their language

(But also mostly I was thinking about her learning Thalassian with Nera's help)

[diguerra-moved]

someone is openly flirting with bella in front of aethas, his thoughts go:

Sure, Aethas doesn’t like seeing people flirt with her (a discomfort that would have been there before they were together in truth), but neither will it cause him to be angry unless it is purposefully disrespectful. Before they are together, he’d show no reaction to it at all (it’s not his place to), and I think he wouldn’t feel deeply affected by it either; maybe somewhat annoyed, certainly would like them to stop, but he wouldn’t do anything, and he wouldn’t think much of it. What would get to him the most in that case wouldn’t be someone trying to flirt with her (because he can ofc see why they would), it would be Bella flirting back or not refusing their advances. That is what would affect him, probably in a subtly noticeable but still somewhat noticeable way.

Actually, I don’t think that’s something that changes once they are together. Of course, if they are in a relationship he knows Bella won’t flirt back, so there’s even less to worry about. He still doesn’t like that people do it ofc, but unless it is openly disrespectful he will be chill and not really show any reaction to it, because it’s not something that makes him feel strongly, just somewhat displeased. If he says anything, it’d be in a polite way too; he is outspoken, but he’s also respectful and polite and won’t be even vaguely threatening or angry or anything, not unless he has a reason to. His reactions are likely to be more on the subtle-but-not-so-subtle side than open confrontation, as in, he wouldn’t be like excuse you that’s my girlfriend, but he would very much place an arm around her waist (while waiting for Bella to roast them), for example.

If he has reason not to be polite, though, he won’t be. He won’t be confrontational in a ‘fight me’ way, but he’ll be blunt in telling the person to stop being a rude bitch and to leave them alone. Aethas isn’t the one in this relationship who’s more likely to pick a fight for any reason akdnsfjsndf 

[sithandsindorei]

Headcanon:

Stasi learned Orcish when she was healing and recovering with the Warsong clan in Nagrand. So, if different clans have different accents (and I can only assume they do, at least, the older ones who survived the camps), then her Orcish would have a Warsong twist.

Not that it ever comes up in RP, but here we are.

Oh, and ironically, she knew Common for far longer, but she's far far far more fluent in Orcish.

[warwaged-moved]

* tag drop: thalyssra.

‣ muse { thalyssra } —  ❝ DUSK LILY. ❞ ‣ character study { thalyssra } —  ❝ SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST PURE MAGIC. ❞ ‣ isms { thalyssra } —  ❝ WE ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS OUR WILL. ❞ ‣ in character { thalyssra } —  ❝ STARDUST IN HER VEINS. ❞ ‣ aesthetic { thalyssra } —  ❝ ANCIENT MAGIC‚ ANCIENT MYSTERIES. ❞ ‣ physique { thalyssra } —  ❝ MOONGLOW IN HER HAIR. ❞ ‣ dynamics { thalyssra & elisande } —  ❝ WE EACH SEE OURSELVES AS THE HEROES OF OUR OWN STORY. ❞ ‣ dynamics { thalyssra & valtrois } —  ❝ WOMEN ARE SOME KIND OF MAGIC. ❞ ‣ dynamics { thalyssra & oculeth } —  ❝ PROOF THAT LOYALTY DOES EXIST. ❞ ‣ dynamics { thalyssra & lor’themar theron } —  ❝ STRENGTH TO ENDURE THE STORM. ❞ ‣ dynamics { thalyssra & liadrin } —  ❝ ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER. ❞ ‣ dynamics { thalyssra & nera sunrunner (soulescence) } —  ❝ JUST ME‚ HER‚ AND THE MOON. ❞

[diguerra-moved]

Alleria/Willa - Alleria deserves a non-paladin woman in her life. Just gooo. Be gay. Thalyssra/Nera - I love Thaly with Liadrin, but I love Valadrin more... And Nera is basically a more available Liadrin from what I've seen and I love it. Basically, all your WoW muses should go to Sunrunners, js.

WHO DO YOU SHIP MY MUSE WITH? // accepting.

Hello @sunrunnerrs we have a fan

But honestly Alleria really deserves to go be gay and happier in a paladin-free relationship, and Willa also deserves to be happy and make some good life choices

Nera and Thalyssra is really nice because while it isn’t an actual serious relationship in the romantic sense but they really care for each other a lot? And like I talked with Aera about once, I think that they’re so chill that even should they decide they don’t want to be together like that they would remain friends and continue to trust each other a lot. Thalyssra would really prefer that not to happen though. She adores her paladin almost gf.

[paradoxrealm]

AGiT

"Go ahead, I won't stop you," she said, kneeling so that it'd be easier to bandage her up. "Something...didn't feel right. There were only eleven SUNRUNNERs there, and three out of 26 are dead," she mused to herself. So, where are the others? DJ stood to the side, awkwardly, worried out of her mind for Leona. 

---------

"They could have just have left, right?.." Thor suggested, trying to be careful as he lightly cleaned your wounds, bandaging them soon after.

[sithandsindorei]

I think that something I and everyone else should keep in mind in regards to Stasi is, no matter how horrible things are (and man, things can be literally straight from Hell), as long as you survive it, you have a chance to find something better.

Someday.

It might take years, but somehow, someway, you can heal. You might have to settle for merely existing from day to day, moment to moment even, but as long as you’re drawing breath and your heart is beating, you can do this.

Moment to moment becomes hour by hour turns into day by day becomes week by week. Then month to month. Then seasons change. And years pass. And you’re still fighting, dammit, and that’s okay. Just remember to keep fighting for something, and keep a goal in sight.

[sithandsindorei]

@ask-logosh-and-friends

When you’re the elegant, stealthy rogue, being paired up with the noisy barbarian

[sithandsindorei]

Stasi Sunrunner:

You got D) Fatal flaw: Your brutal honesty.

You’re blunt. You’re outspoken. Frankly, you’re kind of a jerk. But you get away with it because you’re usually right and also because you’re indispensable to the major plot. But honestly? It’s going to come back to haunt you. One of these days, you’re going to be TOO honest. You’re going to refuse to lie at a critical juncture, upholding your honorable caustic truthfulness, and you’re going to pay the ultimate price for it.

[sithandsindorei]

Eight Facts: Anjastasia

Tagged by: @tanveth :D

Tagging: @rise-abxve @dxrthsanguine @airanddarkness @abyss-wolf @starstruckstories (and anyone else who wants to tackle this!)

Name: Anjastasia Il’sabet Sunrunner, aka Stasi.

-She could have been, and still has the potential to be, a really strong mage. -Has a natural affinity and connection to predators, especially wolves. -Has a hard time trusting anyone, but tends to have the biggest problems with paladins and mages. -Was (is?) a Farstrider, and lost her best friend/lover to the Scourge when Arthas attacked. -Fights for the Horde because the Horde took the Blood Elves in, but prefers to stay out of cross-faction conflict in the face of threats to Azeroth as a whole. -She’s been called a troll-throwback because of her attitude, sass, and stubbornness (and actually thinks that’s a compliment). -Prefers bows over guns; guns hurt her ears and give her position away too easily. -Have fun trying to get her to confide in you. One of the most important things she needs is someone to listen to her, but between her trust issues and insistence that she isn’t worth anyone’s time, she won’t tell anyone about the mess in her head, which just feeds on itself and makes her even less inclined to deal with people.

[sithandsindorei]

Tidbits!

-Glacius is severely afraid of bugs. Spiders, colocoids, those slugs on Korriban, you name it, she cannot stand to have any within at least twelve feet of her. I imagine she went somewhat berserk and tried to exterminate all the k’lor slugs on Korriban when she was there, and someone probably had to sedate her and haul her out of there before she managed to destroy what passed for an ecosystem there. Oh, and she would happily pull a Death Star on Alderaan and Balmorra if she knew for a fact that she could obliterate every bugthing in existence, but since she can’t, she won’t.

-Rhastazi has weird separation anxiety concerning her sabers. Her throwing them telekinetically is one thing, because that’s under her control; someone taking them and hiding them, however...yeeeeah please don’t do that, she tore half her ship apart last time. THANKS, REI’KI.

-Stasi is afraid of death. This one actually makes sense considering her experiences with the Scourge.

-Rei’ki is weird about romantic relationships. She doesn’t want to get attached, and claims no one can keep up with her. What she’s deep-down worried about is, everyone thinks she’s just too “loud” and won’t get close.

[sithandsindorei]

Tagged by: no one but technically @mally-the-gladiator

Tagging: @ask-logosh @starstruckstories (and anyone else who wants to do this!)

NAME: Anjastasia “Stasi” Sunrunner AGE: Adult (127ish? elf ages are weird) SPECIES: Sin’dorei GENDER: Female ORIENTATION: Straight INTERESTS: Leatherworking, flying, exploring. PROFESSION: Former (?) Farstrider, currently Horde scout preferring aerial scouting BODY TYPE: Short, lithe, built lightly. EYES: Faded fel-green (born blue) HAIR: White-blonde. Straight, cut to chin-length or so (usually with a knife) SKIN: Pale, and scarred. HEIGHT: 5′2″ WEIGHT: 110 lbs? Maybe 115? COMPANIONS:  Bein (wolf), Alata (massive spirit-cat), Fleetwing (wyvern/mount) ANTAGONISTS:  The Cult of the Forgotten, and anyone trying to destroy Azeroth. COLORS: Formerly: dark red/black. Currently: Teal and pewter. SMELLS:  Clean leather and clean woods. FRUITS: Likes wild berries. DRINKS: Wine and some whiskey on occasion. Prefers tea. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES? Yes / No / Occasionally (she’s cut back on her drinking a lot) SMOKES? Yes / No / Occasionally DRUGS? Yes / No / Occasionally DRIVERS LICENSE? Yes / No (do you even need a flying license?)

[sithandsindorei]

🎀: How do they make themselves look attractive for their significant other?

Back when she actually had a significant other, Stasi braided jeweled chains and such into her hair (it was much longer then). She might have worn a light floral scent, if she knew she wasn’t going into the field for a few days, and maybe a little bit of makeup.

Nowadays, well, she’s not seeing anyone, and the closest she gets to “dressing up” is taking a full, body-scouring bath and maybe wearing new earrings. Part of her misses wearing pretty things, but she’ll probably never admit it out loud.

[sithandsindorei]

All anyone who knows Stasi wants for Christmas/Winter Veil is for her to be in a healthy, happy relationship that lasts for more than two hours.

Yeah. That'll happen. Like. Never.