Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

On the Apex [ Nymphetamine and DudeGuy ]

D

DudeGuy

Star
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
    • Once upon a time, there was a man who said that there was no such thing as global warming.

      Though scientific evidence proved this man wrong, and showed that the climate of the earth was rapidly changing, nothing was done about the changes. Ever since, man tried their best to save their home planet from what seemed to be certain destruction, but their battle was lost. Thankfully, after there was enough time to move the population onto giant ships and colonies. Some of these vessels drifted off into space, while a large group of them settled in various places around the solar system. Earth was now a barren planet, much like Mars. The oceans dried up almost as soon as the atmosphere disappeared, leaving nothing but arid trenches within the land scape.

      With new scientific advancements, man found themselves in a position that they never thought possible - a way to return the earth to the way it was before. Terraforming was no longer just a dream, or a theory, but a viable solution to their situation. Not just Earth, but also Mars, and countless over barren, lifeless planets that the human race stumbled across in their expansion from their home.

      But not all was sunshine and rainbows at this point in time. The knowledge of these vessels was somehow leaked to the masses, even the schedule for them to be shipped to the controlled environments on the surface of the earth got out somehow. Today was the day that the devices were to be shipped. Rather than using the large, heavily armed ships that they initially planned to use, the government decided it would be for the best that they used smaller transport vessels. They were all unmarked vessels that were to launch at the same time as many of the civilian vessels were too. Larger military vessels were launching at the same time, to distract any of those foolish enough to attempt coming after the devices.[/list:u][/list:u]

      ::: Twenty Minutes to Launch :::​
        • The door to the Captain's Quarters suddenly flew open, and out stepped twenty-four year old Ezra Vaughn. Though he was the Captain of the vessel, he also served as the primary pilot as well. The vessel, which was given the code-name Apex by the military, was a state of the art transport vessel. But, in light of their current circumstances and the increased threat of piracy, the ship was outfitted with some heavy weaponry. The crew was even given a personal armory of sorts. Luckily for them, they all had the benefits of military training.

          The odd thing was that none of them particularly seemed to act like they were a part of the military. Ezra especially. There were many things that were wrong with the young Captain - things that ranged from him being rather lazy, to seemingly being unable to understand anything said to him, to his overall seemingly low level of intelligence. It was surprising, but he managed to pass the entrance exams and his service record showed than he was more than capable of handling his current position.

          The brown haired man staggered through the halls as if he were hung over. That was no actually the case here. He was still half sleep. Honestly, he just rolled out of bed, wiped his face, took a quick shower, then pulled on his uniform. The sleeves of his white and navy blue jacket were rolled up to his sleeves, worn over his navy blue shirt. His white pants were just a bit baggy in the legs, but he liked them that way. His white shoes rhythmically tapped the metal floor of the ship as he headed downstairs and to "ground" level of the ship. The main hall here lead to most of the important area's of the ship. Rather than heading to the bridge, he headed down to the cargo bay.

          Ezra ran his left hand back through his messy hair, his half open amber eyes searching the area in front of him. The man wasn't particularly built, actually appearing to be rather small in stature. It also didn't help that his posture was terrible either. When he stood upright, he actually looked to be the full six one that he was. When he walked around, he usually looked to be around five eight or five nine. While he had some muscle mass, it was nothing that was particularly notable. The most attractive thing about Ezra was his personality. He was a very cheerful person, and an all around nice guy. Though he did have that idiot streak. . .

          He was searching for someone, the man in charge of maintenance on the ship. His name was. . .something that started with an "R". This was something that he should have known, half-sleep or not. After all, this guy was his best friend! He stood and thought for a moment, then it finally hit him. "Hey, Rolet, you here," he shouted.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
This ship... this ship was her baby. Not only had she helped with the schematics, help build it, she maintenance it before it was even launched! Ever! This ship was built for what it was, transport. It was bulky, with large spaces with straps, and equipment for strapping what they need. The ship was large enough for a crew of twenty, maybe a few more would still fit comfortably. Though generally, the crew was made up of the Captain, no matter what role they were, three pilots, mechanical crew of five, medical crew of five, scientists, IT's and other misc jobs.

She caressed her gloved fingers over the engine she was checking.. again, for the sixth time. She gleamed with pride looking at it's perfect cylinders, the smooth movements of when she tested them. She checked things off on her automated clip board. Making adjustments manually, she hummed to herself. Nothing out of the norm. She did a full check of the engine once more, crossing over to check other parts of the transmission, the steering, etc. It was like an art to her.

Climbing aboard, the woman put her hat back on. She was a very attractive woman. Though she wore loose green clothes, like most military members, an orange band around her forearm with a symbol, showing she was a mechanic. The clothing was loose fitting, hanging off of what would be curvy hips, a fair bust and the sort. She wore grease-stained, fingerless gloves. Deep pockets were in her baggy camo-like pants, were she carried clothes for cleaning up grease spills and such. On her backside was a leather case, with a shiny, seems to never been used before firearm hung off her leather belt. Around the sides of her hips were... well... tools. Drills bits, wrenches, screw drivers, bolts, etc. Anything you could think of... was on her waist.

It was early morning according to their atmosphere on Mother ship A-12E, their 'home'. If you looked out of the 'windows' where there was fake, modified movies, early morning with trees and sun-up and such. With her conductor like hat secured on her head, her hair tucked up inside of it to be kept from her eyes and slipping the loose sweater like shirt over her torso she left a sigh leave her.

Emily Rolet was.. quite gorgeous. Even dressed like a man. Her vibrant baby blues were flattered with long black lashes, obviously painted as such, a small button nose and full pink lips, usually twisted into a tiny smile. She had high cheek bones and tiny round ears. She almost looked like a child. Very short, maybe five feet tall, she was ideal for the position, able to crawl into the tiny spaces and fix things as required. She was a generally a nice woman, very happy-go-lucky, clever, extremely sarcastic and able to make snark like remarks. Though lovable all the same. She was always called by her last name, since basic training. Her first was deemed to girlie for a mechanic. Mostly when she beat all of her buddies in the track.

Being the only female aboard this particular ship, only female in her particular job, she had lots of respect, but she also dressed like the boys. Tattooed like the boys, everything...

Tilting to her head, she heard the voice of her captain. She stood at attention an placed her hand in the salute pose. "Aye sir, I'm right here." She called back, from around the corner. Emily cracked a smile at him.. he was the only one who hadn't realized it yet.. not that she cared. "Something the matter, Captain?"

// So short compared to yours. x.x;; Hopefully it's still good. //
 
    • [ Nonsense. It was a nice read. :D ]​

      Yes, out of all of the crew members on the ship, Ezra was the only one who didn't know that Rolet was a man. As far as he knew, Rolet was the first name of this person. And honestly, he never really looked Emily directly in the eye. Nor had he really, clearly, seen her face. As for her voice? It wasn't something that he really paid attention too. It was the words that stuck out in his mind more than anything. Was it possible for anyone to be as clueless as Captain Vaughn? Yes, apparently, it was. The crew was thankful that what their captain lacked in common sense, he made up for with his ability to lead and adapt to changing battlefield conditions.

      Ezra yawned as he heard a response come from within one of the corridors of the ship. He turned in the direction he thought the sound came from and looked around for the source of that sound, finding the mechanic in the middle of her work. Ezra could not place it, but there was something that was. . .different about Rolet. There were times when he found himself enjoying the presence of his friend a bit more than one would enjoy the presence of a friend. A different kind of feeling overcame him in such situations, a feeling he wasn't quite sure that he understood.

      No, that wasn't true at all. He knew exactly what he was feeling. It was an attraction to this other person, an attraction that confused him. Ezra was a bit of a ladies man. He flirted with most women that he came across, and had even gone into towns for the sole purpose of chasing skirts when he was supposed to be taking care of his duties. But he had never expected to find himself attracted to another man before. That was a fact that bothered the hell out of him. But Rolet was a close friend, so it was hard not to hang around the guy. Sorting out those kinds of matters had to wait for another time. Right now, they had a job that they needed to do and that deserved more attention than any of his personal troubles.

      "I just came down here to see if everything was go. We need to launch in about sixteen minutes with the rest of the midday traffic. That important delivery to make and what not," he said, trying to contain another yawn. He wasn't quite able to do that though, and ended up yawning once again. "We have to make sure that your baby here is in tip-top shape, just in case we get into a situation where I need to push her a little harder than usual." Ezra was a top notch pilot. When it came to maneuvering this large ship, he did so with precision. He knew the ships configuration, and he knew just how hard he could push it before it broke. Of course, he had to break it a few times to gain such intimate knowledge of it's ability to function. He still had scars from being hit with wrenches, screwdrivers, and various other tools that Rolet attacked him with from breaking the ship.

      Needless to say, Ezra was way more careful when it came to handling the ship nowadays.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
Putting her arms down at her sides, she eased up. He treated her like a friend, a teammate, not just an employee. She rubbed her nose, as she did a lot. It always itched, she found, mostly when she was nervous or something. "Eeh, she looks about ready to go, Captain." She rubbed her nose again, smearing grease onto her cheek, little did she care. Rolet motioned for him to follow. Emily lead him outside of the ship, flipping open a flap on her tool belt she grabbed a drill bit, taking the drill discarded on the ground she opened up the metal side plate. Placing it against the titanium hull.

As they walked, she mused to herself. Was it all an act? There were legends about this guy, how he was so miraculous and crap. His IQ was supposedly higher than most but... to her... Emily looked over her thin shoulder, eying his rough demeanor, his lazy and sloppily put together attitude and dress. Though, that style fit him, she wouldn't lie to herself and try to make him unappealing in her eyes. Never. But he was her captain, she was merely a Major. Her personal thoughts struck something, and nervously... she rubbed her nose. She had two easy give a ways about her nerves. When she wore her glasses, it would be massaging where the nose pieces indented on the bridge of her cute nose, or rubbing by her nostrils. Sometimes it was even just playing with the industrial piercing in her right ear..

"The engine is in great shape even after your last fiasco," her baby blues glares hard at his face, "that busted cylinder now works fine, she's greased up like a pan for bakin'. Transmission is good, gears are working fine. Everything is oiled up and she's filled to the brim with power. This baby is able to take just about anything you throw at her." Slapping her hand down on the engine a few times she beamed. Before she closed up the hull and lead him back inside. "And because of your... enjoyment of riding this baby like a horny prostitute, I built my own passage to get to the engine from the pilot's room... thingy here... to fix it when in danger."

Clapping her hands together, she placed them then on her hips. She tilted her head to the side, reaching up and fixing the hat on her head. "Also... with the new attachments of artillery and the extra steel for protection.. you can't be too rough. She can go no faster than 400 clicks. You got that?" Emily's hand resting on the wrench in her tool belt, threateningly. All of her tools were ordered, sparkling and clean. Never did they show any sign of being worn or used... she took very good care of them. Though that particular wrench looked to have a bit of a blood stain, probably from impacting his head so many times.
 
    • Were his actions all an act? Not one moment of them. The truth was, Ezra was a bit of an eccentric. Like most natural geniuses, he had some odd quirks about him. One of the things that he hated in particular was physical exertion. He was just lazy. But he worked, he showed what he was really made of when he worked. He seemed to be a natural born warrior. It was the one thing in his life that he seemed to take seriously. Other than chasing after girls that was. Sure, there were many out there who liked a man in uniform, but none of them ever really seemed to want to have a lasting relationship with one. He hated being alone, and often opened up about that to Rolet.

      How Ironic was it that the one person that he was always around, always talking to about being alone, was the one woman on the ship.

      Ezra seemed to straighten up a bit when Rolet began to talk about the condition of the ship. All of the proper tune-ups had been made, parts had been repaired, and other details were immediately memorized by the young Captain. "Sorry again about riding her so hard. That was a bit of an emergency and well. . .it was either bust a cylinder or the hull of the ship get busted open and the lot of us dyin'. I didn't feel like dyin' that day," Ezra said with a shrug. But it was quite true that he did enjoy pushing the ship as hard as he could. It was good to know that Rolet was considerate enough to make sure that there was easy access to the engine room from the bridge, but there was one little thing about that fact that nagged at him. 400 clicks was the max speed they could travel? He would have to make sure that he bugged his superiors for some tougher hardware once they got back here.

      If anyone were to get on the ship and make their way to the engine room, they would be in trouble. "How is the security in the passage? What kind of doors and locks are we talking here? I don't want anyone other than you maintenance guys to be able to get through that passage with ease," Ezra said, the tone of his voice reflecting a more serious side. The captain pushed his hands into his pockets, his thumbs hanging on the outside of them tapping his legs quickly.

      His eyes caught a glimpse of the wrench near her hand and he instinctively shuddered. Ezra was more familiar with that particular tool than he ever wanted to be. Just looking at it gave him a headache. He cleared his throat and looked away from it, turning his attention elsewhere. "We've got about ten minutes until we launch and it looks like everything is all in order. Thankfully, we'll be moving around with a bunch of civilian ships, so we don't have to worry about being sitting ducks. At least, not for the first leg of the transport. We're going to have to fly around about half of the planet and land in the region that was once called Africa. The place we're delivering this thing to is there."[/list:u][/list:u]
 
Emily enjoyed it when he worked, because she felt less like his mother, making sure he didn't stick two ends of a wire into an electricity hub. She also enjoyed it when he opened up to her, she knew all of his reasons for casing women around, even though none of them would ever commit to be with him, too much danger in his lifestyle. Much like her own. But Emily never spoke of herself. Quite ironic, as she was the most alone of them all. All the men respect him, look up to him, she'd seen them joke in the food room, when they ate together...

On that note, the mother ship. It was about the size of a small country. It was cut into sections, military, agricultural, residential, etc. Residential area was like a giant, never ending, sixty storied apartment building. The military area, large enough to carry all these space-crafts had different bases and things. They are green houses on board for farmland, there were cattle, poultry... everything. The mother ship was amazing, it harbor almost half a billion people, per. But as, along with global warming there was over population.

A smirk touched her face as she saw his back straighten, towering over her tiny frame. "I guess, but you nearly got us stranded, next time, call for help!" She said sternly, "They would've been here in time to help us without burning out my engine!" A heavy sigh left her full lips, "Do you know how long it takes to fix nearly one hundred cylinders?" Rolet sighed softly, knowing how his mind was working. She knew right then his was mentally complaining at her lack of speed. She never could get through his mind that they were a transport ship, speed and agility was not necessary, and she knew those were the exact words their Coronal would use.

"Passage?" She snorted in laughter, "Sorry, I used the wrong word. It's merely a hole big enough for me to squeeze into. It's only six feet deep, and I am just hanging over the engine. It's not really... safe? But let's hope I don't have to go in there often." She pointed out the floor board that was the one she used. "I'm the only one who can fit in there, perhaps one of the other guys, but.. meh, not unless they squeezed." His serious voice brought out the more relaxed and playful one of her own, she didn't mind when he was serious, she found it funny. He tried so hard to look tough and ready for anything, when in all honesty, he usually just saved that tone and face for the pretty ladies with the wide legs.

Pulling the wrench from it's place on her belt, she flipped it up, caught it and rolled it in her fingers. "Ten? I'd say about five now." She rolled up the sleeves of her button up shirt, showing off her watch. "We ought to get ready." Adjusting her hat once more she nodded, "Yes sir." She saluted to him, bringing her booted feet together before turning and walking away.

Hailing her men, they got situated into their places in the back of the transport, with the gear being moved. There were meshed they held onto, strapping themselves into until the flight deck said they could move around again. She hit the intercom, "Major Rolet, with mechanical team 416, we are all sound and ready, the terraform devise is secure." And she nodded to her men, embracing for take off.
 
    • Now that Ezra thought about it, Rolet was actually kinda of. . .small for a guy. If the hole he spoke of was just big enough for him to squeeze through, that meant that most of the others would really have a hard time making it through there. Especially pirates. Most of them tended to be on the bulky side, big and muscular. Ezra didn't know if he should be thankful that the tunnel ended in such a dangerous way or not. If nothing else, it made him uneasy to think of the danger Rolet would have to go through when using it. As his companion said, all they could do now was hope that it didn't have to be used too much.

      Just as she said, it was time to get moving. Ezra ran back upstairs and into the cockpit and urged the pilot sitting there to move. He took the seat and strapped himself into the seat. His hands automatically went to work, flipping several switches, starting up the engines, and preparing the ship for take off. The first confirmation came from Rolet, then confirmation came from the other departments on the ship. Everyone was ready to go. The platform that the ship was docked onto moved from the port area and over toward the run way.

      Then engine to the ship roared as the platform began to move forward, propelling the vessel out into space. Ezra checked the ship radar, then the feed being piped in from the outside camera's. They were moving in the flow of the other ships that had just taken off from the mother ship, heading toward other colonies or nearby settlements. Their ship was moving along the path that lead to one of the lunar colonies. They would be breaking off from this group about half way there and turning towards the Earth. Whenever Ezra saw the planet, he found it hard to believe that it ever looked like it did in all of the pictures in school books. What was once a vibrant and glowing planet was little more than barren desert now. There were a few bases on the planet, heavily armed and heavily guarded. On occasion, pirates liked to hide their ships in trenches and await some ship to come their way so that they could raid it.

      Ezra was curious to see if these terraforming machines would really be able to restore the earth to what it used to be. He was even more curious of what would happen after the earth was restored, if that happened at all. There was a good chance that humans and aliens alike would come crawling to the planet in order to claim some piece of land for themselves. Even now, land seemed to be the most valuable thing around - more than ships, more than colonies, more than the hulking mother ships that drifted through space, more than the dreadnought class military cruisers.

      About an hour passed before the Apex broke off from the stream of other ships and dove down towards earth. Ezra was watching the displays all around him intently, finding three ships breaking off as well. There were no escorts with them, and none of the vessels showed an insignia that decorated the hull of "unmarked" vessels. These were pirates. "Three unidentified craft approaching from 6 o'clock. All hands security level three," Ezra said into the intercom. Security level three was the second highest level. It meant that the ship would be taking evasive action and that all of the crew members needed to arm themselves and prepare for the worse case scenario - a hostile take over.

      Security level four would go into affect then, which meant that all of the crew would need to get into their combat gear and prepare for battle. His goal was to make sure that they never found themselves in a level four position.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
Emily was calm in the back, she never liked taking off though. She wrapped herself in the mesh on the walls and held her breath. The rocky take off shook her, and made shivers run up her spine. She tucked her chin down into her chest, and closed her eyes tightly, she was afraid, yes. And her fellow mechanics played on that fear. The tall, black, beefy man beside her laughed and nudged her shoulder. "Calm down! We ain't gonna crash. How many times have we done this?"

Wiggling around in the mesh she whined at him, "I don't like it. I always feel nervous. I'm not made for travel, why I ever agreed to do this job is beyond me." She clung to the side, and felt the vacuum like feel when they took off. her back was sucked against the wall, her hat tightened on her head, everything.

Earth. Emily had never been there, not when it was beautiful at least, or so she was told. She had books from her great grandparents with photos of lush green oasis and harsh yet beautiful desserts. Now it was all raw and barren. She sighed softly. Thinking back to the stories. Yes, earth was once wondrous, way before their life time. There were mountains into the sky, birds, grass, flowers, oceans, rivers. None was man made, or at least, very little. The amount of technology created flourished over the ages. Going from simple wooden wheels to hover craft, to space craft! She'd never been on another world, never seen the other cultures after stepping off the ship. She had no need. But now her curiosity peeked to her.

Once they were steady, the mechanics loosened themselves. The secured the terraforming device and checked all transmission statuses. When she made sure everything was okay with her team on the first found, she told them to make manual changes. Fixing her hat, she headed towards the flight deck but the words of their captain hit her hard. "Fucking shit." She swore, without thinking, she ran to the flight deck. She waved her hand past the indicator, and entered the room. "Captain!" She saluted him quickly, she took the co-pilots seat. "Um, sir. I'm going to stick around in here, because you are going to run the motor, I know it." She said, a slight depression in her voice.

// Eep short. x.x //
 
    • "Can't be helped Rolet, this is another one of those situations where it's them or us. I'd much rather it be them than us," Ezra said. As soon as those words left his mouth, the thrusters of the ship came to life and the ship took off. But the three ships that had begun to chase after them were fast, faster than the Apex was. And that was troublesome to say the least. Ezra slammed on the brake, slipping behind the three ships, then he turned the thrusters on max and turned down sharply toward the planet. Though the atmosphere was gone, the gravity of the giant, barren sphere was pulling them in toward it. The three ships chasing after them all chased after the Apex, showing off how much more powerful their engines were.

      To fire on each other now would be dangerous for their weapons - the heat produced from the descending ship combined with the heat from a weapon would most likely destroy it. Maneuvering in these conditions was rather hard as well, but that did not stop Ezra from breaking away from their pursuers. At this point, he was pushing the engine closer and closer to it's limits, but didn't pay much attention to such things. Once they reached a certain altitude, the chase began again. This time, it was much more dangerous as the ships began to fire at each other.

      The Apex rolled and ducked between shots, diving down into what was, at one time, the Atlantic ocean. Ezra was using the oddly shaped terrain at the bottom of the crevice as cover as the ship neared red-lining. They might not have been a combat cruiser, but with such a weak engine driving the ship, it made situations like this one. . .a hassle. Ezra had one last trick up his sleeve that wouldn't allow them to get away exactly, but it would buy them enough time to get themselves armed and ready for the pirates who would be boarding the ship. "Hang onto something," he said as his eyes narrowed.

      He slammed onto the accelerator, then forced the ship to twist at a sharp, upward angle. The ship spun several times, gaining quite a bit of height, before he dove back down towards the surface of the human-homeland. As the ship neared the ground, he pushed onto the brake causing the ship to slow considerably. It still, however, wasn't enough to keep the ship from sliding when the landing gear touched the barren sand. The ship spun several times before finally stopping.

      They were about fifty miles away from the base they were supposed to be delivering the machine to.

      "Well. . .that went better than expected. . ." Ezra said as he turned back to Rolet, flashing a grin. His hand hit the intercom and he told everyone to prepare for a level four security situation. They all needed to get armed, ready, and hidden. They were going to have to fight off the pilots that boarded their ship. After his announcement, he jumped out of the seat and stretched."You alright Rolet," he asked, knowing that his friend did not handle such maneuvers well.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
"Don't break her again. Or I'll break your skull," She said, trying to keep her voice from breaking. She'd been in mid sit-down when he turned the thrusters on. She felt as if her face was being sucked back as she was slammed down into the big chair. Her legs sent wildly into the air. "Holy shit!" She swore by the force of it. Her hands clasped onto the arms of the chair, and she inhaled deeply, no, she didn't like it one bit. She'd never likes heights, and knowing she was in a space craft hanging over a destroyed plant with no livable atmosphere and nothing to land safely on.. it increased her fears. Not to mention small crowded places threw her off, and she also got bouts of motion sickness.

Her mind wandered to the motor below them, she could feel it struggling as he increased their speed, and began their defensive maneuvers. Emily's eyes flickered to the speedometer, "You're going too fast." She warned him, fingers now clenching the arm rest of her seat. She closed her eyes as she felt them plummet to the earth. Emily hit the intercom, her voice was announced over the entire ship, "Get to your ready positions and armor up for landing. Major Rolet repeats, get yourselves ready for landing and possibly a battle." No authority was in her voice, but the panic crossing over.. yeah, that would be enough.

Watching the window before them, she had a first hand view of his roller coaster ride. "Captain Vaughn, you're going to either blow the motor, or stall it. Land somewhere quickly!" His words worried Emily. "Oh Jesus.." She muttered, whispering a short prayer before strapping down her harness in the seat, and clinging for her life. She was green in the face by the time it all ended. Their rough landing shook he from her seat, and as soon as the sliding stopped, she removed her safety harness. "Keep all systems online Captain, we need the radar up." Commanding him, she fixed her hat before reaching around herself, grasping the firearm lightly. Puling it from it's holster.

Her eyes glares daggers at him. "Better than expected?! I swear to god, I'm going to beat the living day-lights out of you..." She softened though, seeing his grin, hiding the blush that was touching her pale cheeks, she crawled under the dash, as instructed to.

"No. I am not alright. How did you get your pilots license? You fly like a maniac!" She hissed.

Emily hadn't even cocked her gun. It was still on safety...
 
    • "Don't be silly, I got my pilot's license because I fly like a maniac," Ezra explained, waving his hand in her direction in a rather comical way. He reached into his coat and pulled out one of his knives, flipping it around and placing the handle in a position where she could easily grab it. Rolet was no good with guns, but was actually rather scary with something that had a blade on it. Ezra was well trained using a firearm and a knife or sword in conjunction with each other. His style was a little on the strange side, but effective nonetheless. After digging his own pistol out of his coat, he crouched down beside Rolet, stealing a glance towards the firearm. "Make sure you take the safety off before you try to use that thing.

      "I think it'd be best if we turned the ship onto auxiliary power. That'd kill most of the lights, lock down most of the rooms, and cut off all unnecessary systems. If we're still, we can hear the other ships approach. It will make it easier for our people to get the jump on the pirates and harder for them to defend themselves when we launch our counter attack,"       Ezra said. Though he acted like a moron most of the time, there were times much like this one when Ezra showed just why he was in the position that he was currently in. They could have used the radar, but not using one wouldn't put them at a complete disadvantage, and the tactical advantage they had in this situation would probably be the deciding factor in the upcoming encounter. Facing a bunch of space pirates head on seemed to be about the dumbest thing that they could do in his mind.

      They were armed, but space pirates were a nasty bunch. Their ships often had lots of illegal modifications made to them increasing their speed, overall power output, the weapons were usually stolen from the military and sold on the black market. . .these people made the task of simple transporting goods a living hell. It was a good thing that Ezra was recording everything that was happening - he would be sure to hand the recording over to his superiors so they could see why he was always making such "outrageous" requests for things that the ship needed in order for them to survive out here.

      Ezra switched to the ships back up power. The only things running now were the artificial gravity, life support system, security, and light systems. A short time later, the ship shook as the pirates connected the hatch of their ship with this one. It took a few minutes for them to hack into the ship and open the back hatch of this one, and of course, they had to wait for the pressure of the two ships to match so that they didn't end up blowing both ships sky high and killing everyone on board. They flooded the hangar of the Apex, moving in to steal the terraforming device. The hangar was empty, which they were thankful for, but the device was bolted down to the floor. If they wanted this, they were going to have to work for it.

      "Well Major, let's get started," Ezra said.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
"Give me a moment captain. I think I have to vomit.." She muttered, looking away, now that they'd settled, her stomach was required to do the same. Clearing her throat, she looked at him, her face more pale than usual. "Alright.." She snatched the knives offered to her with a smile. "You know me too well, sir." She said, tucking them into her own jacket pocket. Her eyes went wide and she blushed, "Ah, shit." She swore, once more. Using her thumb to click off the safety. Raising up her knees, she got back to her feet.

"Hrm? Oh yeah, get the back up system going, the floor mounted lights will come up.. we wont have much visibility, but yes... surprise is on our side now." Getting up, she patted her legs free of dirt, though they were covered in grease stains, ripped, torn, painted on... they were a mess. She frowned at them, her womanly instincts to 'wash them' rung in her mind. Shaking it off, she grinned at him. "Will it be much of a counter attack? Everyone else on the ship is hidden and probably still unarmed." Snickering a little she moved towards the exit. Yes, the power systems were off, therefor all they had to lead them were little blue lines on the floor, doors had to be opened by hand. And she did just that, though tiny, thin and kind of weak looking, she was not. Grasping the hilt of her firearm in her teeth she pried the doors open.

"We have to protect the Terraform devise, they should've seen us coming, they've prolly got men on their way. We only have to make it for that long." She could hear them, their bulky boots clanging on the floor, their speech, which was English, not surprising. The Major led him down the hallway, going serious and silent. Her gun was now back in her hands, down by her legs as she crept her way down them. Looking around corners carefully. Her heart was already pounding at the thought of the excitement. She giggled softly to herself as they neared the hangars doors. They were broad, six or seven feet wide, nearly a foot thick, for obvious reasons.

The blue lights illuminated her face, and made the strawberry blond strand of her bangs, hanging over her left eye shimmer. She mouthed something to him, along the lines of, 'I'll go first'. He was her captain, it was her life for his. On their little journey to the hangar, three others joined them. A med-tech (Thankfully, she nearly cried in happiness seeing him there), and two infantry men. They stood on the other side of the door.

The three of them began to peel the large doors back. Cursing and the cocking of guns began. Emily chuckled softly, jumping back as the doors slammed open. To the pirates there was... nothing...

That was when Emily fired the first shot.

And missed. Badly. The major swore at her lousy aim.
 
    • Though it felt. . .strange to feel this way, Ezra couldn't help but find Rolet's motion sickness. . .well. . .cute. Adorable as some would say. The way that the major always needed a moment to settle himself and his stomach after some crazy flight maneuvers. It was just impossible not to like the guy. Which made the situation even more awkward for Ezra. The timing of such thoughts only made things worse.

      Ezra had been intending to be the one who fired the first shot, but Rolet beat him to the punch. That would not have been a problem if the Major could actually hit anything with a fire arm. The Captain was up on his feet in mere moments, then fired off two quick shots at the approaching pirates, the bullets finding new homes in the chests of each of those men. In the same, swift movement, he grabbed Rolet and pulled her down as well.

      "There's a reason I gave you my knife. Use it. Give me the gun and your spare clips, and just. . .use what you know how to use. Don't worry about being able to get close enough to someone to attack. Just trust me to cover you and you'll be just fine," the young man said, holding his hand out and waiting for Emily to comply with his wishes and hand over her firearm. Between the combat knife and all of the tools on her belt, Ezra was more than sure that his friend would be more than able to take on the pirates in close quarters combat.

      Down below, the other crew members were firing suppressive fire into the enemy ship, holing the pirates off. Soon, the other fifteen members of the crew began to show up, armed and ready to go. At this point, there didn't seem to be much need for either Ezra or Emily to jump back into the fray, but there was no way that the two of them could just sit back and let this continue. Ezra turned and crouched behind the wall like guard rail and slowly came to his feet, then fired off several shots before crouching back down.

      All the while, the captain was thinking of a way to get out of the situation. Three ships came after them. The other ships would soon be docking with the one that was currently docked with them, meaning that there would soon be two more ship loads of pirates coming after them. That would be a major problem in the long run. The bolted down device only made things harder. There was no way that they could move it. Setting off explosives was dangerous as well. Then it hit him. They were going to have to push their way forward into the other ship. They had to move this battle away from the device so that it didn't get damaged in the crossfire.

      "We need to push them back into the other ship. Could you hack into the systems of the pirate ship docked with us and lock it down," Ezra asked.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
Emily felt a hand grasp her and throw her down to the ground, seeing him fall beside her, dirty thoughts touched her mind. Yes, she even thought that way. Of course a blush touched her face from the inappropriate thoughts. She never denied the fact he was very attractive. She found it also attractive at his aim and his accuracy with the firearm.. plus, who could resist a man in a uniform. She yelped as her rear hit the metal grate below them. A small whimper left her full pink leps a sshe hit it too, it hurt!

"Use the knife in a gun fight, eh? Good one sir, good one. I'll just run in and shank 'um while they load my head in with lead. Sounds like a good plan to me." She said, back, sarcastically. Hey, at least she could admit she was a lousy shot. She placed the gun into his hand, and emptied the rest of her clip into his hands. She sighed, and got back to her feet, bouncing onto the heels of her feet. "Fine, but if I get shot, it's your fault." She told him, carefully.

Though.. when she was ready to rush in the rest of the men arrived, armored to the teeth in bulletproof armor and larger guns. She pouted a bit. Shrugging towards them, she nodded for them to open fire. She wasn't paying attention to the Captain and his musings, she had too much on her mind. "DO NOT SHOOT THE DEVICE!" She hollered at them, hearing the ricochet in the room. She relaxed against the wall next to her Captain. His muttered something and then asked a ridiculous question. "Hack?" She cleared her throat and Emily pointed at her greasy, dust covered self. "I'm a mechanic, not a technician." Her face was plain as she sighed.

"But..." Emily scrambled to her feet and raced to the control panel on the other side of the door, dodging a bullet, she yelped, forgetting around the incoming fire. She was yelled at by an infantrymen for her reckless behavior. Without hesitation she dived into the control panel, she was biting her lip. Sure, it all made sense to her, but did she know how to program it? Not a clue. She unlocked the authentication service. Typing like mad, she managed to lock onto the ship connected to their hangar. Nibbling on her lips she continued to work, locking down the defense systems on the ship. The whizzing noise of the engine slowing to a stop was loud, and it shook the ships. The pirates seemed confused.

A shot shook their hangar, and Emily slipped to the ground. She groaned, smacking her head off the wall in her fall. Grasping the 'oh-shit' handle as she called it, below the panel, she kept working. The engine slowed to a stop and the lights dimmed. She was slowly turning the ship off. "If we can get them back in..." She murmured. "We'll have to turn the system back on, close these doors and re-pressurize as I launch them off of us..."
 
    • Ezra made a mental note to speak with his superiors about one other thing - Major Rolet. If nothing else, they guy was. . .well. . .brave. He ran right in the middle of an active fire fight, covered with precise and well timed shots by not just the Captain, but the rest of the crew as well. His bravery would be the reason that they got out of this all alive, Ezra was sure of that much. The mechanic was able to get into the system of the pirates ship and shut down the engine, giving Ezra and the others more than enough time to wrap things up and get away from the pirate ships. In the time it took for this all to happen, the engines of the Apex cooled down considerably after being pushed beyond their limit earlier.

      Rather than go and do the things that the Major asked, Ezra let one of the other pilots handle that job. He was going to stay and make sure that his man got back onto the ship alive. He moved quickly behind the platform, making his way over to the stairs. There was a pirate down at the bottom of the stairwell who spotted him and immediately opened fire. Ezra spotted this man just in the nick of time allowing him to get away with several cuts from the heated metal objects rather than having several of them take up permanent residence in his body. The only thing he could do was watch and wait until one of the other crew members to the pirate out.

      He quickly moved down the stairs and holstered the handguns, then he grabbed the rifle the pirate had been using and opened fire with it. The Apex slowly roared back to life, and the cabin re-pressurized which meant that it was time for them to regroup and prepare to take off. They would not be leaving without the head of the maintenance department. "Rolet, it's time to get moving. Get back your ass back over here," Ezra shouted, hoping his voice was loud enough to carry into his friend's ears.

      Emily would not be able to make it back onto the ship so easily. One of the pirates from a different ship had just made his way down here, and saw the mechanic as their chance to do some damage and move themselves in a position to bargain with the uniformed men. The pirate reached down and wrapped an arm around the middle of the individual, surprised at how slender this person's body was. And that was when it hit him, this was a woman! "All a'ya hold yer fire or I'll slit this bitch's throat wide open," he shouted.

      The gun fire slowed to a stop, but not because the men were giving in to the threat. They were waiting for Rolet to break free and rejoin them.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
It wasn't hard, of course though, she was working vigilantly, and wasn't really thinking of her surroundings. Muttering calculations under her breath she had to guesstimate the size of the motor and such. How the transmission was set up, the whole deal. She slammed a hand against the wall when she made a mistake. It was harder than she had assumed. She switched power courses, everything. Her lips curved around the numbers and electrical measurements, everything. Emily stepped back and looked around for only a short moment. It seemed the fight was spilling deeper into the hangar. Little did she know they'd forced in another way.

"I'm almost done!" She called back, her eyes fixated on the panel. She was pressing the keyboard hard with frustration, she couldn't turn off the thrusters! They were on back-up generator power as it was. A low groan left her full lips as she glared at the screen. She typed in the code once more, and they shut off. She cheered to herself in victory. "Alright Captain I'm on my way." She said, turning to close the panel of the hangar.

When she turned she was face to chest with one of the pirates. He grasped her and lifted her from her feet. She felt awkward in that position. "Who are you calling a bitch?" She asked, clearly unamused. She rose a thin hand to the blade he'd placed on her pale throat. She wrapped her gloved hand around it. "Fucking retard..." She muttered. Jerking her hand out quickly she also ducked, causing his body to roll over her own. She'd expected this.. his men shot at her, but she used that pirate as a meat shield. Snapping his arm as he was shot a multitude of times, she jumped back to the infantry, hiding behind them. "Get out." She told them. Ushering them.

Emily dropped the blade that had been wielded against her. She hadn't noticed it yet, but her jacket was torn open, the tight, white, clingy tank top worn under it was partially shown off to them. None were phased at the moment. They shut the doors quickly, and braced themselves for the enemy ship to leave the aerospace. Emily chuckled, before busting out into laughter. Her hands and legs were trembling from the excitement. "My lord.. I've not done something that exciting in a while.."

Fixing her skewed hand on her head, she looked around the hallway, as it began to clear. She fixed her jacket, covering her self, letting the baggy material hang from her body like per-usual.
 
    • Luck was on their side today. While Major Rolet wasn't a technician, she was able to complete the task given to her and shut the ship's engines down. That, combined with the amount of damage done to the pirates forces all but guaranteed their escape. The crew on board the Apex was all able to get away with some minor scrapes and scratches from bullets that grazed their bodies, a few had actual bullet wounds. The medical staff was more than able to take care of such wounds. One of the other three pilots on the ship were at the helm now, guiding the ship to it's final destination. The pirates wouldn't be able to recover from the work over they had just been given for some time, so there was no real worry of being chased.

      Finally able to breathe, Ezra exhaled and headed for one of the chairs in a nearby room to sit down and rest. Combat situations were exhilarating on one hand, and tiring on the other. As he headed back towards the room, he spotted Rolet just ahead. The Captain opened his mouth, intending on congratulating the Major for a job well done when he noticed that the other man's jacket was open, and that there was. . .something on his chest. Not one thing, but two. Those were. . .which meant that. . .which also meant that. . .

      Without so much as a word, he grabbed the Major's hand a pulled 'him' into the room, then closed and locked the door behind him. He didn't want to be disturbed right now. There was a long silence between the two of them, and confusion on Rolet's part, before Ezra turned away from the door and towards his friend. This person, who he had gotten to know and had come to think of as a brother over the years was. This person he told things that he never told anyone else, about him, about his relationships, about what he wanted out of relationships. Ezra had even complained about being, well, frustrated at points to this person numerous times over the years that they knew each other. The pilot rested his hands on Rolet's shoulders, noticing for the first time just how small they were, how small Rolet was.

      He always knew that the 'guy' was small, but never how small exactly. For the first time, he took a good look at her face, noticing how soft it's features were and how soft her skin looked. The intense blue color of her eyes really popped, striking something within him that made his heart rate jump. In all this time, he hadn't noticed how close his face had been to her own, but he did nothing about it when he did notice.

      "You. . .you're a woman," he said, the tone of his voice very serious and inquisitive.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
Laughing and high-fiveing her colleagues she cheered with them, apologizing to the wounded. She patted the arm of a med-tech, and the man patted her back. Before looking over for wounds. There was nothing major, a tiny nick on her neck was all, and it wasn't even bleeding. He gave her a band-aid though, to cover it, and stop if from getting infected. Tucking her hands into her pockets, she allowed her jacket to remain open, not really thinking of it. Her metal dog-tags bounced on her breasts as she stepped, her boots clunking on the metal mesh flooring.

"Oh hey Captain--" She barely had the words from her mouth, as she went to salute him, when he grabbed her (roughly) and yanked her into a room. Emily rubbed her abused hand, "Hey.." She whined, a pout on her face. Innocently she looked up at the Captain. But all she saw was his back. Confused, the woman's head tilted off to the side very slightly, one brow shooting up, the other moving down. A quizzical look on her innocent, freckled face. The sound of the door locking startled her. Had she done something wrong? Did she cause someone to die? Thoughts raced in her mind, and nothing concerning her nearly exposed breasts came to mind. He turned slowly, and his face- that rough, in-need of a shave, handsome, dazzling eye'd face - was near hers. An inch, maybe two from hers. His heavy and warm hands rested on her shoulders, and she kept that same dumbfounded look on her face.

He spoke.. and she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Her eyes sparkled as she grinned at him, "You didn't know?" Sighing, Emily grabbed her dog tags and lifted them to his eyes. "E. M. Rolet. Do you even know my first name, Captain Ezra?" A light giggle left her, she was amused greatly by this. Lifting her tiny gloved hand she placed it on his, over her left shoulder. "Sir. My name is Emily M. Rolet. I am the only female mechanic in this fleet, I am also the only female Major in this fleet." Her voice had lowered considerably, as he was so close, their noses were nearly touching. A gentle pink tint graced her ivory cheeks.

Raising the other hand, she removed her hat. A dozen bobby pins held her hair up against the back of her head. Without speaking, Emily put her hat back on. Her face was still pink from his proximity when she asked; "Is my sex a problem? Sir."
 
    • As Ezra took such a close look at the Major's face, it was more than clear that he was looking at a woman. And her voice? There wasn't just that though, there was also her name. Rolet wasn't her first name, but her last. He had always been under the impression that it was her first name because everyone on the crew here was on a first name basis with one another. It was strange that she was the only person who was constantly being called by her last name. Instead of being furious, as he was afraid she would be, she actually seemed to be highly amused by the situation that was unfolding here. Ezra was smart enough to stay on the lookout for her wrench, as the major had a strong arm and was more than quick.

      The Captain thought long and hard about her questions, and how he would answer them. The first question and second question had obviously already been answered. He did not know that she was a woman. If he had, things between the two of them would probably have been very different from the way that they were now. It was her lest question that he was wrestling with in his mind. Not because her gender was a problem but. . .well. . .it was a good thing. And while that was the case, he didn't want to come off as being too happy that she was indeed a she.

      But then there were those past conversations, some things that he did and said around her that he most likely wouldn't have if he had known her gender. Now that he thought back on those things, he couldn't help but think about how awkward those conversations must have been for her. That was definitely something that he would have to apologize to her for. More than anything, he was glad that this was a woman he was attracted to and not another man. He'd be able to rest easily tonight. Well. . .somewhat more easily. Ezra breathed a sigh of relief and took a step back away from Emily, thinking for a moment before he finally responded to her question. "Not at all, it 's just that - "

      When he looked up to her face, he stopped speaking. Seeing the way that she blushed as they spoke he couldn't help but think that she looked cute. "Just. . .that I. . .was going to say something that - oh wait, I was just going to apologize for some of the things that I said and done around you in the past. I know that stuff couldn't have been too comfortable."[/list:u][/list:u]
 
Emily seemed to notice he was leaning in on her more and with a wall on her back, she couldn't lean further away, she felt trapped by him. But, she wasn't too upset by it, watching him as he examined her face, almost as if he was trying to memorize every freckle on her pale face. Calmly, she looked up at him, watching him mull over what she'd said. More than a tad awkward, she shifted her weight, even as he had her up against the wall in the tiny room they were in.. what room were they in? She asked herself, peering around. It seemed to be just an empty room, probably to be used as a secondary carrying space if needed.

He began to speak, and the woman met his eye, but he paused, cutting himself off. Was he nervous now? Was he no good around ladies? Well.. she knew he had no problem wooing women, she'd seen it more times than she would've liked to. He was usually calm and suave around them. Did her man-ish appearance and line of work merely throw him off? That was silly, she remembered a story about his one night with an amazonian woman on some strange planet in return for their aid. Emily though it was kind of wrong, to trade sex for help, but hey, you do what you have to.

"I don't care, Captain Ezra. What you said to me, you said to a friend, wither I am male or female, it shouldn't matter. You needed someone to talk to, so I was there for you, am I right?" She asked, raising a delicate brow to him. She felt a bit strange, standing this close to him, so she ducked under his arm and stepped towards the door. Trying to fix her ripped and torn jacket. "Well, if you can excuse me, I need to go help with the unloading of the terraform device, but I also need to find a new jacket." She smiled at him again, flashing her pearly whites.

Unlocking the thick door, she stepped out, fixing her hat on her head, she tucked her jacket out behind her, stuffing part of it into her tool belt. "Oh, Ezra." She turned back to him, not surprised that he was still there, "May I have my gun back now?" She outstretched her pale hand for it, her motioning for him to return the firearm into her possession. "I promise not to fire, I will just get in a shit-ton of trouble if I don't have it on my person and a higher ranking officer sees me."
 
    • Right, they were in the middle of a delivery and there were things that needed to get done. Ezra could talk with Emily more later on that day, after they docked and got rid of the thing that almost got them all killed. Just as he was easing back into his thoughts, Emily caught his attention by asking for her gun back. He had to remember that not all of the superior officers were as lenient as he was. To many of the other Captain's, Ezra was an enigma. He was definitely a genius, a skilled pilot, and an amazing leader. He should have been a combat cruiser captain, but instead, he was a mere transport vessel captain. Both jobs were just as dangerous as the other in their own ways, but being on a transport vessel seemed to be the safest option. They could fight or run, but their ships would never be outright destroyed unless someone had been given the order to make sure that something didn't get somewhere.

      Usually, it was just space pirates they dealt with. Excitement like today's normally did not escalate in such a way often. If it weren't for the danger of making the weapons mounted on the ship overheat or explode, they would have just blasted the pirates away from the get go. When they arrived on earth, they were busy trying to outrun three ships. Ezra hadn't had the time to think about weapons, but more about not getting blasted out of the sky and dodging the rugged terrain that he flew through.

      Ezra reached into his jacket and dug out Emily's hand gun. He spun the weapon around in his hand, making sure that the barrel was facing him and held the gun out so that she could take hold of it. "Too bad they make you carry something like this around when you can't use if very well, huh," he teased. Emily might not have been that good with a gun, but when she had a blade in her hand - or any other blunt object - she was dangerous. Very dangerous. He witnessed that from both view points. The last time he burned out an engine completely, he felt the full force of his companions rage. And then there were times like today, when he watched her kick some fools ass for trying to hurt her.

      "Well then Major, I'll let you get back to your duties," he said. With that, he waved and walked out of the room. Ezra was not one for formalities, only calling Rolet 'Major' at times when he was preoccupied with something. In this case, it was obvious what was on his mind.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
Emily waited.. and she waited.. he was thinking way too much on this! She realized, until he finally passed her back her gun. "Thanks." She said, putting it back in her holster. She glared at him, "I'll practice, if that'll make you shut up about it." She said, turning her head from him. She waved her hand as she stepped out of the room. She laughed softly to herself, finally, finally everyone on the Apex knew she was female.. things were bound to get interesting. Fixing her hat again, she rubbed her nose.

"Major, eh?" She asked, watching him leave. Stalking past her in a rush. Something was on his mind, something about her physical appearance, something to do with the fact that she was female. "Alright, Captain.." She said, saluting to him as he left. With a sigh, she continued on her way though, back to the device. "Alrightie, boys. How is she?" She asked, looking up at them.

The other Mechanics and herself worked on repairing the device, patching the blasted part of the room, while the pilots started the thrusters back up, the med-techs worked on the bullet wounds, though slight. She worked vigilantly on it, there was much to repair! There were large holes torn in the doors, walls, everything. The buckles holding it steady were ripped and burned. Emily sighed, her body was starting to get too warm. So she removed her jacket, tossing it to the floor. Working in merely her tank-top. Tucking her dog-tags into her bra she stood up, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Jesus it gets hot in there with us actually working.." She said, with a laugh.

They got it all fixed up, right as the thrusters started up. She grasped the mesh and gasped, they were only moving a little bit. She gasped, her facing turning a bit green, having not prepared herself..
 
    • The Apex set down within a ravine formed by the land so that the mechanics could work on the engines, the medics could check everyone out, and the crew could regain it's bearings. Ezra had been busy checking on everyone and with everyone, making sure that everyone was, at the least, alive and still kicking. Thankfully, the most that was suffered was a direct wound from a bullet or two. Mostly, there were scrapes, cuts, bruises, and minor burns. With finally a moment to rest, Ezra leaned back against a wall and watched as the mechanics worked. They were so into what they were doing that they didn't even notice that he was there.

      His amber eyes immediately locked onto Rolet, and his eyes followed her as she worked. And now that he really looked at her, it was more than obvious that Major Rolet was a woman. A good looking one at that. Her movements, her voice, her face, her eyes, everything about her was soft, gentle, and feminine. And when she took off her jacket and got back to work? Well, there was just something about seeing that woman work that got him a little excited.

      The Captain could not help but wonder if things would be the same between them if he had known about this sooner? Would they still be such close friends? Would he have been so open and honest with all of the things he had said and done around her? Probably not. Ezra would have most likely put the moves on her from the get go, rushed into something, and then, she probably would have gotten sick of him and joined the crew of another ship. Such was his luck when it came to relationships.

      Or maybe things could be different this time around? Ezra had never really been with anyone who had a similar occupation. Well, there was that one woman. . .but that was more for the survival of himself and his crew rather than personal enjoyment. Or any kind of person connection. That was pure lust on that woman's part, he just did what had to be done. Rolet hadn't been too happy with that. In fact, he distinctly remember catching the broader, blunt end of her wrench afterward. Could she had been jealous? Actually, that was an excellent question. When he spoke with her earlier, she had been blushing, but he had been just centimeters away from her face. That had to have been the reason.

      He needed something, a sign, a signal of some sort from her that was sure and simple. If, at any point, she expressed interest in him, he would gladly return such interest. No. Ezra would probably get started with that sooner than any potential sign in the future, but he would look out for it. Once they were finished, Ezra headed back upstairs without a word and had one of the other pilots take the helm. He sat in the co-pilots position for the rest of the trip to the Earth-base, where the delivery had been made.[/list:u][/list:u]
 
Emily was not noticing of his amber eyes on her petite frame, how his eyes were tracing the lines of her body as she bent and turned herself to get into tight spots. A soft grunt left Emily at one point, when she had herself wrapped around the devise, banging her hammer off of it, popping dented plates back out. Dropping the hammer, Emily bent herself over again, her hat falling form her head, her tied back, strawberry locks shining in the dim light. She grasped the hammer, tucking it into her bra before moving back to what she was doing.

These procedures went on for nearly forty-five minutes, nothing major. Finally, they were finished and she untangled herself, patting her men on the back, "Good job boys. I'll contact the pilots and let them know we're ready to unload this baby." She said, with a snicker. She nearly cantered over to the PA system. Her soft voice, sweet as honey rung over the ship, "Major Rolet reporting, the devise is secure, safe and ready to be placed on the Earth." She said, with a small laugh at the end. How could he not know she was a female?!

That time, with that woman? Oh there were too many to count. Emily was now, also reminiscing. She grabbed her torn jacket and headed off towards the more 'private' quarters. No, this ship wasn't equip with large bedrooms for all the officers. There were bunks that folded out from the walls in these private rooms, fitting maybe twelve people in each room, nearly four rooms, so it wasn't too crowded. Emily thought back again, those women he slept with.. He always had high hopes with them, then would come to her, heartbroken and deceived. A small frown touched her face. She didn't like him sad, made her sad. As her friend, she cared about the Captain.. what if..?

No. Emily shook her head, denying herself even the thought she had a 'thing' for him, not only was he her higher-up, he was so not her type! Plus, relationships just make everything so much more confusing. The mechanic opened the large barrack box in the corner of the room, stuff like defibrillators, first-aid kits and sewing kits were in these boxes, as it wasn't a long trip. Pulling out a sewing kit, she closed the box, sitting on it, and fixed her jacket.

They had finally made it, the Earth-base. She could hear the ship landing, feel the rumbling of the impact, and feel the cabins depressurize. With a sigh, she slipped her jacket on. Rushing to the hangar as she did up the buttons. There was the Coronal Major. She stopped at attention and saluted him, until he told her to relax, and they spoke easy. She explained the pirate attack -- leaving out her own heroics, of course-- and told him the device was still functioning. She helped the Earth-men unload the devise. Before climbing back a-board.
 
  • Ezra walked past Rolet waving a hello in her direction before approaching the Colonel who managed the based. He gave his own report, detailing in full about Rolet's heroics and how she practically saved everyone's lives on her own. He thought that she should get a raise, or reward of some kind for her actions. He also spoke with the Colonel about the ship. They needed weapons, better armor plating, better systems. . .hell, Ezra would have loved it if the entire ship were overhauled and based around a more powerful engine, better quarters for the crews. Something, anything. The larger military vessels were clean, pristine, immaculate almost. They had solid floors, better artificial gravity simulators. . .the only thing that their ship would need is more cargo bay. Something more efficient than what they had.

    The most he got from the Colonel was a promise to bring it up with his superior officers. With that much out of the way, the device had been safely delivered and the crew were allowed to stay, rest, and recover here on the Earth base for the night. Ezra returned to the ship and made that announcement. He did not need to see the faces of his few to know how happy they were to have the time off. Most of them would find somewhere to rest, or they would head out into the port, pick up girls, or go out for drinks. Ezra normally would have joined them, but there was someone else on the Captain's mind that he wanted to see right now.

    Rolet normally remained behind on the ship on days when they were in port, and could usually be found out and about tinkering around with something, or in her room. Ezra decided to go by her room first. "Rolet, you in there," he said loud enough for anyone on the other side of the door to hear. He was thinking that, perhaps trying to think things through on his own was a bad idea. Maybe if he spoke with Rolet for a while, tried to put the moves on her a bit, he would find out what he wanted to know, and he would know what he should do next.[/list:u]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom