A fixer-upper [OPEN]

[leafonthewind]

Weeks had passed since the battle, but the Quarter's repairs were coming along at a crawl. Breeches in the hull were one of the most ticklish things to fix on a starship, and the Ohm's weapons had of course fried most of the circuitry and broken all of the conduits around the breech area. Working with salvaged materials as they did, it was an unfortunate fact that sometimes the fittings just... didn't fit.

"You yī dà tuó dàbiàn!" Wash shouted, hurling his spanner across the cramped area he had himself wedged into. It bounced around the inside of the space and fell clattering on the floor of the hanger. "Damn," he said, and started the process of extracting himself from his spot.

Comments

[leafonthewind]

"Like we're almost the biggest, baddest thing in the sky. You've watched the main cannon fire? Try being the one who pushes the button." Wash grinned. He teased out another clump of damaged wires and brought the soldering iron to bear on them, mending the broken circuits so they would conduct electricity again.

"I mean, I know we're not the baddest thing out there by a long shot - did you see those city ships? - but that cannon is nothing to sneeze at."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Well, it'd be kind of hard to miss. But I thought Eva was the one who pressed the button." Zouichi frowned a little at the thought; after all, Eva probably wouldn't be the one performing that duty any more. He fingered some of the frayed wires, using the tool in his hand to fuse the metal back together.

"The city ships, and those new Titans... looks like they're busy coming up with new threats to throw at us. Wonder what surprise they'll have the next time around."

[leafonthewind]

Wash sighed when he mentioned Eva. "She missed this one," he said. "Don't know why. And now that she's resigned, we're going to have to find someone else."

He was still a little sore at her for that. Just when he found someone he thought he could work with, she went and had a breakdown. Not that he could really resent her for having a breakdown.

"I don't know if we should take it as a good sign that they have to make entirely new Ohm to try and kill us. At least they don't seem to have very much success."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi nodded. "Anyone you have in mind?"

He didn't blame Eva for what she'd done, though it was regrettable. Anger was an easy thing to lose your hold on, if you were exhausted enough. If you felt cornered enough. He had a feeling Eva had been feeling cornered for a long time.

"Yet, anyway. It's not just their weapons that seem to be changing, though. Their tactics appear to be adapting to us, as well. I ran into a trio in that last battle -- they seemed hell-bent on picking people off one on one."

[leafonthewind]

"Can't say I know many people with experience at Tactical," Wash said. "Unless you know someone in Command. Maybe we should find someone who could do the job and promote from within."

There was a thought. He knew the General always looked for new blood in the podpops, but maybe it would be better to find someone who already knew their tactics and put them on the bridge.

"Let's hope they don't get smarter than us faster than we can handle," Wash said. "I like giving them a run for their money. I don't want that to change anytime soon." He found another connection with exposed wiring and broken pins and frowned, reaching into the toolbox for a pair of pliers.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Well, there was that Nightwing guy, but Wash had probably already thought of anyone obvious. Other than that...

"Unfortunately, the topic of who has experience as tactical officer of a large battleship doesn't really come up a lot in conversation." He wasn't sure any of the pilots he knew would be interested, either. As exciting as being on the Quarter might be, he liked being a little more hands-on with the wanton destruction.

"I only wish we could do more than hope," said Zouichi, frowning a little. "I don't like sitting around, waiting for them to figure out how to beat us. We know so little about them, though."

[leafonthewind]

"They're like Reavers," Wash said, pausing in his work for a moment. Reavers weren't something he liked to talk about. "Nobody knows where they came from, they don't act like they operate on any kind of logic..."

The more he thought about it the more the Ohm really were like Reavers. It made a little bit more sense now why the Daligig would rescue a boatload of Reavers and put them in the basement. Wash shuddered at the thought. At least Kennedy spaced them.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Well... as I understand it, the Ohm are a little different, aren't they? Reavers can't be communicated with or reasoned with; they're just violently insane and incredibly strong. And the Ohm do seem to display coordinated attack patterns, at least. If Dhianeila is to believed, they're also capable of communication, although in a vastly different way than we're used to."

Reavers were something he could destroy without remorse. The Ohm... you had to kill them if they were presenting a danger, of course, and they were incredibly destructive. But the jury was still out on whether they were actually evil.

[leafonthewind]

"I'm not sure what to believe," Wash said. "We've seen them attack planets firsthand, so obviously some of what the Daligig tells us is true. It's hard to believe the whole 'verse is gone, though."

He sighed, pulling out another mass of wiring and sorting through the frayed pieces. "If it really is gone, and it really was the Ohm, I'm not sure I really care about the why of things."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi nodded. "They're not blameless parties in this, by any means. However, you could say the same of most wars -- that both neither side can claim to be completely 'good'. I do think that it would be a mistake to take what we've seen of the Ohm and conclude that the reasons behind their actions are irrelevant, though. They may, in fact, simply be too numerous or resourceful to eradicate. If that's our goal."

He wasn't even sure if it was or not. Fuzzy mission goals were all he'd seen from the ship so far. "In any case, resolving the conflict may require us to force a stalemate, or even agree to coexist with them."