---

---

Oh lord. I should have not drunk so much. Oh, I hope the kids aren't already here. These were the thoughts of the drunken doctor as he slowly rouse from his drunken stupor. He slowly rose from his bed as he stretched. As his voice rang out, "Lights, on". The moment he said this, the lights came on to show his clean well kept room with a long metal desk filled with medical instruments, toxicology supplies, and his leftovers from last night, which he wolfs down before he heads over to the closet.

He rubs his eyes as he opens up his closet, he lightly says to himself, "Note to self: Even if a Kaisoken had arms and legs, they still cannot drink". Millard continues his routine as he takes a black long-sleeve and puts it on, then his thick jeans afterward. As he stretches again he sees he left himself something as a pick me up, a thermos. He checked what was inside as he took a long swig, "Oh…that's just cold coffee". He shrugged as he continued on with his day.

He grabbed his coat and put both of his hands through and allows the coat to fall. He adjusts his body as he tugs on different parts to make sure the coat fits well as he started grabbing his gear. He puts his omni tool on his forearm and quickly calibrates it, as he makes sure he has his spare needles, all of the systems are running, and lastly his vitals are all accounted for. Once that was done he opened up his drawer, there it held his gun, his knife, and the most important of all, his cigarettes'. He had a small smile as he started taking each, placing his gun and knife into nice little holsters made into the coat, and then he takes his box of cigarettes and places them into a pocket above his heart in the coat. Now feeling all set, he heads to the door of his room, where he puts on his penguin slippers as he opens the door and starts heading out. Knowing that Natasha would take the kids to the little conference room.

=---=The Doctor is in=---=

Millard came in from the door that is a few feet away from everybody, as he quietly opened the door to see if anybody was using this room. And sure enough, there were people here. Millard spent 30 seconds scanning the people as then he knew what he was dealing with, as he stood straight up and adjusted himself. Gotta make a good entrance Millard. Kids like cool people right?

Millard opened up the door in a very smooth manner as he stepped in as he had a smoke in his mouth and a thermos in the other. He said in a nonchalant manner as he started heading over to where Natasha was standing, "Sorry I was late. Was doing some last-second stuff". Once he came over to the side of Natasha, he gestured to her if she wanted a sip from the thermos as he looked back over to the children in front of him. He said with a small smile on his face, "Ah hello, I'm Dr. Millard, I'm the medical professional of this ship". He held his small smirk as he took a puff from his cigarette as he looked on to the kids, 'Fuck is that one as big as Abaddon?' was the first thing that came to mind as he looked at Tarak. 'So that's a kid?', was the only idea that came to his mind, as he also thought, 'Oh I don't think I have enough bandages for whenever he gets hurt', he chuckled in his head as he waited because the introductions are beginning, well probably already going. Millard just hopes he isn't too far in to not catch the names of the kids.

@Letter Bee

Success! There was still quite an unreasonable timer on the omni-tool, but sometimes it takes baby steps to reach your ultimate goals. Narvia looked relieved (if a little red in the cheeks), and Ariel was content with that.

“It certainly is a step forward. Let’s give it a look later tonight.”

The arms shop was making bank from that discount, looking at the amount of gear and weaponry that the group was buying up. The blades and firearms and tools, both melee and ranged, conventional and exotic — was that an anti-materiel rifle? Really, Tarak? — totalled up to one hefty bill. Ariel wondered if it wasn’t a little excessive as the group of remilitarised Star Marines continued on their way to the Moonstrike vessel.

The Xuanzang looked not much different from a regular cargo transport. Ariel was hardly an expert, though; no doubt it had some surreptitious modifications, just hidden enough to pass casual inspection. Souped-up engines, concealed weapons, advanced cloaking systems and what not: or at least, that was what the space operas said. Judging by the fancy armoured car Natasha had sent out just now, it wasn’t too far-fetched an assumption to make.

Guided by said woman, the group’s entry into what looked like a meeting room marked the beginning of a whole round of greetings and introductions. As the others said their hellos, Ariel took the chance to have a good look at the ship and her captain.

Natasha looked like a bit like the rugged but free-spirited sort. Was it the haircut, or the eyes? Perhaps it was a combination of both, or the way she had wholeheartedly approved of and participated in Ashton’s unchecked trading spree earlier. The ship was practically immaculate, though that could very well be nothing more than the work of some automated drones, given the ship’s small crew. The captain deserved an ‘A’ for presentation all the same.

A little lull in the air indicated that it was time to speak. “Hello, nice to meet you all! My name is Ariel, Ariel Sin. Like Navi, I’m from the inner Solar System. I’m not as good at fighting or magic as everyone else, but I’ll be giving all I’ve got!”

An older man wandered in around then. From that coat, he must have been the ship’s medical officer…

“Ah.”

Even after inadvertently voicing her surprise, Ariel tried not to stare at the little coffin nail in the man’s hand, or the puffs of grey disease in particulate form wafting from his mouth. Staring would be rude, after all. It was easier said than done, though, and she found her disapproving gaze drawn to Dr Millard’s cigarette over and over again.

Seeing the doctor smoke kind of undermined his credibility a bit. Especially since it was one of the old-fashioned cigarettes — of all the myriad ways to feed an addiction, that had to be one of the worst. Even with nanomedicine mitigating the worst of the health effects, it was still unsightly at best. Sure, there were all the psychological and socioeconomic factors that contributed to the habit, but still…

Ariel stuck her hand out, palm open and facing upwards, as if expectantly waiting for the doctor to hand something over.

---

---

Doctor Millard's eyes were looking softly around. Inspecting each of the kids and getting a general idea of each of them. Some health defects he could see at first glance, any that could be a sign of one or even ones that could be hard to see. Yet his eyes landed on a girl looking at him with some serious intent. He looked at her and had a small smile on his face as she continued to look at him, it felt slightly awkward.

Millard wasn't sure if she was really interested in him or what, but the staring was strange. Yet he noticed what she was looking at, his cigarette slumped as he looked at her with a bit of surprise. It took a few moments for him to fully understand what she was asking, but he got it after a few moments of backtracking. He chuckled slightly as he took the cigarette from his mouth as he puts it out by squashing the tip onto Abaddon's arm and twisting it, afterwards he wipes away any of the ash left. Once Millard finished that, he opened his jacket to take out the box of cigarettes' and places the half-used one in as he leans forward and placed the box into Ariel's hand as he said, "Sorry about that Madam". As he gave a little head tilt and fully erected himself.

Millard acted calm, while on the inside he was thinking, Okay, note to self. They might not be too keen on my smoking. I should relegate that to my room, at least then I get to keep my smokes. He watched on otherwise, taking note that he should not have Ariel anywhere near his room as she would probably be able to smell the smoke if she was keen to her senses.

@samakama

Ashton and Flame

Ashton and Flame introduced themselves as well, with Ashton saying he's a close combat specialist and Flame saying he was a marksman...

Natasha Zhang

A few eye-blinks as Natasha saw that the 'Star Marine' named Avelyn was a mind-reader. That ought to be useful, as well as a source of anxiety for her as, well, she valued her privacy. Either way, it seemed as though some members of the group were disappointed by how there wasn’t a fight today, so it was best to drop the bombshell. She cleared her throat further and spoke, “Either way, now that we’ve all gathered here, it is time to get in contact with Moonstrike One and ask her for our mission briefing. Any objections?”

A few seconds of waiting, and then Natasha pressed a button on the table’s edge, a button which turned on the holographic projector at the center of the meeting room table. As it lit up with soft blue-white light, the projector displayed a symbol of a moon and two crossed longswords shaped like an ‘X’ underneath.

"This is Moonstrike's symbol," Natasha said. "Kinda fancy, isn't it?"

A voice, clearly female, but modulated to be more artificial, then sounded from the holographic symbol - Natasha still found that eerie and suspected that 'Moonstrike One' had seen too many old-style (and thus censored) Space Opera films. Either way, it was time to suppress her skeptical sense of humor (as she saw it) so that she and her crew can finally receive their first mission.

"Ahem," 'Moonstrike One' said, "As I was saying, greetings to all of you, Star Marine and Freedom Fighter both. I am glad you have chosen to join us to fight for the freedom and liberty of all Humanity against the stifling hand of the Ascendancy and its tyranny. Now, as many of you are eager for your first mission, let me jump straight to it so that we can finally start your part in the struggle for freedom."

The display changed to a planet with two vast supercontinents, very few mountains, and vast green plains. "This is the world of Agri-World of Plenty, a planet once dedicated to producing foodstuffs for the Ascendancy of Man, but which has now rebelled due to the higher taxes imposed by the President-for-Life. We have been providing the rebels with salvaged weaponry from 'lost' Ascendancy arsenals from the recently-concluded War, including crude surface-to-orbit cannons, as well as more sophisticated prototype vehicles like the Kirin - The Xuanzang's ground vehicle. This has been having an effect in cutting off the flow of food to the Ascendancy military -"

Ashton and Flame

Ashton raised his hand and said, "Moonstrike One, forgive me for interrupting, but I notice you didn't mention the civilian impact - Is there any?"

Flame said, "If there is any, you don't have to sugarcoat it - We're soldiers, after all."

Moonstrike One continued, simply nonplussed, "There are many Agri-Worlds dedicated to civilian production. Food is being diverted from there to the Core while the Frontier Worlds are largely self-sufficient, including Natasha's own Qingdao."

Flame nodded and said coldly, "We'll take your word for it."

Ashton, meanwhile, looked at Nero, knowing full well the other boy would be exasperated at this interruption. So he said in turn, "We have no more questions, yes."

"Thank you," Moonstrike One continued. "Either way, there is a Prison Ship called the Circle of Hell which has been brought down over the planet of Plenty. In that Prison ship lies one of our members, a Renegade AI called Realist, and we must retrieve him from the Prison Ship's crash site - In Peanuthaven, one of the few hilly regions of the planet - Before the Ascendancy sends a team to retrieve him. And so, that is your first mission - The reward for retrieving Realist is another hundred million dollars in addition to your regular salaries of 20,000 galactic credits every week, and yes, we do know about your recent financial transactions."

Natasha Zhang

"We have free choice as to what route to take, then?" Natasha asked Moonstrike One. She then faced the 'Star Marines' and her fellow crewfolk, and said, "Because if so, I'd like to pick the shortest route to Plenty possible - The Garden Route."

The Garden Route led to the planet of Maiden's Reach, a planet whose flora and fauna was so beautiful that 'collectors' from all over Ascendancy Space would come over to pick flowering trees and shrubs and exotic pets. While Maiden's Reach didn't have Wyverns, it did have Psuedo-wolves, noble canine creatures that oozed an intoxicating perfume from their pores and whose teeth can tear through meta-material plastics and metals.

"Maybe we can 'poach' a few 'Big Dogs' on the way..." she muttered.

Ashton and Flame

Ashton noted, "What's the long route, then? And why is it so inconvenient?"

"Yes," Flame said, "We need to know all our options - And in my understanding, the short route is also the most dangerous one precisely because it's so short. I mean, poachers could be waiting for us near Maiden's Reach, right?"

Natasha Zhang

Natasha gave it some thought and said, "There's a longer route to Plenty, but I heard there are more ships - Traders and a few military folk, mostly - Passing through it for some reason. I don't know why, which in turn is a mystery."

She sighed and said, "So, which way do you all want to go? And would you like to ignore the 'safe route' as I do?"

@Letter Bee@Th3King0fChaos@The Man Emperor@Landaus Five-One@FalloutJack@Conscripts@dragonpiece@Starlance@supertinyking@samakama

It was funny, Laurey hadn’t imagined heaven to look like, well, a bright light. It was so, cliche, wasn’t it? Bleep. It was like people said it was, and things were never how people said they were. Never. Bleep. Was that what made heaven special? Special, special, special, special...

Bleep.

And it smelled so good. Mmm mmm. Like curry. Bleep.

If somebody could just turn that stupid -

Laurey tumbled out of her bunk. Her head smacked something and lights burnt holes into her brain.

“Fuck!” She muffled her scream into the crook of her elbow. “Fuck.”

Bleep.

Her omnitool fired its siren into her ears. God, had they burst? She patted her ears and checked her fingertips for blood. Nothing. Just pain. Always pain.

Bleep.

Oh yeah, right. She dismissed the summons from Natasha and pulled herself up, promptly spilling the bowl of curried noodles she’d been unconsciously cradling all down her top. For a moment she just stood there. The only top she had, well, the only one she could wear, covered in a bright orange stain. She had to laugh.

It was then she spied a small mound of Bliss on her footlocker, angel-blue. It winked at her.

No, god, pull yourself together Laurey, day two on the job and you’re already zonked. Shit’s no good. How long had she been like that? It was always so hard to tell, once you went over the edge. But god did it feel good, to finally have some peace...

The summons!

Laurey batted the solid portions of her meal from her shirt and said sod it to the stain. She had no idea how long she’d left her new captain waiting. The memo said “meeting room”. She clomped out her cabin, curried noodles splayed like some intestinal parasite, forgotten on the floor.

In the corridor leading to the meeting room Laurey hung back, hearing voices. She was in time to see the good doctor hand a packet of cigarettes to a child. Jeeze, there were a lot of children. Something came back to Laurey. 'Child Spetnaz Magi'. What was it?

“Think,” she muttered, ramming her palm into her head in frustration.

Her mind focussed and cut through the haze like a tight band of plasma through someone’s skull, except without the smell of vaporised brain and crisp flesh. The child soldiers Natasha had told her about, her main reason for being at the Galactic Bazaar. They didn’t look like much, but since when had looks ever been a good judge. The huge Kaisoken with a fondness for hammers and swords was the ship’s ‘electrician’. Laurey needed more data on that one.

A jolt of hormones tingled through Laurey’s chest when Moonstrike’s insignia holo’d up. Finally.

The decision seemed clear to Laurey; whilst mysteries demanded attention, it was questionable how much substance was behind this one. Traffic changed, trade organizations bent to the market. It didn’t interest her. The chance to come into conflict with a few poachers though? Laurey wasn't a violent person, but neither was she wasn’t opposed to letting karma sort itself out.

Yet it was the rogue AI that sent her mind calculating.

There were no shadows, thanks to the ship’s near omnipresent lighting, so Laurey was plainly visible, just resting against the wall, relying only on their attention being elsewhere to go unnoticed. She felt some of that same excited bloom in her chest as she waited to hear what her new crewmates had to say.

The introduction of the other ’Star Marines’ went through the usual prerogatives by after she would be Tarak, Iris, and Samuel the adorable twins, the blunt to the point Nero, and Ariel. It did make her smile happily when hearing Ariel says her nickname, giving her a giggle slightly. The one thing that did take her off guard was that Ariel is also from the inner Solar System of where Earth and Mars are. ” Oh, that’s nice, Ariel. Hehe...” She spoke with a happy smile and giggled slightly mostly because she likes hearing her nickname. Her godfather gave her, and it's better to hold it close to her chest over anything. However, an interesting person entered the room, which was the Doctor of the ship.

Narvia did notice the same thing that Ariel noticed; it was the smoking. However, she did also notice his really adorable penguin slippers. If anything, the only type of slippers she have are bunny slippers. In a small sigh, she did kind of look at Dr. Millard after he put away his cigarettes and called Ariel madam. ” It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Millard. But weirdly enough, my godfather Nikolas R. Zahrin had a similar bad habit. My name is Narvia F. Hadley, by the way.” She spoke with disdain with cigarettes, and in her tone of voice, she emphasized had. If anything, she basically made her godfather quit because she was near him most of the time in the Dragon’s Brigade Fleet. The one thing that Nikolas couldn’t beat was the sentiment of his goddaughter’s resolve in getting him to quit, which was the only defeat he has ever gotten. However, it would mean the doctor would have to be careful around her too. The last two to introduce themselves were Ashton and Flame, but that’s okay.

It took her a bit off guard by what came; next, it was a briefing of what Moonstrike One wanted them to do. In the back of her mind, Moonstrike One came off as a bit of a bitch by ignoring Ashton and Flame. However, it made sense why the modulated woman’s voice did that, which was the true goal in recovering an AI called Realist. In terms of Narvia, she had never had to deal with artificial intelligence before because the Dragon’s Brigade Fleet never had one. There was a choice of two routes: the Garden Route and the other is a long distance to the same planet of Plenty. It was obvious that one thing outright annoyed her: poachers and she came from the Dragon’s Brigade Fleet that never once done that either. Because Nikolas R. Zahrin’s Brigade's moral high ground had, it isn’t honorable to take creatures from their homeworld. However, there is a choice for them to pick, but she noticed someone leaning on the wall. ”Hi, Lady. How long have you been leaning there for?” She spoke, greeting the woman who was leaning there.

Narvia sighed at the entire thing that was frustrating her, which route to pick. If Nikolas were here, he would pick specifically things; it would be the route with the least enemies. However, the shortest route and the longest route had several factors that could be enemies on either path. Poachers are a definite pain in the ass to her, but running into a contingency of Ascendancy would be just as bad. It’s what Nikolas told her to go with what you think is best, but please stay alive. ” I’m a bit sorry if I am emulating my godfather a bit… It would be better to ignore the Garden route. Since the Garden route is really the fastest route and not truly the safest route. But, input would be nice from everyone else...” She spoke with a bit of honesty to the whole thing since not all quickest to the destination is truly the safest. It was the one thing Nikolas told her more often than not, so-called ’ safe’ routes can be traps.

_{@samakama@jdh97@Letter Bee@Th3King0fChaos}

---

---

Abaddon hopped out of Kirin and had Mirrorshard follow him to his chambers. All Abaddon could hope was that Millard and Laurey were still in their rooms or Mirrorshard's life would come to a very abrupt end. Luckily for Mirrorshard, they seemed to have slept through literally all of the alarms. Honestly, Abaddon considered Millard might have passed to the great beyond after last night's drinking. He didn't understand why he would challenge a Kaisoken to a drinking game but it was very fun to stay and watch him dance in his speedo after the 17th shot of whiskey. Well, whatever the case, he better be up for the introductions.

Abaddon welcomed Mirrorshard into his room, letting him enter before himself so that he may take the room in. The walls were lined with shelves that housed various weapons and items of cultural significance. A large carpet covered the floor. The carpet was of rauve make, the outside edges were a bluish-green that shifts into blue then purple is it races the center. Against the north wall, towards the center, sat some sort of shrine. On closer inspections, it was bits and pieces of previously shattered Kaisoken. Each piece displayed the name of the Kaisoken. There was only about 30 or so but to a Kaisoken it was easy to tell that they were all from separate worlds. The amount of death being openly shown filled Mirrorshard with a new kind of feeling. One of true fear that and one of admiration if his master's work.

Mirrorshard, lost in thought, was snapped out of his trance as Abaddon forced him to take a seat on the floor by pressing him down. Mirrorshard could swear he was overpowered with just a light touch of his master. Abaddon leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. Abaddon could see the fear festering in Mirrorshard with every moment that went by. He let Mirrorshard steep in this fear as he watched him slowly squirm under his gaze. After enjoying himself enough, Abaddon picked himself off the wall and began to explain his plans, leaving certain pieces unexplained to create mystery. At the end of this talk, Abaddon left Mirrorshard with only one command, "Go to the far reaches of the stars and stoke the flames of the oppressed, of the disenfranchised, of the wounded. Do this and they are sure to follow you. Now go my disciple." Abaddon opened the door to let him leave. Mirrorshard made his exit.

Once Abaddon had confirmation he had left the ship he let out, "Thank fucking god he's gone, I swear if I needed to do anymore I was going to shatter him." he said like he was exhausted. Abaddon perked himself up at the prospect of new arrivals and thought he should make lemon bars for them. It wasn't long until the kinslayer was making lemon bars in his personal apron. He thought to himself as he made the snack, I'll hide these in one of the larger draws. Get a read on the kids before offering the lemon bars. Hopefully, this will go well. Abaddon made enough for 60 people, go big or go home in his mind. He stacked them decoratively on a silver platter and hid them in the room. Now to wait for the little rebels.

As the little trouble makers came in Abaddon out of habit began to examine them. Their structure, equipment, movement, and even the slightest mannerism was added to his analysis. This intensive profiling was broken as Natasha called Abaddon a limbed Kaisoken...I feel so offended. I know it is a description but why that? Abaddon's posture stayed the same but he was a bit annoyed.

He noticed Finbarr laughing at the limbed Kaisoken comment and he became a little more okay with it as it got someone to laugh. Then, he immediately got irritated when he heard Finbarr had portals. He recalled the time he was launched through a portal into a freaking volcano. He is quite happy to see him as a comrade. Not sure if the vent thing was a love of covert ops or some sort of weird innuendo. Either way, Abaddon likes him.

After Finbarr, Avelyn introduced herself as a gravity manipulator. Abaddon found her display of skill interesting but what caught his attention was her suspicion of him. Maybe it was his name, his race, or even his beautiful jacket. Abaddon world rather her gaze than whatever Mirrorshard was doing.

Positive reactions to himself already left him a little put-off, definitely with how Natasha introduced him. But as she spoke that she was the granddaughter of the Dragon, Abaddon realized she was from a very peculiar origin. Hearing Narvia's desperation to reunite with her family struck a chord with Abaddon. He can only hope the answers she finds at the end of her journey spares any further pain.

Tarak was a big guy and the way he walked made him seem competent in a fight. Seeing power armor once again reminds him of his days gathering dust with some of the mercenaries who would take the job. His smile told the rest of the story. He thinks they will get along well.

The twins, Samuel and Iris, made Abaddon reminiscent of his twin brother Floke. Not in any particular way, just in the way of seeing family made him for a second question his choices. But he quickly hardens his resolve and moves on.

Nero was next and he was very simple. He kills and that's it. All Abaddon could think as he heard that was, ooh, he's dark and damaged. I like him. I mean of course Abaddon was much more damaged but still. Maybe he can have some fun with him.

At this point the doctor made his entrance, smoking like usual. However, that stopped real quick as Ariel shut it down. He couldn't help but laugh in his head at being told off by a little girl. As he was laughing he felt something hot twisting on his arm. Abaddon looked down at it, physically turning his head. He turned back to everyone like this was normal. A second went by. Then Abaddon turned back to it, startled at Millard's audacity. He sent a message to Millard's mind, well, no lemon bars for you doctor. But it all leads to the wonderful sight of him handing his cigarettes over.

And somehow even later, Laurey arrived. Abaddon's knowledge of her was so little he didn't even know her last name. He did think she was on drugs so more interesting than most people

Ashton and Flame made a quick introduction. Not much to say about it. Abaddon's hands moved to his back to start pulling the lemon bars out. But then Natasha started the Moonstrike thing and it ruined the moment. He just listened, either option is fine to him but killing poachers would be fun. They talked more about logistics but it was boring to Abaddon. But finally, there was a moment, a gap in speaking for him to pull out the lemon bars! "Anyone want lemon bars?" gesturing to the group of kids.

@Letter Bee@Th3King0fChaos@The Man Emperor@Landaus Five-One@FalloutJack@Conscripts@Starlance@supertinyking@samakama

---

In the dim light of a reserve cargo hold sat a lone figure atop a neat pile of crates. The equally faint glow from an omnitool illuminated a soft pair of lips that turned down into a pout. Displayed on the screens were the individual's companions, almost a dozen in number, and a great view of the shuttle they boarded. The young enhanced human may not have much of a sweet tooth but the skewers of savory meat and vegetables drew their attention and their envy. It could not be smelled from here but the promise of fatty, greasy flavor filled mouthfuls were enough to make Seraphina Leere salivate. The fact that such questionably nutritious things had always been forbidden only made the sinful temptation more potent. For a moment their pale hand hovered over a holographic keypad, the intent to make a request of her comrades. But hesitation drew out too long and certain doubts stayed that hand. She sighed wistfully and slumped against the crate behind her.

Maybe I'll just ask Narvia to make something later. That's bound to be just as delicious and better for me anyway.

Though her self counsel was wise, Phi was having trouble convincing herself. She found herself wondering if her culinary talents included skewers like that. It couldn't be that hard, could it?

Phi relaxed somewhat, watching her new companions where they would allow her to piggyback an omnitool. In particular she watched Avelyn, perhaps the one teammate that made her nervous. But in this case Avelyn's calm reaction to their surroundings put Phi at ease. She had probably scanned nearby minds for threats, so if she didn't raise the alarm then they were probably safe. For now. Truth be told Phi wished she could be with them now. Everyone seemed to be having fun in their own way, enjoying what would probably be the calm before the storm. Phi was long since tired of being isolated from her fellow ex soldiers. Most of her missions had kept her physically apart from others until she was almost starved for connections. And yet she had passed up the chance earlier, opting to safeguard their possessions instead. Despite what she wanted, it felt like there was a gap between them and her. Worse, she couldn't tell if now was the right time to try and bridge that imaginary divide.

During the war she had pretended not to notice but she heard the whispers that she received preferential treatment.

Her musings and insecurities were interrupted by a very tangible and very urgent incident. Ultimately it didn't involve them, but being in the same location as the hijacked shuttle seemed to be enough for the others. If that was the case and even their new captain was mobilizing, Phi hopped off her crate stack and cracked open the secret lock of the largest one. Running through the intel as it came through she readied an automatic shotgun with armor piercing slugs. Kaisoken were hard targets and could not be taken lightly, even if most of these 'restarters' turned out to be softer races.

Restart that nightmare of a war? Like hell we're going to just let that happen. Granted we might be starting our own in the end… I'll sort out my level of hypocrisy later, now there's work to do.

Having reflexively readied herself for action, Phi now paused to consider her next move. Her brow knitted together when she assessed how long it would take to regroup with her teammates. There were several options allowing Phi to double back, but none of them were optimal. Furthermore just exiting the cargo shuttle mid transit would bring other complications. She unconsciously gritted her teeth knowing now she was next to useless, even as far as providing tactical support was concerned. With no small amount of anxiety to suppress Phi sent a simple message to Tarak.

>>>Leere. Cargo shuttle. Standing by.

The cramped hold suddenly felt much more quiet and served to amplify her sense of isolation. She could still see and hear most of what was happening but all she could do was watch.

But it seemed the worst case scenario would not be happening this day, thanks to an uncanny streak of luck and efficient decisions. Watching tensely the entire time Phi let herself breathe a sigh of relief following the more or less peaceful resolution. Letting her muscles relax Phi returned to her crate to place her weapon back in hiding. Though still disappointed in her near uselessness, she had no other complaints about the results.

And with a noisy clamour it seemed the cargo shuttle had reached Captain Zhang's ship. At least she could calm her unsteady heart with the mundane work of cargo transfer now.

Better than nothing.

---

Arriving several minutes late to the meeting, Phi was nonetheless up to date on both introductions and the mission briefing, courtesy of Nero's easily accessed omnitool. Entering the room quietly she found herself skirting around a particularly fragrant woman, who looked like she didn't want anyone near her in the first place. This resulted in her being uncomfortably close to both Avelyn and the source of another acrid smell, Doctor Millard. Bracing herself against these minor discomforts, Phi looked over the small crew in detail, observing the details that didn't come through an omnitool screen very well. The impression she got from each crew member was an odd mix of competence and instability. Of course the same could be said of the 'Star Marines' to be completely honest. Phi quickly decided she didn't dislike this first impression.

Being so focused on analyzing her surroundings and processing cold hard data, a single detail in particular caught the young soldier's attention.

"P-penguins?"

She inadvertently whispered to this one word herself. The cute, fluffy, comfy looking slippers brought a dusting of pink to Phi's pale face. Embarrassed, she angled her face away from as many people as possible, hoping no one had noticed. She stayed like this until her face cooled and she could look others in the eye once more. Clearing her throat she finally added her own soft voice to the deliberation.

"If I may, I think taking the shortest route but skipping any stops along the way would be wisest. Tactically speaking, anyway. Any delays and our AI friend may just end up in the Ascendancy's hands before we arrive. I'm Leere, by the way, but I'd prefer if you called me Phi. It's a pleasure to finally meet you all."

Mm, a bit awkward there but I don't think anyone noticed. Stupid cute slippe- what the hel!?

Previously, Phi had taken the appearance of Abaddon and Mirrorshard well, surprised but there were stranger things in the universe. Stranger things such as said Abaddon revealing a tray of personally baked sweets, and wearing an apron she hadn't noticed with so many bodies in the way. Forget limbs, this stereotypically homey, motherly appearance almost made her jaw drop. And she did have to cover her mouth, or risk rudely laughing out loud. This gesture couldn't conceal the shaking of her shoulders, however.

One of two things happen, Phi finally arrived at the meeting of all things, which she also noticed Phi attention eyed towards the Doctor’s slippers. Besides, her face has definitely had a look of worry on Phi since she was late to the meeting. She giggled slightly towards Phi since she did notice the blushing and was trying to hide it. ” Looks like we both noticed the Doctor’s slippers… they are cute. I want to wear my bunny slippers because of that.” She spoke towards Phi, but she then realizes she embarrassed herself by blurting that out. Her face becomes slightly redder, but the one thing that distracted her from that was the next important thing. Phi’s deduction was pretty sound in not stopping and pushing through to the destination of Plenty. There are more people to involve themselves in the route discussion than just the ones who spoke up.

Narvia got caught completely off guard with what happened next, Abaddon’s appearance, and what he was holding. It was specifically lemon cakes, which were a jaw-dropping moment of all things. She was utterly flabbergasted about this entire thing, but you definitely learn new things about the galaxy like most things. ’W-What… now I thought I had seen everything, but this takes it up a notch of… Don’t ever think my Godfather would believe me unless he knew that Kaiosken could evolve like this and never told me. I wonder what that mission that my godfather gave me says?’ She thought with a definite look mixed with worry and confusion all at the same time. It was written on her face; she didn’t want to refuse an offer of food from basically the ship’s crew and a Kaiosken of all things. ” Yeah, I would love to have one, Abaddon; Lemon Cakes are wonderful.” She spoke, still a bit distracted about the entire appearance, but he’s a definitely unique Kaiosken. If anything, she does love Lemon Cakes; in some cases, they do hit the spot. However, she eyed Phi, who was covering her mouth from laughing since her shoulders were shaking.

_{@Jade Kiyo@dragonpiece}

A funny thing happened while people were introducing themselves. Actually, it was fucking hilarious. You see, a doctor had come into the room and Ariel couldn't stop staring at him. Happened every time the doctor puffed on his cigarette. Finally, she went over to basically demand - in her own way - that he hand the thing over, and...well...cue the barely-held snort-and-guffaw ensemble from Nero. She was kinda' their unofficial medic, since she wasn't exactly a combat expert, so seeing her act that way here and now was just funny as hell. He laughed out loud a bit when the doctor actually gave her the smokes!

Oh my god, that's priceless!

He was still chortling somewhat when Natasha spoke up, saying she was gonna contact the big boss of their rebellion if nobody had anything more to bring up. It finally stifled once Moonstrike One went 'Ahem'. The hologram had no face - only a symbol - and the voice was obviously a fake, like the sample voice people use for their translators when they wanna talk English in one end and out comes another language from the Omni-Tool. Nero couldn't get his to speak in any other voice than that of John Cleese. In any case, the voice was female, so for now...we'll assume that Moonstrike One is, as well. I mean, for all we know, it could really be Natasha making a very good recording and just playing along with it. Anyway, she talked about tyranny and the struggle for freedom, but these were minor things to Nero, really. He wasn't in this for anything as big and bold as that. At the end of the day, whoever won this fight, he was still gonna get bossed around by someone who was too busybodied to mind their own business and leave him to his own devices. It was the mission itself that mattered to Nero. The journey, not the payoff. What could you really offer him more than a good time?

Speaking of which, their first actual mission was actually pretty good. So, there was a big ole' farming world with big Fuck You cannons to defend itself against the Ascendancy that just had something interesting drop in their laps. It took them a minute to get to it, but once the interruptions ceased, he got the picture. They knocked a prison vessel out of the sky and it hit the planet, where - maybe - nobody survived...but apparently somebody did. They were transporting an AI called Realist, and Moonstrike wanted them to get this guy out of there before the President-For-Life - probably some jerk named Calvin - sent in his people to go get it. They needed to get to the planet of Plenty in plenty of time to do this, or they risked a non-standard game over. No no no... It meant there'd be a terrible setback and the lot of them wouldn't get paid. Then, the question was asked 'Do you want the long route of the short route?'. One was more dangerous, but saved time. The other was safer, but slower. You could see what Nero was gonna pick a mile away.

"I say we do the short route. Nobody even knows we're around here. It's not like they'll be prepared for the likes of us, so we can catch anyone thinkin' they can take us unawares and end their sorry existence quick."

He didn't want to take forever to get to this thing and possibly fall behind the Ascendancy on this. Better to get there in a hurry, pull out their new robot pal, and be one with it. They could recover from shit, anyway, right?

"Now, what ! wanna know is- What the fuck?"

Abaddon the Cake-Maker! He was offering them...lemon bars?!

"I uhh...yeah, I guess..."

He lost his train of thought completely. Whatever it is that he was gonna ask about was...just gone, banished by the weird sight of this Kaisoken in an apron. It was only when someone new spoke up that he noticed there were more people in the room that hadn't been before.

When the hell did THEY get here? And hey, just how many people are ON this mission?

Not the question he was going to ask before, but pertenant nonetheless. He didn't voice them, though. Not yet.

As Natasha explained their mission at hand, Finbarr stood at attention, carefully taking in the information that they were being given privy to. Apparently, a prison ship crashed upon an agri world... somewhere, and it was rather unlikely that anyone survived planetfall. Finbarr would have snorted at the prospect of going to a ship with nothing but corpses inside it, as he thought that something like that was completely wierd and pointless.

That is, until Natasha told them that were was an artificial intelligence in the wreckage, a digital mind that would have no doubt survived the crash, unlike its fleshbag counterparts, who would have had no luck.

And there was the route for them to discuss.

"I guess that the shorter route will save us time, which is what we need in this situation.", Finbarr said right after Nero, though he nudged the other kid at the side, as he seemed to be too enthusiastic about killing. Ending life is not something Finbarr really liked. After all, he was very sweet.

Speaking of sweet...

"Bloody hell, lemon bars?", Finbarr drooled as the limbed Kaisoken crewmate presented the sweets to them. It was odd, that a Kaisoken that was literally called Kinslayer was a happy baker too.

Taking a bite, there would be a moment of satisfaction before Finbarr began turned to a white smoke... leaving only a cat in his place. And he was perched on Tarak's shoulder.



More...

Trajan leaned back at his reclining chair, bottle at hand. His mind was on fire at the moment; there was this twisting kaleidoscope of a thousand colors, flying around his imagination like a unicorn on a psychedelic field trip. And then... there was a field of flowers, mostly crysanthemums, where a lady was waiting for him, it seemed.

Excited, Trajan stood up and began to run into her waiting arms. He seemed so happy, so filled with joy, that one would not think that he was-

smack

Pain filled his head as he looked back at the cold, metal wall. Trajan sighed, as he had been kicked back into the sad realm of reality. He was a sniper, formerly one that shot things in accordance to the commands of the Ascendancy, and now, part of the resistance that aimed to throw the whole regime down to the ground.

What was that? Ah, right. They had guests today; guests that would stay on for a long period of time. They were children and teenagers, the same magical warriors whose existence had spurred Trajan to quit from the Ascendancy army.

And they want revenge.

Lazily getting up from the floor, Trajan took hold of his bottle and walked towards where the voices had converged. Natasha and Abaddon seemed to be there, along with their newfound allies. It didn't take him long to arrive, though when he did come, Trajan slumped against a wall, still taking sips from the bottle that he was holding. "Oh, hey guys.", he said to everyone with a noticeable slur, not seeming to notice that one of the kids turned to a cat. "Howsssssss it going...?"

---

---

Tarak watched quietly as the others introduced themselves. Samuel and Iris went immediately after him as he noticed Samuel was very wary around Abaddon, Samuel never liked things he didn't know, and it showed even now, yet Tarak knew he would get over it. Iris, on the other hand, was very open and straightforward about her introduction and what she was thinking, which made Tarak chuckle ever so slightly.

Next was Nero, Tarak always knew he was damaged, so hearing the response that Nero gave was nothing new. But the strange thing that occurred was when more crew members poured in, first coming to the Doctor as he seemed lax and a smoker. Which seemed to bring out a pet peeve of both Ariel and Narvia as they seemed to be big advocates against smoking. Tarak understood the sentiment, but he didn't really find an issue in substance use. After all, most of the people in this field are broken in some way, something to dull the edges help. Yet it was quite funny when Millard took a very kind idea to it and even handed his cigarettes over with a little apology. Tarak chuckled and watched as more people came in.

Next was this quiet girl who seemed to try and keep to herself, not even wishing to respond to the situation as she hides away. Tarak took notice yet never made light, just allowing her to be. Then finally 'Phi' has came up to join them. Tarak was happy she was here, as he had a smile. He waved her over as he lightly patted her head and held her shoulder lightly with his hand, he has became very gentle with his touches over the years, even when in the armor. He knew showing affection to a shy child is important as they would eventually get used to it, then they are more willing to open up. He says to her in a light voice and a small smile, "Hey Phi".

Yet what startled Tarak was the briefing, Tarak wasn't expecting a job this fast, honestly, he was expecting this to be nothing like those old Holotapes: find your crew, get a mission, become good friends, and save the day. Yet he also likes this idea more, as that means they weren't aimlessly going through space with no idea of what will be happening. So he feels alright, yet the mission seems strange, a crashed Prisoner ship has a Rouge Ai named the realist. They are to go there and take the A.I. from the planet and escape with it. Honestly, this seems like a simple mission, a snatch and grab like any other, just with a bit of extra to it as it seems they are racing the Ascendancy to the crash. Yet Ashton and Flame seemed also interested in an agricultural planet defecting and how it would affect civilians. With a quick answer, everyone's ideas that were set at ease.

Tarak began to listen to the others as some brought up some fair ideas, as some think it's safer to go the longer path, yet Tarak knew the longer they took, they probably will have to deal with more Ascendancy soldiers. Sure Poachers, bandits, and the like could be along the Garden Path, yet Tarak had no worries about such fodder. After all, they are a light freighter, they would be a target, yet he would rather deal with the small times a few more times, then need to duke it out with an Ascendancy Cruiser.

Tarak spoke out, "I believe I would have to agree with Phi on this one. The shortest path would be the best. We would probably deal with bandits, poachers, and unsavory types. However, I would rather that path, and leave quickly from Plenty, rather than spending a long time getting there and having to duke it out with Ascendancy ships".

After he spoke up, Tarak noticed Finbarr had decided to take up refuge on his shoulder, Tarak had his smile grew a little more as he took his other free hand and started lightly petting Finbarr. As he started looking around he noticed Abaddon had taken out Lemon bars for everybody. Tarak waved a hand as he tells Abaddon, "No thank you. I am fine". Tarak was hungry, as he had not eaten in some time, however, he didn't really feel like eating right now. As he continued to notice more people coming in, with their newest addition, a drunk. However Tarak felt strange when he looked at the man, like seeing an old friend, Tarak was just unsure who he was looking at and frankly, he didn't care right now. All he wanted to do was get everything settled and calmed down before anything else.

@The Man Emperor@Jade Kiyo@Letter Bee@dragonpiece

---

Convinced she had made a neutral, low key impression even with her input on the route, Phi found herself blindsided by Navi. It was one thing to have an embarrassing moment noticed, but Navi in particular was pure hearted and tended to lack filters. Phi could have made like it didn't affect her, she was a very convincing performer, but surrounded by allies that level of guard hadn't been raised. Thus she tried and failed to prevent her face turning bright red, her body and expression frozen in that moment. The thought of the doctor and little Navi side by side in pajamas and cute slippers was too much for her unprepared mind. She wanted to see that and now everyone else could probably guess at this embarrassing secret as well. As if that wasn't enough, the headpats of the ridiculously tall Tarak only compounded that embarrassment. Phi knew he meant well but at the same time she could almost hear her credibility as a competent crew member shatter.

All she could do was nod in acknowledgement to Navi, for she was absolutely correct, and then hope Abaddon's lemon squares took center stage. If she stayed quiet for a while, with so many eccentric characters in one place, hopefully their elders would forget about Phi's flop of an introduction. What else could go wrong anyway? Apparently Finn had an answer for that, by turning into a cat unexpectedly. She had to both stop herself from staring, and resign herself to the image the crew must have of her now.

What even is it about animals that makes me want to hold them? I know that's still Finn but now I can't help but want to pet him. A boy who I still barely know, technically. Not creepy at all.

Noticing the latest crew member show up clearly drunk out of his mind, Phi receeded towards the nearest wall knowing full well a certain someone would be having a talking to soon. In order to detach from the conversation and make herself feel a bit useful, Phi began poring through the public information on the longer route. Stops along the way, usual escorts, companies favoring this route, and recent events all along the way. Before hunting down private information this should give some clues to Ariel's question. Phi sent the data as she found it, saving the other girl some tactical footwork.

Hm. I wonder what kind of animal Ariel would be like. For that matter.. ooooh, I just had the most wonderful idea!

Phi's face lit up before immediately catching herself, and her eyes couldn't help but flick towards Avelyn. Hastily she raised her mental barriers before she embarrassed herself in the extreme before the mind reader's powers.

Avelyn eagerly awaited introductions to the snake’s head, curious about the modus operandi of the new management. For starters, she’d probably be referred to by name and not service number, which was already an improvement. Although she was a little disappointed when Moonstrike One opened with something that made them sound like a telemarketer. Still, the voice behind the proverbial mask threw around more big digits, making her wonder. Either they were full of it, or much more than just a ‘simple’ rebellion. Up until now she assumed this band they were attached to was simply the upper one percent so to speak, experimental IFV and everything, but that option was starting to show more and more holes.

As the saying goes: Habit is an iron shirt. And Avelyn’s habit of springing into action immediately whenever free stuff was offered might as well have been one made of mithril. She turned her head away from the hologram that wasn’t showing anything of interest anyway just enough to see Abaddon and - after a brief pause for her brain to accept and process just what her eyes were telling it - one of the lemon bars shot across the room into her waiting open palm. She turned fully to face him to say a word of thanks… and almost dropped it when she caught a glimpse of Laurey. For a moment, it was as if her mind took a break. Avelyn forgot what she was going to say, any actual sound was drowned out by a cacophony of foreign thoughts and she had to give her head a harsh shake to get back in the present. Sure, there would be other people with implants like that, but it caught her off guard. She forced the Rau’ve ship, the ambush and the airlock out of her mind, thankful she’d turned after she retrieved the lemon bar lest it have been flung across the room like an unguided rocket. “Thanks.” She finally nodded toward Abaddon.

She turned back to the planning and took a bite of the lemon bar, catching Phi giving her an eye. Did she see her space out there for a moment? Avelyn returned the gaze and shrugged with her arms in a nonverbal version of a confused ”What?” before seizing a moment of silence to chip in. “Faster route leaves us more time to figure out our game plan once we’ve actually seen how things are at Plenty.” She shared her two cents, “And if we get to slap a bunch of capless Carl’s along the way, all the better. The short route will likely mean we’ll have the time to spare and we’d get to see each other work. It’s an opportunity to iron out any issues before the big show.” She concluded, finishing the lemon bar and extending her hand with a thumb up in the direction where Abaddon stood the last time she saw him, quite unwilling to turn again.

---

Sitting in the cockpit of the Xuanzang's shuttle, Amy reclined in the comfy pilot chair and closed her eyes as she snuggled up against the time worn but still relaxing fabric. Her tail swung lazily by her side, swishing against the metal plates of the floor as her hands hugged her tiny plush friend against her chest. Quiet moments like this were quite the treasure when one usually travels with groups of mercenaries or adventurers that can always run into troubles, but not a lot of traders are willing to take on any random person who wants to travel the galaxy, and Amy wasn't exactly swimming in cash with which she could fuel her curious nature. Besides, tourist attractions wasn't what she was going for, she wanted to know the galaxy for what it truly was and the people who lived in it. And uh, as far as searching for that true, unfiltered view of the galaxy went, she really did it this time. A bunch of rebels who wanted to oppose to Ascendancy... "You really did it this time Amy." With a tired sigh, Amy would let out a quiet whine as she clutched her plushie a bit more while she let the auto pilot of the shuttle take her back towards the Xuanzang. And not even that, she failed her first "mission" of sorts too! The contact Natasha said would be here simply never showed up... and Amy was waiting there for at least an extra hour! She was super excited to meet one of her new crewmates, she even bought an extra pack of biscuits to share! Oh well, sometimes plans don't come together like they are meant to be, but now it seems like she would be late to the meeting with the kids they were going to take aboard. Some... super soldiers with magic, Amy believed. The idea certainly raised her attention, and despite this rough start to a day she was looking forward to meeting them. It was definitely a new side of the galaxy she hasn't seen yet, and she was hoping they would share some of the biscuits with her.

Her train of thought was cut in half as a beeping sound emitted from the terminal in front of her and Amy gasped quietly as she opened her eyes and leaned forward to check what it was. "Ah, it seems like we're close Mr Cuddleton!" She explained quietly to her small teddy bear and lifted it up to her face to nuzzle it before pushing the small bear back into her bag with a chuckle. "Don't be like that, it won't be for long! Besides, I'm sure at least some of the kids would love to play with you!" Slowly he closed the bag back and shook her head with a smile as she leaned forward and grabbed the flight stick with one hand, and switched off the auto pilot with the other. "Alright, time to get back to the ship. Hope I'm not too late..."

---

7 minutes later

Back inside the ship, Amy walked through the quiet corridors of the airlock as she left the shuttle behind. Taking a deep breath from the recycled air inside the ship she could feel the smell of freshly baked treats and... people? No, that wasn't a smell, that was more of a presence that she could very faintly pick up. "Aaaaaaah, damn! The kids are here!" Amy whined in a distressed voice, quiet angry at herself for being late to meeting them. She really wanted to be here by the time they came back, ready to greet them all with a hug and give them some biscuits before they started to deal with the serious stuff again. Kids have been through enough to be given some time to relax and unwind before briefing would start, and she felt kind of guilty for not being able to deliver that.

"No matter Amy, you can do it! Just gotta go in there, report to the captain and then make sure everybody is okay! You got this girl!" Amy told one of the sheet metal walls lining the corridor to the briefing room, watching her own reflection as she made sure to adjust her clothes and hair. First impressions matter quite a bit to humans, and the last thing she wanted was to make a bad impression on all of the kids who were coming aboard their ship! It was such an exciting opportunity to learn more and have a fun time, ruining it already because of a stray strand of hair sounded like a terrible way to kick things off! It took Amy about an extra 10 seconds to realize that she didn't need to adjust her hair like this and she could just as easily have used her mind to change the illusion, but when this is the image you see every day it gets to your head and you start to believe it a bit too much. Who knew if those stray stands were real or an illusion after all.

After staring at her own reflection for long enough Amy would let out a small sigh and close her eye for a moment as she prepared herself for meeting all of the kids. Then she would open the door to the briefing room and step inside with a smile on her lips.

"Oooooh, look at all of you! Welcome aboard the Xuanzang you cuties! Don't mind me, just passing through~" Amy spoke up with a small giggle as she pushed into the room towards Natasha, making light steps that were almost hops as she zigzagged her way through the gathered people while her tail swayed from side to side behind her like a snake. She would stop besides the boss lady herself and tiptoe up beside her with an apologetic smile. "Sorry for the interruption and for uh... being late... Gabriel didn't show up, and I wanted to wait to make sure I didn't miss them on accident. Apologies..." She explained quietly, not wanting to cut into the ideas that the kids were putting forward and she took a step back to make an apologetic bow in front of Natasha.

Moments later she was up and standing again, her eyes excitedly scanning the room as she examined every one of the kids that have joined them, as well as some of the crew that she didn't see on her first visit aboard the ship before she left to pick up this supposed crew member. Part of her wondered if he even existed, or if Natasha just sent her out for some other reason... but no, she wouldn't do that! Besides, Amy could tell what she was planning, unless the captain turned out to be extremely good at resisting mind reading.

Well, whatever the reason was, she beamed a happy smile at everyone as she looked around at the kids gathered in the room. Spotting Tarak and knowing that the large boy would provide ample cover for her to lay back in the shadows and wait for the briefing to be over, she quickly slinked off to the side, cheerfully hopping past Abaddon as she grabbed a lemon bar and held it between her lips as she winked at the large crystalline construct before continuing her way over to Tarak. On the way she quickly devoured the lemon bar, sending a quick message in her mind to Abaddon, complimenting his cooking with all the positive words she could remember. With a content sigh now that she had her belly full, she stared up at Tarak for a moment, then back at Natasha and the kids speaking, then back up at Tarak again.

"Wow, look at you! How come you're so tall?" Amy asked quietly as she giggled and tiptoed up to compare her height with that of Tarak, barely able to contain her excitement as she waited for the moment when the briefing was finally over and she could talk with all of these wonderful new people! Who knows, maybe some of them would be up for playing some games with her!

Just as she opened her mouth to ask another question from Tarak, clearly already throwing away her bold and implausible plan of simply staying quiet and still, she noticed the cat that was sitting on the large boy's shoulder and Amy fell silent with a small gasp forming on her face. Her eyes sparkled in excitement as she reached up with her hand and gently scratch the neck of the kitten, looking at it with a childish wonder one would more likely expect from one of the kids in the room. "Oh my god, you have a kitty? Awh, he's so cuuuuute~" She explained quietly and chuckled, already forgetting all about the meeting and the mission as she now only wanted to pet the cute kitty. If she wasn't to easily distracted, she could've probably noticed that said Kitty was actually one of the kids, but there was just something about having so many people in one room and that absolutely soft and fluffy fur that made her oblivious to that fact, or the scene she was making in the background. But it couldn't be helped, that was just how Amy was when she was excited.

It took her a few moments to realize she needs to get the lemon bar from Abaddon, which made her realize she should grab one. She got up from her sitting position, smiled at Abaddon, and cutely grabbed a lemon bar from the tray that Abaddon is holding. It took her a bit off guard while she decided to walk from the table in the center of the room towards Phi, still recovering from what she said. However, she looked directly on Tarak’s shoulder and noticed a kitty, which made her go instantly, aww from how her eyes were. It was obvious it was Finbarr, but it was still super cute. ”Aww, super cute. Finny, didn’t know you could shapeshift into animals… kind of wished I had… a pet when I was growing up...” She spoke with a tone in her voice basically sad and somewhat depressed. It was definitely a bit sad, but she tried to keep a strong look on her face.

Narvia got caught off guard when she saw a blue-skinned lady walk into the meeting room as if she needs to tell the captain something important. However, the blue-skinned lady said previously made her blush a bit since she’s indeed a cutie. She had to remind herself deeply if Nikolas ever met a race like a lady who walked into the room. In terms of Narvia, she doesn’t think she had anything come to mind. ” Thank you! Miss for the compliment… What’s your name? Narvia F. Hadley or Navi for short.” She spoke, introducing herself to the blue lady. She didn’t really know her name, but it didn’t really frustrate her that she’s basically the shortest girl in the entire meeting room. It was the one thing she had to live with since she would probably be a bit taller if she were allowed to live with her family on Mars, but life isn’t fair most of the time.

She finally got beside Phi and realized something, and Phi is an inch taller than her. All she did was giggle at this because it shows that she is indeed the shortest of everyone. ” I wish I had… my stuffed animal with me right now… My seal… I miss it.” Narvia said, with a slightly sad look on her face. It’s a bit funny, but Narvia, for being 17 years old, acts more like a 10-year-old since of how innocent she is. She has a hard time acting her age because of all the stuff she wants to do to return to her family, but she stares at Phi. ” Phi, what’s on your mind? And do you know that staring is rude...” She spoke with a tone in her voice towards Phi. It was one thing to stare, but she realized she was holding a Lemon bar in her hands and wasn’t eating it. She decided to rectify this by eating the lemon bar, which she was very cutely eating it. It was the most delicious thing she has eaten in a long time, ever since she was a little girl; she reminds her of the home by watching her mother cook dinner and baked these types of treats. However, it made her cry, which showed that she was walloped with nostalgia from the past. In terms, Narvia never once cried throughout her entire tenure as a Dragon’s Brigade Fleet Soldier, but this showed she needed it. ” W-Why? Does this have to happen to me… Of all the times I cry now when I should’ve cried sooner, but… never did… I miss my mother. B-But, thank you, Abaddon, for the Lemon Bars...” Narvia spoke with one of those outbursts of tears. It was like the Dragon’s Brigade Fleet's strength was like the only reason she stayed mentally strong this whole time.

_{@6slyboy6@The Man Emperor@Jade Kiyo@dragonpiece}

“Hi littler lady,” Laurey said, throwing Narvia a sloppy salute. It took conscious effort to keep her arm slack and fingers loose. “Long enough.” And then the girl’s attention was elsewhere. An odd one, her mouth was linked directly to her brain, no filter in between. Far too innocent. Apparently the war hadn’t robbed them of every scrap of semblance to children. Or maybe it was simply a coping mechanism.

And then Abaddon. More data indeed! Abaddon’s appearance should have been shocking or funny. Come on, a seven foot Kai rebel in an apron, talk about juxtaposition. But it wasn’t; it was far, far from it. It was a sucker punch, the sort that drove the air right out of you, sent your ears ringing, and made you taste the copper pang of blood, except here the taste of blood was replaced by bitter nostalgia. Then it was over, processed and dealt with without any reaction transmitted to her features.

She hoped.

The lemon bars were vanishing, the sugar and ketone cravings driven by her brain urged Laurey to grab them, but she hung back. One almost literally vanished, flying across the room to a girl and their eyes met, blue meeting green. The crystal chiming that was ringing a sustained note in Laurey’s mind grew slightly louder.

There. That’s what Laurey expected from child soldiers. That haunted look. Except not directed at her. Sometimes she forgot. She drew her hood up, pulled the strings tight.

Maybe Laurey would have approached the girl then, maybe she could have said something, but another child turned into a cat. Laurey blinked. It should have been all out of her system now. That meant this was really happening. She pinched herself to check. The pain registered.

Damned magic.

When she looked back to the red-head, Laurey noticed the girl's concerted effort not to look in her direction.

Noted.

With the cat and the arrival of Amy proving a suitable distraction, Laurey shoved off the wall and patted Abaddon on the back.

“Jeez Abbie, aren’t you just full of surprises, I didn’t know you baked. Mind if I take some?” She scooped up a handful of the bars without waiting for a response and shoved one into her mouth. Sweet, tangy, delicious. “Oh,” Laurey said through a mouthful, “These are real good.” She made an “ok” sign with her hands and kissed it.

She perched back against the wall and chucked a bar to Trajan.

“Take a good, long look, T, these are the rest of our new crew,” It was a show of social incompetence and hormones, a mesh of fucked up teens and those with chips on their shoulders. She held out her hand for the bottle as she finished off another lemon bar, “You may even have a few interested in some pointers you could give. Hard to tell how many I can offer something to,” as she said this the filterless girl began to cry. Laurey turned to Trajan with an arched eye-brow, “Feel ready?”

---

---

Tarak was listening to the other's while suddenly a new member entered their midst. She seemed to be quite peculiar. Something that can be considered to Abaddon, one of a kind. She seemed to radiate this cheery aura, even on entrance she had a smile on her face, and honestly, it was nice to see. Instead of the dreary situations he thought would come of this, he had seen a wonderful mix of people, and many had a wonderful aura about them. As he watched everyone, he noticed the woman who came in almost beeline over to him as she wore a smile as she asked such a funny question. Tarak answered in a playful fashion, "Well I eat my greens". As he bounced back another fun question, "How come you have such a wonderful smile?".

Tarak noticed she took notice of Finbarr on his shoulder as he decided to have a bit of fun with it, "Ah, his name is Fin. He was a rescue when we were in combat. Ever since he never really wanted to leave the Twin's side". He lightly took Fin off of his shoulder as he placed him into Amy's hands as he continued, "Wanna hold him?" Tarak asked with a nice smile.

All while never noticing what was going on with Phi, Narvia seemed to have taken the role of affection, and after all, Tarak had fun just petting her head every now and again. As even while he is talking to Amy, he will just pet Phi's head as he speaks.

@6slyboy6@Jade Kiyo@The Man Emperor

---

Amy was completely lost in her thoughts as she was petting the cat sitting on Tarak's shoulder, too occupied even to notice as Navi began to cry. Normally it would've set off just about every single red flag in Amy's brain and sent her into full on pamper mode, but she wasn't quite tuned into the happenings of the room. She did hear Tarak's response though, giggling quietly as she heard his rather funny remark about why he was so big. She would flash another big smile up at the boy when he complimented her smile and he would blush ever so slightly as she swiped some of her hair out of her face while she tiptoed a bit to get a better look at Tarak. "Hehe, you're gonna make a lady blush like that! But thank you! Keep eating your greens and you'll be an outstanding gentleman in no time! A strong one at that, I'm here to root for you!" Amy explained as she made a little reaffirming node, moving back and forth on her toes as she was ready to give one of her pep talks to Tarak about being a gentleman and all that.

But then she was given the cat all of a sudden, and Amy froze up completely as she now held the fuzzy cat in her hands. Her lips parted as she let out a small gasp, her childish stare turning towards Finn as she adjusted her hands to comfortably hold onto him. "Oh my god! He's so fuzzy, and cute, and fuzzy and warm! Aaaaaaaa, I'm dying of cuteness~" Amy explained in a cheerful tone and let out an excited whine, biting her lips afterwards as she softly hugged Finn against herself and began to scratch the cat's head slowly and carefully. After a few moment she looked up at Tarak with a beaming smile, her face showing the true joy of a little kid who just opened their Christmas present. "Thank you! You're already making your o-nee-san Amy get all worked up!" Amy explained with a happily giggle as she closed her eyes for a moment and nuzzled her head against Finn's before she looked back up at Tarak. "I'm Amy by the way! But uh... I think you knew that already, heh, I'm silly... But how can I call you, hmmm? Don't want to be the girl who learns the fuzzy furball's name before anyone else's, hehe~"

Slowly Amy would fall silent as she kept her ears perking up while she looked down at Phi besides Tarak, smiling cutely as she stopped petting the cat in her hands for a moment. "And while we're at it, what's your adorable little sister's name? I want to make sure I remember them for later, in case there is a hug or cuddle emergency that needs big sis Amy's direct attention!"

@Th3King0fChaos@Jade Kiyo@The Man Emperor

"Oh."

Finbarr looked at himself, as eating the lemon bar had apparently caused him to unconsciously activate his Shapeshifting magic. It was a complete accident, and had it he kept on switching forms, he would be extremely embarrassed for himself and everyone else. After all, he did lack control and consistency when his own sweet tooth had been stimulated, and it took a lot for him not to turn to a rat next. However, he was perched on Tarak's shoulder, which was a welcome thing, as he was quite affectionate for the one that stood up as their merry company's big brother.

What happened next, however, was... uh... weird. First thing that happened was that a man, drunk out of his mind, reeking of alcohol, and probably in his early 30's, came out of the shadows, looking at everyone before talking with a very noticeable slur in his voice. This was going to be a very fun ride it seemed.

And then... an alien woman came out of the same corner that the drunk had arrived from, and began to pet his head vigorously. Worse still was that Tarak straight up gave him to the lady, perhaps as a joke, but either way, he was not comfortable with being pet by someone who he barely knew. A moment of respite came, though, and he jumped out of her hands.

Sneezing with his cat nose a few times, Finbarr's feline form was then enveloped by grey smoke once again before back into a human again. Coughing, he turned away and chucked something out. "This is why I don't eat candy...", Finbarr snickered, absent mindedly hugging Samuel from behind for no apparent reason. "Oh..."



Trajan looked back at Laurey with droopy eyes as the latter threw him a lemon bar. Drunk as he was, he wasn't able to catch the snack, falling upon the ground. Not discouraged, he stooped down and chucked the thing into his mouth either way, much to the probable surprise as everyone who saw it. "What?", he would ask with a mouth that was still in the midst of chewing. If five seconds hadn't passed yet, you can still eat it."

Setting the bottle down at a nearby table, Trajan looked back at the Star Marines. They were young alright; it was witnessing them being sent to battle that made him leave the army, and despite all of his drunken madness, he couldn't help but think about what kind of horrors they had faced. He was, after all, a sniper, and was not consigned to the death and destruction that frontline troops endured. Either way, he walked forward.

"You're so, so tall.", he said to Tarak, looking up to the young man that was nearly a decade younger than him. Looking towards Narvia, he put both hands on the crying girl's shoulders. "Oh no... dear... it's okay. Just pet the kitten... oh... it's a boy..."