3780/Distress Signals

Distress Signals
Date of Scene:	12 October 2020
Location:	Cockpit - Milano
Synopsis:	The guardians bump into and yell at each other until someone seeks them for help. A long road trip begins!
Cast of Characters:	Peter Quill, Gamora, Groot, Drax

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Peter Quill has posed:
    Space. The Only Frontier. Like, all the frontiers are IN space. Kind of a dumb thought.

    "Isn't it. I said isn't it?" Peter looks to his left from his pilot's chair towards "Rocket. R- Rocket?" Peter asks, staring at the empty seat with his mouth agape and he looks stupified. "Hey. I was talking to him." Peter says with a frown and then looks down into the stairs towards the common room. A roll of the pilots eyes and the half human looks back to the screen before him after tugging it to be more centered with his off hand. "Stupid raccoon." He mumbles under his breath as he taps away at the clear computer screen.

Gamora has posed:
    "Hm?" A soft voice intones curiously from behind Quill. A couple seconds later, Gamora leans around the side of his seet and peers at him quizically with narrowed eyes. "Peter-Quill," she speaks the human name like it's one word, "-if you're going mad, you need to keep the crew informed. We have to know enough to make..." Gamora glances to the side, "... decisions."

Groot has posed:
    Various alarms and whistles had been going off, intermittently, that might suggest that Groot was fooling around with the airlock again. Rocket had seen to it that Groot was unable to depressurize the ship as easily as he had earlier in the week. There was just something unsettling about the one crew member who doesn't breathe having access to the airlock controls.

    With a glum sway, Groot shambles into the cockpit and approaches Gamora and Peter. The tree slowly lowers himself into the seat that Rocket should have been in and turns to smile at Gamora and Peter. As the pair talk about whatever it is they might find so important, Groot sways a bored sigh. He holds that position for a moment before inching his branches towards the console.

    Groot pushes a red button.

Peter Quill has posed:
    Peter nearly jumps out of his chair as Gamora is suddenly behind him, in that creepy hood and cape and ... Peter blinks, to make himself look away, she's wearing that ... swimsuit? again. Peter takes a moment to bite his lower lip before Groot saves him from having to answer Gamora's demand that he warn them of his pending insanity.

    "NO!" Peter shouts before the ship lurches to one side and spins towards the right a bit. Seems Groot of course opened the emergency airlock causing a volume of air to explode out of the side of the ship and Peter has to grip the throttle and control stick to fight the sudden burst from the Milano. "SHUT IT! SHUT IT! SHUT IT!"

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora arches one eyebrow as Peter looks away, seemingly oblivious to how her usual attire might affect people who are not some combination of 'a genocidal fantatic' and 'a target for murder'. So she suspiciously, though softly, demands: "Why can't you look me in the eye? Are you hiding-"
    Suddenly the ship lurches to the right, and Gamora - unseated and not strapped to anything - falls back shoulders first on the wall - which is gravitationally closer to being the ground at this point. "UHG!" She grunts sharply, and tumbles onto her side, where she fruitlessly tries to reacquire her equilibrium as orientation rapidly becomes a meaningless concept. "TREE!" She cries out with as much aggrivation and bewilderment, "UNDO WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!"

Groot has posed:
    A good-natured chirp comes from Groot. Was that a laugh? Honestly, it could have even been a bird. Who cares? With a slow smile, Groot presses the red button again and turns to watch Gamora and Peter. "I am Groot," he reminds Gamora. It could mean anything, but in this case probably just means that he's Groot and not Tree.

    Groot opens his mouth, as if to say more, but the blinking blue lights on the console beg for his attention. He's content to let the others decide where they're going today -- he'll just enjoy the ride.

Drax has posed:
"Are you getting red in the face Quill?"  Drax steps inside, but only just, cocking his head to the side with mild...mild concern as he holds on.  He easily becomes fascinated with the screens and the like as if squinting at them would tell him as much as squinting at a mesa on a horizon.

Stepping forward, one hand at his belt, the other pointing.  "Something is blinking."

Peter Quill has posed:
    The door shuts as Groot hits the button and Peter corrects the spin with a cool hand. Okay, his face is red and he's screaming bloody murder as the ship careens through space until it's suddenly not, anymore.

    Thankfully he has an excuse to not answer Gamora's question as he looks over his shoulder at her again and smirks before looking back out the window, "This is why we sit in the front of the ship, Right Gamora." As if it was something they've been over before. Then Drax is here too. "Hey, Drax... um, yes we know..." Peter says about to push the button when Groot beats him to it.

    "Hello. Hello. I hope this message gets out cleanly." Says a voice, "We have been attacked by people calling themselves the Blood Monks. We are a peaceful civilization and need help. Any help. I am sending this message to the stars in hopes that someone. Anyone will hear our call and help us."

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora's cape is hanging over her head when the ship finally rights itself. She allows herself a moment of heavy, deeply aggrivated breathing before she wrestles the cloak back into place, and slowly stands up, freeing one shoulder from the garment and rotating it slowly with one hand on her shoulder until it pops..
    She meets Peter's declaration with a quizzical look, and then shoots a glare at Groot, pointing one accusing finger at him. "YOU are not to press buttons unless you explicitely know their function! And only if that function DOESN'T KILL US!"
    She's still pointing when Drax enters, turning her head to look at him. "And you! You-" Gamora tilts her head, and her extended arm droops slightly. "-... were you not affected by the-"
    The question gets cut off as the message comes through. Gamora pulls her cloak back over her shoulders so that it shrouds her body, staring forward as the message plays, asthough she were making eyecontact with the source of it. Gamora is silent for a moment and lowers her head, solemnly noting, "... it does not sound like a job offer." Is her mercenary observation, though her voice does sound faintly troubled. She's been involved with prompting more than one such desperate plea in her lifetime.
    "... Is anyone familiar with these 'Blood Monks'?" She asks, as if open to the idea of helping.

Groot has posed:
    Groot nods his head at Drax, smiling in agreement. Quill IS getting red in the face. Gamora's sudden tumble doesn't get much attention from Groot -- she was far stronger than some of these other knuckleheads and didn't need his concern. But, when she rights herself, she'd see a branchy hand offering a flower to her. A peace offering.

    The distress call earns a sudden, though brief, amount of Groot's attention. The tree tilts his head before turning it to face the three humanoids. "I am Groot! Iamgroot Iamgroot Iamgroot!" It would seem he's in favor of answering the call -- the last three 'words' sound a lot like someone chanting 'please please please'.

Drax has posed:
Drax seems rather unfazed by everything that is transposing.  He leans forward, presumably closer to the transmission and further from her voice.  "Blood Monks," he looks around to each of the others.

"It sounds like the job you do and they give you their daughter in marriage and half the land job," Drax says with a little laugh.  "If something is attacking them, it's because they have something to take."  He lays it out cleanly.  And then, "I think it would be fun to kick these Blood Monks."  He looks over to Groot and laughs and nods.  "We vote help."

Peter Quill has posed:
    "I vote we do both." Peter says with a smirk as he double pumps the throttle of the ship and starts to bank the ship in a lazy turn. "Alright Groot, track the source of that signal. I think it's time we go and kick the butt out of some butt monks." The smirking space pirate says with a devious smile as he waits for the destination to be locked in and the ship can be aimed in the right direction.

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora stares at the offered flower for several seconds with a deeply confused look on her face. Slowly, cautiously, asthough the flower might bite her, she takes it between two fingers, and looks it over, entirely unsure how to feel. There's a real chance this is the nicest thing anyone has ever given her.
    The message takes her attention, however, and the flower stays held in her hand under her cloak as everyone else chimes in on the situation.
    She silently looks at Quill has he seems to decide for them. That makes three votes for it. It leaves three people yet to weigh in, including herself. The three of them could create a conflict here. Lord knows what a tie-breaker looks like with this crew.
    Gamora lowers her head slightly and says. "Well then. Someone should inform Nebula and the Rodent..." Gamora takes a seat in the cockpit, concluding, "... and tell them they are outvoted."

Groot has posed:
    Not familiar with the Blood Monks, Groot shakes his head at Gamora, briefly looking glum. But then, Peter asks him to plot a course. His eyes shift from Drax and then to Gamora. He stares at her, his mouth gaping. When she announces that the rest of the crew have been outvoted, a few more flowers bloom across his body. Yes! Groot's brow rises in happiness. They were going to do it! Instead of leaning forward, Groot allows his arms to grow a bit so he can reach the controls. Despite what one might think from appearances alone, Groot is a capable astrogator and is able to plot the course without issue. Beep boop. Beep. His branches dance around the controls with relative ease. He might be the one most prone to folly, but if these buttons were pressed in the right order, they would be going towards someone who needs help. That was enough to demand the tree's full attention.

    "I am Groot," he declares, giving Peter a nod of confirmation. The course has been plotted.

Drax has posed:
Drax watches the flower being offered and directs his eyes forward to stay out of the other twos' tender moment.  "They were not outvoted.  They didn't vote.  Nebula would have voted no I think.  Do they need to know if their vote doesn't matter?"

When Drax notices Groot getting fancy on the controls, he steps back out of the way to give him more room.  He looks to Gamora.  "Do you want me to tell them?  I am not afraid of the rodent's bite.  I have traveled many cycles with Nebula.  I am not fragile."

Peter Quill has posed:
    On the view screens before every seat the course is set in, and the number of jumps through the jumpgates is flashed in bright yellow on the bottom along with the total real distance from their current point. Peter complains.

    "TWELVE THOUSAND!?!" Peter complains very loudly. The number on the screen reading 1200 jumps required to get to the source of the signal and the actual distance being 28,000 light years away from the system they were currently trolling around in. Without much more chance to argue, the ship is already set in motion and the Milano lurches forward, slamming those in their seats back into them fully.

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora furrows her brow and looks at Drax, her unwitting flair for the dramatic deflated as she protests, "No, that's- I know they didn't. They can't- I was... I was SAYING that..." Gamora looks off to the side awkwardly and just... turns her seat away. "... Do as you will."
    Then the distance comes up on her screen, and Gamora leans back very slowly while staring blankly at the monitor.
    Her chair turns, and Gamora stands up, moving to leave the cockpit. "I will put the kettle on."

Groot has posed:
    With the course plotted, Groot begins to allow his midsection to begin splitting apart, just slightly, to allow some prehensile branches to start expanding out from his waist. They begin to slowly wrap around the co-pilot chair to form something of a seatbelt. Groot takes a breath -- well, not really, but he pretends -- and settles back in the chair.

    At the mention of the rodent, Rocket looks over his shoulder at Drax and Gamora. He's about to protest, but Peter's outburst brings Groot back to the cockpit. Twelve thousand jumps. The tree squints and leans forward to look at the astrogation panel, checking for a mistake. Oh. That's why.

    "I am Groot," he explains, giving Peter a look that suggests some amount of annoyance. He points a branch at an indicator on the screen. The astrogation charts had not been renewed for quite some time and were missing some pretty key navigation aids. Too late now, but at least there would be tea.