[IC] Wasteland Soarers - Tales of the Dust

[Desire]

It seemed Ash may be a little late. Probably. He never really kept track of time anymore, he used to in the military. They were always anal about it, precise times, always early. A second late and you would drop and give them 50 or some shit like that. It was good to not be under that time crunch, not look at the clock, move and act freely and by no set time. Although he wasn't going to be terribly late, he didn't want to miss his ride. That would be a tragedy.

Leaving the tavern wasn't really that difficult. Quite easy if you asked Ash. He slept, ate, and right before he left he notified them that he was leaving and quitting his job. The owner seemed somewhat displeased, and apparently the pretty waitress girl had left as well the same day. But for some reason it seemed... Well, like Ash wasn't the type of guy you wanted to argue with. The owner caught his tongue before he said anything, and just nodded as Ash left without saying another word. He made no attachments to the place, and probably for good measure. He probably wouldn't be back there again. And if he was, it'd be quite a while.

As he approached the ship, he had a certain swagger about him as he walked, as if he didn't care and didn't need to. He walked with a purpose, a certain calm and confidence. His movements were strong, swift, almost robotic in their grace. It was the march of a soldier, and how one carried themselves. He even war his combat uniform. His camouflage matched that of the dust around him, his combat boots making small thuds as he walked across the ground. His bulletproof vest was missing off of the uniform, damaged, but the rest of the uniform was still in one piece. It didn't serve a whole lot for protection, but the camouflage was nice, and all his accolades and his rank was printed over his uniform. Ash was etched on a small metal plate, almost like a name tag, over the left side of his chest. What was the same was his backpack of the sand color strapped to his back, his rifle, his shotgun and knife strapped to his leg, and the aviators that reflected the morning sky. He boarded the ship and stood face to face with the captain, giving a crisp military salute.

"Lieutenant Commander Ash, reporting for duty."

[1n5tant Ar50n]

Tyra knew as soon as she got up that she'd be hurrying. Hell, the main reason she got an evening job was because she'd never make it on time otherwise. Still, as soon as she'd drifted back into consciousness, she sprung out of bed, already alarmed by the sun's position in the sky. Damn, I am not gonna miss my one chance because I overslept! she thought, throwing herself together with little care for how good she looked (for once). She'd thankfully left a notice f her resignment the night before and wasn't questioned as she burst out of the Inn and made a mad sprint for the docks. She had little with her; anything she could leave behind she did. There wasn't going to be room for useless trinkets on a ship.
She arrived just behind Ash, and was noticeably out of breath as she said. "Okay! I'm here, the ship's here, I'm good. Not too late." She didn't seem to care how unprofessional she sounded compared to Ash.

[Flynn]

The man screams as loudly as Imogen as he get's assaulted by the falcon. "No! Not my eyes again! I've spent months tracking those down!" He takes a couple of steps back, trying to get the falcon away from his head and his precious eyes. Taking another step back,e he trips over the bottom ledge of the door, falling down to the floor as well. The falcon not keen on following him to the ground, continues to fly around in circles, still screaming loudly.

The unknown man points at Imogen and shields his eyes as the bird get's close. "You mustn't touch Tssshhhh'er! It burns the hands if not handled properly." He holds out his hands, showing healed, but still very visible burn marks. "You mustn't be in this place anyhow. This is Rusttorch his property. Yes, yes... Mine. Not yours." Shaking his head he tries to get up.

[RhineQueen]

Imogen gave two sharp whistles, calling Brigid back to her, the falcon perching on her bag. She stared at the man for a moment, baffled. He seemed like he was clearly off his rocker. Was he the ship's current engineer? It would explain why she had been hired. She looked to the pressure release valve she had been about to inspect. The 'tssshhhher' as Rusttorch had referred to it. The valve was depressurized since the ship was idle and would be cool to the touch until the boiler had been running for a bit. She pulled herself to her feet and looked back to Rusttorch.
"I, um, what?" She stuttered, taking a breath to sort her thoughts out. "Alright, mister, um, Rusttorch was it? First of all, the pressure release valve is fine to touch when the engine is idle. Second, why don't we take a step backward, alright? My name is Imogen Klein-Hollister. Captain Levi hired me as the Magnificent's engineer."

[6slyboy6]

Levi looked down on his dusty watch once again before letting out a sigh. It seems his bodyguard didn't arrive. It's a shame but he has to go on. His quest is far more important than one man. He looked down at the bodyguard and the waitress, with a sorry face. "Now what are you all waiting for! Hop on up! This ship ain't waiting for no more! Unless you want to end up like Grimshaw, you better hustle your sorry asses on board!" He stepped aside to let the two come aboard and watched them go by to the mess hall. He pulled the lever on the side, and the contraption closed the ramp and released the ship from he docks. The ship slowly started to drift inwards the canyon into the scorching sun. It was a hot day, and he hoped that this could help boil the water faster, and get them started as soon as possible.

He went back to his cabin for another mug of coffe. He was more bitter than evrage, he didn't sleep properly after the excursion to the scrapyard. He hoped that the crew wouldn't notice. Althought the ol chum might do. He has an eye for these things. Whenever he has a problem that old rustbucket knows. He shook at the thought and moved onwards. He checked a clipboard he had on his desk that was full with the daily tasks.
- Welcome crew
- Introduce Rusttorch
- Eat a proper meal finally
- Start crew training
He tried to take another sip from his coffee but it seemed the the mug emptied quite fast. With a saddened look over the coffe plant on the shelf he made another note
- Get more coffee plants
With that done, he was about to introduce the crew to the ship, but he heard high pitched noises from above. The engine bay. He shook his head once again. That ol rustbucket got himself in trouble. He threw his jacket on the desk and exited the cockpit. He rushed past the mess hall and quickly explained "I have some matters to attend above. You wait here till I get Imogen! Make yourselves comfortable!" He frowned and continued towards the engine bay with huge steps. He climbed the access ladder and entered the engine bay right behind Imogen. The girl jumped as he appeared, and he rushed past her. He went straight for his companion. He grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him up. With a fierce look he let go of the old man "Rust! This is your new partner in the engine bay. So treat her well. But we have others who also came. You just make sure to smile when I introduce you, and everything will be fine. It won't take long! Just come down as soon as you finished cleaning up the mess here!" He dusted himself and turned to Imogen "Please execuse me and Rust for the mess. This won't happen again. I will tell you all the details, but please come with me now. I want to properly introduce myself and the crew."

He hopped down the ladder and helped the girl. With an increasingly troubled face, they entered the mess hall. The room wasn't big by any means, but it could fit a few person. Directly opposite the door was a large sofa. To the right there was a small kitchen table, and to the left there was some shelves filled with books in all assortments. Most faded, but a few still had vivid colors. He closed the door and cleared his throat.
The room fell silent of all noise, only the gentle howl of the wind could be heard.
"Lads and gents! I think we haven't properly introduced ourselves to each other. You know that I am Captain Levi, and that is all you need to know about me as your captain. Just make sure you call me Captain unless I tell you that you can call me Levi. Just to make sure, we won't have any problems until you follow 3 simple rules. One: Always be in your crew quarters after 2200 hours. I mean 10 PM. That doesn't apply if you have any task I gave. Rule 2: If you damage anything on the ship for any reason, you will pay the cost. That doesn't apply to certain incidents. Rule 3: Don't go rouge! If you want to mod anything or do anything that isn't your job, ask me, or anyone who is responsible for the thing you want to change. This also applies to the kitchen and meals. This is all, and I am hoping such things as obeying rules and not killing the others are basic. Now it is your turn to introduce. Don't worry I don't bite." He knew this sounded funny. His small appearance made this quote look like a childs joke. Anything for the crew.

[1n5tant Ar50n]

"Don't think anyone's worried about you bitin', Captain," said Tyra. "My name's Tyra, just Tyra, and I know I don't really look like I can do much but I've had to fend for myself a lot these days. If boys try anything, you're gonna get a swift kick in the nethers and a punch in the face. If you don't try anything, than I'm sure we'll get along swell." She grinned. "And Captain, I'll be willing to pitch in around ship with whatever tasks necessary, and I can hold my own in a scrape too so there's no need to worry about anything like that."

[RhineQueen]

Imogen breathed a sigh of quiet relief when Levi interjected. This Rusttorch fellow was more than a bit unnerving and she was thankful for an out. She accepted his help off the ladder and took a seat with the rest of her new crew. She was fairly certain they were one short from who she had seen at the bar last night, but she wasn't entirely sure and quickly turned her attention to Levi's rules, listening intently as Brigid hopped from her shoulder and onto the table. She was actually pretty relieved. Levi had far less rules than Elliott had back at the dockyard and they all made sense.
She chuckled as Tyra gave her warning about making passes at her. She was glad that she wouldn't be the only girl on the ship. Not that Levi really gave off much of a threatening vibe, but she was still glad to have another female aboard. Especially one with a take-no-shit attitude.
"Hello, everyone!" she said once Tyra had finished. "My name is Imogen. I'm an engineer and have been for nearly my whole life. Travelling with Captain Levi has basically been my dream since I was little, but that won't stop me from doing my best and keeping this ship in top condition and I really look forward to working with you all! Oh! And this is Brigid." She stroked her falcon's head.

[Desire]

Ash made his way to the room where all of them were huddled up in. With the whole crew there, the room seemed rather small, and with Ash being the size that he was, you could say he may be a little cramped. But he didn't mind it, as he leaned his back against the wall and joined the little circle that had formed. Grimshaw seemed like the only person who hadn't made it to the bunch, either dead or just didn't want to go. Whatever the case was, it seemed that he was now the only body guard in the group. Which again, Ash didn't mind. He actually kind of liked being the alpha male, and he was more than capable of leading the charge. He was a one man army after all, what is training led him to be. That is, until, everything went down. But he never remembered too much about it, seemed he had slight amnesia about the whole thing. Didn't matter too much.

It seemed like everybody was introducing themselves at the moment, going on about them personally. Blah blah blah. One clearly stated she didn't want to be touched, but she had no skilled labor and would try to find something to do. With that attitude, he wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole. He might catch the bitch disease. As for the other girl, she seemed a bit nicer, and useful, with the engineering and what not. But that parrot was pretty weird. Who the fuck kept a parrot around?

Ash kind of crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. He didn't feel like playing show and tell. He got the rules, and they weren't quite hard to follow. Or break and get away with. Either way, he really didn't feel like participating as he gave the group a kind of blank stare, before uncapping his flask and taking a swig out of it.

[1n5tant Ar50n]

Tyra glanced over at Ash, raising an eyebrow. "Drinking already? This might just be a hell of a party after all," she teased. "Well Ash, you going to make any proper introductions?"
Her tone wasn't harsh, but more than a little prompting. She was in truth very curious about Ash, and she hadn't got to learn much about him even when they worked together at the bar. His cool, calm indifference may have had him convinced that he could skate through the trip keeping himself to himself, but Tyra wanted to know who he was, who everyone really was, for that matter. She already liked Levi, and he seemed like he would be a good captain, it was just the rest of the crew she had to figure out now.

She noticed she'd been staring, and quickly refocused her gaze at nothing of particular importance.

[6slyboy6]

@DesireLevi looked around the company and smiled as he saw Tyra mock Ash. The waitress was really fierce compared to his looks. But he couldn't agree more with her this time. Ash was one of the most mysterious characters in the group, constantly being quiet. The bodyguard sure looked like a fella he would trust his life with, but only once he got to know him better. And it seemed that Ash was the next one to introduce, so he spoke up. "Ash, if you would be so kind to share your introduction with us."