New Ship, New Life...Sort of [Open]

[cerys]

Cerys hauled her bags over her head and on to her shoulder as she waled toward the new ship that she would call home. It was a hell of a lot better than an Alliance detention center. Cerys wore her normal black t-shirt with her home-made corset, with her beaten worn jeans and dark brown boots. Cerys knew that most people can't be trusts so ever the years since her release from the Alliance, she had acquired a few, she had two chest holders and two located on her back. Cerys always like to be prepared, people can be crafty, she learned that the hard way.

Her cold, calculating eyes scanned the area around the ramp. She did see anyone. "Maybe they are already inside?" she thought to her self. Walking hesitantly towards the dark opening of the ship Cerys glanced around on the inside. "Hello?" she called still glancing around corners as she began to walk deeper into the ship. "Maybe this isn't the right ship?" she began to think as she walked deeper and still haven't came across a soul. "it has to be the right ship, the name is on the side.." she spoke aloud to no one in particular. "Hello? Its Dr. Howlett, anyone here?" she called into the ship hoping that she wasn't the first one here.

[jon]

Nathaniel tugged his wide brimmed hat just a few inches lower, blocking out the intense glare of the overhead sun; as much as the young lad had come to love Persephone, it was always a little too bright for his tastes. Having spent the majority of the day in said bleaching light, he was glad to be returning to the ship that had been his home for the past six months.

Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the feeling of wind play at the back of his neck as the trailer he was seated on shifted with Schaefer's sharp acceleration; the mercenary may not have been half the pilot that Nathaniel was, but he knew how to drive and took every opportunity to get behind the steering column of the Recluse's three wheel cargo mule, navigating it and its trio of trailers through the smokey tent markets adjacent the Persephone Docks. It was upon one of these trailers that Nathaniel was currently perched, his repeater resting against his hip - A foolish idea, perhaps, to use the scrawny hemophiliac for security, but he and Schaefer were regulars around this part of Persephone and the threat of an actual heist was slim to none. Regardless, Florian was a crack shot and, by mere necessity of association, Nathaniel had become such, as well.

Feeling the snake-like cargo train shift suddenly to the right, Nathaniel knew that they were back to their vessel, confirmed for him by the sudden incline of their trike heading up the boarding ramp. Hopping deftly off the back of the cargo trailer, Nathaniel felt his dusty boots clomp familiarly onto the metallic plating that was the uniform floor to the Recluse, before immediately heading to the comms panel adjacent to the exterior door control. Rapping on the activation button, he quickly spoke in his characteristically fluid manner in a general broadcast to the entirety of the vessel, stating;

"Kelly, if you would be so kind as to get your chain-smoking rear end up and to the cargo bay, we can begin to unload the trike."

as he swung his repeater across his shoulder, allowing the thin leather strap to take hold. The end of his sentence was punctuated by the load clang of Schaefer's chucking of one of the large supply containers onto the deck, before he placed a heavy boot against it and slide it bodily towards its proper place on the farside of the bay, just underneath the stairs.

By Nathaniel's reckoning, they had just cleared the remainder of the general expenses account and had gained just enough foodstuffs, fuel, and general maintenance parts to run their vessel for maybe another month. It was time to get working - They just needed their new Captain's go ahead; An individual neither he nor Schaefer had yet to meet. In fact, he and his friend had been out most of the day, taking care of the vessel's material needs, so, to their knowledge, there was only one other person aboard this vessel.

[alice]

Maria, still stunned by Kelly's quick exit, sat in the pilot's chair. She mused quietly over if she should sell the ol' rust bucket, or keep it and find away to manage it's crew. It's ungodly, unruly, unprofessional crew. Or at least that's the image of the crew that Captain Heath Harrow imparted on her during their short business transaction.

She shook her head as she thought of that poor man. He had been so surprised when she won. She didn't even think he had noticed her counting cards. After that fifth shot of whiskey, he had certainly been quite oblivious. But he felt he could beat her if he just got the right hand. He never did. And his own personal reactions to each card he received were obvious and possibly his biggest blunder.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a loud voice. An unfamiliar sound. Not Kelly's gruff voice, but a younger, slight less gruff voice. She left the ideas about what to do with this ship leave her mind for a second. A new crew member meant more introductions would have to be made. She pushed her slender frame up from the chair, heading into the interior corridors of the ship. As she headed further and further into the vessel, she began to realize, she had no idea where she was going.

As she headed toward the tail-end of the ship, she saw a small worn sign with the words 'car bay' upon it. Upon closer inspection of the sign, it became obvious some one had scratched out the 'g' and the 'o' in the word cargo. The word unruly came to her mind again. Kids giggling manically. She shook her head, running her fingers through her hair, and nervously biting her lip before slowly opening the door.

She had expected to run into the room and introduce herself, but now she found herself staring at the men, as she waited for them to address her.

[josh]

The dust was staring to accumulate on the outsides of Florian's goggles as he drove the mule back towards the ship. He was pleased with himself for picking up the tinted ones, as the glare of the sun was worse then ever, but he was no stranger to a world such as this and thus prepared accordingly. There was a bandana tied across the bottom half of his face to help keep his mouth free of particles, but some were still sneaking in. He enjoyed the time he spent driving the mule, it was a opportunity for him to "stretch his legs" in a way. He was in a sort of stupor as he contemplated how he felt about another new captain; the last one was a bit too much of a drinker for his tastes.

He was thoroughly enjoying the feeling of the wind on his face as he turned the corner to reach the last stretch before the ship. He turned around to see Nathaniel struggling to stay upright as the cargo-train snaked its way around the corner. The road was in deplorable shape, I drove on better roads in the war, he thought to himself as he was jostled around in the drivers seat. The front wheel of the mule hit the loading ramp with a thud as he pulled the caravan into the cargo area of the ship, he jumped out of the seat and removed his goggles and bandana. The sand that had once littered them now lay in a scattered pile on the floor, and he only added to the pile when he ran his hand through his hair to remove the last bits.

Turning his nose up he noticed the ship had a distinct smell of cigarette smoke, or at least more so then it had when he and Nathaniel departed only a few hours earlier. The smell quickly left his mind however when he went to remove the first of the crates from the trailers, and slide it beneath the stairs with the underside of his worn boot. The sound the container made as it slid across the metallic floor gave him the chills, and shortly after he decided that it was the last one he would slide.

Florian was hunched over placing a crate under the stairs, so as not to make the crate scrape across the deck again, when he heard another kind of metal screech. The door behind him slid open, and he turned his head over his shoulder, and to his surprise, he saw the slender form of a woman. He was for some reason expecting a man to be in the doorway, he did not know why, but it caught him off guard. He straightened up and, giving her a expecting look, said "Captain?"

[jon]

"Gorram it, Schaef, gimme a hand here,'

Nathaniel barked in his warm, youthful voice, as he struggled with what appeared to be a rather cumbersome case of... Something. Though the lad continually compensated for his slight physical frame in confrontation with a quick wit and sharp tongue, he nonetheless couldn't aid his handling of the near fifty kilogram case of... Whatever, with a witty jib. Sometimes, more than he would care to admit, he needed Schaefer for dead weight lifting, yet, the older man was already halfway across the bay with his second crate.

Taking a quick series of steps, he already felt himself losing whatever precarious balance he had, prior. Blocking out whatever ambient noise that he may have caught with a series of volatile swears, Nathaniel tripped forward and hit the deck, dropping the oblong canister, which promptly exploded outwards, dumping its contents of miscellaneous replacement parts, hull patches and the occasional screw driver across the cargo bay's floor.

"Pi hua."

Pushing himself up from his hands and knees, Nathaniel managed a few more grumbled expletives, before righting himself entirely, saying irritably,

"Thanks for the hand, Schaefer, now-"

Before he caught what Florian was looking at; a woman.

Oh.

Blinking once or twice, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

"I, eruh... Lend a hand?"

With an expansive swipe of his hand, he motioned towards the spilled mess of tools and such, as well as the remaining crates.

[alice]

Maria quietly nodded at Florian's acknowledgment. The fact that he correctly guessed that she was the Captain caught her a bit off guard, until she remembered that she was new, and they obviously were able to put two and two together.

But as Nathaniel asked for a hand with the crates carrying the guns headed for Whitefall, she found herself obliging. She quietly began to pick up the chaos of tools in her awkward large black pumps. She felt silly as she struggled to squat in them, as well as her black leather pants. She began to just bend at the waist to reach down.

She suddenly began to feel completely wrong for this job.

((Sorry it's short. Just trying to get a post out there.))

[kelly]

Kelly heard the page for him to get to the cargo bay to help, he got up from his bunk dressed himself in black baggy pants, black heavy boots, and a white beater. He lit a smoke and headed to the cargo bay. When he reached it he wasn't too surprised with what he saw, Flor doing all the work, that young punk Nat dropping everything. And the new captain in pumps trying to pick up a crate. Kelly shook his head and ran a hand through his short hair. He walked over to the group kicking a few of the tools Nat had dropped in his direction. "Learn to walk then maybe all this crap wouldn't be everywhere" he said in his usual gruff and low toned voice. He inhaled the fumes from his cigarette before he exhaled through his nose. Kelly learned to ignore the stings long ago.

Looking Maria up and down he placed a hand on her back "hey, you might wanna change footwear, pumps ain't the best" he suggested a smirk playing onto his mouth. Bending down Kelly picked up the crate Maria was going for. He walked it over to where the other guys were loading it and placed it there. Kelly then walked back for another, lifting it he spoke "guys be careful with this shipment, these rifles were hard to come by, got it?" he asked his bright blue eyes squinted in a sort of threat as he looked Nat and Flor over. He had met them earlier but was still warming up to them both. Maria was no different.

[cerys]

Cerys had found her way into the cargo bay, she heard voices down there. "Maybe the captain is down there" she thought, small butterfly's began to flutter about in her stomach, she always got those when meeting new people, she just knew how to hide it. Cerys pulled up her bags further onto her shoulder as she stepped into the cargo bay.

There standing behind a brunette woman, was some one who looked so familiar to Cerys she just couldn't put her finger on it. It was going to bother her now, until she figures out who he is. Cerys' black boots made but little noise as she walked to wards him, figuring he was the captain.

"Captain?" she called since she was still at least about 10 to 15 feet from the them.

"That's it!, I know who he is...Kelly Noyce, that bastard" she thought. Cerys' eyes narrowed as she began to close the distance between her and the bustling people that were in the cargo bay. It had been at least 10 years or maybe more, since she has last seen that bastard of a man. Left her there to rot in that prison. "I'll fix him" she thought a corner of her mouth twitched up into a smirk.

[josh]

Florian flashed an awkward smile of acknowledgement as she walked passed. He was still stunned at the prospect of a female captain; he took no issue with a woman being in charge, but his military days had engrained in him a familiarity with male leadership. What was odd, though, was how the captain did not address, let alone speak to either him or Nathaniel; however, he followed her over to the spilled crate regardless.

They all set about collecting the scattered equipment in relative silence - Until Kelly appeared in the doorway and approached the trio. Florian immediately felt his distaste rise - Something about Kelly rubbed Florian the wrong way, be it the chain smoking, or his general demeanor towards Nathaniel and himself. His entrance was nothing short of expected, though; throwing out insults and only offering a hand to those he can immediately demean for doing so.

"Hey, give the kid a break," he said, throwing his handful of scrap back into the open crate, prior to standing up and walking towards Kelly.

"If I remember correctly, it was the kid and me who went and got the ruttin' guns, while you sat in your bunk doing jack all mornin'." He said in a coarse, accusing voice as he snatched the crate from Kelly. He allowed a moment to pass, where he faced Kelly with an adamant stare, before turning and taking the newly acquired crate over to the stairs. As he was walking, he heard an unfamiliar voice break the strained silence,

"Captain?"

He looked up in dismay, saying to himself "Jing cai" as he saw yet another women. "Just one more thing to distract our smuggler." He thought resignedly.

---

Jing cai:splendid

[alice]

Maria was forced to look down at her impractical footwear as Kelly addressed her. Sure, they weren't what she should be wearing. But what she had paid for them, they were worth the inconvenience they were giving her. She sighed, bending down and removing them from her dainty feet, dropping them to the door. She hissed as her feet hit the cold, metal floor. A completely uncomfortable, yet slightly wonderful feeling. She smiled, going back to helping the men move the boxes without the burden of her shoes.

Then a woman's voice. "Captain?"

Then some unintelligible threats. Possibly towards Kelly. Her hearing had been off ever since she had been hit over the head with that crowbar. It was a weak spot for her. Of course, her ex-husband could've done much worse to her than just damage her hearing.

She shook her head, as though trying to shake water from one of her ears. And then shrugged. Futile. And then she looked to Florian. Kelly. She stepped infront of Florian, a rather rude approach, but she wasn't going to tolerate this.

"Quit it," she hissed, a warning. "This vessel is tiny, and we all have to live on it. If you cannot get along, that's going to make that all the harder."

"Now," she softened a bit, crossing her arms as she looked at the open crate and the exposed contents. Guns. Maria loved her guns. "They are pretty."

[jon]

Nathaniel blinked once or twice as the Captain actually moved towards the scattering of tools and repair bits to aid in their retrieval and organization - Something he wouldn't have dreamed their previous, alcoholic dandy of a captain would have deigned to do. With a genuine, if crooked, smirk creasing his youthful features, Nathaniel quickly stooped and helped gather the varied pieces of metal. Somewhat at a loss for words for the situation, Nathaniel nevertheless attempted to get a bead on this woman; he was perpetually the youngest on any crew and had, accordingly, the least amount of experience with any woman, let alone a female one, so the distinction meant little. Still, she seemed as nervous and awkward as he was, the first time Florian brought him aboard their vessel off of Higgin's Moon; had she done this whole 'Captain,' thing before?

Regardless of his sudden acute awareness of her sensitivity to the 'new,' nature of her situation, Nathaniel appreciated her willingness to get her hands dirty; if this was how she ran things, he would take no issue with taking orders from her.

He just hope she would do less with the bending over thing.

Suppressing a shift in the content of his smirk, Nathaniel prepared an appropriately witty introduction, but was interrupted by the entrance of the only other crew member he was familiar with; Kelly. Flashing the shorter man a goodnatured grin, he hoped for maybe a slight glimmer of something more... Human, but was, once again, disappointed; he was the same surly bastard he had been for the past six months and the lighthearted jibs over the intercom did little to lighten his mood, proven by his caustic jib at Nathaniel's expense. Watching him move to the Captain and very unsmoothly place a hand on the small of her back, Nathaniel got the feeling they had already met. Or, maybe Kelly was just a bit more a lech than he originally had guessed.

Remarking audibly to himself, Nathaniel said in a sarcastically contemplative tone,

"Well, if I hadn't dropped the goods, then how would you find a way to excuse a good gropin'?"

Shrugging to himself, he continued collecting the parts, prior to hearing the firmhanded remark of Florian.

.

He didn't need Schaefer to cover for him. Especially for the likes of Kelly. Maybe a few more well armed individuals, but not Kelly. At least, while he remained just kicking things. So, yeah - He didn't need back up. For now.

Regardless, he watched the testosterone face off with a tense clenching of his jaw; he knew those two would go at it, someday - Hell, they'd been bickering off and on ever since they joined the crew (Though, Nathaniel suspected that was just because Kelly bickered with almost everyone) - but it would be ridiculous for it to come to a head the day the Captain arrived.

Still, he was grateful for Florian's rather off hand nature in his quip - His quick disengagement made for an easier defusal, which the insofar unnamed Captain managed with a rather strong intervention between the two gunmen.

But, it seemed like she just ignored the approach of what appeared to be a potential crewmember - Another woman. Turning to watch her as he emptied the last of the materials into the crate, he closed it as she directed her gaze toward Kelly.

Was that anger?

How much conflict was this new crew going to have deal with?

[josh]

Florian sat the crate down under the stairs with a sigh, adding it to the slowly accumulated stack. Turning and giving the Captain her due ear and eye during her discourse, he nonetheless felt that she had belittled his confrontation with Kelly some. Still, he was not irked by the response, as it was to be expected. "Aye, Captain" he said, with a straight voice. "I'm just a little tetchy when it come to people mouthin' off, when there aint due cause."

Before he could catch the Captain's response, however, he caught the persistent presence of the newcomer and motioned towards the doorway.

"I think there is someone here to see you."

He found the Captain's apparent lack of interest in all the unknowns upon her boat to be a tad unusual.