Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Marked Effect (AFF Edition)	By : unrealuniverse Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 22185 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Mass Effect characters, species, locations and the universal setting are owned by Bioware and not myself. Any other brand names mentioned are property of their respective owners. This work is and always will be free for anyone to read.

Chapter List
- 57
- 58
- 59
Chapter 58 – Learning The Ride
Monday 27th February 2017
-------
Everyone in the house was sat in the kitchen having their breakfast when Seliha's Omni-tool beeps.
Seliha,
I would like to see you and Adastra at one this afternoon to discuss various things. I did over the weekend think about options for you as I stated on Friday.
Have a good morning.
Usarta
"Our meeting with Usarta is at one Adastra. I hope I do not get a silly proposal."
"I doubt that you will Seliha as Usarta seems to know what she is doing.
"Kate is probably right Seliha and I will be there as well. I would not worry too much and just try to have an easy morning." Seliha nods to Adastra. "Are you two going to Armali later today?" Fosanta looks to Kate for the answer.
"No as I unfortunately have a meeting at nine. I like it better when they are a bit later as mornings are less of a rush when that is the case."
"I probably could have later mornings as well but I quite like my work on the big thruster at the moment, even if it is a little tedious with technicalities."
"How is that progressing Adastra?"
"I would say we should be finished in about a week Fosanta. That should mean that we have a test device about three weeks from now, and if all goes well, we should have a second made a week before they should be moved to Sentix for installation."
"Having only a week spare is not long."
"It is not Kate but hopefully we should not have any driver board issues with this model as we have strengthened the confinement and doubled the driver boards."
"I have no idea really what that helps with Adastra."
"Confinement stops the plasma from touching the walls or being ejected before it is energetic enough. The driver boards are what energise the gas into a plasma via a coil antenna." Kate nods.
"I think we should consider leaving before you make anyone else confused with power amplifiers or fluid dynamics Adastra."
"It is not quite a fluid but I get the point Fosanta." The four of them wash their breakfast dishes before leaving for work.
-----
Sam, Amistathya, Silana, Selayla and Yasmari were walking down the corridor in Sentix from the main entrance to a meeting with Olissa in her office. "I am beginning to hate walking down this corridor. Every time I do I feel this ominous feeling."
"I have a little uncertainty as well Sam, but then again Liphanya has made my life difficult on many occasions before."
"I do hope you can defend your corner this time if you have to do so Silana. You are no longer owned by Sentix so say whatever you feel." Sam turns to Silana who nods before knocking on Olissa's door. Olissa soon opens the door.
"I am rather glad you are all on time as there is a lot to cover this morning. Please come in and take a seat." The five of them do so taking the seats opposite Liphanya who was already waiting at the table. "I typically dislike having to mediate between individuals who should know how to get along with each other. After talking to a few hull workers who were close enough to hear your conversation last week, I got the feeling Sam was being reasonable. This is not going to be a discussion about the use of biotics and who did what as I feel that is a waste of time. To eliminate a lot of bad feelings and tedium I will say that you may continue as you did last week Sam, as progress was not hampered."
"So Sam is his own manager now?"
"No Liphanya. Sam still needs to receive his job from you but individuals can ask any of the Armali engineers for direct updates. I am expecting you to give out the job, and the deadline, in a punctual and non-confrontational manner. Any inappropriate shortening of deadlines or delays in punctually giving out jobs will lead to me giving you sanctions. Is that clear Liphanya?"
"It is but why does Sam get special treatment?"
"Sam helps us bring in custom Liphanya. Are you sufficiently happy to go back to work now?" She nods and gets up to leave.
"Have a good day." She walks out without acknowledging Sam. "I do not understand why I seem to annoy her so much as all I wish to be is pleasant to individuals."
"Liphanya has some negative personality traits but she has managed to keep the workers sufficiently happy that none of them have ever decided to run away or commit suicide. She also manages to get most of the work completed on time and so is a valuable asset to this company, even if she is not the most liked individual."
"I suppose it is better to know the faults of someone you have than get someone else who you know nothing about."
"You seem to see why I am reluctant to let her leave. I do have other matters which I must discuss with you all this morning though. My first is that Silana, you are to take the refitted freighter to Nos Astra space port as per the usual arrangements this morning. Sam, I have received notification that you should have compensation for Silana moving to live with you."
"I have not checked Olissa but I must say that Silana has vacated her apartment and so you are free to do with it as you wish."
"I very much appreciate the swift vacation of that apartment as it can be cleaned and reused now. Silana has her job for the day and I still have one item left to discuss. Sam and Amistathya, you both are to spend the next three days learning the basics of flight. It does not inspire confidence in customers if you do not know how to even use a thruster when you are fitting them. I hope that you think that learning to pilot ships would be helpful to you both as well."
"I am assuming that we have no work this week then?"
"You do not. The next job we have scheduled is for next week and is two thrusters to be installed and one ship to have a full overhaul. The latter will likely take a few weeks at least. I am sure that Liphanya will provide specifics next week as some details are still to be resolved."
"Ok then. So who is to teach us and where are we to go?"
"You will be taught separately in our simulation rooms which are in our hull, interface and aesthetic design building which you went to last week. You will meet Mysampha Sam who is one of our non-haptic drive systems specialists. Amistathya, you will meet Thyansa who is one of our best hull designers. Both are competent pilots and patient individuals so they should both teach you well. Yasmari and Selayla, I appreciate that you are probably protecting Sam instead of Hymara and Lianta but could you kindly split yourself across both of the simulators."
"We can do that."
"I am appreciative of that. Your training will take an extra three hours each day as I am aware that you would prefer to work on your passenger transport on your free days Sam. I have asked both Mysampha and Thyansa to make themselves free to you both if you have any free time in the future, whether that is inside your work time or on your free time."
"I am also assuming that the extra three hours are non-paid?"
"Any time you spend inside the simulation rooms in or outside work hours will be classed as normal time. This is as beneficial to you as it is for us and so I feel that is a happy compromise even if it is overtime. I hope you can understand why I came to that conclusion."
"I can agree to that. Is that all Olissa?"
"It is. Mysampha and Thyansa will be awaiting you both in the entrance hall. Omepha will give you all the details you need for your handover Silana. It may even be an idea for Yasmari or Selayla to go with you but that is of course not my decision to make."
"I am sure we will speak to you again soon. Have a good day." She nods with a smile before going to her terminal. The five of them leave the room and begin walking to the reception area. "Well that was a little unexpected."
"Olissa does make a point Sam in that you do need to learn. Thirty hours is not long at all though."
"I am sure I will be able to use some free days once the passenger transport is completed Silana. How many hours do you think it will take?"
"To fly your ship I would expect at least a hundred and fifty hours Sam. I would be impressed if you could fly a class one shuttle with some competency after Wednesday."
"It seems I have a lot of learning in my future then Silana." The five of them walk through to reception to see one orange collared individual and one white collared individual waiting quietly on the seating on the right hand side of the room. "I am assuming that you have the orange collar Mysampha and Thyansa, you have the white?"
"You are correct Sam. I see you have made an effort to learn what colours denote what kind of individual already."
"One of the servants told me Thyansa but she seemed to omit white from her explanation but it may have been a lapse of memory."
"White is for design development and dark grey is for servants not owned by us but lent to use for the duration of a job Sam. Occasionally the other servants omit white and grey as they rarely see them." Omepha talking from behind the reception desk as the prepares a datapad with information.
"I appreciate knowing who does what now Omepha."
"It is no problem Sam. I have your specifics on this datapad for you Silana. As usual we will provide a handover bonus, expenses and collection from the space port when you have completed the delivery." Omepha hands Silana the datapad.
"How long will it take you to do that Silana?"
"It will be early afternoon when I arrive back Sam. I would need to find lunch in Nos Astra."
"Would at least one of you go with her?"
"I will come with you Silana." She nods to Yasmari and the two of them leave to go to hanger three.
"I guess that we should get started. Would you mind Thyansa if I made sure that Ami was comfortable first as she can find unknown Asari a little difficult to trust at first?"
"If you wish to do so Sam then I am hardly in a position to disapprove. I would also hate you to feel in any way uncomfortable Amistathya and I most certainly do not wish to jeopardise my contract by doing anything inappropriate."
"You can go on your own Sam. I think Thyansa will be ok to me." The five of them walk through the door into the central hub of the design facility.
"I am happy that you took that decision Ami and I think Thyansa will be kind to you as well. I assume you both know that neither of us have haptic implants before we begin."
"Olissa made us aware of that Sam and you are most welcome to either use non-haptic controls or use haptic gloves. Both myself and Thyansa cannot have haptic implants for different medical reasons but it does allow me to have a better understanding of what individuals need from the control interface."
"I can see how that would be a benefit for you Mysampha. Do you find it a help or a hindrance to you Thyansa?"
"It is more of an inconvenience for me as the design software essentially requires haptic interfacing as it allows the software to provide an extra data layer without using many different views or menus. Using gloves feels not quite natural to me but I manage." Sam nods. "Please follow me through here." She gestures the others to follow her through a door into a corridor. "This area contains four physical simulators to allow us to refine both ship interface systems and to ensure hull designs are stable in atmospheres and perform well under inertial stress."
"I must also add that we generally also use at least one of the four for flight training. Thyansa would you like to take one or four?"
"I know they are all generally alike but I prefer four." Mysampha nods. "Amistathya, would you like to follow me." She nods before following her through a doorway which seems eerily reminiscent of an extended walkway to a ship in its design. The two of them walk through and enter a single large room. "Please do take a seat at the front Amistathya and I will explain the simulator to you."
"I have honestly never seen anything as complex as this before." She takes a seat in front of the largest ship control interface she had seen, the orange glow a little intimidating. Thyansa takes the co-pilots seat.
"Do not be too worried about the complexity, just refrain from touching for the moment while I explain and give you some options." Amistathya nods. "This is one of four physical simulators we have and Sentix did not skimp on costs when these were introduced a few decades ago. Each one floats inside a sphere and can simulate all physical changes of direction and forces you would experience on any kind of ship. In the back you may have noticed several computing banks. These are loaded with VI software to simulate other ships, air traffic control and natural obstacles or problems as well as the ship control software. Each VI in each simulator is slightly different hence why I preferred four over one."
"Why does it differ?"
"They take notes of how pilots interact with problems and occasionally make the obvious solution impossible. The one in this simulator tends to do this by outside means and not impact the ship or its controls. This trait makes it a little better to learn with."
"So the one Sam is in will be more difficult?"
"Not particularly but simulator one tends to create more ship borne issues than the others. Simulator two tends to be particularly difficult with communications. Simulator three tends to focus on natural problems or things like under-fuelling and this one tends to use naturally occurring problems or space traffic. All of them may throw up any problem at any time during the flight and all are equal in their difficulty it is just their character that you get a preference for over time."
"I think I understand."
"I understand this is a lot to take in so quickly Amistathya. I must however ask if you would like to use gloves with a haptic interface or a non-haptic interface? The latter limits practical flying as most older ships and some newer designs have haptic interfaces without a non-haptic option."
"How difficult would it be to learn haptic controls later?"
"It is generally not too difficult since the basics are identical. The only thing you would have to learn is the simpler layout and how information is delivered differently."
"I think I would prefer to stay with the non-haptic as I would prefer to keep my own gloves on if I could do so."
"I cannot see that as an issue Amistathya. Our first flight is to be in a class two shuttle from Thermay Spaceport to Serrice Spaceport on Thessia. I will explain what to do at various points of the flight and pause the simulation on multiple occasions to point everything out to you. If you make a mistake I will reset the simulation and do not worry about making mistakes as they cost nothing." Amistathya nods and Thyansa begins to make the changes to both the drive system controls and to setup the simulation. She watches the view out of the window change from one spaceport to another.
-----
"I would rather stick to non-haptics for the moment if you do not mind Mysampha. I may try gloves at a later date but I just want the basics for now."
"That is understandable as shuttles, and actually the majority of newer ships now, are generally equipped with a changeable interface just like your omni-tool. To begin with I am going to setup a short flight and work through the entire procedure with you Sam. The flight will be in a development class one shuttle making a dock change at Nos Astra space port."
"Actually Adastra has mentioned classes in the past. Could you quickly explain them for me?"
"Class one is an interplanetary shuttle which is no more than three metres in width and seven in length. Class two is no more than three and a half width and ten in length. Class three is a passenger transport no more than twenty in wingspan and thirty in length. Class four is no more than forty in wingspan and sixty in length. Class five is no more than a hundred in wingspan and a hundred and fifty in length. Class five is the highest non-haptic ship that is possible to fly with current ship interface designs. Class six contains freighters with a hull width greater than twenty five metres but otherwise fit into the class five size limits. It also contains class five ships with a length or wingspan greater than class five but have a hull width of not more than twenty five metres. Class seven is a interplanetary freighter and is the largest landable class typically. Class eight and nine are restricted classes for military purposes typically although eight does contain very large freighters for mass movement of goods."
"So why may I ask is class six not pilotable with non-haptic interfacing?"
"Class six contains freighters which generally have a large hull and only have wings to prevent spin in atmosphere. This balance however means that they are slightly unstable in an atmosphere and haptic interfacing gives a pilot a feel of this instability allowing them to correct it."
"I understand now thank you."
"It really is no problem Sam. Ok, you are to fly PS-0121-674982 from Nos Astra dock 472 to a dock between 200 and 250. That will mean you having to navigate two traffic lanes. The reason for the dock change is to be a passenger collection."
"I have no idea where to start really?" Sam looking blankly at the array of controls infront of him.
"The ship with its ion drive will start when you wish to. A plasma thruster would likely need warming first if it uses ceramic tubes. Since we have an ion drive then our first thing to do is seek clearance from Illium control for the dock change. Once you get approval you may remove the walkway and I will pause the simulator to explain the ship controls. You will then begin to fly to your destination using the flight path and timings provided. I will pause the simulator to explain everything as we go as I know this is all new to you."
"I think we need to explain communications if we are to simulate going anywhere Mysampha."
"I do, my apologies. The two panels to your left are for communications. The bottom flat panel can switch between two views, a keyboard and a communication channel selection and control screen." Sam jabs the button to switch a few times. "The upper panel is a split view panel. On the left is for data messages and the right lists which communication centre you are tied with, ship registered name and a couple of other pieces of data you do not need at the moment."
"I guess that I just need to contact Illium control?"
"Yes, go to the communications selection screen. You need to select Illium Control surface as it is a surface transfer and HBRV for high bit-rate voice. You will note a change in the upper screen when you are connected. When you are state the recipient, ship designation and your intent as one controller may be guiding multiple ships."
"I understand." Sam does as Mysampha said and quickly notes that Illium Control was highlighted in green on the upper panel. "Illium control surface this is PS-0121-764982 requesting a dock change to one in the lower half of the two hundred range."
"764982, Please state the reason for your dock change." Sam was not overly expecting a Turian sounding voice but goes with it.
"My co-pilot wants me to move the shuttle so that it is nearer eternity. She did say it was to collect passengers but I think it could be so that it means less walking for a drink."
"I will see what I can find for you 764982." Sam just quietly laughs at himself while he ignores Mysampha shaking her head. "764982, dock 221 is the closest I can get to eternity."
"That will be perfect, thank you."
"That is no problem 764982. Flight plan will be provided to you momentarily. It is a four minute direct route with an ETA of seventeen minutes. I hope you have a pleasant day and please do not drink and fly."
"I will not. Thank you again Illium control surface. 764982 out." Sam pressed the end communication link button which he had found while he was waiting for the dock allocation earlier.
"I would advise you not to do that if you think it is a VI controller or in simulator two Sam."
"So I can have no fun at all? Also why not simulator two?"
"VI's can occasionally see humour as a lack of seriousness and refuse your requests. Generally refrain from doing so unless you visit a smaller space port with a unique ship where they are more likely to employ individuals and remember you."
"I have had my laugh for the day Mysampha. I guess you should tell me how to get there so we can do so before lunch."
"I should."
-----
Adastra walks towards the table by the window that Kate, Fosanta and Seliha had managed to sit at. "Did you all have a good morning?"
"I had a quiet morning as I feel individuals are a little weary of me."
"It may be an idea to quietly go around and talk to people Seliha and explain."
"I know you probably do not like Fosanta's suggestion Seliha but no one knew anything about you. If you are open about your condition and explain that you do not like what happened then I am sure they will feel a greater comfort around you."
"I had forgotten about what happened given all of the activity these last few days. I just feel isolated when I did not before." Adastra puts an arm around Seliha.
"I know the feeling better than you imagine Seliha as I felt the same after my outbursts. I mean I felt that even with Sam on the Enlighten that without his help I would have been isolated because of what happened."
"It was rather scary for me though Adastra as I had only a couple of days previously found out that you can mess with peoples minds. That still scares me a little even now."
"I think it scared Kriana more than it did you Kate. I meant no harm though in the same way as Seliha meant none when throwing the desk through the wall. I do not even have the excuse that I was not the usual me. We should get this all resolved when we talk to Usarta in a few minutes though Seliha."
"They may also give you some extra time to learn about yourself Seliha as it sounds like you still do not know for sure who you are."
"I know who I am Fosanta even if my mind cannot decide at times. I really just feel misunderstood by everyone with Adastra having some idea. I just need to feel comfortable with my environment and I will be happy. Having you two stay around is helpful to me even if you do not quite understand, knowing that you would like me as a friend is much more important."
"It is ok Seliha." She gives Fosanta a slight smile with a nod.
"You did scare me Seliha but I feel the surprise factor caused more problems than what you actually did thinking about it now."
"I am thankful to hear that Kate. I feel we should leave Adastra so that we are not late."
"We will speak to you both this evening."
"I hope you both have a helpful meeting." They both nod to Fosanta before leaving. "Seliha really does seem happier after this weekend even if she is feeling a little alone here. I may go and say hello later this afternoon since I have not got much work to do."
"I feel Seliha is beginning to settle which is good for me as it means less stress. It does annoy me a little though that you do not have much work to do as I have a full afternoon of form filling and meetings."
"We have no new data for bioamps and we cannot really begin any further development until next week. It is more just playing around with ideas this week, then when it is really busy next week I will not care as we have the week off."
"I am really looking forward to that. I should leave and get back to work." Kate gives Fosanta a kiss before leaving her to finish her lunch.
-----
"How was your morning Ami?" Sam asking after she appears with Thyansa to take a seat at one of the normal tables in the dining hall.
"I managed not to crash on my first flight which I am happy about."
"I supposedly slightly scraped mine but I am sure a bit of paint and it would be back to new again. I do not think Mysampha was too pleased at me being quite so informal with Illium Control though."
"What ship did you start with Mysampha?"
"I used a class one design that we had abandoned due to it being awful. I thought if Sam could fly that then we have a good chance of making him a pilot."
"I thought you would pilot a shuttle?"
"By linguistic definition you would Sam. Classes one and two have reduced requirements which essentially means that any individual can obtain thouse licenses easily. Classes three and above require much more practical experience. Your ship uses your biometrics and a pilot database to ensure you are eligible to fly that particular class."
"Why did you give me a type two ship to begin with Thyansa?"
"Type one ships get a lower priority on Thessia so I was trying to make the clearance quicker and easier for you Athya."
"Silana said earlier that it would take about a hundred and fifty hours to learn to fly a class four ship. Does that sound about right?"
"It would be a hundred and hundred and fifty hours in a simulator for class four ship plus the three previous class's simulation tests to obtain provisional licences. Overall you are looking at a hundred and eighty hours in a simulator if you pass the tests first time Sam."
"So what do the provisional licences mean?"
"They allow you to fly an actual ship with a co-pilot who is qualified at that class Sam. The provisional licences allow you to gain the hours needed to obtain a full licence. Flight hours cascade down but are divided by three for every class step and at least twenty percent of the required time must be done in a ship of that class."
"I think I understand that so what are the amount of hours that are needed at each class?"
"The minimum you will need to do Sam is ten hours for class one, twenty for class two, a hundred and sixty seven for class three and the full amount for class four is a thousand hours. If you do all the preceding minimums before attempting to fly a class four ship then you can take a competency test for class four which would allow you to obtain that classes hours on your own."
"So that is about four hundred hours including the competency test?"
"That sounds about correct Sam. Then you will have a further thousand hours before you have a full class four licence. You can do at at your leisure but you must fly at least fifty hours per month and go into a simulator for a day every three months to maintain your competency. If you fail to maintain those minimums then you would need to have a qualified co-pilot again or retake the test."
"It sounds like the best I could hope for before May then is a class two or possibly class three provisional."
"You should both be able to do all of the simulation time by then Sam. Getting your class one and two hours in plus the competency tests would be easy to complete within a week. Class three would take some time but it should be manageable within three months."
"I think that will be a difficult target to achieve Thyansa but we will see what we can do if you and Mysampha are happy to try to get the time in on evenings and possibly one day at a weekend."
"We will be happy with that Sam." He nods.
"Actually, I am a little surprised at the VI in the simulator being able to understand me so well to be honest."
"The VI is trained to interpret other species using their non-native language and so would probably understand what you mean in the same way I do Sam. I do admit that I was a little surprised at it granting such a request given the ridiculousness of it."
"Maybe it likes me Mysampha. I should send a message to Silana saying where we are so that she knows where to go when she gets back. Would you prefer Silana to sit in the simulator with you or would you prefer Yasmari Ami?"
"Could I have Yasmari?" He nods and begins to type out a message to Silana.
-----
"That is very convenient timing." Usarta commenting as she sees Adastra and Seliha approaching her from down the corridor as she exited her office.
"It is but I think we both feel a slight nervousness about this meeting. Seliha probably is much worse than I am though." She nods in agreement to Adastra's comment.
"I am not here to deliver any bad news and just wish to discuss options with you both." The three of them walk into the meeting area and then then go into one of the meeting rooms. "Please take a seat." The two of them do so on the opposite side of the desk to Usarta.
"I assume you wish to start with what Armali are to offer Seliha Usarta?"
"I feel that would be an appropriate place to begin Adastra. I have had some discussions with various individuals over the weekend and have come up with a couple of proposals Seliha. I however need to know if you would prefer to do diagnostic analysis or fitting thrusters to test sleds."
"What would the analysis be?"
"It would be on thrusters that have not met manufacturing specification for some reason. It would be your job to detect the flawed component, replace it and then request it to be retested. We only have one other individual doing that job at the moment and due to us increasing our output we need a second individual. The role would be for three hours each morning. You then have your lunch time followed by your bioamp work. You of course still have your twenty percent free time which you can of course take as time off so you do not become overly stressed. You could for example take an hour extra off each lunchtime and finish at lunchtime on a Friday if you wished."
"I feel as long as I have something to physically handle then I may not need the extra time off."
"The option is there if you do need it Seliha. Do you feel that role would be one that you both could do and would like to do?"
"It would be different at least."
"I thought it would add some variety to your work day Seliha. I will ensure you have all the tools, software and equipment you will need and I am sure Rythiva will gladly help you out."
"Do you like this idea Seliha as you seem undecided?"
"To be honest Adastra I feel a little disappointed that I even need this change but I understand it is for the best. I accept the idea Usarta. I am just hoping that Rythiva is a pleasant individual."
"She is Seliha. You will find out yourself tomorrow morning. I will have her message you where she is tomorrow." Seliha nods. "Ok. I just have some minor discussion about what was discussed last night. Armali Council have provisionally agreed to support an event in Nos Parnalo with projected advertising on buildings for the video stream. Given the projected video the council have requested it is to be a night race and they have also requested internal participation."
"Does this mean you are giving me the chance to fly?" Adastra sounding rather excited at the possible opportunity.
"If you do so there are three conditions which you must agree to Adastra.” She nods to try to get Usarta to talk faster. “The first is that you are to enter as Armali Propulsion and not Armali Council. The second is that if you show a reasonable competitiveness then you also compete in at least the Nos Xanthi and the Aphris coast races competitively for the duration of your work contract. The third point is that after the race, if you are to enter into the Aphris coast race then we will give the hull to you providing that you do thruster testing for us. We will provide you funding for doing the testing to cover transportation of materials, fuel costs, race entry fees and any other reasonable expenses. The final condition is that you stay here on Illium to develop the propulsion products as you are now for four days of the week and you may use our manufacturing equipment to repair, replace and upgrade the hull for your twenty percent of free time if you wish."
"Of course I will agree those conditions Usarta. Will Seliha be able to work with me some of the time if she is to do some plasma propulsion work?"
"I am sure some arrangements could me made Adastra. I must say before you become too excited that until we obtain approval to sponsor the proposed race then none of this is to happen."
"I thought you said yesterday that Armali Council were not going to get into ship building or sponsoring of a team?"
"I did Seliha and what I said yesterday was correct. The ship is to be a Sentix Spaceworks test design to which we will buy the blueprints for. Sentix would kindly like performance data from races and changes made to the hull in exchange for not having their branding on the hull. Armali Council are not sponsoring a team as it will not be Armali Council as the team name and they are not to own the ship. Armali Council will only perform propulsion testing with the ship and also provide any ship modifications needed to perform that testing. We would like some kind of Armali branding but that is your decision Adastra."
"I assume therefore that the Council do not mind how the testing is done and so you are allowing us to use races as the testing stage?"
"You are correct Adastra. We are also to have a ion propulsion test ship as well flying alongside you. I have not yet decided on who would pilot that ship however."
"Could I ask if they have to be an Armali Council employee Usarta?"
"I feel since it is essentially outsourcing then as long as they have no affiliation with another biotic, ship or propulsion manufacturing company then I can see no reason why they could not be considered."
"Tahomi is a solid and competent pilot Usarta and we got on very well on-board the Enlighten. The only issue is that I know she was on Thessia after the incident when the Enlighten was presumed destroyed but I have been unable to contact her. I am intending to search for her when we go to Thessia in two weeks."
"I would have thought you would have been kept informed as to what is happening Adastra."
"I have heard nothing at all Usarta. I do not even know if she was unharmed or not, I only know she survived."
"My greatest apologies in that case Adastra as I thought you were getting updates from the Republics. She spent two weeks in a mental health assessment facility in Serrice once she arrived back. She was physically unharmed excluding some heavy bruising. Tahomi and Lastoma with their mothers then took a break to Farir on Nevos after being released while the Republics did their investigations on the ASL-Enlighten and the stories they had gathered from the crew. The two of them for the last couple of weeks have been taking some tests with the Asari military orbiting Cyone as the two of them need to regain their pilots licenses and Lastoma wished to try and get a class five license."
"Being on Nevos and then with the military explains my inability to contact her. Can you get a message to her Usarta?"
"I may be able to do better than that. Lastoma has already agreed to a new job but they are generally rather flexible so there is a possibility to have her for a week at each test session if you got on well with her. Tahomi we could probably employ in a propulsive role somewhere as her experience should be ample. If she did wish to do this testing then I may be able to find some bandwidth on our extranet connection to Armali and then on the Republics bandwidth to Cyone by tomorrow." Usarta opens the console in front of her.
"Oooh, it would be very nice to speak to her Usarta. Lastoma was a competent engineer and took pride in her job. She would make a very good ship engineer for the teams if she wished to do so."
"If you come in an hour earlier tomorrow morning Adastra then you can have an hour to catch up. The connection will be encrypted and you will have the conference room to yourself. I will ensure Tahomi and Lastoma are aware that they should expect you to contact them."
"Thank you Usarta. I would give you a hug if I thought Seliha would be ok with it."
"I feel I understand quite what this potential opportunity means after yesterday Adastra so you have no need to hug me. I do hope that everything that has been discussed this afternoon turns out to be good for you both. I am sure you would have to see someone more important than myself to find out why you did not receive any updates on Tahomi though."
"I am sure Kriana will get as many of us together at some time so I may not bother Usarta." She nods "Do you know anything about the others?"
"Everyone survived, a few had minor injuries but they were treated. Everyone has mostly moved back home or moved on to new jobs. Everyone has been requested not to say anything to the media and the vast majority have been given new contact details to prevent them being hassled."
"I can understand that in a way. I must also thank you for the flexibility Usarta. I am not convinced I need it but Doctor Lamisa knows more than I do."
"It is no problem Seliha. I hope you both have a pleasant afternoon but I must unfortunately ask the two of you to leave as I will need this meeting room in five minutes for another meeting. I may well come around to visit you on Wednesday to see how things are progressing." Adastra and Seliha get up and give Usarta a smile and a nod before leaving. They get just outside the door and Adastra gives Seliha a big hug.
"Can these last few days get any better Seliha?"
"Yes, next week when we have the house to ourselves."
"I am going to have to think of something silly to do. I feel we should be getting back to work though." Adastra lets go of Seliha with her right arm and the two of them begin walking back towards their rooms.
-----
"Hello Athya. How are you doing?" Yasmari entering the simulator and taking a seat at the back.
"Thyansa is rather patient with me as I know I am not the fastest learner. I think I am doing ok though."
"Piloting a ship is not something that is easy to learn Athya so that is to be expected. Athya has no particular issues with control Miss but the amount of data and what controls are where seem to confuse her. I hope that you feel that is a fair assessment Athya?"
"I do. Where are we to go this afternoon?"
"Armali, Thessia to Monoi, Lusia Athya. There is a large light speed jump that can be reduced to an hour to take the travel time down to about three hours. Would you like to try a rapid transit class three passenger transport Athya or stay with the class two shuttle?" Amistathya looks around to Yasmari who was sitting by the computing nodes.
"I doubt that Thyansa would suggest a larger ship if she did not think that you would be able to control it Athya. I cannot provide any advice as I can only fly type one shuttles and skycars. You do not get anywhere if you do not try though." Amistathya nods with a smile.
"I will try the class three Thyansa."
"I will give you any advice you need in the same way as I did this morning Athya. I will however only try to guide you in the correct path for items such as communications as they are very similar from ship to ship. You will be flying the ARRTL-Luminous Voyager and you may begin when you are ready."
"Do I state the destination for Thessia control or just say we are departing?"
"In a real setting you can give a predefined exit point out of Thessian space and not specify a destination but since you know where you are to go then it would be easiest to just say. Thessia control will then provide you with the best exit point for your journey." Athya nods before opening a communication channel to Thessia control, Armali departures.
"Thessia Control, Armali departures this is ARRTL-Luminous Voyager intending to travel to Monoi, Lusia. We are requesting a flight path and clearance."
"Good afternoon ARRTL-Luminous Voyager. Flight path out of Thessian space will be with you momentarily. You will receive clearance once the queue of three ships that are on your path have docked. Please maintain the communication link until you receive the clearance."
"Understood." Thyansa leans over and mutes the microphone for a moment.
"Do you remember how to remove the walkway Athya as you can do so now. Just do not remove the docking clamps yet." Amistathya nods and presses the button to signal the walkway to move away.
"ARRTL-Luminous Voyager, you are now clear to proceed to Thessian routing point DS-9 via the given flight path. You may upon immediate arrival at DS-9 jump to FTL travel. Please have a pleasant and safe flight."
"Thank you Thessia Control, ARRTL-Lumounous Voyager out." Amistathya remembers where the button is to signal the clamps to move are before Thyansa pauses the simulator.
"You will find in a moment Athya that as you go backwards out of the dock that the wings on the class three ship will attempt to pull the nose of the ship down. There is a compensation element zero core in each ship to counteract this so the faster you travel backwards the lighter you must make the nose."
"Errm. So I need to control the speed, watch the direction change on y-axis while compensating for the change and also adhering to the flight path."
"I would focus on keeping the ship level and back it out slowly Athya. If you keep it level then you will be in the flight path so do not worry about that. The compensation node controls can be found with the FTL drive controls on the panel immediately in front of you on the right hand side. On the rapid transit liners they have a heads up display for navigational movement and direction in case you were trying to find where that data was Athya."
"This is so very confusing."
"I would just attempt to undock and do your best Athya. I am sure that it is possible to reset the simulator to have another attempt."
"Do not be scared of making mistakes as Miss is correct. As I said earlier, they cost nothing in here." Amistathya nods and takes a small breath before beginning to back the ship out of the space port.
------
"Do these ships not have collision avoidance?" Sam getting annoyed at wrecking the ship yet again.
"I have them turned off Sam for the simple reason that you should learn to avoid collisions and not rely on the automated systems. It is the same reason that these simulators do not have autopilot at sub light speed. You do have pilot assistance for things such as vector alignment for docks which you should find helpful but these simulations are designed to learn you to correctly pilot ships. It is something that annoys me as an interface designer when individuals rely on all the automated systems."
"I see why you would want me to learn properly Mysampha. This ship is however not fun to fly. It is not another scrapped development one is it?"
"No Sam, just one that has a reputation for being difficult to fly. It is underpowered for its class three weight and yet has a high inertia and low air resistance which make control difficult without forward planning."
"Perhaps Sam is not ready for the difficult class three ships yet Mysampha."
"Actually Silana. I want you to have a go just so that I know it is not just me being an idiot. Oh and with non-haptic controls just to make it fair."
"I cannot see any class three ship being that bad to control Sam even without feedback." Sam just gestures Silana to take a seat which she does so and Sam takes his next to Selayla. "I assume I should ask you to reset the simulator Mysampha."
"What I will do is rewind it to the point where Sam had just left the dock as it saves a lot of time." Silana nods and the ship moves back to looking towards the traffic lane which would take the ship to the designated exit point. "Ok, are you ready Silana?" She nods and Mysampha begins the simulation and it is only a minute before she has a very close call with another ship.
"You can stop the simulator Mysampha. I am a class seven pilot and I can only just manage to control that ship enough to avoid collisions. Most ships are not that bad and as long as Sam looks up the hull design of the ship before he flies then I am sure he will be fine."
"Silana makes a point, I know learning in a bad design is a good idea but there is a practical limit. I managed the rubbish class one design this morning with just some missing paint."
"You both make a valid argument and I do apologise for being overly difficult. I will swap the ship design to something on the bottom end of average Sam. The wing design on this ship provides a lot of lift with the large ion drive which makes it tricky but careful control of the element zero core can compensate."
"That sounds like a much better balance to me." Sam swaps places with Silana again. "I assume you are a bit bored Selayla."
"Not particularly Sam as I quite liked my piloting course. I am sure I would not have liked the ship you were trying to fly before however."
"Is it not common for commandos to learn to be pilots Selayla as Lianta and Hymara cannot."
"Usually commandos only learn class one shuttles as in a worst case situation that would provide enough the basics to fly most ships with some guidance. I went to do class six piloting as I felt happier choosing more of a deployment role than a combat one."
"That makes sense to me. Is this the same journey from Cyone, Polos to Hyetiana, Port Lerama Mysampha?"
"It is Sam. The simulator will make the FTL jump into a couple of hours. You will then need to take care when landing as the ship will behave quite differently in the denser air and higher gravitational strength on Hyetiana."
"I will complain when I get there Mysampha. Let us just see if we can get out of Polos first." Mysampha nods and begins the simulation with the new hull.
-----
"Come in." Seliha answering the door to her room. Fosanta walks in and looks at the patched up wall. "It is the first thing everyone looks at."
"I apologise Seliha. I was just thinking that they could have at least painted it before letting you back in."
"Perhaps. Is there any particular reason you have visited me?"
"I just thought you would like the company Seliha. How was your meeting with Usarta earlier?"
"It was good but I felt unhappy about me even having to have such special treatment."
"You sound like Adastra Seliha. Some of us are just different and everyone needs to accept their differences. If I can be honest, I think you are a friendly and kind individual but you just need to find a way to settle that other side of you."
"I could do that better if I felt there would be no consequences Fosanta. I would love to be able to go out in an evening with Adastra, both of us in short dresses and not expect any problems. Being confined to private places feels artificially restricting and it annoys me a little."
"Adastra just needs her confidence building Seliha as I know she is a much more naturally outgoing individual than she sometimes portrays. I think you would be fine with wearing a short dress even now Seliha so do so if you want to. It may help to show Adastra that it will not be as big of a problem as she imagines."
"You are probably correct Fosanta. I must say before I forget that I will not be here in a morning from tomorrow."
"What is it that you are doing instead Seliha?"
"Diagnosing manufacturing defects in plasma thrusters. It sounds like it will keep my mind entertained."
"I am sure that it will Seliha. It should also allow you to spend a little extra time with Adastra which you may like. Have you been to see her, Samalya and Thea in engineering before?"
"I have been too busy here to be honest Fosanta."
"There is always time Seliha and Adastra is your bondmate now. Go and meet them sometime this week as I am sure that Samalya and Thea would like to see Adastra's new bondmate. Thea may be a little excitable but she is quite young."
"I remember when I was like that. I will go in for a visit but probably not tomorrow as we are going to be coming to work an hour earlier as Usarta is to let Adastra get in contact with Tahomi and Lastoma."
"How are they both? Do you know?"
"Tahomi was bruised and spent a couple of weeks in a mental health facility after being rescued. Lastoma I do not know for sure but all the others sound ok and have been given new contact details."
"That is going to make tracking them down a pain then. I may have to ask if I can join in tomorrow as I feel rather bad for not trying to find out about the others sooner."
"I am sure you could Fosanta. I am sure Adastra will be willing to talk about it this evening."
"I will wait until this evening then Seliha. I should get back to work but it was a good talk."
"Thank you for visiting." Fosanta nods and leaves Seliha to continue her work.
-----
Sam gets a notification of a video call on his omni-tool from Adastra. "This is going to be funny." He accepts the call. "Hello Adastra. I see you are back home."
"It seems that you are not Sam."
"I am not, I am currently trying to fly a ship." Sam turns the omni-tool around to show Adastra the console. "All of these fancy buttons make the ship do things."
"They would not be there if they did not Sam."
"I know I was joking. So why have you called me in FTL travel between Cyone and Hyetiana?"
"Oh I thought you were in a real ship Sam." Sam shakes his head as he laughs.
"I highly doubt they would let me near a real one yet Adastra. I have already crashed a few and took paint off another."
"You sound worse than I am Sam." The two of them laugh a little. "I am calling as Usarta has said that I may get my own class three ship for racing. There are some conditions I must agree to but they seem reasonable."
"My congratulations then Adastra. You certainly must be excited if you are video calling me as soon as you get back home from work."
"My own ship Sam. I have never owned my own before."
"I know the excitement as I was like that last Thursday. Is it Sentix who are to make it?"
"It is Sam. I assume you will probably be installing the first of the thrusters."
"That is possible Adastra. Will you fit two thrusters in a class three ship? Also I would assume that racing ships are meant to be essentially empty so would you be able to use it for transport?"
"The ships are designed to be emptied for a race Sam. It will certainly not be as comfortable or pretty as your ship but it should be plenty for Seliha and myself. I am not sure about the number of thrusters as we are power limited and two is less efficient than one. I would have to talk to Usarta about options once the race and the ship manufacture is approved."
"I can understand the better efficiency as using two thrusters means duplicating some parts that do not necessarily need duplicating. I think Mysampha is trying to say that we are going to be dropping out of FTL in two minutes. You need to talk as I cannot hear lip movements."
"I apologise Sam but you have two minutes."
"She sounds rather cute Sam." He turns the Omni-tool so Adastra can see her. "I hope Sam is not being too illogical for you Mysampha."
"Not at all. Thank you for the kind words and it is a pleasure to speak to you Miss." Sam turns the Omni-tool back to himself.
"She is not your kind of individual Sam. I should let you get back to your flying."
"I am going to ask you what you meant by that comment when we next meet Adastra. I will talk to you probably later in the week."
"It will probably be tomorrow Sam as I may have some more news for you."
"I will wait to get another call from you tomorrow then Adastra. I hope you have a good evening."
"Try not to crash Sam." Adastra smiles before disconnecting.
"I wonder what caused Adastra to make that comment?"
"Mysampha does have a pleasing voice Sam."
"You should stop Selayla or Mysampha will be walking out of here with a smile and that may start rumours."
"I doubt anyone will be bothered Sam. Thank you for the kind comment however Miss." Selayla nods. "You have twenty seconds Sam."
"If anyone wishes to place any bets that I will crash they need to be made in the next five seconds." Sam hears nothing and the ship drops out of FTL with a beautiful blue planet in view. "Now that is a nice colour."
"It is Sam. I heard that it is the ice that reflects the light back that makes the colour as rich as it is."
"It is a pity I will probably run into it in a few minutes Silana."
-----
"So you may get your own ship and you are to talk to Tahomi tomorrow?"
"Yes Kate. I think that explains why I am probably a little overly happy this evening." Adastra was cuddled up to Seliha with a giddy smile on her face.
"Seliha said earlier that you are going to Armali earlier in the morning."
"An hour earlier Fosanta so we will be needing an earlier night. You are most welcome to come as well. I am sure she would quite like to talk to you Kate. Lastoma may feel a little shy, I suppose she is a little similar to Athya in a way."
"I think we will probably go along as I have an early meeting anyway Adastra. What did Sam say to you possibly getting your own ship."
"He seemed glad I was to get one although I think he was a little distracted by his co-pilot. No it was not Athya but a very smooth voiced Asari. I presume she was a servant given how polite she was and the orange collar."
"Co-pilot? Was he flying?"
"He was in a simulator Fosanta. He said going from Cyone to Hyetiana so I doubt he will be doing that in a shuttle. Class three is quite a start on your first day."
"How long does it take to learn to fly Adastra?"
"To fly what Kate? The shuttle you have outside? Something like the Enlighten or the Destiny Ascension?"
"The shuttle as I should learn at some time."
"A class one license is twenty hours in a simulator and fifty hours of real world flight Kate. It is possible to get an Asari class one license in a week with some effort."
"I am sure I would like to take a little longer than that Adastra. I think I will be able to find time to do that in the next few months though. How long would it take Sam to learn to fly his ship?"
"If he wants a full class four license then it is two hundred hours in a simulator and a thousand hours of real world flight. You only get the chance to do the latter once you have passed a provisional test in the simulator at about a hundred and fifty hours."
"Does he have to have a qualified pilot with him for the real world flight?"
"Yes unless he has passed all of the previous classes competency tests and then he can opt to take the class four competency test. If he passes that then he does not need a qualified co-pilot but he has to do at least fifty hours a month of flight and a day in a simulator every three months."
"How do you have a class nine license if you need real world practice Adastra as surely there are not many ships to practice with?"
"Classes eight and nine are simulation only Fosanta as there are so few dreadnoughts that they cannot be used for pilot training. Usually to fly a dreadnought you need thirty two thousand hours of real flight experience in a class eight ship to be eligible. That dioes not mean I can not fly a class nine ship, just that I would be very unlikely to be chosen to do so. I have just ten thousand in class seven ships and two thousand in class eight so you can see why pilots of the Destiny Ascension tend to be at least six hundred."
"How many hours did you get on the Enlighten Adastra?"
"Ten thousand so it is not an extortionate target but two decades of class eight freighting would make me insane. I only did a couple of years and it was not fun."
"What class can you fly Fosanta?"
"Technically I can only fly class two ships Kate but since I have some class five experience now I would assume it would not be difficult for me to get hold of at least a class three license."
"You should try to Fosanta as it should not be more than a couple of days in a simulator. It is a good class to have a license for." She nods to Adastra.
"What class can you fly Seliha?"
"Class three Kate. Flying a shuttle is very easy, I am sure seven or eight year old could manage it."
"That is going to make be look silly when I struggle now Seliha."
"You will feel the same once you have a bit of experience Kate." She nods to Seliha.
"I feel we should all get some sleep if we are to leave early tomorrow morning." The three of them nod to Fosanta and they all collect their cups from the sitting area table before taking them to the kitchen.
-----
"That was a tiring day, it was not helped much by Mysampha trying to give me an unpilotable ship to fly. How was Thyansa to you Ami?" Amistathya had taken a seat next to Sam and not on his knee tonight to have a snack and a drink before bed.
"Very patient. I flew a class three rapid transit ship from Thessia to Lusia. Landing scared me as the simulator put me in a difficult dock to get to. With a little help from Thyansa I managed to dock the ship with no damage."
"Good for you Ami. You will probably make a better pilot than me."
"I think that could be because Sam was distracted by Mysampha Athya." Amistathya goes from looking at Selayla who was sitting to her right on the sofa to Sam on her left with Yasmari's comment.
"Adastra said she had a cute voice when she called to say about her possibly getting a ship Ami."
"How distracted Selayla?" Amistathya asking in a slightly seductive tone as she carefully runs her hand along Selayla's left leg.
"I doubt it was that much Ami as Sam could obviously still fly a ship. Selayla, remember what Sam said to us yesterday." Yasmari watching Amistathya do whatever she wished from the other sofa.
"I know Yasmari but Athya is rather endearingly innocent." Amistathya gets on her knee and gives her a hug. "See she just wanted a hug."
"Ami has a reason for everything Selayla and a hug is not usually just a hug. I am tired anyway after crashing all those ships so I am going to go to bed." Amistathya looks up as Sam gets up off the sofa to take his cup back. She gets off Selayla's knee and gives her a soft smile before following Sam upstairs.
"I am not sure what you are thinking Selayla. As we have said before, she is too young for you."
"It felt nice to have a hug Yasmari. Would you say no to one from Sam as he has caused problems for people in the past."
"Ok point taken but do be careful as I do not want Kalawa moaning at me for not looking out for you."
"I doubt saying that will make any difference to anything Yasmari. I would recommend that you continue to be with Athya in the simulator though." Selayla looked disappointed at Silana making that suggestion.
"I will do that Silana."
"You will have nowhere to go on Thursday and Friday Selayla so do not look too disappointed. I must however go to sleep. I hope you both have a good night."
"You too Silana." She nods to Yasmari and Selayla before dropping her cup off in the sink and heading to bed. "I think we should get some sleep as well. I also think it would be better to wait until the end of the week Selayla as protecting Sam at work is our priority. Friday night we can agree with the others to have a little more casual time if you would like that."
"I feel it would be a missed opportunity if we did not Yasmari. I do agree with going to bed though." The two of them follow Silana's tracks, turning off the downstairs light as they make their way to their room.
------
Notes.
A faster update which is probably better for you to remember what has happened in the last few chapters. I hope to get Chapter 59 done in a reasonable amount of time (but as you know that may not happen) and my prediction for what will happen in 59 may well be split into 59 and 60 as there are a lot of loose ends to tie off.
If you have a review or a comment please do make use of the review system. Feedback is always very helpful. If you do not have anything to say then please do leave a rating as it takes seconds.
Thank you to you all for reading.
- 57
- 58
- 59
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Marked Effect (AFF Edition)