[IC] The Lucidae

[Spud]

Life on Noveria was fast paced. Loire enjoyed the rush at first, it was easy to forget the deep dark thoughts that lurked in the back of his mind when he was always working on some project or another. The research base on Noveria that Loire currently worked with, a project codenamed "MIRANDA", was nestled deep, deep down under the planets frosty crust. Security was wound up tight and everything was kept under lock and key. At first the job seemed very seedy to Loire, but his colleague Sandra Wu, had also been recruited to the program. With her in tow, it seemed like a less risky venture. It had been several months, Loire was still relatively new to Biotic implants, but his medical expertise was a valuable asset to the research team. Sandra on the other hand, had a bit of a grasp on Biotics, together they both learned a wealth of new things.

That felt like forever ago now. The 25 year old doctor found his notes had been stolen. His hypothesis, still in pre-testing stages, had been nicked and testing he hadn't even agreed to had been carried out on live subjects based on some of the roughly hashed out observations in his and Sandra's notes. After they discovered the gruesome results of the live subject tests, he and Sandra done the only humane thing left to do, they "decomissioned" the test subjects, wiped all the data they could and set about escaping.

"Cmon Sandra, don't let me down." Loire said to himself tensely, waiting in the hotel lobby at the main port in Noveria. They'd escaped the MIRANDA labs, the tram trip back to the surface, and later sneaking aboard the transit vehicles back to the port had been terrifying. Sandra had arranged for a pickup to some other planet, he didn't know how, but she promised to get a ship to arrive in the port just in time to take them off-world. She'd left to track down the pilot and told Loire to stay at the hotel till she gave the word, and now all he was doing was waiting.

He didn't have much. A backpack with his few worldly possessions, his ID badge which he couldn't wait to get rid of as soon as he left this cursed planet. He ran his fingers through his hair and tied it back in a low ponytail so he wouldn't fidget with it.

"Goddamnit Vee, land this bird faster." Noah barked. He didn't usually have to bark out orders. Valko tended to work pretty fine on his own, and when he needed orders, there was very little need for Noah to yell at him. Viva was a little more reluctant, right now though, she wasn't reluctant about this order. Valko was in a bad way, things went south really quick. Noah managed to drag Valko back to the Lucidae, shouting at Vee to get the "damn bird in the air" fast and get them to a colony quick. She hadn't hesitated, moving the Lucidae expertly away from the barren moon they'd been doing a deal on.
Noah hadn't escaped unscathed, but his torn up body armour and his bloodied and pierced up arm was trivial compared to Valko. "Get us to Noveria right now." he shouted, trying, somewhat in vain to stabilise Valko. He was no doctor though, and this went beyond basic first aid.

He was glad they'd at least got a portion of the cargo they'd gone to pick up beofre everything went to shit. At least it wasn't an entirely wasted trip.

Noveria finally winked into sight and Viva managed to swing into port quickly. "Viva listen to me." Noah said, he wasn't yelling at her, though his shouting so far had been obviously due to the stress he was under with Valko in such bad shape. Now, he was keeping himself together and spoke calmly and evenly to her, at least, as calmly as he could muster. She needed to hold it together on Noveria and not get them caught with the cargo they had on board. She needed to act calmly.
"I can't go out there like this." he looked down at himself, covered in blood and generally looking like something from a battlefield, Viva was the only one not covered in blood and dirt and chaos, she looked like any regular pilot, she looked normal. "I will draw everyones attention. We need to keep a low profile, if anyone notices us- If anyone checks the cargo, we all go down. Now you need to stay calm, do not grab anyones attention. Get a doctor and get one quick, do whatever you have to do, he doesn't have much time." He reached out, he'd have given her shoulders a reassuring grasp to keep her head in the game, but his hands were bloody and it would stain her clothes and people would notice, so at most, he could give her a steely, reassuring look in the eyes.
"I've got him, now go." he said, cursing under his breath.

[Henwen]

The Gyrus Dross was an asteroid belt that stretched only a few parsecs out of the main interplanetary cosways- far enough away that it did not cause any more damages than the occasional falling star but close enough that planetary corporations found it feasible to mine the larger asteroids for valuable minerals.

Dross-6 was one of those corporately owned mining colonies. It was not the largest, and certainly not the most profitable. The Company that owned it tended to be one of the overwork-and-underpay types, in an attempt to squeeze as much profit out of the failing financial venue. As such, the people were hard, miserable, and desperate; prone to doing whatever it took to keep on going. The Company was apathetic to the plight of their workers, only taking interest if it damaged company property or profits.

Which made it a perfect place for unsavory types, drawn to desperation like vultures. Here, the black market was more reliable than the company stores, and anything could be found regardless of legalities: guns, drugs, ammunition, anything. Outside the Company, no one came to Dross-6 for legitimate reasons outside of crime.

So when Valko told her that Noah had gotten them a job there, Viva was understandably nervous. Dross-6 was no cake-walk, no matter how the boy's tried to sell it as a quick pick up- no fuss or mess. This rock was hard, and the people harder- and with her brother's temper... So Viva sat at the ready in the cockpit while the boy's dealt with the cargo, her music cranked up loud to drown out her anxiousness.

Sure enough, all hell broke loose and Noah was hauling her brother in cursing up a storm, bellowing and cursing up a storm. Adrenaline hit her system hard, and the Lucidae hit atmo about as fast as physically possible for a ship of her size.

"The fuck happened out there?" She'd snapped back at them, when she finally caught sight of them, her hands already keying in the coordinates to Noveria as Noah told her too- it was the closest port with any kind of civilization. Valko looked like hell, black eye and wet dirt smeared all over, but most damning was the still growing damp patch of blood about his stomach.

"Heh, fucking fucker," Valko swore and coughed wetly from where he laid propped up against the wall where Noah had set him, his teeth red with blood, "You should see the other guy. Fucking coward couldn't even fight fair."

"Valko," Viva growled in frustration, worry and fear snapping in her tone like a live wire, "You fucking idiot."

"What was I supposed to do," He laughed, his breath coming shallow and he groaned in pain as Noah applied pressure to his wound, "Just le-let him bad mouth Luce-cough like that? Had-ta teach th'fucker a lesson. How-th fuck wss I supposted to know th' astro-trash would p-pull a gun a-after I kicked his ass."

"For fucks sake, just shut up Val!" She said, her knuckles white at the wheel, and she turned her head back just in time to see her brothers eyes roll back into his head. "Fucking FUCK!"

Lucidae had been pushed to her hardest burn, and Norevia winked into sight just as Valko lost consciousness. With her captain bellowing in her ear, Viva swung into a landing that was almost recklessly fast.

"Viva listen to me." Noah said in a calm tone, "I can't go out there like this. I will draw everyone's attention. We need to keep a low profile, if anyone notices us- If anyone checks the cargo, we all go down. Now you need to stay calm, do not grab anyones attention. Get a doctor and get one quick, do whatever you have to do, he doesn't have much time."

"Right. Right," Viva said, nodding her head and her lips pressed firmly, trying to express a confidence she didn't feel even as her too-wide eyes belied her underling panic and fear for her brother, "Okay."

"I've got him, now go." he said, cursing under his breath.

She stood up abruptly and threw on her coat, trying not to look at all the blood on the floor that was supposed to be inside her brother, "You better not die on me you fucking bastard."

And she was out the door, trying not to let the panic churn in her gut at the lack of his usual parting remark.
("Ha! Then what does that make you?")

Down the inclining hall, she reached the cargo hold- having to step over the crates that hadn't been battened down securely before their fast burn to atmo. She didn't even look to see what the damn things were, just taking the side hatch to the cargo hold door (so that the entire back opening wasn't gaping open for the world to see). And she was dirtside.

How the fuck was she supposed to find a doctor now?

Fear and urgency are great motivators, however and so she moved- striding through the crowd purposefully, her eyes taking in everyone- looking for any sign that they'd be of the medical profession. Where those scrubs? No. A stethoscope? No. A fucking lab coat? No. By the time she reached the first hotel lobby-outpost for the port she could feel the stomach dropping sensation of desperation beginning to set in- when she saw it.

Stopping in her tracks she scanned the crowd, heart hammering in her chest when she saw it again. It helped that the man was sitting down, his hands reaching up to his head to put his hair back- and she got a full look at his ID-badge... one DR. LIORE LANRETE.

"Hey!" She called to him, pushing her way past a few dilly dalling people passing by to get to him, "You a doctor?"

[Spud]

Noah managed to laugh just a little despite the situation. "You were fuckin' mental out there." Noah said, Valko had done a pretty wicked job, even though things went south, Noah had to admit he was pretty impressed ... he was also pretty sore, Valko got the worst end of the bargain, but Noah also saw his fair share of action.

"You heard the orders, you gotta stay alive, Vee will be back soon." he hoped to God ... well if there was one, that Viva would get back soon. With Valko lapsing out of consciousness, Noah didn't even know what to do, plus with every second that passed, they were stuck in this port longer and longer and were at risk of getting caught. If whatever doctor Vee managed to find thought he'd be treating Valko and then quickly returning back to his shift, he'd have another thing coming. They were high-tailing out of here as soon as they got a doctor and ... well maybe they'd have to kill the doctor afterwards to keep him quiet. Noah didn't think that far ahead, he had to focus on each second as it came and passed, he couldn't think much further, stuck in limbo till Viva returned.

Loire was surprised when a total stranger suddenly appeared and asked if he was a doctor. "Well I'm qualified but I don't practice at the moment, I'm a researcher." he replied, somewhat confused, he looked around trying to see if Sandra was nearby, was this someone she knew? Had she sent someone to get him to catch up with her? Surely a messenger would have known to call him by name though. "Oh goodness, pardon my manners, Loire Lanrete." he introduced, offering his hand to shake hers, he looked at her with concern, she seemed unnerved. "Are you alright madam?"

[Henwen]

As soon as the word 'qualified' registered with her Viva stopped listening, closing her eyes briefly she thanked her lucky stars as a wave of palatable relief and hope washed through her.

"Slava bogu," She said as the man offered his hand, and staring at him intently, she seized it in a vice grip, "Come with me. We haven't much time."

And with that she was off again, this time hauling the doctor near off his feet as she hurried them through the crowd back to where the ship was docked, "Come On! Lets go!"

Her grip of his wrist was sure to be painful, and her pace punishing- but now that she had her hands on a doctor she was not gonna let him slip away before he had a chance to save her brother. Whenever the man tried to dig in his heels, she'd just egg him on again, her tone of urgency and fast pace keeping the doctor off balance was probably doing more to help her cause than anything else.
"Hurry!" "There's No Time!" "I'll Explain Later!" "MOVE!"

Reaching the ship slower than she'd like, but still at a good clip that had her breathing hard, she ran up to the hatch door. She gave their surroundings a quick look around as she opened the hatch door- Noah didn't want them garnering attention but she hadn't exactly been subtle in her run to get back- thankfully no one had noticed them long enough to even give them a parking ticket, but it was only a matter of time before somebody noticed their unsanctioned dock.

"What are you waiting for?" She said impatiently as she threw the door open and shoved the Doctor in before her, "Get in there!"

With the doctor strong-armed inside, she quickly closed the hatch behind her and set the lock, hollering as she went, "Noah! Noah! I found a doctor!"

Valko was still lying where they put him, breathing shallow and bleeding out slowly. A few times it looked like he might come too, moaning and twitching- his hands cold and clammy where they still gripped Noah's in a weak grasp. Valko has obviously gone into shock, what little first aid having been done to him may have slowed its onset but couldn't prevent his decline.

[Spud]

Loire was caught somewhat off guard when Viva suddenly grabbed his wrist and hauled ass right out of the hotel lobby. This wasn't like Sandra ... this wasn't part of the plan, yet Viva, whos name he still didn't know, insisted he came along. Whatever was going on, it appeared to be some sort of medical emergency. Despite Loire's own situation, which was also rather urgent, he was a doctor, and he lived by a code of ethics that insisted he couldn't neglect a patient. Eventually, realising that Viva wasn't going to let him go, and whoever needed help was more likely than not in a very bad way, Loire simply tried to keep up with Viva's pace.

Noah was afraid. It wasn't easy to scare him, but Valko's raspy breath, and the warm stickiness of his blood creeping up Noah's arms, was scary. Noah had killed people before, but he'd never tried saving anyone, and it was scary, trying to get them to cling onto life and having no idea what to do and watching Valko only get worse and worse each minute. WHen the hatch suddenly hissed open he jumped a little, he couldn't move to see if it was some guard coming in to do a search and arrest them and seize their cargo. Luckily Viva's voice rang through and he sighed a little, almost for a fraction of a second allowing his hands to rest, though the wet "sloshing" sound of Valko's blood reminded him not to relax his grip, he'd bleed out.

"Good job Vee, now get the fuck in here." Noah called back. Loire, unsure of what he was getting into, followed the voice to its source, upon seeing Valko he jumped into action. A pair of gloves would have been ideal, but for now, until he could stabilise Valko long enough, he'd work without. There was no time for prepping right now, this was practically emergency surgery.
"Keep your hand there." he said, guiding Noah's hand slightly upward to keep pressure on the wound.
Noah didn't look up at Viva, focusing on doing what the doctor said, he'd have to assist this procedure obviously.
"Viva we have to move." Noah said, they needed to get off world as quick as possible.
"What?!" Loire asked, turning for a moment to dig through the first aid kit Noah had fleeced through. He'd need some tools to fix this."This guy needs to go to a hospital." Loire said, finding a vial of medical foam to close the wound, temporarily at least.
"Just patch him up we don't have time." Noah ordered, Loire couldn't say no of course, he wasn't about to let Valko die, but he needed answers.
"Alright, alright. I'm going to close the wound and give him some adrenalin, but I need to get him to a medical bay at least. He'll need a transfusion, adrenalin and once he's stabilised I'll need to properly clean and seal these wounds. I can't see a thing through this blood, how many wounds is there?" Loire said, keeping his voice steady, if Noah didn't stya calm he wouldn't figure out what happened and with all the blood, it was almost impossible to figure out the damage.
"I-I I'm not sure." Noah said, he was going into shock a bit himself, the pressure of trying to keepValko alive was ... something he'd never experienced before.
"Okay, it's okay, just stay calm. I'm going to put my fingers over the wound, when I say 'now' I need you to let go and go down to your ships medical bay. He needs adrenalin, his pulse is dangerously weak. Are you ready?" Loire kept his tone even and steady, he was used to emergency surgeries, this wasn't something he'd never seen before, albeit he didn't usually do surgery on the floor of strange space carriers.
He eased his fingers under Noah's, plugging the largest wound with his hands. "Okay, go now. Find the syringe case marked "adrenalin" and I'll need something to cauterise the wounds."

Loire wasn't sure exactly what was going on but he had an incredibly bad feeling about it. Now he was on board a ship being taken god knows where with three strangers. He couldn't allow his mind to wander too far though, he would figure everything else out later, right nwo he needed to fix Valko. Once he was able to get Valko's pulse back strong and steady, and stopped the bleeding, he'd be able to move Valko to the medical bay where he could properly carry out a full procedure. Right now he just had to get Valko ready to move.

NOah nodded, the med bay was tiny, the Lucidae wasn't a warship, it wasn't supposed to have tonnes of casualities, at best, the medical bay was just a sick room, it had a bed and cupboards full of supplies that really hadn't gotten much use. Luckily, the bay was stocked with exactly what they needed, Noah was aware they'd probably need to restock a lot after Loire was done. He ran back to the doctor handing over the supplies, letting the doctor do his work, He allowed himself the luxury of leaving Valko for a brief moment to see Viva in the cockpit. "Can you move this thing any faster?" he asked, although they'd left port he wanted to be far away from Noveria, he wanted to be sure they hadn't been followed.

[Henwen]

"Good job Vee, now get the fuck in here."
"Val," Viva moaned as she caught a fresh sight of her brother. He looked deathly pale and there was just so much blood. His shirt and jacket were near soaked, the rough bandage of cloth soggy with it. Noah's hands were dripping red and her breath caught at the sight. And she knew in that moment that if Valko died because of this she would never forgive him. As if he heard her thought himself Noah looked up to catch her eyes. "Viva we have to move."

"What?!" "What?" Viva echoed the doctor incredulously. Her brother was bleeding out on the floor, and not only were they not taking him to a hospital he wanted to throw lift-off jitters into the mix? The Lucidae was a fantastic ship, but she was no spring chicken and she juttered about on atmo hard enough to chatter your teeth. She was lucky enough that the doctor she'd nabbed seemed to know what he was doing now but- "Just patch him up we don't have time."

At the snapped order, Viva jumped guiltily and lundged for her chair blindly as she grudgingly left her brothers side. She keyed in the liftoff sequence by touch and memory, and she gunned it as soon as Luce gave her the green light. The sooner they broke atmo the sooner they'd smooth out. Noah haddn't given her any coordinants, and she didn't care where they were going so long as Valko was on the brink, so she punched in the cords for what had been their next planned stop- the drop off for their incomplete cargo.

Keeping her ears tuned to what was going on behind her, Viva listed to the doctor take charge. The smallest mesure of relief wormed its way into her, even as her heart clenched at the sound of 'adrenailin', 'transfusion', 'weak pulse'. At the Doctor's direction Noah finally eased away from Valko, only to hurry away and go running for their terribly inadiquate medibay. Viva couldn't remember what all was in there, but knew it wasn't much. Hopefully they'd have some adreniline, but as for the rest...
"Transfusion. You said transfusion right?" Viva piped up, calling over her shoulder at the doctor as Noah continued to rummage around in the background, "You can use mine. My blood. He's my brother-Twin. So it's the same. Use my blood."

Noah came back around, handing over the supplies to the doctor and Viva was relieved that they actually had the things he needed. She looked back towards them for a second, only to see Noah at her side- scanning the area.
"Can you move this thing any faster?"
"Why? Expecting company?" She snarked nastily as she pushed Lucidae's speed a touch more, "Just how badly did you piss those guys off? No, on second thought, don't tell me. I don't want to know."

She did her own sweep just to be on the safe side however, her captain's insistance on speed making her paranoid. They were still too close to Norevia, and the port's space was cluttered with all kinds of ships comming and going- it would be impossible to tell if they were being tailed just yet. Her eyes kept jumping from ship to ship- looking for classes that were common around Dross-6... a few caught her eye, but it was too far and she couldn't tell for sure when-

The adrenailin hit Valko's system hard, and seconds after the plundger stopped Valko's body begain to seize- gasping, trembling and shaking violently as the sierum forced his body to work in overdrive. The sound yanked Viva's attention away in alarm, "VAL! What's happening?!"

[Spud]

Loire was now well aware that they were moving but he couldn't take his hands off of Valko, he'd immediately bleed out. Now wasn't the time for arguing anyway, he was becoming increasingly aware that he was in a potential hostage position and letting the patient die would not do him any favours, not to mention his moral compass generally insisted he keep patients alive and not kill them.

The take off was shaky, Loire had to be careful to make sure a finger didn't move astray and compromise Valko's delicate state.
"I was going to suggest a synthetic plasma infusion, most med kits have tgat sort of gear, but a direct transfusion from a blood relative would be even more effective." Loire replied, either way he wouldnt have to worry about testing blood groups, both options were viable and relatively convenient to him. He glanced up at Valkos face which was dreadfully pale, he did have an uncanny resemblance to Viva, it came as no suprise they were twins. If he wasn't motivated to save Valko before he certainly was now. He didn't know Viva but he knew he didn't want anyone else to go through the pain he went through when he lost Lucine.

Nah was in no mood for Vivas attitude, they were still in hot water and until they were far enough out of the system he wouldn't let his guard down.
"You're damn right you don't want to know, just get us out of here. We need to get rid of this cargo fast." Despite Valko's critical state, Noah still had a drop off to make. The cargo? A mixture of drugs and weapons pretty standard stuff however the guys Noah and Valko had been dealing with were far from their ordinary business partners.

Noah turned around as well when Valko began siezing. It was terrifying to watch but the doctor seemed entirely unaffected and continued to expertly move his fingers around the wound ensuring it stayed closed. "Shut up and drive, let the doctor do his job" Noah commanded. He needed to keep her focused on getting away from Noveria, if she was distracted they could be tailed or crash or any number of disasters could occur.

"Don't worry, I've got this all under control" Loire said calmly, reaching for a tool to temporarily cauterise the wound. Valko would stop seizing shortly and Loire could risk moving him to the med bay where he would properly clean and reseal the wound and work on replacing the lost blood.this wasn't like his regular surgeries ... his "audience" wasn't behind a soundproofed screen, Viva and Noah were right there, he'd have to talk them through ... they weren't medical professionals they didn't know what was going on and it was likely terrifying.
"His pulse is getting steady. Now I'm going to temporarily seal this wound and I'll need help to take him to the med bay where I can properly treat his injuries. I'll need you to tell me exactly what I'm up against here before I go back in." Loire said calmly. Once he opened Valko up again he'd need Vivas blood.

Noah wondered how he could explain ... it happened so fast and what if the doctor turned them in? He couldn't tell him the truth at least not the whole truth. He tried to work out a story in his head when he noticed a persistent red dot on the screen in front of him.
"Vee run a scan on that ship on our 6." Perhaps he was being paranoid or perhaps they had company ...

[Henwen]

"Shut up and drive! Let the doctor do his job," Noah commanded.
Viva bit back a snarl as she turned back around, her teeth bared and knuckles white. Her face was not nearly as pale as her brother but her freckles stood out stark on her face. Her eyes stared unseeing for a moment, while she listed to the doctor speak- the man's calm tone of confidence helping her get a reign in on her temper as her hands guided the speeding ship on instinct.

"Vee run a scan on that ship on our 6."
Her attention drawn back to the ship, and glad for the distraction, she quickly punched in the command for the ship scan in question. It took a few moments to get a lock on it, as they were both ducking and weaving through the crowd, but she managed to get the scan through: a heavy freight class cargo-ship, small but larger than the Lucidae by a good deal and from the looks of it, retro-fitted to be a real stormbuster...

"Cукин сын," Viva swore, "Yup, looks like your friends from Dross-6 have caught up with us." Her face was grim, but she no longer looked frightened as she called back to Noah without turning around, "Go get Valko and the Doctor into the medibay and sit tight, i'm gonna try and shake em".

Without acknowledging whether he heard her or not, Viva began to quickly punch in flight codes, slipping into the zen state of hyperfocus as she analyzed the situation. The Dross-6 stormbuster was obviously tailing them at the speeds they were going now, but either they were trying to keep a low profile or they hadn't realized they'd been spotted yet as it wasn't an outright chase... Yet.

"Alright you тупой ублюдок," Viva muttered to herself as she shrugged into her seat harness and belted in, her eyes tracking the passing ships and shifting openings, "You wanna play it like this? Cause I got news for you хуесос, anything you can do I can do better-поймай меня, если вы можете, твою мать!"

With that final curse, she gunned the engines to full burn, recklessly ducking and diving through the surrounding spaceships. She'd timed it so that the other ships line of sight had been broken when she'd blasted away, hopefully that would give them a precious few moments of a head start. After that she'd be relying on the Luce's smaller size and maneuverability, twisting through gaps between ships that the other ship would not be able to follow.

[Spud]

His suspicions had been right and they were bing tailed ... at least theyd manged to take off without getting instantly shot down and theyd managed to nab a doctor in time too. If theyd been waiting much longer it wad liekly their pursuers woyld have boarded and slaughteted them in the port.

"Remember who the captain is here Viva. You don't give the orders" Noah said hrshly in a quiet voice when she told him to take Valko to the med bay. It went without saying that he'd do just that but he and Viva were always t odds with one another and he wasn't going to let her think she could give out orders anytime soon.

Noah turned his attention back to Valko and Loire. Viva was a capable pilot and she could be trusted to take her on initiative with the Lucidae and ensure they made it out alive if that was a possibility.
"What do you need me to do?" Noah asked kneeling down beside Loire.
"Just lift him and take me down to the med bay. Be gentle though he's barely patched together... I still have a lot of work to do." LOIRE turned to look at Noah for a moment. Everything had been happening so fast that he didn't even know what his kidnappers looked like.
He was struck by Noahs appearance... Rugged, he had some blood and dirt on hi face and strong determined features. He was actually very striking. Loire wasnt instantly smitten but he certainly found Noah a pleasant sight, perhaps he'd look even better cleaned up. He noticed the blood weeping from Noahs arm and asked "Are you hurt? Your arm. "
"It's nothing, keep your eyes on Valko." Noah replied wincing at the pain in his wounded arm as he managed to scoop up Valko who was like a dead weight.

Loire followed Noahs brisk pace to the med bay. With Valko laid out on the bed, Loire prepped himself for a proper emergency surgery and pulled out an IV bag and syringe. "Can you get a blood donation from the pilot?"
"From Viva?" Noah replied to clarify.
"I take it you know how to use a syringe Dont you? Perhaps you don't use drugs yourself but you're clearly knee deep in something and I'd wager it's drugs." Loire said snapping on a pair of sterilised gloves.
"You wanna watch what you say doctor" Noah replied then left to return to the deck and draw blood from Viva.

"Vee the doc is ready for some blood. Gimme your arm and hold still" he said though he knew this would be no easy task

((Sorry for typeos and autocorrect fails my phone is beh. Also sorry for not writing out the surgery stuff in better depth I this post. It's late and I'm going to bed but my next post will basically walk through the operation!!!))

[Henwen]

Viva was in the zone.

The Lucidae had leapt ahead of her tail the moment they'd reached orbital space, and then the game of cat and mouse began. It was a damned dangerous dance: Norevia's orbital space was congested, full of ships of all kinds coming and going- what little traffic control was had was usually the only thing preventing it from being a solid jam...

But instead of making a break for the free open space outside of this highly populated orbit, Viva took a hard lateral turn- diving counter clockwise to the orbit's traffic and whipping their little space ship over and under, weaving in and out of the coming ships. The chances of a head on collision only increased with her breakneck speed, and it was already taking Viva's undivided concentration to keep from such a thing happening. Only a damned fool or an expert pilot would pull a stunt like this, and Viva could easily be considered both. But she knew her ship and what she could handle intimately well and there was no way she was going to misjudge a gap or a twist.

Which their tail would be remained to be seen.

"Vee the doc is ready for some blood. Gimme your arm and hold still."

Viva didn't hear him at first, concentrating on a tricky maneuver that angled the Luce completely sideways, between two oncoming ships, before twisting her up and over the third coming in behind them. The Atmo Jitters were long gone, but with how Viva was flying right now the ship was still lurching and shaking about. The g-forces so strong that they could be felt through the dampeners and gravity-field generator.

"What? Oh, yeah," She said distractedly, before raising an arm and waving it back towards him without looking his way, but put it back on the wheel moments after for another hard turn that rocked the ship.

"Oh, есть дерьмо," She snarled, her eyes fixed on the scanner, "The fuckers are actually following us. Я не могу поверить, что это дерьмо!"

[Spud]

Loire certainly hadn't done anything like this before and each second that passed made everything seem both more and less surreal. He focused as hard as he could on performing surgery on Valko, because once he started thinking about everything else that was going on, he was positive he'd lose his mind. Perhaps it all went wrong the second he first set foot on Noveria ... or maybe everything went wrong further back. That night when he lost Lucine, perhaps that was what set his life events in motion in this direction? It was too late to do something differently now, he could only focus on making the best of his current situaiton. It was hard to figure out exactly what the "best of this situation" entailed exactly. Best case scenario, he wasn't killed an dperhaps he'd be dropped off at the next stop ... worst case scenario, he'd be killed as soon as this fella, Valko, was back on his feet. Either result was ... well, progress at least. Sometimes he wondered if he should just give up, what had he left to live for after all that had happened between his homeworld and his involvement in the incident in Noveria? A quick end would be a mercy wouldn't it? No, Loire reminded himself of the promises he'd made to himself and to Lucine. He'd get better ... he'd take his meds ... he'd make everything better, somehow.

By now Valko was properly sedated. Although he'd already lost consciousness, Loire had put him under a general anaesthetic to ensure he didn't suddenly wake up halfway through surgery and flail about causing himself more harm. He cleaned up as much of the blood as he could to get a clear view of the wound. A nasty looking cluster of bullet holes, Loire had quite the mess to clean up.

Noah attempted to get a vein from Viva's arm, to get the blood, but with all the shaking, not to mention the hint of fear that was washing over him. Noah liked control, he got anxious when he lost that control and right now he had no control over anything. Valko's life was in Loire's hands and he was powerless to help Valko, Viva was the better pilot out of the two of them, and she was doing her best to escape Noveria, even though he could fly, he knew he couldn't fly better than Viva, and so he was powerless to control the ship during their escape.
His first jab in Viva's arm was a miss, of course between manoeuvring the ship away from their pursuers, and getting stabbed in the arm by Noah, Viva was swearing profusely, at him or the pursuers, he wasn't quite sure at this point. He grabbed her arm, holding it perhaps a little too firmly, but with the adrenalin coursing through both of them it was unlikely she would notice till later if she got bruises, Noah wasn't even aware how tightly he was holding her arm. He tried again and hit a vein, sighing internally with relief when the plasma bag attached to the syringe began to fill with blood.
He filled it till it reached the mark the doctor had left, Loire had warned him that taking much more in one go would probably make Viva feel faint, and that he would make do with what Noah could get, if Valko needed a second transfusion, Viva could give more blood later, in the case of an emergency transfusion, syntehtic plasma would suffice. Noah didn't bother trying ot understand any of it, he just had to trust the doctor knew what he was doing.

"Okay, that should do." Noah mumbled, now wasn't the time for him to remember to say "good job Vee", his mind was elsewhere. He roughly patched a band-aid over the needle-prick-hole so blood wouldn't drip down her arm. He ran back to the med bay, setting the blood pack down in one of the metal medical pans. He looked over at Valko, his face still pale and slicked with sweat but his breathing was slightly steadier. The doctor had moved incredibly fast ... he continued to work incredibly fast with dexterous hands. He had a bizarre looking forceps and as Noah stepped back to stay out of the way, he saw the doctor pull the tool out of Valko's stomach, clutched in its metal teeth was a single bullet which Loire dropped into a different tray before going back in to route out another bullet.

"I got you the blood. How much longer is this going to take?" Noah asked, impatient as usual but this was an exceptional circumstance.
"It will take as long as it takes." Loire replied absently, his mind was focused on snatching up the next bullet lodged inside Valko's stomach, his response was automatic, not a well thought out reply.
"I said how fucking long?"
"I don't know. How many bullets are in here? I've pulled out 3, how many shots did he take?" Loire asked, trying to keep his voice calm and steady, Noah was antsy, it wouldn't do to set him off.
"Five? ... Five ... I think it was five." Noah replied, his brain working in overdrive.
"Alright then ... Almost ... Done." Loire pulled out another bullet, one more left then came the task of stitching Valko back up which would take a deal of time. The last bullet made a "tink" noise as it landed in the metal pan.
"Val gonna be okay?"
Loire nodded. "I'm doing all I can, he'll need time to recover though. Can you hang up this blood bag on that IV please?" Loire said, prepping a cannula so he could begin putting Viva's blood into Valko.
Noah complied and dragged the IV stand over and hung the blood bag from the clip. Loire prepped and set up the IV line and Viva's blood donation began filtering into Valko. Loire double checked Valko's vitals before prepping to suture the wound.

The colour was slowly returning to Valko's pale pallor, very slowly, but he looked less like he was on the brink of death now, he still had a long way to come though, still soaked in sweat and blood and with a big open wound in his gut.
Noah left to return to the bridge.
"Doc says Val should be okay." Noah said, a rare moment where he seemed somewhat ... capable of emotion.
"Whats our status up here?" he asked, scanning the screens to see if their pursuers were still chasing their tail or if they'd made it out this time. The shaking of the ship had been unsettling, but it meant Viva was manoeuvring them, or at least trying, the shaking and swerving wasn't the shuddery-jerking sensation of taking hits, Noah took that as a good sign.

[Henwen]

"мать трахать членосос!" Viva shrieked and flinched as Noah poorly stuck her arm, Lucidae swerving dangerously with the jolt. Noah grabbed hold of her arm painfully as she recovered her trajectory, and she was left having to guide the ship through the oncoming traffic with one hand literally behind her back.

She had no time to do more than continue to growl curses, steering Luce with one hand, occasionally aided by her knee when she'd have to let go of the wheel for heartstopping moments to key in flight codes. She could barely feel her other arm in Noah's grasp as anything more than a faint dull pain, her fist clenched in an effort to stay still as the ship shuddered and jerked with her reckless turns. Her pulse pounding in her ears, and her eyes constantly darting between the the ship tailing them and the ships ahead that were coming right for them.

Beyond the litany of increasingly vitriolic words spewing from her mouth, and the rapid fire of react-analyse-react that came nearly instinctively to her, Viva's mind was quiet. In that distant part of her mind, the quiet place where panic rested and fear gnawed, the same place that acknowledged that her arm would be black and blue after Noah let go, came the slow realization that whoever it was, the pilot that was flying the stormbuster was good...

But she was better.

She never noticed when Noah finally left, her free hand was just back at the controls and she grinned viciously.
"Alright you сукин сын," She said keying in the next sequence as her eyes judged the distance between them,"Let's dance."
Lucidae bucked and rolled through the thickest part of the orbit, the grav-field only holding because she'd maxed it to full strength. Over this ship, under the next, slipping between freighters and side-sliding between cargo trains, the oncoming ships hardly had time to react to her before she was gone... only for the Stormbuster to fly into their face as they belatedly swerved away.
Seeing a window of opportunity, Viva quickly dove into a closing gap- her eyes flying to the scanner just in time to see the gap close, and the stormbreaker only barely breaking away from the dive, only to have to flip and finally fly with the orbit's turn to avoid being swept away.

"YES! сосать это сука!" She hollered at the scanner punching the air,"How'd you like tha-Wuh Oh!"

In the thrill of success, she'd taken her mind off the task at hand for barely an instant, namely, flying at breakneck speeds into oncoming Noverian traffic, and had to lunge back at the controls for a split second save. Getting her head back to the task at hand, she continued her reckless plunge out of sheer necessity, whipping and weaving as she tried to get the Lucidae in a better position to break orbit.

"Doc says Val should be okay." Noah said, a rare moment where he seemed somewhat ... capable of emotion.
"What's our status up here?"

"Shook our tail," She said succinctly, turning the dive into a climb, "Now just gotta make a cross orbital break for deep space and we should be golden... aaand THERE!" With a final sharp upward lurch, Lucidae broke free, and still at full burn Viva returned to their last set course and flipped on the autopilot, "There. I'll keep her at full burn for the next two cycles. By the time they get out of that orbital mess we'll be long gone.And with that jam, they're likely to get caught by the feds."

"We'll be long gone by then," She said slowly sitting back. Viva slumped as she exhaled shakily, her heart still pounding but the adrenaline rush that had gotten her through the past few moments slowly leaving her system. She felt wrung out and drained, and her arm was starting to throb with echos of what were sure to become painful twinges and aching bruises in the next few hours. She exhaled again, slow deep breaths, "We should be good. We're okay..."

"Val," Her head popped up as the thought sank in, eyes wide as she finally climbed to her feet, "You said Valko- The doc said that he's gonna be okay- Woah!"

She'd stood up too fast, the combination of having her blood drawn and the adrenalin rush wearing off at the same time making the room swim and the ground rock beneath her. Staggering she loosely grabbed hold of her chair with one hand as she nearly fell to her knees, her ears ringing as she tried to blink the spots from her eyes, "I'm fine! I'm fine, just- just tell me Val's okay."

[Spud]

Noah, also wrung out from the dizzying escape run they'd just flung themselves into, slumped down against the wall panel, sliding down to a sitting position on the floor. The shock wearing off ... the giddy rush of just narrowly avoiding death crept in and he laughed a little. After a massive risk there was usually a huge payoff, they'd risked a lot this time and he was feeling giddy about it already.

As Vee slumped down, asking if Val was okay, Noah nodded. "That doctor's unusual ... There's something fishy about him but I don't quite know what ... but he's a good doctor thats for sure." Noah began to wonder what would happen next, after Val was good to go what would they do with the doctor, he'd need to think about that, perhaps having a doc on board would be useful but he had to make arrangements to ensure that happened. He could kill him if he became a risk ... that would be quick, easy and painless, for Noah at least... but the doctor ... not so much.

"You keep an eye up here, we have important cargo, I don't want to let our guard down until we're well and truly clear, sit and gather your stregnth and keep an eye on Luce for the next two cycles." Noah said getting back to his feet. "I'll keep an eye on Val, once the two cycles are complete, you can come on down to the med bay, you'll need some rest too, I'll take over once we're far enough out." Viva would need her rest. Noah didn't often show any kind of kindness, much less to Viva, but she'd earned a brief reprive. They all did, she'd saved their asses this time, but that was what a crew did. There was still a chance a nearby patrol could have been alerted from Noveria, so until they passed through the next relay, they still had to keep a watchful eye on everything around them, it was unlikely anything else would come up, but being extra vigilant never hurt.

Back in the med bay Loire was already finishing stitching up Valko. Noah slumped down into a chair, not saying anything just yet, the Doctor didn't even look at Noah, his eyes focused on closing the wound and cleaning up the blood.
"So what happens now? You throw me out the airlock since I patched up your buddy?" Loire asked, he was eerily calm, Noah wondered if he should be just a little unsettled.
"Depends. If you're going to become a problem, I just might do that."
Loire pulled the last thread into a knot and snipped the thread, turning to face Noah.
"I don't know what you're playing at, but I know it's illegal. What do you expect me to tell the Alliance? I was taken hostage on this random ship and the captain was a little jumpy maybe you should go check it out? Honestly- ... Sorry I didn't catch your name"
"Noah."
"Honestly Noah, I studied in one of the Citadel's most elite schools, I worked under a variety of different Alliance divisions, do you really think I'm stupid enough to go to the Alliance with this? Unless I know what cargo you're carrying, or who you're working for, I don't have a story to tell. I'll bet you're not going to be dumb enough to tell me what you've landed yourself in so I'm stuck here and I'm not a threat to you."
Noah couldn't quite trust Loire's points entirely. Although Loire didn't know enough to pose a totally dangerous risk ... he was a highly trained doctor, not some random colonist, given that he studied on the Citadel and worked under the Alliance, perhaps his words would carry more weight. If Loire was convincing enough, even with minimal evidence, the Alliance may decide to investigate. Noah wasn't prepared to believe Loire wasn't a threat.
"Look it doesn't matter, I'm not finished here, your arm is injured, let me help you." Loire said, changing his surgical gloves and tossing the old pair into the bin, he threaded a fresh needle to stitch up the bullet wound in Noah's bicep.
"I threaten to toss you out the airlock and you're offering to patch up my arm?" Noah asked to clarify what he had just heard.
"I'm a doctor and you're injured, it's my job." Loire replied, giving a shot of morphine to Noah to ease the throbbing in his arm.
"Are you insane?"
"I have depression but I take my meds, I'm in control, other than that, I have no mental illness." he replied flatly, focusing on the hole in Noah's arm.
Noah just stayed quiet, letting the doctor do his work. He looked over at Valko who was breathing steadily, a blanket drawn up to his chest to cover the wounds underneath, if Viva suddenly came down to the med bay, at least Valko was in a presentable state, no blood and gore on show.

[Henwen]

Viva just nodded wearily at him as she heaved herself back into her seat. Noah's orders or not, the only thing that was keeping her in that pilots chair was the fact that she was pretty sure that if she stood up again she'd keel over into a dead faint. It wouldn't do Lucidae or her brother any good if she was out cold, so she would just have to take Noah's word that Valko was okay and content herself with staring out into space, fiddling with the controls, numbly watching the stars slip by...

Yeah, that wasn't happening. As much as she'd love to switch off her mind and recuperate, she couldn't revel in the sensation of being alive and breathing still until she saw Valko. She knew Noah wouldn't lie about something as serious as Val's state, trusted him to tell her the truth about that much if anything. She knew Val was okay but... Maybe it was a twin thing, or just a sibling thing even, but she needed to see him and maybe then the anxious knot in her stomach would finally ease up.

With one final course check, she set a proximity alarm on the off chance that the stormbuster or the feds caught up to them and carefully pulled herself to her feet. The room spun slightly, and she felt incredibly light headed but the dark spots and ringing in her ears didn't make a reappearance so she slowly staggered her way to the hall picking her steps with exaggerated care. With a guiding hand on the walls, she pointedly did not look at the blood that was still pooled and smeared across the floor and walls around where Noah and her brother had been. Someone would have to clean up that mess eventually (most likely her, damn it) but for now she shied away from thinking too hard about it- about what ifs and could haves that would only result in sending her into a blind panic...

Fortunately the medibay was just around the corner, she could already hear Noah and the Doctor and in a few more steps supported by anything in reach she could would be able to see them. He'd finished up with Val apparently as he was working on Noah's arm, she hadn't even known he'd gotten hurt.

"Look it doesn't matter, I'm not finished here, your arm is injured, let me help you." Loire said, changing his surgical gloves and tossing the old pair into the bin, he threaded a fresh needle to stitch up the bullet wound in Noah's bicep.
"I threaten to toss you out the airlock and you're offering to patch up my arm?" Noah asked to clarify what he had just heard.
"I'm a doctor and you're injured, it's my job." Loire replied, giving a shot of morphine to Noah to ease the throbbing in his arm.
"Are you insane?"
"I have depression but I take my meds, I'm in control, other than that, I have no mental illness." he replied flatly.

"No throwing the doc out the airlock Noah," She said making her presence known. She gave a kind of half smile, trying for a quippish tone but couldn't quite manage her usual banter with the audible weariness that was seeping into her voice, "We've only the one, and crazy or not he saved Val. That's worth some kudos in my book."

She waved a defusing hand in Noah's direction, the other hand grasping the doorframe tightly in a means to stay upright, "I know, I know. Orders. Stay put. Yadda yadda. I'll only be a moment, I just... I have to see him for myself."

[Spud]

"Don't I get a say in this?" Loire asked, although his tone wasn't confrontational. He was just dabbing something on a cotton swab and pressing it against the stitches in Noah's arm. Noah flinched a bit, it appeared it was anticeptic to keep the wound clean.
"Hostages don't usually get a say at all, and as far as I can see you've been pretty outspoken." Noah countered, "I'll figure out what to do with you later, someone has to fly this ship." Noah got up, slapping a gauze over his stitched up arm and leaving to assume Viva's duties at the helm of the Lucidae just to make sure they stayed on course. The Lucidae was a wonderful ship, reliable, but also an older model, Noah was aware that as equipment began to wear out, it was essential to be extra vigilant until they could refit parts, after the dangerous escape from Noveria, it was likely the Lucidae was feeling the heat a little. At their next stop, once Noah was sure it was safe, the Lucidae would get the VIP treatment, full diagnostics tests, and with the money they made after they finished offloading the cargo they'd smuggled, any new parts they needed would be properly fitted. Viva would enjoy flying the Lucidae even more once the little niggles were patched up, the FTL drive core was getting a bit worn and the Luce would fly a little smoother once it was refitted.

Back at the helm, Noah done another quick sweep of the sky to make sure there was absolutely nothing near them, he couldn't be too careful, with the cargo they had on board.

Loire took off his gloves and washed his hands once again, tidying up the equipment he'd used on Valko and Noah.
"He's quite the captain isn't he." he said casually, his calmness appeared to be unshakeable, then again, Viva didn't really know him, didn't know his fears, his weak points. Right now, even though he was a hostage, he was okay. No one externally could punish him, his demons were inside, and Viva, Valko and Noah did not know about them, there was nothing they could do to harm him that would be more painful than the punishment he'd inflicted on himself.
He pulled something out of his bag which had been placed on the chair before he'd operated on Valko, he handed a candy bar to Viva.
"Here, you'll need some sugar it will stop you feeling so dizzy after losing that pint of blood. Sorry I didn't think of it sooner. Take a seat, you're looking a little faint." he said pulling out a chair for Viva to sit in beside Valko's bed.
"You don't need to worry, he'll be fine, I promise you." he said genuinely.

That was something he'd wanted to hear many years ago when the news came around that his sister was in a coma ... No one made that promise, and it hurt him every day. This was a promise he'd ensure wasn't broken.
"Though I won't promise that he'll be back on his feet running into bullets again anytime soon, not that I'd recommend it ... the running into bullets that is." he added. Valko would need a lot of rest and recuperation, he wouldn't be on the battlefield for quite some time. Although the stitches and bullet holes would heal up, there had been a lot of internal trauma and that would take time to heal, even with modern medicine, Valko would need to sit and wait for his body to heal.
"Thank you by the way ... For not wanting to toss me out the airlock." he smiled a little, amused.

[Henwen]

Viva rolled her eyes at Noah behind his back, as he left to go man the ship. He'd only end up doing what doing what she would have done, watching stars and empty space slip by and tweaking dials and making the minor course adjustments that would only really matter in the long run, and she never left the helm long enough for the Luce to drift too far off course.

"He's quite the captain isn't he." he said casually, his calmness appeared to be unshakeable, then again, Viva didn't really know him, didn't know his fears, his weak points.

"He has his moments," She said noncommittally as she watched her brother's chest rise and fall. He looked like shit, pale and clammy with dark circles around his eyes, but his breathing was coming clear and the tiny heart monitor they had was making strong repetitive beeps. Now wasn't the time to reminisce on the complicated relationship that made up her crew, her family. Which Noah was apart of even if she thought he was an ass most of the time. Even if he didn't think he was himself.

"Here, you'll need some sugar it will stop you feeling so dizzy after losing that pint of blood. Sorry I didn't think of it sooner. Take a seat, you're looking a little faint." he said pulling out a chair for Viva to sit in beside Valko's bed.

Viva took the offered seat with a grateful nod and a weary sigh, her eyes not leaving her brothers form as that tight ball of anxiousness slowly eased a fraction as the reality began to sink in with equal slowness. Stars abound, this had been a close one... when she got some rest and stopped feeling like she'd keel over from exhaustion and relief both she was going to be royally pissed off at her brother for scaring her like this. Right now she was just grateful that he was alive, and would get well enough to experience the full brunt of her wrath.

"You don't need to worry, he'll be fine, I promise you." he said genuinely.

"Thanks," She said, finally looking up at him as she took the offered bar, her lips crooked into a weak smile as her eyes pricked. His earnest tone was getting to her, his reassurance- his promise that Val would pull through easing knots that had her eyes threatening to well over. She looked away, blinking hard and fiddling with the edges of the wrapper as she resumed her vigil.

"Though I won't promise that he'll be back on his feet running into bullets again anytime soon, not that I'd recommend it ... the running into bullets that is." he added.

"Heh," Viva chuckled despite herself, unwrapped the candy bar distractedly, "Knowing him it'll be sooner than you'd like. Damn idiot doesn't know when to not pick a fight."

"Thank you by the way ... For not wanting to toss me out the airlock." he smiled a little, amused.

"Well I did get you into this mess," She said, a touch amused and a little bit surprised that he was thanking her, " I mean, I didn't really give you much of choice in the matter, what with practically kidnapping you and everything. Sorry about that by the way... "

"I'm the one who should be thanking you," She continued, realizing as she spoke that she was babbling and on the verge of either tears or hysterical laughing and couldn't quite manage to stop herself, "You didn't have to save him but you did. So the least I can do is keep you from getting tossed out the airlock. I mean, how rude is that?"

Giving up, she stuffed the bar into her mouth- only realizing it was real, actual chocolate the moment it hit her tongue. The delicious cocoa, melty from her hands manhandling it in the wrapper, and fluffy nougat with what could only be sweet caramelized sugar overwhelmed her tastebuds that had been expecting some space preserved, imitation chocolate mock-bar.

"Oh my god, this is real chocolate," She said with her mouth full, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes welled over with the tears that had been threatening for a while, looking at the doc like he'd given her the moon, "This is so good."

[Spud]

Viva was certainly very different to the raving panic machine she had been when she'd first found Loire. Given the situation though, it made perfect sense that she was a total wreck earlier and now she was beginning to calm down. Valko had been seriously injured, it had been critical, if she'd left it a minute or two longer, the outcome could have been very different.
While Noah was blunt, a tough guy ... and actually rather attractive though Loire scolded himself for thinking it, Viva was a lot softer and more approachable now. Loire didn't doubt she was a tough chick when she needed to be though, with Noah, it appeared she'd have little choice but to grow a thick skin. Either way, she was pleasant company at least.


"Well I did get you into this mess," She said, a touch amused and a little bit surprised that he was thanking her, " I mean, I didn't really give you much of choice in the matter, what with practically kidnapping you and everything. Sorry about that by the way... "

"I'm the one who should be thanking you," She continued, realizing as she spoke that she was babbling and on the verge of either tears or hysterical laughing and couldn't quite manage to stop herself, "You didn't have to save him but you did. So the least I can do is keep you from getting tossed out the airlock. I mean, how rude is that?"

"I didn't have a choice. I had to save him." Loire admitted, sometimes he thought it was selfish ... having to save people so he didn't carry their weight on his already over-encumbered conscience... Mostly he had to save Valko because he didn't want to inflict the immense pain of such a loss onto Viva. Though they were strangers, being a twin was something special, and the pain of being separated permanently like that, it was unimaginable until you'd gone through it. "Besides, I did what any other doctor would do, even if I was coerced into it."

"Oh my god, this is real chocolate," She said with her mouth full, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes welled over with the tears that had been threatening for a while, looking at the doc like he'd given her the moon, "This is so good."

Loire laughed softly at Viva's response. For bandits, it seemed they didn't steal many luxuries for themselves. "Being a doctor has its perks." he replied.
"So whats his name?" Loire asked, looking over at Valko. "And yours for the matter, we sorta skipped the introductions what with you kidnapping me and all."

Loire wondered what exactly it was he should be doing ... what exactly was going to happen? He'd never been a hostage before, and yet he was treating his kidnappers with unusual kindness. Granted they hadn't tortured him, but he still didn't know what was in store for him. "You have any idea when your captain might drop me off ... or throw me out the airlock if thats the alternative?" he asked, aware that right now, his fate lay in someone elses hands he wondered if Lucine was out there watching over him right now ... would she be laughing at him? The clever twin, getting himself caught up in such a hilariously stupid scheme.

((Agh sorry, Im tired and ... ugh life stuff))

[Henwen]

Viva sniffled and wiped her eyes as she tried to pull herself back together while also trying to eat the chocolate quickly and savor it at the same time. Noah ran a tight ship and didn't see much cause for lingering groundside if it wasn't for a job. Viva often wondered if he felt vulnerable on land, she certainly got antsy after a while, but still it was nice to take some R&R and go shopping... it had been far too long since she'd enjoyed something as nice as real chocolate.

"So whats his name?" Loire asked, looking over at Valko. "And yours for the matter, we sorta skipped the introductions what with you kidnapping me and all."

"Right, right," She said chuckling wetly, "Sorry again. About that."
"My name is Viva," She continued, gesturing with the half eaten candy bar, "Viva Crux. And he's Val-er Valko really. He doesn't really care for strangers calling him that, though he may make an acception with you saving his life and all. Or he might try and insist that you call him The Wolf. Its some stupid nickname thing he and Noah came up with as kids. You'd think they'd of grown out of it by now, but they take it super seriously so just- ya know- forget I ever brought that up."

She took another bite out of the candy bar, closing her eyes as she chewed and rolled the sweet chocolate in her mouth.

"You have any idea when your captain might drop me off ... or throw me out the airlock if that's the alternative?" he asked.

"Oh you don't really, you- Noah wouldn't," She stopped to swallow turned to look at the doctor earnestly, "Look, you don't know Noah all that well, but I wasn't kidding when I said that you'd earned kudo points for saving Val..."

"I'm not gonna say it's an empty threat," Viva continued looking away to where her brother's chest continued to rise and fall, "Noah- both he and Val- they'd do a lot of things if they think something's a threat... But for now, I'd say you don't have to worry about an airlock. Noah can be a reasonable guy."

"But it's safe to say that as long as I'm at the helm of the Lucidae there will be nobody throwing anybody out of the airlock on my watch," She gave the doctor a short smile that was edging towards impishness, "After all, I know all the override codes."

Stuffing the last bite into her mouth she stood up, "As far as dropping you off, that might be a while."

She gave her brother one last lingering look, reaching over to give his unwounded arm a short squeeze before making for the door, "Come on Doc. I'll give you the grand tour and find you a place to bunk before I go and kick Noah out of my chair."

[Spud]

"Oh you don't really, you- Noah wouldn't," She stopped to swallow turned to look at the doctor earnestly, "Look, you don't know Noah all that well, but I wasn't kidding when I said that you'd earned kudo points for saving Val..."

"Kudo points can be quickly cashed in if I become a liability." Loire pointed out. Of course it was impossible for him to calculate exactly how much trouble he was in right now. He didn't know who had put Val in a critical condition in the first place, and what that kind of person would do to him, he also had no idea what cargo the Lucidae was carrying that was valuable enough to almost kill a man over. All he could do was try stay on the crews good side, at least he'd be safe on the ship for the time being until he could find his feet back on solid ground on some planet wherever that might be.

"I'm not gonna say it's an empty threat," Viva continued looking away to where her brother's chest continued to rise and fall, "Noah- both he and Val- they'd do a lot of things if they think something's a threat... But for now, I'd say you don't have to worry about an airlock. Noah can be a reasonable guy."

"I didn't think it was." Loire replied at the mention of Noah's threat being substantial, if worst came to worst. "I'll just try stay on his good side I guess." he added. Noah was a dangerous man, Loire knew that much for certain, then again, the same could be said about Viva and Val given the types of business dealings they were probably involved in, Loire could only speculate he couldn't say for sure.

She gave her brother one last lingering look, reaching over to give his unwounded arm a short squeeze before making for the door, "Come on Doc. I'll give you the grand tour and find you a place to bunk before I go and kick Noah out of my chair."

Loire managed to smirk a little at that last point. Viva seemed to be the more personable, then again, Loire wondered if Noah had a wall up around himself for some reason, protecting himself from some kind of emotional traumas. He played the tough guy but was he really?
"Don't let him hear you say that or I won't be the only one keeping an eye on the airlocks." Loire smiled. It didn't quite feel like a hostage situation ... well, not so much anyway. Viva had grabbed him because it was a medical emergency, and they'd needed to move quick because they were being followed. Loire wasn't being held for ransom or anything, he was brought on board as a necessity, surely once Valko came around Noah would let him go. The longer this dragged on, the more dangerous the situation would get, for all of them.

((Sorry Im so hungover I cant write more lol))

[Henwen]

"Don't let him hear you say that or I won't be the only one keeping an eye on the airlocks." Loire smiled.

"Heh, he could try," Viva chuckled and returned the slight smile, "Like i said doc: Override Codes."

Just outside the medbay was a small lounge area, basically a couch with a low set coffee table that was bolted to the floor that they'd been lucky to avoid banging their shins against. It was open on two sides, one a kind of half-ledge and the other a half wall, but both had the look to them that they could batten up tight in an emergency.

"So, the kitchen is across the hall here," Viva began stepping over a smear of blood that had been tracked on the floor. She waved in the general direction of the other half-wall which opened into what appeared to be a very utility-efficient kitchenette with a bar like table set up on one side, "It may not look like much but it's fully functional. We dont starve, but any talent making Space Preserves taste better than mealy protein chalk is more than welcome."

"Sanitation is through there on the other side," She continued, leaning tiredly against the wall, "We'll all probably have to give it a go before too long here. It's a tight fit usually but the water stays hot forever when we have it- last time we hit port long enough to breath we stocked up so we're not on short-rations just yet, but it's best not to linger too long."

Pushing away from the wall, she made her way towards the cargo hold. She wasn't nearly as dizzy as she'd been before, nor as faint, but she was still feeling that bone deep exhaustion that came from surviving another day fraught with peril. She didn't remember life aboard the Lucidae being quite this dangerous all the time growing up. She needed a vacation.

"We've got four rooms actually, so you're in luck there," She continued trying to casually guide her way along the wall without looking like she was leaning too heavily on it for support, "Granted the fourth is full of junk and crap so we'll have to clear it out- but with the state of things right now I don't think anybody will be able to notice in this mess."

Again she gestured with her free hand, this time at the crates and boxes of cargo that was strewn about carelessly- they'd only managed to tie down about half of what they'd gotten and the other half had been sliding and careening around with her reckless flying.

She frowned down at one of the dented boxes, her face in an expression of distaste, "I don't even know what the hell we picked up. Noah wouldn't tell. So I prolly won't like it. Fuck, he always does this." Viva gave the box a mean kick, her look turning dark as she growled, "Fuck this shit, I hope it was worth it, Noah-"

Viva stopped mid-rant, her voice nearly a squeak as her eyes flew wide in surprise and no little alarm. The box she'd kicked had flipped over, and the top-unsecured and battered- gave way spilling its contents of colorful iridescent packets on the floor. And she knew what this was. She fucking KNEW!

"Nth!" She exclaimed, and it would have been an ear shattering shriek if she could breath, but it only came out as a disbelieving gasp, "He's got us transporting Nth?! Doesn't he know how bad this shit is?! I mean, drugs are one thing but Nth is some next level shit. No wonder those fuckers were chasing us..."

"Fuuuuuuck," Viva moaned and covered her face with a hand as she tried to pull herself back together. It had been a really stressful day and she did not need this right now. She really didn't.