Furry-Within

Conflicted would hardly begin to describe the maelstrom of emotions battering inside of the feline as she waited to board the shuttle that would transport her to the Aegis. Anxiously her tail twitched behind her, jerking first to the left then back to the right. She carried no bags except for a thin metal case that carried her PWS (portable work station) all of her personal effects, luggage and experiments were already on their way to the ship. That was the easy part. Now she had to wait, and that was something that the feline didn't do very well.

Without realizing it a paw lifted to her blouse and swiped at the invisible lint and wrinkles, that same paw lowered and tugged at the crease of her pants. She looked impeccable in her uniform the colors suited her well. Her feet were adorned in standard Alliance issue boots. They were versatile and rather comfortable, at least more so than the dress shoes she would have to wear at more formal occasions. The slacks she wore were identical in color and appearance to every other uniform worn on the ship. The majority of the pants was black, almost dull with a matte like finish. On the outer part of the leg going from the waistband to the ankle cuff was a black stripe, however this shade of black appeared glossed and shiny. Indigo was the color of her top, button down and long sleeve. The epaulette covers were black with silver clusters to signify her rank.

After what seemed like an eternity, the line moved forward and Alina found herself facing a daunting looking ursine that was asking for her papers. Quickly she reached into her case and retrieved the items he requested. She looked up and extended the papers towards him. He scanned her transfer request and then checked it against the ships records. The green light came on and he waved her through.

The inside of the shuttle was a veritable rainbow of colors. She didn't see anyone that she recognized, but she hadn't expected to anyway. She grabbed a vacant seat near the back of the shuttle and settled in between a sea of red, with a wave of green striped though it. Even though she knew that the shuttle wasn't ready to depart, a silver peppered paw lifted the safety harness and buckled it in place. Her PWS was placed neatly on her lap and opened. The shuttle trip would take about 20 minutes once all the passengers boarded.

Alina flipped her wrist over. Her PMD, currently set as a chronometer clearly displayed the time as 08:17. She had plenty of time before her meeting with the Captain at 10:00. Briefly her cerulean eyes danced from one side of the ship to the other, but nothing of importance caught her eye. So the snow leopardess would do, what any lab rat would do, she played on her computer until the shuttle docked. Occasionally lifting a finger to raise her glasses that always seemed to want to creep down her nose.

The feline had to admit though that her computer held little interest for the remaining moments of the trip. As soon as she looked out of her window and gazed at the enormity of the Aegis, Alina felt her pulse quicken, laced with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

"Shuttle 214, Shuttle 214. This is Ægis command comm over."

"Roger command comm, this is shuttle 214. We are scheduled for arrival at oh-eight-forty-five, please confirm."

In the same bored and neutral tone, Bishop replied after briefly checking the incoming ship roster. "Ægis confirms, shuttle 214 UGA Babbage to arrive at 0845 with crew compliment and supplementary materials."

"Roger command comm." The officious and similarly neutral voice became slightly more relaxed as they broke away from the standard script. "We may be a couple of minutes behind schedule, and I got the usual couple of greenies who think they can slip a few sundries into their mass allotments. We're sorting it out now, shouldn't take long. I still have a couple of missing heads, but we'll be there shortly."

"Understood. You have my permission to leave any non-compliants on the dock to wait for the next shuttle. They can take it up with their department heads. Command comm out."

Bishop did not usually oversee docking operations, but he was a little shorthanded until the rest of the crew compliment filled out. He'd been on board for some time now, double-checking the systems, triple checking all of the spares, and working with the systems engineers to make sure that their hot-swap backup system was in working order and stored in the grounded area under the bridge. You could never be too careful when it came to the sophisticated equipment and components that so many creatures' lives depended upon from day to day. Getting out to push if the engines died was not a viable option.

Though only the in-dock skeleton crew was standing bridge watch at the moment, the bustle was still invigorating as everyone prepared to get underway. As he turned to head down to medical for a mild pain reliever, a young woman of some indeterminate racial background bumped his shoulder. She clearly had not been expecting him to move so suddenly, and she mumbled an apology without looking him in the eyes. Or rather, in the Eye.

Back in his crisp purples, what he still thought of privately as the "royal" bridge colors, and his hair and ears tied back in what was considered an aristocratic fashion on his home world, he was ready to get out of dock. He had no illusions of grandeur or nobility, but his position and anatomy allowed him to eschew the buzz-cut of his infantry days. It made him stand out more than he already did, but that was of no concern. After they got underway a smooth routine would set in, a rhythm and flow that was soothing in a profound way. The rest of the bridge would hopefully become less aware of his augmentation and relax around him, and the music of the universe would again be his to explore. But first he had to be certain the I's were dotted, the T's crossed. And so, back to work.

   The port was a hustle and bustle as always. Hundreds and thousands passed through those gates heading for unknown parts of space.  He sat there watching them move like so much cattle. From across the way.  But then again he was afforded all the time in the world to be here, in fact he was way to early for his flight.
     The huge panther sat across the street, his two massive bags sitting on either side of him. Those lightning eyes scanned the port as he ate street vendor food. His long thick Crimson hair tied none to neatly into a pony tail.

You look like an idiot wearing Red, what where they thinking? they might as well put a huge target sign over your chest. might as well wave your arms like "hey guys!! over here!!"

A low growl escaped his massive lips as he chewed through his food not really tasting it. His uniform consisting of a red shirt, Black slacks matching Epaulet. In fact the only thing that felt comfortable where his boots. Everything felt to tight against his massive form.
 
  Come on lets get going already you've been moping all day? you evening listening to me anymore buddy?

The panther sighed as he got up, putting in his ear buds. and turning up the music.  he mumbled softly under his breath.
  "Shut up..."
Grasping his bags he began to make his way through the crowd. Drawing more than one set of eyes.  He ignored them the best he could. Standing at 7 feet tends to do that.
        You know you could easily clear space, just light of a couple of rounds. Scare the civ's into making room. Just pull that bad motherfucker out, you know you wanna do it.

Another little growl escaped his lips as he stood in front of his first check point, making the checker nervous. He could smell his stench lingering with over a thousand other bodies that moved almost claustrophobicly close. without a word he handed him his papers. letting him scan it through. Stepping through the metal detectors he sent them blaring. But the man just handed him back his papers and pointed him to his gate.
Again he sat down checking his PMD for time,  as well as checking his vital signs. All seemed to be going well. This shuttle would hold most of the crew. Taking note as they passed. Most  wearing the colors that dictated there station.
    you already know all this why are you reviewing them? Red is all you need to worry about.

  And indeed there was a lot of them, All the security staff under his command. Most saluted him as they passed. But the huge panther nodded his head in respects in return. Occasionally Returning the salute.
Look at all these lambs to send to the slaughter, i look forward to sending them to worthy deaths.
   He took one more deep breath closing his eyes a moment.  and again said under his breath.
  "shut the fuck up..."
Luckily no one seemed to notice. and he was finally greeted with blissful silence. Getting up he picked up his bag handing his papers once more to be checked.
   The attendant looked up "Urgh?, Sir Your only allowed one bag, i can take your other one for you. I'll make sure it gets through".
   A lopsided smile grew across his lips. "Ah, thanks I'd really appreciate that. " his eyes almost twinkled with mischief.  "Wish there were more nice and gorgeous staff like you" He gave her a playful wink that only made her roll her eyes.
   "Please go in and find a seat sir.."
"Yeah OK, thanks again.."
With that he made his way inside, checking his PMD again, he found a comfortable seat among those wearing green. he let out a deep breath as curious eyes fallowed him. So far he was the tallest thing here. Strapping himself in he closed his eyes.
  "Just gotta meet the captain and I'm home free..."

Ivan sighed softly as he washed his face in his personal washroom. This was it, he was either going to prove he had what it took to run a ship, or crumble and be lost. He happened to look into the small mirror above his sink, his white furred face matted in places from where he had splashed his face, his light blue eyes gleaming a bit from the light overhead. He leaned back from the sink and ruffled his all white fur, he wasn't dressed in his alliance wear, actually...he wasn't really dressed in anything at all. You see the white vulpine had just gotten out of his personal shower and only had the white towel covering his waist, the steam in the air was thin as his damp tail kinda just hung in a semi casual way and his well toned chest rose and fell with each breath he took. The Vulpine was nervous, put anyone in the same situation and they would be just as nervous, he had a lot of responsibilities now, a crew that would be looking up to him for guidance in times of crisis, a crew that had a family waiting for them back home.

He shook the nagging thoughts away from his head and let the towel fall, the steam in the air obscuring his nether regions as he walked over to where he had carefully laid out his clothes, a semi formal attire he had taken from his closet. It seemed suitable given he would have to meet his new section heads and go over the mission plan along with emergency procedures, blah blah blah. The main reason he wanted to wear his semi formal attire was more of a personal reason, personally he liked the way it felt against his fur. It was a bit tight but not enough to strain against his body causing discomfort. Slowly he sang an old Russian folk song as he got dressed in the uniform.

A simple pair of black slacks covered his bottom half, the top consisted of a long sleeve black top with white trim. The chosen outfit was clean cut and fit his form rather perfectly seeing as how all of his clothes were custom fit for him on this long mission. He took his PMD and strapped it around his wrist which it soon kicked on and started blinking as it ran it's normal system scan.

"Alright Ivan, show them how Mother Russia raised her kit" He grins to himself as he left his room and walked down the corridor on the first level connecting his private room, the bridge and the conference room. His choice of destination was not the bridge just yet, but the conference room where he would wait for the section heads to report for the mission briefing. He entered the room and looked around, simple design of a room large enough to hold a circular table with enough chairs for each person, a large Alliance insignia dawned on the back wall and a small projector like mechanism toward the center of the table. A smile crept along his muzzle as he made his way over to his chair and sat down, one leg crossing over the other.

There he would sit and wait, His light blue eyes locked onto the door as he leaned back and his paws moving into a triangle like shape under his chin. Though, he blinked a bit, something was off....something, not right. He closed his eyes and brought up a paw to rub at his eyes when he came to his conclusion of what was off. He lowered his right paw into his pocket and pulled out a simple wire rimmed pair of glasses, his vision able to go with out them, but for presentation wise he thought it best to set them upon his face.

At 0830, the only sound in the fennec's office was the steady ticking of his wristwatch.  He sat in staunch silence, reviewing the medical files of every crewmember on board.  As Chief Medical Officer, he felt it was his responsibility to know as much about the crew medically as possible.  He would be serving as Medical Director for the EMS personnel on board as well, which meant that he needed to review their protocol.  Of course, he'd been planning ever since he'd received orders to work aboard this ship.

He'd woken up at precisely 0400, dressed himself in a pair of light athletic shorts and a plain white T-shirt and headed down to the fitness center.  There, he'd jogged for approximately 3 miles on the treadmill, which he sourly noted was starting to become a bit more taxing on him.  He was getting old, and he knew it.  For years he'd prided himself on his physical condition, making a vow to himself that he wouldn't become complacent and lazy as most doctors were wont to do.  But as of late, he was starting to slowly come to realize that it would require much more time and effort to stay in top physical shape.  Possibly much more effort than he could realistically afford.  In addition to being somewhat vain, he was also very practical.  His job as a doctor and Chief Medical Officer took precedence over anything else, and patient care was definitely top priority.

Ignoring the slight ache in his joints that had come from too many years of running, he returned to his bunk room.  Once he returned, he threw his clothing off and into a plastic bag that held all of his dirty laundry from the past couple days.  With his deployment being so close, there was no sense in doing laundry here.  He could simply have it done on the ship.  He stepped into the bathroom and set his rectangular glasses on the counter next to the sink.  He took a long shower, letting the hot water dull the ache in his knees and lower back before twisting the temperature knob all the way to cold.  He set about cleaning himself as the frigid water washed over him, an old German folk song coming to his mind.

"Bei der stillen Mondeshelle
Treiben wir mit frohem Sinn
Auf dem Bächlein ohne Welle
Hin und her und her und hin."

It was oddly fitting to the situation, as the Aegis was sent to explore the deep reaches of space.  The irony of the song made him chuckle a bit.  The song was called "Bei der stillen Mondeshelle" and for some reason, gave the fennec mixed feelings about this voyage.  The song cheered him up at the same time it gave him a bit of a dark thought mixed in.  He shook it off, drying himself with a large towel that was hanging just beside the shower stall.  He finished cleaning himself, brushing his teeth and making sure his short mane was in place.  As he went about his morning routine, he continued singing the song to himself.

"Schifflein gehst und kehrest wieder
Ohne Segel, ohne Mast.
Bächlein trägt uns auf und nieder,
Spielend mit der kleinsten Last."

He dressed himself in his uniform, which was cleaned and neatly ironed.  The creases were sharp and crisp, which was exactly how he liked them.  He took great pride in maintaining a neat and professional appearance-- after all, people tended to trust doctors (or any health-care professional) more when they looked fit for the part.  As he packed his tablet computer, files, and his old H&K USP that he'd bought while he was in college.  His dorm was a rather nasty place, and he'd decided that a handgun would be a necessity.  He'd gotten so used to carrying it around during school that he'd simply grown used to it.  He still used and cleaned it regularly, making sure it was in top working condition.  As a medical officer, he'd never needed to use it, but it was a comfort to have in his possession at times.  He'd then boarded the ship at 0815, heading straight for his office, where he'd spent the rest of his morning.

His wristwatch beeped at 0945, signaling to him that he had to leave for the meeting with the ship's captain.  He was a bit apprehensive about working under a Russian (old rivalries still brewed with some), but he pushed these thoughts out of his mind as he slid his tablet computer into its spot inside of his briefcase.  He kept two copies of the medical files with him at all times-- one electronic, and the other in paper.  Of course, they were condensed enough so that they would all fit inside the neat and shined black case.  This made the font small, but that was alright with him.  Despite aging slowly, his eyes were still as sharp as ever.

He caught glimpses of himself in his dark green uniform shirt and jacket, and the polished pin that signified his rank on board the ship.  His boots clicked on the floor as he walked through the halls, echoing down the corridor.  He stopped to gaze out of one of the portholes that lined the wall, his attention captivated for a moment by the white glow of the stars in the distance.  He dawdled for a moment or two before finally resuming his short journey.  He went straight for the conference room-- after all, logic would dictate that a room meant for conferences and officers' meetings would be used for that exact purpose.  But with a Russian, one could never be quite sure.

He was mildly surprised to see Ivan already sitting at the head of the table, but managed to hide it.  "Guten Morgen, Mein Kapitän," he said, keeping his greeting brief.  He took his position that he'd seen his superior on the UGA Lacrosse take, sitting two seats down on the Captain's left side.  <Ein Reußerer Kapitän,> he thought dryly to himself.  <Gott hilf uns mit dieser Belastung.>

It was 0800 precisely when he arrived at dock not a moment before or after. He stood with a proud and elegant grace that demanded attention and respect. Both he got in equal portions. Turians technicians gasped at the sight of them suddenly quickening their pace to move away from him. This brought a slow and cruel smile to his lips as he stalked into the station with a powerful gait. His every step spoke volumes in his training and grace. Power rippled through his perfectly sculpted body his tail swaying left and right with each step keeping him perfectly balanced as he marched through the deck towards the shuttle. His transfer orders had come later then he had expected but military bureaucracy had its place as any other form of control.

His uniform was flawless, not a single thread out of place as he moved with a steady but brisk speed. Everything from his rank insignia to his belt buckle were in perfect alignment. No detail left undone however his blond mane and bare feet seemed out of place. His mane seemed to writhe and move with a will of its own each strand seeming both completely out of place and yet paradoxically in perfect order. And his bare pawed-feet seemed incapable of boots that would fit his digi legs which only gave him more strength with each step he took. The White lion had a body for running down and pouncing his target, the claws hidden within each of his paws sharp enough to rend solid steel. He wore the faintest of grins as he walked to the guard checking paperwork for the shuttle to the Aegis. His right paw held the straps to the duffel bag hefting its weight effortlessly. The bag, which contained his clothing and personal effects, was flawlessly packed so that nothing would be out of place thus still retaining its shape. In his left paw he clasped a delicate cord that ran over his shoulder to an elegantly carved scabbard. The Katana style blade hilt the only visible thing protruding over his left shoulder was that of a deep black pearl dragon carved painstakingly leaving no detail unattended. He stood before the officer towering over the smaller person looking down to his outstretched hand with a quirked eyebrow.
"Papers" he said with a bored and slightly annoyed tone not bothering to look up. However when nothing fell into his hand to look at he changed his stance to move annoyance. and started again before looking up "Pap....!" the word caught in his throat as he stared up at the imposing figure before him who was at  this moment scowling back with an displeased look
"you don't need my papers to confirm my orders. As you no doubt already know." he nodded to the pad in his hand.
In a trembling voice the officer started "Y-yes sir but... you know... its procee..." a sharp frown from Sirus caused the man to gulp and start again "Y-yes sir..." he waived him through without even looking up again pretending to bury his nose in a report or two till the large white lion was out of sight and safely on-board the ship.

Sirus moved onto the ship as others moved out of his way making his way to the bow standing as far forward as he could and looking out the window into space. He never once let his vision dip from the stars as he placed his duffel on the deck. His paws both moved to his the small of his back. His blade cord still clutched into his left paw the sword and scabbard dangling at his calf's as he stood in a parade rest fashion seeming more machine then person seemingly lost in his own world though his cold icy blue eyes flicked left and right keeping track of everything in front of him as well as every movement in the shuttle never once speaking a word.

It was with a scowl that the wolverine weaved through the swarm of crewmembers waiting to board the shuttles. She shook her head, clutched the handle of her bag tighter and moved pass the crowd. Felicia's eyes squinted against the morning sun, a paw lifted to block out the rays. Towards the end of the strip is where she found her ride. Nothing special or elaborate, actually it was meager if anything, much smaller than the transport taking the crew to the Aegis. This craft was built for one.

At the gate a security guard was stationed, his bright red uniform dazzling her eyes for a moment. He raised a paw in salute, which she promptly returned. Without being asked Felicia gave the guard her orders. He scanned her documents then waited...

The only response he received was cleared. There was no accompanying personnel record, or even a side note saying where she was last stationed. A bit confused he waved her though.

Felicia passed through the gate and grabbed the closest pod she saw. Her gear was stowed in a forward compartment before she climbed into the cockpit. The headset was lying across the controls so she hurriedly lifted the set and fastened it to her head. Without thinking about it her paws quickly fastened the restraints and flipped on the onboard systems.

"Ground control, this is Aegis pod 02 requesting permission for take off"

After a few seconds a raspy voice responded. "Pod 02 this is ground control, you're clear for take off. Have a safe flight."

Felicia lifted the two switches on her left and the engines came to life. "Clear." She looked down at her watch, it displayed the time as 0:822. She wasn't in danger of being late by any means. The ship wasn't scheduled to depart from Slova until 11:00 and she had nowhere special to be. But she did want to run some systems checks prior to departure.

The main control was pulled backwards towards her chest; it caused the pod to lift straight up and hover. Her left paw stretched forward and pushed the secondary control forward. The ship lurched ahead and sailed towards it destination. The trip was supposed to take 20 minutes, but she could easily pull it off in 12. With a smirk playing at the corners of her lips the wolverine piloted her pod until she got within 5 km of the ship.

"Aegis control this is Pod 02 requesting permission to dock."

She knew it would take a minute for him to locate this particular vessel and its dock location, so she eased the secondary back and returned the main control to idle near center point.

A few minutes passed before she received a response. "Pod 02 this is Aegis control, proceed to the forward docking station under the ship, and switch off manual control. We'll take it from there."

The wolverine had already positioned herself directly below her destination. "Clear." Was her only reply. Two buttons were pushed and another was turned counterclockwise before she removed her paws from the controls. "Aegis control, this is Pod 02 coming in on auto."

She had to admit that the person at the controls was well practiced. The pod made hardly a sound when it docked. Felicia glanced down at her watch again, its mechanical face looked back at her showing 8:35. She waited for the pressure to be just right and the green light to flash before she opened the lid on the pod and stepped out, grabbing her bag and taking it with her.

It had been an hour since their shuttle docked and Kyle was working feverishly to put the spices exactly where he wanted them, as well as most of the other dry ingredients. He had left his outer jacket on the bar, the silver gray with silver trim on the collar that signified his rank. The white feline skittered about making sure things were ready, occasionally tripping on his laces because he neglected to tie them, catching himself on a counter and cursing. The male would dust off the black pants that matched those every other crewmember wore then shake himself and get back to work. Occasionally snickering at the bossy rat that was yelling at RJ because he was doing something wrong.

Amber eyes lighting up as he spotted the cinnamon and places it between the Garlic Salt and the Parsley Flakes. He knew that fresh was better, but he had no idea where or how to grow an herb garden on a ship, much less any others foods. Which brought up an interesting thought, 'What if we run out of meat? I know we can restock at certain stations, but what if...' he trailed off as Strawberry yelled at RJ once more and turned to watch for a moment.

"No! I want the pasta in that cabinet dammit! Listen to me, follow my finger and my eyes! That cabinet!" Madina, commonly called Strawberry, exclaimed while pointing to the cabinet closest to the sink but not over it.

"Why?" came the male robotic voice of the Janitor.

"Gah! Because that is where I get the water to boil it! It helps me remember, even if it is far away from the stove. Geeze!" the rat said and ran a dainty paw through her 4 inch tall mohawk that was colored a strawberry blond. This is of course how she got her nickname when she worked as a waitress a few years prior. Her clothing was similar to that of Kyle's save for the trim and the shoulder badge.

RJ just sighed and did as he was told, his blue eyes emotionless as always. He didn't understand these creatures at all. So demanding and placing things in weird areas that made no sense to his electronic mind. To him it would be smarter to put the pasta closer to the stoves, but he paid no mind and did as he was told because he knew this needed to be done before the meeting, well at least all the dry goods and the stuff for the Deep Freeze.

Kyle snickered and said, "Calm down Strawberry. Yer about to bust a vein, girl." The fiery haired feline was of course teasing the hairless rat as always. He just smiled and went about putting things into the fridge. Coming across the alcohol he shook his head, leaned down and tied his laces, after which the cat hefted the first box up and took out into the bar area where he began to stock the fridge.

"Hardy har har," Strawberry shot back with a grin and sighed before picking up a meat box and taking it into the Deep Freeze, RJ picking up the other and following her. They placed the meats on the shelves. Strawberry grabbed a bunch of the steaks and walked over to put them in the kitchen fridge. That would be part of dinner for tonight, nothing like steak for the first night on a new vessel.

She then went back to tell RJ where to put the dry goods. "No! Over there!" she screeched at him and he seemed to wince a little.

Kyle finished stocking the alcoholic fridge with the various beers and other drinks. Going back in and bringing out the box that contained the specialty glasses he had gotten for some of the out of the ordinary drinks he mixed and placed them in their respective spots.

Another screech from the kitchen and the sound of metal clanging on metal echoed from the kitchen into the dining area. Strawberry had thrown a spoon at the AI for not listening to her again.

Kyle had to chuckle and shake his head some. He checked his PMD again for the time, 8:25 it read. 'Why am I so worried? I'm sure they won't mind if I'm only 2 minutes late... I always seem to be two minutes late for everything," he thought as he put up the last of the glasses. He went back and pulled out the wines and various others alcoholic beverages that could be kept warm and stocked the shelves.

Strawberry and RJ stocked the cabinets and the Deep Freeze with some things. And once Kyle finished with the bar the three began to stock the kitchen fridge. That done they made sure all the pots, pans, and other things for cooking the food were in place on the lower sets of cabinets.

After putting everything up Kyle started making scrambled eggs and bacon while Strawberry put out a fruit salad and RJ put out the clean plates and utensils. Kyle didn't expect too many to come for breakfast, however he sure was hungry and he knew Strawberry was too. "Perhaps we should put out milk and juice too." Strawberry said as she came back into the kitchen. Kyle nodded and pointed to the fridge with his tail.

By about 8:45 breakfast was done. Kyle and Strawberry were sitting at the round table closest to the kitchen, eating their breakfast quietly. Strawberry with some fruit salad, eggs and cranberry/apple juice, while Kyle had his eggs and bacon with some milk.

RJ meanwhile was cleaning up the kitchen as he was programmed to do. He took note of an odd addition to the kitchen off to the left side of the stoves. A door, curious he opened it and noticed it was a dumbwaiter. He shrugged and closed it then looked around making sure everything was clean.

Kyle looked to his PMD again it read 9:05. He took his empty plate and glass into the kitchen, rinsed them off then put then in the dishwasher and looked to RJ was still oddly fascinated with the dumbwaiter. "Why don't you marry it?" he teased. RJ turned around and flipped him the bird. "Very funny K Cat," he said then went back to work.

After the group went about doing more tasks and waking sure the kitchen and the dining area were ready. Kyle checked his PMD again and noted it was 9:45 now. He slipped on his jacket, buttoned it up and then turned looking to Strawberry. He let Strawberry take over the kitchen duties and meandered his way to head up to the meeting area. Taking his time because he had plenty of it. Staring out a window or waving to another person on the ship, getting a few waves and nods in return mixed in with a scowl every so often. 'Maybe it's my hair,' he thought and brushed it back.

*THUMP* "WHAAAAA!!!!" papers flew everywhere along with her glasses. She didn't need them to see only to read and they were
very expensive. The blue fox sat on her knees blinking a time or two before quickly gathering her papers and setting her glasses back on the bridge of her nose before running off to the transport. "Waiiiiiiiiiit!!" she cryed out as they looked ready to depart. Her uniform was standard issue though much of it was obscured by her stark white lab coat.

She had been packed and ready to leave for her transfer two nights about however the night before she got inspired and in her inspiration she went digging through her packed notes searching for her research. She spent much of the night working on it at a fevorish pace and in the morning was suprised when she saw the time. Now she ran for the shuttle running head long into the guard that stepped out in front of her causing her to fall back and land with a thud on her rear.
"Ow..." she said falling back and pouting. She looked and he frowned looking down to her "papers?"
in a rather grumpy tone she started "what? ...oh... right hang on they are around here somewhere" she fumbled with the papers in her paws finding her transfer orders and offering them to him. He checked them then helped her to her feet "Your clear to go" he stepped aside.

She resettled the glasses on the bridge of her nose marching in with a more then grumpy attitude and plopped down on a bench beside a feline absorbed in her PMD. She looked to her own checking over her notes and starting to review all she had done the night before when a large yawn escaped her lips. She blinked in suprise covering her mouth. "ooo.. right.. I forgot to sleep..."

"Purple.. Why did it have to be purple..." The wolf kept muttering the same line as he waited for the shuttle to land. He'd gotten more than a few looks and could hear people talking about him. A black wolf, wearing a purple shirt with only the epaulette giving a pause to that color. Once docked he quickly made his way to the bridge, weaving through the crowd with little or no effort. He'd been told all his things would be taken to his quarters for him, since he wanted to stay on the bridge for the entire time until they were in the air and the auto-pilot could run them for a while. He also wanted to make sure the pre-flight checks went smooth. And several times. He'd probably run a full check two or three times before spending the rest of the time before lift-off doing minor checks between the meet-and-greets he'd probably be put through. Once he was there he would move straight to his station and begin the checks if they hadn't started already. He'd make sure they were done right and thorough, nothing would go wrong while he flew this ship.

It wasn't until the shuttle was inside the cargo bay that Alina actually turned to look at the person sitting next to her. A small smile spread across her lips as she noticed the color of the other females uniform. She hadn't seen anyone else in blue on the shuttle, until now.

Alina flipped her PWS closed, placed it back in the case that carried it, and then unsnapped her safety harness. It was of course at that moment that her stomach decided to remind her that she had neglect to feed it.  Awkwardly she glanced down at her belly, uncertain whether to feed it or allow it to rumble and keep the butterflies that were dancing around in there company.

Since the feline had chosen to take a seat towards the rear of the shuttle she paid the consequences in waiting as everyone else rose and filed out. Once the forward section of the shuttle was cleared Alina stood and moved towards the center aisle. She paused in front of the passenger next to her, hoping that she didn't sound invasive or nosey she cleared her throat and spoke.

"I heard you didn't get any sleep, I'll bet you didn't eat either..." She paused looking down at her feet then back to Alexia as she moved from in front of the vixen to stand at her side in the aisle. "I'm going up to the mess hall to grab a bite, you're welcome to join me if you wish."

Alina lingered in the aisle a moment longer awaiting her response, before moving to the door and exiting. Having just reviewed the blueprints of the ship during her short shuttle trip the feline had no problem ascertaining the most direct route to the mess hall. Quickly she located the turbo lift on the opposite wall and started towards it.

"Here you go, sir"

"Thank you. This is the targeted version, right?" Looking at the two little pills, Bishop squinted with his not-so-good eye, noticing a different shape to the pain relievers than he'd been accustomed to over the last few weeks.  These were ovoid, and looked a bit smaller.

"Yes sir. Came in with the resupply, I think we changed our supplier contract. The chemical composition is very similar." The little medical staffer kept her eyes on her work, maybe a little too carefully. "Your dossier reported no allergies. Is there a concern sir?" She looked at him briefly, and looked away as soon as she'd acknowledged his head-shake.

"No, I'm sure this will be fine. Thanks again." Dry swallowing the little nibs, he did an about face and headed for his quarters in officer country. A quick nap before the captain's briefing would give the meds time to kick in, and he could spend a few moments contemplating astrogation by gamma vectorization and how to write up the possibilities for the science team. The ships sensors handled that kind of thing normally, as well as the complex gravity well equations and particle flows and other mathematically intensive calculations that made piloting a ship so much more than pointing it and pushing the 'Go' button. But to see the forces and flows firsthand, to see how the star ocean ebbed and flowed around them would be like sailing a naval ship by hand like all rockbound races had done for millennia. Pioneering was an ancient and...

Just then one of the bridge watch sent him a message over the ship's system, flagged for immediate attention. Proper Lamprey, how's the water sir?

It was a simple sort of code, and was sent with a string of verification numbers. One eyebrow quirked, but it was not the first time he'd had an unexpected passenger arrive on his watch. "Probably just getting a piggy-back to the matter relay. .." he thought, quickly verifying the number with the most current list of encrypted, approved codes for such occasions. The latest list was only a few hours old, and the numbers tracked perfectly.

Bishop shot back a quick message to the bridge, the water's fine.

Hopefully that would be the last he heard of the matter until their guest decided to leave. When the spooks made themselves known, it was only trouble. Slipping into the lift beside a young yellowjacket, he gave the man a quick nod to acknowledge him before the doors closed.

The shuttle landed smoothly though to her the sudden drop in noise and the landing seemed jarring. She jumped crying out "EEP!" for so lost in her thoughts and so concentrated so narrowminded on her work she didn't understand what had changed. Her eyes flicked up to the people around her as her tired brain struggled to remember where it was. When the feline turned to speak to her she blinked
"heard? heard from who?" she was completly unaware of the world around her as she gathered her scattered things and stood. She blinked again at the offer of food walking out next to the feline
"no... No I've eaten..." she thinks hard "...this morn....? What day is it?" She blinked as her stomach growled angrily finally getting her notice as she held her belly.
"Food sounds good" she walked with her blinking "I'm Alexia"

"Admiral...Excuse me Master chief"?
    That voice woke him up, Somewhere along the ride he must have falling asleep. The panther rubbed his eyes yawning and stretching. Checking the time.
Those lightning blue orbs focused on the man that broke his sleep.
            What do you want douche bag?
   He looked the man over searching for an insignia of rank.
      "Yes Commander? What can I do for you"?
The man smiled almost ear to ear sort of sitting back.
    "Well sir, I thought you might like to get to know your staff. And perhaps share some of your exploits. Your file seems somewhat...Empty"?
Great, ass kisser just what i need first thing in the morning.
A soft little sigh escaped the panthers lips as he leaned back rubbing his temples.
The panthers voice was soft and somewhat strained as he spoke
"..And"? * He looked out the port window into space itself.
The commander smiled at the panther. "Well Sir I was just wondering what kind of battle you've been in. I'm sure you got some great story's."
  The panther sighed rubbing his eyes before sitting out. "It's the same no matter where you go Commander. There are things to kill before they kill you. People die, And death fallows until you are either dead or alive.  Until you can drag what left of your humanity home. "
The commander frowned " But sir, Isn't there some satisfaction you get from war? Perhaps knowing you defended your home"?
He looked straight into the commander's eyes. "There are more way's then one way to stop a war, To defend your home. But  it really comes to this, Commander.  The one question, Is it worth letting you die so others can live? Now if you will our shuttle will be arriving soon and I have a meeting to go to. Good day commander."

Take a breath Astara. This is your first step to bigger things. Just on the other side of the relay.

Astara let out a long cool breath having boarded the ship, only minutes before they shut the doors. She squeezed her way through the crowds, her guitar case and large duffel bag making it just a bit harder to find a spot to sit. Her eyes scanned the aisles for the citizen passengers before finally finding a spot large enough for her and her guitar. A relieved face was what she wore when she finally sat with a huff. She set her guitar near the wall and leaned back in her seat with a thud. Her ears swiveled some and she readjusted the flower on her ear. She was the last person to look nervous about this flight, she had a lot to look forward to and nothing to be nervous about. She was only filled with hope that her trip ended happily seeing her fellow band mates at the docking.

She looked toward the wall and her guitar case, she put on a wide smile and ran her fingers along its thick case. A long sigh escaping her lips as she turned her focus back in front of her. She kicked her duffel under her seat and started to relax waiting for the take off. She closed her eyes and simply waited, finding herself dozing off to her in depth thoughts.

~-"Astara! Astara! Astara!" The crowd roared her name, a wide smile spreading across her lips as she took her stool. "Oooooh Oooh Ooooh Oooh." The words were a blurr as she started out. Only chords written across her mind as the song continued. When she was done with those chords of pure harmony the crowd lifted their arms over their heads, clapping and stood on their feet clapping shouting her name. She was filled with so much excitement, she stepped off stage and the drema faded away.-~

She shook her head some looking around having been bumped by one of the plentiful passengers, waking her from the most joyous of short slumbers. When she awoke the ship was moving. The adrenaline pushed through her veins like water through a narrow stream. She pulled her denim jacked back over her shoulder and sat up straight in her seat.

"Excuse me.." She said to a passing crew member, the only people wearing the same uniform amongst the ship. "Would you happen to know when we will be reaching our destination?" She asked with a raised brow, a subtle shyness about her tone. Having fallen asleep she didn't know how long she was out. "I am not entirely sure, we just started moving a few minutes go, but I will go ask some one who might now okay miss?" the man had replied. She gave a gentle nod, she knew how these things worked, she wouldnt see that person again and she shook her head. She reached over to her guitar case and clicked it open.

She took out her midnight sky blue guitar and put it across her lap. She strummed a couple of smooth chords that she heard in her brief dream. The words had not come to her yet. But the chords were very present and she tuned her guitar to her ears pleasure. She then began to strum the chords (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFiBnd0zBFM) she heard that continued to ring in her ears even when the dream was over. She crossed her ankles, the pink dress fabric scratched against each other as  the hems tickled the inside of her knees. She widened a smile and began to relax playing the chords over...and over again, hoping that the ones around her might enjoy it, lest she got in trouble. But at least she could enjoy herself...for now.

Arashi was just about to settle to sleep, the commander just leaving. When he heard it through his half sleep. His ears twitched in Annoyance. Someone was playing a strange instrument? His eyes opened slowly as he let the cool melody sooth him over. Those lightning blue eyes checked everyone around. And they too seemed to be relaxing to the music. The previous Strain of  Arriving into a new ship dissipated. He looked her over from where he was sitting.
  ohhh... Bonita Momasita.ooooh what i wouldn't do for 45 minutes of just her.
Arashi looked about mumbling softly "she's a civ....People like us don't mix"
huh, speak for yourself...
   He rolled his eyes staring At the ceiling a moment. That song made him feel something, unable to put a finger on it. Its been a while since he felt something. Perhaps it was the song. He looked her over again from where he was. The Person next to her getting up to use the bathroom. A little smile played on his lips as he got up sliding into the seat next to her. His arms coming up as his hands rested on the back of his head. Simply listening.

The engineers were screaming again, they'd thought he was gone or asleep apparently, they should know better, but this was important. As Chief Engineer if something goes wrong, he's the one that has to fix it, and if he can't or doesn't fix it, the ship doesn't move. However he knew he was on a time limit as he had to get to the briefing room for the new captain to tell them about the mission. He coughed as he tightened a valve and it shot steam at his face. It made him infuriated, these new ships "top of the line" they called them, "cutting edge technology" yes, lots of edges were cut. The Alliance had a tendency to cut corners on things since these ships were huge, had to be released rather quickly, and that means they don't have time to perfect every individual part on board. However this meant more work for the wolf who was now coughing and sweating while also lodged in the tiny crawl space inside the engine.

"Sir! the Captain's set to give the briefing in less than an hour, can't you just give one of us a rundown for it?" the junior engineer yelling at him was rather proud of himself, and rightly so, he was damn close to a genius when he got a wrench in his hand, but he didn't follow orders very well if only given verbally. He sighed, wrenching himself back out of the engine handing off the mutlti-tool to the nearest person, and worked on his Omni-tool, smacking it after a moment. "Gorram son of a Vorcha! come on!" he'd never been fond of the things, they seemed to break down and glitch a lot more than they were meant to, but he'd been issued a new one when assigned to the Aegis, along with the PMD, so he'd not had time to augment it to actually work properly yet. When the damned thing finally worked properly he sent a memo of basic repairs to be done for now to the Junior engineer. "Mathis . . . when I was assigned to this ship, it became my wife, my lover and my baby . . . if she's got so much as a SCRATCH" the Junior sighed and said "you'll throw me out of the airlock sir, I know" and moved out of the way so he could go.

He moved out into the main lobby of the Engineering deck, watching the ebb and flow of people, it was a sea all it's own of people he knew almost no one here, but there was a kind of peaceful chaos to it all, listening vaguely to what people said, hearing them talk to each other about measurements of this, levels of that,  it was comforting. He took a towel from one of the techs that followed him around everywhere. It was ocassionally annoying they were always there, waiting and watching, sometimes when he was in a bad mood he thought of them as a fan club and it usually cheered him up again. He wiped himself off with the towel, still smelling thickly of the chemicals from the engine's innards.

He was dry when he got into the Lift, the Purple Jacket standing next to him nodded, and he did as well before recognizing the mans face from the Dossier he'd been shown before they had officially shipped him to the boat. "Oh wait, you're Bishop aren't you? Sorry it took so long, we've got the Hot Swap set up, there's a pair of techs doing final checks on all the locks to make sure it stays in place. But to be honest, some of the parts they put in these boats aren't even Quarian quality . . . it's amazing how many little things they pass up for these big boats. But she's Star Worthy Sir, as Chief Engineer you have my word." He let out a long breath, waiting eagerly for the lift ride to be over, he had questions for their Captain.

She didnt feel the need to lift her eyes from her guitar as she played. Simply letting her fingers strum over the chords, letting her fingers lead the way. She still couldnt stick words in the empty space. She couldn't put her finger on the words, they should have been coming to her by now, but it makes them all the more meaningful when they came on their own. She wasnt going to force the words from the depth of her creative mind, she would let them come on their own, despite her impatience.

There was a part in the song that picked up, but she couldnt bring herself to make it a happy part. Though the song was calm, it sounded almost.. sad. She took in a breath and continued to play, deciding where to end the song, and then play it over again, her eyes tilting up for a moment as the person next to her decided to get up to use the restroom. She gave a light smile and apologized. "Heh.." She would say before starting again only to hesitate when a very tall, black panther replaced the person who was originally sitting there. She strummed the chords slowly, he was in uniform. When she picked up the chords again she opened her mouth, a group of words came to mind when she looked back to her blue guitar.

"Angels always get the best lines
Fear not must have worked back in biblical times"

What a content group of words. Her voice was husky but smooth, like the blues she sang day to day. She took in a breath before continuing, inserting a phrase she heard from her Grand-mother years ago.

"But we're full of the facts it's the cross on our backs
When we pray are we just closing our eyes"

She continued to play, not sure what words came next. A soft smile on her lips as she let the chords marinate in her mind. She lifted her eyes again to look at the man who had started to relax beside her. Her ears would twitch some as she kept playing those repetitive chords, contradicting the happiness that they sound like. She didnt say anything to the dauntingly tall panther, but let him be and simply continued to play.

The feline evaded her initial question, dodging it as easily as she exited the shuttle and threaded through the throng of crewmembers. Alina slowed her gait and waited for the vixen to catch up, while clutching her case to her chest like a metallic clipboard. It was about the same dimensions only thicker.

Alina wouldn't have to worry about her luggage or experiments; they were clearly labeled with her name and their destination on the outside. She silently reminded herself to lock up her research in the lab before the ship departed, lest any accidents occur during flight.

The vixen walking next to her reminded the feline of herself. Perhaps that was why most scientists she knew were lean, they were so wrapped up in their work they forgot the basics food, sleep, and the like. She shrugged allowing her to speak, or ramble on, whatever the disoriented vixen was doing. They reached the lift and the doors opened.
She paused at the entrance to the lift, and then stepped through the portal. She turned extending a paw to the vixen that followed her. "Name's Alina." She replied offering a name for the face that accompanied it. Alina waited for her paw to slip into her own before giving a shake. Clear and concise she spoke again, though this time as instructing the lift of her destination. "Computer, Deck 5" The journey itself would not take that long, only a matter of seconds. When the doors opened once more she sniffed the air. Stepping out into the hall, sumptuous aromas reached out and teased her nostrils, tantalizing scents danced in the air, almost bewitching the feline to savor their bounty. As if hypnotized she walked, first through the large entryway then towards the table near the back wall laden with food.

"That's good to hear chief. I hope you didn't get the boards oily or anything. I'd rather not have to vacuum out the bridge area this run." Vacuuming, or venting, was the standard method of putting out fires in any space smaller than a four-craft bay. It was ironic, really... there were almost no areas on starcraft that were as large as a bay that size because it would take so much gas volume to fill such a space, and yet they also vented those to put out fires from the simple expedient of being so close to the ports. "That reminds me, you might want to put a priority on checking safety suit O² supplies and the emergency pods. We'll be running fire drills aboard very soon after we deport."

When the lift reached the deuce, Bishop slipped out with another quick nod and headed down the corridor to his bunk. Regular crew had shared bunk space down the sides of a pair of corridors, with the head in the row between. Officers each had private quarters at the far end, where they enjoyed a small personal head as a privilege of rank. Saluting was not required under most circumstances while aboard (it just got in the way of getting the work done in limited space), but he still received polite nods of acknowledgment and a little space to move past as some of the crew who'd just come aboard did their best not to stare at him. When he finally reached officer country, he slipped into his little compartment and fell on the bunk for a few minutes of rack time before the officer's meeting.

Mikkaddo gave the man a fellow nod as he left the lift, waiting in it still to get to the same level as the briefing room and moved into it silently, he saw two others already there, one who had a guitar and he gave a nod to each of them, taking a seat in the position he'd been shown in the pre-assignment briefing  at the base. He liked the music being played by the person with the guitar, but decided to stay silent about it, the two of them were strange to see out of post. But then again, he spent most of his time Chief Engineer or not, in the Engineering bay checking on things or fixing things that were broken.

He leaned back in his chair working on his Omni-Tool, and cursing under his breath at it every time it would malfunction. The sound of his voice for it being hard to understand, only certain words coming out clear as his frustration fluxuated. "son of a Vorcha . . ." and kept working more and more. "Gorraming moorchu . . . damn shivmore tech" He then seemed to read something on it. "Ok good . . . well, all that's left is to see about fixing this damned thing . . . new models of everything because it's a new boat" he sighed.

The pre-flight checks seemed to be going alright. Most everything went smooth, and the few problems were quickly fixed. He just needed the go-ahead from engineering to test some of the systems connecting the thrusters. He'd been told that those needed to be inspected and made sure they were in working order before he could do anything with them, like on his last ship. This usually left him plenty of time to find extra checks to make, quick or otherwise. He had nearly finished when he recieved the go-ahead, and started the checks. 'New ship.. big ship.. must have some kick to it..' He ran through the checks, but then something was off. He couldn't place it until he checked over the screens and noticed the engines starting to warm up. They weren't supposed to do that yet. He had to make some quick adjustments to shut them back down again, if he was lucky, no one would have noticed and he could do a quick check to figure out what went wrong before anyone even knew something happened. Otherwise he might have alerted someone in engineering and would have to explain that he hadn't started the engines intentionally, which would be -so- much fun.

Mikkaddo leaned forward suddenly in his char, touching the earpiece and looking down to the table below him. "What do you mean they started . . . the thrusters aren't meant to be started for the deportation test and launch for another 2 hours . . . who the hell started the engines? why would he start them NOW . . . you think it was an error? then what the hell is he doing in that post? if he can't do his own job they shouldn't let him interfere with ours . . . there's no damage . . . you're certain." He paused for a moment sighing and said. "Did the launch sequence get interrupted, because if it does the cycles it will take to reroute the power so the error doesn't interfere with the next launch sequence will . . . it's all been fixed . . . there's definitely nothing that will go wrong . . . Mathis? really . . . well, tell him I'm thoroughly impressed. I'll reward him for it myself later yes . . . thank you"

He put his hand down and leaned back again his hand to his forehead. Item number 151 on today's glitch list alone, he hated being assigned to a new ship. He checked his PMD and sighed again. He was impressed by the vastness of the ship itself, and the power of the Turian tech, but there were so many little things wrong, so many little things that needed to be adjusted or changed completely. He hoped the Captain and the rest of the critical crew would come in soon so the briefing could get under way and he could get back to where he belonged, not on some bridge watching the black, but in the engine room, watching the magnificent Core at work, or tuning the bits and pieces, watching his own ocean, the ocean of men and women at work. That was the real magick. For all the power there was in the technology that kept the boat flying, it was the people making her fly that were the real power. He checked his PMD again, he was starting to get impatient, especially given that the Roster he'd seen had given plenty of different needs for each member's quarters, but that one name kept popping up in his mind. Whoever she was, she was Classified, and that made him worried.

there were plenty of rumors in Engineering about her, everyone had seen the Roster, as everyone had to be on the same page so that the quarters could be kept at proper levels. The one word that came up the most often was about the only word that he was praying it wouldn't be. "Spectre." The word itself gave him a shudder. They didn't follow the laws of the ships, they didn't even follow Alliance law. hell they didn't actually even follow Citadel Law. They were above it, they answered to the Council directly, or so they say . . . but all he knew was the last ship he was assigned to, after the Spectre showed up, people started dying. The Spectre wouldn't justify their deaths to anyone, the only thing she would say was she "did what had to be done." It made him nervous.

About two seconds after his eye closed, Bishop's tablet blipped once, twice, three times... and stopped before he could raise it to his eyes. The first was a notification from the shipboard warning systems that the engine was being brought online out of sequence. The second was a warning from the docks systems that they had not been cleared for departure, and that the ship was still docked and would tear apart the superstructure if she moved more than a couple of feet, etc. The last was a system nominal "all clear" which said the incident had been addressed and that the ship had returned to its pre-departure status. Sighing loudly, he tapped the tablet to flag the log of the incident for later review and closed his eye again.

Her words played in his head for a long time. even when she did not sing them. His eyes looked long into nothingness for a very long moment. His arms crossing over themselves as he contemplated her lyrics. That is until a rude voice broke his thought.
    Oh So now you wanna become moody and Zen like. You know there is no room for us. That we exist only to slaughter and kill. War is that hell, We and a few others have that stench of death. It will fallow us into our graves.
   The panther blinked and spoke softly, His voice quiet. But the bass in it made himself known. That he was speaking to Astara, Even without looking at her.
"Angels always get the best lines..." He repeated her lyrics without really singing it. As if tasting it on his lips. Those lips curled a moment into a Lopsided smile.
    "Thats an interesting instrument you have there? "*his head turned slightly. A little mischievous twinkle playing in his eyes. "I've never seen anything like it? Whats it called miss"? It was obvious that he was hoping for a name.

She began to relax in this moment of her own calm. A soft smile playing on her lips as she had ended a chord, her ear twitched to hear a low tone. She lifted her eyes up from the guitar, it had become rather outdated about a hundred years ago, but hers had sentimental value and she vowed to never give it up. Her smile went from being calm to being proud. The sound of a guitar could soothe any soul, depending on the chords. She stopped her playing resting one hand over the sound hole and placing the other in her lap. Her ear flicked a little and she took in a breath letting it out softly.

"Thanks." She said with a bright smile. "Its a uuh, guitar" She would say tapping the top of the guitar hearing the echo from the soundhole. "A hollow percussion instrument. Kind of outdated, but well, mine has sentimental value and still plays...rather well." A little pink came across her cheeks, only coming from her pride, barely anyone called her miss. A soft chuckle passed through her lips and she gave a light nod.

"My name is Astara, Astara Niche. You can call me Star if you would like, for short that is." She passed her hand over her guitar hoping for a hand shake, her slender fingers simply dangling over the neck of the guitar. "I am on my way to meet a band that plays music like mine. Obviously some one still finds my music valuable." She said with a soft chuckle, waiting for his name as well. Her sea green-blue eyes hiding behind her eye lids with every blink. "And you are..?" She said with a light tilt of her head to the right side.

*That lopsided smile grew across his lips* "A guitar eh, I'll have to remember that*his ear flicked a little as he leaned slightly to his right to better look at her* "Oh well you know what they say? The best things come with age. Like a fine wine, Your guitar has character. I can tell it has seen many fine shows, and I hope many more to come."
Oh oh, Nice Arashi... Now tell her how you'd like to strum her strings. Hmmm what I wouldn't give to put my face between her breast and lick her all over.
    *The large panther looked away a moment, it was indeed hard not to stare at her cleavage. So instead he focused on her eyes. Admiring there color.*
"Star eh, The name Suites you rather well." His gaze fallowed her hand movements. Looking at her hand for a long long moment, before he took it in his own. his grip was firm but none to crushing. "Yeah? Are you the lead Vocalist or something"?.

"You should." She retorted with a chuckle.  and looked back to him when he mentioned the guitar again. "Oh, yeah. I would have to agree with you on that." She said with a little more brightness than her previous statements. She had no idea what was going on in his head but found nothing off when he turned away and back again. She simply just smiled, that very light pink blush not leaving her cheeks. Such wishes of good luck were nice especially from strangers. Her eyes twinkled some as he looked into them, a tinge of that same blush coming back to her cheeks.

She would take his hand in hers and gently shake it just gently up and down. His hand was warm, and though he held a tough exterior the handshake wasnt as such. It was firm, but not.... She shifted her eyes back and forth a moment before lingering the handshake longer than she wanted to. She nervously brought it back and replied. She sat back and grabbed her guitar case and put her guitar away, snapping it together.

"Thank you for your well wishes and compliments. They are definitely and ego boost." She said with a wink and let out a kind of giggle. "Oh, no no no. At least I dont believe so. I have never met my band mates before. They are paying my way there and are going to give me a shot at what ever position it is they had open. They thought it was a unique instrument I played and desired to have it in their shows. So I accepted. I am just praying for this trips smooth sailing." She sighed some and leaned back in her chair not sure if she could fall asleep again. "Perhaps a rest before the end eh?" She asked and lie her head on the head rest getting comfortable herself.

Being on the last shuttle to the shuttle bay, she was rather excited. She let out a long sigh and threaded her fingers putting them on her abdomen. She couldnt wait to land, meaning she was getting so much closer...

*A soft little sigh escaped his lips, checking His PMD*
  "yeah not to much longer now, About half an hour we should be docking soon"
*A little frown played on his lips, Something here wasn't adding up? A Single civilian? His eye's scanned the sea of faces suit's and Staff.  Something was going on, and he didn't like how it felt. *
  "Yeah? Well Your band mates seem to have some sense in them" * a soft chuckle escaped his lips* "They have good taste, I'm sure you will do very well. "
There Arashi..you see it? The steward At 9 o clock.
     *His fingers Tightened on the chair rest his hands where on. Gritting his teeth, But otherwise he seemed relax and content. *
"Catch some rest while you can, Maybe I'll be lucky enough to hear you play Again Miss Astara.."

There would be several curses strung under his breath as he noted that the flag went up. 'Great' He thought, 'now I'm probably gonna be blamed for faulty connections.. Oh well, at least now I can run the request through engineering instead of fixing it myself' He let out a sigh as he punched in his request on the comm board, asking for several minor changes he had done for temporary fixes to be fixed up for permenant use so that there wouldn't be another problem. Damned new ships, and they're trying to combine tech, he should have known something would go wrong. But oh well, time to work on the final pre-flight tests so he could get to that meeting he'd been informed of before take-off. Luckily the final tests didn't require him to run around the board, he could just sit in the pilot's seat to check the steering and balance controls.

Somewhere deep in Engineering Mathis looked at the com screen next to him and sighed. "Alright, so that's what happened, he was doing the pre-flight tests and something went wrong." He shook his head and picked up the comm board off the wall, and moved out to the local P.A. He dealt out the jobs to each of the techs according to the changes that he saw listed. Then he contacted the Chief Engineer to make sure he knew what was going on, when people made changes to an engine he was assigned to, there were rumors that he could explode bioticly, Mathis had never seen it, but the Chief Engineer was already capable of almost disappearing and reappearing on the other side of the damned deck, and Mathis never did believe him when he said he just walked.

In the briefing room Mikkaddo heard the soft beep once again and answered it expecting more to be wrong. "What is it now Mathis? is the pilot trying to launch while we're docked again? please don't tell me he succeeded . . . he what? and how is it working then . . . there's no errors . . . be careful, I don't trust some of those techs . . . they don't take their job seriously . . . and they need to understand that, well I know YOU've heard my lectures before . . . well then tell THEM, make them understand!" he sighed and leaned back in his chair, letting his eyes shut. Feeling out the rhythm of the ship. It helped him learn the ships he was on, it was important for him. If he could learn it's rhythm, he could learn what it's like when it's working properly.

She would give him a gentle nod before slowly slipping into her own subconscious thinking. Her body seemed relaxed and comfortable dispite the small space she was seated in. She made quiet breathing and soft snoring noises, her ears flinching here and there as she slept. Her body leaning this way and that with the very slight movements of the ship. She managed to curl her small body into the chair she sat in and rest her head on the arm of the seat, her pink flower falling from her ears and into Arashi's lap unknown to her.

Strumming and piano playing was heard in the deep depths of her mind. A smile was brought to her precious lips. She was hearing the music that she was supposed to play. Thats what made her so special, especially to her band mates. She sent them her music and they gave her this..amazing opportunity. Some darker lyrics came and she saw it.. She saw what this song was, what it was supposed to be. She was to be asleep the whole trip, give her enough rest for when she wakes up she would need to practice and manage to write all the lyrics and notes down on the paper. 

Noises were competing in her head, like bustling and rustling of random bags and noises when she was bumped in the foot. She gently opened her eyes looking up to Arashi. She saw her flower on his lap and cleared her throat, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. "Uh... heh." She gave a gentle smile and used her thumb and forefinger to grab it, slowly and hesitant. "I, guess we have docked?" She asked and watched as people started to move back and forth for luggage and such. She gave a gentle nod to him. "I take it you have things to do, you being in uniform and all." She chuckled and bent down from her seat grabbing her duffel and guitar. She gave a final look to him. "I am sure to see you around yes?" She asked with a slight tilt of her head and a bright sweet smile.

After his response she would nod and begin to walk down the aisles waiting in the line of the many others, standing out like a sore thumb in her pink summer dress and denim jacket compared to all others in their uniforms. She was beyond nervous. Her band mates said they would get her on the soonest ship, I guess the strings they pulled were quite effective. She looked at the large doors. She looked up to them and with a deep inhale and exhale she walked through the doors, managing to be the rare few last ones to get off the ship and onto the bay. She watched as those large doors closed. She blinked for a moment and walked down the halls. Stopping to ask the clerk for her room first, so she could freshen up.

Once she was cleaned and changed into her new clothes (aqua undershirt)  (http://www.denimblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/holiday-outfit-21.jpg) she picked up her guitar and made her way down to the mess hall. A soft sigh on her lips as she contemplated the words and lyrics she was to right down. They were swimming in her head as she grabbed and paid for her food. A salad of rare sorts, good for the mind as it were. She sat at an empty table, the mess hall was starting to clear out it seemed. "Guess people do have things to do." She said with a chuckle and took her fork to start eating. She couldnt shake the lyrics, the mysterious tone of the song, if only she had a piano by her side. The music she heard was sad... but insightful. Oh what she heard within her mind.

She shook her head side to side. "Thats it.." She said and pushed her plate aside and grabbed her case and propped her behind on the table. She unsnapped the case and took out her blue guitar, such and outdated instrument that brought her the most joy. She propped the guitar in her lap and began strumming the chords she heard.. her voice mimiking lyrics as she omitted them. This song was so... unreal, even more so as she continued to play.

"We don't always see eye to eye
But we see how the time's flying by
And we live with a daunting suspicion
That it might not go into remission"

The words just floated from her lips, like rain drops falling from blades of grass and into the earth. She wrote down the lyrics and notes as she continued to play with the lyrics floating in her head.

"So against all the odds we're competing
Though we don't know for sure what we're reading
In the old testament we'd get fire and torment
But the new one says something 'bout healing

We're dying to live
We're trying to live
We're dying to live
Cause there's so much to live for"

A song that sounded near of war and strife... the meaning was unsure, but history has played this song over and over. She sighed some and wrote down the rest, starting from the beginning he started singing it over and over putting them all together. She set the guitar aside holding it with her hand as she put a forkful of vegetables in her mouth. She then began strumming again, in an empty mess hall, at least the acoustics were good.


Original song by Nataly Dawn-Dying to live

Marcs had been sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall and trying to get comfortable in his new, yellow uniform as the commotion started. He hadn't seen anything, he had had his eyes clothes, but the "danger danger ship will do something bad" alarm was sounding in the air all over the engineering part. He had heard the other engineer, what was his name again.. Mathis? He had been walking around commendeering the others on what to do in order to fix whatever what was wrong. Not that Marcs cared. He hadn't been told by Mathis to do anything, so he was planning on doing just that, nothing. However, eventually the alarm would just be too much for him, and annoyed he would get up on his feet, looking around for the second-in-charge after the Chief Engineer. If they were so slow now, perhaps he could do something. Or not, the ship would surely just blow up.

He groaned a bit and adjusted his shoulders. He didn't like the uniform. But then again, he had been used to wearing used, quite ravaged clothes his whole life up until now. This uniform was actually the nicest pieces of clothing he ever had gotten his paws on. But if this was what new felt like, then he was happy his other clothes had been old.

He would walk around, looking around for Mathis but not actually actively searching. Then he saw a lever. If there was something he could never let be, it was levers. If there was anything he had learned in his non-proffessional dealings with machines, it was that a single lever could be the difference between survival and utter destruction. And he did not like this lever. It was in off-mode. He looked around, and considering the rambling everywhere, he was relatively alone. At least no Mathis. They hadn't gotten along, and he would definately not approve of what Marcs was going to do. The pangolin slowly moved a hand to the lever, pulled it, and only some seconds later, the alarm went off. Whether this was because of that he pulled the lever, or if it was Mathis working one of his "miracles", he did not know.

But a lever placed like this was easy for anyone to bump into. And if you were going to try something like pre-flight checks with a lever not in it's original place, well... not so strange that an alarm would've gotten off. He wasn't going to report it to Mathis. He had pulled it, and there was no idea to report the alarm going away now. He was sure the genius had already noticed this.

Mathis patrolled through the Engineering deck after the alarm had been stopped, making his rounds to be certain everything was properly in it's place when he stumbled upon Marcs standing next to a switch with his hand on it. He looked at his board, typing on it and said. "You're Marcs . . . awfuly suspicious you know . . . seeing you touching that so soon after the alarm  was sounded and then suddenly ended as well." He wasn't glaring at Marcs, but it was clear he did not like him, and may believe it was Marcs that caused the alarm. "Don't you have a station to get to?" he asked as he kept typing on his board, not actually looking up to Marcs' face.

Another Engineer came by, tapping Mathis on the shoulder and he spoke to the tech for a moment, nodding and the tech pointing to something, Mathis sighed then looked back to Marcs. "Ok, so apparently it wasn't you after all this time . . . just try not to act suspicious anymore, Chief Mikkaddo doesn't keep techs that don't know their job." he smirked and turned leaving Marcs where he was, not awaiting for an answer.

He perked one of his small ears as he heard that voice that he so recalled, or as he liked to think of it, the irritating noice that someone usually after enough time just recieves as a buzz in the background of everything else. He turned around and let the lever alone, looking at Mathis calmly as the man told him off. He himself kept quiet however, there was no need for Marcs to say anything when he knew that he was right. As another yellow-suited engineer came up and spoke to Mathis the lynx (spoken to Mikkado, he's a lynx alright), the pangolin would bring up what would look like a pocketwatch, but was in fact his PMD, he had modeled itself as he hadn't been too happy with the one he had gotten by the fleet. He had been told to change back about to or three times, but he did not, for it was not important to have it in an approved matter. Just because he rebuilt it to suit him it didn't have to mean it didn't work at all with the other's.

As he looked up again he noticed that Mathis was walking away. He hadn't really heard the last words said to him because he had simply not paid attention to the smaller man. "I don't have a station to go to. No one has directed me anywhere." he muttered. He truly had been ignored almost completely. He did not mind it at all, but it could get him in a tight fit if someone would come poking around to see what he's been doing. Sure however that Mathis hadn't heard him muttering, however, he turned around and kept walking the same way he had come from. It was time to restart that nap he had lost before..

*He waited until she fell asleep, that lopsided smile stayed there until she was.  The moment she was out his eyes fallowed the Flight attendant.  Taking notes on who she talked to? What staff she spent the most time talking around? He watched her body movement. Scanning her figure for odd lumps and shapes. But really he fallowed the odd wire hanging from her waist.
  Spending time so long in the field, he knew that there where those out there that would not hesitate to destroy a small vessel. Those religious nut cases who think earth is where we all should still be. And that aliens like himself are the devils creation.
     His eyes squinted a moment as she leaned over another passenger handing out a drink. A little soft sigh of relief escaped his lips. Leaning back in his chair. It was just a modified PMD. he closed his eyes, Leaning back in his chair. His head turned a little as he watched Astara for a long minute peacefully sleeping.
    Stop thinking about it Storm, two different worlds remember? What would she do if you woke up screaming from another one of your bad dreams? What would she say if she found one of our stashed pistols? No... to her we are different. A creature of violence. We could never live in her world.  You and i both know this.
   He leaned back resting his head in his fist as he stared of into space, He knew the crazy voice in his head was right. But that did not stop him from wondering how nice it would be to wake up to a warm body, To listen to her sing. That little lopsided smile played on his lips as he recalled the sound of her chuckle. He felt something touch his lap, His eyes looked at the object. Picking the tiny flower up a moment he took a long sniff, Admiring the scent of a flower. Its been a long time since he did even that.  Gently he placed the flower back on his lap. Fully intending to give it back when she woke.
   Arashi's Head turned as he heard her wake. Finally Arriving at the ship, From here on out, it was all business. back to a world of guns, blood, death and killing. The endless drilling and crammed tight into a can with other like minded individuals.  he gave Astara his best lopsided grin as he gave her a head nod hearing her question.
     " Yeah, Just arrived. You got good timing. " *he got up himself clearing a little space handing her bag to her* " I certainly hope so, Maybe I'll be lucky enough to catch your show sometime. Who knows they might even play your song across space eh"?
         he took her smile into his memory. That smile was genuine, Something rarely ever offered to him. It would be something he would not likely to forget.  Stopping a long moment he watched her drift of into the a sea of uniforms. Until she was no more then a memory.
Thats All she can be to you Arashi, A one night stand, and a memory. Well not even that..
    He spoke silently to the voice that plagued him "Is that a feeling I am detecting from you Kuriyami? You getting all emotional on me now"?
He was only answered by silence, Making his way to his room he surveyed it. All his bags where already there neatly piled up int he middle of his room. The room itself was empty, no bed, no carpet,his fingers gently touched the walls a he walked the room. Checking the small closet, bathroom. Looking out into space from his window he took a long slow deep breath. Finally alone.
   "This is it Shadow...home..." *Taking a moment to check his pmd, he still had another 15 minutes* "Suppose we should go meet the others. you finally ready"?
huh!! Thats your Department Arashi, I kill shit, you talk to people. Though i would if you let me? hmmmmm.... bet you would get laid more often if you did. Snuggling between a nice set of tits-
  "Enough!!...shut up..." Arashi rolled his eyes as he exited his room. Moving the the crowds of techs, soldiers and other various crew members. Making his way to the meeting room.

With the room sealed it was small, almost closet like and Felicia's feet felt the desire to move, but she couldn't. She was well versed in the procedures for entry. She lingered, idling next to the pod, with duffel in paw waiting for the decontamination scan to finish. She squinted her eyes against the intense, blinding, white light that did a slow passing sweep of a wave across the room. As soon as the green light came on again, indicating completion, the wolverine turned and moved forward. Her destination, clear as day, directly in front of her in the middle of the wall, a window approximately 2' X 5' in measurement. The wolverine tipped her head to the armed Marine standing behind the safety glass, decked out in his splendor of black and black with a splash of red. He returned the nod and pointed to the door on her left. It was a round metal thing of wheel, with strange looking knobs jutting out the ends. She crossed the short distance between the pod and the hatch in three easy strides, then hoisted her pack up and slung it over her shoulder. She grabbed the handle at the 2 and 10 position and yanked hard to her right, manually opening the hatch and stepping out, before closing and securing it.

Outside the airlock she turned and moved down the corridor on her left, after a few moments she found herself staring again into the face of that same Marine. She slipped a paw into her jacket and pulled out her papers, handed them to him, then stepped through the next set of decon strips at the door. He gave her a sharp, appraising stare, like she was some morsel he wanted to eat, scanned her orders then presented them back to her.

Felicia didn't appreciate the predatory gaze he afforded her; she arched a thin eyebrow upward and glanced down at his chest. On the left side she caught the gold glimmer of his nameplate, with the precise block letters that simply read REESE. She would remember his face, and his scent; the name was already engraved in her brain. She snatched the papers from his paw, returned his hastily offered salute then crossed the room and exited into the hall, passing through yet another set of decon strips.

Felicia knew exactly where she was going; after all she had designed a large portion of this room herself. Straight ahead of her was a hallway, long, and wide enough for two to pass easily abreast, at the end a turbo lift that granted her access to the living quarters upstairs. One the right side of the hall were most of the offices, dressed in the same drab colorless tone that the Alliance was so famous for, and on the left was were the majority of the real work was done. At a languid pace she moved down that hallway her paw softly sliding across the panes of glass that broke the intervals. She continued halfway down that hall then moved to a glass door on the left. She lifted her palm and pressed it against the metal plate next to the doorframe. A red light slowly scanned down the length of her paw to the wrist then back to her clawtips confirming her identity. The light on the pad pulsed green for a moment before the door to the room opened.

Felicia wasted no time and stepped into the room. Golden eyes swerved to the left then veered right. She gave a small shake of her head and smiled. "Fucking amazing." She reveled for a moment amongst the racks of servers that stood equal to her height, the delicate circuitry and wires with blinking lights of all colors, marveling at all its intricacies. "It looks just like he said it would." She exhaled a long pleasurable sigh then grabbed the chair off to her right and sat down at the terminal there.

The power was already on,  a soft electric hum filled the air. She discarded her duffel on the floor next to the desk, leaned over the keyboard and typed in her one word command. L-I-S-T-E-N. In a clear concise voice the wolverine spoke. " Wake Up ISIS."

Even though waiting was one of his strengths standing idle for a thirty minute journey was annoying and it showed on his face. He was quick to exit the shuttle his grip tightened on the sword as his icey blue eyes scanned the deck. Here was a bustle of activity people coming and going. Cargo being loaded and unloaded taken from shuttles to sit on the greasy floor. it seemed no matter how spotless, how new a ship the shuttle bay was always the grimiest of places. Sirus could smell the grease the moment he stepped onto the ship. He watched for a fleeting moment as people moved back and forth taking on the supplies they would need for their shakedown cruise and hauling them off down to the cargo bays. Without saying a word Sirus turned left walking with a casual ease that belied the intent beneath. His grip tightened on the cord holding his sword as he walked slowly. His strong feet felt the plates beneath and memorized every inch they covered as he moved to the turbolift. The doors slid silently open at his approach and he moved in onto the velvety carpet. He turned smiling at the controlled chaos of the bay and spoke clearly and concisely.
"Deck 2" he said
In response the doors slid closed with the same silent property as before and the lift zoomed to its location. His toes gripped the carpet a little harder at sudden movement a knot forming in his stomach from sudden acceleration before the inertial compensators kicked in. His face never let onto it however and only the subtle movement of his toes was any indication he noticed the change. The moment the lift stopped he was moving again even before the doors opened.

He was through the doors and down the hall the second they opened. He wanted to get his things in his room and get ready for this meeting. He moved down the hall moving to the door assigned him and then into them. The officer quarters were nicer then the enlisted often having a sleek window to see the stars through just over the bed and this room was no exception. He moved placing the bag on the bed before turning and hanging his sword from a hook in the wall. He then started unpacking pulling his clothing out neatly and into the dresser provided for him. Halfway through his unpacking however the flat metal plate attached to his mane looking much like a hair band flashed for all of a second green and red before turning the same color as his hair. His eyes flashed for a second and a familar green HUD (Heads Up Display)  flickered to life before his eyes. The round circular section was visible to his left eye and if looked at would activate the vast databanks of the onboard computer AI known as I.S.I.S his little wheel had a picture of the girl standing over the thing in a rather cheery looking pose as she waived. He smiled wide looking to the image and speaking "well good morning Isis, I hadn't exactly expected you here."  He spoke confidante of no-one listening in.
Though working on project ISIS was one of his notable achievements his truly remarkable achievement was the Neural Synaptic Responce System (or NSRS for short) much like implants this device would link to a specific registered user and allow the AI to link to the mind and provide information. Many might find this idea worrysome at the very least however precautions were taken with the hardware to ensure it only had one way communication allowing the user to consult with the AI for information needed and to check on system settings. Everything seen through the interface, however, was specific to that user only generated by a profile setup during registration and preference in the hardware configuration.
At the moment Sirus's eyes were moving as rapidly as if he were in REM sleep as he sifted through information gathered by the supercomputer. Even though she was in a restricted area in the ship and was 'asleep' her memory banks were constantly gather information and when activated began to gather tactical analysis of the ship that Sirus was now on. He smiled wider almost letting himself purr as he blinked clearing the screen before him and straightening up to walk out of his room. He moved down the hall heading to the meeting room. He was certain he would be early as most people seemed intent on eating before this meeting though why they hadn't eaten earlier was beyond him as he moved to where the captains chair was and sat two seats right of him in the tactical chair. His eyes resumed their movements waiting for everytone to arive as he sifted through various bits of data via his NSRS.

Mikkaddo looked up when someone else came into the room waiting for the briefing. He had sat up instantly at attention, expecting the Captain, or the rumored and highly possible Spectre. He couldn't stand the idea that a Spectre might be on board, but this man didn't look like one. He looked the man up and down, something was off. Not wrong, just . . . odd. He couldn't place what it was though either. Something was very strange. He saw a flash in the man's eye.

"Cybernetic implants?" he thought to say, but he decided against it.  It wasn't proper to bring up such a thing. Though he'd considered cybernetic implants before. But being part of the Alliance in Engineering he was never on the same boat long enough to make it useful. They'd be replacing them every 6 months if he did that. He finally decided to let out a long breath and ask what the man's name was. "Hello there" he said, wondering who the man really was, what was so odd about him. "My name is Mikkaddo, I work in Engineering and was assigned to this ship. By the way, what's your name?" he had a smile on his face, he wasn't exactly pleased as he hated being put to a new boat, everything changed, even the components that were his. And the worst part was the changing crew. Always new crew. So very many new faces to recognize and names to remember. Though this ship's crew seemed more apt to their jobs than most any crew he'd been part of in a long time.

Ivans eyes would simply close as he waited for the senior officers to arrive, in his head ran the details of the Mission specs. He was a lot calmer then he was during his walk toward the conference room, the shower really helped calm his nerves, though a slight ping trailed through him when his ears quickly perked up and forward at the sound of the door opening. His eyes opened slowly as he looked to the first of his Senior officers to arrive, from here on it was time to get serious.

"Dobroe utro...."*he replied, his eyes quickly moved about the the male ass he took his seat and joined him in the game of waiting. He searched for any information with his eyes before moving back to their gaze toward the door. His body still leaning back into the chairs cushion, his legs crossed and his hands in a pyramid just under his chin. His eyes glanced down quickly to his PMD and chuckled silently, it seems he still had quite some time before the meeting began and preparations for their first destination would finally begin. Ivans tail would slowly sway from left to ride behind him as he looked away from the device on his wrist and looked about the corners of the room slowly, occasionally giving a quick glance toward the Fennec but making no attempt to make conversation just yet. He didn't want to overexert himself before the mission briefing....besides, there would be plenty of time on this mission to make trustworthy bonds between the crew of his ship.

Alas, he was starting to get bored...so, he tilted his head downward a bit as he closed his eyes and went back into a sense of deep thought. He would need to ready himself, any mistakes, any error on this mission would ultimately fall upon his shoulders. He wondered what his crew would be thinking when they heard about the Russian Captain that would be in command of the ship, it wasn't any secrete to as how Russian military officials would take command and their attitudes toward those that deserted their posts. The thought made him smile a bit, would he himself at the end of this mission become just that? It was true that the blood of the Mother Land ran thick in his veins as does the blood of his military ancestors. He opened his eyes and looked about seeing that it was still him and the German, amazed and how far their countries had kept their founded peace and their steadying trip to forgiveness of the harshness of the old wars.

Though the thick silence that seemed to hang in the air would quickly be broken as the 'Oh shit' Alarm had started to go off on his PMD alerting him that something had either gone seriously wrong, or a rather bad  breach in protocol was made aware, Ivan simply narrowed his brow as he glared down toward the screen, his tail tip giving a slight flick as he averted his gaze back toward the door. He would find out more, about what happened...such error will not be tolerated on his ship. Again, the sound of the door brought his attention back as his blue eyes looked up toward the canine that had made his way inside the conference room, now a second Senior Officer made his way in and over to his seat. He clearly heard the little go on with whoever was on the other line, clues to whose ass would be on the line if he so chose to take action toward the one truly responsible. He didn't have to measure this one up for information, his body language was loud enough for him. He hoped the feeling he got was right, he didn't need any lazy crewmen on board, then again....he did need something for target practice.

The thought amused him for quite a bit until the doors opened yet again, this time a white lion had made his entrance.  He now had a third Senior officer report in, this was good, it meant that the shuttles were probably finishing their docking process and letting the rest of the crew aboard his ship. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he looked back down to his PMD to check the time again, his tail returning to it's normal casual sway behind him. His ears perked up as he listened to the canines attempt to engage in conversation, it was not forbidden, he himself just chose not to initiate anything. He shifted about slight in his seat, it appears sitting in the same position without much major movement, does tend to make the ass sore.

Finally Arriving at the Entrance to the meeting room, he stood for a long, long minute just on the other side of those doors. Reviewing important data that he memorized, He knew all the senior officers by name and face. Or what ever data he could pick up before hand. Yet he was nervous, His fists clenching and Releasing over and over again.
  Unzipping his Uniform jacket his fingers curled over the Grip of his highly modified pistol, he checked his extra clips and add on for his pistol as if making sure they where still there. As well as the handle to his Gravity blade. His Fingers dipped to the small of his back where the other Gravity blade rested. His finger opened each pouch making sure the components where in there proper place.
  Zipping up his jacket once more he took three solid slow deep breaths, letting each one out ever so slowly. Checking his PMD at Exactly Five minutes before hand he stepped through the door of the briefing room. His lightning blue eyes a mask, His face solid Obsidian displayed no emotion. Those deep blue lightning eyes making eye contact with each and every Officer in the room. His head nodded in greeting to each and every one of them. The voice in his head Reviewing them As if reminding them of who each and every one of them were.
  Silently he Sat in his seat, His hands gripping his chair.

The blue vixen stumbled rather awkwardly off the shuttle making her way into the lift shuffling her feet behind the kitty. She was fasinated by the sights around her. She had always been stuck in a dank drab lab in her few years working on this implant or that transmitter that she never got to see much of the world or in fact universe around her. She had joined to see the universe but that had all changed as she started getting older. First came the blue ears and bushy blue tail. Then people started talking, laughing quietly behind her back. She started avoiding people all together and no one seemed to care, or notice, when her fur grew in. She pressed the glasses further up the bridge of her nose, something of a nervous habit she had when in crowds of people as she stepped into the lift. Her papers rustled in the movement against her chest -- she didn't like placing her work on computers as much as others and  often wrote everything down before moving it to her computers -- as the doors closed and sped them on their way.

Her eyes blinked to the extended paw curiously looking at it as if unsure what to do. She bent, sniffed the paw then smiled and gave it a single lick "nice to meet you Alina. Do you know where I can get a phase-induser? OH! and I need a static field generator... thought I might have to make one " she started mumbling to herself though that wasn't to last as the smells on the air caused her stomach to groan and grumble noisily. "mmm smells good" she looked up walking in almost completly forgetting about her requests as she drooled at the menu

Strawberry lifted her head some when the feline entered and headed to the back toward the buffet table. A small smile crept over her face as the feline was followed by a vixen. "You can help yourselves, no need to drool at it," the rat said and chuckled softly.

Kyle had just gotten up and gone into the kitchen when the other two had entered. And RJ was already in the kitchen staring at the dumbwaiter.

Strawberry watched the other two females and couldn't help but grin. 'Blue outfits... glasses, many papers. Science Crew,' she thought and took a bite of fruit. "Plates are on the far right, take as much as you like. I don't think many will be coming to breakfast because it's the first day." Her hairless ears perked then flicked some before settling as she waited to see what the others would do. She also wondered why it was Kyle ate so fast, maybe it was in the species. The female shrugged the thought off then took another bite of fruit and kept one steel gray eye on the other two females.

Astara was still minding her own, almost in a zone as she continued to strum her fingers against the guitar. She ommited some notes, some words not coming yet, but the notes were continually there. Her ears merely flicked as others wandered about. At the moment she was struggling with the rest of the words, so as she sat on the table top and strummed she paused. She looked down to her open guitar case. A soft smile on her lips as she reached into its pocket for a brown pill. She took it out and looked at it, looking at the letters and the writing on it. She did not intend on eating it, no, that would not be very healthy. She smiled some and dropped the pill in her glass of water. She watched as it sank and dissolved and  strummed some.

As she strummed she would think of some more lyrics. She would watch as green would poke from the pill, watching from the corner of her eyes.

"Miracles don't seem all that fair
If I were God I would know who to scare
And I'd try to repay all the losses
That were caused by incompetent bosses"

She wondered to herself where this place was that these lyrics were coming from. She dropped her head some as a bright blue lilly had bloomed in her glass. She looked down at it, if there was one thing that came good of the science leaders and novelty mix was this. She absolutely adored it. This little pill becoming a piece of life for hours. She smiled tenderly and put the blue lilly in between her head and her ear. She looked at the few people in the room, none really paying her no mind. So she continued to sing. Strumming one note at a time.

"They knew how to launch an attack
While unarmed you lay flat on your back
And wait for the poison to cure you
Since faith ain't enough to insure you"

The song sounded so dark to her. And it might as well been. Maybe in this dream it was some fortelling, the words the lyrics. Maybe it was some sort of omen. Astara believed in such things. She believed songs came to her for a reason. She bit her lip some and took a break from her lyrics. Writing down the ones that had just came, the notes and the words had come together rather harmoniously. She let out a breath and finished her vegetables. What was this trip to bring? And when was her next way out. Hmm, she had to wonder when she was leaving next. She shrugged her shoulders and replaced her guitar in her lap, strumming some random chords.

Alina was a bit taken back by the unusual salutation from a subordinate. But she wouldn't hold it against the female, or yank her paw back in disgust. The feline knew that not every culture had the same form of greeting, so she took it in stride.

She contemplated the questions posed to her, but before an answer could be given her stomach growled from the aromas attacking her nostrils and it appeared that she was not the only who had skipped breakfast, as her companions belly uttered a similar noise.

There was no one in line for chow, not that she really expected to see anyone eating considering it was after 0900. Her head turned, she looked over at the rat she hadn't even noticed sitting in the near vacant hall. "Thanks, it all looks so good I don't know where to start."

She grabbed a plate off the line and some utensils, and then slowly walked down the buffet.  Her senses were assaulted with a barrage of pleasant odors that threatened to make her drool. She snagged a few pieces of bacon, a small portion of eggs, and a few pieces of fruit. She didn't want a lot to eat she was nervous enough about having to meet the senior staff. At the end of the line she poured herself a large glass of milk then found a nearby table and sat.

Alina waited until Alexia had obtained a meal as well and gestured for her to join. "Oh, by the way," she began around a piece of bacon she was chewing on.  "...Those items you requested." She paused and took a swallow of milk, then licked a few drops from her whiskers. "We've got a static field generator in the science lab. You'll probably need to ask around in Engineering for the phase inducer, they most likely have one down there."

She ate her meal slowly because she had been taught that it was improper and unhealthy to consume it at a rapid pace. As she ate, she listened to the female strumming her guitar and singing, her sweet voice and the calming somber melody helped to partially put her taut nerves at ease. Alina wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there, enjoying the company of her new friend, the soft melody of song, and a much needed meal. She pulled her wrist up and flipped it over. The time displayed 09:47.

Quickly she crammed the last 1/2 strip of bacon into her mouth, and then emptied her glass of milk. Normally she wouldn't be so impolite as to eat and run off but she wasn't going to be late. She rose, straightened her slacks and pulled her shirt down in front to remove any creases. She wanted to look professional and wouldn't have time to stop by her quarters and tidy up. "Unfortunately I have to leave now, I've got to be at a meeting here in a few minutes. I'll see you later though." As she left the dining area she paused and offered a wave to the minstrel, but wasn't sure if the female saw it. Her head was bowed over some papers and her guitar.

She reached the turbo lift and when it opened the feline stepped inside. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly steeling her nerves for the meeting to come. "Computer Deck 1." The lift surged upward to its destination, the doors opening to release its cargo only moments later. Alina stepped out and brushed away the invisible lint she was sure was on her sleeve. She turned and headed to the conference room and walked inside.

She swallowed at the door as her eyes scanned the room. Was she late? It looked like most of the people were there already, although a few seats remained untouched around the table. She crossed the room and procured the first chair on the Captain's left. "Good Morning gentleman." She nodded and offered a smile before taking her seat, carefully placing her fidgety paws in her lap.

Felicia rose, grabbed her bag and left the room. She turned left out the door and proceeded to the end of the hall, her goal the last door on the right. She lifted her paw once more and pressed it to the metal plate. It scanned her dna and then popped the door open. She dropped her bag on the outside of the room then passed through a set of decon strips and stepped inside.

She found the light in the room painfully bright and squinted to block it out. In the middle of the office was a circular station comprised of several desks and terminals. She stepped forward and into the ring of light at its center. As soon as it recognized a presence the light pulsed, it grew and extended around her, engulfing the wolverine momentarily in a violet mist. She blinked and the mist dissipated, replaced by a large open plain. Beneath her feet the ground was orange and red, above her the sky opened up, huge, black and violet. Nearby she could see an archway of Roman design and construction, close to its base a terminal. Her eyes shifted first left then right, almost expecting to see ISIS somewhere in the vicinity, but for the moment she was afforded the images of large files floating across the air like giant birds, flapping paper wings. 

"Hello Felicia, where have you been?" The voice was soft, sweet and very feminine.

She smiled at the image of ISIS, and the beautiful young lady with green hair smiled back. "I'll have to fill you in on the details later ISIS. We need to start some systems checks. Let's begin with the server indicators and the research terminals."

ISIS gave her a pouting frown and replied, "Awwww... all business as always Felicia." Her eyes flashed for a moment, as she stood up straighter. "Done"

"Thank you ISIS, now I want to create a VR profile."

The AI's response was almost automated. She nodded, then to her left and right appeared images of possible HUD's that she had selected as suitable choices. 
"Would you like a default HUD? Or do you wish to create your own?"

Felicia contemplated her options for a moment. The choice she would make had to be appropriate for her; she picked the Image icon and depressed it. "I think I'll make my own."

"As you wish." Her eyes flashed again as she spread her arms open.

A plethora of objects appeared before the wolverine, but she already had an idea of what she wanted. Her paws started gathering the necessary items and meshing them together furiously working to build the device virtually. When she completed her work it looked just the way she wanted it to. She nodded with an approving gaze. "This'll do nicely ISIS."

"Fine, you know for being turned off and forgotten for 10 years!" She stated but Felicia could tell just from the vocal inflictions that ISIS was not pleased.

"Hey now I had nothing to do with that sweetie, but I am happy to see that you are well cara mia." Her voice was genuine and somewhat softer than she normally spoke, in an effort to soothe the AI's obviously hurt feelings.

She pouted for a moment, considering Felicia's words, lifted her shoulders in a shrug then nodded. "You're right, glad to see you though. I thought I'd have to deal with some pathetic egghead type that would spend 20 minutes drooling over me before being able to actually get any WORK done."

The wolverine chuckled at the AI's bold, yet accurate assessment, she smiled at ISIS then spoke in her native tongue, it was easier, more natural, and it epitomized their friendly arrangement. "Bene, la mia cara non si può certo attribuire loro, che sono molto belli." (Well my dear you can hardly blame them, you are very beautiful.) The female smiled with an arched brow at Felicia then countered "Sono ancora sbavando sciocchi." (They're still drooling fools.) The wolverine had to concede the fact that ISIS was correct, she snickered but only replied "Si, uscita" (Yes, exit)

The images of the construct program dissipated almost as swiftly as they had materialized. She blinked, the ground below her feet was white once more, the four walls surrounding her, just as colorless. She took a step backwards, and exited the VR stand, an arm extended; within its grasp was a glass block. She opened the container and looked down. Inside there was a small, flat metal plate. She removed the object and affixed it like a barrette to her hair. ISIS eyes' "lit" up as something passed through them.

The world shifted abruptly, skewing at an awkward angle. Her stomach lurched for a moment then settled as the images fell into place. To her right appeared an antique looking leather tome, floating even with her chest. She looked down at it, and shifted her eyes; the cover flipped open and transformed, unfolding into a bookshelf, stuffed to capacity and endless. On the top corner ISIS looked down at her smiling. She returned the grin and commented. "Much better."

The wolf heaved a heavy sigh as he finished the last of the tests without further incident, pleased that the ship was ready to go at a moment's notice and that he could move it with ease. Once satisfired with how he had the seat adjusted to his comfort and ease of use, he pushed himself up and looked for the nearest map to find the meeting room. He wanted to find the shortest route as well as he didn't want to be late, especially with that fiasco with the engines earlier. Once he had his barings he made his way through the ship, doing his best to ignore any and all stares he recieved, assuming it was because there weren't that many people moving about the ship wearing purple. Once there he slid in the door quietly, giving a nod to the others. Looks like he might've been either late or just on time. Damn tests. He moved to the nearest open seat to settle in quietly to wait for instructions, as he was used to. It was different being an officer instead of just a pilot, but this should be better then the last trip.. hopefully.

Strawberry chuckled at the feline a little. Shaking her head some as she finished her meal she arose and walked into the kitchen, dealing with her plate and glass first then going to work on storing more stuff with Kyle and RJ. Until Kyle took off to head to the meeting at 9:45 leaving her in charge. The rat of course was no stranger to being left in charge and looked to RJ, "No... over there dammit!" After a little while she walked out into the dining area and picked up the dishes then placed them in the dishwasher before yelling at RJ once more that he was doing something wrong.

Kyle meandered for a while and then noted the female from when he walked through the mess hall. She rushed past him and into the room where the meeting was to be. He shrugged some and followed in right behind her hearing her address everyone in a rather polite manner. "Good morning to you as well ma'am, and to all the gentleman as well," he said and nodded to each one in turn. He took an empty chair and looked around a little, straightening his collar.  He looked to the head of the table, noting the captain taking in his stature, build every little detail. The feline did the same with the others as well stopping on the leopardess. Taking in her form for a few moments his amber eyes seeming to stare. He blushed and then shook his head looking at a wall and swallowing hard, feeling like an idiot for staring. Nervously brushing that bright orange hair of his back, trying to calm himself. For now there would be a wait until all got there and the meeting started.

Bishop woke with a start when his tablet bipped him with a quick alarm. The power nap hadn't been long enough by half, but orders were orders. A quick splash of water from the sink and a check in the mirror to straighten his uniform, and he was out the door and headed for the bridge deck. The purposeful stride made him seem very serious; as a result he had to fend off a few salutes and attempts to kowtow in the passage, but he eventually reached the lift unmolested.

As soon as the door opened on the first deck, Bishop was off to the conference room at a brisk clip. He entered the room with a quick deferential nod to the captain, whom he had seen during his time aboard already, and took his seat in one of the chairs beside him without further comment.

"No no no no no!!!!!" The rather short looking otter started running down the hall as quick as he could and tripped over his feet as soon as the meeting rooms door open and fell flat on his face with a rather loud thump. "I'm....not....late...." *he panted out rather cutely as he quickly shot back up looked down, trying to avoid the gazes of the others and hurried to his seat and kinda sunk down a bit, his light brown face burning red with embarrassment, his tail curling around his feet underneath the table as he avoided the look from the Captain. His uniform was similar to that of the Captains though his was a light shade of gray with black trim along the edges, instead of Ivans black with white trim along the edges.

Way to go Marcus, now they think their second in command is nothing but a klutz, stupid stupid stupid! He cursed himself in his thoughts. The otter himself looked to be about 5'8" at most, typical color pattern for a light brown otter, nothing very special about him...except for those rather deep sapphire eyes he had. He sighed softly as he slowly shook his head and managed to look up and give a slight smile to everyone, even to the Captain. Great....they all hate me now, way to fucking go...first day and I already screw up by making my self look weak....fun

Ivan sat there in his chair as one officer after another slowly came in and took their seat, each with their own little greeting. He blinked a bit as the otter just fucking ate it but simply shook his head slowly as he watched his new second in command hurry over and take his seat. Now everyone was waiting on him to get things started, but how would he start off? Up until this point he had remained silent, making no attempt to speak to anyone but the German fennec that had greeted him upon entering. Slowly he began to collect his thoughts, the little bit of liquid courage he took earlier starting to slowly wear off so he lowered his paw up and pushed his glasses back up and pressed a small button under his part of the table which dimmed the lights and activated the central holographic projector in the middle of the table.

"Now that we are all finally here let's get started, I'm pretty sure all of you are well enough aware of who I am but in case you any of you weren't paying attention or simply just forgot I am your Captain, Ivan Vartikov." He took a slight pause, his accent thick but understandable. He looked down to his reached into his pocket and set his PDA down onto the table and tapped at the screen once. The image of the Ageis zoomed out showing the current star system now being projected, reaching into his pocket Ivan pulled out a small laser pointer and pointed it at a small stationary object toward the edge of the star system.  "Our point of destination is this Mass Relay, there it will take us to the Lunda System which is the farthest most edge of known Alliance territory."

Ivan looked down to his PDA and ran his finger across the screen as the current image being projected quickly switched to the Lunda System. "Our mission is simple, to go out of Alliance space and seek out unexplored planets and deem them worthy enough for future colonization. This mission is a purely expeditionary, though if we do in fact run into any hostile encounters planet side  we are to terminate immediately, plain and simple. This is not a mission of war, let me make that perfectly clear." Ivan paused again as he looked from one officer to the next, then over to his Second in Command and raised an eyebrow toward him.

Marcus looked listened a bit to the briefing and tried his best to catch every little detail he could but when Ivan looked over to him and raised that eyebrow he blinked a bit, confused for a split second and mentally smacked himself in the head, of course...how could he forget.

"O-oh ummm yes, I'll be sending out a mass e-mail to each of your private terminals in your quarters explaining in further detail on what is expected of each and every one of you. You have a lot of responsibility and our crewmen will be looking up to each and every one of us.....please for the sake of the crew when under heavy stress or during an emergency, please try and stay calm, act level headed and keep everyone in your department from freaking out. Also...

Ivan held his paw up quickly causing the otter to shush and duck his head quickly. "I expect only the best from you, I will not tolerate cowardice on this vessel, if the position is too much for you to handle then speak to either me or Marcus and we'll replace you, simple. This is the very first mission the Aegis will be taking part in, I do not want any further screw ups....you know who you are and that's all that will be said. Do not let it happen again."

With that said Ivan sat back in his chair and looked about his crew then back over to the holographic projection, then down to his PDA and pocketed it. Again he pressed the button underneath the desk which caused the projection to shut off and the lights to return back on.

"With that said, you will also be getting a roster of everyone in your department, anyone not on board yet will be left behind plain and simple, just forward their names to me and I'll deal with the rest. Now....any questions about the mission or what it is you are supposed to do?"

Mikkaddo held up his hand, leaning forward slightly. "I don't have any questions sir, it's all quite clear to me. But I thought it might be worth mentioning I am talented at doing more than maintaining and repairing the engines on this beast." He paused for a second to be sure that the Captain was listening. "I've been spending years studying Alliance technology and I'm rather talented at augmenting their tech. If your gear isn't performing up to your personal par, I'd be happy to make a few modifications . . ." he leaned back in his chair again. "That goes for everyone else too . . . though, I might have to charge if the parts aren't readily available."

He was more than talented enough to make any modifications the crew might need, but he also knew there were some modifications he could make that would end up being quite costly. He was also curious when their next plausible shore leave might be, but it didn't seem appropriate to ask at the moment, the Captain was all business.

The idle sounds of washing dishes and cooks in the background really hadnt phased her. She continued writing in her book of music notes. Her lyrics could be very powerful one day. At least she thought so. She lifted her head to take a breath, watching one of the officers leave giving her a wave. She gave a genuine and wide smile and a nod. Her ears flicked as she heard the name 'RJ' being yelled some where amongst the kitchen area. She turned around and blinked, she chuckled some and shook her head. This was going to be one crazy ride. A soft smile passed her lips as she finished writing down the last chorus. She quietly closed the book and placed her guitar back in its case, tucking the book away in the same case. She let out a quiet sigh and picked up her case.

The hallways were empty of officers, filled with engineers. And her. She didnt look at all shy, she gave everyone she came in contact with a light nod of the head and such on her way back to her room. Her voice carrying through the halls as she omitted old songs she had written. She was full of food and ideas, though she didnt quite know what to do next. A soft chuckle on her lips as she danced a little on her way. After reaching her door she would look at it, and put her guitar in her room. She had yet to close her door, she merely left it open, she had nothing to hide. She didnt even know who was sleeping in the rooms next to her. She was mentally lost in knowing how long she was to be here, and considering the empty halls, she would sing. Provide some tunes for passerbys. Why not?

She lie there on bed, facing her ceiling, singing sweet soft, husky tunes with a rather bright and pleasant smile upon her lips.

(or he could be dealing with RL shit and people just need to be fucking patient, keep the OOC away from the actual RP thread)

Ivan looked from one person to the next, it seemed no one had any questions and was about to dismiss the officers when one of them spoke up. His head turned toward the wolf who raised his paw and spoke up, listening intently. There was always one person like him on every ship, offering upgrades and modifications to equipment for a price. Alliance didn't sanction it but it happened on every ship so the rule was never enforced unless there was a council official or other higher up on board.

"Very well, if your skills and knowledge are as up to par as you say then I'll leave it up to you. Needless to say try to keep it on the down low until we depart. If there isn't anything else I believe you all have a job to do..." He looks at each one of them and motions to the door where they had entered before. His eyes would shift over to Marcus and motion him to stay back with him.