Cigarettes acquired.

“Thank you, doctor.” Into Ariel’s backpack they went, as secure a container as any. “I hope to be able to visit your room one day, doctor. So, please keep your health in mind.”

Moonstrike One’s long-awaited briefing was short, but full of surprises. Mission time! Though with wages like that, weren’t they more like mercenaries than your typical freedom fighter? That had to be the biggest deviation from the films. Even the well-funded rebels usually spent their money on equipment, not salaries and rewards. Ariel wouldn’t complain either way.

Another question popped into her head, and out of her mouth. “Why wouldn’t they take the shorter path?” Efficiency and speed determined shipping routes. No sane company or trader would go the long way around unless there was profit to be made, or if circumstances forced them to. There had to be a reason behind this. There were two possible approaches here: find out why the longer route was favoured, or find out why the shorter route was disfavoured. Push and pull factors. It was geography all over again.

Time to do some research.

Ariel had just booted up her omnitool — it was a little sluggish, what with the decoding and all going on — when a man came stumbling in.

Another…

…she had to admit that it was hardly a surprising situation for a rebel organisation. The war had left many with traumatic experiences, and such harmful substances were always free-flowing and affordable relief. ‘The addict is a product of their environment.’ If that was so, then Ariel could only try and change the environment. Already, significant neurological impairment could be seen in the man’s speech and motor skills: the way he was slurring and staggering, he could have passed for a stroke victim were it not for the bottle of alcohol in his hand. Which, Ariel would note, he was still holding on to even now. And, goodness, he was drinking—!

Fortunately, Trajan finally set the bottle down before Ariel could pry it away from him. At the rate he had been going, it wouldn’t have been long until he began vomiting, or blacking out, or vomiting after blacking out. She didn’t want to be the one trying to get stomach juice out of his trachea as he choked on regurgitated alcohol.

“Not another drop, mister.” Ariel confiscated the bottle too. In the meantime, it seemed that Seraphina had sent some promising leads over.

“Hmm. I’d say there’s potential.”

Ariel was hardly a shipping expert, but from what she could tell, there weren’t many compelling reasons to pick the currently most-popular route over the shorter one. Even if there were such pull factors, it would hardly reduce traffic to the near-zero levels seen with the Garden Route. There had to be a hard factor, forcing trade to the alternative route.

“It’s detective time. Thanks for the tip, Phi!”

A search of the Ascendancy’s hottest social media platforms for posts made in the vicinity of Maiden’s Reach unearthed a fall in the usual photographs of the planet’s famous flora and fauna uploaded by tourists and other leisure-seekers.

Instead, Ariel found several glamorous shots of space fleets and military might, with careful, perhaps professional-level framing and lighting. The surprising thing? These posts came from the local government’s official accounts. “Several of the Ascendancy of Man’s finest warships entered the orbit of Maiden’s Reach today, marking the beginning of poacher clearance operations in the sector. The public is warned to stay clear of the designated area until further notice,” said the caption. Succinct and authoritative in tone, with nothing revealing or OPSEC-violating — it was just PR, after all. A few conservationists had replied with enthusiasm and support. Either way, it seemed that the Ascendancy’s fleets had ramped up their presence there.

The local news didn’t offer much more in details, but they sufficed all the same as jumping points. Cross-referencing with government sites unearthed a notice to spacemen, which confirmed that a temporary no-fly zone around the area of the Garden Route had been in place for some time now. Enforceable by deadly force too. Unfortunately, the restriction wouldn’t be lifted any time soon.

And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Time to present the results.

“I think I’ve found out why the Garden Route has been abandoned.” A swipe or two later, a holographic projection emerged from Ariel’s omnitool, showing off her findings. Sending down warships seemed excessive, but then again, rangers and poachers have been all but fighting small-scale wars since the 20th or 21st century. “It looks like the military has cordoned off part of it. Anti-poaching efforts, apparently. If we take the short path, we’d have to bluff, sneak, or fight our way past the government patrols. At least the pirates and poachers will keep their distance.”

The biggest factor at play here was speed. Moonstrike was racing against the Ascendancy to reach the crash site first. That was why there had so far been a near-unanimous consensus to ignore the longer route.

“If time is of the essence, would it be possible for the rebels on Plenty to help? They could remove Realist from the crash site before we arrive, and hide him someplace the Ascendancy doesn’t know of. Then they’d have to search the whole planet instead of simply beelining for the wreckage. It would buy us some time.”

Ariel had so far been invested in the business side of things, busying herself with preparations and research for their upcoming mission. It was quite a shame to miss out on all the fun and bonding going on all around the little meeting room. Seraphina seemed to be enjoying her head pats; maybe that would be a good way of thanking her for the intel later.

So, alot of the votes were apparently going towards a swift campaign to hit the planet of Plenty sooner than later, handling all of the dangers therein so they could make it to that prison ship in a hurry. Good to know and great to he- What the hell, man? Nero started giving Fin a look like 'What's your problem?' after the boy gave him a nudge. What was he objecting to? They were agreeing on shit here and he didn't even say anything weird. They all knew what they were getting into, what they were signed up for. Geez, give it a rest... Aaand no sooner did he think it than Fin decided - purely at random - to be a cat, and to settle on Tarak's shoulder. Okaaay... Let's move on, huh? Moving on right to a...man who was very definitely drunk, who just sauntered in, wondering what's up.

"Dunno. Kind of a show-stopping number walked in the door."

Always with the sass... Nero was the savage here, one way or another. Maybe this guy was a die-hard mercenary when he was on the clock, but this? This was clearly happy hour, for him. Nero watched things unfold while taking bites of the lemon bar he'd been offered. He was about halfway through it as somebody else made their way in. Geez, seriously, how many more people are gonna...what? That...that was different. The person who walked in and greeted them all was a being Nero had never seen or read about before. He was taken by surprise, because of her appearance. She was obviously an alien, but...as far as she looked...not bad. Nero was caught up staring for a moment, so he almost missed the part where she was in adoration of the cute feline perched on Tarak's shoulder, and as she proceeded to pet it, Nero facepalmed, thinking...

Fin, you lucky son of a bitch.

That shapeshifting power had been good OR bad for him, given circumstances. Well, at the moment, it had to be more of a highpoint, in his case. That girl - Amy, she called herself - was all over him. Tarak wasn't even trying to stop her, which made it kinda' funny, but Nero decided not to tease this one. There was something about her that was...better. Maybe she was being a bit doting, aaand maybe she didn't realize they were teens and not kids, but this didn't look like a bad thing, you know? Anyway, she started asking for introductions, and of course Fin decided to change back. All this amidst Ariel taking the bottle of alcohol off of the drunken soldier. And then, as she brought up information on the Ascendancy's movements in regard to their mission, Nero snapped his fingers, remembering something.

"Yeah, that reminds me: I was gonna ask if we had to worry about any prisoners on the ship besides the Realist."

It was always possible that the prison ship was full of nutjobs who either wanna get out or wanna fix the ship and take it away. You never know. Annyway, though, Nero would be listening for an answer while keeping an eye on other events in the room.

Ashton and Flame (Emergency Post)

Ashton said, "Sure, I'd love to have some lemon bars," before taking a few from Abbadon. Then Finbarr transformed into a kitten, more new members came out of the woodwork, and finally, there was the strange new beautiful woman with a maternal aura about her, an aura which reminded Ashton of his own mother. With a smile, he greeted Amy, saying, "Hello, my name is Ashton Andrews, and the redheaded boy with me is my boyfriend, Flame."

Flame walked over and offered his hand to shake, even as his eyes struggled to focus, his perception almost piercing the mental veil which Amy's abilities cast on him. But said perception latched onto a different target when he saw Nero reacting to someone without scorn, without sarcasm, and with something approximating respect. The young man smiled at that, then turned to his fellow 'Star Marine' to say something -

Only to find the subject suddenly changing. So the young man added, "Moonstrike One, are you still here? I would like a calculation as to whether other prisoners survived or not."

Moonstrike One, whose hologram had not blinked out yet, responded, "Not even we know for sure. However, we consider it unlikely that there would be other survivors of the crash - Realist was built within a Perfected Electrum chassis, after all. Either way, yes, we can mobilize our contacts in the rebellion on Plenty to spirit away Realist until your team can arrive - Fair warning that both Ascendancy Operatives and mercenaries have been dispatched to take him away, and they might exact reprisals on the rebels as a result. Then again, the rebels might also 'take care' of other possible surviving prisoners, thus resolving that specific problem..."

Ashton and Flame both nodded at that, and the former said, "Then I vote for the long route."

Flame continued, "Same - A direct confrontation with a military which can still blast us out of space is not within our skillset. Now if we had a fleet of our own..."

They can see Natasha sigh at that, even as the woman said, "Can't we just bet that the Xuanzang and its systems - Including heat sinks which trap heat and prevent it from being detected by sensors - Are stealthy-ish enough to evade the military cordon?"

@Letter Bee@Th3King0fChaos@The Man Emperor@Landaus Five-One@FalloutJack@Conscripts@dragonpiece@Starlance@supertinyking@samakama@jdh97@6slyboy6

---

---

Samuel was very much not paying attention to the people's introduction, he was more interested in the mission at hand. After all, he already knew most of them, well except for Phi, and she seemed like she was one to keep to herself, so he never pried. While the rest of the crew who poured in were of little need of importance to Samuel at the moment. As it seemed most of them seem to try and keep to themselves or go to others than himself, so Samuel didn't pay mind to them either way.

He just waited patiently to see what the captain had in store for them, which was a simple yet important mission. Go to the crash site of the Circle of Hell on the Agricultural-Planet Plenty, collect a rouge A.I. named Realist, and leave before the Ascendancy gets to them and blows them to hell to collect the A.I. Truly a simple mission, one that anyone could do, hell it seemed to have come out of a Holotape, yet still felt deceptively easy.

Then the very complex part of the mission reared its ugly head as they were left with the choices on what route they wished to use. Samuel thought, There must be some reason traders had not taken the route. Many companies would prefer to hire guards if the path shortens the trip by such a large amount. Yet why would they not go?

Thankfully Ariel had done the research for him as she found that the Military is in the area clearing the sector of the poachers and bandits. That made a lot of sense to him, as once listening to everyone he has finally made up his mind on what path seems to be the best, "I believe the longer route would be the best path for us. Yes the ship has impressive capabilities, however, one wrong move and we are in a fight with the ascendancy, and that can leave us outnumbered and outgunned. A longer path would make it where the Ascendancy could get there before us.'

Samuel takes in a breath as he prepares to continue with the information given by both Ariel and Natasha, "However, like what Ariel said, if we coordinate with the Rebels on the planet, we can make up the time. Then with the Ship's heat sinks and cloaking capabilities, we can leave orbit and head off with the A.I. before we have to fight with the ships that are there. Since here, we have the advantage of having people already on the ground who can take care of the prep work for us. All we have to do is get there in one piece, and be ready for a hot extraction of our target"

Samuel felt good with this assessment, as he believed after taking in all the information, everyone would agree with his very logical idea. He felt so sure about his ideas he grabbed a lemon bar from Abbadon and ate it like he was assured victory, and this was his prize. Yet his thoughts were interrupted as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him as he looked back to find Finbarr has taken to hugging him from behind. Samuel responded, "Oh, hello Fin. You seem to have something caught in your mouth". As Samuel points to a piece of fur sticking from the corner of his lips.

@Letter Bee@samakama@dragonpiece@The Man Emperor

---

Even as she moved away Tarak's hand, aided by his long arm, followed her movement to continue the ruffling of the black wig. Looking up with the intent to give him a look to cease and desist, she saw he wasn't even consciously deconstructing her professional image. The discussion on the mission went on as did the wonderful circus of their unusual meet and greet. Phi could only sigh and shake her head with a smile. Her mind drifted just a little as a whirlwind of affectionate alien joined the fray, and held Finn against her chest. Wide eyed, Phi was only broken out of the shock by Navi, and at that point she opted to let that situation resolve itself.

A seal plushie? Dammit girl! My heart- Oh.

Phi was going to respond at first but Narvia's sudden breakdown demanded more immediate attention. The girl seemed confused at her own tears, but Phi was hardly surprised. After the trauma and stress they had all endured this moment was perhaps inevitable for all of them. Phi dreaded the same for herself, when everything came crashing down at once to shatter her finely crafted composure. Though in Phi's case, she was pretty sure she knew exactly when that mental break would happen. So she pulled Navi close, and transferred Tarak's hand to the slightly shorter girl who needed it far more.

"I get it. We all get it, Navi. Just let it out. You're safe here, among friends."





While Navi took a much needed moment Phi stayed nearby, and tried to keep up with everything going on.

"Any time, Ariel. And I do mean that almost literally, just knock first." She said this with a pleased smile, glad the quick search had been at least a little helpful. She then turned her attention to Amy, extending her hand. "Well, Phi, as you just heard. It's a pleasure to meet you, Amy."

Eh, is that.. envy on Nero's face. No, no I must be seeing things. Right?

Phi decided to let that one go. If she wasn't imagining it she didn't want to think about what kind of reaction pointing that out would bring. Instead important new data on the mission needed to be addressed and just as well. It seemed Ariel's instincts were spot on. Even so, that didn't change the fact that they were short on time and the Ascendancy already had a head start. Getting aid from the rebel elements on Plenty in this case wasn't just a good idea, but practically essential. But the route still needed attention. Ashton, Flame, and Samuel now seemed keen on the longer route, with some good logic, however...

"If the usual route to get there fast is blocked, can we deviate slightly, go around? Lots of space out there. Or if the ship has enough power to make a straight line to Plenty? That would simplify things."

Narvia had a hard time to stop crying since she misses her family so much more than she realized. It was seven total years without them, their smiles, and the strength that family gives. She had a slight nagging feeling that she doesn’t want to see any bad news in her bones. It was mostly because whatever is on these mission parameters had to deal with her family, she misses. ’...I want to have an easy time to regain my mommy and older siblings...’ She thought with tears still flowing down her face. It took her off guard when so much was happening all around her while she was crying. There was a look on her face of utterly in despair, which shows she can’t really help her tears from flowing right now.

When the obvious response to her crying happened, it was shocking to her, but she needed it. It was Phi pulling her for a hug and also to transfer Tarak’s hand off of her head. She heard Phi’s words, which was really sweet of her to say that specific thing. ” T-Thank you Phi… I-I am grateful for that… but I miss my mommy so much… Also, I guess you don’t like being patted, Phi? We shy girls have to stick together.” She spoke, with her being a bit scared with what the future holds. As well, she couldn’t help but giggle slightly at what she said towards Phi. However, when she heard the blue lady’s name, it gave her a slight smile, but her tears were still flowing. ” T-That’s a very sweet-sounding name, Amy.” She spoke complimenting Amy. Obviously, enough she was still crying, even though it's nice to meet new people, specifically their names.

Something took her nose off guard, which was the smell of alcohol on someone’s breath, and remembering what that one lady who was leaning on the wall said. On the one hand, she was annoyed, but on the other, she was grateful that this man was showing something besides the need to drink more. What he said, however, just made her giggle much with what he said exactly. After she stopped giggling, she went back to crying and slightly annoyed. ” U-Uhh, sir, you should really not drink… because I don’t like the smell of alcohol. As well, why would I pet Finny? He’s a Star Marine, like us. Also, what’s your name, sir? Mine is Narvia Folspear Hadley or Navi for short.” She spoke with a bit of a short tone with the man in question. It was primarily the smell of alcohol on his breath that made her a bit annoyed at the whole ordeal. If anything, his show of affection was a good consolation prize nonetheless. However, that reminded her about the lady in question that is still leaning on the wall. She still stayed close to Phi, but she looked for the woman in question, saw her, and asked her a question. ” Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, what’s your name, Lady?” She questioned the leaning on the wall lady. Afterward, she went back to what she was doing previously, crying. Obviously, everyone who had seen her previously probably wanted to see her cry, but she never did until now.

Narvia, the only good thing she saw, was Ariel taking that man’s alcohol since he doesn’t really need it anymore. Because he’s drinking in front of the kids, that doesn’t need those influences on them. ”Ariel, great job!” She exclaimed a bit loudly about researching on the different routes and taking the vices from the Doctor and the drunk man. Obviously, she was proud of Ariel even though she went back to sadness and crying after that. If anything, she tried to stop crying, but it was really hard. However, she remembered that Tarak’s hand is on her head, which reminded Tarak of being the leader. ”U-Uhhh, T-Tarak… W-What should I do to stop myself from crying… I c-can’t stop… I miss my family so much… this pain hurts so much; got any advice?” She asked cutely towards Tarak, the leader of the Star Marines. It was the only thing she could really think of unless someone else has answers, but she misses her seal plushie much right now.

_{@samakama@Jade Kiyo@jdh97@The Man Emperor@6slyboy6@Th3King0fChaos}

---

Things were starting to get out of hand in the room as Amy was concerned, the amount of voices and faces slowly overwhelming her ability to just focus on a single thing. Of course, it was also aided by the fact that she no longer had any cats to pet: though as it turned it she never really had one to begin with. She certainly expected weird things once these magical kids joined them, but it made her chuckle a bit nevertheless that one of the kids was the cat and that the large boy so easily gave him away. Clearly they weren't above being playful, and she really admired that in them. She certainly hoped that they could get along, and it made her job of making sure the kids were alright a whole lot more easier that they didn't seem to be too moody.

Before she could learn the name of either the small girl that the larger boy was patting or his own name, a third girl came around with tears rolling down from her eyes. The people in the room close to her were quick to flock to the girl and try to cheer her up, though some had more success than others. At the very least it helped Amy with some of the names as the two girls hugged each other cutely, making Amy smile softly. "Phi... Tarak... Navi..." She mumbled to herself quietly, counting to three on her fingers as she memorized the names of the kids for later. She found their names to be quite unique, wondering if it was her name that was too common or something that not a lot of people had. Humans were still so confusing to her, seemingly going against their common wisdom at every turn, but she found it quite enjoyable to learn about them in such a way. And, well, seeing the two girls hug each other with Tarak close was kind of heart warming.

Despite all of the chaos going on regarding either Navi or the plan of attack (something that Amy completely ignored up until now and had no idea what it was about), she slowly walked over to the two girls with a smile on her face and crouched down next to Navi, looking up at Tarak for a moment before she turned back to the girl. "Awh, sorry to interrupt cutie, but I couldn't let a crying little girl carry on like this!" Amy explained with a warm smile on her face as she reached out with one hand to gently wipe the tears away from the girl's cheeks before she chuckled happily. "Don't ruin a cute face like that with tears! Hmmm... I think I know just what you need right now to cheer you up!" She explained, giving Navi a playful wink before she turned off to her side, opening up the bag on her side and reaching inside before she pulled out Mr Cuddleton from inside and held the plushie up with a quiet giggle in front of Navi. "I know it's not quite your lovely seal plushie, but Mr Cuddleton is just as fluffy and huggable, I guarantee you! If you want it, he is yours until you feel better! Deal?"

@Landaus Five-One@Jade Kiyo@Th3King0fChaos

---

---

Tarak kept his smile as he was petting Phi and talking to their new crewmate Amy. Amy seemed like a genuinely great person who seems playful and has a fondness for cute things. As he noticed she loved holding Finbarr, well, loved holding him until he hopped out of her hands and transformed. Tarak was hoping for that interaction because he knew it would have been quite funny to have Finbarr transform and ran away. As he noticed Finbarr drop, spew a hairball, and left to talk to Samuel, there Tarak turned his attention back to the others in front of him., just having his smile on, as he thought that was quite funny

Tarak felt his hand move and be shifted over to another place, where he looked down to see Phi try and escape his pats by giving them to Narvia, who seemed to be crying! He moved his hand back to Phi's head while he now takes his other hand and starts to pat her head too. Now patting both of their heads, he looks down at Narvia and noticed Amy seemed to have jumped in to try and remedy the situation. As Narvia seemed to have been missing home and her family, Tarak understood that sentiment, after all, to leave family and to miss the family you had was something he has felt for years. Yet his life was filled with more than just that so it was hard to pinpoint what he thought would be good to say. So he used the time given by Amy as she gave Narvia a stuffed animal, and thought about what he should say. He gave in to the idea that he should be honest and make sure she is right to cry. So with that, he began.

"Navi. Tarak says as he pets her head and wipes the tears away while he continues, "There are times to cry. Yet, never to remorse. Take hold of that sadness, and push forward with it. You have every right to cry for what you have lost. You have every right to be sad, yet never regret what had to happen, things happen, it is now your job to make the choices to get whatever you wish. So, use that sadness and pain, find something to protect..." Tarak looks down to her and throws her a big smile, "and smile. After all, you're alive! And while you are alive, you can change anything you wish and become anyone you desire to be".

Tarak was never good at really confronting those ideas for others. He was good at really summarizing the idea for himself: Push forward, life gets better when you push forward. As you can change your fate or others if you just push forward.

Yet Tarak just held a smile, knowing, smiling always helped in the end. As he continued, "Once you can understand that, that's when your tears may disappear, not the ones your eyes let fall, but the ones in your heart. So, smile and find what you wish. Find your family, fight for them, and protect them."

@6slyboy6@Landaus Five-One@Jade Kiyo

---

---

Iris may have messed up her introduction but that's okay, she could always make a better 2nd impression. While waiting for Nero to make his introduction, Iris started to go through her candy bag, looking for something to cheer her up. As she was looking for some nice bitter chocolate she suddenly stopped and turned her head to Nero for the very blunt introduction. Nero, thank you for being you. I really appreciate it. Well, now it was time to celebrate with some white chocolate as Iris is convinced she didn't make the worst introduction.

Iris was munching on some chocolate when a smoker came in. Iris just silently watched as he introduced himself as Dr. Millard. She saw the smoking and thought it was kinda normal for rebels to smoke. I wonder if he has weed? Would he give it to me? What is weed? Iris had entered observer mode, just watching everything going on.

As Iris was watching the little conflict between Ariel and Dr. Millard. during this, she had found a chair in the back and just watched from the corner. When the mission came up she just thought the planet's name was a bit lazy but then thought what else would you name it. Heh, Peanuthaven. She was quite amused by the name now. Maybe there is a place called Cornucopia! Apparently, the mission is to pick up an AI called Realist. The cash reward was so large Iris just didn't process it.

Soon the conversation shifted to the route we should take. Iris was out of her comfort zone about this so she just waited for other people to speak up. She was partial to the short path though. Only for the pleasure of seeing pretty planets.

From her corner, Iris watched as another girl entered the conference room. The girl's tattoos and piercings captivated Iris and she started to imagine what kind of tattoos she could have. Maybe like a tree on my ribs? Oh! Maybe me and Samuel can get matching tattoos. I'll have to talk to him about it. Iris pulled out her omnitool and started to look into some earrings as well. Now that I'm out of the military maybe I can wear jewelry more often. Change my hair up. I can finally have my own wardrobe. I'll probably still steal Samuel's clothes.

Iris would only look up to see what the commotion was. Abaddon's lemon bars, Trajen joining in, kitty Finbarr being so adorable, the bubbly Amy doing the super cute things. She came back into focusing on her surroundings when she caught Narvia crying.

Narvia seemed to be having familial memories come up from the lemon bar. It was painful to see her so weak but it's alright to cry every now and then. Iris decided she isn't the one to help at the moment considering she is kinda out of the loop, to be honest. She definitely knows she'll try and hang with Narvia at a later point. We'll do normal girl things. Maybe we can do a sleepover! Oh my god, we need to have a sleepover. We can invite all the girls. I don't think Natasha will come but you always need to offer. Hopefully, Laurey and Amy will come. Iris started to plan a sleepover, it will take time to plan everything but it'll be fun.

As Iris was planning she couldn't help but reflect on why she doesn't miss her parents. She tried to come up with a reason, something they did wrong but she couldn't think of one. She just didn't care. Iris couldn't shake the idea that her apathy towards her parents was some sort of defection in her psyche. To ignore this possibility she went to eat more of her candy and discovered she has consumed every piece..."Oh no" was all she could muster as she peered into the now vacant bag. She looked up to see what Samuel was doing as he was finishing his reasons for the long path. She quickly stuffed the empty bag into a random drawer and then got next to Samuel to say, "I agree with Samuel." She hoped Samuel wouldn't notice it but who knows.

---

What Nikolas had said to him weeks ago wandered in his head for long after everything had begun to settle down. Retirement with his family. What a peaceful fate for an honorable man. Probably the best, or the least bad, of what could happen after the horrible five-year war. Alexander himself did imagine himself one day to be like that, but knowing the state of the Ascendancy right now, stepping down from power is just like abandoning ship, but you do not actually leave the ship. On the one hand you have idiots in the Ascendancy High Command, all the way from the top, fidgeting with their own golden chicken nugget thinking how to make themselves look cool and powerful. On the other hand, you have private companies trying to exert control over the government because of this. That itself is another political sewage water to dig his hands into. And on the other other hand, you have terrorists and rebels - gullible fools attracted to lofty visionaries singing anthems of an egalitarian utopia. Unlike the government or the companies though, the rebels are mere worms in comparison. Easy to squash, and easy to use.

Beep Beep Beep

"Who is that?" Alexander heard the doorbell to his room.

"It's Carina." A female voice went through the intercom. "I brought some new report...and lunch. May I come in?"

"Sure." Alexander pressed the remote on his desk to open the door. Behind it was a woman Alexander entrusted in the helm of his newest weapon - Captain Carina Sansonetti. With her were a tablet held between her arm and torso, and two trays of spliced BBQ beef and mashed potatoes on both hands.

"Uh...should I?" After taking off her shoes, she noticed the pair of lion slippers on the shoe-rack nearby.

"Oh, if you like to. Room's clean anyway."

"Alright thanks" She ignored the slippers anyway and proceeded into the room only with socks. "Is that yours?" Carina was curious though. It was her first time being in a private quarter of her superior and old-time officer academy friend, and that slippers looked a little off for the kind of guy he is.

"What? Oh that." The Grand Admiral chuckled a bit. "Yeah that's mine. It's a gift from someone I know, but I never use it. It looks kinda silly in my opinion."

Yeah, she could figure he would say that.

"Wait..." Alexander looked at the tray Carina put before him. "This again? Haven't we had MRE for like a month now?"

"Yeah, but we're in a bit of a pinch in food supplies right now." Carina replied, also handing Alexander the tablet. "It appears it's not because of annual price increase. Agriculture produce price still continues to rise among the general market. So we'll have to deal with it for now."

"That's curious." Alexander said. "Do we know anything about what happened?"

"No clue. The media has been silent about it."

Prices are rising and the government is staying silent about it?

"Looks like we'll have to take matters into our own hands as well." He shrugged with a sigh. "After our current mission. For now, it's mashed potatoes for another month I guess."

Carina nodded with an amused smile, as she sat down next to another table (with his permission) to enjoy her own lunch, the same meal Alexander and the rest of the ship crew have. By enjoy, she meant tolerate. She'd want to get back to her favorite meal of lemon spiced chicken, but for everybody else, she'd be motivated to having to deal with endless mashed potatoes. If they're gonna suffer, it's equal sufferings. Even the Grand Admiral deals with the same crap a Private has to deal with.

"Say Carina. Do you have any plans next month?" Alexander suddenly asked.

"Hmm...no. Just gonna be here like usual. What's up?"

"Oh, I'm just saying I'm going to take a break after this two missions."

"Oh?" Carina was surprised. Alexander hadn't taken a single day of leave for like what...4 years? "For how long?"

Alexander turned down his mouth. "A month probably. I'm gonna have Faro or Kotaro over to run the fleet in the meantime."

Carina had worked with them before. They are capable men, so she had no problem being under either's command. And while there were still insurgencies to squelch, it wasn't as urgent as it used to be. Alexander did say afterward that the task of handling rebellious activities would temporarily be handed over to someone else, but didn't say who. "So where are you going specifically?"

"Home." Alexander simply replied. If anything, this is the most predictable part about him.

Carina gave a laugh. "Well, tell them I say hi."

---

What was the name of the word for when you threw your hat in with a venture that you didn’t know at the time but came later to realise might not be as well equipped to aid you in carrying out your desires as you initially thought, but by the time you do realise it’s too late you’re in a compromising position and can’t back out because you already know the salient features of a plan that only half the team in said venture are putting together whilst the rest make you question their psychological health and sanity, and the bottom of your stomach has fallen away and you feel both hot and cold, yet at the same time part of you is morbidly curious as to the fate waiting such a team?

The closest Laurey could come was regret.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes shut, and watched the lights dance across her closed lids, a laser bombardment on the darkness inside. Why them?

“Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, what’s your name, Lady?”

The voice brought her back. Laurey blinked away the harshness of the light and found herself looking down at the filterless girl, cheeks stills flushed red as tomatoes ready to all but fall from the vine, the sheen of her tears not fully wiped away.

“Uh, it’s Laurey, hon’, but you can just call me Lady, if it suits,” Laurey winked and gave her best smile and the girl began crying again.

“Oh, uh,” was all she could manage before others moved in to comfort the girl and Laurey removed herself, edging closer to Natasha. Away from the tears.

She needed a mask. Perhaps it was some small blessing that she’d only freaked out two of the kids.

“I agree with the others. Smart folk. Safest route is best. Even if we had top-of-the-range stealth systems, which from my cursory inspection, we don’t, the odds of detection aren’t something I would formally recommend gambling our lives against, and the moment you throw magic into the mix things get even screwy-er. We were working on some prototypes that used a web of laser-connected…” Laurey bit her lip, and shrugged it off, “Point is, better safe than sorry.”

The hologram still hung projected in the air.

“Hey Moonstrike One, where are we taking Realist after the rescue? Might help our navigators here.”

The short route was starting to look like the short route to purgatory, but the Captain brought up an interesting point. Stealth ship, you say? She recalled hearing brief mentions of such systems early in the war, back when they were either theoretical concepts or first prototypes to see if it was feasible at all. “How long can the Xuang- No, fuck it, it needs a nickname, how long can the ship stay hidden like this? Because I think there’s something we could do to make detection even harder… a little. Maybe.” Avelyn piped up a little uncertainly. “Among the extras I mentioned earlier is the ability to heat things up and cool things down. We could bundle up some scrap metal, heat it up to a few hundred degrees and chuck it out the door when we enter the system. A hot, fast moving and unidentified object ought to get them looking in its direction. And if we could manage to arrive undetected, we could even choose the release point so they can’t catch us when we’re doing it.” She looked to the Captain for her professional opinion, “Unless they happen to look out a window, but then we’re stuffed regardless.”

Sam raised some good points, but Avelyn also thought that those who cited friendlies already on the ground as good enough reason to take the long route were forgetting something. “OK, so we’ve got friendlies on site. So what? Show of hands, how many of you have heard ‘Ah, they have some of those mage freaks over there, they’ve got it, we can take our time.’ during the war?” She asked and raised her hand, subconsciously defaulting to her wartime squad leader for the ‘asshole who is wrong’ voice. “It’s not fun when it happens. Just because they’re there doesn’t mean they can get to Realist in time and get it out. The Circle could have splashed down in a hard-to-reach area. It could be so badly screwed up that before our lads can cut their way into the wreck, Ascendancy’s goons will arrive, wipe the floor with them and take Realist since the hard part of the job will be mostly done. The presence of friendlies should be considered exactly that: an advantage. One that we’d do well to capitalize upon. Not an excuse to slack off and potentially lose that advantage. And by ‘losing that advantage’ I mean ‘A bunch of dead rebels’.” She took great care to sound polite and not like her usual flippant self. “Doubly so if the other route is longer than the week before payday. What’s the difference between ideal travel times, anyway?”

Then she noticed Narvia crying on the other side of the room. ‘Come on, put a lid on it, new boss is watching.’ Was it hypocritical to think that not even a minute after having her own little episode? A little, probably. All things considered though, they were doing great. At least most of them were managing to keep what sort of damaged goods they all were concealed, even if it had to be obvious to anyone with a brain. And it was definitely better they got it out now than in the field.

Then the one with the cybernetic enhancements - Laurey, if her ears weren’t deceiving her, and they rarely did - moved closer to the Captain, right into her field of view. But with the surprise no longer a factor, she was just another person. ‘Don’t think about it, she’s dead. Has been for a year. Nothing to be done now, and there are worse ways to go. You’re still thinking about it, stop!’ She gave laurey a friendly wave. Best to start damage control early.

Narvia still had tears rolling down her cheeks and couldn’t stop crying since this was really hard for her. Her thoughts were going a bit wild in anything that could be primarily from those mission parameters and other such things. However, Amy did walk over to Phi and her and crouched down with a smile. She smiled slightly at what Amy had said towards her and wiping her tears, but these tears wouldn’t stop going. Amy is really nice lady and really nice. ” I-I miss my mommy...” She spoke really sadly. However, Amy said the second thing was confusing to her until she realized what Amy got out of her bag, which was a Teddy Bear Plushie. This caused her eyes to light up big time, which she heard what Amy said. In terms, she was like, how does she know about my seal plushie, but she did say it previously with a bit of confusion on her face. ”Okay! I-I’ll takes care of Mr. Cuddleton to make me feel better. B-Because I definitely need something to cuddle with… D-Deal, Amy.” She spoke with a definite smile on her face. In terms, she gently took the teddy plushie from Amy and started cuddling with it. Amy was correct on how fluffy and huggable Mr. Cuddleton is, which made her eyes accidentally activate her dragon sight. She does love to cuddle with adorable plushies, like her seal or even Mr. Cuddleton. Obviously, she was too focused on feeling better, even to realize her eyes were showing things closer. However, her eyesight stayed not in a magnified state, which was a plus, at least.

It took her a bit to realize that the lady, which she asked her name, answered. ” T-Thank you, Laurey.” She spoke with a genuine cuteness in hearing another’s name. Obviously, she didn’t really see where Laurey went since she was distracted by waiting for Tarak’s answer to her question. It didn’t help; she was still tearing up and everything like that while having her eyes in its dragon sight mode. She hugged the teddy bear tightly while looking at Phi. ” L-Like this cute little teddy plushie I am cuddling? Mr. Cuddleton is super fluffy and huggable.” She spoke with her holding the teddy plushie tightly.

She felt Tarak also wipe her eyes, which her tears were still going, but they were subsiding slightly but still a bit too much for her. If anything, the teddy plushie was helping much, but she heard him say her nickname. It made her smile a bit more because she really likes her nickname that her godfather gave her, which was a nice thing for him to do. With what he had continued speaking, it hit her hard compared to everything that has been said or not. In a sense, it feels like that’s what Nikolas was saying all this time, but he was a commanding officer of an autonomous fleet. ”...I-I will use that sadness and pain to find something to protect…” She spoke with a bit more realization of what her godfather was trying to get through to her. Her head lifted; and saw Tarak’s massive smile and somewhat giggled at him. ” You are silly, Tarak. And I will smile… since I need to for everyone, including myself since I am alive...” She spoke cutely towards Tarak. It was an eye-opening experience, but she was still depressed about things, so she cuddled with the teddy plushie, which Amy gave her. If anything, what he said at the last point was definitely truthful. ” Y-Your sweet, Tarak. I will not forget the tears in my heart, since I’ve been hurting ever since I was… ten years old. I will find my… family and fight for them and protect them from… my own father. H-He never cared for me and scares me still.” She spoke truthfully on the last part. It was a bit scary, to say the least; the biggest obstacle to her wish of reuniting with her family was Conner Leo Hadley.

However, she did felt two other people staring at her, particularly Avelyn and Iris. She felt Iris had a look on her face like she ate all her candy and giggled slightly at that. On the other hand, Avelyn probably didn’t like her having this type of emotional baggage showing. In terms, she had an idea to make sure Avelyn would hear her, which was through her mind instead of her voice. ’Avelyn, you are silly, are you worried about me? Y-You are sweet as well, and you know that?’ She thought with a slight smile on her face. In terms, she does know that Avelyn can read minds and might as well think that for Avelyn’s mind-reading thingy.

_{@Th3King0fChaos@6slyboy6@jdh97@Jade Kiyo@dragonpiece@Starlance}

Natasha Zhang

Seeing a chance to seize back the initiative, Natasha said, "The difference between the short route and the long route is that the former is three days, the latter is a full week if we have a Spacewarper - Which this ship is. And your powers can definitely reinforce the 'pseudo-stealth' system that this ship has, Miss Avelyn." A smile, "I like the way you think."

It seems that the 'Star Marines' are supremely intelligent as well as literally magical. But why kids? Are kids the only ones who can gain Kaisoken-type Magic? Something pricked at her, something at the back of her thoughts. She considered it a while longer, then cast it aside to look at Ashton and Flame, "Avelyn is right. If the Ascendancy crushes the rebels on Plenty, or even begins a new counteroffensive, while we're away, we'd be toast - This means we're choosing the shorter route."

Ashton and Flame

Ashton nodded at that and said, "Understood. We should also be concerned about Rebel lives - Plenty's population should not pay the price for resistance to abuse." A pause, "Very well, I change my vote."

Flame, meanwhile, looked at the scenes of consolation and cuteness happening close to him, before saying, "I am still skeptical, but Ashton is right - We can probably get through the enemy cordon just fine if, say, Grand Admiral Laguna or one of her subordinates are the ones leading the blockade detachment." He shuddered at that, "Note that being captured by her is a fate worse than death - I and Ashton used to serve under her, so he knows what we're talking about."

His boyfriend turned towards Flame, then said, "Indeed. I do not wish to elaborate." Then Ashton looked at Natasha and said, "Now, would you mind if I and Flame sleep now? For that matter, what are the room arrangements for this 'freighter'?"

Natasha Zhang

"Plenty of living quarters," the Captain said as she continued, "This ship is 75 meters long, and while most of that is cargo space and specialized systems, there is plenty of space for extra crew members. However, note that you're not just fighters - You're crewmembers now. That means my ship, my rules. You'll all help in cooking, maintenance, accounting, and computer stuff. The medic here," she gestured to Doctor Millard, "Will also need help with doctor stuff if any of you know how to magically heal."

Then she turned to Amy and said, "Amy, you might need to take care of the kids when old issues or traumas rear their ugly head - I trust you with that." Then to Moonstrike One's hologram, Natasha spoke, "Well, we've chosen the route. Is there anything more to discuss?"

"Nothing more," Moonstrike One said in her modulated voice, "Moonstrike One, out."

And the hologram blinked away.

@Letter Bee@Th3King0fChaos@The Man Emperor@Landaus Five-One@FalloutJack@Conscripts@dragonpiece@Starlance@supertinyking@samakama@jdh97@6slyboy6

Finbarr yelped a little bit as Samuel had pointed out that he still had a remnant of the furball stuck in his mouth, looking away from watchful eyes as he pulled out the last pieces of cat with his gloved hand. Wincing at his feline form's antics, Finbarr sighed as he discreetly shoved the bundle of fur into his pockets before looking back at the meeting at hand. If anything, the group had begun to swing towards choosing the short route, as the reasons for such seemed to be quite compelling; not only did they need to get to the planet as soon as possible, but also, it was quite possible that the rebels on Plenty would be unable to secure the Realist for long before the Ascendancy began to smash resistance on that world. The longer it took for the Xing… Xiang… whatever it is called to get to the place, the more negative repercussions that the planet's population could endure at the hands of their detestable enemy.

Finbarr shuddered at the mention of Admiral Laguna, as he had also served under her, though given that everyone in here was more or less in the same unit, they would have known that Admiral more or less. She was cruel and capricious; and as Ashton said, being captured by that bloody lady was a fate worse than death. A bullet to the head is a very preferable alternative to being tortured to the edge of death by that Admiral.

Either way, they were going to their respective quarters now. It seemed that they all had personal rooms, except for Ashton and Flame, who had opted to go into one room together. Of course they did.

Finn, who was at a sleepy mood right now, shapeshifted into a cat and then curled up, napping on the bed. His armor had been set on the wall, while the two hilts that projected his plasma swords were both lying prone on the table. If one did not know that he was a shapeshifter, it would be assumed that only a pet was home…



Trajan spared Narvia a smile as, even in his drunken state, he was still good to children… Or pre-adolescents/adolescents, by the looks of it. He covered his mouth, as he slowly realized that his breath was probably reeking of alcohol, and speaking from experience, that was not a particularly nice smell. "Sorry about… that.", Trajan said to Narvia as he stood up and nearly toppled over anyway. "Life has been sad."
He went back towards his quarters, watching as the magical teenagers went to their chosen quarters. He was both glad and sorrowful at their arrival; glad that the resistance was going to get help from some of the most powerful individuals in all of human space, and distressed that people this young had been forced to fight in a terrible war, and had chosen to relive it, for the sake of revenge. He remembered his adoptive siblings, what it would have been like if they were sent to war after being injected with Kaisoken magic. It would be the worst thing ever.

Either way, now that he thinks about it, seeing that tall one felt… weird. It was if he had seen him before. Maybe they already met. "I should ask that giant's name…"

With that, he set off, looking for that tall kid from earlier. They looked at each other weirdly earlier… Maybe...

So, at the moment, there were basically two camps in this meet-'n-greet that was their initial gathering. On one side, you have people talking about getting the Xuanzang - What the hell's wrong with just calling it by name, Ave? It doesn't need a nickname. - past an area with high levels of Ascendancy presence, a full military cordon. Most people were already agreeing that even though it was pretty dangerous, time was of the essence. The longer it took for them to get there, the more chance their enemy had to gather enough people to get to Realist first. This was especially important because the people of Plenty were actually on the side of Moonstrike, and this would be the Ascendancy's big chance to push back. Couldn't let that happen, now could they? Think of all those poor starving assholes that'd get their lunch on time.

The other camp was...not one that Nero really wanted to be a part of. Narvia was feeling homesick, terribly so. She'd been betrayed by at least part of her own family - It's come up a few times in conversation. Navi's rather talkative. - and yet she missed seeing them and her home back on Mars. Others, like Tarak and Amy, tried to comfort her. Nero was...not in that circle. He wanted to pay more attention to the part about the mission. He wasn't really longing for his home on Earth. He and the old homefront had a love/hate relationship. It was a good enough planet, but not for all the people on it. It was a difficult thing, trying to figure out what he wanted. He supposed he wanted to be away from people, so he couldn't be given a hard time, but people are funny, sometimes, so maybe just a few are alright. Anyway, they seemed to be making headway on that, so he went back to the first camp.

Things were just about wrapping up, there. Natasha was mentioning a particularly-nasty piece of work who could be in charge of the cordon they were gonna run, and then Ash and Flame were wondering about quarters. Yeah, there ya go! Priorities! Where do we sleep? Well, fortunately, the Xuanzang had a large amount of rooms, plenty of space to oneself. Perfect. However, after that, Natasha said that they were now all officially crew, which meant that they'd have to help out doing jobs around the place. At that, Nero let out sort of a deadpan "Fuuuuuuck.", at least until he heard that - of all things - accounting was on the list. What a boring task! Oh wait, they had someone to look after the numbers already: Flame Brooks. Probably with Ash on the side for the technical stuff, but Flame was Big Brain Mode about alot of things. Nero clapped him on the back.

"Good luck with the numbers game, buddy. I'll be finding something more my speed."

It was probably gonna be maintenance. The way he could get around, it was pretty on-point, there. Either that, or the cook was gonna have him chop everything edible in the kitchen to bits. Diced everything. Nero took this opportunity to wander off and get what you might call some sighting laps of his new territory. No, not his quarters. He was gonna make some rounds in the Xuanzang and get familiar with the place, all of its nooks and crannies, and see if there was any duct work he could fit into. Getting around ventilation was one of the ways he did his stealth work.

---

---

Samuel laughed a little as he saw Finbarr had never noticed the hair and gave out a catty yelp because of him pointing it out. Samuel turned back to the discussion at hand as Avelyn spoke up. She made a good point to show that they could still try to use the stealth tech and a few other tricks to make it through the shorter route given to them. Samuel understood the sentiment to make sure the other rebels are able to defend themselves while they make their way over. Samuel just didn't care about that though, he wanted Iris to be safe, yet if that is the path, he'll deal with it. Samuel turned to Iris when the discussion seemed to finish as he held out his hand for her as he says, "Hey wanna go and look at our room?"

Good, he doesn't seem to notice the lack of candy. Iris was somewhat happy to travel the shorter path. Sure it was the riskier path but the benefits of the route were just too enticing to let slip away. She hasn't met Admiral Laguna but she trusts that Flame would be truthful about his experiences. Iris went to grab Samuel's hand, "Yeah, I kinda want a room with a window. Do you think they have one?" Iris started to exit the room, bringing Samuel with her.

Samuel grabbed onto Iris's hand as he said, "I think there isn't any. I was looking at the ship and the outside had no windows on the side." Samuel looked around as they went and found a nice empty room. As Samuel turned on the lights it showed a clean empty room with a full-size bed that is bolted into the wall and floor. A long clean metal table bolted into the wall and a single chair pushed in. Samuel then spotted a closet, whereupon opening it up he finds it is actually quite a large space for clothing. He says, "Hey this isn't bad", as he is standing in the room as he extends his arms to show the room in the closet.

"Ah, that sucks. I was hoping to look at the sprawling Nebulas as we traveled. Oh well, I hope the bed is big!" Iris said as she somewhat jogged to their chosen room. She took in the room pretty quickly and was just as quickly disappointed with its contents. But even with the dull aesthetic of the room, nothing would stop her from swan diving onto the bed. As Iris was nuzzling into the pillow Samuel grabbed her attention, showing her the closest. "Wow! That's a big closet!" as Iris lunged herself out of bed towards Samuel and the closet. She stuck her head on and examined the closet. She looked back at Samuel, "It really is big huh? I'll start putting up our belongings. You just relax on the bed for a bit." Iris was not showing it but having their own room with a big closet was actually overwhelming for her. It's like they were one step closer to being normal. As she was hanging up some of Samuel's shirts, Iris turned to Samuel and rested her dominant hand on her hip, "Hey, we'll be settling down for the night so get into your comfy clothes." Iris then continued to hang up his shirts.

Samuel says as Iris says that she would put up their belongings, "Alrighty. If you want". Samuel didn't care about if he put them up or she did, so he just threw himself onto the bed as he laid there and just stared at Iris putting up their clothing. He was thinking the entire time that this was nice. He was happy this felt normal, not too normal to overwhelm them, just normal enough to feel like they are no longer tools. Samuel had a smile on his face as he was watching Iris, yet he noticed she turned and told him to take off his clothing and get into his night gear. Which he does quickly as he goes and strips down into his underwear as he goes and grabs a pair of loose shorts. Feeling comfortable as his body is now freed he throws himself back onto the bed as he sighs out, "Done. Now you just need to change and get into bed".

"Alright" Iris responds to Samuel. She goes into the closet and shuts the door, a leisure she is truly appreciating. After stripping down to get underwear, she put on her only pair of night shorts. Then she looked around at some of Samuel's shirts. She grabbed his Superman shirt and put it on. It keeps getting tighter around here. Iris began to pull on the logo, stretching it to make room. It still hanged loosely around the midsection. After distorting the shirt enough to look like an optical illusion she excited the closet triumphantly. She does a hop onto Samuel, "TACKLE!"

Samuel noticed Iris close the closet door, he got excited. This was exciting because then there was something else that felt normal as well, privacy. As he waited for Iris he thought about their living situation. This isn't bad. I thought it was gonna be worst. Hell I think this is gonna be good. As he was lost in thought he hears Iris yell out as he notices a superman logo smash into his face. As he feels it is Iris he just wraps his arms around her and says in a muffled voice, "You're stretching my shirt. You need to get smaller boobs".

Iris laughed as she then heard Samuel's comment about her bust, "I have no control of their growth, you just need to get bigger shirts." As she was done playing, for now, she pulled herself to be more eye level with him. "And what about you? I was taller than you only like half a year ago!" Iris started to squeeze him like she was trying to compress him down, "Get smaller little brother."

Samuel looked at Iris with, "Oh really? I'm the little one here?" As Samuel started to lock his arms around her and started to tickle her ribs relentlessly as he says, "If I was the Little Brother would I be able to do this?" As he began to bite her cheek as he tickles her more furiously.

Samuel's response has Iris a sense of dread as she knew what came next. As he started his onslaught onto her ribs she could only laugh and kick get legs, "No! Please!" as she continued to lose to the tickling. Eventually, Samuel bit her cheek, "Ah! No please stop!" After like 3 minutes of hellish tickling, Iris finally conceded, "I give, I give! I'm the little sister!"

Samuel was laughing this entire time as it has been a great bit of time since they could just play and not worry. As once Samuel hears Iris concede as the little sibling. He finally stops as he is chuckling and holding Iris. He lays there, happy, happy that this is where they are now. As he cuddles into Iris as he says, "I'm happy we are here together". As he falls asleep very quickly, the fatigue of the day finally catching up with him

While recovering from the tickle assault, Iris was pulled in to some cuddles and some sappy sibling bonding time. She just responded to Samuel with, "I'm glad you chased me that day." She then falls asleep with him. Only to wake up a few minutes later and start drawing tattoos they should get together as he sleeps. Tattoos from waist to face. He is such a cute, heavy sleeper. She will be awake for some time as she pens on the tattoo's she likes and thought would look good.

---

Amy tried her best to listen in on everything going on inside of the room, but it was quite a lot to take in even for her. Still, she tried to pick up on as many emotions and pieces of conversation as she could before the captain got her attention. She began to talk about a short and long route, things that Amy didn't fully understand the context off. Indeed, despite not caring all that much about the mission she couldn't help but feel unnerved about some of the things that were being said. So, much like a kid copying the answers from an exam she made sure to quickly peek into the mind of the nearest person she could find actually paying attention to what was being said: in this case the one she found was Avelyin, the girl who seemed to always have a lot to say and remain serious. It was nothing more than just quick peek, but Amy felt a little jolt go through her mind while she got the information she needed. "Hmmm..." She hummed to herself quietly as her eyes turned to the girl, sizing her up for a moment. There was something distinctively different about this girl, at least as far as Amy was concerned. Maybe another Zvezd that she couldn't identify at first? No, it can't be... then... maybe a psychic?

She was ripped out of her thoughts when she heard the hologram thingy call out her name, and she let out a stifled gasp as her eyes jumped back on it while she tiptoed to try and get a better look. Apparently she was to take care of the children's mental health, which made Amy smile happily and clap her hands together excitedly. "Excellent!" She explained in a cute voice as she looked around the room quickly to remember the face of all the kids in it. She already wanted to do that, but now that it was official it made her even happier. She was so excited to finally get to know everyone and talk with them about who they were and what they liked.

However, it seemed not everybody shared her excitement as quite a few people began to leave the room as soon as the meeting was adjourned, including some of the kids as well. She was quick to seize the opportunity while there were still people in the room listening as she hopped up and held her hand up high with a high pitched yelp. "Kids! Amy has something to say, so if you can just stay for another second please!" Of course, she was Amy so it might've seemed weird to call herself out like this, but she wanted to make sure everybody would know what she was talking about. She always had trouble remembering voices in such a short amount of time, so she hoped it would help some people out. And of course, it was something that she had gotten used to back when she was with the Zvezd, and it took quite some time to get over it. Indeed, she still had a lot to learn about the way humans and other alien species talked.

Once she saw that everyone who was interested turned to him, she smiled happily and made a small little wave to the kids with a cheerful expression. "Alright children, it seems I have the task of making sure you are all having a good time and don't stress about the past! Remember, you're crew on the ship now and members of this little rebellion, but you're still kids at heart, I'm sure of it! So if you have anything weighing on your hearts that you want to talk with about someone, or just need a hug and a place to relax away from anyone else, you can always find me in my room! It's just down the hallway to the left, last room at the end of the corridor!" She explained with a happy chuckle as she beamed a warm smile at everyone while she reached into her bag and pulled out a box of butter cookies that she originally intended for the other crew member and quickly opened it. "I know you all had a bit of Abaddon's amazing lemon cakes, but I insist you have a bit of my favorite biscuits too before you all leave to your rooms! And remember, Amy always welcomes anyone!" With that she would chuckle softly and smile happily at everyone in the room while holding out the biscuits for anyone who wanted one.

At the same time she looked over at Narvia with a little wink. "You can keep Cuddleton for as long as you want to, alright? You can borrow her any time you feel like crying and having something to hug again." With that she smiled supportively at Navi before she gently patted the girl's shoulders with her tail.

@everyone

There it was again. Another person staring at her in the span of a minute or two. Avelyn was used to odd stares from the war, few soldiers could comprehend the sight of a kid on a base or ship, let alone one in special forces getup, and those who didn’t care have been through such hell during the war they wouldn’t have batted an eye if a purple elephant in a frilly dress served them at the chow line. She could say that with absolute certainty, she did try it several times. But why here? Did she forget to wipe sauce off her face when she finished her lunch or something? Avelyn ran the back of her hand over her mouth and looked - no sauce. She gave Amy the same confused ’What?’ expression Phi got earlier, emphasis on the confused part.

She hung back when Amy asked for a few seconds, figuring too much information never hurt anyone. “Hope you’ve got a big notebook.” She couldn’t help noting with a chuckle when Amy mentioned talking about things weighing on them. With the plan decided, the briefing seemed to break up, folks peeling off to wander around or call dibs on quarters. Good idea, lest she be left with some utility closet underneath a staircase. Helping herself to a few of the offered biscuits and uttering a word of thanks, Avelyn left with a friendly salute in Natasha’s direction, turning into the first vacant cabin, delighted to see it was a single occupant room - Bed, table, chair, storage space, infotainment panel. In other words: Heaven. Not that she disliked company during the day, but sleeping too close to other people was hard when you could hear them thinking and dreaming. With that in mind, she backed out of the cabin and went as far down the hallway as the rooms went, throwing her bag on the bed of a vacant room and dropped her mental guards…

...nothing. Blissful silence. “Fucking finally.” The words escaped her mouth with a relieved sigh, even if the relief was only temporary, as she started examining the cabin, trying to figure out where to put all her stuff… before deciding it could stay in the bag, at least it was all in one place. She planted herself on the bed, not even caring to take her boots off. Maybe later. For now, she just lay there, enjoying the silence and listening for stray thoughts, once again breaking her private little oath not to do so in friendly company. At least she had a reason here - as soon as she’d spy someone’s thoughts in a room nearby, she’d get up and go let them know they shouldn’t think private thoughts in the evening. Maybe they’d work in shifts. She’d gladly take shitty hours if it meant the occupants of surrounding cabins would be up and about when she turned in.

But that could wait. First and foremost, there was a ship’s layout to be learned and its daily routine to be figured out. Sleeping in on the first day when the boss expects you to be up at 0600 made for a poor impression. Get up, get out there, memorize everything. Maybe meet the rest of the crew. And figure out why some people were eyeing her, before she’d have to resort to invasions of privacy.

---

A shy girl, that's how she sees me? I suppose that makes sense, I've only been holding myself back the whole time we've been together. Note to self, open up a bit more. I'm not likely going to find something this close to family ever again.

Phi's eyes drifted upward, accompanied by a somewhat wry expression. She didn't exactly hate such a show of affection, it had its place. But Navi was definitely right in this case, Phi didn't love headpats, either. However, for Tarak's sake or maybe some other reason Phi simply shrugged. Seeing Navi try so hard to act normally despite falling apart, Phi's issues felt small and she ended up burying them a little deeper than usual.

While Tarak stepped up with some words of wisdom Navi needed to hear, she was temporarily not needed, and likewise distracted. The one wearing her lunch, Laurey, had a less than comfortable expression and was practically hiding behind the Captain now. That reaction wasn't hard to read considering Navi's breakdown during their introduction. She made a mental note to help clear that up in the coming days as she got to know everyone. Right now wasn't exactly a good time, not when they were still sorting out the details of the mission. Speaking of, Phi spoke up again briefly.

"Yeah, I like the way Avelyn thinks, too. Though it might be better to save the resources needed for a decoy unless absolutely needed."

And while I'm working on getting to know people maybe I can put some effort into not being so paranoid about mind magic? She obviously wasn't peeking at anything a moment ago. If I'm not being stupid for once she probably doesn't care to look in my head. I feel like I owe her an apology. Would that be weird out of the blue? Probably.

Her thoughts were drawn back to a darker place, as a few unsavory people were mentioned. Mentally preparing to shake those feelings off and stay focused, her thoughts stalled at the first sight of Mr. Cuddleton cradled in Navi's arms. After the earlier shock from the slippers Phi was more or less ready and held her composure. That didn't mean the stuffed bear didn't melt away her blooming negativity and attempts at focus alike. She smiled at the girl an inch shorter and one year older, happy to see her feeling better. She flashed a grateful expression at Amy, belatedly realizing her as the source of such a convenient healing totem.

What is it about cute, soft things that's just so irresistible? All this time I still don't have a good scientific answer. Must be some kind of ancient magic. Yup.

And on that thought Captain Zhang made her decision, which was an order even if not clearly stated. Phi nodded sharply, showing she understood. She was relieved Natasha had chosen the shorter route, even though it sounded like they couldn't easily skirt around the dangerous space of Maiden's Reach. Of course she would have accepted either option since Natasha was their commander now. It definitely made a psychological difference to have a superior Phi wanted to serve under for once, and she was willing to bet good credits most of the others felt the same.

With a chuckle at Nero's reaction to his new status as crew, Phi began to excuse herself. This quiet exit was interrupted by the strange and strangely pleasant alien among them. Curious, she paused with her head cocked to one side. She had to admit, Amy was good at catching people's attention. Three words came to mind as Amy talked: cute, naive, and altruistic. Fortunately for her, Phi admired these traits in an individual and it brought a smile to her face to know someone like this was with them. She only hoped their story wouldn't end in tragedy.

With another chuckle and a nod in Amy's direction, Phi slipped away while she could. Taking advantage of the good mood, courtesy of Amy, Phi hummed to herself as she strolled all the way back to the cargo hold. Her crates were stacked neatly to a corner, and one in particular she shifted and unlatched. Inside were a variety of outfits and appearance related accessories tightly packed together. There were also tools for modifying or creating garments, which would be put to use shortly. After a few minutes of weighing her options Phi decided to sacrifice a lavender velvet shawl and the padding material of one of the prosthetics. Setting herself up out of sight Phi got to work on the small but important project she had decided to start.

Some twenty minutes later she stopped to check her handy work. It wasn't one of her greatest creations, but for a hasty job with limited material it wasn't bad, either. Tucking it under one arm she looked around to make sure no one else was around, having almost spaced out into her work. Thankfully no one seemed to be secretly or overtly watching her which eased her fear of embarrassment. From here Phi left the cargo hold and returned to the main corridor, to first check Amy's quarters, hoping to catch her alone. She wasn't hard to find with a little searching, and Phi cleared her throat to catch the woman's attention. From behind her back Phi presented the recognizably seal shaped plushie she had made.

"So, coincidentally I came across this today, and I think a certain someone might appreciate it far more than me. Would you mind giving this to her for me? No need to say where it's from."

Phi lied as if it was the most natural thing, certain she could hide her talents and keep an embarrassing hobby secret. While many still viewed Phi as a child she did not see herself the same way. But if her affinity for cute things, particularly stuffed animals, ever came to light then the reputation she was trying to build would surely go up in flames. In that case Tarak would probably still be patting her head well into their eighties. So with a short wave accompanied by another bright smile Phi turned to make her final escape back to the cargo hold.