It never got old! The sound of the ships engines and thrusters powering down after performing a smooth docking made the hairs across the pilot's arms stand up on end every single time. Every sound this old ship made was an incredible one. The whirring of gears and the pressure of hydraulics as the landing gear deployed and took the weight of the ship. Landing upon a planet was always much more tricky then landing in a space dock, and the reason for this was gravity, but that wasn't anything Ruce Benner couldn't handle, Captain of the Valkyrie! The creak of leather covering the pilot's seat indicated that the young man had leaned back, tucking his hands behind his head and kicking his legs up and resting his feet upon the console before him, crossing one foot over the other at the ankles. A satisfied, smug look was spread across his face as his closed his eyes and nodded to himself a couple of times, the week-old stubble covering his chin scratching against the high collar of his brown leather jacket.
"Yep, tha' was the best landin' I've made without usin' the dockin' computer! Who's the best? Ruce Benner is the best, that's who!! The most handsome, the most darin', the most courageous pilot in the galaxy, Captain Ruce Benner of the Va--"
His narcissistic pep-talk was cut short by the comms crackling into life and the familiar voice of Amanda cutting through the cockpit speakers. Ruce grumbled to himself as he listened to her words, ever the eager one to get the job finished and to set feet back upon solid ground, but the Captain knew that she'd be begging to head back into the darkness of space within the week.

Stabbing the comms open button on the console to his right, the Captain replied.
"Tes, yer gargantuan pile of taxu droppin's! Yer know better then to interrupt my post-docking congratulation ceremony!!"
Ruce grumbled again and sat up in his chair, stamping both his feet against the steel cockpit floor as he dragged them off the front console, which most likely sounded through the comms.
"Fine fine, I'm on my way down. Go make sure the package is secure and if it's broken... then fuck I dunno... get some tape or somethin' and fix it!"
There was a snap and a buzz as he took his finger off the comms button. Whirling his chair around so he was facing behind him, Ruce pushed himself up to his feet and checked his holster hanging from his belt with a couple pats of his hand, through it wasn't a blaster he was searching for. Instead he pulled a long bladed dagger from the holster and span the blade about his fingers a couple of times before slashing at an imaginary adversary before him with a 'Yah!!' escaping his lips. However, at the same time as he 'yah'ed', a loud 'PSSSSSSSH!' followed by a thick cloud of coolant spraying into his face, knocking the pilot back onto his butt.
"Oh bollocks!!"
He yelped as he scrambled back up to his feet as a warning siren started to go off through the cockpit, flashing yellow lights across all panels. Quickly grabbing some nearby electrical tape, Ruce tapped up the ruptured coolant tube and sighed heavily as the sirens silenced themselves and the flashing yellow lights turned off.

Grumbling his way out of the cockpit, leaving the mess behind him for now, Ruce headed for the bunks where he washed himself off in the sink. Peering at himself in the mirror, you'd notice that Ruce Benner was a young man, no older then 30 at least. He had short dark brown hair that was usually kept brushed back with a couple small bangs hanging down over his forehead. A scar ran from the middle of his right cheek down over his jaw and half way down his neck. He loved telling the ladies the story behind that... which usually changed every time he told it. He was of average height, about 5ft 10 with a slim yet tonned build. The tight, long sleeved black shirt he wore under his brown leather jacket revealed he liked to work out. A pair of loose fitting dark blue cargo pants donned his legs with some durable black combat boots finishing the look. Winking at himself and snapping his fingers into a double pistol gesture, the Captain left the bunks and headed onward to the cargo hold, entering on the lower floor. As the sliding door slid shut behind him, the brown-eyed pilot glanced about the cargo hold, noticing it was mostly empty of deliveries and instead more full of their own belongings.
"Oi Tes, are we gonna flog any of this crap? We'd be able to take on more work if we didn't haul around everythin' we both own."
Ruce grumbled as he walked over to a pile of steel cargo crates. Approaching the small standing console beside the crates, the Captain disengaged the stabilizers and the locking magnets holding the cargo in place released.
"Oh yeah Tes tha' reminds me, contact the Zantu Expanse and let them know we've got their 'order'. They should come pick it up. We don't wanna be carryin' this through the streets."

Soft clicks came from one of the steel storage crates as the Captain punched in a code to unlock the sliding lid, which he pushed open afterwards. Peering inside, he scanned his dark brown eyes over the farming equipment and photon decelerator units that the Zantu Expanse had asked to be delivered. What did they need stuff like this for anyway? Farming equipment especially. The photon decelerators he could understand, for the Zantu Expanse were one of the biggest and leading organizations of scientific enhancements and they liked to mess around with particles and atoms and who knew what else. Ruce didn't actually care though. So long as he got his payment for delivering this stuff. He'd hand over Tes' share and that would shut her up for the next few hours as she went off to buy new parts for the Valkyrie. Speaking of which, the pilot turned about and folded his arms across his chest, glancing up at Tes on the gantry.
"Wha' do you mean, 'another'?"
The brown-haired Captain glanced at his right shoulder from the corner of his eye and brushed away some white coolant dust from his jacket.
"This old girl is on her last legs. Things are gonna fall apart an' break when we least expect them too. As for the Zantu Expanse, let the stupid, fat corporate tossers wait a little longer. It's not like those suited idiots need solar farmin' equipment of all things. If anythin', WE could use crap like tha' to actually keep a stable electrical supply runnin' through the ship! There's nothing worse then havin' the lights go out when I'm on my way the bathroom an' I stand on one of your hair clips!!"

The Captain turned back to the cargo containers and he could be heard mumbling to himself.
"Well maybe you should put your boots on!"
He was clearly imitating Tes' voice as he continued to mumble.
"Well maybe you should shave the other side of your head!"
Sliding the cargo lid closed, Ruce was about to check up on a second container when his female and only other crew member called down to him from the gantry again, causing him to at first glance over his shoulder and look back up at her, but soon was forced to turn around fully and look back up with her with a disappointed expression spread across his face as she listed off things wrong with the ship that were apparently his fault.
"First, you just said yourself tha' the Expanse expect us at a certain time an' a certain place, which happens to be right here, right now, so tha's why I told you to bodge the collider-break coolant relay because otherwise, we'd be sittin' here with boxes of farmin' equipment no one wants and our thumbs up our asses! Also, we're 'ere an' the ship still flies, so I'd say your 'four hour bodge job' was a pretty damn good bodge job!"
Like a bird puffing up it's feathers when it felt threatened, Ruce took a strong stance and held his arms aside from his torso, as if he were trying to flex his muscles when looking at himself in the bathroom mirror.
"Secondly, who is the pilot? Tha's right, I am! I know how to fly this bird an' enterin' the gravity well of a planet this big at such a slow speed would 'ave put more pressure on the hull then I was comfortable with. I didn't want to risk blowin' the canopy or rupturin' the hull from this thing shakin' itself apart an' subsequently blastin' one or both of us into the atmosphere. Pushin' through at speed was the better approach!"

The pilot stood back up straight and pressed his fists against his hips, giving the young lady on the gantry a stern stare before he were about to point a finger and continue his retort, when Tes chucked something down to him, which fell into his waiting palm. Looking it over, it was a fuse cluster and it was bust. These things couldn't be repaired and had to be replaced instead. They were essentially like light bulbs and when the filament blew, you needed a new one.
"Well shit Tes, why didn't you say somethin' if this was on it's last legs? You pull this from the Hyperdrive Motivation module? How many we got left in there?"
His tone carried genuine concern upon viewing what his landing and busting through the atmosphere had caused. Still, better a fuse cluster then half the hull, right? Well the shields may have held together anyway... probably. Tossing the fuse cluster up and down a couple of times, the scruffy chinned pilot tucked the object into his jacket pocket and waved a hand to beckon his engineer down to the lower floor of the cargo hold.
"We still got a job to finish. Get down 'ere an' shift these containers onto a trolley or somethin' so it's ready for the Expanse to collect. I don't want those creeps settin' one foot on board this ship!"
Ruce turned tail and walked across the cargo hold, approaching the rear cargo entry ramp where he punched in a command into the console that caused a loud metallic creak as the mag locks holding the ramp closed released. Then the hiss of the hydraulics lowering down the ramp echoed through the room until daylight tore through the shadows and eventually cast a warm, welcoming glow across the whole cargo hold.

Making his way down the ramp, Ruce could see that Tes had been correct and the Zantu Expanse were already waiting for them. There were six of them in total, two were Grannoks, large humanoid creatures with rock-like skin dressed in their cultures suits and looked pretty terrifying in all honestly. You'd not wanna get into a fist fight with one of these lads. Or a drinking contest. Or anything really. They always looked like they were in bad moods, with their rocky faces having thick protruding brows giving them permanent frowns. The other 4 were Urin, also humanoid but clearly alien due to their blue skin, pupil-less eyes and four arms. These guys were guards and they were armed, each having a pulse rifle and stun battons. Looked like they were carrying grenades too, EMP at a glance.
"My friends!!"
Ruce bellowed out heartily and spread his arms as if welcoming an old friend.
"Cut the crap Benner. Just hand over our cargo and get lost. You've already wasted enough of our time."
Ruce's arms fell and his expression turned saddened.
"Aww, c'mon guys! Be coal. You guys work too hard, too much pressure you know? If you create a scene here, pebble are gonna stop an' stare. We've got your order, safe an' sound an' still in one piece! Tes is bringin' it out for you now, so just sit tight a little longer an' our business will be concluded."
The Grannoks didn't look to happy and glanced at each other for a moment, as if they just spoke telepathically or something. The Urin just remained standing in silence, their stareless eyes watching the pilot, keeping their weapons close. It was very hard to tell which way these aliens were looking, but Ruce could assume they were keeping a keen eye on that dagger in his holster. Yeah, because that dagger was really going to do some damage to a Grannok. Well, maybe if you stabbed one of them in their eye it might. Still, the Urin seemed to acknowledge this and thus is why they hadn't asked the Captain to disarm himself.

The scruffy-faced pilot looked at the two Grannok's carefully as they turned to each other and whispered amongst themselves, speaking in their own native language which pretty sounded like someone smashing two rocks against each other while pulling a large slab of concrete across the ground in the middle of an earthquake. The Captain was a dab hand at his interstellar languages though and he frowned as he picked up a few words such as 'pathetic' and 'waste of time'. Ruce scoffed and glanced to his right at Tes as she approached his side and he just grinned at her before returning his attention onto the party waiting a few feet from the bottom of the cargo ramp. Her little outburst was typical of her and it made the pilot chuckle to himself. It was always snotty-nosed, stuck-up businessmen who thought they were higher then everything else, that riled the mechanics skin. That and not getting paid, whether off clients or from himself. Ruce chimed in though before the large rocky humanoids were able to speak up.
"She's right yer know. This old girl has taken a few knocks on yer behalf and it's gonna cost us a pretty penny to get her back up to standards. We know yer busy men an' we know yer wanna get back to work, but I particularly know tha' yer business doesn't deal with farmin' equipment, especially the solar kind. S'not like yer startin' to turn environmentally friendly now, are ya?"
The Captain flicked his left thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the steel cargo crates sitting back in his ships hold.
"I'm guessin' yer ordered somethin' a little shady, a little somethin' from the Black Market, eh? S'why yer hired a pilot with a fast but small ship. Perhaps yer Urin friends 'ere 'ave got their annual bonuses. Those plasma rifles are old tech now right? They're NH Corporation Mk.III 65-A PR's right? Bet they won't even dent my jacket, let alone put a hole through my body. Wha' is the Zantu Expanse doin' buyin' tech tha' isn't their own?"

The Grannok was clearly getting more and more frustrated with each word that was coming out of Benner's mouth and soon enough, as if the rock-like creature were a volcano, he eventually blew. Stamping a foot down that kicked up a cloud of dust and swinging one of it's huge arms before him, the creature bellowed back.
"ALRIGHT, ENOUGH!!"
The businessman cleared his throat and adjusted his tie so it was back in place, before dusting himself off.
"You've proven your point. No need to make a scene, right?"
The Grannok glanced to the Urin to his right and nodded his head. The four-armed alien acknowledged in silence and stepped forth towards the scruffy pilot, who in turn walked the remaining way down the ramp to meet up. The Urin tucked one of it's arms into it's attire and pulled out a credit chit, which he handed to the pilot. Ruce glanced at the chit and then peered towards the Grannok, who were both staring back.
"Fifteen thousand, three times what we agr--"
"Twenty."
The Urin before the pilot raised it's rifle but was quickly silenced and told to back down by the Grannok doing the talking.
"Okay, twenty thousand."
The Grannok's gravely voice churned and ground against the air surrounding them all. He wasn't happy in the slightest, but really, what was 20,000 to someone like him? He would practically use that much just by going to the toilet! He was still getting his tech after all and, so long as it wasn't used to shoot the Captain in the back, he really didn't care who the Grannok or the Zantu Expanse started a war with.

As Ruce approached the two Grannok's, who were an easy seven feet tall, one of them pulled out a datapad from within it's suit and punched in a few commands before the cash was transferred onto the credit chit that the pilot held. Glancing down at the chit and tapped a few button, the balance read 20,000. Glancing over his shoulder, Benner set his eyes on Tes and stared at her for a second before he glanced back at the Grannok and nodded his head.
"Thank yer for choosin' to do business with us. If yer ever need anythin' else, be sure to get in touch. Perhaps next time, don't send us so far across the system if you want us back within the week."
The brown-haired pilot turned about and stomped his way up the cargo ramp to his engineer, who he revealed the credit chit to, displaying their income. He smiled and nodded his head as he tucked the chit into an inside pocket of his leather jacket before patting Tes on both her shoulders, gripping onto her softly and using his thumbs to massage her.
"Payment received. Would yer kindly give the Expanse their delivery now? An' don't frown. Yer get wrinkles an' I ain't havin' wrinkly girls on my ship."
Grinning at her, he removed his hands before she had chance to tear them off his body and he walked past her back inside the cargo hold, where he headed over to the ladder Tes had slid down earlier and climbed up them, disappearing through a bulkhead door and making his way back to the cockpit. Upon reaching there, the Captain grunted at the mess he had left behind from the coolant leak and he grabbed a mop from a nearby cupboard and tied up before his female engineer returned. He then plonked himself back in his chair and waited for Tes to catch up.

There was soft beeping and the gentle whirl of electronics that made up the sounds of the bridge while the ship was not in flight. It was rather relaxing to just sit here in silence and listen to the ambiance. The bridge wasn't that particularly big, but the ship itself wasn't all that massive; a mere speck of dust compared to the size of some of the other crafts out there. Ruce had been behind the helm of ships larger then this one back in his younger flight academy days when he were a pilot of the U.P.M.O.H.A. But those large lumbering ships weren't up to his tastes of style. The smaller fighters such as the frigates, assault ships and destroyers were considerably more fun to fly then the ships the size of entire cities. As such, the bridge of the Valkyrie housed three seats but most of the activity was performed at the pilot's seat. There were the same computer panels and consoles at the co-pilot seat, but Tes was more often then not elsewhere in the ship, fixing something or relaxing when off hours or doing her nails or whatever it is girls did.

Turning his chair around to look out the canopy windows, Ruce glanced down to the systems panel on his left and opened up the camera feed to the cargo hold, flicking through the available camera that were active enough he landed upon the one overlooking the rear cargo ramp. He blinked and leaned in closer to the display as he watched one of the Grannok's slowly making it's way up the ramp towards Tes. Flicking the audio switch on and off didn't make any difference so it was unclear what was between the pair, but whatever Tes had said, it caused the Grannok to turn about and head back down the ramp to the dirt below. Glancing through the rest of the available camera feeds, Ruce noticed the shuttle that the Grannok's and Urin had used to meet up with the Valkyrie.
Huh... Tha' means their ship is in orbit... Wonder if they got their guns pointin' at us? I suppose it'll be hard to land a larger ship in the middle of no where like this. Too much uneven terrain.
Ruce thought to himself as he glanced over to his navigation panel and glanced at what contacts were in the local vicinity. A city was several clicks off to the west and, as predicted, there was a large ship in orbit. Ruce's eyes widen as the standard scan he ran came through.
"Shit on a brick... Tha's the Hundu Zephyr! Wha' the heck's one of the Expanse's most infamous ships doin' 'ere? Wha' else 'ave they got us to smuggle 'ere?"

Approaching footsteps caused the captain to delete the scan results and twirl his chair around, eyes watching his engineer arrive on the bridge. He smiled at her and got up from his seat as he walked over to her, tucking his hand into his jacket pocket to pull out the credit chit. Holding it out for her to take, he nodded his head at her question.
"Everyone's happy. We got paid, the Expanse got wha'ever they wanted an' now we need to get the fuck out of 'ere because the fuckin' Hundu Zephyr is in orbit an' if yer said anythin' tha' might piss the Grannok's off, we can expect a shit ton of firepower to come down on top of out heads within the next thirty seconds."
Ruce span about and dove back into his chair where he span about and activated the main thrusters, causing the engines to power up. A loud rumble shook the ship as Ruce diverted power to the landing thrusters and lifted the old girl up into the air, kicking up a cloud of dirt and dust underneath them. He didn't really care if the Grannok's were blown over from the sudden take off.
"Better hold onto somethin'!"
Bringing up the landing gear, Ruce span the Valkyrie about until she pointed west and put power to the main engine, causing a loud groan to shudder the ship as she blasted off across the arid plains below them. Glancing at his navigation panel, Ruce targeted the nearby city and made his way towards it, keeping the Valkyrie low and flying her fast.

Within a couple minutes, there didn't seem to be any orbital bombardment strikes and the city eventually came into view, causing Benner to cut power to the main engine, switching to impulse thrusters to slow the Valkyrie down and make a less suspicious approach. Peering at his communications panel, he hailed the nearest docking station.
"Moni Vortau City, Dockin' Tower 23-B, this is Captain Ruce Benner of the Valkyrie requestin' dockin' permission."
A snap and a buzz came through the ships speakers before a female voice replied.
Request acknowledged and granted, Captain. Proceed to docking bay 3, pad 2."
As the comms were cut, Ruce sat up and glanced out the main canopy window to watch as the arid plains below them started to sprout more vegetation with trees, shrubs and plants replacing the dry, brown landscape. The city wall was up ahead, keeping all matter of wildlife out. It was tall, an easy 100 meters in height with large automated cannons mounted to guard towers dotting the wall. The city itself was pretty high-tech, a very unlikely target of an orbital strike from the Hundu Zephyr. Tall skyscrapers full of various companies reached several hundred feet into the sky with skybridges connecting them all. Long highways rose high above the buildings below with automobiles hovering along them. The buildings beneath the highways weren't exactly the slums, per say, but they weren't as spectacular as the towering skyscrapers. These 'slums' though were often way more exciting then the posh places. Better food, better drink, better gambling, cheaper girls. These were also where the better workshops and merchants were found. The top end stores that sold only the best, were not what the Valkyrie needed. As such, Docking Tower 23-B was located near these 'slums' sitting beneath the highways.

Pulling the old ship up and over the city wall, Ruce flew the Valkyrie to the docking tower and gently sat her down upon landing pad 2, where the old girl came to a rest and the engines powered down. With a huff escaping the pilot's lips, he turned to his systems panel and glanced through all the modules on the ship.
"Break-collider coolant relay is fucked, engine has overheated due to the coolant leak on the bridge an' the coolant pipes need replacin', shields are down to 50% an' aren't increasin', rear mounted rail cannon has jammed, rear cargo door hydraulics are worn an' need re-pressurizing, the hyperdrive is offline an' apparently there's a hull breach near the back right landin' gear; maybe I hit somethin' when I took off earlier? Hopefully I crushed those Grannok tossers."
The Captain turned his chair about 180 degrees and glanced over towards Tes, shrugging his shoulders at her before pushing himself up to his feet and walking over towards the bulkhead door that led off the bridge.
"Anythin' yer need me to get or yer got all tha' covered?"

As the Captain and his engineer made their way towards the cargo bay, passing through bulkheads and walking down corridors, the scruffy pilot pondered Tes' question about all the secrecy with the Expanse. She made a valid point about why the Grannoks wanted to meet on the surface over having the Valkyrie dock with the Zephyr. There could have been any manner of reasons. Ruce glanced over his shoulder as he passed through a bulkhead, peering at Tes for a moment as he continued to walk down the corridor.
"Who can say? Perhaps the Zephyr already has business 'ere? Maybe they're currently bein' watched by competitors an' they 'appened to 'ave a shuttle with a cloakin' device fitted they could use to slip past the radar and scanners? If they are bein' watched, then why would they let a decommissioned U.P.M.O.H.A Frigate to dock with 'em? I ain't got a clue wha' was in those boxes. The one I opened had farmin' equipment in. We can only 'ope this doesn't come back to bite us in the ass."
Ruce answered the young woman as they entered the cargo bay. As Tes flipped over the railing and slid down the ladder, Benner perched himself against the railings and rest his elbows upon the handrail, loosing himself in his thoughts for a moment as he ran questions through his mind. The voice of his crew member snapped his back to reality though, where he glanced down at her with a subtle bewildered expression.

"Huh? D.T? Err..."
Ruce glanced about the cargo bay slowly and soon peered back down at Tes on the lower floor.
"Yer got three days of D.T, though I may cut it short if anythin' worth our while pops up, so keep ya IMP to hand."
The brown-haired pilot vaulted over the railings and slid down the ladder after Tes where he walked over to the rear cargo bay doors, glancing up at them and squinting at the hydraulics holding them closed. Yeah even he could see from here that they were worn down something fierce. Folding his arms across his chest and tapping the toes of his right foot against the floor a few times, the pilot turned and made his way over towards the small access lift in the corner of the cargo bay. Opening the door and getting inside, he hit the switch and waited as the access lift lowered him down out of the cargo bay and down on the landing pad. Walking underneath the Valkyrie, he had enough height to jump a couple feet into the air before he bonked his head on the underside of the hull, so he could comfortable walk upright without issue. He made his way across to the back right landing gear and looked up to see that there was indeed a breach there, about 2 feet across. Shouldn't take too much effort to fix. Flexing his knees, he jumped up and grabbed on the edge of the breach, where he pulled himself up and glanced around inside.
I wonder wha' caused this? Hm, just need some replacement armoured hull an' we'll be golden.

Dropping back down and dusting his hands off, the Captain turned about and walked over towards the customs office, leaving the Valkyrie behind. She'd be safe docked in a tower. Passing through customs and security without issue, the scruffy pilot took a turbolift down to the surface and watched through the perspex glass as other ships and speeders zipped through the sky, carrying cargo and passengers to wherever their destinations took them. It made the young man smile. The sights and sounds of a city like Moni Vortau were almost as incredible as the sounds the Valkyrie made.
I got three days to fix the Valkyrie. Wha' I need to do right now, is have a drink.
As the turbolift reached the surface, the pilot stepped out and took in a nice deep breath of the air here. Oh it was glorious. There was the smell of fresh cooked food! None of this rubbish processed crap that came in pills or tablet form, the whole 'everything you need in a pill' bullshit. No, this was proper food! A well cooked steak or a nice greasy burger and fries! Peering off to his right, the huge city was could be seen towering up into the sky. It must have been nice to the city folk, growing up and living within that thing, keeping all the nasty creatures and wildlife out. To Ruce, it felt like the iron bars of a prison, and believe him, he'd been on the wrong side of those a few times. Making his way past aliens of all kinds of races and species, Benner came across a tavern and he stepped inside.


It was nice inside, with wooden decking covering the floor and chairs and tables made from wood also. The bar was made from matching materials, behind which a green-skinned alien with black bulging eyes served drinks, some frothing and others with creatures squirming about inside. The large room was set up in three layers. The entrance was on the lowest floor with a set of stairs leading up to the main drinking area, with a third higher level having windows, allowing one to look out across a large square where various merchants had peddler stalls and children could be seen playing in the streets. Hopping up the stairs to the bar, Ruce plonked himself down on a stool and peered at the drinks on the shelve behind the green skinned alien.
"Fem omleng lolennhil sve."
Ruce scratched his chin, which reminded him about needing to shave at some point, but he quickly focused back on the alien before pointing at a bottle of deep red liquid.
"I'll 'ave a glass of tha'."
"Ul gjagter."
"Yes I'm sure. I know wha' it is."
As the alien turned about to prepare the drink, the scruffy pilot pulled his datapad out of his jacket pocket and synced into the local transmission frequency to check up on news and announcements. Interestingly enough, there was an article about the Hundu Zephyr being here for some kinda of parade. Seemed the Zantu Expande were recruiting and they had come to this system with one of their prized and most famous ships to aid in their recruitment process. As the green alien gently placed the Captain's drink down before him, the pilot glanced at the alien and waved a hand to get it's attention.
"Yer know if the Expanse 'ave had any luck recruitin' 'ere?"
"Manlurtle jådalismatnugral ulkat si tylltrorsilmarmarne jervnolstedmegtsin vøkttolvaeg."
"Really? How interestin'... Thank yer."

The brown-haired pilot began tapping away at his datapad and soon enough, he had finished writing up his own little recruitment article. His and Tes' little run-in with the Grannok's earlier and got the Captain wondering, and perhaps it was about time to get a few new hands on board the Valkyrie. He had a bad feeling in his gut that this wasn't the last time they'd be seeing the Grannok's or the Expanse or the Zephyr.

With a smug look spread across his face, the pilot plonked his datapad down onto the bartop and he took hold of his drink, taking a hearty swig with knocked him back off his stool and flat onto his back on the floor with a hefty thud.
"Phsssshaaaa!!! Oooooh!! Tha's some good shit!!!"

"So how was the job?" a confident female voice asked from the small communicator in the blond's ear. It was his wife Alexia, the most beautiful and possibly most powerful fighter in the galaxy. In his opinion, at least. Thankfully despite their differing lines of work they got to spend several days of the week together, though he labeled himself a mercenary he was probably more accurately described as an assassin. Tracking down to retrieve payment or kill if necessary, sabotage a corrupt government's equipment, breaking innocents out of jail, and the like. Rarely did he actually take part in actual warfare, it took a lot to convince him to invest in such a cause and even then he'd stand on moral ground which eliminated a lot of his potential customers that way. Though the jobs were often tough, they paid well at least which gave him the opportunity to pick and choose both his jobs and schedule. Came with the territory when you were good at your job.

"Not bad, nothing I couldn't handle," Sky answered quietly with a shrug before taking the last sip of his drink and set the glass on his table. All he had to do this time was rescue a princess from an oppressive military's flagship, nothing his stealth tech couldn't handle.

"I'm glad," she said with a smile, twirling her hair around a finger as she looked over the city from their balcony back on Arccus. He could hear the sound of the metropolis on the other side, along with the sweet songs of the birds that perched on their roof. "Nothing to report here really, no one dares cause trouble here anymore. So boring,"

"Well if you didn't beat a whole gang on your own," he chuckled, shaking his head as he picked up his glass and headed back towards the bartop. Seriously, if an unarmed martial artist was able to take down an entire gang on their own for fun would you try to break through that person's security especially when they were armed? As he reached the bartop and slid the glass towards the bartender, his eyes fell upon a familiar figure as said person fell off their chair. "...Uh oh.."

"What is it?" Alexia asked, a tinge of worry in her voice. Sky just chuckled, knowing that her worry was justified but in this case unnecessary. He knew why she worried, he was in a hostile bar after all, but there was no case for concern with the buffoon he was about to talk to.

"I see trouble," he told her. After a few seconds of silence it finally clicked for her, and she laughed.

"Oh it's your boyfriend then?" she teased, "Say hi for me, you know how upset he'd be if he found out you didn't talk to him when you were there. I love you,"

"I know," he couldn't help but smile at her joke. She was too cute. "I love you too,"

After pressing the button on his communicator to silence it, he made his way towards the captain before squatting over him with a small smirk on his face. Familiar as the scene was, at least Ruce wasn't getting his butt kicked this time.

"You know we have to stop meeting like this, people are going to start saying things," he teased, and almost right on cue someone in the background shouted "GAY!" though the blond ignored it. He was confident enough in his sexuality to joke around like this, even if it made his friend want to deck him in the face. Not that he wasn't prepared for it anyway. "...And you do realize that you don't always have to get on your back for me right? I like the bottom too."

There seemed to be funny little stars and flashing lights dancing before the pilot's eyes as he stared at the tavern ceiling while laying on his back. It was only after he blinked his eyes a couple of times did they go away. He swallowed and coughed a couple of times. There was a sweet yet spicy taste on his tongue and he could still feel the heat of the beverage he drank warming his throat and stomach. He had known that something like this would happen as soon as he took a drink, but it only knocked him on his ass because of how distracted he was with posting his recruitment notice on the local network frequencies. There was chatter coming from the bar, a couple of humans glancing over at the Captain as he remained laying on the floor for a little longer. There's words were whispered and hushed though so it wasn't clear what they were saying, but it would most likely have been along the lines of how 'he couldn't take their drink'. Ruce didn't care what they said. He could handle his drinks... usually. The more Earthen drinks anyway. These alien 'drinks' could have come from anywhere.

The Captain shuddered at the thought and was about to start hauling himself back up to his feet when a shadow was cast over him. Someone was leaning over him and looking down and the scruffy pilot didn't need to see their face to know who it was from the tone of their voice.
"Oh this is all I fuckin' need..."
Benner rolled onto his right hand side and flopped over onto his stomach, where he frowned heavily at the young man's next set of words, where upon Ruce pushed himself up onto his feet and stuck a pointing finger in Sky's face.
"Har har, Sky's got his sense of humour out today! Oh we're all in fuckin' trouble now!"
The young brown-haired pilot took his brown leather jacket off and slung it over the stool he was sitting on, revealing the tight fitting long sleeved black shirt he wore. Rolling up his sleeves, you'd see from the pilot's arms that he had some muscle on him. Not a body-building beefcake by any means, for his arms were slender but toned. After dusting himself off, mainly the backs of his legs and butt, Ruce frowned back at Sky and returned the same pointed finger back into his face, almost growling as he spoke.
"Yer don't 'ave to brag to me about 'ow much yer like bein' on bottom. I've seen those videos y'know, an' I know Alexia is the man in yer relationship."
A buzz from the bartop caught the pilot's attention and he glanced over his shoulder to see his datapad had received a message, but he turned back to the man before him for the time being, placing his hands on his hips and looking Sky up and down carefully.

"Huh, yer grown taller. Anyway, wha' brings a no good, backwater, menopause sell-sword like yer to Moni Vortau? Isn't this place too clean an' posh for yer? Oh wait, yer 'eard I was stoppin' buy an' yer came to see yer ol' buddy? Aww, tha's sweet. Alexia would be so proud to 'ear her baby boy is finally startin' to interact with people, without cuttin' 'em in half for once."
Ruce chuckled heartily and slapped Sky hard on his upper right arm, as was his usual way of greeting the mercenary. Turning about and sitting on top his jacket, the pilot picked up his datapad and glanced at the message he received, oddly enough from Tes. He grinned at her words and tossed the datapad back onto the bar top, picking up his glass and this time, taking a more careful sip of the deep red liquor, feeling it heat him up nicely as it slid down. Ruce inhaled through clenched teeth, making a hissing sound as he felt the effect of the beverage wash over him before fading away. Turning to Sky, the Captain brought his hand up and offered the mercenary a taste.
"Try this yer lethargic, pessimistic bastard. It'll put some hair on yer chest. Maybe on yer eyeballs too!"
The scruffy pilot swizzled his stool back around so he were facing the bar again and he dragged his datapad closer to him. Logging into the city's local merchandise network, Ruce browsed some of the shops in the local area, mostly ship outfitting and and equipment stalls. The sooner he got the order of some new armoured hull plates out the way, the sooner he could get back to his drink and his surprise guest.

"Hey Sky, 'ow long yer been workin' in the mercenary business now?"
The Captain asked genuinely as he glanced over a ship outfitting store, mostly selling munitions and other weapon modules. There wasn't anything too particularly fancy; mostly autocannons, missile launches and mining lasers and even then these weren't high end. Grade 2 at best, maybe 3 if you were really lucky.
There are some forward facin' weapon mounts on the Valkyrie... I wonder if whatever is housed their is as broken as the rear railgun? After the run in with the Expanse earlier... I got this gut feelin' tha' the Valkyrie is gonna need some workin', reliable firepower...
Putting that thought on hold, Benner decided it'll be better to get the hull patched up first, then he could think more about getting some weapons. As he continued to browse the shops on his handheld datapad, the Captain glanced back over to Sky and frowned at him, turning his head his way a moment later.
"Yer up to date with all the bigger corporations, right? Wha's the true reason behind the Zantu Expanse brinin' the Hundu Zephyr all the way out 'ere? I highly doubt they're 'ere just to recruit new employees."

Before Ruce even saw the blond he already recognized him, and Sky chuckled at his reactions. He was still the foul mouthed angry pilot he remembered, that much was for sure. When the man pointed the mercenary just cocked an eyebrow at him and crossed his arms as he watched his old friend get up and dust himself off. Man was taking care of himself at least, that much he was sure of. When he finally got to retorting and mentioned supposed videos he's seen, Sky just shook his head. Ruce really could work a little on his come backs.

"Please, your ship isn't worth half as much as you'd need to see one of the videos. Besides, with her you'd let control be taken from you too," he retorted, fighting to keep a straight face and neutral tone despite wanting to laugh at the antics. Apparently he got a message, but it wasn't important enough to interrupt their reunion. Outwardly his reaction to the continued "verbal assault" was just closing his eyes and visibly shrugging so even the armor moved from the exaggerated movement. This is how they usually talked, others might fight it strange but they enjoyed picking on and fighting with each other like this. Was fun.

"Same thing bringing a cranky old man like you out of his flying nursing home, payment for work I suppose," he answered, then opened his eyes to smirk at the pilot. It was part true at least, one of the reasons he was here was to get paid for the last job he had from a couple whose child captured by a bunch of pirates wanting a ransom. Mission was easy enough, the stealth technology of his ship let him reach his target and infiltrate before they even knew what was going on, and the pirates didn't put up much of a fight. They were all dead now, so at least the galaxy was a little safer for the time being. There was another reason but... He had another comment to retort to. "You know as well as I do if you found out I was here and didn't smack you around I'd never hear the end of it."

The smack on his shoulder earned Ruce one of his own, before Sky took a seat beside his old friend and popped his neck to the left then right. He didn't think anything of the pad, was probably just a way to communicate with his one woman crew and get information for whatever jobs were available. He was a smuggler after all, needed to constantly look for work to make sure he'd have money in the bank. The blond didn't have enough time to order a drink though before the coot took another sip of his drink and offered him some. Eyeing the red liquid, it reminded him of the drink Alexia kept around the house but wasn't quite as crimson in color. Sure, why not what could it hurt? Sky doubted it'd be much stronger than that. The sip earned a shiver from Sky, and a small shake of his head. Was about the same, but damn was he right about it. This is why he didn't drink so much, not because he lacked a tolerance but the taste of strong alcohol just wasn't his cup of tea. His wife could deal with that, he'd have the more "girly" drinks when given the choice. Just not now though, Ruce would have a field day with that knowledge.

"Just a few years, mainly for something to do and to put money aside. Alexia makes enough for the both of us, being captain of the guard, but I'm not exactly the type to relax in luxury," he said quietly, then held up a few fingers to signal to the barkeep he wanted a shot of the same. That way it wasn't a lot of it, but he wasn't just awkwardly sitting there without something in his hand. When it came he took a sip, shiver included, waiting for whatever was going to come out of the captain's mouth after he finished browsing through whatever. His own eyes wandered across the bar, looking for any sign of the target he was looking for on his own, but they quietly settled back on Ruce when his next question came. They then fell to the bar with a sigh, and he took another sip. Well, sooner or later they were going to get tangled in similar situations he guessed, might as well tell him what he knew.

"Their usual M.O., selling to terrorists and dictators. Need to prove they're worth a damn, that kind of pay requires suiting up if you will," he finished, closing his eyes. The man he was looking for was known for his contact with them, using their weapons to help equip his military conquests and expand his empire. Sky's home planet had been a target before, where the man showed he'd rather just destroy a planet then lose a battle to conquer it. That's why he'd been taking jobs here instead of closer to home, to make sure he would he around the next time they met up. He'd also purposely chosen this day to collect payment, the arrival of the Hundu Zephyr was sure to mean that his target was going to be here today... And then he could finally extract his revenge.

The light banter within the tavern had returned to normal after it came clear that the pilot and the mercenary weren't about to start a fight with each other. It was nothing like being in a tavern or a pub or anywhere with just a bunch of humans. There were all kinds of different languages being spoke, some whistles, others clicks and snaps and other just plain nonsense. To think that there was such a wide variety of languages spoken just on Earth, but as soon as the first spacecraft capable of light speed was created, the language scale exploded outwards. It was always fun trying to learn a new language too, though Ruce was more capable of understanding the alien languages over actually speaking them. He didn't have enough mouths or tentacles or vibrating pouches or tongues or whatever else was required to speak half of them. 'English' as it was known on Earth had been converted to Galactic Standard and nearly all races and spices were able to understand it. The scruffy pilot tilted his head as he wondered how many other languages were out there. He doubted that the whole of the Milky Way galaxy had been explored yet. It was a pretty damn big place.

"I'll 'ave yer know yer belligerent, dysfunctional space slug, tha' the Valkyrie is fuckin' PRICELESS! Yer 'ear me?! PRICELESS!! I'd never trade her in for anythin', not even if Alexia herself shot yer ass out an airlock an' begged me for my 'and in marriage. I'd just as quickly shoot her out the airlock as she did you, over givin' up the Valkyire! Sure, she might not be the next Zephyr, but yer won't find a faster ship with a more dedicated crew!!"
Astonishingly, Ruce didn't get up from his seat as he shot back at Sky for talking about his ship. She really was very special to him and that made him think a little about the way Tes hammered at him earlier for punching through the atmosphere of this planet the way he did upon arrival. She was old and wan't even being manufactured anymore. Once she was destroyed, that was it. She'd be gone forever. Tes really did love that ship as well, mostly because she was the one who managed to keep her space worthy. Ruce grinned inwardly as he could picture the blue-haired woman telling the ship 'she was home' and asking 'did you miss me?' right about now. Sky's next sentence about payment made the pilot glance over to his old friend and he raised an eyebrow at him.
"Payment huh? I wonder wha' poor fool met their end this time? Pirate leader? A corrupt businessman? An entire bandit gang?"
Ruce chuckled and then sighed, shaking his head from side to side a couple of times as he peered down at his drink, taking hold of the glass in his right hand and swirling the red liquor within a few times.
"Guess my line of work isn't tha' much better. While I ain't personally pullin' the trigger, sometimes I know I'm deliverin' somethin' to someone who will pull the trigger."
Ruce slapped the bartop with his left hand though and brought his drink up to his lips, downing the rest of the liquor which caused him to pull a face and let a gasp out of his mouth.
"Ah well, c'est la vie."

As the pilot's datapad lit up once more, another message off Tes, the brown-haired Captain picked up the device and looked her words over, rolling his eyes at her message.
"Tha' woman, doesn't know 'ow to 'ave any fun. It's always work-work-work. Okay, sure, so I broke the ship a little gettin' to an' from our meetin' with the Expanse, an' I'm aware of this, but she doesn't 'ave to act like my fuckin' mother about it all the time."
Ruce glanced at Sky and smirked.
"I suppose Alexia is much the same; 'Oh Sky, wash yer 'ands after slittin' those pirates throats! Oh an' don't forget to bring some eggs home! I'm bakin' a cake!' Bahaha!!"
The scruffy pilot laughed at his own impression of Alexia and he patted Sky on the shoulder a couple of times. It was all fun and games. Sky knew he'd never deliberately go out of his way to offend him or his wife, but Ruce glanced at his friend and grinned.
"How is Alexia anyway? Hope she's doin' well. Say 'hi' to her for me. You know how cranky she gets when I can't stop by and give her a nice big hug."
The Captain of the Valkyrie went back to his datapad and continued to browse through some shops, finally stumbling across a place that stocked shield generators and armoured hull. Tapping on his pad a few times, he navigated his way to the hull section of the store and browsed what was in stock.
Hmm... How thick is the Valkryie's armour? 100mm, 150mm or 200mm? Anythin' thicker then tha' is for Destroyers and bigger...
Ruce closed his eyes and recalled the time he jumped up to inspect the breached hull a while back, seeing the image in his mind.
Yeah, tha's 150mm. Okay cool... now wha' type of armour? Reinforced steel, reinforced rolled tungsten, or reinforced titanium? The tungsten is the most expensive... 6000 credits. Steel is only 1500...

"Yer never were the settlin' down type, Sky. Yer always gotta be doin' somethin'. I'm honestly surprised you got married in the first place."
The Captain replied to his friend, though keeping his eyes on his datapad and continuing to tap around and browse the stocks of the shops. He was fully listening to his comrade though, despite not looking at him. Ruce did glance up though and frowned at the young man beside him though, wondering to himself why he did keep doing this mercenary work. Was he trying to prove something? Was he trying to get stronger? Did he have a purpose or did he just enjoy the slaughter? Well so long as no one stuck a bounty on Ruce's head that was tasty enough to entice Sky to come after him. He didn't mind kicking Sky's ass and showing him who's boss, but he hoped it didn't come down to that. They were friends after all. The pilot shook his head from side to side and laughed at Sky's comment about the Zantu Expanse.
"Tha's common fuckin' knowledge Sky. EVERY big corporation are sellin' weapons an' supplies to most known terrorist groups. Even Alexia does I bet. Yer allies are terrorists to yer enemies. Allies of the U.P.M.O.H.A will be terrorists to the Zantu Expanse an' the other corporations an' factions across the galaxy. There's nothin' anyone can do about tha'."
Ruce looked back down to his datapad and finally got around to purchasing a shipment of 150mm Reinforced Titanium armoured hull. When asked for a delivery point, the Captain input the docking tower in which the Valkyrie was landed at. Being given a delivery time of a couple hours, the Captain nodded to himself and finally felt like he could relax a little.

Rolling his eyes at the rant about the supposed pricelessness of the Valkyrie, though it was more just to tease and mock the pilot than it was a lack of understanding. He felt very much the same about his own ship, the Royale, named after Alexia's father for his part in the attempt to save the blond's home world. From a financial stand point Sky would likely get a lot more for his ship than Ruce would, but there were far more expensive ships out there and he wouldn't trade it for anything. The basic outline of the starship he'd taken from the designs of an ancient aircraft from Earth, it was even the same size at a mere 23.74 meters in length. Outside of its cockpit was a hallway that led to the huge engines that consumed most of the mass and volume of the ship. It was defenseless outside of its shields and cloaking devices, with minimal shielding and no weapons to speak of. This was done to favor stealth and speed over the ability to participate in combat, Sky preferred to handle that on his own on a more personal level. Might not be the best there was, but he prized it more than anything second only to Alexia and Ruce.

"Uh huh, soon as it breaks the record make sure to sign a copy of the book for me," Sky ordered, then glanced to him again. He was right on the money with his prediction, heh he knew the mercenary far too well. The blond then nodded at the next comment, taking another sip of his drink. Didn't matter where in the line you were, the one ordering receiving or committing the job, everyone was involved in the business of death one way or another. Even ordinary citizens were, targets of the oppressors and guarded by the protectors. Unfortunately the galaxy was far from perfect, and the only power that it would take to make it so would ultimately corrupt those involved and lead to the cycle starting all over again. Life was selfish, there was no getting around that. Everything done by anyone was to benefit themselves in some way, hell even so called heroes only followed through with their work because it made them feel good to do it. Pessimistic a view of things that this was, it was the truth.

The blond's daze was broken by Ruce's complaining, snapping him out of his thoughts and back into reality. Apparently Tes was ragging on him through their communicator for taking so long, no doubt he was here instead of shopping for what they needed like he usually was. The two of them acted like an old married couple, constantly getting onto one another about things. Come to think of it, he had the same relationship with the captain, and the thought made him chuckle while shaking his head. In a way Sky was thankful not to have that kind of relationship with his wife, sure they teased each other a lot and she got what she wanted but he was happy to give it to her. Neither of them truly ordered the other around, they were equals through and through and from his experience that kind of thing was rare.

"Not really, she calls the shots most times but usually it's for things she wants specifically from me. You know her, has to do everything herself," he admitted, smirking back at Ruce with a cocked eyebrow. "Why don't you ask her yourself? The longer you take to speak to her again the more bruises you're gonna have when you finally do see her."

It was only a half truth, they both knew how busy Ruce was and understood the gaps in communication were necessary in order for him to make a living. Not everyone was as lucky as the two of them after all. Truth was though she'd give him an earful it'd be all in good fun like their conversation here, though she'd make sure to hug him tighter than he did her while spinning in a circle to further humiliate his masculinity. Not maliciously of course, but still you really had to have confidence in yourself while dealing with a dominant woman like her. Speaking of which, she was going to beat him once she figured out what he was really here for. Alexia wanted a piece of the emperor too, and there was no doubt in his mind that no matter the outcome of the altercation he wasn't going to come out of it unscathed. Still, he'd rather put himself in danger than let her anywhere near it. Sky was a protector at heart after all, and just as self reliant as she was. If he could handle something alone he'd do it over the safer route of working on a team, if only to make sure that they wouldn't endure the suffering he'd put himself through to get it done.

Again it took the captain to snap Sky out of his thoughts. He really needed to stop getting lost in them, it was just letting the emperor get in his head instead of taking charge of the situation himself. It took a few seconds for him to register just what it was that Ruce had said, then he scratched the back of his head. The marriage was kind of sudden come to think of it, but he knew he loved her so why would he delay it if it's what she wanted? It wasn't like he had eyes out for anyone else, he wasn't exactly the flirtatious type when it came to people he didn't know or care about. He probably wouldn't have been looking for someone at all even if she didn't come into his life, it was her forwardness and their working together in training that drew them closer. Sky still didn't know what she ever saw in him, he wasn't the best in class or the brightest. Hell he was surprised that things even panned out and he'd gotten into that school, much less completed it, his track record for things going right hadn't exactly been the best. Whatever it was didn't matter though, so long as she loved him and he loved her the whys didn't exactly matter so long as the feelings were true.

"You don't exactly say no to someone like her," Sky answered, taking note of the frown that came from his friend. What was wrong, did he worry about something? Sure the blond was a mercenary, but due to his situation he could cherry pick which jobs he took or left behind. Truth was, if anyone put a price on Ruce or Alexia's head they'd be the one whose skull he'd claim free of charge. No one could ever offer enough, to him the two of them were what were truly priceless in the universe. Even if it cost him his ship to protect them, so be it he could always get another one built. It was a material thing, but them... Once a life was lost, it was gone forever. Besides having something to do and trying to do what was right to make a small difference, his main goal was to become strong enough to kill that damn emperor. Anyway it was best not to bring it up, didn't want to bring up any unnecessary questions or seem like he was trying to cover anything up. When Ruce laughed, Sky finished his shot then set down the glass to shudder then cock an eyebrow at him.

"You're the one that asked. Alexia's just a guard but... Yeah, you're right. One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist. We live in a galaxy of gray, very rarely are things black and white,"

The Captain of the Valkyrie glanced at his empty drinking glass and wrinkled his nose at the thought of ordering another one. Whatever what stuff was, it was pretty potent and if the pilot wanted to do some work on the Valkyrie later today, he'd need to stay sober. He broke the ship enough as it is getting through atmosphere and leaving the meeting with the Expanse so he'd not want to bodge a hull repair and end up turning the Valkyrie into a vacuum when in outer space. Tes wouldn't ever forgive him for that. Still, the thought of what happened with the Expanse earlier today continued to leave a sour taste in the pilot's mouth... Unless that was an aftereffect of the alcohol he just drank? Either way, now that the hull had been paid for, it might not be a bad shout getting some weapons on the old girl. The young man lazily slapped a hand onto his datapad and dragged the metallic object across the wooden bar top, causing a scratching sound to come from the device as it moved. Nagivating his tabs to find his credit balance, the Captain frowned in depression as he noticed the lowly figure of 12,000 credits of his own personal funds remaining.
Shit... Okay we need to find some more work an' sharpish... it wouldn't 'ave been so bad to 'ave 20k in hand without needin' to spend the lot on repairs... Well, I ain't spent any of it. I gave the lot to Tes.
The brown-haired pilot grumbled something under his breath as he tucked a hand into one of his cargo pant pockets and pulled out a small holo communicator, which he placed besides the datapad and watched as holographic 'wires' and 'connections' spread between the two devices, syncing them together.

"No one says no to Alexia because no one has the balls to do so. I'd tell her 'no' an' to sod off if she asked somethin' ridiculous of me. Mind yer, I think she knows my limits an' wha' I'm capable of, so she'd know where to draw the line. Maybe. Doesn't matter. Ruce Benner is his own master an' he carves his own path!"
He said proudly towards the end, sitting up straight and sticking out his chest, trying to look intimidating. He exhaled with a sigh and slumped back down over his datapad and holo communicator. Tapping a few buttons, a holographic image of the Valkyrie appeared hovering over the communicator, slowly rotating. She looked in much better shape here then she did in real life. Probably because the holographic image was transparent with blue lines, not solid and rusty and dirty. Bringing his right hand up, the Captain 'gripped' the Valkyrie and span her around so she was facing the pilot, where he leaned in closer and glanced at the weapon hard points located either side of the bridge canopy.
"Huh? This old girl supports Grade 3 weapons? Who'd have thought a tiny ship like her could pack such firepower!"
Ruce span the ship around again to see her rear and squinted at the railgun on her tail. Selecting it, the information given proved next to useless. The thing was broken and probably rusted in place, but Tes said she was going to get it fixed and having a Grade 3 Railgun on a ship like this would cause devastating damage... if it were working. Therefore, the Captain left it alone and went back to examining the front hard points.
"Back in the U.P.M.O.H.A Academy, we used to use lasers when we went on combat missions. Ate through shields like a plasma cutter through flesh, but they drain a heck of a lot of system power an' did fuck all damage to hull an' armour plating, especially on the larger ships."
Glancing at his datapad and selecting a weapon specialist store, the pilot dragged a 400mm Tri-barrel Repeating Carbine Autocannon onto the Valkyrie and watched as the holographic image gained a pair of large miniguns on the front. Ruce glanced at Sky and smirked confidently at him.
"I always preferred ballistic weapons; they used little systems power to fire and could chew through armour without any trouble, even shields with the right ammunition. They also don't have limited range like lasers. Also, THESE bad boys, 400mm!! They'd cause damage even to the Zephyr if we caught her with her shields down!"

The brown-haired pilot then frowned and placed his left elbow onto the bartop, resting his chin in his hand as he drummed the fingers of his right hand against the wooden bar surface. He wondered what Tes would think if he put weapons onto their home. Would it make them a bigger target? Did she feel the same way as he did where, after their dodgy meeting with the Expanse, that some defenses were required? They did have the rear-mounted railgun, but the only trouble with that was they'd need the enemy to be behind them in order to fire it, and if the enemy was behind them, you could bet your ass that they'd have their weapons locked onto you, and Ruce didn't like that idea what-so-ever. There was something else bothering the pilot, and it seemed to be coming from within the tavern itself. There seemed to be a pair of eyes on the Captain and that they had been for some time now. Before he got distracted with this though, Ruce made a decision to purchase a pair of 400mm Tri-barrel Repeating Carbine Autocannons and have them deliver to the loading bay the Valkyrie was in. She was his ship at the end of the day and he didn't want to risk getting into an encounter with the Expanse and not have any claws to fight back with. He'd deal with Tes later on if she had problems. It would be 8,000 credits well spent, just you wait and see!
"Sky..."
Ruce leaned into the mercenary ever so slightly and lowered his voice a fraction.
"In the far corner, 4 o'clock from us, I feel a pair of eyes on us. Can you see anything?"

She made her way back along the gantry surrounding the cargo bay and ducked right and immediately left to be lead around and down a set of steps, through the engine room bulkhead. She placed her palm against the wall as she walked, smiling inwardly. Setting the carry case with the remaining parts inside, down on the floor, she stood in front of the Valkyrie’s Supercollider Engine. The engine was a cylindrical with various outcroppings of wires and metal housing, not exactly attractive or complex, by the standards of today’s tech, but it was solid and reliable and fast. With Ruce at the helm and Tes in the engine room, they could make her sing.

“Alright then…” Tes began, folding her arms. “You know there’s only one way to do this.” She continued, reaching down into the case and pulling out one of the new fuse clusters. “It’s no good having you lying back and passive with this. I need to get your blood up before I replace this or you’ll have a tantrum and blow it out again as soon as we ask you do anything.” She made her way over to a small access panel to the left of the engine and flipped open the metal casing. “And we very literally cannot afford to have you do that.” Inside the casing was an array of buttons and dials that were the manual override controls for the engine. It was mainly used for repairs and diagnostics, but in a pinch, the engine could be controlled from there.

“So, you need to promise me that, whilst I’m down there, you’re not going to do anything silly…like kill me. Okay?” She said, turning a couple of dials before pausing. “I’ll take that as a ‘sure thing, Tes’.” Tes hit a combination of buttons on the touchpad and quickly shuffled onto her back and slid underneath the brake servo, where she had found the damaged cluster in the first place. She heard the engine coming out of idle. She needed enough power going through the engine to simulate entering atmosphere without the emergency braking system kicking in or the engine doing something daft like propelling the ship in any direction. She needed enough power behind the collider-brake relay to fool the system into thinking it may be needed any minute. Only then could she replace the fuse cluster without the risk of it blowing at a rather more inopportune moment…like when they needed it. There was a risk to this strategy though. Namely, that the power could be too high or for too long and the cluster could blow there and then meaning they’d be down a fuse cluster again and Tes would have to start all over again.

“Okay, old girl, play nice.” She whispered as the engine powered up more. There was a very small window in which she needed to work and it was nearly there. She listened carefully to the noise of the engine, hand poised with the new fuse cluster lined up next to opening left by the old one. She heard the peak and slotted it in. It was in place less than a second before a warning alarm sounded and the fuse cluster exploded inches from her face.

“Fuck!” She screamed as shrapnel hit the side of her face. Quickly rolling out from underneath the engine block, she rolled away and towards the access module. Hitting the emergency override, she slumped down against the wall. The engine powered down and she held her hand up to her face. As she pulled it away, scarlet leaked between her fingers. Thankfully, she saw it clearly so she knew the plastic flak had missed her eye. Pulling the pieces of high-tensile plastic out of the soft parts of her face, she threw them away. “What the fuck was that about?!” She spat, glowering at the engine and around the engine room. She wiped her hand across her face again before returning to the module, resetting it and sliding back underneath the relay.

This time, she got it right. The engine powered up, she waited for the peak and slid the fuse cluster into position where it held. The relay activated and the engine returned to idle. She stood back up and retrieved the carry case from the floor.

“I had some presents for you too, but you don’t deserve them right now.” She said, wiping her face again and heading out of the engine room. She made her way to her quarters and into her washroom. Looking in the mirror she sighed. As she washed her face, she saw that the damage wasn’t as bad as it looked but she was still bleeding. A couple of pieces of the shattered fuse cluster were still lodged in her cheek. Wincing, she pulled them out and dropped them in the sink. Picking up a towel, she held it to her face and walked back out to the cargo bay. Sitting on the gantry, she hung her legs over the side and sighed. There’s got to be another way of doing that…

She let her thoughts wander.

"I'll be sure to remember that next time she sees you, let you back up your bravado with some action," Sky told the pilot about his claim of having the balls to tell Alexia know. He didn't know what the question would be, but the blond was sure that he and his wife could come up with something for her to smack him upside the head with. His whole intimidating show was wasted on his friend, who knew better than to worry about him. With his focus on the empty glass in front of him, he was just thinking about what was going to happen and let his eyes scan the bar again. For the most part it looked normal, outside of a handful of mercenaries (which would be expected anyway) no one seemed particularly interested in anyone else or even dangerous. Just here to relax before or after work, going about their routines. One of the mercenaries though seemed to have his eyes towards them, specifically at Ruce, and Sky left a mental note about him before turning his gaze back towards the pilot when he started speaking aloud about his ship. Nothing Sky didn't already know about its capable firepower, but when he started speaking about the academy the blond nodded. There was give and take for everything on your ships, from weight to the advantages and disadvantages of different types of equipment. Not everyone knew the nuances of them like Ruce did though, he had to give him that. He really was proud of his ship too, and loved space weapons in a way Sky never could, he really only wanted to do it face to face. Not that it wasn't practical to invest in them though.

"Maybe I'll finally put weapons on the Royale sometime, if I can find any that won't take away from its' cloaks and stealth capabilities," he thought aloud, then left Ruce to his thinking and pad as his own eyes scanned the bar again. He wasn't particularly paranoid that the emperor would send someone after him, since he'd rather deal with Sky himself, but he was hoping to see someone from the empire arrive to show that indeed the scum himself had arrived. It was a waiting game though, one which probably wouldn't be over until after he walked his friend back to his ship. Maybe he'd say hi to Tes if she was willing, but otherwise he wasn't going to worry about it too much. Just wanted to spend time with Ruce while he could, and provide extra firepower should anyone try to give the captain any trouble. Speaking of which, Ruce asked him under his breath about one of the mercenaries Sky had noticed, and while keeping his voice low he answered in a whisper out of one side of his mouth so that his lips couldn't be read.

"Just a mercenary, a little chubby and not known to have much skill in physical combat or shooting, he prefers to work with things such as poisons or gases,"