nysalogs | Slow me down

[There's something about the inky darkness of Nadril's frozen-over lakes that reminds Allura of space. Not quite weightless, but no longer restricted to mostly horizontal movement, and surrounded by a darkness that felt even more absolute than anything she's known before. At least in space there were stars or spaceships. But here it felt almost claustrophobic.

Her breathing sounds loud in her helmet, and she swivels her head to look in the direction of her partner — tethered to her with a thin cable to make sure they wouldn't lose each other. They're working with extremely low light, to protect them from the creatures that they were told that swim below. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she wondered just how near the threats were. They should be on the other end of the lake, where another crew was set up with lighted lures they could drop intermittently, but with visibility being so low, they could be swimming right next to one.]

...Does your blaster work under water?

[It was half supposed to be a joke, but now she would rather like to know.]

Maybe, [ he says, the sound of his voice tinny even to his own ears, in these suits. Despite that, his tone is chipper. He's got his phaser on the outside of the dive suit, anyway, but he's hoping he doesn't have to use it. ] They're meant to work in water and in extreme temperatures, but every so often the chemical makeup of this environment or that will mess with them. This water could be made up of anything.

[ This is the answer I'm going with after consulting Memory Beta because while Prime timeline phasers probably wouldn't, Kelvin timeline tech is a little more advanced and ANYWAY

They're moving, making progress even if it's slow, and despite the dark, oppressive atmosphere, it's interesting. ]

It feels like what I imagine the earliest form of space walking would be.

[It’s not the most promising answer, but hopefully they will be lucky enough that they don’t have to use any of their weapons. They already had their unfortunate run-in with weird eldritch monsters, after all.]

You think so?

[She gives a quiet hum, trying to imagine that instead of being surrounded by water, by the void of space.]

Space travel has been a part of Altean culture for so long it is hard for me to imagine a time before.

[ Like trying to imagine man’s first experience sailing on the sea, or being warmed by fire. But she imagines it must have been something like this, started out with a handful of brave adventurers just jumping into the unknown,]

…Do you think the first space explorers were worried about monsters?

My home planet's had it in at least a primitive form for about three hundred years, [ he says, ] and warp drive for about two hundred. My contemporary time is already considered something of a Renaissance with it.

[ Speaking of first space explorers. Jim laughs quietly. ]

Who wouldn't be worried about monsters? No one wants to get eaten.

[ He's always more worried about Romulans or accidentally starting a war, in practice, but he's been surprised by aggressive beasts on unfamiliar planets more times than really bears thinking about. ]

My castleship was made over ten-thousand years ago. Ten-thousand, six-hundred, if I'm being precise. It's a little old fashioned by now, but it still stands up against the worst of the Galra fleet in a fight.

[A beat.] Rather, it used to.

[Ah, but this isn't the time to be upset about ships that are no more. Her tone brightens,]

I forgot that you are from a timeline different from Lance and the others. And with faster-than-light travel! [She's really not trying to sound low key condescending, it's hard when you're part of the most Extra advanced alien species, but she also sounds quite excited about being able to talk about this with anyone, really. She's not a scientist, but people who understand space-travel on a cultural level are few and far between here,] And you were a Captain, correct?

[ Jim's become adept at dealing with Vulcans, the most stoic, condescending, long-lived jerkwads in the Alpha Quadrant, so a little elitism from an energetic (young?????) woman is no problem at all. He likes Allura. ]

Are your ships for large crews, or are they one-man operations?

[ Seems there's an even wider variety of tech out there than even living beings, sometimes. ]

Mm. I'd like to think I still am, seeing as my job was to explore the galaxy and make contact with new worlds. There are two other Starfleet officers here, and my entire crew in stasis, so I'm just ... on a weird, long away mission.

[ A half dozen shimmery fish with neon eyes flit by, swirling near them then darting away. ]

We have both. My castleship was built to house many people, much like Thesa. [But better.] Within, we had flight-decks with smaller shuttles, and of course the Lions- that is, the ships that the other paladins of Voltron and myself pilot, meant for combat.

[It's a clunky description, but she's learned that Voltron doesn't immediately mean anything to most people she's met here.

She watches the glint of the silvery fish as they filter around the two divers, their reflective scales shining teal in the dim light of Allura's armor. She holds a hand out to see if they will swim between her fingers, but the movement causes them to scatter into the murky depths around them. It seems like even the frozen waters of Nadril are full of life,

She chuckles,] I suppose that's true. As much as I am still a princess, even if I carry no sovereignty here.

Slow me down

Kirk! QUEST > Sunken Treasure

i definitely wrote a tag for this and apparently closed the tab instead of posting it RIP ME

rip... I've done that too many times.

no subject

I just typed a tag and accidentally hit "back" and lost it so this thread is cursed now.

oh god......

no subject