Bay Two
Dropship Stainless Chrome
Port Matilda Landing Field
Port Matilda
Fallon II
Federated Commonwealth
08-01-3033 - 19:00Z
The last bath configured purely for 'Mechs on the Stainless Chrome was usually a quiet, empty place. Not tonight. Tonight the bay was full. Every member of the unit and every member of the Dropship staff with the exception of a 2 man bridge watch, was packed into the space between the four 'Mech gantries and the massive combat machines stood in them. Mutt had set up a small podium made up of packing crates at one edge of the bay and he and Captain Steele were stood on it waiting to address the crowd.
"Is everyone here?" There was a quiet murmuring and no-one spoke up to state they knew anyone was missing. "OK, PO Lord, can you seal the bay?"
There was a grinding from the bay door as the massive steel structure slide down to close off the rapidly cooling Fallon II night. Mutt waited for the reverberations of its final seal to die down before he started talking again.
"Right. Good evening everyone. I've called this so we can go through the basic safety briefing for the ship and to cover a few last points before we launch. Captain Steele?"
Mutt stepped to one side and let the Captain step up.
"Ok, I'm going to keep this short as I'm sure most of you have heard this before. A Dropship is not the place to be doing stupid crap to make yourself feel better. I have a few rules on this ship that I expect to be followed by crew and passengers alike. "
She looked across the assembled faces to make sure everyone was paying attention.
"The first is that I don;t care what rank you have, have had in the past, or think you're entitled to. On this ship if a member of my crew tells you to do something, I expect it to be done, immediately, without question. I've already had some reports of personnel expecting preferential treatment for themselves, their gear or their Battlemechs. Not going to happen. You're a contract and a cargo. I personally don't care if you vow never to use us again. My sole mission is to get you safely from here to your destination. My crew know their jobs and if they think you're putting yourselves or this ship at risk they will ask you to stop."
Steele noticed some of the faces look around trying to figure out who she was talking about, she also saw a few people trying hard not to show they knew the answers. Molly gave almost the same talk to every unit she carried about. Every trip someone tried to do the same thing. they thought their 'Mech fighter, tank, container was the most important on the ship. What they didn't know was that anyone who pushed her crew too hard would find their precious box accidentally damaged or placed in a way that just happened to mean it would be the last thing unloaded.
"Second, this is a dry ship. I am aware that someone chose to place a crate of beer in one of the fridges. This displaced a crate of supplies which I am personnaly not happy with and have asked Mr Rabagliati to ensure he does not allow to happen again. Changes to stored must go through either myself or Petty Officer Haddurson the ships Purser. That crate shall be placed in bay one outside Mr Rabagliati's container. There had better be none left on my ship before we launch and none of you had better be drunk on my ship."
This led to a stirring of smiles, nudges and winks from some people and at least one face showing a little distress.
"Third. This ship is a dangerous place. You, as passengers, are limited to the passenger decks, the cargo bays and the canteen. The only exceptions to this are the pilots who are permitted to the launch bays and Mr Rabagliati who may enter the bridge and crew levels for specific business. If we catch any of you in restricted areas we will put you off the ship. And if you're lucky we'll land on a planet first. Likewise, within those areas into which you are permitted, if we catch you fiddling with any part of this ship's systems or structure you're off the ship."
Most people had the good grace to just nod in agreement to this which pleased her. Most people accepted these restrictions and it was a stupid man or woman who thought it might be fun to go against it.
"Finally, in the event of an emergency there is little that we expect of you other than to keep out of our way and to know where to go when necessary. There's three alarms you should know. If you hear individual tones, half a second apart with a rising and falling tone. Like this one." She stopped as the alarm sounded through the bay.
Play Sound "This is the general quarters alarm. If you hear this alarm you should move to your assigned station or to your quarters if you have no designated station. Once there you should seal your area to ensure its air tight."
"The second is the manoeuvre warning. This will sound before we change our manoeuvring status and will be accompanied by a notification of what will be happening. PO Lord?"
At the back, the Tall bay officer picked up a hand held microphone and pressed a button on the wall panel. Within seconds and alarm sounded through the ship and the voice of the First officer came through the sound system. "
Play Sound "All hand, All hand. Prepare for zero gravity in thirty seconds. All hands prepare for zero gravity."
"The final is the jump alarm. This will start ten seconds before a jump to give you warning it's about to happen." Again the alarm sounded through the ship after a few second.
Play sound "If you hear any of those please make sure you know what to do. Other than those there will be other alarms that are for ship's personnel only. You can ignore those ones unless told otherwise. If you have any questions feel free to ask a member of the crew. Mr Rabagliati."
Mutt let Captain Steele step down and then stepped back up to podium. "Ok Ladies and gentleman. It's been pointed out to me that some of you maybe inadequately equipped for our destination. Our destination will be in the depths of local winter when we arrive. We're not expecting significant snow cover we can't be too careful, there may be significant cover and the temperature range is listed as being between -12 and +3 degrees Celsius. If any of you lack cold weather gear I have ensure that the outfitters on the space port will remain open until 22:00 Zulu for you. Please ensure you've back on the ship no later than 22:45 Zulu or you shall be left behind. That's all, thank you for listening."