Dodging Defeat

[Ilana Logan]

The City of Gordon, Ariel
November 8th, 2517
Local Time: 10:19 AM
AST: 2:55 PM

Ilana sat on a wooden crate at the bottom of the cargo ramp reading a book on her datapad. She was waiting for the men who had delivered the cargo to finish unloading it in the cargo bay. It wouldn't hurt to have passengers either, though she strongly doubted there would be any. Marcus was beside her waiting with her. Ray and the others were higher up in the cargo bay waiting, most likely impatiently, for her to give up on the issue. They never got passengers. What made now any different she didn't know.

The cargo was nearly loaded and they were almost ready to head out. Carlos's men moved fairly quickly, which is what they were paid to do, but still. Their speed had surprised her. The only thing that was left to do is prep the engines and close the hatch. She sighed, knowing she needed to do that, but she was hesitant to do so just yet.

Carlos's men rode their mule out past her after a few moments. They gave her and Marcus a nod as they left and she returned it. She stood up and stretched her back with a yawn, then turned to walk up the ramp.

[Jay Fuller]

Despite the excitement Jay felt at being in the Core, he felt a little distant. There wasn't much for him to do this mission. They only needed three to load and unload, and two to fly. Jay seemed to be the odd man out this time around. But his mood wasn't dampened. In fact, it gave him some time to write. Because he obviously didn't have enough time to do that on the long trip between worlds.

He was standing on the catwalk watching as everyone else was moving and doing something. Ilana was down on the ramp, waiting for passengers while Carlos' men loaded the ship. Once the mule was off the ship, Ilana began making her way up the ramp. Jay leaned down onto the railing.

"Need any help with the prep?" he asked. The answer was probably going to be no -- Ilana had most of it covered. But he wanted something to do that wasn't sitting around, writing, or doing a fifteenth inventory on the med bay.

[Lulah Hayes]

Two feet weighted down by brown leather boots, swung two and fro as they hung over the edge of the catwalks. The seated navigator chewed repetitively on a piece of gum that had long since lost any flavouring. Occasionally she managed to blow a weak bubble, let it pop, and then start chewing again. If anything, it was a nervous habit, mixed with her own impatience. This was taking too long, and after hearing that their buyer was 'a might tetchy', she didn't want to risk seeing if the rumours were true or not. On the other hand though, Tallulah Hayes was unashamedly eyeing up one of the younger men who were unloading the cargo. Being stuck in the 'verse with the same people got awful stuffy sometimes, so it was nice to get some new eye candy for a few minutes. Tilting her head to the side as he bent over to pick a crate up, she admired the view; blowing another bubble. This one however, got a little too big for it's own good, and the loud 'POP' resulted in the sticky, pale pink gum splaying over her mouth.

“Darn it,” she cursed to herself. Ironically, she finally gained the glance of the man she'd been gazing at. Murphy's law for her to get it at the worst possible moment. Flushing red, the redhead sprung to her feet and scuttled off to clean herself up.

[Jace "Original Zest"]

Jace had been quietly grumbling and complaining to himself since landing on Ariel. Jace couldn't do much to hide his bad mood nor could he truly help it. He couldn't stop thinking of how much shit this place was and how he was off the ship first chance he got if he had to spend anymore time in the Core, he knew it was a load of horseshit which is why he never said it but it made him feel better thinking it. The pay of this job was too good to pass up, it was steady income how could he leave. Since the war this was the best job he has had and the one that lasted the longest, strange as that was for him.

He threw on his two pistols and knives as he went out from his room and had just made it to the catwalk. Lulah was sitting on the catwalk staring at some guy, he was unsure which but you could tell she was enjoying herself smacking that damn gum of hers as loud as possible, you would think it was a damn mating call. As soon as he began to turn away to check on things he seen Lulah face splatter with the gum. Jace saw as the guy she had apparently been watching looked at her and her face went to a boil. Jace couldn't help but roar about the hilarious scene it was the first thing he had seen on this piece of shit since they landed on Ariel to make him smile let alone laugh about. As Lulah flew off most likely to clean that goop off Jace went ahead further down close to Jay as he asked, "Need any help with the prep?".

Jace quickly replied sarcastically, "Of course we need your muscle Jay we wouldn't be anywhere without it." Jace gave Jay a friendly back pat and laughed at him to show he was joking with him as Jace began walking down the stairs. Towards the group on the lower levels.

[Ray Hudson]

One of the most difficult parts of space travel is fighting off the overwhelming boredom so whenever the ship hit the ground it wasn't uncommon for crew member to stack behind the cargo bay door waiting to be released from their cage. Ray was only able to suck in the brilliant cleanliness of Ariel for a wonderful moment before returning to The Chainless so he could watch people put crates in it's belly. He was standing on the cargo ramp and kept fidgeting. Snapping his fingers, whistling out of tune and drumming his hands on his thighs, Ray was still victim of overwhelming boredom.

To much relief, the movers finally finished their labour and made their way out of the cargo bay. One their way out one of the movers gave Ray a look of disdain and challenge to which Ray smugly replied with a smirk. The caustic mover wore a new grey tanktop to show off his large build and tattoo of a skeletal bear stalking down his shoulder. His eyes were beady and his had pouty lips like he just found out the store was sold out of his brand of beef jerky. Large men like this didn't scare Ray. Not ever since he broke a 250 pound, shovel faced juicer's nose in a shakedown he did some friends on Tilottama.

The last mover to walk out of the cargo bay was a short, dark eyed girl in a jet black hoodie. Her nose was sharp like a beak and she had a deep scar on her chin. She was fairly unattractive but when she hopped onto the mule with the other movers and looked back at The Chainless, Ray gave her a smile and a wink. Now annoyed and shaking her head, she turned away as the mule drove off.

Once the mover's were gone Ray cleared his throat and rubbed his hand on his neck. He watched Ilana jump off the crate she was on so she could have a stretch. "We're not heading out right away are we?" Ray asked, not enthusiastic about the idea of lifting off so soon.

[Sylvia Dickens]

Sylvia walked down the hall in her new house. The house she shared with the man she'd married two days before. She heard voices coming from the parlor so she turned in that direction. Her slippered feet made only the barest whisper of sound. A small smile gave her face a glow. As she got closer, she heard snips of the conversation. There was someone else in the parlor with her husband.

"….I told you….. Shouldn't have killed him…."

She felt her heart speed drastically, until it was nearly drowning out the conversation in the next room. 'They're talking about killing someone,' she thought. She slowed her pace and then stopped just outside the door.

"You were supposed to take care of this, Rupert," she heard her husband, Olson, say.

"I tried!" Rupert hissed angrily. "His wife recognized me. You told me not to kill anyone but him."

"If you were seen, you shouldn't have killed anyone you dimwit!"

"I wasn't seen until I was leaving. There was nothing I could do about it."

"No but there's something I can do about it."

She couldn't see what Olson was doing, but she knew it was bad when she heard Rupert say, "You can't kill me! You need me!"

"They already know you killed Jameson. All I have to do is say you broke in, trying to kill me."

She'd heard enough, and she was terrified. She turned and walked quickly back to her bedroom. She went to the closet, pulled a bag out, and threw some clothing in quickly, not really paying attention to what was in it. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew she had to leave. If she laid down and pretended to be asleep, he'd know she'd heard when he felt her heartbeat. She slipped on black slacks, a white silk shirt, and black flat shoes. As she zipped the bag, she heard Rupert scream. The sound turned her blood to ice and her heart sped up again, just as it had been calming down, and fear kicked her into overdrive.

A bag packed with clothes, and other essentials, like a wad of credits, her databook, makeup bag, and ID card, she stepped out of her bedroom. She went to the back door instead of the front. She put her hand on the door handle and heard footsteps behind her. She yanked the door open and stepped through. She felt a hand tangle in her hair and try to yank her back. She screamed, but it was drowned out by the alarm that started blaring. Instead of giving up, she stomped her heel down on his toes and brought her elbow back into his stomach hard. She heard the breath whoosh out of him and his grip on her hair loosened. She wrenched herself away, feeling like she'd left a tuft of hair in his hand.

She ran, and ran. Through the small yard, into the neighbors yard. Just as she reached he neighbors yard, she barely heard her husband scream her name from the door she'd just fled from. She ran into the street then, all the while dragging that stupid designer rolling bag with her. She couldn't stop though. She knew he'd killed Rupert, and he'd kill her too if he caught her. By running, she told him she'd heard at least enough to be afraid.

That was an hour ago. Now, she found herself walking nervously along the docking station, fidgeting constantly. Her rolling bag made a noise that grated on her nerves as it rolled along behind her. She didn't know where to go, or what to do. She only knew that she had to get out of here. There were more people around than she was used to, and she felt like they were all staring at her.

She pushed that thought from her mind, knowing she needed to get off planet and figure things out. She'd be safe on a ship, she hoped. She was walking quickly, probably too quickly. She didn't want to draw attention, but she couldn't manage to walk any slower. She was already fighting with herself not to break out in a run. She looked around constantly, making herself look nervous.

She spotted a large ship that looked like it was preparing for take-off. There was a mule pulling out of it, and the people at the bottom were standing. There was a woman, who turned to walk up the ramp. Her heart sped again. This was it. They were leaving and she needed to be on board with them. She took off running toward the ship. Running now would just appear that she was running late for her ship, though that didn't actually occur to her. Her only thought was catching the ship before they closed the hatch.

Her legs pumped and the rolling bag clattered noisily behind her. She ran up the ramp to the ship and ran directly into a tall, dark-haired man. She bounced back off of him and fell flat on her ass. She was too nervous, and scared, to feel the embarrassment right then. Instead, she pulled herself back to her feet quickly and, speaking fast, said to the man, "You have to help me. I need a ride off world. I'll pay double your usual fee."

[Ray Hudson]

Ilana walked past Ray as she asked his question but before he could get an answer he felt a foreign force jerk him forward. "Jesus." Ray said, irritated. He assumed it was Marcus doing something foolish, maybe being pushing him as a result of his impatience. Ray turned to face the weight that nudged his back and he saw a head of hazel lying on the cargo ramp. There was a beautiful young woman lying on her back with a packed bag beside her and dramatic distress softened her wide mahogany eyes. The girl quickly shot back onto her shaking feet and she threw a swift and desperate request for aid.

This woman of hazel and silk told Ray that he must give her a ride off of the planet and offered double their standard fare. Ray brows were narrow and his mouth was agape at this frantic woman. He thought about her offer and her clumsy demeanor, recognizing her apparent desperation. He pondered on her problem and Ray assumed that she had missed a previous appointment with a departing vessel and now she was scrambling for a replacement. He wondered if she was trying to get to a funeral or some other family matter off world but as he considered this another thought kicked his mind against his skull.

The mahogany woman was offering double the usual rate and Ray considered what this woman's experience was with ships like theirs. Even if she had a small clue as to what the average pricing was she was still desperate and in need. Ray looked at Ilana and a near unnoticeable smirk came onto his lips.

"Double?" Ray said to the woman, eyebrows lifting up in surprise. His thumbs went into his pockets. "Well I don't even know if we got enough room for you." Ray said, being coy and looking into the cargo bay and he took an intentionally long pause to torment the woman. He cocked his head towards her and with a smile he said, "Unless you can prove you got the scratch..." This was the moment where Ray had to go for a number. He stuck with the assumption that this girl had no clue how much the average ship charged and his desired number came to him. "for 56 creds a day."

Back on the Logan, the crew had been swindling passengers from day 1 and even though Morse usually played this role Ray felt confident that he could fleece this one pretty little Core girl.

[Ilana Logan]

Ilana watched as a young woman in a white silk shirt and black pants came barreling up the ramp and run straight into Ray's back. Ray hissed, "Jesus," as the girl bounced off and fell back on her ass, and Ilana let out a short, startled bark of laughter. Before she could ask why the girl was in such a hurry, she launched herself back to her feet, revealing a grease stain on her pristine white silk shirt, and told Ray he had to help her and she needed him to give her a ride off planet. Then she said she would pay double the usual fee.

Ilana watched Ray's eyebrows go up and she rolled her eyes. The girl looked terrified, and not even a smidge of embarrassment touched her face. That made her wonder what this girl was running from... or who. He looked at Ilana, the hint of a smirk barely touching his lips. With a smirk of her own, she thought, Here we go.

Ray looked back at the girl and made a big play on how he didn't know if there was room for this girl, and Ilana smiled. He knew full well they had plenty of room. Then he told her the price would be 56 credits a day. Ilana's eyes nearly popped out of her head, and she thought, Good Christ! Even half of that is too steep.

She said nothing because, well, they could use the money, and this little rich girl probably had no idea how much a fare cost. They could have asked 100c a day and she would have agreed. Ilana stepped closer to stand next to Ray, letting him continue to swindle the girl. She just waited to see what the girl would say.

[Sylvia Dickens]

"Double?" the tall man with he dark hair said to her, his eyebrows lofted in surprise. He put his thumbs in his pockets and went on, "Well I don't even know if we got enough room for you." She thought she would cry right then until he continued speaking. He cocked his head towards her and smiled. He said, "Unless you can prove you got the scratch... for 56 creds a day."

Sylvia sighed in relief, knowing she could afford that. She reached into the top pocket on her bag and pulled out a fistful of credits. There looked to be about 1,000 in her hand. As she righted herself from the stoop she'd done to get the credits from the bag, the woman she'd noticed as she ran up came to stand next to the man, though the woman said nothing.

"I will pay that, but we have to leave immediately," she said to the man, stipulating the bargain.

Sylvia counted out 500 credits and held them out to the man. "I'll give you any more you require when the ship gets off the ground."

Sylvia put the remaining credits that were in her hand back in her bag. She would keep her word and give him more once he told her how far they would be going, how long it would take, and exactly how much she would owe.

[Jay Fuller]

"Haaah," Jay let out a fake laugh at Jace's comment, "Thanks."

Jay made his way down to the floor of the cargo bat. As he did, a woman ran into Ray before falling over. Jay turned his attention over to her and walked over. She asked for a ride off-world and offered to double the normal price. Jay noticed the looks of surprise that went around the room, his own included. Ray went into bargaining mode and stated that the price was 56 cred a day. Jay rolled his eyes. Poor woman, she probably doesn't have a third of that.

Jay about spoke up, but he decided to keep out of it. He was just the medic, and though he didn't like the idea of using this woman for her money, they definitely needed some more funds. But, alas, the woman pulled a big handful of credits and shoved it into Ray's hand. Holy shit, Jay thought. Carrying that many credits in this sort of group probably wasn't the best idea. Luckily most of the people on this ship were trustworthy, but anywhere else she could get herself robbed.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus had been passing each day in a haze since he turned over the reins to Ilana. Most of the time he was just ironing out the little details, and getting used to being a deckhand as opposed to the captain.

Honestly, he enjoyed the freedom of movement he had now. Before he'd had the weight of the whole crew on him. What would they think of him, and all that.

It was different when you were just a member of the crew, you didn't stand for everyone on the ship. Maybe that was the wrong point of view, but going back to a crew member, a real crew member and not someone paying fare with deck work, felt good.

The banter the crew threw around made him smile. It reminded him before the war, when he was an apprentice salvager, when anyone with a tow rig could salvage a wreck, and as long as they chipped in a cut for the funerals, noone accused them of nothing.

The girl who ran up reminded Marcus almost of himself, needed to get out of dodge and in a hurry. Ray's swindle almost made him laugh. It was a lot more polite than Morse might have played it.

Marcus remembered how well maintained the inside of Morse's pistol barrel looked from that angle.

Marcus realized that particular thought could be taken the wrong way. Then the girl produced a stack of credits that would make anyone open up their cargo doors for this girl.

So what sort of trouble was following her?

He looked to Ilana. "Your call captain." It was the most he'd said in a while, it seemed, but fair enough, it was something.

[Ilana Logan]

"I will pay that, but we have to leave immediately," the girl said to Ray.

Ilana watched as the girl counted out 500 credits and held them out to Ray. "I'll give you any more you require when the ship gets off the ground." She put the rest of the credits back in her bag.

Ilana mulled this over for a moment, thinking that this girl could be wanted by the alliance, though judging from the silk clothing, designer bag, and the enormous rock on her finger, it wasn't likely. She could be running from anything, and whatever it was, they were taking it on themselves as much as the girl was.

Marcus had been beside Ilana before she'd joined Ray with the girl, but in the arrival of the new girl she'd almost forgotten he was there until he spoke. "Your call captain," he said.

The use of her technical title earned him a look of scorn. She still wasn't comfortable with being called Captain, and she definitely felt funny when Marcus said it. After only another bare second of hesitation Ilana used her no nonsense voice that was loud enough for everyone in the cargo bay to hear, "Jace, Lulah, head to the bridge and route us to Newhall.... Jay, please show this girl to an empty passenger bunk.... Marcus and Ray.... don't kill each other while I fire up the engines and get this bird in the air. Miss, I suggest you get your butt up that ramp if you don't want to get dumped off of it when it closes."

Ilana starting walking up the cargo bay ramp, and assumed the others were following suit. When she got to top where the hatch controls were, she turned to make sure everyone had gotten up the ramp. She pressed the button just before they reached the top, and the girl bolted inside as though she thought the door closed instantly.

Ilana smirked at that, and she jogged off to the engine room to start the process of dusting off. Good damn thing I waited for passengers," she thought to herself.

[Jace "Original Zest"]

Jace was finally in a good mood thanks to Lulah's goofy self, Jace was walking down the steps from the catwalk smiling as he heard Jay's laugh and him thanking him for his joke.

Jace had just made it to the bottom of the stairs when some girl ran into Ray, Jace just coughed and mouthed dumb ass under his voice. Waiting for Ilana to officially give instructions on their next task, he overheard the woman begging for passage and Ray giving her just a ridiculous price of 56 creds. Jace chuckled and was looking forward to getting off the damn planet. Seeing the woman's hands show full of creds caught Jace's attention real damn quick.

All Jace wanted to know was who this woman was, what she was into, and how it was going to harm them. Instead of anything being answered with questions he pondered he was answered with the woman declaring 500 creds like nothing just to leave now , at the sound of that Ilana's orders came quick for him and Lulah to go up and get this ship out of here.

Hell for that pay he didn't mind going to the Core, as long as he didn't have to head into the city. Going up to the bridge he was happy to leave the Core.

[Lulah Hayes]

Typically, by the time Lulah returned to the cargo bay a few moments later, with a new piece of gum being chewed at; Carlos and his men were just departing. Narrow shoulders dropped dejectedly. Obviously a man from Ariel was way out of her league.

“Ah shoot!” Lulah stomped one foot and balled one fist against her side, tucking in the elbow in a defeated gesture. Getting over her disappointment though in a split second, she moved to the edge and leaned over the railing. Frowning eyes settled on all the cargo stacked up in the bay, then darted to Ilana who was finally walking back up the ramp. Lulah took that as a sign of an incoming departure, which suited her just fine since she'd rather not stay longer than necessary on a core planet. Sihnon had been a disaster, and a repeat performance of that wasn't on her to-do-list any time soon.

Before her presumptions could be confirmed though, a collision at the bottom of the ramp drew her attention like all the rest. In the space of a few seconds as the scene panned out, Lulah took an instant dislike to the passenger, as she reached the conclusion that she was just another typically high-strung and wealthy core-girl, who figured she could just buy everything and anything at the flash of 'daddy's money'. She was probably running away from daddy too for some pathetic reason. Lulah rolled her eyes and scrunched her nose into a light, unimpressed snarl. It served her right she was about to get swindled out of the credits she was so stupidly showing off. In fact, she should be thanking her lucky stars she'd hadn't picked a different ship.

“Psh,” The navigator made a disdainful sound, and chewed harder on her gum. Arms folded across her chest, as she glared down at the woman. Most of her disdain was of course, the green eyed monster. The woman was after all, dressed in fabrics that Lulah could only dream off hopelessly. Silk! She expelled a longing sigh, and pouted along with her heavy frown. So not fair. Or maybe if they swindled enough money out of her, Lulah would be able to afford silk next time they went shopping? It was worth a thought at least...

“Jace, Lulah, head to the bridge and route us to Newhall.”

The red-head didn't need to be told twice to head to the bridge; the sheer notion of finally getting off the core rock was pleasing enough. In fact, it was so pleasing, that her frown ceased to be. Instead, she beamed.

“'bout time we hoofed it!” Came her obviously satisfied retort. Wasting no time, she broke into a juvenile and carefree sprint down the catwalk.

“Race ya!” She called back to Jace with a giggle, as she passed him by. Her shorter legs were probably no match for his longer and therefore faster ones, but she'd still race him to the bridge all the same. Honestly, she still couldn't believe how tall he was, even when sitting in the pilot's seat! Seeing him instead of Marcus there had definitely taken some getting used to, but she had no complaints. If anything, she'd somewhat relaxed a little.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus smiled as Ilana agreed to the young woman's request for passage. He was heading up the ramp even as Ilana started giving orders. He heard her jab to him and Ray. Now that's no fair. Marcus laughed to himself. We hardly even disrespect each other anymore

He rolled his shoulders and at the top of the ramp took stock of the woman. She was middle core class at least, which made the wad of cash she threw out nothing to her now. But if she was running she'd find her savings to be finite at best. Her hair looked off. Ladies all together took some kind of effort in their appearance.

Even a girl looking to seem dangerous would take a buzzer to her head or wear something heavy on her hip. It didn't look like it was bed-head neither. So danger might be near behind.

He scanned over the crowds with his eyes. Looking for anyone still: anyone watching.

[Jay Fuller]

Ilana instructed Jay to take the girl to an empty passenger dorm. "Yes, ma'am!" he said. He smirked a bit at her last comment. It seemed Ilana was taking a shine to the whole captain gig. When Lulah shouted at Jace, Jay couldn't suppress a laugh. The new members of the crew seemed to get on pretty shiny enough.

"Alright," Jay said, walking up to the newcomer, "Follow me! The name is Jay Fuller, by the way."

[Sylvia Dickens]

Sylvia saw another shorter man come closer as she extended her handful of money to the taller man in front of her. He was looking at the woman, and he told her it was her call. He called her Captain. She wondered if she'd made a mistake in assuming the tall man was the one whom she should speak to. Before she could apologize for her error, the woman started giving orders to the people around her so they could take off. One of the orders was for someone named Jay to show her to an empty passenger bunk, another order was to Sylvia herself to get off the ramp lest she be dumped into the floor when it closed.

Sylvia sighed in relief at the woman's apparent acceptance of her offer. She put the money in the tall man's hand and started walk up the ramp. Just before she reached the top, the ramp started to raise beneath her feet. Her heart skipped a beat and she dashed the rest of the way inside. She saw a smirk on the woman's face just before she jogged off toward what Syvlia assumed would be the engine room, since the woman had mentioned it while barking orders.

With the door closing behind her, she had a moment to relax and look around. There were six people in there including the woman who was apparently the captain of the vessel. One other woman with hair as red as blood and wide eyes. Sylvia couldn't tell what color they were as the woman was on the catwalk above them.

The only other thing she had time to notice was how utterly filthy the ship was. It wasn't cluttered, but there was grease and dirt everywhere. Before she could take in the men of the ship, the one called Jay walked up and said "Alright. Follow me! The name is Jay Fuller, by the way."

She literally had to bite her tongue to keep from asking if he was queer. He was clean, and peppy, and not the normal sort of person you find on a ship like the one she was currently on. Of course, he could just be like me. I wouldn't normally be caught dead on a ship like this, she thought.

She gave him a half smile, but didn't offer anything about herself. She just followed behind him as he led her through the ship. As she followed him, she took notice of another man, whose name she didn't know. The only one on the ship whose name she did know was Jay's. She'd heard the other's names, but she didn't know which name belonged to which person. She turned her attention back to Jay and just followed.

[Jay Fuller]

The woman didn't respond. She just gave Jay a small smile. "Okay," he said after a minute. He wasn't sure how to feel about the woman. He hoped she wasn't one of those super rich, I'm-better-than-all-of-you types that frequented the Core worlds. It was odd to him, that once upon a time Jay wanted to move to the Core worlds and be just like one of those people he now disliked. He wasn't sure what changed. Maybe it was his parents, or working with Longstreet. But somewhere along the line he had definitely changed.

Back to her. She could also be shy. God knows Jay was the shyer member of the crew. Had he been the only one on the ship, he wouldn't have been as open. But he had gotten comfortable with his crew members. This girl, though. Maybe she was running from an abusive boyfriend, or some debt? Either way, Jay decided to reserve judgement.

Once they got to the passenger dorms, Jay opened the door for you. "Here's your room," he said, "I'll leave you to get situated. If you need anything, just ask anyone...Except maybe the tall guy you ran into coming in, he's a little crazy...oh, and the captain is a little mean sometimes...also the pilots can be kind of weird...You know what? Just come find me. I'm usually in the kitchen or the infirmary."

With that, he made his way back.

[Jace "Original Zest"]

Jace just getting to the bridge heard loud footsteps behind him, just as he turned to see who it was he saw a glimpse of red bouncing down the hall yelling for a race.

Lulah racing down the hallway he knew if she beat him he would never hear the end of it. So Jace broke out into a half run half jog, his long legs easily able to get close to Lulah and following her to the bridge.

Lulah was a great navigator, not grumpy like most navigators he had the experience of flying with, which is why Jace normally went auto-pilot and ignored most of the previous ones. Lulah was impossible to ignore even if you tried. At least she was comforting to have instead of annoying. Even though there wasn't much quiet there was certainly peace when flying.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus wasn't piloting much anymore, but he still knew the workings of the ship and piloting in general so if assistance was needed he'd rush on up there. As it was he went over the odds and ends of take off. Making sure everything was secure, food cabinets were locked, nothing would fall or break when they took off.

Luckily the ship wasn't a piece of crap like the Hard Tack So all they had to do was a regular checklist. He remembered he'd have to screw in cabinet fastens every other take off, the toliets would sometimes leak. It was a flying pit.

He wondered what scrapyard Longstreet had sent it to.

He was in the hall to the bridge, a blur of red disappearing toward the door. "Lulah! Jace!" He called down. "We're all locked down back there. Clear to lift. He stood in the door way, he always liked to watch breaking atmo.