riverview | ( video & action; un: kirk ) come fly with me

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( video & action; un: kirk ) come fly with me

[ Jim's face greets the network, blue eyes alight with excitement and a big, happy smile on his face. He's dressed all proper in a flight suit, hair with that annoyingly perfect curl over his forehead, and behind him a glimpse of the front of the shuttle he's been working on can be seen. ]

Good morning, everyone! For those of you who don't know me, I'm Captain James T. Kirk, and for the six months I've been in the Quarantine, I've been a member of the Perimeter Guard as a surveyor. A couple of months ago, I took a small team to the waterfalls as we tracked down a mystery signal, and found an abandoned vessel there, buried in a cave. We brought it back with us, but it was severely damaged and it took a lot of work and sleepless hours to get it back into shape. However, it wasn't wasted time. I'd like to present to you all— [ He stands up and moves behind his device, so the camera focuses fully on the shuttle. ] the PGS Intrepid! [ ta-daaah ] She's good as new and fully functional now, and I'm excited to say she's ready to go well beyond the walls and all around the whole moon.

[ He comes into the view of the camera again, retaking his seat in front of it. ]

The shuttle is an invaluable asset of the Quarantine, and with her restoration, a new branch of the Perimeter Guard has been established: aerial survey and exploration. So far it's only Poe Dameron and myself, but I'd love to see more skilled pilots and explorers joining us.

Likewise, if you'd like to pilot the shuttle and have the skills to do so, but don't want to commit to that specific branch of the guard, there will also be flight permits available to any skilled pilots who might want to use the shuttle for quick trips and various missions.

On both these circumstances, there should be a small flight test to assess your skills.

Now, if you only have minimal or no knowledge whatsoever, but you're interested in learning, we'll also be offering piloting lessons, ranging from basic to more advanced depending on your current skill.

Should anyone have any further questions, feel free to respond here, or drop me a line through my personal inbox. I'm also often at the Perimeter Guard, and anyone's welcome to come by. In that case, you can also take a closer look at the shuttle.

[ He sits up, smile growing a hint wider. ] Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you. Kirk out.

(( ooc: open to both network replies and action threads @ the perimeter guard! feel free to check out the post about the new aerial survey & exploration branch of the perimeter guard (and also jooooin uuuuus). actual interactions aren't mandatory, and we can definitely handwave your character signing up for classes/taking the flight test/poking around/whatever, so don't feel like we have to play out any of it! ))

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You found a shuttle?

[Okay, Keith was pretty happy at that idea. Since Red was too small for him to actually pilot her like normal, a shuttle would come in handy.]

That's awesome! Mind if I check it out?

[ YES THANK YOU excitement is what Jim's looking for. He smiles brightly at the camera. ]

Of course. I'm not keeping her locked away or anything, so if you want to come by the guard sometime, she'll be there.

Nice.

[Keith was definitely happy about this. He'd have to tell Shiro in case he missed the broadcast. They were both top pilots back home.]

I have a friend who'd probably be into the idea, too. He's also on the guard with me, so we'll stop by, definitely. His name's Shiro. I'm Keith.

And, if you ever need pilots, let us know. We're both pilots back home. [Casual shrug.]

The unit definitely needs more people, hence this broadcast. So if you and your friend are interested and have experience piloting similar vessels, I'll be all too happy to have you join in.

Pleasure meeting you, Keith. How long have you been in the Quarantine? I don't think I've ever seen you around the guard.

Great. I'll let him know. [It might help get him out of this memshare funk...]

Shiro and I have been around a few months, I guess. Not really long overall. We arrived around the same time as each other.

[ Quite a 'funk', indeed. Jim's had his fair share of unpleasant experiences, but he's mostly over them by now, thankfully. ]

Still quite a bit of time. [ Jim has spent most of that time either working on the shuttle or beyond the walls though, so it's entirely possible he's just missed them. The guard is a lot more packed these days, too; it's not as easy to recognize and remember faces. ] How've you guys been settling in? Is it very different from your world?

Different enough. We had just started getting used to moving around in space a lot because of becoming part of Team Voltron. Now we're kinda stuck on this moon. It's another adjustment, I guess.

[He shrugged.]

Also, a lot less fighting Galra here, but that seems to have just shifted focus to some of the creatures in the forest.

Bit different, yeah. Can't say I'm used to being in one same place for long either, but space travel is definitely more commonplace where I come from.

[ He does seem to have settled down pretty well here, though. Far be it from him to complain, but it's still weird thinking about it and realizing he got used to life on the moon so easily. ]

Most animals here just want to be left alone, so at least there's that. [ He cants his head. ] What's the Galra?

[Keith nodded. There were definitely a good number of races that were capable of it where he was from, too, even if humans hadn't collectively gotten themselves beyond Kerberos without the "help" of alien abduction or finding an alien spacecraft shaped like a giant lion to jump them through a wormhole.]

Most... [There were a few aggressive creatures out there that liked to come at a traveler unbidden. But, yeah... for the most part, it was just keeping each other at arm's length. The plants, on the other hand...]

The Galra are one of the ruling empires where I'm from. We uh... [He kind of felt weird talking about this now that he knew he was related to them.] They've conquered much of the known universe, and are enslaving other races and destroying planets. So, the team that Shiro and I are part of, we're fighting against them and trying to build up a resistance against them.

[ Having been out there beyond the wall a number of times, Jim will be the first to agree that not all animals are peaceful or keep to themselves. A few are outright predatory, and a number of them are aggressively territorial, which complicates things when a traveler has little or no idea of where some of those territories end or begin. He's had his own fair share of dangerous encounters, although he's always managed to come out of them just a bit banged up, but mostly intact. Still, he's tried his best not to actually kill any of the animals— so far, so good.

He listens to the abridged version of the story, nodding in understanding. He can't say he's not familiar in one way or another, although thankfully he hasn't had to deal with such a vastly extending empire. Granted, there are the Klingons, but still. Sounds a lot worse, in Keith's own world. ] Well then, sounds like you're the kind of people I'd like to have on my side.

Are you from Earth too, or another planet?

[Keith just shrugged. They were just trying to do the right thing. He tended not to think much about it past that. But he nodded at the question.]

Earth.

Humans are just starting to get to the edge of the solar system. We sort of ended up in a special situation.

[He looked off screen for a second, and there was what sounded like a robot suddenly moving closer. A red robotic lion head poked into the video frame then.]

This is Red. She's normally a lot bigger... like, just the black part of her nose there is the same height as me. But, my team and I found the blue one like her on Earth. Blue's a little bigger, but there are five of these Lions. The way we're resisting against the Galra is by using them to fight. They're like giant space robots, and they can change form and combine together to make a bigger robot guy... fighter... thing that we use to take down enemy ships.

[Red turned and nudged the side of Keith's face almost like an affectionate cat. There was more to her than just being a giant robot lion.]

[ It's still something to be appreciated, he thinks. Even in his reality, on his Earth, not everyone would be so keen on doing the right thing. Jim's gotten quite enough proof of that, both in smaller and larger scales.

His smile grew a little at the head that poked into the video feed, and while he still paid attention to what Keith was saying, he was mostly taken by the big mechanical lion on the camera. Jim was a bit jealous, in a strange sort of way. He loved the Enterprise but he knew it was only a ship, not capable of independent thoughts or feelings, which didn't seem to be the case with Red. ]

That's pretty impressive. I assume she was sized down when she came through the portal. [ It's been known to happen with a few things, and it did make sense after all. ] How do you manage to control it together? Is there some sort of mind link established between you?

Yeah. We figured that was the case. Shiro's Lion came through, too. It's the biggest of the five, but it's still not much different in size than just a really big lion here.

[Red leaned her head on Keith's shoulder, and he gave a small 'oof' in response before reaching back and putting his hand under her chin.]

You're still heavy.

[She purred. Keith looked back at the video.]

Yeah, kind of? We're bonded to the Lions through that like mind link thing and then the Lions are connected to each other, so that kind of helps. We really have to be in the same mindset to even get the Lions to form Voltron in the first place, and then, to make it all work, it's a lot of communication and just... well, bonding.

[Keith shrugged a little. He wasn't sure what other word to use for it.]

If they're as big as you say, I guess it makes sense to size them down. [ The Quarantine isn't small by any means, but if everyone got something this large coming through without being scaled down at all, they'd be running out of space pretty fast— not to mention those things probably wouldn't fit through the portal.

He chuckles softly at how affectionate the lion is. ]

She seems to like you very much. [ Pure observation, really. ] If it's only the two of you here, though, I assume you can't assemble into one larger fighting form. [ Not that they'll need to here, but. You know. It sounds like it'd be kinda cool to watch. ]

Yeah. We have a pretty big ship to keep them on, so it's not as bad back home, but I can't imagine trying to fit them anywhere around here at their full size.

[Keith just smiled at the comment about her liking him. Red proved Kirk's point by nosing against Keith and almost pushing him over.]

It's part of the bond between Paladin and Lion. Red here is like crazy protective, apparently, and our bond seems to work over longer distances than anyone's seen before. I still don't really know exactly what that means, but she reacts to me pretty strongly.

Also, when they're bigger, they're no where near this active. I think the smaller size gave them more energy to expend or something... and now they can explore things in a more reasonable way. Like, without crushing someone's car or something, so they seem to be taking advantage of it.

[He nodded.]

We'd need all five to form Voltron. I'm actually kind of curious if the smaller Lions could make a smaller Voltron, but, at the same time, I'm not exactly sure how safe that would be. We'd need to find a way for all of us to keep up, and that could just be awkward. I took Red out for a run the other day, and it's not easy to ride on her back, and she's still really fast, even smaller like this. It's like riding on a rocket.

They'd have to be kept beyond the walls, most likely. Or the shuttle bay.

[ Jim can imagine how Keith might not have liked that. He wouldn't have, if he'd been in his shoes. So while it's probably weird and it takes some adapting having to get used to the lion in a smaller size, he can guess that Keith would rather have this than Red in her full-scale size, only for her to have to be kept away from him. ]

Maybe it's like with animals, when they're tinier they're just livelier and more energetic. [ A pause. ] Could be something about this place too, or the portal.

[ Shouldn't rule out that hypothesis. This place works in strange ways sometimes, so who knows. ]

Right— you'd have no space to pilot from the inside. [ Jim nods. ] Still sounds handy, provided you can manage not to fall off while she's running.

Yeah... The shuttle bay wouldn't have been bad. Kind of like back home, where they have hangars of their own in the Castle. [He brought his arm up and around her snout, resting his hand on her nose. That seemed to placate her attention seeking for the moment as she gently settled her chin on his shoulder without dropping the full weight on him.] But, outside the walls... [He made a face and shook his head.] No. We've had people trying to steal them back home. It's not something I'd be comfortable with.

[Granted, that was pretty much all Zarkon trying to get Voltron for himself, but that didn't make having them vulnerable to being taken any less anxiety inducing. Maybe it was the bond that amplified it beyond just making sure the greatest weapon in the universe didn't fall into the hands of the most oppressive empire to ever exist. Though, keeping the Voltron Lions away from Zarkon was pretty intense enough on its own.]

Shiro and I have pretty much just chalked it up to everything about this place in general. The fact that they were changed in size, the way the portal works... all of it. We can't explain it, and no one else really can, but it happened because they're here, so... [He shrugged the shoulder the Lion wasn't leaning her head on.] That's as good an answer as any.

[He grimaced a little and then nodded about the riding comment.] I've tried it already. It wasn't exactly comfortable when she was running, but it wasn't bad when she was flying. I kept her low to the ground, though. She's fast and can bank hard on her turns, so I didn't want to fall off from too high up. [Not that she wouldn't have tried to catch him, but her mouth was a lot smaller now, and it was going to be hard to do.] I want to work on a harness or something to make it easier on us. Or find someone else who can. [It was a sheepish sounding comment, but Keith knew he was good at certain things and not so good at others. He honestly didn't even know where to begin on making a saddle and harness set up for a flying robotic lion.]

[ Jim nodded. The Castle, he figured, must've been some kind of base for them, kind of like the Perimeter Guard in a way. Keith wasn't too specific about it, and for now, Jim didn't see the need to ask for further details. He soaked up what information he was given like a sponge, though, and provided it came up again, he'd ask a little more about it. This whole concept of a bond, a shared link that would allow several systems and people to come together and work as one fascinated him. ]

Can't fault you for that. You can never be too sure what sorts of people there are around here, particularly with how the portal works. [ He couldn't be sure that everyone brought in would have good intentions after all. Even by herself and in smaller form, she'd likely be valuable in the eyes of many, and maybe not all of those people would be the kind to inspire one's trust. ]

You might be able to find someone around here who can help. There's this guy— I've never met him, but he does a lot of work for the guard, like communication devices and various repairs, he might be able to help you. His name's Francisco Ramon, if I'm not mistaken. Doesn't hurt to ask if he would be capable of making something like that. [ Granted, he might charge him for it, but at least Keith would have a notion, somewhere to start. ]

Exactly. [Keith was glad Kirk understood.]

Francisco Ramon. Alright, thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Maybe he can figure this out.

[Red purred loudly. She liked the idea.]

I'll talk to Shiro and maybe we can stop by in a few days to see that shuttle.

No problem. I hope you work that out.

[ Jim smiled, nodding. It wasn't a given, granted, but Jim was glad for the prospect of a couple more people joining the unit. ]

Alright. I look forward to meeting you two in person, then. [ A quick, playful salute. ] Give my regards to your friend.

Will do. Thanks.

[If that was it, he'd be off!]

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( video & action; un: kirk ) come fly with me

video | un: redpaladin

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