Captain Maria Thorne

---

"I need to go... do something," Maria informed the android before taking her leave as well. Neither of their newcomers seemed to be in any condition to be causing trouble, so Maria figured leaving them unsupervised for a little bit would be fine. Or at least she hoped it would be. The captain jogged her way up the stairs and to the catwalk, trying to decide what she needed to check on first and making a mental to-do list as she passed by the different rooms on the ship.

She needed to find out where the Judge had put their prisoners. It hadn't really been discussed in the moment, nor had she had the time to talk to him since, but she'd need to talk to those guys at some point. If by talk you meant beating them to within an inch of their life. The rest of the ship also needed to be looked over by an actual person; you never knew when a sensor would malfunction and not pick up on some damage somewhere. The whole ship was so damaged Maria was fairly certain they'd never get her completely fixed again. Though she wasn't doing that well to begin with, so it wasn't really that surprising that she needed some TLC. The crew would be in desperate need of a break too. They needed to get to the Glao dock, get the ship repaired, and give the crew a few days to recover. Oh, that was a load of credits that Maria did not want to see go, but she'd put it off as long as she could. It'd been months, if not over a year since the crew had rested properly or the Veritas had been in good working order, and it was definitely costing them. Maria was even thinking about perhaps trying to throw at least a small bonus into their paychecks if she could. Ansgar could get some new tools, Kai some herbs (though Maria wasn't convinced as to the legality of his wares), Andrea could buy some more figurines, and Kev-

Oh. Andrea.

Maria had momentarily forgotten the other tragic loss that day in amongst all of the other chaos. Andrea's body probably still hadn't even been collected. What was left of it, anyway. Heaving a large sigh, Maria gathered up her strength to continue on the catwalk to the now sealed off bridge. The alarms for a hull breach had stopped, meaning the blast shield had engaged and it was at least safe to enter, but the captain still hesitated before manually unlocking the hatch to the ship's bridge. She didn't want to see the charred remains of someone she lived and worked with. Unfortunately, this was also a part of the job she signed up for, and it was better that she have to do it than anyone else.

Inside there lay the motionless, battered body of their pilot. It thankfully wasn't charred as she'd expected, but it was still unnerving to see someone she knew gazing lifeless into the void, and Maria took a moment to close the young woman's eyes before lifting it up and beginning to carry it to Kai's infirmary. She didn't bother the doctor as she entered. He was busily tending to Teg, and he looked as exhausted as she felt. Andrea was lost to them now; there was no rush. She sat the body in the corner relatively out of the way, then covered it with a sheet to give Andrea some sort of dignity. Not that it mattered, but it made Maria feel better.

"How're they doing, doc?" She asked, referring of course to Teg and her first mate.

---

_{Collab with Eisenhorn}

It took Persephone a moment to find the catwalk that Maria had gestured to. She'd been distracted by the android's distress, and had forgotten the exact place it was supposed to be in, but after a second or two of jogging towards the direction she thought the captain had indicated, the catwalk appeared and she went down it. It wasn't a very long catwalk, and almost immediately after going down it she could see the doorway that lead into the engine room where the engineer was supposed to be.

"Hello?" She called out, looking around "an angry Scotsman." What was a Scotsman anyway? Was that some weird subrace of human? Were they all angry or just this one? "I think I'm supposed to be looking for Ans... Uh-oh. Ans...ma? Ansma? No that's not it. Ansgar! There we go."

Of all the things that Ansgar was not in the mood to put up with, it was strangers wandering into the engine room calling out and sounding confused. Butchering his name didn't help either, and he finished what he was doing beneath the deckplate before shoving upwards, plate swinging on a hinge and flying open, the irritable mechanic that she was looking for popping out. What wasn't in view was the hand on his sidearm, though it was effectively a canon masquerading as a pistol, since he didn't even remotely recognize the voice at all. What he saw was, well, not expected, but he still narrowed his eyes and glared at the intrusion to his work. He hadn't been paying close attention to any of the comms, busy with trying to fix what he could prior to docking the ship, and he was not pleased with someone interrupting his work.

"W'o's askin' and w'at are ye bot'erin me for? As ye can no doubt tell, t'is bucket just got s'ot t' 'ell and back an' I'm the onl one qualified t' fix the bloody mess."

"Yeah I uh... I kinda got a front row seat. You guys were in some serious hot water, huh?" The cyborg didn't seem unnerved by his irritation, and carried on with a very casual demeanor as she glanced around the wrecked tattered engine room. She then turned back to him.

"Hi, I'm Persephone! I am sorry about taking you from your work, but I have a bit of a problem. There's an android in the cargo hold in the midst of a slight mental breakdown -don't ask- and his arm is kind of... not... attached. Also my fighter is literally falling to bits. See I can fix both of these things, but my tools are as shot as this engine room and I was hoping maybe you would have some spares that I could barrow? As kind of a, you know, thanks for helping you guys not get blown up? I'd give them back of course! I'd only need them for a little bit, and maybe I could even use them to fix my own tools."

She flashed her most winning grin after finishing that little spiel, pressing her palms together in a "please" sign.
"Oh nay, t'at wasn' 'ot water, oh not at all. Getting our asses shot off wasn't 'ot water in t'e slig'test, not at all! Ye were watc'in', course ye s'ould be aware..." He narrowed his eyes slightly as she glanced around the engine room, that was very much a work in progress at the moment. Between the attempted sabotage, then the pirates, it was a gods damned miracle the place was even remotely up and running. Still, even Persephone could tell that, the moment she mentioned an android, the scotsman froze and looked at her, dead pan but clearly unhappy. If before was irritated, he was about ready to march down there and start raising hell personally.

"W'o in t'eir rig't mind decided t'at revivin' a tin man was a fucking good idea?! T'ose soddin' t'ings ain' not'in but trouble. Ah swear, ah ain' gettin' paid enoug' to put up with a fucking tin man. Also, as ye can plainly see, yer bucket o' bolts ain' t' only t'ing fallin' apart rig't now. Course, ah say no, captain'll 'ave m' fuckin' 'ead...." Grumbling, and spitting curses to himself, the man hauled himself out from under the deckplates, all lean muscle and sweating from the exertion of digging around the literal and figurative guts of the engine room trying to get things as up to speed as he could, moving over to a section of the engine room that looked a bit more lived in than the rest, and had not fared well during the attack. Growling, he dug through some boxes and pulled a ragged looking toolbox clear, marching back and setting it by the open deck plate, reaching down to fish out the tools he had been using.

"'ere, ah'd say scrap t' fuckin' tin man, but t'ats beyond my call at t'is point. Clear out so ah can focus on tryin' to get shit workin', and rig s'it against tin man tamperin'. Fuckin' mad fuckers, t'e lot of ye..."

"Right..."

The cyborg didn't seem to pay him too much mind as he ranted with an increasingly more colorful vocabulary of expletives. She paid attention to him, of course, but didn't really seem to get offended or take it personally as he cursed and carried on with his condescending vent. She'd grown up with pirates after all. They were constantly drunk; screaming, cursing, arguing, insulting, and every other unpleasant form of communication one could stand to think of, so her metaphorical skin was rather thick, and she also understood that he was probably worked way beyond his abilities right now. This ship was way too large for one person to repair by themselves.

"Thanks. You know," she said, taking the tools from him, "once I get the uh... "tin man's" arm reattached, I could probably help out a bit with the repairs."

Continued mutterings and complaints aside, Ansgar would have supplied the strange visitor with suitable tools, and seemed to almost bristle at the idea of someone else getting in the way and attempting to 'help' fix up the ship. Oh hell no, if anyone was going to get this bucket up and running again it would be him damn it. Last thing he needed was to account for other idiots breaking things in an attempt to fix things. Just because she could patch up a scrap fighter didn't mean he trusted her to lay a hand on the engine room. Still, the offer would require some sort of response, and after grunting as he hauled himself back through a deck plate with his personal tools, planning to get back to work since he really didn't have time to be sitting around jawing with someone who was humoring a fucking tin man's needs. Nothing but trouble, those damned things were.

"Nay, not a snowball's c'ance in 'ell. Stick to yer scrap fig'ter and t'e fuckin' tin man. Ah'll not 'ave ot'ers runnin' around buggerin' t'ings up tryin' t' 'elp. Now if you'll 'xcuse me..."

With that he'd haul the deck plate back shut, and one could hear muttering, cursing, and the sounds of repairs being undertaken again. She'd been effectively dismissed, regardless whether or not she intended to have any further remarks on the irritable scotsman. He had no intents to play nice when he had far too much to do.

"Nice meeting you!" Persephone called as he disappeared again. It was a pity he wouldn't let her help, but oh well. That was his problem she supposed. Happy to at least have some functioning tools again, she skipped her way back to the cargo bay to start the task of repairing the android.

---

---

There were times Kai'mos found himself at somewhat of a loss when it came to the physiological makeup of humans, as there was little room for recourse when it came to vital organs systematically shutting down. Several species throughout the galaxy had such benefits sewn into the fabric of their very existence, such as: accelerated healing perhaps in one race, a regrowth of a missing limb in another, and organs that may "switch over" to another before shutting down for good. These redundancies could keep such a creature sustained for much longer even under dire circumstances. But humans...their lives were so fragile in the grand scheme of things.

The Doctor hovered over Teg's body, continuing to scan her vitals, which were slipping away at a pace that was anything but reassuring. Her brain activity was slight, and the ventilator she was hooked up to was the only thing keeping the oxygen levels normalized. Perhaps if they have been in a port with a properly equipped hospital, and a rehabilitation chamber, which would most surely help to rebuild what was damaged, therefore, increasing the chances of survival. But the human woman had little time, and all Kai could do at that point was keep her as comfortable as possible. Or perhaps, he was only trying to dull the pain he felt for the situation.

This is why attachments are frown upon, you imbecile...

His brief reverie was dashed by the entry of the Captain, as Maria carried what appeared to be the corpse of Andrea Malkis, placing her near a corner that was otherwise unobstructed by equipment or furnishings. The Ithlo allowed a sigh to escape at the thought of losing a second, both human's lives lost in one fell swoop.

Kai'mos glanced up from his datapad to address the Captain, arching an eyebrow as he considered his words. But, what was the point of making something more than what it was, at least in the case of Teg.

"Currently, Mister Vin'Akali is doing quite splendid." He nodded, maintaining a somewhat positive tone as he motioned to the table where the First Mate was laying. "The topical medication is allowing his tissue to heal very well, and the surgical reconstruction -from what I've seen- set and sealed the fractured bones at a ninety-three percent success rate, meaning, he should still have full mobility with his arm, but the forearm specifically may be much more fragile than it once was."

The Ithlo paused for a moment as he glanced at the female mercenary's dying body. "Miss Taggert however-" He cleared his throat momentarily before continuing. "Her body sustained a blast to the chest that cracked the abdomen down the center, allowing the poisonous and unstable chemicals from the energy bolt to seep into the bone marrow and blood stream. Her brain is all but completely shut down at the moment, but it is only a matter of time that it will cease functioning and she will p-pass."

Kai mentally reprimanded himself for that slip-up, realizing the emotions and his affections for the human woman were a lot more deep-seated than he had imagined. Teg had a profound affect on him indeed, but they will only be a memory moving forward.

A chiming signal coming from the machine near Kev began pulsing, and Kai'mos turned to attend to the First Mate, flipping a few switches here and there on a console, and glancing at the datapad which gave the full spectrum of his physical and mental condition.

"Well. The good news is that Mister Vin'Akali is awakening..."

Brightness.... It was far too bright. He couldn't even keep his eyes open; hells, but it even painful to keep them closed. He tried to sit up but was almost literally struck by a rush of raw nerves to his head, including a distinct ringing in his ears like someone had dropped a Vrasil-Wasp nest in his ear. He reached up instinctively to cover his ears and was immediately beset by stinging up his right side which blossomed into a distinct stinging pain.

He felt two weights pressing down on him and muffled noises that sounded something akin to speech. Even in his addled state Kevej realised this was probably someone telling him to not move, and so he lay back down and tried to get comfy in that funny way someone does whilst trying to move as little as possible.

He blinked, and was immediately aware that some time had passed. The room was still too bright, but the buzzing in his head had subsided to bearable levels. A figure loomed over his left side and it took a few moments for Kevej to groggily recognise him as Kai, who was currently injecting Kevej with something that was likely aiding his cognitive re-awakening. Kevej did his best to smile.

"Thanks Kai'Mos, I guess this is why you get paid the big bucks."

He noticed a figure to his right side, and once again went through the drug-hazed jigsaw that was faces to recognise this was the Captain. Even in his current state he recognised her rank before her name.

"Captain..." his mind cut off his speech with visions of the recent past, "...Andrea... saw the warning first, she pushed me ahead of her. I wish I could've done the same for her." he knew the words sounded hollow the moment they left his mouth. He knew he couldn't go back and change how things had gone, he knew it was luck of the draw and he knew Maria saw it this way too and didn't hold him accountable. But there was a frustration and anger that was welling up inside him, at the unfairness of it all. He felt like crying, he felt like... He didn't know how he felt.

Instead he just lay there and sighed. Which hurt. He was beginning to realise everything hurt.

Captain Maria Thorne

---

The captain herself was struggling to keep a hold on her emotions as it was, and the situation was only made more difficult by the doctor's assessment of Teg's condition. Her fists and jaw were clenched, her eyes hard as they stared over at the unmoving body of Teg- then at Andrea- and slowly her expression changed to one of defeat. They had experienced an overabundance of tragedy in such a short timespan. If one were to look closely they might even see her eyes starting to mist over a bit, but she was keeping the tears at bay and just trying to listen to whatever diagnosis Kai was giving her. "Only a matter of time," he'd said. So Teg was as good as dead unless some sort of miracle brought her back to them, and Maria had never had much faith in miracles.

"We'll get through it, doctor," she commented, giving the ithlo a brief pat on the shoulder. She wasn't a very affectionate person and she doubted Kai was either, so this was as close to a hug as he was ever going to get from her. It was plain for any of them to see that he had taken a liking to the spirited mercenary. It was very possible he was going to be the one the most hurt by this loss, and that garnered sympathy from the captain. Maria would never admit it, but she was one of the biggest bleeding hearts in the galaxy. Damned those human ideals and pack-bond mentality...

She approached the bed when Kevej started stirring, though she did stay a bit off to the side so as not to overwhelm him. He was probably pumped up with drugs at the moment and it would take a bit for him to be fully coherent again.
"Hey there big guy," she'd greeted, though it was very possible it didn't register with him. He noticed the doctor first.

"Thanks Kai'Mos, I guess this is why you get paid the big bucks."

And then it was her turn. He said her rank, which might as well have been her name at this point, and then began his ramble of what had happened on the bridge. "She pushed me ahead of her." That was surprising. Maria had never taken Andrea as the sacrificial type. "I wish I could've done the same for her." It seemed they were going to have to form a club for that sentiment, Kevej. Damned fool thinking she had to be the hero and get herself killed. That had done them so much good. Now here they were, out in the black with no pilot, a damaged ship, a nearly dead mercenary, and a wounded first mate. Either way they had the same amount of people dead. Same amount of dead with no pilot. Yes, a load of good that sacrifice had done for them indeed.

But even as these cynical thoughts ran around in her head, Maria's vision clouded over and the woman raised a hand to the bridge of her nose and tried to play it off like she was warding off a headache as she wiped a couple of the betraying drops of liquid from her eyes. It would be the human woman that cried first. Gods damned stereotypes coming back to haunt her. She was desperately clawing out in her mind trying to take hold of the anger that had been there a mere few minutes before, but all she felt was the crushing emptiness of defeat. They were not going to recover from this any time soon.

She stayed silent for a good minute or two before finally properly looking at Kev and patting his arm, seeming to regain enough control to feign composure.

"It's alright, Kev. It's not your fault, and you know that. There's not a whole lot you can do in those situations, and there's no use in dwelling on what could have been or what you might've done differently. Just try to get back on your feet as soon as possible, okay? Oh and heads up: don't be alarmed if you see a pink ithlo and a robot running around."

The hatch to the engine room would grind open, a thoroughly pissed off looking Ansgar striding out with a sense of intense purpose, the hatch sealing itself behind him, a red light indicating only the Captain or Ansgar could override and unlock it again. The man was carrying his tools in one hand, and tapping the deck, wall, and ceiling plates seemingly at random, listening intently and sporadically tapping again to try and listen. He was tracing power and utility lines, and seemingly always pulled open a covering that would belch smoke of varying colors, curses and responses being thrown back as the man dug in and began implementing repairs, and if anyone dared to block his path he'd tell them off and drag the plate they were, likely unwittingly, blocking. His path would meander at seeming random, only making sense to Ansgar since, well, he was the one who ended up effectively rewiring and resetting the entire ship's systems to allow for things like the backup bridge and controls back in the engine room.

His mutterings, meanderings, and patchwork repairs would eventually lead him up to the bridge where Ansgar had to, in medical terms, triage the ship and focus on what could be readily kept up and running. Now that they weren't completely fucked, he could begin planning and prepping the area for potential void repair work. He hated the shit, but it was often the only effective means of undergoing repairs and refits of this scale. Plugging tools into a wall panel, he began running diagnostics while making mental notes, muttering and plotting how he would even void proof the space again, let alone get it up and running as a bridge again with the time he had on hand. A lot of sleepless nights ahead, he'd better be getting a damned good pay raise. "Fuck, might be easier to just cut the entire old bridge out and replace it from scratch, the damage is absurd..."

---

---

Pain for the young mercenary woman was felt as not a ripple but a wave throughout the ship, and the Captain was no exception. Kai knew she was hurting, especially having to carry the weight of guilt for crewmates lost to war, and while he could come off as a very stoic individual, the empathy he endured was still there regardless.

“I know this” Kai’mos responded to Maria with a nod and smile. “Although I do hope we may honor their memory by surviving long enough to right a few wrongs out there.”

“I didn’t realize there was monetary compensation for my medical services.”

The Ithlo smirked, as that was one of very few attempts at humor, especially for one of his kind. Still, Kai hoped to lift the otherwise dreadful mood that had been looming over the entire ship since the attack. So much destruction in so little time. And deaths of beloved crewmates, one confirmed and the other...hanging by a mere thread which was continuing to fray. But all hpe wasn’t lost thankfully, and the technology they did have at least was operational enough to assist in mending the First Mate Vin'Akali, and while they may not have spoken much during their time together on the Veritas, Kai was thrilled that the Naka had made it through and would hopefully get to know him going forward. He respected Kevej for the bravery shown during the attack, and that was something which could never be forgotten.

“Do not move too quickly, Mister Vin'Akali.” Kai’mos mention, helping the First Mate to sit up. “The antibiotics are still working their way through your system, so you may experience mild disorientation for the next few hours.”

The Doctor ran another scan along the affected areas of Kevej’s body to ensure internal healing was as successful as externa, and with a satisfied nod he powered down the machine. “And from what I can see, all healing agents are doing precisely what they are supposed to do.”

Kai’mos took a few steps over toward the back wall and picked up what appeared to be a seemingly unremarkable walking cane. It was a silvery metal alloy of some make, had an adjustable height that worked off of internal hydraulics controlled by a button on the handle, and a galvanized rubber end. “So, whenever you are ready to stand, sir, I would recommend that you utilize this to keep yourself steady until at least a few days from today. You also need to keep pressure off of your forearm, so no heavy lifting of any kind. Do I make myself clear?”

The Ithlo turned his attention to Maria for a moment. “Captain, if I may, I’d like to continue monitoring Mister Vin'Akali until weeks end, and would suggest he is put on light duty.”

“As for Miss Taggart…” Kai paused for a few moments, not so much to think about what to say, but moreso, how to formulate the words in a way that did not appear as though he was giving up hope on her. But there was none. Truly, based on the mercenary’s current condition, there was little chance of survival, and he knew they knew that. “I shall stay with her for as long as she holds on.”

He turned his attention back to the datapad held firmly in his hand, pulling up readings on the ship’s CO-2 levels and air quality, ensuring there were no toxins that could be potentially fatal. No one needed that. A few minutes passed, as Maria spoke to Kevej and the mention of a “Pink Ithlo” piqued the Medic’s curiosity.

“Had we taken on a guest, Captain?”

“Do not move too quickly, Mister Vin'Akali.” Kai’mos said as he helped him up. Though as soon as Kevej was vertical his head started spinning again. “The antibiotics are still working their way through your system, so you may experience mild disorientation for the next few hours.”

If he didn't feel like he was about to throw up he might have nodded.

Kai ran another scanner across Kevej, focusing on the worst affected parts. Kevej fancied he could feel it tingling as it went over, but that wouldn't make sense. “And from what I can see, all healing agents are doing precisely what they are supposed to do.”

"Thank you again, Doctor. I already feel better." Kevej said, room still swirling.

Kev inched his body across the gurney so that his feet touched the ground, sliding off so the bed still bore most of his weight. This was fairly difficult when you've only got on arm, but he managed it. He looked back to Kai to see him approaching with... A walking stick?!?

“So, whenever you are ready to stand, sir, I would recommend that you utilise this to keep yourself steady until at least a few days from today. You also need to keep pressure off of your forearm, so no heavy lifting of any kind. Do I make myself clear?”

"Doctor's orders, yes?" he sighed in place of waiting for a confirmation. "If you say so." Kevej reached out and accepted it, listening as Kai detailed it's various features. Kevej probably would have made a joke about old men, but it seemed out of place given how much worse his fate could have been. How bad fate was in place of another...

"It's alright, Kev. It's not your fault, and you know that. There's not a whole lot you can do in those situations, and there's no use in dwelling on what could have been or what you might've done differently. Just try to get back on your feet as soon as possible, okay? Oh and heads up: don't be alarmed if you see a pink ithlo and a robot running around."

"Okay, Captain. I'll be sure to say hi, and get their dietary requirements. Do androids have diets?" he mused to himself. He brought his good arm to a salute before the captain left, dropping his cane in the process. Whoops.

Captain Maria Thorne

---

"If that's what you think is best, then I'll make it so," The captain replied to Kai's request that the first mate be put on light duty. "I'm sure we can survive without him for a little while. Though it'll pain us a good deal not to have Kev lookin' over our shoulders and telling us what a good job we're doing."

The naka was probably the best natured person on board the ship, and his presence always made the weight of the day a bit lighter. Maria would expect nothing less from the self-designated morale officer. He was very good at diffusing situations and keeping the peace on board the Veritas, and the captain was going to really need that calming presence, but it was better he heal up for a while than kill himself trying to still do his job. They'd be alright. Someone might get shot, but they'd be alright. As for the doctor's comment about Teg, if she'd heard it, there was no sign of acknowledgement. That was a problem that she was powerless to fix and she didn't want to think about it. Not right now, anyway. That was a thought spiral that she would tackle when there weren't a million other things that needed to be focused on and fixed. She was very thankful when the conversation of their newcomers came up and she had an excuse to not answer.

"Two in fact, doc," she replied. "And no Kev, I don't think they do, but I'll be sure to ask."

As if she'd been summoned, a pink head of hair appeared from around the bulkhead, and the female Ithlo looked straight at the captain. "Hey cap, I was wondering if- Oh whoops I didn't mean to interrupt, sorry." She looked a bit sheepish as she looked around the room, looking first from the captain to Kev, Kev to the nearby body of Teg, and then finally she settled on the doctor. There was a brief look of panic, but it was quickly covered up by a smile of greeting as she halfway entered the room, standing at the threshold and trying to gauge the people there.

"If it's a bad time I can find you later," she said.

The captain shrugged. "Later is going to be just as busy as now. What do you need?"

Persephone

---

Persephone had spent the better part of an hour fixing the android's severed parts. She chatted with him while going about her work, remaining entertained whilst reattaching synthetic nerve endings and making sure the mechanical joints moved the way they were supposed to. Working on an android wasn't something she'd ever done before, so it was a process of learning while she worked and hoping that she put things back together correctly and didn't cause him to short out. On the bright side she didn't have to construct a completely new arm. There were many systems and sub-systems in the programming of the arm that she had to decipher, bypass, and rewrite to fix what had been jumbled, and there was no way she was going to get it all working in one day. It was especially hard because she didn't have a diagnostic computer to hook him up to. She had one installed in her left arm, but it was strictly for her own self-diagnostics and wouldn't work for the android. Doing all of that coding without a proper means of input was borderline impossible. She could make the arm move again, but when it came to the more complex things such as the arm actually feeling and the additions (such as his cannon) functioning, she needed a computer. A very specific kind of computer. Maybe if the ship's computers were still working, Perse would be able to cannibalize one into working for her means, but she'd definitely need the captain's approval for that. And so Persephone paused her work on the android to go find the captain, searching room by room until she heard her voice coming from the med-bay.

She rounded the bulkhead of the door and peeked in, hoping to just have a brief interaction before moving on, and was well into her sentence before actually noticing the other people standing there. "Hey cap, I was wondering if- Oh whoops I didn't mean to interrupt, sorry."

As the captain looked over at her abrupt entrance, Perse took the opportunity to look at the other people in the room. There was a naka laying on the bed who had evidently been injured in the battle, but he didn't look too bad. A little in pain maybe, but he was okay. The human on the next bed on the other hand... Oh yeah she wasn't doing great. Perse was no medical expert, but it didn't take one to see that an unconscious body with multiple burns and wounds was pretty bad. Finally, she looked at the person standing across the bed from the captain, and she physically flinched from the realization (though hopefully it was small enough no one noticed). It was another ithlo. Now at first one might think she'd be excited to have another of her own kind on board the ship, but one would be severely mistaken. Perse had nothing against the ithlo. They were her people, and she loved them and the culture that she'd be raised in dearly, but the feeling was not mutual. Most other species didn't really care about cybernetics. in fact races like the glao encouraged such body modifications, but that was not so with the ithlo. They viewed cybernetics as an affront to their beliefs, and for one of their own to have such horrid and unnatural additions to their body was unfathomable.

In their society she was a disgrace.
An abomination.

No doubt this ithlo would be polite, as was their way, but years of enduring the disapproving and disgusted looks had made her hypersensitive to their reactions to her. They didn't have to say anything for her to know they thought she was disgusting. With other species Perse could pretend that she was normal, and she could forget what had been done to her, but when another of her own species was around it was like someone was slapping her in the face. Nevertheless, Perse did her best to put on a smile and seem somewhat friendly.

"...If it's a bad time I can find you later," she said, hoping to the gods that the captain would tell her to come back later so she could escape, but alas that was not to be.

The captain shrugged. "Later is going to be just as busy as now. What do you need?"

Great. This was great.

"Well," she began, "Our android friend has some pretty seriously jumbled up coding, and I need to rewire a computer so I can fix it. Now I can wait until we get to a port and I can buy one, or if it's okay with you I can just rewire one of the computers on board the ship and use that."

Maria seemed to consider the options for a second. "Well the bridge computers are shot, but if someone else has a computer in a room they're not going to need, you're welcome to it. Oh, and this is my first mate and the ship's doctor, Kevej Vin'Akali, and Kai'mos Varthus."

Perse awkwardly waved at the two. "Hi, I'm Persephone. You can call me Perse."

The captain walked over to the comm and flicked it on, "Hey Ansgar, you said engines and backup navigation was still working, right? Can we move while you work or is that going to mess you up? I'd like to get to the glao port sooner rather than later."

Ansgar was growing steadily more irritated the more the damage reports scrolled across the diagnostic tools. The bridge would need the ship to be effectively docked to even begin salvage efforts to make room for the repairs. Between that, and the fact that there were several sensor lines that had burnt out, he would have to repair those as well. Nothing that would prevent them from departing once the Captain was done babysitting whatever newcomers they were dealing with. As well as sorting out casualties, which was unfortunate but something he had to worry about later. He wasn't injured, surprisingly, at least not that he was aware of, so he could focus on in flight repairs while they were moving. Sure enough, the comm buzzed and the captain was asking about whether they could get moving or not.

"Anything that moving would disrupt I can't repair while we aren't docked. We can move whenever suits you, Boss, hope this port has a good docking setup, and you lot like the people at this port. These repairs will take a hot minute." Cutting the commm off again so he could focus, he pocketed the diagnostic tools and started ripping panels off the walls at seemingly random, watching his surroundings since they had complete unknowns on board, stopping whatever he was doing whenever persons that weren't part of the crew wandered by, glaring at them, almost like he was willing them to get a move on so he could get back to work. While working he would be muttering under his breath, cursing as well, as he started rewiring and scrapping the parts that were ruined. It was a starting point, getting the sensor lines back online, but it would keep him busy.

---

---

“You are off to a wonderful start, Mister Vin'Akali.” The Doctor said with a slight smirk to his expression, handing the fallen walking cane back to Kev. “Do try to be more careful in the future.” He continued with a nod, and at that moment his attention was drawn to an unfamiliar figure who had walked into the MedBay, addressing the Captain first -and apologizing for any interruptions- before her eyes met Kai’mos. Unaware of the subtle shock that hit him from the other’s appearance, the Ithlo medic arched a bushy eyebrow and cocked his head ever-so-slightly. Intrigued would be an understatement for sure, but no doubt it was more an upsetting scenario than anything else. However, there she was, another Ithlo, in all her pink-haired glory, standing near the entry of the room with a mixed expression of uncertainty and apprehension.

No doubt the young girl was aware of Ithlo culture and ideology of cybernetics -a practice frowned upon by their people- especially when introduced into the physiology of the Ithlo species. It is, for lack of a better term, a festering wound to the very fabric of their genetic makeup and an affront to centuries of culture and honor. The more Kai’mos even entertained the thought of one of his own allowing such atrocities to occur only caused a knot to form in the pit of his stomach; one that may take time to unravel in fact, especially if the girl is to remain with the crew for an extended period of time.

He couldn’t help but overhear the exchange between the Captain and the Persephone regarding something about an “android” and “rewiring”, specifically. Had an android been brought on board as well? Who were these two new passengers, and kai wondered what the Judge would think of all this. And why is it that Maria seems comfortable enough with any of the young Ithlo’s suggestions. The ship itself was quite literally falling apart at the seams and they want to dismantle even more of it for the sake of a mindless bucket of spare parts?

“Welcome.” The doctor nodded his head slightly in the girl’s direction as the Captain introduced him and Kevej.. “Please let me know if you are in need of anything.”

Kai wasn’t sure if those words really meant anything to him. Did he truly feel inclined to assist an Ithlo who clearly had no regard for the laws of nature? Or perhaps he had to look beyond his own beliefs in order to properly make a guest of the Veritas feel welcomed. Either way, the Medic had plenty to do where wasting time with idle chatter had not been amongst the list of duties. And with that, he returned his attention to the hand-held datapad, continuing to monitor the female mercenary who laid unconscious on the table across from Kevej. And as much as it pained him, Kai hoped that the passing would be soon, to spare anyone -especially him- further anguish.

“I think once we get to port...” He looked up from the screen and over at the First Mate. “I could use your assistance in acquiring medical supplies and general restocking.”

Kai’mos needed a distraction from all the madness.

Kevej thanked Kai as the Ithlo doctor retrieved his walking stick, a little redder in the cheeks as he felt unable to pick it up himself for the moment. Hopefully his recovery would be swift, he certainly didn't like people doing simple things like this for him. At that moment a bright pink Ithlo stuck her head around the doorway and started making awkward introductions.

"Hey cap, I was wondering if- Oh whoops I didn't mean to interrupt, sorry." Kev gave a small reassuring wave as she skirted the border of the room, like she wasn't sure if she was coming or going.

"If it's a bad time I can find you later," she said.

The captain shrugged. "Later is going to be just as busy as now. What do you need?" the captain asked, Kev inwardly flinched knowing he'd be of little help during such a time with his current injuries. Not that the remark wasn't aimed at him, but still.

"Well," she began, "Our android friend has some pretty seriously jumbled up coding, and I need to rewire a computer so I can fix it. Now I can wait until we get to a port and I can buy one, or if it's okay with you I can just rewire one of the computers on board the ship and use that."

Maria seemed to consider the options for a second. "Well the bridge computers are shot, but if someone else has a computer in a room they're not going to need, you're welcome to it. Oh, and this is my first mate and the ship's doctor, Kevej Vin'Akali, and Kai'mos Varthus."

Perse awkwardly waved at the two. "Hi, I'm Persephone. You can call me Perse."

“Welcome.” Kai answered first, “Please let me know if you are in need of anything.” before turning to Kev, “I think once we get to port...” He paused, pensively, “I could use your assistance in acquiring medical supplies and general restocking.”

Kevej nodded in response, more than happy to help. "Next thing I'll do as soon as I'm out of here is print off the appropriate clearance forms, then we can get started on an inventory."

Kevej turned back to their Ithlo guest, "Hey Perse, I'm Kevej, but most people call me Kev. I'd shake your hand but I'm trying to regain proper feeling in my legs first!" he laughed at his own joke to try and defuse the situation, before stopping and wondering if there really was a tension in the air? He looked at Kai and saw their doctor already busying himself with bits and bobs around the bay. Maybe Kev was imaging it. [color]"I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but you can cannibalise the personal computer in my quarters, I barely use it anyway. All the important paperwork and manifests are kept on the main ship's database, and I can use the computer by the cargo bay."[/color]

It would be a pain working next to Angsar's clanging and cursing in the engine bay, as oppose to the relative quiet of his quarters, but he didn't mind giving up a bit of comfort to get another pair of hands back in action. He'd give a lot more if he could get one back in particular, he internally sighed and looked across at Andrea one last time before hoisting himself back to his feet.

Leaning heavily on his stick, he started hobbling around and getting a feel for his brand-new legs, or at least that's how they felt.

Persephone

---

A staggering wave of nausea swept over Persephone, only seeming to worsen the longer she was in the room. There was a tight knot forming in the pit of her stomach that was steadily climbing up the throat and threatening to strangle her, and frantically a torrent of the usual reassurances went through her head. Calm down, calm down. It's alright. Just breathe. You haven't done this in forever, and you're not going to do it here. Just get a grip on yourself, dammit. Of course usually seeing another ithlo didn't provoke this sort of reaction from her. On the pirate ship there had been none, but she'd grown to expect seeing them on any planets they visited, colonies, or ports, but she had been completely caught off guard by one being on this ship. This ship. The flagship of the human rebellion. Come to think of it, why in the name of all the hells was he here? The ithlo were very proud people, and a species of healers and doctors, people who didn't get caught up in politics for the sake of "being able to treat and heal all without prejudice or bias," and traveling with a rag-tag group of rebels didn't exactly fit that ideology. Persephone voiced none of this out loud. She didn't need them to know that she'd been a little closet "rebellion fan" for the past few months this movement had been getting started, and she was sure they wished that their identity was a little bit more of a secret. Well, it was a secret, but not when you ran in the circles that Perse did. The train of thought did cause her to give the doctor a peculiar look, but she brushed it off by returning his nod of greeting and getting distracted by the captain and first mate.

"Hey Perse, I'm Kevej, but most people call me Kev. I'd shake your hand but I'm trying to regain proper feeling in my legs first!" He laughed at his own joke, and then continued. "I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but you can cannibalise the personal computer in my quarters, I barely use it anyway. All the important paperwork and manifests are kept on the main ship's database, and I can use the computer by the cargo bay."

"That'd be awesome, thank you!" She replied, giving him a bright smile and trying to brush off the crushing anxiety she was currently experiencing. The naka was, in standard naka fashion, very friendly and welcoming. That was doing wonders for her current mental state. "It's not an emergency, though, so I'll talk to you about it more once you uh... get your bearings again. Though I don't want to cause more work for you to have to leave your room while you're healing. I also don't want to invade your personal space. I don't know. We'll talk about it. Thank you."

Dammit. She was rambling.

"Well, that's one thing sort of settled," the captain muttered. The woman then rubbed her face while releasing a very long sigh, and Perse gave her a sympathetic look. The poor woman looked exhausted out of her mind.

"Is there anything I can do to help out?" She asked.

Maria looked at her for a moment, appearing to both consider her request and attempt to read her soul at the same time. Of course the captain wouldn't trust her, even if she did just save all of their collective asses, but Perse hoped she'd at least give her some responsibilities to take care of until they got to port and she could buy the repairs for her ship. She liked to keep busy.

"You handled that little fighter pretty well. Ever piloted a freighter?" The captain asked.

"Uh... I mean, it's been a while, but I have."

"Great. I've got a million and one things I need to take care of, and flying the ship is one of them. We lost our pilot in the attack and I frankly don't have time to fly the ship and get everything in working order again. If you could get us to the Glao port outside Aspen I'd be very much obliged."

The pink ithlo nodded. "I can do that."

"Fantastic. Our bridge is shot to hell, so backup navigation has been moved to the engine room for the time being. Like I just told our engineer, who I think you're already acquainted with, I'd like to get moving as soon as possible so the sooner you can get down there and do that, the better."

"I'll get going right now, then!" She replied, beginning to back towards the door and waving. "It was nice to meet you both Kev, doctor. I hope you heal quickly, and I'll talk to you about that computer later."

And with that she disappeared around the bulkhead again, letting the fake smile drop as soon as she was out of sight. Oh boy. This was going to be an interesting journey. As long as she could avoid the other ithlo, then it would be fine, but she'd never had to journey for an extended period of time with one so she was frankly unsure of what to expect. Was he going to confront her? Lecture her about the error of her ways? Chastise her for dishonoring their beliefs?

The knot started coming back, and Perse was quiet as she skittered back to the engine room and started trying to figure out the navigation system. This was an older ship, so it'd take her a moment or two to figure out the format they used, but as soon as that was done they'd be on their way and headed towards the glao port.

Ansgar growled as he worked his way back through the ship's corridors, ripping through panels and wiring, cursing at the sprays of sparks and smoke that sometimes, too often, emitted from the panels as he dug into the guts of the ship, isolating the sections prior to repairing what he could before resuming the functions of the panel, closing it back off and making mental notes as to what was done, what wasn't done, and what wouldn't be effective prior to being docked. Of course, a casual observer would simply see this irritated, annoyed human seemingly tearing into things at random and then just cobbling the parts back together with seemingly no regard for any sort of safety or concern. Eventually, he was nearing the med bay, and given what he had heard and what was going on, he paused what he was doing to march in and assess what was going on.

"Right, since I happened to be passing by. How the hell did we end up with a tin man on the ship, and who the hell thought it was a bright idea to bring it online?" The mechanic crossed his arms, his protective garb singed and blackened superficially from the work he'd been doing so far, showing its worth in keeping him from getting injured by his work. Of course, the fact it was even necessary to begin with marked how delicate his work was despite surviving both the beating it took, and the attention of the man who put it together. He knew about the pilot being effectively downed for good, but he hadn't heard nor even been told about the other being put on death's door as well. Narrowing his eyes at that, no doubt the poor bastard of a medic was going to need a drink or three to get over that one's loss. Two dead, replaced by some pink cyborg and a tin man. What the hell world did they live in?

---

---

The madness seemingly never ended. With the ship in dire need of repairs, part replacements, overhauls, and a lot more than what could be done while floating through the far reaches of space, Kai’mos wondered if they would even make it to Port in one piece. To be on solid ground for once in a long while sounded wonderful and the thought of being able to take in the local culture and delicacies was intriguing enough. While Ithlo rarely showed much in the way of personality or emotions, their love of the arts -especially those of the culinary variety- was fairly known to those who were aware of the species's culture and customs. To be able to watch and study an artist work tirelessly at their craft can be breathtaking, from starting with virtually nothing but an idea, to producing a piece worthy of awe and wonderment. Just one of the many things an Ithlo may take more seriously than most, but it is quite alright by their standards. Perfection was an art all its own.

Kai gave an approved nod toward the Naka First Mate, glad that he had accepted the offer to help when they finally made it to port, and the huge bazaar that was known to be the talk of the galaxy. “I will, of course, keep an eye on your healing progress, but from what the biometric forecast is predicting, you should be walking normally sooner than later.” He said in a fairly relieved tone of voice, staring back down at the datapad held in his hand. “The physiological makeup of the Naka are quite incredible when studied at length, so be glad that you have a better-than-average rate of healing, especially against such wounds that were inflicted upon you.”

The Captain continued to converse with the pink-haired Ithlo, one of which Kai himself could barely look upon if truth was told. There was simply something about her…everythying that left a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach. He certainly didn’t want to despise her, but he also hoped that her time on the ship would be short-lived. Perhaps dropped off at Port immediately, never having to be seen again on the Veritas, and bypassing any possibility of further embarrassment or disrespect toward the people of the Ithlo Nation. One could only hope for swiftness in that case.

Thankfully, however, the Doctor’s unnecessary reverie was interrupted by the somewhat loud and echoed voice of the ship’s engineer as he entered the MedBay with a tone of disgust. Kai couldn’t help but smile inside, while maintaining a typical neutral expression, at the comment regarding the “android”. If anyone was going to be less open to the idea of having such an abomination aboard the ship, it would be Ansgar.

“Welcome Mister Staudinger.” Kai’mos nodded his head toward the young man standing near the entryway. “Was there any need for medical attention?” He said, judging by the electrical burn marks on the other’s clothing, Kai was probably correct in the assumption, although Ansgar’s prideful human heart would no doubt reject any at the moment.

"Now then..."
While everyone else was busy dealing with the aftermath of the attack, the Judge had taken it upon himself to tie up his new prisoners with strips of bedsheet torn from the bed in the room he was keeping them in. It wasn't ideal, but he needed to make sure they wouldn't figure out that the door wasn't actually locked...
The pirates themselves looked wary - maybe a little nervous, but not terribly frightened.
That was going to be fixed momentarily.
"Let's have a little conversation, just the three of us."
He slowly circled the pair, getting a look around the room.
The bed was pushed up against the far wall, and on the opposite side was a desk, a monitor sitting on top of it. The wires there could be useful...
"Let's start with your names."
Judge stepped towards the monitor, examining it. He could feel the eyes of his prisoners watching him intently.
One of them spoke up.
"I'm Sweep. He's Kode."
The one called Kode was eyeing the Judge suspiciously while he unplugged the monitor and removed the cables from the back of it.
"You look like you have something to say, Kode."
The prisoner reluctantly dropped his gaze, so Judge approached him, cables in hand.
"Perhaps you'd like to be the first to explain why I shouldn't just kill you?"
"What do you want? We're just scavengers! We take whatever we can get our hands on!"
"If you're just scavengers, wouldn't it have been easier to simply... starve us out, instead sacrificing your own crew?"
Kode snorted.
"Yeah, sure. Why does that matter?"
"Because that isn't what you did. In fact, it seemed to me like you weren't even after our cargo at all - as I understand it, the typical strategy of pirates is to steal the cargo out from under our noses while we're distracted. But you specifically targeted the crew - and additionally..." It just occurred to Judge, "you just happened to be waiting for us when this ship was sabotaged. That's a bit too clever for scavengers, isn't it?"
Sweep was sweating profusely.
"So then we're just smarter than most," Kode sneered.
He cried out when Judge whipped him across the face with his cables. There were now three angry scratches on Kode's cheek. Sweep flinched.
"I was just testing it," Judge explained. That earned him a seething glare.
There were few minutes of silence as Judge continued circling his prisoners. Finally, he asked them in a low voice, "do you know what I think?"
When they didn't respond, he suddenly twisted the cables around Kode's neck, a glimmer of fear glinting in his eyes as he started gasping and struggling.
"I think you're hiding something from me, and I want to know what it is."
"Don't -" he choked, glaring at Sweep, who looked like he was about to say something.
"Ah, so there is something." The Judge stared at Sweep.
"Your friend here is running out of air. If you want to save his life-"
"We were hired!"
"By who?"
"I don't know!"
Judge tilted his head - and then dropped Kode, who lay motionless.
"Seems you might have answered me a little late..." He prodded Kode in the side.
"I swear I don't know who he was - he had money, and told us to sabotage your ship. I don't know anything else!"
"We'll see. But that will be enough for me, for now."
Judge hogtied both men on the off-chance that Kode might recover, and left them.
Something was significant about this ship, and he was going to find out what it was.

"Waitwaitwait, can't you give me local anesthesia or something before you - ow!" Cyrus' entire frame twitched every time Persephone poked or prodded his arm socket with her tools. She chatted with him about a variety of subjects, and it seemed to him that she was trying to get him to relax (though, how could he relax when his arm was off?), but he wondered how much of it was nervous chatter on her part. Still, she seemed to be a nice girl. In no time at all, she declared him "functional", mentioned something about finding the captain, and skipped off, leaving him slightly overwhelmed and befuddled.

Scratching his head, he looked down at his newly-repaired (or patched, at least) arm, and gave his fist an experimental squeeze - then cringed. It didn't hurt - actually, it felt nothing at all, and that's what made it feel so weird. It was going to take some getting used to, but for the time being, at least, he had both his arms.

"Ah, but..." he looked around, "she ran off before I could thank her, didn't she? Well..."
He stood up, brushing off his obnoxiously green pants as he did so - again cringing at the deadness of his new arm - "I guess I better go find the captain too. I find her, then I'll find her."

Cyrus soon discovered that the ship itself wasn't very large - or it's layout was extremely efficient, because he quickly found an irate-looking engineer standing in front of a doorway, talking to the captain - about him. He peeked around behind the man's shoulder to see inside the room - evidently the sickroom.
"Err, there's no tin in me as far as I know.... mainly just steel, tungsten, and chromium - ah, never mind," he cut himself off after seeing the look on the engineer's face.
"Anyway I didn't even know I was... er, dead to begin with. I don't have a switch so... it's not like anyone can just, turn me on," he chuckled nervously, then made a sound of clearing his throat.
"Ah, anyway, captain, I noticed Persephone isn't here, did she see you already? Where'd she run off to? Do you know?"

Goodness, it was getting crowded in here. And a little bit stuffy. People were just talking and laughing not a few metres away from Andrea...

Kev ran his hand over his eyes, it wasn't like him to suffer from headaches or shy away from social situations but... He needed to get out of here. "Hey, Doctor, can you clear me to return to light duties here? I remember seeing half the kitchen rolling around the mess on my way here and I kind of want to get on top of that before we start pulling 'gees again." While he hardly looked forward to bending over at all with his wounds and mounting migraine he figured being in the midsection of the ship would be a good place to get some work done and catch any stragglers of the crew if they fancied a chat. "And besides, I could use a coffee."

---

It did seem the MedBay was slowly becoming quite the social gathering with most of the crew exchanging conversation across the room, and as Kai’mos addressed the engineer moments earlier, Kevej -still sitting atop the surgical table- posed a question to the doctor that didn’t come as much of a surprise.

“I would recommend against such actions.” Kai responded in his usual professional, yet concerned tone, breaking eye contact for a moment to glance at the datapad held in his hand, examining the First Mate’s current vitals. “However, current scans indicate positive signs of a faster-than-normal healing process, due to, of course, your biological make-up and cell regeneration patterns. This is also good news for bone reconstruction, as the collagen and calcium phosphates your body needs are pushing for efficient growth and strength. In other words, Mister Vin’Akali…” The doctor returns his attention to his patient, nodding his head slightly. “You are cleared for light duties, but, in moderation, taking frequent breaks in between to ensure you do not stress the healing process.”

---

“Sounds great, I already feel better.” he took a few tentative steps with his new walking stick, wondering what it must be like to have the slower healing rate of humans, before turning towards the now very crowded doorway.

“Back! I’ve got a stick now and I’m not afraid to start beating people with it!” He joked, picking it up and waggling it in comedic fashion while supporting himself on the door frame. “Except for you, Angsar. If I started hitting you I think the few broken bones I have now would seem like a holiday! I know why you always keep that wrench to hand!”

Angsar was rowdy enough normally, but not violent. Kevej liked their little grease-monkey from the few conversations they’d had. While the mechanic tended to look down on Kev’s own meagre mechanical knowledge based around the Nakkan Space-Races it was enough of a jumping off point for the two of them. More than a few evenings had been whiled away between Angsar, Andea and Kev talking about various space-flights. Another thing that would never be the same from now on...

Once out of the room Kevej turned to the present company, “I’m popping the kettle on, incidentally, if anyone wants something. I’ll assume a coffee for you, Captain…” he trailed off, allowing people to answer before hobbling off back to the mess.

---

When he got there the situation was somewhat better than he’d thought. Logic dictated any breakable crockery on a ship like this had long since been smashed and disposed of, so at least everything had bounced. Kev hoped the crew didn’t mind eating with dented bowls and bent forks. He filled the kettle and started pouring hot water into the sink, so he could start sanitising the scattered utensils.

The pain was certainly far from pleasant as he bent over, but so long as he made sure to use his good shoulder and to bend at the knees, so as to keep pressure from his ribs, he’d be fine.

Teg heard the drums. She had heard them before. She knew them. She knew the chanting that accompanied the drums. Ancient Terra. Earth. The Great Plains. She'd fucked up again. She knew it. She'd been shot. Sloppy. Very sloppy. She was annoyed. She was better than that. She didn't want to die. Not yet.

The horse stopped in front of her and Teg peered up at the rider. He was silent, but she could see the faint outlines of a smile beneath the bone white war paint that obscured his features. Teg had to admit the feathers in his hair did look pretty cool. She was less into the beads. Jewelry was dumb. The crow that sat on his shoulder cawed loudly at Teg. It sounded like laughter. It sounded like it was mocking her. Teg felt a sudden urge to punch the covid.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I fucked up. No need to be snippy about, you dick."

"CAW, CAW!"

"So what's the deal, you boys here to take me to the bright light?"

The rider shook his head slowly from side to side but didn't reply and instead pointed towards the crow. A more balanced, perhaps sane mercenary would have questioned the hallucination generated by neurons on the verge of death, but Teg didn't. She had expected Valhalla to be a little bit snowier, but she'd settle for a desert. Even if she really, really hated sand. It always got everywhere. The crow watched Teg carefully. She could tell it was judging her. She could feel its beady little black eyes as they stared right into her soul. She hated the crow already. Teg didn't notice her own hand reaching reflexively for where her extra gun would have been, strapped flush against the small of her back. But the crow did and he glared maliciously at Teg as she pulled at air. She didn't have her guns. Not in whatever place she was in.

Teg sighed, if she couldn't shoot the bird she'd have to talk. Nodding in the direction of the crow, she rolled her eyes with practiced ease, "Alright bird, I guess you're the talker. What's the deal here? If you didn't notice I'm pretty busy dying. I don't have time to chat with you about shiny objects or whatever it is you care about."

"CAW!"

"No, I couldn't just have shot that last pirate. I don't have eyes in the back of my head."

"CAW."

"Yeah, well if you think you can do better how about you go back instead of me? If you're such a bad-ass why are you here? You fucking bird brained asshole."

"CAW, CAW."

"YEAH! So what! That's not my problem."

"Caw!"

“I don’t care about any interstellar maps! How many times do I have to tell you!” Teg shouted, unwilling to let the corvid have the last word. She didn’t have time to respond before her world turned a new shade of midnight and she fell from the stars.

-------

Teg lurched to life with a pained gasp. Her breath was ragged. She couldn’t breathe. Not enough. The lights were too bright. Her vision was blurry and her eyes burned. She wasn’t crying. She wouldn’t waste time on tears.

The high-pitched alarms and whirring of gears within the medical equipment across the room first caused the Doctor’s attention to snap toward the ruckus, the heart monitor beginning to pulse at a steady time as it should. Kai’s gaze gradually traced its way along the large surgical table where Teg’s body had been laying lifeless, and noticed the subtle movements of bother her mouth and chest as air began to fill her lungs once again.

"S’tragotha..." The Ithlo -his eyes wider than normal this time- mumbled the exclamatory curse under his breath, unsure of just what was going on. “It can’t be.” He all but flew across the room to the bedside, where the mercenary’s body was going through convulsions as the need for air became greater. The Doctor wasted no time pulling the oxygen mask down from the ceiling and quickly placing the device over her nose and mouth, allowing for a controlled amount of breathing to naturally occur.

"Miss Taggart." Kai refrained from any hysterics, as wasn’t in his nature, but there was still an urgency in the tone of his voice. “Breath slowly, and do not get up.” If things were, in fact, beginning to move toward the positive for Teg’s condition, then the necessary protocols were to be in place to ensure her blood pressure and heart rate would optimize.

"I will not lose you again, Corinna." He whispered, surprised that he had used her first name, a name never uttered by him or anyone he knew since their meet. Regardless, he continued flipping switches on various consoles and monitoring her vitals as her body began to awaken.

"Kai," Teg said, rasping from beneath the oxygen mask, beckoning him closer with the weak wave of a hand. She waited until he leaned in closer before she grabbed ahold of the label of his shirt and pulled him close, dangerously close, improperly close for a human much less an Ithlo. "I need a drink."

Captain Maria Thorne

---

"Be nice, Ansgar," Maria told the engineer. She was about to continue when the "tin man" himself walked in and asked her where their new pilot was.
"You'll probably find her in engineering. It's down the hall on the other side of the cargo bay."

"Great! Thanks. Er, captain." The big android turned to go and then turned around again, holding a finger up.
"She uh... mostly fixed my arm as you can see - so I'll head back down to the cargo bay when I'm done and help clean up the mess as I promised. Are those crates stacked in any particular order, by the way?"

"They're labeled into groups for specific clients. Assuming the labels are all still attached, it shouldn't be too hard to sort them into those groups again."

"Great! I'll go ahead and start moving those then."
This time he turned around and actually left the room in search of the cyborg.

Persephone

---

Persephone was, as the captain predicted, in the engine room appearing to be fiddling with different dials and settings on a projected screen. If she noticed Cyrus approaching, it didn't register on her face. She seemed to be very deep in thought. Furrowed eyebrows and a frown were what adorned her frankly depressed looking face, and she didn't look up when he approached.

"Knock knock," came the android's synthesized voice in the doorway as he entered engineering. He invited himself a seat on the floor against the nearby wall.
"You ran off before I could thank you."

Perse jumped a bit at the sudden intrusion, but quickly smiled when she saw who it was and straightened her posture somewhat.
"Oh, hi there. Don't mention it. Just don't overwork your gears until I can sit you down at a proper computer and fix your coding. I'll even update your data banks with what's happened in the last three hundred years for your people."

"Oh, hah... My brain doesn't work like that. It's basically the same as yours! I can't just plug information into it. Man though if I could... wouldn't that be something? I could learn every language imaginable! Oh and I'd be a genius at math. Imagine!"
He chortled at the idea.
"But no, I had to spend the normal number of years struggling through school just like everybody else. Man, those were the days... I liked my college classes! Well, more than getting shot at on battlefronts anyway."

Her eyebrows rose. Was it possible that mess of coding in his system had been... Intentional?
"Humans create odd things..." she muttered.
"That's very odd. I mean not that I'm complaining, I like different things, but it's... Yeah. Odd. So you learn the same way that humans do? That seems a bit inefficient."

"Oh it is, but apparently some of my predecessors became like mad geniuses and super-intellectual-criminal-dudes and since we don't exactly have killswitches... you can imagine why that was a bad thing. So, we all have these noggins," he balled one hand in a fist and tapped the side of his head, "and some kind of morality processor. I'm not sure how that works but it somehow randomly generates the kind of personality each of us gets and it somehow linked to thought processes and a doohicky that does something with moods and - honestly I don't have the slightest idea how it all works but, yeah. So that's why my brain looks so complicated to you. Because it is. About as complicated as yours. Or the average human, anyway. It's kind of ingenious if you think about it. It'd be a lot simpler to give me the mastermind brain."

"Honestly," She agreed. "To me it looks like pure chaos up there, which I suppose is on brand for a brain. Mine can certainly get pretty chaotic."
She turned back to the screen, talking as she plotted their course towards the glao port the captain had told her about.
"I'm glad you're doing well though. I imagine the captain will put you to work in no time. She seems uh... Very... How do I put this delicately... Nah it's not coming to me. But she seems like she is- INDUSTRIOUS! That's the word I was looking for!"

"Industrious huh? Well I suppose the boss lady would have to be to run a rig like this. Are we really in space? What a time to be alive... You know, do you have any idea why this place looks so wrecked? When I er... woke up, it seemed like disaster had just struck."

"Oh, right! You have no idea what's going on."
Persephone had forgotten about this little detail. Between everything that had happened that day, filling in poor Cyrus had fallen through the cracks a bit, but thankfully she could rectify that situation now.
"Basically, pirates. I'm not a member of this crew, I was flying in the little fighter you saw in the cargo hold when I heard these guys about to fight over the comm waves, and decided to help out. Scared off the pirates, some of them boarded, they're now in the custody of the captain, and somehow in all of that something happened and woke you up."

"Huh. Wow. We have pirates in the future? Space pirates, no less. Pirates back on Earth were more interested in bootlegging movies or illegally downloading MP3s..."

"MP-what? You know, nevermind. I'm not sure I wanna know. But yes pirates exist. The crew seems to have takedn quite a hit too. Lost their pilot."

"MP3s. You know, songs? Wait - are there no MP3s in the future?? How am I supposed to listen to music now???"

"I don't even know what an MP3 is," She replied, giving him a weird look. "Was it type of file or something? I know humans used to use files to store their data. Terribly outdated system, really. No one downloads things anymore. Data is automatically transferred to ships and the computers on board, so unless you have a super secret server where you keep everything hidden, there's just... No need to download anything."

"Yeah, MP3s are sound files, but WAV is better. Just, MP3s are more common - or used to be..."
He looked slightly dejected that he wouldn't be able to use MP3 players.
Then, he looked confused.
"Wait that's impossible. You can't just transmit data to computers without the data being in some kind of file format. Do you mean to tell me you guys transmit everything in raw binary? Do you know how long that would take? Me neither but the point is it has to be in some kind of package for it to transmit efficiently... Right? I mean I'm not great with computers or anything but that's kinda why we have files in the first place...?"

"They're... Not what you understand to be files. It's kind of a mix between binary and files? Keep in mind that this math is thousands of years ahead of your own technology- no offense. It's just a fact."

"I - yeah okay whatever. Can I still listen to music?"

"Yes, you can still listen to music."

"Great! Well, the boss lady needs me to help sort out the mess in the cargo hold. After that I might get a sandwich. I'll see you around, doc. Take it easy." He stood up, picking dirt off his shoulder, and gave her a little wave before ducking out of engineering.

Captain Maria Thorne

---

As the android skittered out of the room Maria sat on one of the empty medical beds, elbows on her knees, face in her hands. Her voice was somewhat muffled as it came through.

"I don't know exactly why the android came to life, but something in the fight woke him up. Push comes to shove I'll shoot him if he causes trouble. He's an antique, so I can't imagine he has any employers to be a spy for anymore. Not to mention he can help clean up and take one more thing off of our plate. As for the pink ithlo, she's a pilot, and she saved our asses. In case you're unaware, our pilot is dead now, Teg is hurt badly, and so is Kev. 42% of my crew is out of commission. So if you don't mind, I'm going to take all the help I can get to get to the damned port and deliver this cursed cargo."

The captain's voice wasn't aggressive, just exhausted. She was doing her best to keep running because the gods knew they didn't need the captain out of commission as well, but at the moment she was simply answering and running on autopilot. She didn't pay much attention to what was going on. Kai rushed off somewhere then breezed through again, and she heard some voices talking. The only thing she registered was "I need a drink."

"Yeah, me too, Teg," she replied.

...

Wait a second.

"Teg?" The captain bolted up from her seat, jostled out of her dazed state by the realization that their mercenary was conscious, and flew over to the woman's bedside. "By the gods... Are you alright? We thought you were dead! Doctor what's her status?"

"Medical attention? You've got dead and dying on your tables, worry about them first. Triage ain't a word for your kind?" Any electrical damage that had gotten through his protective clothing, possibly concussive as well given the explosions he'd been near recently, paled in comparison to the condition of those who actually needed help in here. That was his way of saying no, he wasn't submitting to medical fiddling until pretty much directly ordered to. Of course, things always could get worse as the fookin' tin man decided to show up right then and there and start mouthing off about not having any actual tin inside him. Wisely, the deadpan death glare that the man was giving the machine right now ceased that line of talking. He was distracted by Kev declaring that it was time for him to leave and go clean up his mess. His expression softened slightly, from completely pissed to moderately irritated, when the man joking addressed him.

"You'll forgive me for not being in a joking mood, if any of those pirates are alive and I get my hands on them, I have every intent of beating them unconscious for every hour of work it takes fixing this ship. I won't have bastarding no lifes putting holes in m...our ship. I'll need a lot of drugs for that, to keep them alive, Doc. Also nothing for me, I have real work to do." There wasn't a joking tone in Ansgar's tone of voice right now, he was deathly serious that, he ever gets his hands on the pirates who attacked them, they'd be praying for a Judge to simply execute them. Having addressed the empty, hanging statement, he was paused by the Captain chiding him on being nice and reminding him that the tool mooching pink Ithlo was, apparently, going to fly them to the port. Well, he prayed to whatever God came through with them that that would at least go well.

Imagine his shock when, of all people, Teg revived and was all but swarmed by both the captain and doc. The man stared and shook his head in low disbelief. Able to revive the dead, apparently, what a universe they found themselves in. "How about you get Teg a drink instead of swamping her after coming back from Mr. Grim's parlor? I'd offer something of my own stash, but....Oh. IF THOSE FUCKERS BROKE MY STASH, I SWEAR I WILL PERSONALLY HUNT THEM DOWN."

The suddenly royally irate mechanic bolted from the med bay, storming down the way towards the engine room, having seethed through gritted teeth and stormed into the engine room, all but radiating pure rage. He stomped back to a corner, grabbing a fallen plate that, well, should have been lifted using mechanical assistance to avoid possible personal injury, and with a groan it was hauled up and slammed to the side. After some digging and more cursing, he produced an undamaged bottle and sighed in relief before stashing it away and spinning on heel, grabbing his tools again and glaring at the pink Ithlo for a few moments.

"Don't go fiddling with stuff outside that control panel, I won't have you shorting something out from not understanding the design layout." Despite the rather abruptness of the statement, anyone with a lick of social skills could see he was at least making the vague attempt to reign in his temper and general irritation when addressing Perse. He then, while the engines were going full blast, started clambering up into the guts of the engine itself, without the slightest regard for what was considered common safety practice to, well, shut down an engine or at least have it idling before crawling in to begin inspecting and applying repairs. But not Ansgar, oh no, he couldn't leave well enough alone even if it tried to bribe him.

---

---

The mercenary’s vitals spring to life on various readouts, and the sound of her heart rate normalizing based on the beeping patterns of the machine had become music to the Ithlo’s ears. He still couldn’t believe what he was seeing regardless, and the reasoning behind her suddenly awakening was even further beyond his understanding. Had there, in fact, been celestial bodies at work, watching over the fallen woman, toiling in their own time to repair that which seemed to be hopeless? Science, technology, and decades of medical knowledge just didn’t prepare anyone for such-

“Miracles...” Kai’mos muttered under his breath, gazing in awe at the human who should have passed into the realm of the dead, but once again, surprised us all.

The Captain’s question took a moment to register with the Doctor, as he almost wasn’t listening to anyone or anything around him, however he had to snap away from the reverie he had found himself in to actually continue his work. “Miss Taggart’s vitals are registering on the positive, Captain, and brain activity is resuming a normal pattern, as is heart rate, breathing, and blood flow. It is as if-”

Kai paused for a moment, still processing the ordeal himself, but at the same time, ecstatic inside his own mind. “It is as though her human biological ‘system’ is rebooting.” The Doctor glanced at Maria for a moment, cocking his head as though unable to really describe it any other way, and then moved his attention to the very alive patient lying on the table.

“Miss Taggart, you may be feeling some dizziness, but the Captain and I can help you sit up, which should alleviate the light-headedness.” He said, dabbing the bit of sweat from the woman’s forehead with a cloth. “I think you will be okay.” The Doctor said with a hopeful expression in his eyes and a genuine smile on his lips, a smile which he had not shown much of since joining the Veritas. “Your physiological make-up is much heartier than most humans I have ever come across.” The Doctor said to the other, looking into the woman’s beautiful eyes for the first time in what seemed like forever. “But perhaps you knew this already.”

Kai’s attention turned to the readouts momentarily, noticing her vitals wavering but then normalizing once again. “In the meantime, I would suggest you hold off on any alcohol consumption and take things easy until you are at one hundred percent.”