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Purple had been on many missions upon The Skeld in her lifetime. She sort of enjoyed the monotony of it. Repetitive tasks to complete kept her busy without having to think too hard about any of it. But still, transporting goods back and forth between stations wasn’t her dream and she figured she’d leave one day.
On her last trip a few months back, her mission buddy Cyan signed off to work full time at Polus. They had been keeping in contact via calls and texts, but Purple still missed him a lot. It wasn’t the same travelling around without him. So when the opportunity came around to be a part of the crew bringing supplies to Polus, she was the first to sign up.
It was a whole new crew, faces she had never seen before in familiar looking helmets. But she was sure she’d make new friends for the journey, and if not, she’d still get to see her old friend upon arriving.
“Hey there, welcome aboard.” Red said, grinning over at Purple as she stepped onto the dropship. “Good to be back here.” She replied, smiling at him. “I’m the designated captain for this trip.” He let her know, but he didn’t seem to be bragging about this fact. “It’s my fifth journey on The Skeld so I reckon I’ve got a hang on things now.” He joked, and Purple let out a chuckle in reply. “Then we’re in good hands.” She said, not bothering to mention that she had been on quite a lot more than five trips upon The Skeld. She didn’t want the responsibility that came with being captain anyways.
“Hello!” A bubbly voice chimed from behind Purple and she turned to see Orange there. “This place looks really cool.” She said, glancing around the dropship at the various storage boxes that they needed to bring onto The Skeld. “It’s my first time on a mission.” Orange told them, looking quite excited to embark on the journey ahead. “We’re glad to have you here, just give me a shout if you need help.” Red told her with a beam. “Let me know if you would like a tour when we get there.” Purple offered Orange who thanked her profusely.
Across the room from them, Blue and Green were talking to one another as they strapped in for the journey. “Are you doing alright?” Green asked, to which Blue nodded her head. “Yeah, just making sure I packed everything.” She replied, looking through her bag for the third time since they entered the dropship. “You’ve got it all, don’t worry Blue.” Green reassured her. Pink walked over to the two of them at this point, taking the seat beside Green. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you.” She said, smiling at them both. “Good to meet you too.” Green replied with a smile to match.
“Do you two know each other?” Pink asked, looking between them. “Yeah, we’re siblings.” Blue replied, nodding her head. “Oh lovely.” Pink responded, clasping her hands together. “Blue’s a worrier.” Green teased lightly as Blue frowned at him. “That’s alright. Better to be safe than sorry.” Pink responded amicably, which seemed to lift Blue’s spirits a little.
Yellow and Rose boarded the dropship at this point, nodding at the two other groups of people who were chatting idly. They didn’t appear too eager to make new friends, more focused on talking to one another. “It’ll be fun, love.” Yellow said, giving Rose’s hand a squeeze. “I know, I just don’t trust anyone here aside from you.” He replied, looking into Yellow’s eyes as he spoke. Her expression softened. “If there is an imposter in this crew, I’m sure you’ll find them and protect me.” Yellow said.
“You did before.” She added, to which Rose averted his eyes before agreeing. “Yeah.” He replied, eyes sweeping over the room to land on White who was standing at the computer, looking over some statistics for their journey to The Skeld. She wasn’t alone for very long however, as Black approached her at that point, making his way over from one of the storage crates.
“Is everything in order for the journey?” He asked, to which White nodded curtly. “It’s all good.” She said, stepping to the side to let Black peruse the screen in turn. “Looks like it’ll be a short journey to The Skeld.” He remarked, nodding his head approvingly as he read the statistics. “But a long journey to Polus.” White added, looking at the interface that estimated that the journey would take ten days if everything was in order. She then walked over to one of the free seats on the opposite side to where Blue, Green, and Pink were seated.
“That’s everyone on board now.” Red announced, turning to face the group. “We’ll be heading off shortly, then. Please take your seats.” He instructed with a smile. Yellow sat down on the other side of Pink, joining in on the conversation as Rose took the vacant seat beside Yellow.
Red sat down next to White, exchanging pleasantries as he did so, while Orange and Purple sat together, the former chatting excitedly about the journey ahead of them. Black came and took the last seat available and glanced over at Purple who sat beside him. She gave him a smile and he returned the gesture with a nod of his head.
With that, the ship doors closed and the crew of ten headed off to The Skeld.